God of Hate

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Godzilla or Attack on Titan

It was tense as the group stood in front of Ymir's cell, watching the Shifter for any possible sign of deceit or treachery. Ymir, however, was smiling and appeared at ease. "Just for the record, I'll tell you everything, but not all at once."

"Ymir," Krista said uncertainly, finding this change in demeanor not only surprising but a bit unnerving.

"You're treading dangerously, brat," Levi warned idly.

"Look, I'm not stupid enough to tell you everything right off the bat just to get my head cut off," Ymir answered flatly.

"And just what do you intend to give us now?" Erwin asked pointedly.

"There are nine of us."

Eyes widened or narrowed at that statement. "Nine?" Hange asked quickly. "You mean Titan-Shifters?"

Ymir nodded idly. "Yeah. Three of them infiltrated the walls besides me. Or, at least, three that I know about," Ymir explained, scratching her head. "My...information isn't exactly up to date."

Hange scribbled some notes down while Levi stared at Ymir intently as if trying to discern what she was trying to hide.

"Nine in total? Or that you know of?" Erwin pressed on.

"Ugggh, a week ago, I would have said in total," Ymir answered in her own confusion. "The golden bastard raises more than a few questions."

"So, he's an unknown discovery even among Titan Shifters," Hange said with a grin. "That just makes him all the more exciting."

Ymir eyed her oddly. "Right. But assuming that thing isn't a Titan Shifter? Then yeah, there should only be nine."

"But you said there were three here," Hange stated, the glint on her goggles hiding her eyes. "The Colossal, the Armor, and the..."

"Not sure which that one is, haven't seen them in action," Ymir answered with an honest shrug.

"But you know there are three?" Krista repeated in surprise. "Do you know who they are?"

"Look, I only saw them in human form once a long time ago, and that was a blur," Ymir answered vaguely.

"Just tell us what you can for now," Erwin interrupted intently.

Ymir took a deep breath. "Okay, you already know two of them: The Armor is what it sounds and looks like; Just a strong Titan with a lot of defense. The Colossal is a big asshole that explodes."

"Explodes?" Hange repeated in surprise. "What do you mean, explodes?"

"Hm? Has he not done that yet?" Ymir said in honest interest. "The Colossal has the power to cause a large explosion when it forms. I didn't actually think that was optional."

Erwin looked over to Levi, sharing a scowl. Their enemy already had another ace up their sleeve they didn't know about. "If there are nine of you, and three are also here, what about the other five?" Levi asked suspiciously.

Ymir rubbed her neck idly. "I couldn't say where they are, but I know two of them are missing. One of those was the Attack Titan, and it vanished a long time ago. So I don't know anything else about that one," she admitted with a shrug.

"And of the ones that aren't missing?" Hange pressed on.

"Well, there is the War Hammer. I don't know anything about that one because it's...secretive. Supposedly it's the second strongest," Ymir admitted, smirking confidently. "Don't worry, the rest I know something about. I'd say the most annoying will be the Cart Titan. It is not very sturdy and is on all fours for some reason, but I hear it can shift longer and more often than the rest of us."

"A quadrupedal Titan," Hange noted in thought. "We'd probably just write it off as an abnormal."

"So, there is a limit to your powers?" Erwin noted with interest.

"Yeah. If we use it too much, it starts to fail. We're just hurting ourselves at that point," Ymir answered with a shrug. "The norm, I guess, is a couple times a day at most. Anyway, there's also the Beast Titan. I can't tell you anything about that one, but for a good reason: It changes."

"Changes?" Levi asked with a scowl. "The hell does that mean?"

"Okay, look, short version of this for now: When one of the Nine dies, another gets the power, okay?" Ymir supplied, getting pointed looks but no interruption. "Anyway, the Beast Titan is always a hybrid of some random animal. Last I heard, it was some kind of pig or something, but who knows what it is now."

"Wait, wait," Hange said, holding her hands up. "You said animal. Could our golden friend be...?"

"I thought so at first, and just assumed he had gone rogue for whatever reason," Ymir admitted with a shrug. "But after I took a bite of him, I don't see how. All the Nine heal the same as regular Titans and our blood isn't black like that. So if he's the Beast, I'm as confused as you all are."

"Besides the Beast, do all the Shifters stay the same for each...generation, shall we say?" Hange inquired, tapping her pencil to her chin.

"To my understanding? Yeah. They look different each time, but the Armor is always armored and mine is always short and toothy," Ymir explained, trying and failing to not sound bored.

"I think you mean mouthy," Krista muttered with a small smile, turning sheepish and apologetic as she realized she said that out loud.

The others decided to ignore that, watching the amused Ymir expectantly,

"Okay, okay, moving on. Let's see, who else. Colossal, Armor, Attack, Cart, Beast, War?" Ymir listed off to herself. "Oh, right, the Female Titan?"

Everyone looked somewhat surprised by that.

"Yeah, I know, it's weird. It's the only Titan that always looks like a woman, boobs and all. Nothing downstairs though, or I assume not," Ymir answered casually. "I'm pretty sure she's the third one in the walls. She's supposed to be a jack of all trades in a way. Doesn't specialize in anything, but has a bit of potential in everything."

"That makes sense, they'd need some versatility to cover any weaknesses for the Armor and Colossal," Hange mused. "Still, why Female?"

"Because no one can take something called the Boob Titan seriously," Ymir said dryly, getting a snort from Hange and an eye roll from Levi while Erwin remained politely silent. Krista bit her tongue to not laugh.

"So, what do we call your Titan?" Levi asked, almost smirking…almost. "Or do you want to be known as the Hag Titan?"

Ymir snorted in amusement. "I'm the Jaw Titan. Small, fast, and bites like a bitch; Simple and to the point."

Krista bit back another barb and Ymir smirked a bit at her reaction, making the blond suppress a pout.

"That's eight then," Erwin commented. "I should assume that this last Shifter is the one stronger than the War Hammer?"

"Yeah, it's also the other one that's missing," Ymir answered with her arms crossed. "The Founding Titan."

"Founding Titan?" Hange repeated in interest, the name alone carried some weight to it.

Ymir nodded. "Supposedly the strongest of them all. They say it can actually control the Titans, even the Shifters."

There was an ominous silence at that explanation; even Hange froze at the possibility. If such a foe existed, even Erwin knew that humanity would fall easily to a coordinated and intelligent attack from the Titans.

"That sounds like a King of Titans to me," Levi stated with a furrowed brow. "And this one is missing?"

Ymir nodded. "No one has seen it since before your mighty walls went up."

Erwin peered at her for a moment. "I believe that is enough for now. Unless there is anything else you wish to reveal for now?"

Ymir took a deep breath of thought. "Just that you had the right idea putting me down here. Transforming in spaces like this is a bit risky," Ymir answered as a half-hearted attempt at reassurance.

Erwin nodded while Levi moved to take Krista back into the cell.

Ymir sighed at that. "Look, if you're going to keep doing that, can you at least let us share a cell?" Ymir requested.

"Fuck no," Levi answered bluntly.

"Why, afraid she'll sneak me something?" Ymir asked with an eye roll.

"Let me rephrase: No fucking. That's why," Levi retorted.

Krista turned red while Ymir sputtered for a moment, causing Hange to chuckle. "Sorry, but conjugal visits are off the table for now."

Ymir groaned. "You perverted old bats. We weren't going to do anything..." she muttered while Krista refused to speak.

"Said every brat ever," Levi said under his breath.

"That's enough you two," Erwin said with soft neutrality, almost looking apologetic to the two young girls for just a moment.

Ymir waited until the footsteps faded as the trio left the basement, to her relief. "Finally, that's over with," she remarked, leaning back. "Can you believe the nerve of those two?"

Silence was her only answer.

"Eh? You alright, Krista? Did the runt put your chains on wrong or something?" Ymir asked idly.

"What? How would he even-" Krista stopped her confused question, shaking her head. "Are we...really just going to pretend like nothing changed?"

"Well, we're back in cells, talking with a wall between us, so I assumed so," Ymir answered casually.

Krista narrowed her eyes. "Ymir, be serious. You're not the type to just change your mind that suddenly. You wouldn't give me anything before, now you're just...volunteering it?"

Ymir scratched her cheek as she rested the back of her head against the wall. "Promise not to say anything to them?"

"Of course. I promise," Krista answered, praying she could keep that promise.

"The other guards have looser tongues and louder voices than they think," Ymir answered with a snort. "I heard that they were going to decide if they should kill me in a day or so. So I made up my damn mind and decided to see if gambling on these assholes might not pay off."

That sounded right. That sounded like how Ymir might view the situation. So why did it all feel off to Krista?

"You don't believe me," Ymir noted with a frown. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" Krista asked, concerned and a bit worried that Ymir had caught on.

"The midget was spooked before I told him I was willing to talk. What's got everyone worked up?" she inquired.

"...One of the captured Titans almost got free. It seemed deliberate," Krista explained with a curious frown.

"Eh? Eh?! They actually captured some Titans?" Ymir asked in surprise. "Those scouts really are crazy bastards."

Krista blinked, realizing that surprise was genuine. So, at bare minimum, Ymir didn't know about that happening.

"Oh...Oh, I get it. They think it can't be a coincidence that I gave up right after that happened," Ymir deduced with a sigh. "Well, that explains a lot."

"I mean...it does seem a bit too weird to happen at the same time," Krista agreed idly. "But if it's not related, why would anyone try something like that?"

"Could be the other Shifters," Ymir answered with a shrug.

Krista stiffened in alarm. "You think they're here?"

"Well, yeah? If the Colossal Titan was here, I'm assuming the other two were nearby too. And I doubt they left with everything going on in Trost," Ymir reasoned.

"But...what could they want on this side of the wall?" Krista asked herself in confusion.

Ymir hummed in thought. "They probably tried to kill the Titan so you can't learn more about them. That or they're just looking for me."

"You?" Krista repeated in interest. "Why would they be after you?"

Ymir took a breath. "I'm guessing to kill me. Or make sure I'm not talking at least."

"...is that why you didn't want to say anything before?" Krista asked softly.

"Part of it, yeah," Ymir answered honestly. "So, um, when can I start calling you Historia?"

"How about after we're sure you don't have to worry about being executed," Krista retorted with a smirk. "...Hey, Ymir? Do you...really not have a last name?"

"Hmm?" Ymir blinked before looking up. "Yeah, no…never really needed one. Why?"

"Well, after all those jokes about marrying me, I was wondering whose last name we'd be using," Krista remarked coolly.

Ymir nearly choked on her own breath. "Sweet shit, how long have you been hiding this snarky side of yours!?"

"Every day since we met," Krista answered with a chuckle. "I have a lot of jokes of my own saved up for you, Miss Jaws."

Ymir couldn't help but grin at the prospect. "What have I unleashed, and why didn't I do it sooner?"

Meanwhile

"Well, she's full of shit, but is she lying?" Levi mused to Hange and Erwin.

"It's entirely possible she's feeding us false intel," Erwin agreed with a frown. "But if not, then she might be the edge we need to not be caught off guard by more Shifters."

"She didn't give us a lot, but it's more than we'd ever learn on our own," Hange noted, scowling at the two men. "So, I'm not the best at reading humans, but you both noticed what she didn't answer, right?"

Levi crossed his arms with a troubled look in his eyes, Erwin nodding. "She knows exactly who the three are, but doesn't want to reveal who."

Silence reigned over them as they considered what that implied.

"If she's working against us, she is doing a piss-poor job of hiding it," Levi remarked idly. "Bad liar or not, it should have been easier to just say she had no idea who they were, instead of that weak-ass dismissal."

"But if she's not working against us, why not tell us?" Hange mused. "Unless, for some reason, telling us would be to our detriment right now?"

"I believe she already gave us an answer: Her own survival," Erwin remarked with a firm look in his eye. "If the Shifters discover she's with us, and we fail to deal with them in one blow, she will be their first target, and Trips their second."

"So, the brat isn't afraid of us, but them," Levi summarized. "So, in other words, we're never going to get much of anywhere while she's between a rock and a hard place."

"But how do we do that?" Hange inquired. "I mean, we can keep on threatening the girl, but I don't think she'll buy that much longer."

"Wouldn't help anyway," Levi opined. "She'd snatch her and run off the moment she got the chance if we turned her into a full-blown hostage."

"We'll deal with that after the meeting is over, and her fate decided," Erwin said. "For now, I'll go and relay what we've learned with Commander Pyxis. For now, continue as normal."

"Right," Levi said as Hange nodded, both of them making their leave.

Erwin cupped his chin as they left, letting his mind wander. His gut told him that Ymir's cooperation was genuine, even if conditional. He'd make plans if he was wrong, of course, but assuming he was right, that left some troubling implications; Namely, the Nine.

There being more Titan-Shifters was not the issue, it was Ymir's phrasing of certain ones, and her vagueness on other details. The Warhammer was secretive about its abilities. If it was reclusive, that just meant it stayed on its own, but secretive? That implied that it had other beings to keep its powers a secret from. And for the second strongest Titan, keeping itself secret from the other eight seemed a tad unlikely. So, outside the walls, there were more than just Shifters.

If he had that information not too long ago, he'd speculate that the "other beings" might be other giant creatures, like Eren. But Eren was a human from inside the walls, who...somehow...got the ability to turn into a giant creature that was similar yet distinctly different from a Titan.

Which leads to what Ymir said about the Nine: When one dies, it gets passed on. The question was, how and who? Another Titan, obviously, but how did that power pass to them? Was it something physical, something that had to be digested? That could explain why Titans ate humans: Perhaps Titans instinctively sought out the nine to gain their power, and mistook humans for Shifters in human form? It was possible; it plugged up a few holes in the puzzle, but left others.

Finally, the two missing Titans; why were they missing? Missing from where? Erwin didn't know the full size of the outside world, but he knew it was massive. How did the Nine even keep track of each other, and how did one become considered "missing" among them?

More importantly, the one Titan that could control the Titans was missing, and had been since before the walls went up.

Everything about the way Ymir phrased that implied one thing to Erwin. And the implications were troubling, but it explained why Ymir was so hesitant to help them.

The Founding Titan was in the Walls already. No, rather, it had always been here. And Ymir was understandably afraid of facing the ire of the Ruler of the Titans.

But if that was true, that means one thing: That the extinction of the human race wasn't the Founding Titan's goal. It could have destroyed them ages ago if it was as powerful as Ymir implied. Even just a little coordination with the Titans would have made any and all expeditions impossible, leading to the absolute death of the Survey Corp.

This only raised more questions, especially the goal of breaching the walls by the enemy Shifters. Could this entire threat to their people be nothing more than a war amongst the Shifters, with humanity in the crosshairs?

The more he learned, the more Erwin realized how little he truly knew.

And the more he was determined to learn the truth of this world one day.

Meanwhile

Sasha had many terrible experiences since joining the military. The days without meat, with barely any food had been terrible. Granted, she supposedly brought that on herself for being "potato girl" as some still called her. She loved meat, why was did they keep calling her a potato?

Of course...those were the times she could laugh and fake cry about. They were the terrible times she looked back on fondly, with the great times she had with her fellow cadets.

Trost...Trost had truly horrible memories here. The fighting hadn't been the worst of it. She barely remembered that in some ways, the rush of battle making her memories a blur. It was the time after that made it all so horrible. The moments when she realized so many of her friends and comrades were gone, eaten alive and dead.

It started in little ways. Wondering how Mina was doing or where Thomas was? Then it hit her again: they were dead. That was the...peculiar thing about death. Realizing you'd never see or speak to someone again, that they were gone and never coming back. It was a part of life, she knew that. She grew up around a hunting community; she knew that one wrong move could leave you in a grave.

But...there was just something horribly cruel about this. Dying in droves to Titans, picking up the dead corpses...finding the people who committed suicide out of fear of being eaten.

She pushed away the image of the woman and child from her head and refocused on the task at hand.

Or lack of one, to be exact. Still, there had been something calming about watching Eren sleeping, but his massive golden form was hardly visible in the darkness of night now. She could only make out an outline from where she sat; a bench in front of some stall that had been set up before everything went to hell.

She could still hear him though, his breathing. It was hard to ignore at first, because, well...Eren snored. According to Mikasa, he always had. But it was soothing, like a constant rumbling, a persistent gust of wind rattling a roof. It was kind of strange if she listened hard enough though. Eren had three heads, but she swore she could only hear two of them snoring. They were in sync though, so it just sounded like one most of the time.

...Sasha groaned, rubbing her head. That was even more confusing than it needed to be. Why did smart people like thinking so hard all the time if it just leads to circling headaches?

"Here."

Sasha looked up in surprise, seeing Mikasa holding out...a piece of bread.

Instantly her hands were wrapped around it, before she looked up at Mikasa reverently. "Thank you," she said, taking the food gratefully. Food always helped clear things up. "Mikasa, has anyone ever told you you're a goddess?"

"That's Krista," Mikasa responded calmly as she took a seat next to Sasha. "You can go to sleep. I'm fine watching him."

Sasha smiled gratefully at the stoic female. "You know, everyone says stuff about how you think only about Eren," Sasha remarked softly. "But then you do stuff like this and I know they're idiots."

Mikasa frowned minutely. Ever since Wall Maria fell, Eren and Armin had been the most important people in her life. The entire reason she was here, in the army, was to help them stay alive. She never intended or expected to become close to any of their fellow trainees in the training corps. But somewhere along the way, she had come to appreciate some of them. Sasha was one of them.

Choosing between Armin and Eren was a non-question. She'd save both of them, however, she had to. She would never forgive herself for abandoning either of them, and she knew they'd despise the idea of living at the expense of the other. But if she had to choose between saving Sasha against saving Armin or Eren? That was a question she didn't want to answer.

"Hey, Mikasa? Is it...weird, him being like this?" Sasha asked curiously. "Because you took it a lot better than everyone, even Armin."

Mikasa hummed, staring out into the darkness where Eren slept. "I don't understand it at all," Mikasa admitted plainly. "I just...really don't care. He came back. That's all that's important. Everything else, we can figure out eventually."

Sasha wondered, did Mikasa know how she looked right now, with that soft smile on her face, one hand on her scarf?

"Yeah, but...he's got three heads," Sasha reminded idly.

"That is hard to get used to," Mikasa admitted.

"I never know where I'm supposed to stare at or which I'm talking to," Sasha said with an exhausted look. "Or what he's saying. Me and Connie spent the whole day trying to guess what he was trying to say."

"Did you ever figure it out?" Mikasa questioned idly.

"Jean figured it out for us," Sasha answered with an embarrassed look. "He was trying to tell us that Connie's pants ripped open."

Mikasa chose not to comment on that statement.

"What are you going to do, whenever he figures out how to turn back?" Sasha asked thoughtfully.

Mikasa blinked, not sure how to answer that. The happy relief of Eren being alive was enough for her to ignore anything else about the situation, most of the time. But there was one thing she missed. "Sleep with him."

Sasha choked on her bread, looking at Mikasa in shock. "W-wow, Mikasa! I di-didn't think you'd be so bold!"

Mikasa looked at her in surprise before blushing scarlet. "N-not like that! I just..." Mikasa looked away, embarrassed as she pulled up her scarf. "M-me and Eren use to share a bed sometimes when we were younger."

"Oh," Sasha accepted, the silence growing very awkward. "Mikasa?"

"Yes," Mikasa answered knowingly.

"He's not snoring anymore," Sasha pointed out awkwardly.

"I'm aware, Sasha," Mikasa said, trying to remain stoic.

"Ahh, good, just making sure," Sasha said before turning to the darkness. "We know you're eavesdropping!"

A rather annoyed hiss rang in the air as three sets of green eyes appeared in the darkness, glaring in their direction.

"How did we not realize it was him earlier?" Sasha muttered. "The eyes, the temper, the "kill-all-Titans"ness."

The ground trembled as Eren's eyes raised higher, his form obviously standing up.

"Did I make him that mad?" Sasha asked in concern as Eren began to walk away.

Mikasa narrowed her eyes. "I don't think it's you he's bothered by," Mikasa stated warily as she grabbed a torch and began to run after Eren's sedated pace.

"H-hey, wait for me!" Sasha called, running after them, completely lost by what was going on.

As they grew closer, Eren's massive form came better into view as he lumbered forward in the dark. Mikasa caught the glint of one eye as he glanced down at her and Sasha before looking straight ahead as he walked.

"Where is he going?" Sasha asked out loud as she ran just behind Mikasa, who suddenly stopped and held an arm out to stop Sasha. "Wha-oh shit," Sasha said in slight fear as she realized there was a massive trench right in front of them. She glanced back to Eren and realized he was treading forth on a wooden bridge. "Wait, but why is he...?" Sasha wondered in realization.

Mikasa didn't answer as they followed behind Eren's twin tails, moving around him as they approached Eren's destination.

The breach. Eren was standing right in front of the boulder that he had used to plug the hole in the wall.

"He's...not trying to go outside, is he?" Sasha asked, alarmed but mostly confused.

"I don't think so," Mikasa answered, passing the torch to Sasha before using her ODM gear to scale the wall, bringing her to about Eren's eye level. "What is it? What's wrong?" Mikasa called out to him.

Eren didn't respond, just staring at the boulder with a strange look, like he was somehow suspicious of it. He slowly brought his head towards it, turning to place his ear holes along with it. Mikasa moved closer and began to listen as well.

Sasha nearly screamed as Eren suddenly jerked back in alarm, taking several massive steps back, making sounds of alarm that put Sasha on edge. "Umm, Mikasa?! What's going on!?" she called up.

Mikasa didn't answer, seemingly frozen in place before she descended down with a very, very dark look on her face. "Sasha, we need to go, now."

"Wait, what? Why what happened?" Sasha asked, looking between the pair and realizing that the giant Titan-killing lizard AND the best soldier she knew were both very, very shaken by...something.

Mikasa opened her mouth to urge Sasha to move before her eyes were suddenly wide in alarm. "Get down!" she yelled, diving at Sasha, tackling her as they both went tumbling into the trench.

And then the air was filled with explosions and bestial roars of pain.

Sasha's instincts took over, aiming her ODM gear to hook into the wall of the trench, looking up to see Eren falling backward with a resounding thud.

"Eren!" Mikasa yelled in alarm, even as another explosion went off.

Sasha squinted in alarm as she saw the flash in the darkness before another explosion emitted. "The cannons are firing at him!" Sasha yelled over Eren's screech of rage and pain.

That was the only prompt Mikasa needed, soaring to the side, out of the area before speeding up the walls at nearly inhumane speeds, even with ODM gear.

The night grew eerily silent, save for Eren's angry breathing. Tentatively, Sasha brought herself out of the trench and looked at Eren's form. She stiffened as she saw Eren lying on his stomach, two craters on his body from where the cannonballs had made their mark. It didn't look too terrible to Sasha, almost like a really nasty scab. It was the... other one that drew her alarm.

Eren's left-most head was laying limp on the ground, one of its horns blasted off, the scales and flesh blown away to reveal some of the skull. The other two heads were looking at the wounded third, looking understandably pained and more than a little furious.

"E-eren? You...you okay?" Sasha asked, swallowing thickly. Yes, this was a very aggressive, very wounded creature, and every instinct said she should probably stay away from him, but it was still Eren.

The third head groaned, looking at her with a weak look of...relief? Sasha blinked as she realized the wounded head was actually smiling at her, albeit smiling through the pain.

...He was happy she was alive.

He grunted as the strange, orange substance began to form on his wounds. It was only now as they started to heal that Sasha realized that though bone had been revealed, the skull itself didn't have a dent in it, not even a chip from the explosion.

"You really do have a hard head now, eh?" Sasha weakly joked.

The right head just glared at her while the left one grunted in amusement. The middle one snorted, grabbing her attention, before nodding up to the wall.

"Yeah, I'll go make sure Mikasa hasn't...killed anyone," Sasha said, meaning it as a joke, but realizing just how possible that might be by the end.

End of Chapter

So...yeah. Ymir revealed some things, Mikasa and Sasha had a heart to heart, and some idoit shot a cannon at Erendorah. Yeah, they are LUCK he doesn't have gravity beams yet, Eins probably would have vaporized someone.

But yeah, lot of weird and insteresting things going on as canon become more and more a distant memory. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this.

Early viewing of chapters 13-14 avaliable on my pat-reon:

p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64