God of Hate

NOTE: Decided that, yes, this fic will be going on a hiatus until the new Godzilla-Kong movie comes out. However, dont worry, there are still two more updates for this chapter before that happens. But on that note.

POLL voting on my profile to see what AoT fic people want to see updated most beisdes this one. Honestly, I could do any of them, but I was curious how the vote would turn out.

After that, everything took on a momentum of its own. Or that was how it looked to everyone outside the know.

Frieda took her leave, and in less than a week, a great many things were announced.

King Niwit Fritz had "officially" stepped down as King of the Walls, the official report being that his old age had caught up with him and impeded his duties. This made way for Frieda Fritz to openly take the throne. She had discarded the name of Riess, and everyone had easily accepted the story of the Riess family being another line of Fritz.

Between her ascension and tales of Monsters fighting Titans, and humans that could become Titans? Scarcely anyone had noticed that several other nobles or important figures had been summarily replaced. And the few that did notice either didn't care enough to do anything or were pleased by the event. The government hadn't endeared many people to it, so the change was treated either apathetically or optimistically.

Which was how the current situation had developed.

"By Order of Frieda Fritz II, Queen of Eldia, the district of Trost is to be repurposed into a military area to house and coordinate with our giant allies, designated collectively as the RUTOs, "Riesen Unbekannter Terrestrisch Organismus"(Giant Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms). However, anyone wishing to enter the city to attempt to salvage from their homes will be allowed to do so within the hours between noon and four, for two weeks time."

Armin watched from the side as Rico finished reading aloud the declaration to the gathered crowd before handing the large parchment to a soldier, who hammered it to a post.

Naturally, he could see that many were nervous about going inside the city with the giant creatures still within. He couldn't blame them, but precautions had been taken. Grice was away for now, and Eren was staying near the boulder while people were in the city. So problems should be contained just to accidents by either damaged houses or human stupidity.

"Damn, this is all so weird," Jean said with a sigh as the gate to Trost was open, and a few brave souls ventured inside. "I feel like we're part of a cover-up and only know half the story."

"More like undoing a cover-up, I think," Armin mused. "Did you notice what she called Eren and Grice?"

"Yeah. Rutos. Surprised they didn't just call them Titan-Killers or something," Jean mused.

"Yes, but giving them a collective name when there are only two of them so far?" Armin said with a frown. "I think they're expecting more to show up, possibly stay here as well."

"I don't know how many can fit in a district without getting cramped," Jean remarked with an uneasy look. "But you really think so?"

"Grice said his comrades are still out there. And it's possible there are more besides them," Armin answered. "Of course..."

"Of course, what?" Jean asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing, never mind," Armin waved off sheepishly.

Jean looked unconvinced but didn't press on it.

Armin looked ahead with a look of deep thought. Frieda knew more about this than she told, he was sure. Just what could she be hiding...?

"Riesenwache Artlert!" Rico called out.

"Here, Ma'am!" Armin answered as he headed over to her.

"This is the group for Backerin Street," Rico answered, motioning to several civilians. "You know the drill. Escort them to their homes, assure them they won't be harmed, don't let them run off to get a look at Yeager or Grice, and use a flare if there's an emergency situation."

Armin nodded, looking at the group. "If you'll all follow me, please."

"Also, Artlert, where is Ackerman?" Rico questioned, barely hiding her exasperation.

"Well, if she's not here, I would assume either keeping an eye on Sasha or keeping Eren company," Armin answered with a shrug.

"If you see her, send her this way, we could use more escorts," Rico instructed simply, getting a nod of understanding before the blonde headed off. "Okay, next group..."

Meanwhile

Riesenwache. Giant Guard or Giant Watch.

Mikasa wasn't sure which was more fitting.

It was a new, special designation given to those who were assigned to the RUTO district. A formal title for what she and her fellow graduates had been doing for a while now, keeping watch over Eren and acting as a buffer between him and people who might not be able to accept a creature like him as an ally.

The only difference was that now extended to Grice as well.

A familiar, soft growl invaded her ears and elicited a smile from her face. She was sitting upon the boulder, and Eren had been laying around it for a nap. "Sleep well, Eren?"

He rolled his eyes at her, and she caught his meaning without the need for translation. He slept too much. There wasn't much he could do with people coming into Trost to collect what they managed to salvage from their homes. If he went anywhere or did much, he'd probably just scare the civilians half to death.

"Don't worry, it's only another hour," Mikasa reminded, which did nothing to elevate Eren's mood.

"Oh, you shouldn't ruin your beautiful visage with such a nasty look, Eren."

All three of Eren's heads almost looked relieved by the arrival of the ever-eccentric Hange, landing on the ground nearby.

"Section Commander," Mikasa greeted politely, less enthusiastic about her arrival.

"You know, you would be calling me Riesen Captain or Riesen Commander, but someone vetoed that," Hange said, giving Eren an accusing look.

Eren gave her a pointed look and snapped one of his tails against the ground.

"Oh, will you stop! I don't have many plans to be poking near your anal cavity!" Hange defended with a huff.

"Implying that you do have some plans," Mikasa pointed out, Eren looking entirely validated in his action.

"Unrelated, would you mind standing up for a moment, Eren?" Hange requested with a curious look.

The three heads looked at each other. Eins was skeptical and annoyed, Zwei's skepticism was bordering on disbelief, and Drei was eyeing Hange for any hidden equipment. Despite that, he ultimately did as she requested, rising to his feet and standing near his full height.

"Huh. It seems like you finally stopped getting bigger," Hange observed, cupping her chin. "You were about twenty meters just after the scouts returned. Now you're nearly thirty meters tall. Everything else grew too. Four more meters to the necks, five to the tails. Your foot looks like it's big enough to step on a five-meter Titan completely."

"Best not to tell Ymir that," Mikasa commented as she came down to join the scientist. "But do you think he'll keep getting bigger?"

"Probably. But it doesn't seem to be growth based on time alone. Perhaps fighting causes it? Or killing Titans?" Hange proposed.

Stronger with every Titan he killed...Eren liked the thought of that.

It showed, given Mikasa even looked at him. "If so, there is hardly anyone better for this power," Mikasa said with a frown. "But if he gets too big..."

"Yeah, yeah, that'll be a problem," Hange agreed, glancing at the boulder that blocked the breach. It'd be a tight fit for Eren, but he should manage. But if his growth continued, well, it'd be another story.

"Heretics!"

The trio turned to see a man across the bridge leading to the boulder. Beneath his disheveled cloak, it was easy to see the medallion of the Church of the Wall.

"Blasphemous demons! Look at how you have desecrated the Walls!" he accused angrily, motioning to not only the boulder but the many cracks and marks in the Wall. Some were from where the Colossal Titan fell, but most were from where Grice had been climbing up and down the walls. "You will all burn before the wrath of the Goddesses for defiling their sacred gift!"

"Huh, one of them slipped in," Hange mused as the man continued to ramble.

Eren's middle head yawned, utterly uninterested in the drivel they were hearing.

"I'll take care of him," Mikasa offered, as she walked forward.

"What's all the yelling about?"

The Wallist gave a start at the loud voice, causing him to back away from the deep trench. Out from the gap crawled a very sleepy Grice, cracking several of his joints as he rose up, the zealot falling back in fear.

"Morning, Eren. Mikasa. Giant-fetishist," Grice greeted.

"Ahh, thank you. And it's past noon, by the way," Hange informed with a smile, Eren crooning his agreement.

"Really? Damn, I slept good down here," he said, shaking the cobwebs out of his head, turning to face the source of the yelling, now whimpering and sputtering. "Who the hell is this?"

"Just one of the Wallists," Mikasa answered idly.

"Wallists?" Grice questioned.

"Oh, just some crazy folks that worship the Walls," Hange explained with a chuckle.

Grice stared for a moment. "You're joking, right?" he asked, turning to face the terrified man. "She's joking, right?"

"T-the demon speaks! Yo-you won't trick me, foul beast! My faith is strong! The power of the Goddesses Maria, Rose, and Sina will protect me!" he cried out, sounding like he was trying to convince himself.

"What? Goddesses? You..." Grice shook his head in disbelief. "You don't even know what those names mean, do you?"

"Silence your lies! They are the names of the Goddesses who made the sacred walls!" the believer declared, trying to rise to his feet and stand tall by his belief.

"Daughters of a Goddess, if that," Grice retorted with a headshake. "Such a weird thing to keep, those three names."

"This part of Eldia's past and culture?" Mikasa asked, Eren's heads leaning forth with mild interest as well.

"I'll explain, right after we escort this dumbass out. Would one of you ladies mind accompanying me?" Grice requested.

"Accompany? Grice, people are still going around looking for their possessions," Mikasa pointed out. "You'll terrify them."

"Yeah, well, might as well as give people a live show of us big bad monsters being decent people. And I think I have a better shot right now, being able to talk," Grice reasoned.

"From what I've heard, being able to talk might not have helped Eren here," Hange said with a chuckle.

"Eren speaks his mind a lot," Mikasa summarized vaguely.

"..." Grice looked to Eren and seemed to understand. "Ahh. I see."

Mikasa blinked as Eren's leftmost head nudged her forward. "You want me to go with them?" she asked curiously, causing him to nod toward the interior meaningfully. "Oh. You want me to see how Armin and the others are doing, and if they need my help."

Eren nodded firmly.

In resignation, Mikasa went to follow after Grice, grabbing the Wallist roughly as she forcefully led him away under protest.

"My, it's adorable how you two seem to keep trading being the responsible one," Hange said teasingly.

Eren snorted but didn't deign to try and convey more of a retort.

"Ohh, don't be like that. You love having me around," Hange said with certainty.

Eins looked away in refusal to acknowledge her claim, Zwei couldn't give a negative yet would not confirm it, and Drei had a sheepish look about him.

"So, Eren," Hange said, her tone losing its humor and drawing his attention in full. "Has everything been alright, since you fought Reiner and the others?"

Physically, he was fine and they both knew it. Mentally, he was okay enough. Or as okay as he could be with three heads. But emotionally...?

"Some of your friends were in shock, even denial for days afterward," Hange said in sympathy. "I understand you were...close to them all in some way."

Eren nodded solemnly, wrathfully, bitterly. Reiner, who was like a brother to everyone. Annie, who helped teach him how to fight. Bertholt, the gentle giant one couldn't help but befriend.

At that moment he realized that their auras were the same as Ymir, and what that meant...Drei wanted to deny it, defy his very sight and mind. He didn't want it to be true. Zwei had tried hard, so hard to think of another answer, any explanation for what he had seen. But Eins? That head didn't really remember thinking at all. Just rage, and wrath, and fury.

But the moment he looked at Reiner, and saw the look settle in his eyes, Eren knew...knew it was truth. And in that instant, there was a strange, hateful clarity that consumed him for the rest of the battle.

That was gone now. All he was left with was rage he couldn't express, the sadness he refused to dwell on, and the implications their betrayal with what he understood after learning the truth of the outside world.

"Have you talked with anyone? Mikasa? Armin? Just Krista or even Grice?" Hange asked in concern.

He answered, but Hange couldn't understand him. Eren was too distracted to try and convey the answer more clearly and Hange felt it best not to push it more.

"I won't...pretend I know what you're going through exactly," Hange said with a soft smile. "But I get what it's like to be stabbed in the back. We've had a few people turn craven or sell us out in the past."

That didn't surprise Eren at all. Humans could be terrible creatures, especially in hard times.

"Just..." Hange took a breath. "Remember you got people you can trust, okay? Your friends, obviously. I don't know if I'm on that list, but-"

Eren nodded without thought or hesitation.

"I am?" Hange said, suddenly grinning. "Awww, aren't you sweet, you beautiful bastard."

Drei smiled weakly. Zwei almost did as well. Eins, well, he wasn't frowning or anything.

Hange carefully glanced around before turning serious for a moment. "Eren, do you trust Krista?"

He cocked a head at her, nodding very cautiously. There was a suspicious look in his eyes, as if he knew what she might ask.

Hange's expression became resolved. "Then please, can you tell me what I saw?" Hange asked firmly.

Eren stared, but there was no confusion in his eyes.

"When you were headless and I touched you, I saw...things," Hange said, scowling in frustration as she rubbed her head. "It keeps popping back in every now and then. Like my mind is still processing it, piecing it together. But never enough for me to really...understand."

Eren felt it at the back of his minds.

{{{{...}}}}

Hange had The Storm's attention. Why, he didn't know and wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

Eren snorted, blowing air in Hange's face. She was startled but refocused her attention on the here and now. "Right, sorry, just...should I get Krista or not?" Hange asked awkwardly.

Eren shook his head slowly, deliberately.

"Oh. Umm, alright," Hange said feeling like the situation became more ominous than it needed to be. "Another time?"

Eren nodded and watched her leave, knowing she was on edge. His baleful eyes looked downward, at his shadow.

In his eyes, it looked bigger than it should.

{{{{...?}}}}

He could feel the almost mocking look of the Storm, despite its silence.

While not tired in the slightest, Eren laid himself down for another nap.

Not that he expected it to be a peaceful one...

His eyes snapped open and he found himself...somewhere else.

He was standing atop a hill. Or a mountain? A pile of dirt and stone either way. It was warm and he could feel it rumbling beneath his feet.

Below was a field filled with small shrubs.

No, wait...those were trees.

How big was he in this dream...?

[[Not a dream.]]

He shook his heads, reminding himself that this wasn't just something he was imagining.

Clouds rolled overhead and lightning thundered in his ears.

Eren still had no idea precisely what this entity in his mind was, or what it wanted. But he had learned several things about it since his battle against the Shifters.

It could communicate with him but didn't care to. Eren mostly...sensed The Storm's reaction to things. Usually snarling, growling. Sometimes cocking a head in confusion or chortles of mockery. Mostly, he could just tell when it was present and paying active attention to something.

It hated Titans, like him. But only referred to them as maggots.

It didn't care for humans, unlike him.

Lightning crackled in the sky and the battle against the traitors rang in his head.

Unlike him for the most part.

It was also very much aware of everything Eren did, and probably more. Eren could sense annoyance and sadistic amusement from The Storm at random times, for no apparent reason.

And, lastly, Eren could see its memories.

At first, Eren thought this was a connection to the Titan Shifters. After all, Ymir and Frieda had informed them about Shifters inheriting their predecessor's memories to some extent. But after a while, Eren realized that he wasn't just seeing his father's memories, but ones from long...long before his father was born.

A world without Titans. But a world with other giant monsters.

Eren wasn't even sure humanity existed in those memories.

{{{{Ahead}}}}

Eren started, following the directions of the Voice of the Storm.

On the horizon came a massive figure. It walked on four legs, clawed in the front, and hooved in the back. It was grey, save on its green back. It took Eren a moment to realize the backside of this creature was actually covered in trees, enough for a small forest. The large skull was reptilian but flatter than Eren's. Its ancient eyes were white and pupil-less, its teeth sharp, and long horns curled down and inward on both sides of the skull.

Just by how it walked, Eren knew this beast was already ancient.

It looked up at Eren, at the Storm, but paid them little mind as it found a spot to its liking. Once it did, it began to lay down and burrow itself into the ground, before settling into a deep sleep.

[[[What is that?]]]

[Who cares?]

[[Why are we watching this?]]

{{{{...}}}}

Eren looked up at the clouds, despising the Voice of the Storm and its vague silence.

[[[[What do you want with Hange?]]]]

The clouds and winds spun in front of him, taking on the likeness of Hange, her voice echoing on the gales: "I saw...things."

Eren stared for a moment before it clicked.

[[[You want to know what she saw?]]]

[[Which means...you don't know.]]

[And that pisses you off.]

Thunder rumbled overhead as an answer.

[[[[What could she have seen?]]]]

There was silence. No wind, no thunder, not even the beating of his own massive heart.

Then, he heard it.

Something...pulsing, something rhythmic.

And the tingle up his spine and necks that something dangerous was approaching.

Eren turned, to the other side of the mountain.

He could see the ocean and the sandy shores. Something he longed to see, dreamed to see.

But he noticed none of that.

All he could focus on was the glowing, pulsating light of blue that was swimming across the sea, like a blade striking through the waves.

A blade that could strike the heavens themselves.

Drei opened his eye.

And was staring right at Connie.

As in, Connie's face was less than a foot from his eyeball!

All three heads jerked up in surprise, Connie falling on his ass in surprise.

"Hehe, you had something stuck on your eyelid. I was trying to get it off. I swear!" Connie explained quickly.

Eren wasn't sure if that was a dumb lie or just something Connie had been dumb enough to do.

"Eren! You're finally awake!" Sasha greeted, hanging upside down on the wall by her ODM gear. "Don't worry, we definitely didn't have our lunch on your heads!"

Connie seemed to forget that Eren had three heads, and was perfectly capable to to give Sasha a deadpan look while seeing him giving a neck-cutting gesture to stop talking.

These two were good soldiers, it was easy to see how they survived against the Titans. How they survived in daily life, he wasn't so sure about.

"I told you idiots not to eat on him."

Eren cocked his head up to see Jean leaning on the boulder with an exasperated look.

"You slept through the excitement for once," Jean muttered.

[[Excitement?]]

[[[What did we miss?]]]

[Who's the idiot this time?]

Jean didn't even bother trying to figure out what Eren was saying, just assuming he wanted more information. "Grice freaked everyone out by going to the gate. Rico looked ready to have an aneurysm until, well..."

"You should have seen it, Eren," Sasha said with a chuckle. "Some little girl went up and hugged his leg! It was cute."

Eren quirked his heads. Well, Grice probably handled that better than he would have.

"He handled it better than you would have," Jean said, annoying Eren with the unintentional agreement. "Managed to softly shoe her back to her mother without making it look scary. Well, scarier."

People were warming up to them. That was interesting. And almost too good to be true.

"Someone else tried to cause trouble though," Connie commented.

Ahh, and suddenly the world felt right again to Eins and Zwei, while Drei was a bit disappointed. But why was Connie still smiling?

"Oh, he means the idiot that tried to throw rocks at Grice," Sasha said with a laugh.

Even Jean looked like he might laugh. Which was rare, his horse face was not prone to laughter.

"You've seen his skull, right? Harder than this boulder, I'm sure," Jean remarked, rapping his knuckles on the stone. "Everything bounced off him, and Grice just pretended to barely notice. Everyone else started laughing until they gave up."

Eren chuckled, all three heads. He wondered what was weirder for these three. The strange sound that passed for his laughter now, or that it came in three-as-one.

But either way, they didn't seem to mind.

For right now, this was good enough for him.

Meanwhile

Having headed out for a snack, Grice lurked about a forest as he traveled outside Wall Rose. Against Pure Titans, he didn't really need to be sneaky. But Pure Titans weren't what concerned him.

A smell entered his nose, and he could taste it on his tongue.

Blood, and it wasn't human.

He moved as quietly and quickly as he could until he reached the edge of the forest. He stopped, scanning the area for any obvious enemies. Slowly, he moved out, watching for any hints of a trap. He had doubts there was one, but he didn't survive everything just to get cocky.

He came to a stop as he looked down sorrowfully at what he found.

It was another Crawler, another member of the Restoration movement. Who, he couldn't tell, but they were one of his precious comrades all the same. They were covered in bullet wounds, but those had only been an annoyance by the looks of things.

One arm was torn off. Not bitten or gnawed off, he knew that well enough. They had crawled here too. He looked up and saw the blood trail, soaking the grown and leading far away toward Wall Maria.

"The Dogs are on the hunt."

End of Chapter

So, yeah, Ghidorah is getting more active in Eren's head, and there is now a fourth small military group for keeping watch over the giants. Also, instaed of MUTOs, giant monsters are called RUTOs. Yeah, MUTO isn't suppsoe to be a species name, its suppose to be a short name for Massive Unidentified Terrestial Organism.

Besides all that, yeah, this fic will be put on hold for a bit in the near future. You can expect it to return after the new movie comes out in March. Sorry if that disappoints anyone, but it is a temporary thing.

Early viewing of chapters 27-28 avaliable on my pat-reon:

p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64