This chapter might contain deep graphic imagery of cannibalism, violence, physical injury, strong language and heavy psychological trauma. I would consider the writing is still fitted to a "Teens and Up" classification. I would also consider the graphic level in this chapter to be what an aot audience expects from an Attack On Titan story.
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≃2000 years ago
[Three Years after the first appearance of The Titan]
The frightened young woman paced forward, weakly and quickly across the fields. Coming out of the woods, she seemed tired and perhaps even hurt; she’d caught sight of the Marlean Legion camping further away in that field. So, the woman frantically made her way towards the camp.
When one of the soldiers sighted the woman clumsily running towards them and shouting for help. He slowly made sense of what he was seeing: the hooded figure was shouting and would frantically look behind her shoulder as if she was being followed by some unknown danger. Which made some of the troop - who were standing at the very edge of that camp - look around and into the distance; they were trying to follow that desperate woman’s eyeline as she looked behind her shoulders. And some of them even started to actually see shadows forming in the distant woods.
Well, not quite. Their brains were just filling in the gaps of reason with their own imagination. After all, that woman seemed extremely desperate and terrified, so they were all expecting the worst. Most of the soldiers at the edge of the camp had already drawn their weapons, and were waiting for the danger to show itself.
The soldier who had first noticed the desperate woman was now slowly walking towards her, hoping she could explain what was the danger she was pointing at inside those dark woods. When the weak woman fell face first on the ground. The naive man rushed to help her stand up, as the legion behind him looked nervously and impatiently towards the woods and to the situation unravelling in front of them.
The woman was young, her dark cloak blew back when she hit the ground, revealing her very lavish and very long blonde hair. She was quite thin and was wearing rags. She trembled, losing balance and looking quite tipsy as she tried to stand up. “Do you need help?” The soldier asked while approaching. The woman then fell again and stayed slightly crouched, so the soldier bent his knees and offered his hand. “What are you running away from?” he proceeded with the questioning.
She looked up at him with confusion as the naive man extended his hand to help. The young woman looked behind him to see the many soldiers slowly approaching and looking anxiously towards the woods.
‘This was too easy,’ Ymir thought.
Most of the Marlean Legion was already engaging in that small distraction. They were all so near she was actually unimpressed, the girl hoped for more of a challenge.
She looked at the marlean soldier’s hand, as he stood there: ready to help and waiting for a response. Ymir looked up at his face with her bright green eyes in pure disdain. She then smiled, which changed the expression on the soldier’s face from solidarity to utter shock and confusion. He looked down, analysing the woman’s figure. Yes, she was thin and very weak, she looked extremely young; with her almost-white, long and straight blond hair, her ragged dress and dirty cloak and her rosy, but dirty cheeks. She could possibly be a witch but even if she was, the small woman didn’t seem like a proper threat.
The soldier drew his weapon, even if unconvinced. And as Ymir smiled, quite beautifully and enthrallingly, one might add; the soldier looked down towards her hands, he noticed she had quite long and sharp fingernails. ‘Definitely a witch,’ the man thought. This would be his last thought however, for Ymir swiftly slashed her own right palm with her long nails. She closed her fist, carving her fingernails deep inside her hand. Blood poured out as Ymir dug deeper and deeper into her own palm.
Lightning surged all around her as Ymir smiled. Blood was dripping down all over her arm at this point. Not only the soldier near her, but all of those around the camp who were witnessing this act felt extremely confused. Unfortunately for those men, they wouldn’t be confused for much longer, for their lives were about to end.
The small woman was now surrounded by pure energy and her bright green eyes shone even brighter.
Ymir exploded in transformation. The enormous Titan completely obliterated the camp, leaving very few alive on the other edge of it. After a few minutes the Titan finally finished forming itself, for it was extremely big and it took extreme energy and some time to complete generating all that flesh and bones. The transformation itself created immense fires all around her, something the Eldian Army was well-aware of, so they always waited until it was done to finally ride into battle and scream their war cry.
A battle cry that was more of a victory salute at that point. Ymir graciously laid on the ground, still smiling. Her smile wasn’t visible from her titan form however, for it had no face, only a skull. But nevertheless the girl smiled inside of it, Ymir quite enjoyed her power. She laid on the ground, setting fire to everything on sight with every movement. And as the few surviving soldiers ran away screaming, she picked them up one by one, like a cat playing with mice. Or better yet: with tiny tiny ants. Ymir flickered the tiny soldiers around her fingers, it was quite amusing to her: watching as they burned alive around her fingers to then fall desperately to the ground again as she dropped them casually for extra amusement.
She enjoyed herself, playing around the battlefield as the Eldian Army slowly arrived to properly seize that region for themselves and detain the few marlean survivors as their prisoners.
Ymir played on the burning red battlefield like a small and naive child playing on the green grass of her quiet home. She smiled and laughed, quite happily.
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- An Unknown Time before Time
There once were two beautiful marbles, they were lovely siblings who swirled each other in a beautiful dance. The twins flew across the dark skies, twirling together - around each other - and also across their shining star. A star that we humans now call "the Sun".
There was also a creature, of unknown origin and odd multidimensional capabilities. The creature was an imitator, it could blend and learn and adapt: a survivor. It was also a plague, capable of unforeseen evil and destruction. It was believed to have been banned from its original realm and now just drifted across the nothingness, looking for a new home to flourish and destroy. A creature we humans now call "the Devil".
The beautiful twins eventually lost their harmony and no longer could dance together, their swirling became chaotic and it was only a matter of time before the worst happened. And it eventually did: the twin marbles crushed into each other causing unrepairable damage. The stronger twin survived but it was severely hurt, while the other was crushed into pieces.
The evil creature took that opportunity and hid inside the stronger twin's wound, before it could heal itself and there it remained for millennia after millennia; hiding, waiting and learning.
The stronger twin continued to swirl, all alone now, twirling around itself and around its shining star, the Sun. Its dance eventually pulled some of its dead twin pieces together once again, very small pieces. And this marble danced across the dark skies of the Universe now with its tiny satellite as a reminder of a long dead sibling. This is the planet we humans call home, and "Earth". And its tiny companion, the satellite we humans call "the Moon".
The Earth danced across the Universe millennia after millennia, and it is still dancing. Dancing without knowing that the creature is hiding in its insides. Readying itself to kill it, to kill the precious marble.
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- Year 854 - October 31, The Queen's Farm
00:00 [Zero Hour]
There was mayhem all over the orphanage as the servants and nuns, nurses and soldiers all rushed up and down the building. The alarm was sound and the Royal Guards all knew they needed to be at their most watchful, for the Queen was about to give birth. The process had already started. The nurses rushed to call the doctor who immediately rushed back with them to the Queen’s quarters.
Historia laid on her royal bed, feeling heavy, swollen and tired. She breathed heavily but apart from that she seemed extremely apathetic. The doctor approached the Queen and cleaned some of her cold sweat from her forehead; Historia moved her big and bright blue eyes which at that moment were staring at nothing, to the direction of the doctor’s own eyes. Her intense eyes were quite deep and scary. ‘What a frightening woman,’ the doctor thought, but made sure not to show his own fear. The last he needed was for his staff to notice how he could be scared of such a small Queen.
“How are you feeling, Ma’am?” he asked as he checked the Queen’s temperature. “Cold,” Historia replied, still quite apathetically. “Well, you need not to worry,” the doctor assured her with a phoney and fearful smile. “This will all be over soon enough.”
Historia laid her head on her royal bed’s headboard, and closed her eyes. “It hasn’t even started,” she relayed.
-.-
The absolutely enormous Original Titan flew all over her island. Ymir was enjoying the breeze and the high skies. She avoided touching the ground, for this made the grass and the entire plantation and forest to catch fire instantly; and the Fritz Queen did not wish to harm her precious island, only to finally rule it and to destroy her enemies. Her titan body was extremely hot and also extremely heavy, she was quite a sight, the Eldians could see her from quite a distance and so could some other islands and boats passing nearby. The mother was tired of waiting for her precious angels to hatch.
Only a few areas of the most southern part of Wall Maria had in fact ‘hatched’ with the first wave of Earthquakes and Ymir wanted all her slaves ‘freed’: out to work and prepared to destroy the world outside. So, she took it into her own hands rather than wait for the second wave of Earthquakes. Ymir flew over parts of Wall Maria and Wall Rose and tore the Titan Crystal apart with the claws of her feet. She would then rise up into the sky again with her giant and majestic crystal wings, and come back down once more to tore more of the Walls down. It was working but it soon became boring, so Ymir turned her attention to the giant continent she could see forming on the other side of the ocean as she rose more and more again into the sky. The beautiful Titan Queen then decided to fly over in the true direction of her enemy’s territory. Ymir wanted to spread her fire to the rest of the world, and destroy it, to destroy the precious marble.
[Still] Year 854 - October 30, Shiganshina
-the day before, early hours
Reiner felt confused. The Armoured Titan stood up in the crystal remains of the arc the War-Hammer-Attack Titan had made to protect them both from the Colossal explosion. He danced around avoiding the giant feet of the Pure Colossal Titans all around him, all while trying to locate his enemy’s body.
Eren was nowhere to be seen and that alone was impossible. The Armoured Titan ravaged through the carcass of the War-Hammer-Attack Titan, he tore it all apart, he then proceeded to look around the area. At the back of the Warrior’s mind was the anxiety and the worry. Reiner was expecting Eren to jump at him at any moment, transforming again. But the moment never came. His anxiety was slowly going away in the realisation that his enemy had truly disappeared.
Gabi came out of her hiding spot in a building nearby and looked at her cousin in shared confusion. Reiner looked down into the titan carcass, still holding some bits of evaporating flesh in his titan hands, he reflected more on all that happened. “What was that strange blue light?” he questioned in his mind.
Deep underneath the Reiss Cave
They were over two hundred meters underground. Eren felt very tired and dizzy, effects not only of being prematurely removed from his Titan but also of space-travel. His vision was fuzzy and the room in question was too dark. Only a small torch lighting them from somewhere in the corridor outside. He could smell the strong scent of pure dirt, underground-earthly-dirt. This took his brain back to the many funerals he had participated. That deep cave, that dungeon, it smelled like a burial site. The younger Yeager started to question if this was his own grave.
His mind was still hazy and he was too weak to move on his own, all he could feel was the hands of someone else, this someone else was taking his own hands and feet and tying him up in many chains. There was nothing he could do about it, soon Eren felt his chest and his neck also being heavily bound, he was too weak to support the weight of those chains in that moment. So even raising his head was a difficult and painful task. Eren Yeager eventually did raise his head and his heavy eyes as the stranger was finished tying him up.
“Alright,” the young man said as he finished with tying all those heavy chains. He walked closer as Eren stared at those black boots, he kneeled down near his dear uncle. “Now, you can’t go anywhere,” Az told Yeager with a sarcastic smile, he then booped his uncle’s nose to add to his childish mockery. “So don’t even try,” Az added and stood up. He put his hands on his hips. “It’s not worth it, really,” he continued while checking the chains’ strength.
“Do you really think you can hold ME?” Eren asked in pure anger, but also matching the time traveller in his mockery.
Azzy rested himself in one of the dungeon’s walls, and crossed his arms.
“Oh, I could kill you,” he said nonchalantly. The man smiled quite charmingly and came over towards his uncle once again, he stood in Eren’s height once more and revealed in almost a whisper: “but that is Ezra’s job, not mine,” he said and winked, letting his uncle know and then walked away once again. “Now there’s a spoiler for you,” he added in mockery.
The time traveller then walked away into the corridor, leaving Yeager alone in that dark cell.
Eren was beside himself. “You can’t leave me here!” He shouted with much authority, while snapping around his chains in pure anger.
Az stopped, and turned. He jumped back and reappeared behind his uncle. “I won’t have your meddling, this is too important.” Az declared, walking around the Titan Shifter. “You are exactly where you belong,” he continued while passing his hands through the heavy chains. “As I told you, dear uncle, all those years ago: you belong in prison.”
“Years..?” Eren looked up at him again, reflective. “Time is a funny thing isn’t it? We barely had that conversation, in my perspective at least-“
“You know what else is funny?” Azzy interrupted his train of thought. “Titans. You lot are like plants, you need the sun to survive, to even move,” he laughed. “This dungeon is hundreds of meters underneath the earth so don’t even think you will be able to regain any energy, let alone transform.” Az warned. “But don’t worry about it, I’ll make sure to remember to slip a note to one of your minions so they can rescue you in a few days or so…” he added mindfully with his finger on his temple. “I wouldn’t want for Auntie Historia to have yet another reason to be upset after today.”
Az moved over to leave again, still with his sardonic smile.
“You can’t kill her!” Eren shouted once again, his voice more broken than authoritative this time. The man was tired, but he wasn’t defeated yet.
“I can do whatever I want. And I’ll do whatever I feel necessary to end this nonsense, once and for all.” Az declared to his uncle.
“If you do, Time will break.” Eren, the Attack Titan explained with urgency.
“Oh, I’ve broken Time quite a few times, it’s not that big of a deal,” Az crossed his arms nonchalantly once again, explaining it back to the Titan Shifter.
“Not that big of a deal?” Eren repeated. “Careful my son, you’ve risen far too high, your fall should be equally as great. Maybe I shouldn’t have given you all this power,” the Attack Titan considered.
Azzy tutted.
“I might not be certain of a lot of things in this world and in this life, but I am certain of one,” Az uncrossed his arms and dropped to his uncle’s height, to be at his eyesight once again. “You are not the one who gave me powers.” He declared, and continued. “My powers do not come from you, but your powers, those do come from me,” Az added, winking and booping his uncle’s nose once again. He stood up once more.
“You shouldn’t even exist.” Eren declared in a lower voice, still quite weakly. That grabbed his nephew’s attention. “Both your parents should have died in their late childhood years, I saved them both, I gave you existence and that’s how you repay me? You owe me your life, devil.” The uncle protested with deep indignation.
Az stood in silence, quite reflective. His uncle continued.
“Now you want to take my only daughter away from me, now that she’s finally free. I’ve worked for thousands of years to make sure I could bring her home and you want to take her away from me again, you heartless piece of nothing,” Eren added to his protest, still broken and tired from all the heavy chains, but still not defeated.
“Don’t call me heartless, or a devil for that matter,” his nephew protested back. “For I am neither. You might think you’re in control of the Attack Titan’s atemporal reasoning since you are the very last one of them, but deep down you and I both know that is not truly how it works.” Az continued to undermine his uncle. “I exist solely because I exist. There’s no need to try and take credit over that. That is not how Time works.”
“And you understand how Time works? You insist on breaking it to your own gain-“ Eren argued.
“My gain?” Az slightly interrupted.
“You are willing to destroy the whole fabric of reality just to have your way,” Eren continued in his indignation.
Az tutted once again, “my way?” He repeated, shaking his head.
“I will do anything to revert your mistake. You started this when you destroyed the Earth and killed most of Humanity. I am just putting everything back into place. Just as I promised myself and my mother once: I am going to save everyone.” The time traveller declared with grace.
“You will not save everyone. You will destroy your own existence and hers,” Eren argued gravely.
Az took a deep breath and approached his uncle once again. He looked deep into Yeager’s eyes and declared:
"I have lost everything I genuinely cared about. Everything I ever loved is dead. I have lost the love of my life, for when I look into that thing's eyes I know she isn't there anymore. My love is dead. Our children were killed in the most atrocious way possible and I can't even describe my anger over it. My girls are dead and they suffered until the very end of their existence. Everything in this world I could truly care about is gone.” He told his uncle. "Do you know what that makes me?" Az asked. "A man with nothing to lose."
Eren looked at him with sympathy and concern. Az looked away one last time and walked towards the cell door.
“Do one thing for me,” he asked his uncle. “Once you wake up, under that tree, in a world free of Titans. Do keep my memories with you, I shouldn’t like to be completely forgotten.” He confessed a little timidly.
“No,” Eren replied defiantly. “I will stop you.” He slowly lifted his head from the heavy chains. “You will lose.” Eren Yeager declared.
Azzy smiled sardonically once again.
“Good luck getting out of this dungeon. It was built to hold the Colossal War-Hammer Titan,” he gave out a quick laugh. “You don’t stand a chance.”
Az declared and jumped out of there. He disappeared in a flash of bright blue light.
“GET ME OUT OF HERE!” Eren shouted once again, now into nothingness, he was completely alone in the dark.
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- Year 767 - Somewhere in the Marlean Continent
The little girl started running again. She went up to the roof of the old monastery and looked up to the bright moon. It was a beautiful bright night and she was undecided.
Ymir looked down, towards the horizon, she could see the ends of the intermittent zone and the high walls. Even if she was free of that building she would still be trapped in that world. There was no escaping it. She looked back again. Considering.
‘They have food here, and the bed is warm,’ the five-year-old considered. She held herself in the cold winds as her hair and her ragged clothes blew violently against the strong night breeze. Ymir almost lost her balance, the roof was old and the wood was creaky and weak.
The little girl was shaking with the cold and she was starting to feel hungry again, she had been so determined before, she wanted out of that place, she didn't want to be worshipped in odd rituals. Even at that young age she could see those people were completely mad. Ymir understood they wanted to use her as a vessel, she was very wary of those people. If only leaving was as easy as she’d planned it would be.
She was at the very top of the roof, considering climbing down and away. Ymir looked downwards to see the ground, it was very far down below. She had to take the chance. 'But what if someone just took her into another orphanage or somewhere worse?' the little girl considered.
“If I can only stay in the street I can take care of myself.” The little girl mumbled to herself. “I don't need anyone.” She added, holding herself in the cold night.
A sudden and violent gust of wind blew the tiny child out of balance and she slipped. Cracking some tiles on her way down, Ymir reached for anything, trying to hold on for dear life. But there was nothing there. In a split second she would hit on the cold, hard ground.
Ymir closed her eyes very tight and prayed for help, the small and frail child was truly desperate.
In a split second her whole world was gone.
Ymir suddenly felt a hand reaching out for her. The woman held her hand tight and pulled her up into the top of the roof again. Everything happened so fast, the tiny girl couldn’t make herself believe it. Ymir looked down again with her heart beating ever so fast. She could see the ground far below, the girl slowly realised she had been saved, so she started to calm down.
“Thank you,” she told the woman with a quiet voice.
The woman smiled and caressed her, as if she was her own child. “It’s pretty cold out here, you shouldn’t be playing in the tower, it’s very high up, dear,” the woman added in concern.
Ymir stood back, almost losing balance again. “I-I wasn’t trying to run away,” the six-year-old stuttered in her lie. The woman tried to reach her again, so the small child wouldn’t lose balance.
“Careful, careful,” she advised while trying to hold the small child. “I didn’t ask if you were trying to run away,” she pointed out.
Ymir looked down, slightly ashamed. The woman sighed and fixed the girl’s hair very motherly. “This wouldn’t be the first place you ran away from would it?” she noted.
The girl said nothing, she just held herself, feeling very small. “I-I just wanted to see the moon,” she justified her escape and they both looked up at the beautiful satellite.
“It is quite beautiful, isn’t it?” the woman noted. “I wished I could admire it like this. The sky seems so beautiful down on Earth,” she added and sighed.
The little girl felt confused, she noted the lady’s demeanour and appearance, she was very beautiful and tender. ‘Perhaps she is an angel,’ the girl thought.
The strange woman was tall and thin, and just like Ymir, she too was wearing rags, her blonde hair came out of her cloak and her bright green eyes stared at the little girl intensely and lovingly.
“How did you know I ran away before?” Ymir asked the woman.
“Oh, I’m always guarding you,” the woman explained with a smile.
“You are?” Ymir asked. “Why?”
The small girl was confused but she was smiling inside, it seems she truly had a guardian angel, protecting her through all these years.
“Because,” the woman sighed and thought about it. “You remind me of myself.”
Ymir looked up at the woman, with some shining hope in her eyes. The woman continued. “I too was all alone, in a land I didn’t know… I longed for my parents. I cried for my mother every night, I cried until I slept. I missed her and the worst part was, I couldn’t even remember what she looked like. I couldn’t remember neither of them.”
The little girl sighed and decided to share. “I can’t remember my parents either.” she timidly revealed it to the strange woman.
“Well,” the woman moved the girl's dark auburn hair from her small face so she could see Ymir better. “The important thing is, they will always be with you.” She told the small girl with a smile.
“They’re gone,” Ymir replied quietly and softly.
The woman kept the hope and the smile. “You might think that you are all alone in this world, but you are not. If you ever need help, like today, just reach out and call for me, alright? I can hear you from up there.” She assured the small child.
“I don’t know your name.” Ymir replied.
“Of course you do,” the woman insisted.
All the noise in the roof and the tiles Ymir broke in her almost-fall had awakened some of the priests and nuns of the church. They could both hear movement. Someone was coming up the bell tower.
“I’ll come for your rescue, without hesitation,” the guardian angel promised. “You can be sure of it.” she added, and disappeared from Ymir’s eyes. The little girl didn’t know what to do and she could now hear steps louder and louder, running up the bell tower.
“Where did you go?” Ymir shouted into the wind. The small girl was very confused.
“Who are you talking to, little one?” One of the nuns had reached the top of the tower and had witnessed Ymir shouting to the wind.
“Walk here, child, with care,” the priest added, motioning for her to walk out of the old roof and back into the tower.
Ymir looked back to the dark horizon and up to the shining moon, she eventually made her way back into the monastery. “Careful, dear, careful,” several cultists told her from the tower as Ymir made her way back.
It was the middle of the night and some of them had said to have heard the girl talking to herself after she almost fell from the roof.
“Do you think she saw..?” One of the nuns quietly and suggestively trailed off towards the priest.
“I wonder…” he trailed off, almost confirming their beliefs. He held the little girl’s shoulder as they all walked down the tower’s stairs.
The woman sighed happily, and considered. "She really is a reincarnation isn't she?"
-The roots of Evil-
The Titan Realm
Somewhere, sometime, in that cursed dimension
“Why are you here?” the Fritz Queen asked to the figure coming in her direction. The woman stopped a few meters behind her and the Queen turned to face her.
“Last time I saw you, you were just a little, sweet and naive girl who needed guidance in this realm. Now look at you, all grown up and drenched in corruption just like every human before you and after,” Ymir, the older declared to the Fritz Queen in admonishment and with a hint of mockery.
Ymir, the younger was near her precious light tree. Not only that, she was in truth corrupted by it. As Ymir, the older pointed out: thin and lightened tree roots came out from the sandy ground and were involved around Ymir, the younger’s figure. Multiple roots around her arms and legs and face, and more importantly, her spine. This was the way she had found to control her gigantic Titan, out there in the human realm.
The Queen looked down with appreciation to her hands, as multiple tiny roots connected to her fingers and around her arm. The lightened roots were attached all over her, which gave Ymir an extra precious glow. She turned her face upwards, to face the older Ymir.
“Well, I’ve grown, and so has my Kingdom,” the Fritz Queen replied with grace.
“Is that what we are? Your subjects?” Ymir, the older asked, crossing her arms, unimpressed.
“Not only subjects, all of you here and all those who have my blood down on Earth are more than that, you are all my children,” Ymir, the younger declared.
“Your children?” The older replied in disdain. “Girl, if it wasn’t for me your mother wouldn’t even be alive. I saved her from her suicidal nonsense multiple times.” Ymir made her point. “So careless,” she added in complaint.
The Queen turned to face the light again. “It’s true. I know how important you were to her. That’s why I guarded you. I just wanted to keep you from harm,” she revealed with grace.
Ymir, the older became confused, she didn’t know what game the witch was playing.
Ymir, the younger continued. “And when you called, truly desperate. I did answer, one last time. Didn’t I?” She asked for confirmation. “I dug you out of that hole,” the Fritz Queen reminded her Titan Shifter.
“I dug myself out,” Ymir, the older contested, slightly angry.
“No, you didn’t. I brought you the answer, I gave you the way out,” the younger Ymir contested back. “You called me for help, just like when you were a kid, and I did answer, just as I promised I would.”
Ymir, the older was taken back for a moment, she hadn’t thought of her guardian angel for a long time. “That wasn’t real. You-“ the woman was confused as she tried to process this new information. “You weren’t real! It was all in my head, how do you even know-“
“Everyone needs their imaginary friends,” Ymir, the younger interrupted in a joking but loving tone.
“Why? Why would you haunt me?” Ymir, the older contested.
“Haunt you? That’s harsh,” the Queen felt a little offended.
“Why would you appear to me like that?” the older asked, confused and baffled.
“As I told you, once,” Ymir, the younger explained. “You reminded me of myself.”
She took a longer breath and looked at her precious light tree. “You would cry for your parents, just as I would. You didn’t want to be alone, and neither did I,” she shared, “your parents seemed very nice. They were good people. I remember watching from up here," Ymir, the younger became reflective. “They were just very poor and they just did what every frail human does: they died.”
“You seem to make death to be a pretty silly thing,” Ymir, the older pointed out, crossing her arms.
“Well, not everyone can overcome it," Ymir, the younger replied nonchalantly.
She continued in her tale. “You would walk all alone at night, around the streets, crying for them. It reminded me of myself, crying in the woods.” Ymir became more reflective, “those woods were so dark, and I felt so small… I just wanted to see my mother again. I hoped she would come for me, that she would finally find me and take me back home.” She held herself, feeling very small.
Ymir, the older was speechless. She knew exactly what this frail and broken woman meant: she was that little girl too.
“And I know what you always wondered,” Ymir, the younger set her bait.
“And what would that be?” Ymir, the older challenged her.
“What is your real name,” the Fritz Queen relayed.
Ymir, the older gave out a half smile, still challenging the glowing witch. “My name is Ymir,” she confirmed with certainty.
“That’s the name the priests gave you, and you also had many others before, given to you in all those orphanages you ran away from,” the younger Ymir explained nonchalantly. “You probably don’t remember any of them do you?”
“Well, the true matter is, I got stuck with Ymir,” the older replied. “And I had it first,” she continued with a clever smile. “You were named after me-“
“I know.” Ymir, the younger replied with a sweeter smile.
The older wasn’t expecting that quick reaction, it took her by surprise.
“But don’t you want to know what your parents named you? The name they gave you? I’ve always wondered and I know so have you,” the Queen continued and Ymir felt like it was a trap, the witch was distracting her with emotions, or perhaps she just wanted a sweet moment with her homonymic friend. Either way, Ymir, the older felt very eerie and slightly upset with the conversation. ‘Why are you messing with me?’ she defensively questioned in her mind.
Ymir, the older couldn’t help but feel disconcerted and more fragile. She had wondered that for years, but she didn’t want to lower her guard in front of this other Ymir.
“They named you Maria,” Ymir said with a genuine smile. “I named my first daughter after you,” she revealed with grace, maintaining her smile.
The woman didn’t know how to react. She felt like a child again, wandering the dark streets at night; so frightened and unsure of what her life was supposed to be, longing and grieving for her parents.
‘Maria,’ this flooded her brain with emotions, unlocked lost memories, it was a lot to process. But she could process all that later, she had eternity to guard these memories and think of her parents. Maria recomposed herself quickly. She no longer was that little girl running away from another home, lost up on that roof; watching the moon and longing for her guardian angel. She was a much more experienced woman, a Soldier and an honorary Warrior. That guardian angel had turned out to be a demon. An evil witch who was just trying to play with her mind. She had a mission, so Maria made herself much colder and serious, and proceeded with the game.
“Why would you name your daughter after me?” She asked Ymir with uninterested eyes.
“Out of courtesy, I suppose,” Ymir considered. “You were a very important figure in my life, you took care of my mother, helped her in her darkest times. You actually helped both my parents and set them on the right path. If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t exist, so my name is quite fitting. And like my mother I decided to repay the favour, my dear Maria.”
“Perhaps I only did it to save myself,” Maria argued. “If you didn’t exist I wouldn’t be able to be saved, as you so kindly reminded us, you dug me out of that hole,” she cleverly crossed her arms.
“Well, aren’t we entangled in this selfish loop?” Ymir joked.
“What are you doing?” Maria questioned her with an admonishing tone.
“Oh, I’m just going about my day…” Ymir responded nonchalantly, “you were the one who came here, uninvited I might add.”
“There’s something very wrong going on in this place,” Maria reported. “There’s too much eeriness to it, much more than there was before.”
“And are you here to complain about it?” Ymir asked with a bit of mockery.
“What are you planning?” Maria crossed her arms, very mistrustfully.
“What I have always been planning, I’m getting out.” Ymir revealed, to her astonishment.
“You can’t get out of this place, this is your own prison,” Maria argued. “And no one else can either-“
“I suppose I’ll miss you,” Ymir interrupted, slightly lovingly.
“We are all dead, you can’t just go back!” Maria was dumbfounded. ‘This woman is too far gone,’ she complained in her mind.
“Watch me,” Ymir said defiantly, but with a smile. “You are worse than your parents!” Maria complained. Ymir let out a small laugh. “Absolutely crazy,” Maria whispered quietly to herself.
“Have you considered that you are risking the lives - well the undead existence - of all the thousands of Shifters in this place?” Maria continued with firm argument. “Do you ever think of anyone other than yourself?”
"Why would I? Besides, I was the one who cursed all of you here in the first place," Ymir argued back. "Don’t you want to be freed?” She asked in mockery.
Ymir and Maria looked up to the stars, the skies in that dimension were darker and filled with a strange dark-purpled energy swirling around the stars. That was the source of the eeriness Maria felt.
“Freed? You need to stop this!” Maria ordered, pointing upwards.
“No, no, no,” Ymir tutted and shook her head. “You don’t get to ‘mom’ me, I’m not Christa.”
The darkness was in the air, it was feeling heavier and heavier with each passing moment. Maria could tell things had gotten much worse since she left her companions and came looking for the witch. Evilness was swirling around the skies of that dimension. She had a horrible feeling in her insides. “You are going to kill us,” she whispered to herself, “you are planning to destroy us, aren’t you?” She asked louder now. “You don’t care about dooming us, if it means you can save yourself,” Maria added in disgust and anger.
“Maybe…” Ymir shrugged with an evil smile. “…And not just you, I’m starting anew,” she revealed wickedly. “It’s a whole new world out there.”
Maria looked around the skies, the paths and the light tree, trying to rationalise an answer. “It’s those odd roots around you, isn’t it? They are making you act erratically,” she concluded, and started to walk forward.
“Don’t move,” Ymir warned her but Maria kept walking in her direction. The Queen felt threatened.
“I am just trying to help you,” she insisted as she walked forward.
“Don’t come any closer!” Ymir ordered and stepped back, closer to the light tree. Maria reached out to grab the roots out of Ymir’s arm, but she was quickly trapped herself: a thinner cord appeared from the sand and wrapped itself around Maria’s arms, tying them together in a pure energy chain.
And in a blink of an eye she was transported back to her companions. Maria looked around to see her fellow Shifters all tied up with those light cords. She looked down to see her hands tied with those magical chains as well. Maria raised her arms slightly to see and examine the extension of the thin cord. It was a very thin rope made of pure and bright blue light, like magic; and extended all the way to the sand, trapping all the Shifters in that same place.
"So..." Porco asked, sitting next to her. He raised his hands to show the similar chains, annoyed. "How did it go?"
-.-
Ymir was on her own once again, just her and her precious light tree. "I am not letting any of you meddle with my plans." Ymir mumbled to herself and to her light tree. Back to concentration, she could focus on her mind again. She closed her eyes and opened them to see the Paradise skies once again, she was flying high, in the direction of her enemies, to destroy them.
When something broke her concentration yet again. Ymir could hear the giggles, running around her, pure childish laughter dancing in the wind. Like a horrible child haunting her nightmares.
And so, she became distracted by the annoying noise of laughter and her mind was transported back to that cursed dimension once again.
Ymir opened her eyes to see many speckles, like tiny stars, dancing around her, playing with her. The stardust would almost form a female shape then separate themselves once again. Floating around the cursed dimension, taunting and taunting the Fritz Queen, like a mischievous child who knew how to push someone's buttons. The apparition kept laughing and laughing and Ymir recognised that laughter, she knew this enemy pretty well.
"Not you! How are you here?” Ymir complained to the dusty speckles of light as the apparition came nearer her.
“How do you think?” the apparition winked. “I just came here to see you, dear sister,” she explained lovingly and sarcastically.
“Urgh. Don’t call me that,” Ymir complained in pure disgust.
“What a lovely plan you have,” the woman continued in her sarcasm as her stardust form became more clear. "You think you’ll destroy others, but in reality, I’ll destroy you," the apparition gave out her own threat.
“You witch!” Ymir let out in anger. And the stardust tilted her head, she took it as a compliment. “Now that’s more likely,” Sonnen replied.
-.-
≃2000 years ago
[Six Years after the first appearance of The Titan]
- the queen is expecting
Fritz Castle - at the tower's entrance hall
The princess was very contemplative after she had confirmed the recent news, her father's response to it was strange and unexpected to her. Elke was used to her parents' infidelity, she was aware of both sides of it since she'd been a teenager. Her mother always seemed to turn her head, only reacting to one or two to her father's many misdeeds. But her father was a much prouder man, he wouldn't stand for it, every man who had ever been confirmed as the old queen's lover was brutally murdered by Fritz's own hands. He actually took much pride and joy in those acts of vengeance.
Now, here comes this teenager, she not only took her mother's place but also managed to have many lovers, none of them ever hurt by her jealous father. Elke was very puzzled by all that, what sort of influence this little wench had on the King? She was known as a witch who could conjure such an enormous monster, but as a person, Elke'd known Ymir to be very weak and very easy to manipulate herself. From the moment the little slave had shown to have those immense powers it seems Fritz had been able to fully manipulate and control the girl. But maybe they had all been very wrong about her, maybe she was playing the long game with them, and they all fell for it. 'Maybe it was all an act,' Elke thought.
She had called Maud, her mother's old lady-in-waiting - who was now incredibly close and very much a servant of the new queen - to a meeting with her, Elke wanted information. She slowly paced around the hall, very reflective as she waited for the old woman.
"Your Royal Highness," the old maid slightly bowed as she entered the hall. The old and experienced woman quickly noticed the princess expression and realised this wouldn't be a simple chat, but a proper interrogation.
"You've become very close with the wench haven't you, Maud?" Elke accused. "Have you no shame?" she questioned.
The old woman bowed again, "I was just making sure to keep my role, my lady," she tried to explain her reasons. "One must do what is needed to survive in this world. When your mother left me behind-"
"Oh, please," the princess interrupted. "Don't expect me to pity you," Elke argued with some aggression. "You're perhaps the only of my father's whores my mother tolerated, she even considered you a friend," Elke crossed her arms. "Talking about whores, I hear the wench has a little bastard in the oven, how cute," she added in mockery.
"My lady, please, let's not be disrespectful to your father," the lady-in-waiting said solemnly.
"Disrespectful?" Elke laughed. "I am the one being disrespectful?" She questioned and continued. "I've also heard countless men go up that tower, considering what is said to happen up there I wonder how it took this long for her to become reckless and slip up- unless this wasn't a slip up-" Elke considered. "Did she ask you for help to get rid of it?" The princess was blunt with her questioning.
The old maid tried to distance and justify herself. "She never even mentioned anything to me, my lady, we are not as close as you think-" Elke rolled her eyes and interrupted the old woman. "Don't play the innocent card Maud, I've known you all my life. Who knows how many little bastard siblings I wouldn't have had if you weren't so good at that yourself?
The old woman took a step back and tried to recompose herself. She had forgotten how sharp the princess' tongue could be.
"Now, after everything that happened to Mother. Everything this family has gone through," the princess protested. "That little witch really thinks she can have her little bastard take my brother's rightful place?" She questioned the old woman. "Does she?"
"I-I don't know," the maid became more nervous.
"What is her plan?" Elke kept questioning.
"I really don't know!" The woman dramatically bowed down on the dirty floor, "milady, please!" she added, scared of the Fritz princess.
"Come on, you've been glued to her side since Mother left, you must know at least some of her lovers, surely," Elke argued, with arms crossed. The woman said nothing, she just kept her head bowed on the dirty ground. The princess walked closer to her and started to speak in a lower, softer and yet threatening voice.
"May I remind you, you once kissed my mother's feet," Elke told the senior maid. "Traitor," she accused the old woman. The woman stayed bowed in front of the princess. Elke looked at her with some disdain. "Are you going to talk? Or shall I fetch the dogs?" The Fritz princess threatened.
"No! Please," the old maid begged with her face on the dirt.
Elke slightly kneeled closer to the old woman's ear, with a hand on her scabbard. "Then start talking," Elke whispered and stood up abruptly. "Now, stand up!" she ordered the woman aggressively, still, with a hand on her scabbard.
The lady-in-waiting trembled as she tried to stand up. "Go on!" Elke shouted again with much authority, she crossed her arms as she was losing patience with that old woman. The old woman cleaned herself from the dirt as she stood up straight and looked for her voice, she was still shaken. The princess was very threatening.
"There- there aren't many men walking up that tower, I can assure you, my lady," the woman finally divulged, nervously. "The young queen is not as promiscuous as gossip has made her seem," she added as Elke tilted her head. She knew the woman had more to say, so she let the old woman continue: "No man goes up there- except for one."
Fritz Castle - the battalion's camp
The latest campaign had finished and most of the soldiers had returned and were camping in the outskirts of the main castle. The talk of the new queen being blessed had already spread around camp, General Ackermann was making plans with his higher officers in the main tent. He was a little dispirited as this meant they couldn't rely on the Titan to win battles for them, at least for the next year. And that meant they would lose a lot more soldiers if they were to keep up with their campaigns.
The King surely wouldn't want for the conquests to stop, as he was increasingly obsessed with expanding the Eldian Kingdom. A messenger came over the tent with a request from the King to see the General and his best soldier, so they left the camp and walked into the night, in the direction of the castle.
"Are you happy?" The old Ackermann asked the young soldier as they leisurely walked up the hill. He was a little curious.
Azzy stopped. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"You know, with the news?" Lud continued. "You seem a little distracted, concerned," he noted.
"Aren't we all?" Az asked back appropriately. Most Eldians considered the young queen to be a witch and a monster, so no one really knew what it would mean for a creature like that to be pregnant.
Ludvík stopped next to him and sighed, awkwardly trying to find the right words.
"Well, I just wonder what all that means, to your kind," Lud explained. The old Ackermann still firmly believed the children of the woods to be aliens, otherworldly creatures, and he wasn't completely wrong.
They were arriving closer to the castle, Azzy looked around a little preoccupied, there could be people near.
"Let's not talk about it now," he said, scratching his head confusedly. The young soldier seemed a bit nervous and overwhelmed. Lud grabbed him by the shoulder, caressing him lightly and fatherly. He gave the young man a small but nice smile and Az just looked back at him awkwardly.
They kept walking towards the castle.
"Good evening, Your Royal Highness," Lud greeted the princess who was standing near the base of the tower, and Az also nodded at her. Elke had been carefully watching as the two made their way from the camp towards the castle.
"It seems my father wants to speak to you," Elke noted with crossed arms. She looked at the General and then glanced at the soldier warily. The princess then walked inside and disappeared into the corridors.
Fritz Castle - the throne room
"Good job, boys," Fritz greeted the two from his throne as they walked into his presence. The General and his best soldier bowed, kneeling down completely, in reverence to the King. "It seems we are expanding fast," the old king continued the praise.
Ludvík stood up with a smile to his old friend, and Azymondeus motioned to do the same, when the King raised his hand in a negative motion.
"No, no," Fritz said. "You stay there, bowed, I prefer you that way. In truth, it is very enjoyable," he savoured and tilted his head, "to watch you kneeled from up here," the King added with a lot of mockery.
"Yes, Sir," the knight replied solemnly and looked down. Az had no idea what Fritz was up to, but he didn't expect anything good. There was a chill, an eerie wind in the air and the soldier just focused on looking towards the ground. He did so incredibly calmly.
Lud walked closer to the King, a little uncertain of Fritz's intentions but he could see the wheels turning behind Fritz's eyes.
The old King held his chin with one of his hands, thoughtfully. "What a specimen, don't you think, my friend?" He asked his General. "How long have you been here? A year or so? And you already accomplished so much. Earned higher ranking after higher ranking, you just keep making your way up," Fritz continued, he rested his back on the wooden throne, analysing the young man. "Ludvík seems to trust you," he pointed out.
"He's worth more than a hundred men, that one," Lud justified his decisions, adding praise to his young soldier.
"True," the King concurred. "So powerful isn't he? So many kills, very efficient. You've proven to be quite helpful for the cause, young man," he added condescendingly.
Az was starting to feel a little more nervous, so he just kept staring down, hoping that old man would just blab some more and then dismiss him. Fritz was hoping for a little more of a reaction from the mercenary, so he kept 'blabbing'.
"Look at you," the King raised his hands more cheerfully and turned towards Ludvík. "You know what makes me really curious," he asked his friend: "Lud, how many incomplete soldiers do you have?"
"Incomplete, Sire?" Ludvík didn't really understand the King's question.
"You know, with eyes, ears, hands, entire limbs missing," Fritz explained further.
"Oh, in this case, most of them are very much incomplete, especially the veterans," Lud replied with a small laugh.
"And I'm sure even the novices have at least a scar," Fritz continued with his logic.
"Or an eye, or finger or a small piece of something missing, yes," Ludvík confirmed. "But I'm sure they are also glad to still be alive."
Fritz stopped for a moment and analysed the kneeled soldier up and down again. "And yet look at this one," he continued. "You've been a soldier since you were what? Sixteen?" The King asked the young man, and waited for a response.
"Fifteen," Az replied, still looking down, still kneeled.
"Fifteen," Fritz repeated. "Quite a few years of experience in battle," the King noted. "And yet not a scar, not even a single scratch to be noted," he turned to his friend again. "Perfect. An absolutely perfect specimen. Lud, he's been fighting under you for over a year, and he's been fighting against you for many years prior to that. How many times have you seen him injured? If you've seen him hurt at all," the King questioned his general.
"I don't recall, Sir," Lud replied solemnly, lying of course.
"I'm just a good fighter," Az explained himself, "and careful," he added, still kneeled.
"Oh, my girl is a terrific fighter as well," Fritz boasted. "No scratches either," he added with his hand on the side of his mouth as if to conceal a gossip, and turned to Lud again. "It is a real shame she won't be able to serve you in our next conquest, my friend," he lamented to his general.
"We'll make do with what we have," Lud replied, solemnly.
"If only we could have two of those? Or more? Imagine what we could conquer then?" Fritz considered with his general, with his usual evil smile. He side eyed the soldier.
"You know, you have such a perfect face, young man. Why would you keep staring at that dirty ground?" He challenged the knight. "Look at me," he ordered.
Az raised his head up and looked at the King, he was still not sure what was the old man's game.
"Ah, yes, such a smooth surface," Fritz considered with his hand on his chin, "maybe a little too smooth. It takes a little from his soldier figure doesn't it?" He asked Lud, while considering it.
"He looks enough like a soldier to me," Lud replied, defending the young man's appearance.
"No," Fritz decided. "He needs at least a mark."
"A mark?" Az questioned.
Ludvík also became confused, he wasn't following the King's logic.
"Trust me," Fritz continued while standing up, "it will help you get better included with the rest of my men, more accepted. The Eldian soldiers are always so proud of their scars," the King explained. "Imagine being marked by the King? What an honour," he concluded.
Fritz then extended his arm towards the General, he gestured, asking for a weapon. Lud was trepidatious as he handed his sword over, "no, no," Fritz rejected the offered sword. "The small one you always carry around with you," the King explained. Lud retracted the sword and handed Fritz his small dagger.
The King walked down the dais and gently kneeled in front of the soldier. Az looked at him confused and unsure of how to react. He noted Lud making a small hand gesture for him to stand down, to remain calm and don't react. Az looked back to the front again where his eyes met Fritz's and he felt threatened and intimidated by that old, evil man. Fritz held the young man's chin quite firmly and moved Az's head from left to right. Carefully analysing it, as the time traveller felt completely frozen into his place.
"Left or right?" Fritz asked, but Az said nothing, he just looked very confused.
Fritz looked at Lud, who also didn't give him an answer. No preferred side to choose, it seemed. The King considered it himself. "Right," Fritz decided and swiftly slashed the soldier's right cheek.
Az just felt the blade go through and looked to the side to see his blood already steaming from the ground. He couldn't help himself, he immediately started to regenerate. The King's mark didn't last very long, as he had predicted. Fritz carefully watched as that otherworldly blue light shone through the cut as it quickly sewed itself back together again.
The old King looked at the blood steaming away from the blade and from the ground. He looked at Lud with his evil smile and then turned to face Az again. He gave two small slaps to the young soldier's left cheek, quite condescendingly. Fritz stood up. "You are dismissed," he ordered to the soldier.
Az held the right side of his face, in slight shock. He quietly stood up and started to walk away.
Fritz gently handed the dagger back to the General, still smiling. "Good product," he joked as the soldier was reaching the door.
"Keep 'em coming," Fritz told the young man with a slight wink as Az reached the door.
The old King walked back towards his wooden throne with a lot of gloat. "Am I dismissed too?" Ludvík quietly asked and Fritz made a nonchalant gesture for him to go.
"The light," Fritz turned and said as Lud was leaving. "It's the same from the glowing rocks," he noted and Lud nodded. "It worked, my friend, the ritual worked," Fritz continued and Ludvík looked back at him with dread. "I just didn't expect the creatures to be able to reproduce, that was certainly a bonus," Fritz revelled while sitting back on his throne, and the General left the room.
Ludvík walked fast towards the outside to reach his young friend who was quietly walking back to camp. He could see the young soldier's angry and disappointed expression as he reached him, but either of them said nothing, for a while. Azymondeus walked side by side with the old Ackermann, the night was bright and silent and there weren't any other soldiers around; after a while, he finally let his frustration out.
"You told him about me?!" Az turned towards the General, "I can't believe I actually trusted you," the young man added to the disappointment.
"I haven't," Ludvík responded solemnly. "And you know you can take me for my word. For what I gather, he already knew it before I did. What you have to ask yourself is: who actually told him," the General added, very suggestively.
"She would never," Az swiftly replied. "She wouldn't betray me like that."
"Maybe you don't know her as well as you think," Lud suggested.
-.-
- Year 854 - Shiganshina
[After the First Earthquake and the partial Crumbling of Wall Maria]
"I'm sorry," the small girl said in her dreams. "I'm sorry," she continued with small tears down her face. She was sitting on the sand, curved, with her hands holding her knees. "I didn't mean to, I-I knew it was the only way…" she trailed off on her own, with only the sands and the bright stars to hear her. When a small baseball slowly rolled near her side. Pieck was trepidatious and slightly remorseful, but she reached to grab it. The small ball then crumbled in her hand and quickly shaped itself into many little birds and she looked up to watch them all fly away, into the stars.
Her teenaged friend was walking up towards her, so she looked down again, still ashamed and regretful. Yeager kneeled down closer to her, "Don't cry, my dear," he pleaded, caressing her black hair and holding her face up, as they both looked again as adults now. "What are we fighting for?" Pieck questioned, very saddened. "None of this is worth it," she added.
Zeke stood up and looked towards the stars, the cursed stars in that cursed dimension. "We are fighting for the future, my dear," he told her with certainty.
"You won't be there," she replied, looking to the side.
"I was never meant to be," the War Chief reminded her. "My time was already running out, you did the right thing, my dear," he told her lovingly.
"Don't say that," Pieck replied, looking up towards him, extremely stricken by her own grief.
Zeke looked back at her with determination and kneeled in front of her again. He gently kissed her forehead. "Listen to me," Zeke said. He held her head and looked intensely into her eyes. "What happened doesn't matter. You have this power now, that's what matters," he told her very firmly. "So, use it," he finished as she looked intensely back at his eyes as well, Pieck woke up.
-.-
The Shifter felt out of place, she didn't know where she was, it took a few seconds for her to notice she wasn't inside her Titan anymore. Pieck's eyes were still lighting up red and her whole body was still steaming as she tried to sit up right, she held her head, trying to remember what had happened and how she ended up where she was.
She looked around the abandoned building, it was partially destroyed and all the furniture and parts of the roofs and walls were all over because of the recent earthquake. Pieck could hear the fighting outside as the enemy soldier defended the building from the Pure Titans who tried to reach her through the broken windows and open holes in the partially destroyed establishment.
When most of the noise stopped, and after a few seconds Kirstein made his way into the broken entrance. "Why are you helping me?" Pieck asked the soldier while holding her head, as she still felt dizzy.
"I saw what you did," Jean replied. "The real question is: why you did it?" he added, while crossing his arms and walking in closer to her.
Pieck quickly reached and grabbed a rifle next to her and pointed towards him, looking tired and weak but very determined, she pulled the trigger.
Jean smiled quite smoothly. "Did you really think I would just leave that loaded," he laughed, "right next to ya," he added and she threw the rifle at him in annoyance. Jean put it to the side. He leaned on a broken concrete beam. "So, back to what I was asking before," he crossed his legs and his arms, charmingly, and asked: "What exactly were you trying to achieve?"
"I was trying to stop those two from conjuring the Founder," she explained, still holding her head.
"Well, you were too late, it clearly didn't work," Jean pointed out to the open skies. "Have you seen the size of that thing," he looked up. "How are we supposed to fight that?"
"We?" Pieck questioned.
"Or you can just stay lying there, it's your call really," Jean joked. "What side are you on?" He asked more seriously. "Because I'm on the side of Life." Jean pointed at his chest, quite heroically.
"Life? That's rich coming from you," Pieck laughed, a tired laugh but a laugh nonetheless. "You killed a lot of my friends, Mr. Soldier Man," she added.
"Don't call me Mr. Soldier Man," Jean complained. "And let's not forget the amount of destruction you all brought upon this island when your 'friends' arrived here," he gestured the air quotes with anger. "You all killed a lot more."
"Ah yes, let us keep arguing on this thousand-year-war-conundrum and see if we finally get somewhere," Pieck threw back at him, annoyedly. She held her head.
"You don't look very well," Jean noted and uncrossed his arms. "Your sugar is probably very low. Let's see what we have here," he walked around that building. "Oh, lucky us. It's a shop!" He shouted from another room and came back with a small bag and a mouthful. "Want some candy?" He offered while already munching on some.
"I wanna say… John?" Pieck asked as she reached for the candy. "I hope this isn't poisoned," she joked before eating it.
"Jean," he corrected her. "And of course it is, because I took that split second to poison this candy to incapacitate a possible ally," he joked back. "Yes, I am that stupid, for sure. How did you guess my name?"
"I didn't guess it exactly, I've been on this island for a few days, watching you all," she explained. "And… ally?" She asked back.
Jean finished chewing on a mouthful of candy. "Let me guess it now: you are Pieck Finger, the holder of the Cart Titan, and one of the 'Mighty Warriors'," he gestured the air quotes.
"We are not the 'Mighty Warriors', we are just the Warriors," she reached for more candy.
"Sounded better my way," Jean tilted his head as she grabbed more from the bag. "Still, well done, you would make for a good spy." She added with some praise.
"Not a spy," Jean explained while eating. "My big-brained friend ate your friend," he pointed at her. "And he was quick to profile every single one of ya," Jean looked to his almost empty paper bag. "Talking about that, you must be really enjoying some sweetness after the last gross thing you ate, that was disgusting." He noted while eating the last piece of candy.
Pieck looked to the side. The Cart Titan had previously consumed the Beast Titan Shifter, it had been a radical utmost decision, with only that one Survey Corps soldier as a witness to the carnage. She didn't want to think about it.
"Are you feeling a little better?" he asked.
"Ally?" She raised her eyebrows, going back to a previous topic.
"Well," Jean looked down to his weapons and to his back. "I'm almost out of gas-"
"Ew," Pieck interrupted.
"We use gas to fuel our equipment," he annoyedly started to explain.
"I know," she smiled. "I was just joking."
"You have a strange sense of humour," Jean complained.
"I do? Mr. Jibber-Jabber," she retaliated, still smiling.
"Stop trying to give me nicknames," Jean complained as he came closer, putting his hands around her. "What are you doing?" Pieck asked, confrontationally.
Jean stepped back. "Well, can you transform?" he asked and she bit her hand. Jean looked at her slightly disgusted and with worry as Pieck looked down to her bleeding hand, very tiresome. "No," she quietly replied.
"Can you walk?" he asked and she tried to stand up, unsuccessfully. "As I thought. So, I'm carrying you back with me to the compound," Jean explained while reaching to carry her. "There you can rest a little more and I can recharge my equipment as well," he finished explaining and then took her out of that building with him.
-.-
Closer to the city's - now destroyed - entrance the Armoured Titan was making his way around the rubble, Reiner was confused, he was trying to decipher who his enemy was now. Eren had completely disappeared from his sight, the city was falling apart and the Mindless Titans, both big and small were very much interested in him, they could smell him. The Armoured was looking around, trying to find Gabi, Falco and the others. He didn't really have a plan, everything was falling apart now. 'Let the second wave come, then I'll think of my next move,' Reiner thought as he ran across the destroyed city.
He finally heard a whistle and turned to see his cousin waving from one of the buildings' windows. Reiner went towards her and reached with his Titan's hand to grab the small girl.
Gabi looked up towards the Armoured. "We have to find Falco! And the Braus," she shouted amidst all the city noise, while securing herself better on the Titan's hand.
'Braus?' Reiner thought and looked at her confused. The Armoured was momentarily distracted and that wasn't ideal. Pure Titans big and small were surrounding them amidst all the rubble. The dust in the air and all the destruction made seeing more difficult. But Reiner quickly noticed when a shadow stopped right above him and a Pure Colossal Titan reached to grab him, just as he had just grabbed his small cousin moments before.
He growled as the gigantic Titan grabbed him by the neck, and brought him up to its mouth. Gabi lost balance and clumsily jumped from his hand, luckily landing on the building's roof, the same building she was hiding before. She fell badly and twisted her ankle, the small girl turned to see the Armoured Titan being effortlessly lifted in the air by that Pure Titan. Gabi became very scared.
'Run,' Reiner thought, growling with his Titan once more, and she understood his eyes. Gabi found her bearings on the roof again and with some difficulty climbed down the wall to the inside of the building through one of the windows, as other smaller Pure Titans reached to grab her.
The big Pure Colossal Titan started to pull the Armoured Titan apart, as others started to take notice of the Shifter and slowly started to grab at his limbs as well. Reiner struggled, biting and gnawing the giants, trying to find his way free. Those Titans were extremely hot to the touch and he started to feel like he was boiling; as a Shifter, he was accustomed to a certain amount of heat inside his Titan, but this was starting to feel unbearable, he was starting to lose consciousness.
Reiner was about to pass out, his Titan stopped moving, he stopped struggling. But he startled with a tremendous noise. The Armoured Titan started to fall as the main Pure Titan holding him had lost its grasp. The Colossal Titan had punched and shoved the Mindless Titans who were about to consume the Armoured. Reiner looked up to see the Colossal Titan struggling, fighting with only one working arm, his Titan seemed weak and badly transformed. He seemed to have already lost some of his flesh and limbs while fighting the other monsters. Armin was struggling.
ϟ "Get out of here!" ϟ He advised with severity and Reiner understood.
The Armoured Titan dropped to the ground and tried quickly to find his bearings. He started to run inwards the city again, looking back to see the Colossal Titan struggling as he fought countless giant beasts equal his size. It didn't look particularly easy, to the contrary, it looked extremely difficult, hellish even. 'He certainly isn't used to that,' Reiner thought. 'None of us is.'
-.-
Springer was scared, confused and undecided. He thought of his mother, he knew he had a chance to finally save her. If only he could take the comatose boy to his hometown, back to Ragako. He was hoping for a chance to revive his mother, if only for the next thirteen years. 'Thirteen is better than nothing,' he thought. 'Thirteen is better than an eternity of agony,'
They were at the highest partially destroyed storey, in one of the many buildings of the already partially destroyed city.
Shiganshina had seen a lot in those last few years, but nothing closer to this so far. The city had been rebuilt once again in the last three years, and now it was being torn apart once more. There were Colossal Pure Titans disorderly walking and stomping all over it, there were radical Earthquakes and there were also smaller Pure Titans, which at this moment were the biggest concern to Springer and his new Shifter prisoner.
Connie had tied the boy with makeshift ropes, just in case. But he could tell the small twelve-year-old was too weak and would be easily overpowered, if he were to wake up. Connie was worried about the Pure Titans coming closer to the building, they could smell that Shifter. He was also slightly worried about the bigger Colossal Titans stomping so erratically and of the possibility of another earthquake to happen, 'well that would collapse the whole building,' he thought.
The Scout was calculating the amount of gas he had left and how long it would take him to get to the compound to refill. He was finally determined. Springer knew his desire was selfish, but Armageddon had arrived and any hope for world saving he had was lost. He only thought of spending these next moments with his mother, before it was all over. He just wanted to see her again, as a happy and healthy human; he wanted to talk to her, to have a conversation and to hear her laugh. Even if taking a child's life was the price, to see his mother he was willing to pay. He had made his decision.
The Pure Titans were walking around the town, but not very close. He started to calculate how he could sneak around them and what would be the safest and quickest route to the compound. "Colt…" Connie heard the faint voice of the young boy as he was looking around outside through one of the broken windows. He turned back to see the small Shifter starting to move slightly, he was waking up. Connie quickly but carefully unsheathed one of his swords.
"Colt, where are we?" The boy asked more loudly while opening his eyes.
"Don't move," Connie replied, pointing his sword towards him.
"Who are you?" Falco asked, trying to sit up right, which was difficult, for he was tied up.
"No one that matters," Connie replied.
"You're helping me," Falco pointed out, sounding confused.
"Not exactly," the Scout retorted.
"What happened…" the new and young Shifter trailed off while holding his head. "I-I don't remember anything… Are you an Eldian Soldier?" Falco asked.
"What?" Connie asked back, slightly confused.
"You know, a Paradisian. I can tell by your clothes and those odd gears," Falco pointed out. "You're not a Marlean soldier, why are you on my side?" he asked.
"I'm not on your side," Connie retorted. "I'm protecting you," he explained.
"Isn't that the same thing?" Falco questioned.
"Didn't you notice I tied you up?" The Scout asked with a slight smile. Connie realised the boy's naivety, he had also failed to notice the Scout had a sword pointed at him for the entirety of this conversation.
"But that's because I'm a-" the boy started naturally but stopped himself with the realisation. "-I'm a Titan...?" he trailed off. 'How-How do I know that..?' The boy held his head worriedly as his memories started to come back.
Connie sheathed his sword. He became worried for the young boy.
"I killed him! I-I I killed him!" Falco shouted quietly and became more agitated. His memories were returning and he'd finally realised. "He's gone! I can't believe he is gone! No! Oh, Colt!" The young boy started to cry and Springer rushed to aid him, giving him a sweet, brotherly hug.
"Calm down," Connie said more softly. He decided to free the boy from the ropes, for the young one was acting erratically with this realisation, and he could end up hurting himself. As soon as Connie cut the ropes Falco reached and hugged him and continued to cry.
"It's alright, it's all going to be alright," the young soldier comforted the boy as he cried. Connie reminisced of his younger siblings as this small boy cried in his arms. 'What am I doing? He is just a kid,' Springer thought.
After a few minutes the boy was starting to calm down and only sobbed more quietly. "M-maybe you should leave…" the small boy trailed off, still sobbing and scratching his red eye. He'd cried a lot in only a few minutes, his throat was sore and his eyes felt like burning and scratching.
"Leave..? What do you mean?" Connie asked with confusion while still holding the fragile boy.
"He was trying to protect me and-and he died, he was too close to me," the boy tried to explain.
"That Colt person you mean?" Connie concluded.
"Yes, my brother-" the boy replied with watery eyes one again "-and he died. I-I killed him!"
"Well, I don't think it was your fault," Connie tried to appease the young Falco.
"Regardless, what if it happens again? I don't want to kill another person-" Falco maintained his request. "You should go, I can't risk putting anyone else in danger," he pleaded with the Survey Corps soldier.
Connie laughed. "We don't even know each other, why would you want to protect me from harm?" Springer kept the laugh.
Falco gave him a half-smile. "You seem nice-" the small boy explained, still scratching his eye.
Connie continued. "You're supposed to want to kill me," he argued. "Aren't you one of those child soldiers the Marleans train from a very young age?"
"Yeah, but I'm an Eldian too, we're the same-" the boy thought about it, "and even if we weren't I wouldn't just kill someone, it's wrong."
"Huh," Connie let out, he was confused and impressed by the boy.
-.-
[Still] Year 854 - Somewhere in Sina
"You can feel that right?" Hitch asked as they sat on a table and ate some pies. Annie was lost in thought, her mind was still adjusting after all those years. She looked towards the horizon, to the high clouds, completely ignoring her MP friend. "Annie?!" Hitch insisted a little louder while munching on her pie.
She snapped her fingers in front of the tiny blonde's face and Annie held her hand and threw it away from her eyesight. "Feel what?!" the small woman asked.
"The earth, it is still shaking. Do you think it's that thing in the sky?" Hitch wondered. "It's so big, maybe it makes the ground shake when it comes closer to it," she considered.
"No," Annie replied and stood up. "I believe we are not done having earthquakes," she gave out her own theory. The Titan Shifter then started walking slightly forward, she seemed confused and undecided. Annie held her head and looked down.
"Then we should look for a place to hide, what if it hits closer to us this time? That first one was very far, maybe this next one won't be…" she trailed off, Hitch could tell Annie's mind was elsewhere once again. "Where are you going?!" The MP asked as Annie walked forward.
"Home," Annie turned and replied. "Now that I finally can." She added in anguish. "I need to see my father before it is all over." The Warrior walked to the edge of the small town, in the direction of the MP horses.
"Wait," Hitch continued to follow her to the fields. "How are you even planning to get there, this is chaos-"
Annie suddenly stopped and Hitch bumped into her in the inertia.
"What is it now?" Hitch annoyedly asked the small blond woman.
Annie was concentrated in a specific point of vision. "Can you see that?" She asked Hitch while squinting slightly.
"See what?" Hitch asked, looking around the field with confusion.
"The small light, can you see it?" Annie explained.
"The small light?" Hitch was still confused.
"There," Annie pointed towards nothing. "It's like a tiny creature…" she trailed off as she tried to describe it.
"Maybe it's a tiny fairy," Hitch joked, whispering in her friend's ear. Annie rolled her eyes.
"It's right there, hovering," Annie insisted with small frustration, still pointing.
"I-I don't see anything-" Hitch shrugged with sincerity.
"It's running into the Woods!" Annie exclaimed and ran towards one of the horses. She quickly hopped in one of them and rode fast towards the forest. She was completely focused, the Warrior didn't want to lose the creature out of her sight.
"What are you doing?!" Hitch complained, slightly baffled and very confused. "You can't just steal one of our horses! You're not a MP anymore!" She shouted while running towards her own horse. The MP quickly started to follow her old friend, she rode fast, trying to catch up. "It's going to be one of those days, isn't it?" Hitch complained under her breath and sighed.
Both friends rode fast into the dark woods.
-.-
≃2000 years ago
[Six Years after the first appearance of The Titan]
- a baby is born
Fritz Castle - the tower
The small baby girl slept quite peacefully in her mother's arms. Ymir rocked the newborn back and forth around the room, almost dancing, she was almost glowing with her pure joy. It had been three days since the labour had happened and Ymir had quickly regained her energy. She'd had the baby on her own as the midwives and maids had rushed scared out of the Queen's quarters during the witch's labour. Ymir had shown them to be a witch alright, for during the baby's birth she couldn't contain herself from producing a very bluish and greenish Titan Crystal all across the room. Her eyes shone very bright and she produced much lightning while creating the crystal, which made all the women run from the tower in complete fear.
Now, three days had passed and Ymir had already healed completely, even her bleeding had stopped only a few hours after the labour, which'd take weeks to happen for regular women, but made complete sense for the holder of the Original Titan. The baby's afterbirth had also crystallised and later crumbled into stardust, which fascinated the mother.
Ymir could regenerate, that was a staple of her character; and with the extraordinariness of the birth and knowing full well the immense capabilities of both extraordinary parents, the mother had become puzzled by the extreme ordinariness of her baby. The small thing looked as any other human and her umbilical cord hadn't healed as Ymir had expected. Nevertheless the mother rejoiced with her newborn in her hands, she was extremely happy. She played around the room, showing the tiny child all the beautiful crystals and the light shining through them, even with the baby not having clear eyesight yet, Ymir still wanted to show her every single little thing around.
The room was completely covered in crystal, almost like Ymir had accidentally recreated a childhood dream of hers while giving birth. One or two of the bravest maids had come to check on her as Ymir fed and took care of the small child. Even if the Queen assured them it was safe, the castle was still mostly empty, and a lot of the villagers were scared and considering leaving their homes for a while. They were all afraid the Queen was going to turn into a monster, or maybe that baby would turn into a monster, either way they were afraid the whole castle and the village would be destroyed.
The Fritz and most nobles also weren't around, and neither was the Army. They were out in conquest, and it took a while for the King to be informed of the baby's birth. 'Good,' Fritz thought, he quickly and quietly asked Lud to send two of his boys back to Fritz Castle. And Ludvík chose Erik and Axl. Fritz didn't want others to know, first he didn't want the real progenitor to be aware of it, for it could be a distraction and he wanted his best warrior at the top of his game in this crucial campaign.
But second and more importantly, he didn't want Torin or any of the Royal Children to be aware, even if Fritz had sworn he wouldn't remove Torin's birth right - even if it was a boy - he knew his children were on the violent side and had fantasised of removing the little bastard from the oven quite graphically multiple times on dinners right in front of him and the new queen; mostly to bully the wench but Fritz knew there was truth in their joking but quite violent threats. And the children knew they couldn't trust him, Fritz wasn't exactly 'a man of his word' so it made sense for Torin to want to make complete sure nothing would threaten his future reign.
Fritz knew the Royal Children were thirsty for the wench's blood and would be quick to take the opportunity and kill the little one, and that would defeat the purpose of him getting his brand-new monsters. He wanted to make sure the Ackermann boys would arrive back at the castle to protect the new queen and safeguard the 'good product' before his children were the wiser. The old King was joyful with the news, he couldn't help but smile. He was already imagining a whole army of those monsters, a whole army under his command, more and more slaves, more and more conquests. He was going to rule the Ancient World!
The only thing the General was told was of the King's worry with the possibility that marlean soldiers could go back to the village and raid the castle while they were in this battle, which was a plausible reasoning. That was the only explanation given for Lud to send two of his sons to safeguard the Queen, for Fritz didn't even want to trust his closest friend with this information.
Back at Fritz Castle, Ymir was very much on her own. Many of the villagers had decided to camp further away and only brave or foolish people stayed in the vicinity. News of the 'light show' that had been that birth spread quickly and people became more fearful of the monster and of the things they couldn't understand. Among the foolish people that stayed were retired soldiers and councilmen, the King's advisers, all foolish and drunk men who enjoyed a 'challenge' or better yet, enjoyed pretending they could face challenges.
They were all drinking for the past few days in the castle's halls, to commemorate the arrival of another heir, as it was customary, even if the King weren't there. Of course, crude jokes were their speciality as that was the only thing in their small minds beyond war and violence.
"If a baby came out, it means she has one, just saying," one of the foolish drunkens joked and continued to drink his pint.
"She's quite slender," another added, gesturing a female figure in the air and whistled. "The King is lucky, even I couldn't pay for a whore like that," he continued in his drunkenness and the others laughed.
"She's too weak, not enough meat in those bones," another complained. "Her Majesty wouldn't be that expensive if she was in the market," he joked as well.
"You can't be sure if she has one," another countered the first and kept drinking. "We can't know if the little monster came out of a hole or if she used a spell, hell we don't even know if she is a she," he stopped and burped and tried to rephrase himself, even in his drunken state he knew that didn't make much sense. "I mean we don't know if IT, if it is a she, that thing isn't human. Have you seen the size of that monster? We don't even know how she makes herself so tiny," he added, gesturing the idea of 'tiny' with two of his fingers.
"True, it's dark magic," another concurred.
"She's human alright, she has all the women parts," one of the King's advisers added, a little more soberly but still drunk nonetheless. He drank even more of his pint as the others looked towards him across the table.
"I bet she doesn't, how would you know?" another retired soldier countered the younger adviser.
"I saw her bathing," the adviser continued and that called the attention of all men in the room, "after the birth, there was no one up there, not even a maid. I'd given her the pot and the towel if I could, but I didn't want to spook her…" he trailed off full of desire.
And the men kept joking around, they all even started to make crude drawings of her, like it was customary for those idiots. Monstrous deviant and devilish drawings of relations they imagined the witch having and how she - or it - could reproduce. It was their main joke for the moment and they kept drinking and laughing, passing around the drawings and telling more crude anecdotes. Some of them even started singing, all extremely drunk.
The adviser still had that thought in mind. He had gone up the tower out of pure curiosity and had spied on the young queen every day since he had seen her bathing. He had watched her change and breast feed the small one. He had seen her singing and playing around with the small creature. It was fascinating, she was almost human. Now he knew he didn't have much time, soon the King would send reinforcements now that the baby had been born. He also knew the witch was probably weak with the birth, it had only been a couple of days. 'She won't put up a fight,' the foolish drunken thought. And with the castle almost completely empty. 'No one will hear her screams,' he also thought.
So, the idiot stood up quietly among the other drunkens and silently made his way up the countless stairs of the witch's tower. And as predicted, no one even noticed it.
"Who are you?" Ymir asked indignantly as the ugly man smiled at her door. She held her newborn closely and very protectively.
"Look at you," the adviser looked at her up and down and smiled, a smile with very few teeth. Ymir was disgusted and slightly scared. "It's your lucky day, puppy," he added walking into the Queen's quarters very clumsily.
"Get out," Ymir gravely ordered and pointed very regally with her hand. "Out," she insisted, then put her newborn baby in the crib, standing by the side of it. Ymir was young and naive, she didn't realise that evil man's intention right away, she expected he wanted to harm her child.
Although Ymir lived in such a cruel, crude and violent society, she'd never had those kinds of advances before, for the men in the village thought she wasn't completely a woman; or even if she was, they still were afraid she would poison or curse them, since she was a witch. All they did was create rumours of her promiscuousness and lie about having already laid with her, they would make jokes about it, but in reality they were all afraid of her.
"You must be feeling so alone up here, so neglected," the ugly man continued. "The King left so long ago, taking all your toy soldiers with him."
"Toy soldiers?" Ymir asked, confused.
"I know you must prefer those glistening, strong younger men, but I'm all you've got," he slightly opened his arms with the offering and Ymir held herself closer to the baby's crib, feeling confused and scared, the young mother didn't know what to do.
"We are all a bit curious on how you made that little one," the adviser pointed at the crib. "Was it dark magic or did you have a more fleshy weapon contributing to it," he made a very crude gesture with his hands, over-explaining his point. "Want to make another one?"
"How dare you talk to me like that?" She gravely asked and went to reach for her small bell.
"No, no, move again and I'll cut off that pretty hand of yours," he threatened, pretending to have a weapon, even though he didn't. "And I hear you can regrow them, anything else you can regrow?" he joked with a crude smile.
Ymir became more scared, she slowly moved closer to the crib again, trying to think of a way out of this situation.
"Besides there's no one out there, everyone is gone," the man continued, "they are all scared of you. But I am not," he threatened, slightly walking forward. Ymir said nothing, she became paralysed. "It's all for show, isn't it? Underneath all that you're just a fragile and ironically quite small woman."
"Don't call me small, I'll burn you to a crisp," she finally threatened, quite gravely and aggressively.
"Go ahead," he took the threat. "It will be a fun way to go," he added, opening his arms wide to add with the mockery.
"Get out of my room. I won't say it again," Ymir maintained.
The man lunged forward, grabbing her all over and with much strength, she felt absolutely disgusted and desperate. "Let go of me," she ordered with difficulty. Ymir tried to reach for his weapon but she quickly found out the leather scabbard was empty and the man laughed at her. Ymir tried to yell and the ugly man put his hands over her mouth, and the newborn started to cry.
Ymir bit his hand off and reached for one of the many pointy, sharp crystals around the crib's head. The man was distracted for a second with his blooded bitten hand and before he could react, Ymir stabbed him through the chest. The young mother stabbed that ugly assaulter thirty-seven times.
Her baby was still crying as Ymir curved herself nearer the crib, she was drenched in blood, almost in a trance. The body in front of her was unrecognisable, it would take days to identify who the assailant was. The young mother was sitting on a pool of blood. Ymir couldn't move, she couldn't even recognise that her baby was crying, her bright white gown was completely red, the pretty crystals all around her had lost their beauty. The whole room felt empty and she couldn't let go of the sharp blooded crystal on her hand. No one else could hear the baby cry, they were too high up in the tower.
It took twelve hours for the Ackermann brothers to arrive at the castle. They found it odd how empty it was but they went straight up the tower, after all their duty was to protect their queen. But they were very late.
After another two weeks, the rest of the Army arrived back at the village and the two brothers were relaying to their father, the General, everything that had occurred.
"She wouldn't move, she wouldn't let us touch her," Axl explained. "We removed the body but that was it, Erik had to cradle the baby so it would stop crying, it was like she couldn't hear it."
"She wouldn't let us help her up, she just sat there, she didn't want any man touching her," Erik added.
"But you two are like her brothers," Ludvík said, quite upset.
"We had to convince one of the toughest maids, and even she was afraid Ymir was going to stab her senseless as well," Axl continued.
"I don't believe she did it senselessly," Erik corrected his brother.
"I know, it's just an expression," Axl added, crossing his arms. "The important thing is it took a while for her to let others help her, the maid helped her change and took care of the baby and we had to clean all the blood."
"And it was a lot," Erik continued. "I don't think we cleaned it all. And she hasn't said anything or got out of the bed ever since, it's been weeks."
Ludvík walked to the side, shocked and extremely upset. Ymir was like a daughter to him, the only daughter he had. He took a deep breath and walked to the other side of the wall, entering a dark room, he knew who was hiding in there.
"I knew you were listening," Lud whispered, very solemnly, but the younger man said nothing, he was leaning quite sadly on the wall, in that dark room. He looked like a young boy, very innocent, crying very quietly.
Ludvík looked at him very firmly. "My question is: what are you still doing here?" He asked and Az understood. He cleaned his tears and recomposed himself. He jumped, in a flash of blue light; the other Ackermann boys noticed the quick flash of light, but thought nothing of it.
Azymondeus quietly walked into the room, from the balcony as he was used to, he had never even sat foot on the regular stairs. She could hear his steps, they were familiar. But Ymir didn't even move, she didn't acknowledge his presence. He looked around at all the beautiful crystals and quickly noticed the faint stain on the stone ground, he tried to pull himself together. Az was angry and deeply upset but he was also powerless in this situation.
He walked slowly and calmly towards the crib. The small newborn was sleeping very peacefully now, she even let out a small yawn as her father came near to meet her. Az smiled with the sight, a small and broken smile as he still had tears in his eyes. He looked towards the Queen's bed, he could tell she was awake, she clearly just didn't want to face him, not yet. Az reached for the baby but stopped once he heard Ymir's broken voice.
"You weren't here," she said, very quietly.
Az reached and grabbed the small baby. He held her with a lot of joy, in spite of everything. He cradled the sleeping baby as he looked around to see how the doors were reinforced, he could also tell there were guards on the other side. 'Good, but not enough,' the father thought. Az kissed the baby's forehead very lovingly. He then slowly paced, walking in the direction of the bed. He sat down calmly.
"I am never leaving your side, ever again," he promised, looking towards Ymir. "Both of you," He added, looking to the baby now. "She's absolutely beautiful," the father said with tears in his eyes, happy tears now.
He reached to caress Ymir's hair. "Don't touch me," she quietly said in alarm and quickly moved herself away. He understood. So he stayed there in silence; next to her, on the bed, but not so close, respecting her space. Az just stared at that beautiful sleeping baby in his arms. He was completely in love with this new creature, it was the only redeeming thing in an otherwise horrific situation.
After a while Az noticed Ymir was staring intensely at her hands, she seemed contemplative and slightly confused.
"Ymir, you're not a killer, you know that," he said quite softly. "You were just protecting yourself, it was a natural defence," Az argued. Ymir had never killed a person before, at least not in human form.
"I knew when he was dead," she finally spoke again. "It was very early on. But I didn't want to stop, I was just angry and I knew he deserved much more."
"That doesn't make you a bad person," Az reassured her.
Ymir finally let out a small smile, she sat upright, a little more lively, on the bed. "Are you saying I'm a good person?" she questioned.
Azzy laughed, still with their tiny newborn in his arms, the baby was still asleep. "Ymir, we are not good people, neither of us," he said, looking at her eyes very charmingly and Ymir gave him a half-smile. "But we are not bad people either," he proceeded with his argument. "We are just people."
The father took a deeper breath and looked into her eyes again. "And that monster got what he deserved," he told her very seriously, Az was full of anger.
"He barely touched me," Ymir said, "besides his sweaty hands on my face and his dirty, disgusting grasp," she shivered in pure disgust. "Still I was quick enough, he didn't get far, he didn't get what he wanted."
"Good," Az responded, maintaining his anger. "I'm glad you killed him," he affirmed, very gravely. The father continued. "And even if he didn't defile you, he tried. That was his intention. Do you know what I would have done if you hadn't killed him? Because I don't even want to think it."
"A lot more than just kill that idiot, I imagine," Ymir considered.
"A lot more," Az confirmed. "And not just to him, to all these disgusting, horrible people in this Era."
"Then let's stop talking about that vermin, I'm tired of letting this spoil my happiness," She said and caressed the baby's head. They both looked at each other and smiled, very purely.
"She's perfect," Az said, staring very lovingly at the small baby girl. He played with the baby's fingers.
"She can't regenerate," Ymir quietly commented.
"So?" Az asked. "Neither could you, not at least until later, when you fell…" he thought about it. "How did you get your powers again?"
"I was born with them," She answered nonchalantly. "Just like my brother."
"Still, you couldn't manifest them until you were thirteen," he reiterated.
"Where do your powers come from?" Ymir asked.
"You know I have no idea," Az shrugged, "no one does."
He looked at the small newborn. "I clearly can't pass it down, that's good," he said in relief. Az didn't want to pass his curse forward. Ironically and unbeknownst to him, he was about to pass his curse down to a whole nation of people, not in the most convenient of ways, of course.
"What do you want to name her?" He asked the mother.
"Maria," Ymir replied, caressing the baby with much love as baby Maria slept peacefully in her father's arms.
Az thought about it, "That's a strange name, certainly not common here," he noted. "Where are you getting it from?"
"Oh, just an old friend," she shrugged, nonchalantly. "It's not worth explaining it really," she added and carefully took the baby from the father's arms. And Az carefully gave the baby for her to hold.
"Hello, my lovely Maria," Ymir said, very motherly towards her baby.
'Where have I heard that word before?' Az thought.
.
The Second Earthquake and the complete destruction of Wall Maria
[ Year 854 - Shiganshina ]
The cancerous creature was rising. The being of unknown origin was an imitator, and for billions of years it had learned how to imitate Earth and its intricate structures. Once it had been dormant, asleep. But now, with Ymir's help it had found its way upwards towards Paradise Island.
It had been an unknown price to be paid, Ymir perhaps subconsciously knew, or perhaps not. After two millennia near her precious Light Tree it was possible, plausible, she would still only have the mind of a naive child, without thinking of consequences. Ymir knew she wasn't coming back into the present on her own, she knew the creature was coming with her; after all, that energy, the power: it all came from the creature itself.
The creature had been attached to the Earth's core for billions and billions of years, undisturbed. It had its own sanctuary, its proper 'grave'. It could mimic many Earth formations, but it had trouble fitting itself in such a limited dimension. When it happened: two small earthly beings were able to breach said dimensions, and the creature became interested in them.
The two children had had their story told, the creature knew them well, atemporal as always. It took a special interest in the girl, it decided to deal with the boy later. The creature very much enjoyed chaos and let's be frank, it had been extremely bored for billions of years at this point.
It invited the girl in: the chaos had started.
Now after two millennia, the girl had returned to the crystal dimension and she made a deal with the creature, they came back to Paradise: together.
The First Earthquake
The tremendous power and energy released during the Original Titan's transformation completely obliterated the most Southern Region of Wall Maria. Ymir came from underneath the earth and it caused unparalleled destruction. This was the very first sequence of earthquakes that took down much of the southern part of this outer Wall, releasing many Wall Titans from their slumber. And it also caused significant damage to Wall Rose, and even some damage to Wall Sina, not enough to free any Wall Titans, but enough to cause fear on the Underground citizens.
The underground population had their reasons to be scared, for they were closer to the ground and they knew there was something else under there. Something that was moving up as well, fast.
The Island never really stopped shaking after the First Earthquake, when the goddess Ymir reemerged in all her glory. The earth continued to shake slightly, and Ymir knew it was only a matter of time before the Second Earthquake hit. She was expecting it, as she hoped it would finally take down Wall Maria completely, so her precious Titans could walk. The steadfast mother was waiting for her precious Titans to hatch.
-.-
Gabi was hiding alone in one of the many buildings of the city of Shiganshina, she quietly looked from the small corner, of the small window, looking for help. She eventually found said help. The Braus and the Marlean cook were looking insistently for her and Falco, they had managed to evade the Pure Titans so far, big and small.
The group walked low, to avoid detection. They all looked miserable and in pure alert, specially the young children, for they all knew they were living in an apocalypse. Gabi yelled and frantically waved from the distance, they were quite far but Niccolo eventually noticed the small girl shouting from the small window. He pointed, showing her to Mr. Braus, who gave out a relieved smile.
The family met at the building's door. "Where is Falco?" Mrs. Braus asked Gabi with concern after giving the girl a tight hug. The girl only shook her head. "I don't know, I-I haven't seen him since the Wall came down," Gabi explained while shivering. She hugged Kaya and the other kids as well and Mr. Braus scratched his head. "What now?" He quietly asked the cook, and Niccolo brought him to the side; while Mrs. Braus and Kaya worriedly checked Gabi's twisted ankle.
"Falco might be a lost cause," Niccolo explained, "remember, with the wine? Maybe we should just accept the loss and head back; we need to find a village, somewhere safe, the most important is: we need to get out of this city." He quietly made his point.
"No," Gabi countered, "he transformed. Falco is a Shifter now," she continued worriedly. "We-we need to find him. He's either lost out there on his own or one of the soldiers took him."
Niccolo took the heavy gun from Gabi's shoulder and put it on his own. "Well, if he's a Shifter, maybe he can be left to his own devices," the Marlean cook considered, being rational about it.
"He's still a kid, regardless," Mr. Braus argued back. "We can't just leave him behind."
"It's just," the cook looked around the family, "we've been lucky so far." Niccolo held the gun closer, showing concern and apprehension. "We need to leave."
Mrs. Braus considered. "We can make a way similar to where the boy has been," she cleverly suggested and turned to Gabi: "you were with him, you can take us there, right? If we find him, we find him, if we don't- well then we accept the loss and leave the city," the matriarch proposed and her husband nodded.
The three adults agreed. That's when they noticed the building shaking, a second, stronger wave of earthquakes was about to begin. No one was safe.
The Second Earthquake
Jean was out almost of gas, so he resorted to walk around the city, towards the Army compound. He carried the petite Shifter in his arms, which wasn't that difficult, for the small woman was very light to hold. Pieck looked up at his worried expression as they made their way across the destroyed streets, she could tell he was feeling miserable and anxious.
"I think can walk now," she suggested and the soldier stopped and put her down. They started to walk side by side. There were no Pure Titans at this segment so they were pacing a little leisurely.
"Can you run?" Jean suggested. "It would be easier too," he scratched his head.
"Are you in such a hurry?" she asked. "The world is ending regardless," Pieck joked.
"I don't like not having a way out." he expressed with sincerity, "my weapons are dud, my gas is almost out-" Jean took a heavier breath. "I just want to replace this equipment as fast as I can."
"Do you want me to hold your hand?" she joked once more.
"There's no need for that," Jean replied with slight annoyance.
When they both started to feel the earth move beneath their feet. The Soldier and the Warrior looked at each other and quickly looked for shelter. They ran towards the steadiest door arch of the steadiest building they could see and stood underneath it, they held each other close, engulfed in paralyzing fear as the world crumbled all around them.
-.-
"I mean, I don't know what I'd do if it was my mother," Falco considered, very reflectively. He and the soldier were still chatting; getting to know each other for that brief moment, there in that partially destroyed building in that partially destroyed city.
"I didn't expect you kids to even know about Ragako," Connie expressed, as their conversation went on.
Falco sighed. "It was one of the War Chief's experiments. He wanted to know if he could create and control Titans in the Island," the small boy explained.
"Sadistic," Connie grumbled to the side, and held himself closely and upsettingly.
"I guess I'm one of his experiments too now…" Falco scratched his head, his expression dropped once more, the boy became more sorrowful. "I killed my brother, I killed another Warrior… Can I even call myself a Warrior?" he questioned.
"You are just a kid-" Connie rebuked. "And you're a very good kid," he assured the young Shifter.
"Don't patronise me, I know where I stand." Falco complained, holding himself close, with his hands on his knees.
"I guess is true," Connie scratched his head. "We only realise how selfish we are once we meet selfless people," he noted and smiled at the boy.
Falco looked at him with big, reflective eyes. "If I can help you, if I can save your mother, it could be my redemption," the boy proposed.
"Again, selfless," Connie pointed out and smiled. He shook his head, unbelievingly. Connie had never met someone so pure and so naively sweet. Falco truly was like a breath of fresh air.
"Hey, you saved me," Falco smiled at him. "If it weren't for you I would just be dinner to another Pure Titan near me," the boy argued.
"I saved you for selfish reasons," Connie argued back.
"But you saved me nonetheless," Falco maintained. "Now is my turn to save you."
Connie shook his head negatively. "I thought I could be this evil, but I can't," he shrugged his shoulders. "I guess your selflessness is contagious," he joked. "I'm sorry but I won't allow it. My mother has lived her life, you have yours ahead of you."
Falco became reflective. He looked up, considering. "How about this: thirteen years," he proposed a little cheerfully. "It's all I got anyway, after that I'll save her, you have my word," the boy smiled, "then I'll die happy, knowing you will have another thirteen years reunited with your mother."
Connie smiled. "If we survive this," he reminded the boy. "We gotta survive this first."
"True," Falco laughed. "If we survive this," he repeated, admitting it. This conversation had been very uplifting for the boy and for the soldier as well. They both had lost a lot, but had found solace in this light and hopeful chat. "Friends?" Falco asked with cheer and a smile, reaching out his hand to shake Connie's.
"Friends," Connie confirmed, shaking the young Warrior's hand. They both smiled.
"My mother is not going anywhere," Connie added, joking with a slight nervous smile. He scratched his head.
Connie had made a different decision during the course of this conversation. He had decided what he had pondered for the past few years: he had decided to end his mother's suffering. He knew he should have done it sooner, but he couldn't bring himself to kill his mother. Even the Captain had offered to do so, and Commander Hange also advised it to be the best course of action, after Springer suggested for her to be a case study to the Survey Corps.
He wanted a reason to keep her around, motionless as she was, they all felt for him, they all felt he was in pain. "Maybe you should just let her go," most of his friends had advised him through those past four years. 'Maybe I should just let her go. I need to let her go,' Connie had finally decided. 'It's time to let her go.'
The soldier looked up at the small boy and smiled, in contentment and peace. "I wish she got to meet you," he told Falco. And the boy smiled sincerely back at him.
That's when the earth started to move underneath their feet. The Second Earthquake had started and it quickly torn the whole building down, like it was paper.
This second wave of earthquakes took quite a few minutes, it truly felt like an eternity for the paradisian population. It successfully took down the entirety of Wall Maria, and also some parts of Wall Rose and Wall Sina as well. It was all pure chaos, many injured, many dead.
"Falco!" Connie shouted from the top of his lungs. "Falco!" He continued to shout.
The soldier's vision was impaired slightly and he was still trying to find his bearings. Connie couldn't move, some the roof and beams were on top of him; he didn't feel deep injuries but he couldn't get up, he couldn't reach for weapons either. When his vision finally became clear and he could see the giants forming in front of his eyes.
The Pure Titans had reached them, they could see the small soldier in the middle of the rubble, he wasn't much but it would made for a nice and quick snack. The true prize was further down the building, he was deeper into the rubble but it only took a cleverer Abnormal Titan to find him. The Titan took some roof and some beams out of the way and reached for the young Shifter.
Falco was severely injured and partially unconscious. He barely opened his eyes as the Abnormal Titan was about to close him inside its mouth. Connie reached for one of his swords and expertly threw it into the Titan's eye, as himself was being lifted up from the rubble by another Titan. The Titan was momentarily distracted and Connie continued to shout for Falco. The soldier cut the Titan's - who was holding him - hand with his other sword and dropped to the ground. "Falco!" He shouted again as he tried to quickly fix up his faulty ODM equipment, which had been damaged as the building fell on top of them.
The situation was desperate, there was nowhere to run. More and more Titans were closing in; when the boy finally came into consciousness, immediately fitting his eyes into the enormous teeth about to bite him. Falco was already injured, so his Shifter instinct came into action and he immediately transformed.
The surge of lightning blinded Connie for a moment and he reached for shelter. The new Jaw Titan revealed itself, it seemed clumsy and lost. It quickly fought the Titans around it; it jumped and gnawed into their napes, and scratched the beings all over. It was fast and sharp, but again, a little clumsy and it seemed very lost. Falco was acting by instinct, he wasn't completely conscious, and Connie could notice that as the Titan kept jumping around the rubble and slashing through the flesh of the countless already dead Titans.
The soldier approached quietly and calmly, slowly making his way closer to the giant creature. Connie checked his ODM again, it was not working, he looked around the rubble trying to figure out a way to reach for that beast's nape and get the boy out of there. When the Jaw Titan noticed his presence, and stopped gnawing on the already steaming flesh of the dead Titans. It turned its attention to the soldier.
Connie's heart was beating out of his chest and he closed his eyes, shutting them tight as the Titan started to sniff him. He was scared but he decided to trust the boy. The Jaw Titan came even closer, and sniffed his hair and his face, the monster looked attentively, with his Titan eyes focused on the small soldier person. It eventually licked Connie and he laughed.
"Alright, so I guess you're not there - 'there', but you're still 'you'," Connie commented and reached to pat the Jaw Titan in between its eyes. He could see the boy was lost, but it also looked like it was thinking, remembering, looking.
The Jaw Titan looked up and continued to sniff, he was trying to find something, or someone. It seemed concentrated, like it could hear something else in the middle of that noisy city, in the middle of that Armageddon. It eventually stopped its head into one specific direction and started to sprint towards it.
"Hey!" Connie shouted. "Are you just gonna leave me behind?" He asked with arms open, a little disappointed.
The Titan curved back and sprinted towards the soldier. It quickly, but gently, lifted Connie with its jaws and the soldier landed on its back. Connie held tight and the Jaw went back to sprinting towards the region it was going for before. They made their way into that destroyed, crumbling city.
-.-
The Braus, Gabi and Niccolo were stuck. They had ran into a sturdier building to hide and the place was now on fire. The Pure Titans were the least of their worries as the fire was reaching them fast. Niccolo was on one of the windows, shooting with the rifle at the Titans that were trying to reach them. The weapon was powerful and he had accuracy, but the Titans kept coming.
The cook looked down to his weapon. "This gun is almost out of ammunition," he commented under his breath.
"We're doomed," Gabi expressed, upsettingly.
"What are we going to do?" Kaya asked her mother.
"We jump." Mr. Braus proposed. They needed to reach the next building, to escape the flames. He looked around the wreckage of that building, he then went over and took a large and heavy wooden piece, Niccolo rushed to help him. Gabi took the rifle and kept distracting the Titans on that side. The men and Mrs. Braus took the piece as a potential bridge and looked for another window, away from where the Titans were attacking.
They were in the fourth floor of the building and everything below was already in flames; most of the structure was made of wood, which made the flames more violent and aggressive. The fire was spreading fast.
The adults were looking for a window turned to another building of the same height and they luckily found one far away from the Titans' reach. They forced the wooden piece with much strength with the intention to break the glass of the window on the other side, as the children distracted the Titans on the other side of the building in flames. Mr. Braus became concerned as the flames could divide them from the children so he called them over. Gabi was a little disobedient, but she eventually came as the rifle completely lost its ammunition. She still brought it with her, over her shoulder; as she came with difficulty towards the others, she still had a twisted ankle and it was starting to swell.
The girl limped slowly in between the flames and the small tremors of the unsteady building as Mrs. Braus reached for her and they eventually all came closer together, for another much larger tremor became to occur. This second wave of earthquakes hadn't finished yet. They all held close together and the adults also held the wooden piece into place, afraid it would fall from the windows and from their grasp.
The Pure Titans were starting to notice the group was on the other side of the burning building, so they started to slowly make their way towards them. It was a nightmare but they needed to live through it, if they wanted to survive that is. And they had to move quick. "You go," Mrs. Braus suggested to her husband and the man nodded. "I'll hold it on the other side," Mr. Braus concurred and swiftly climbed up the makeshift bridge.
He stood on the other side of their small, wooden bridge and held it firmly as Mrs. Braus climbed over, helping the first three kids, then Kaya, then Gabi last; who was making her way with difficulty, for she still had a pronounced limp, and it was painful. When two Titans appeared, then three and four. They were surrounded, the giants reached for Gabi and for Niccolo who was on the other side, on the still burning building. The Braus children screamed and Mr. Braus tried to hold the wooden piece more firmly as the tremors reached higher once again.
The whole street was shaking, Niccolo could see that Titan clumsy reaching towards him, but he was slightly more worried with the building which was in flames, and he could tell it was about to collapse. The cook could feel the intense heat and he knew the ground beneath his feet was starting to dissipate into the flames. He shouted for Gabi to run, and those were his last words.
The girl sprinted towards the other side of the wooden bridge as a giant Titan hand reached to grab her, the bridge started to fall and Mr. Braus caught the girl with his right hand, still trying to hold to the wooden piece so Niccolo could pass through; he swiftly swung the girl into the next window and Gabi came crashing through the glass. She quickly protected her eyes and face as she broke through the glass window and landed safely on the sturdy floor.
His efforts were useless for the wooden piece still fell, all four floors into the hard ground, it was already in flames. Mr. Braus looked towards Niccolo, who was further away from the window, because it was completely engulfed in flames. He looked into Niccolo's eyes as the man seemed desperate, paralysed. "Jump!" Mr. Braus shouted with much force, encouraging his friend.
Niccolo seemed to be calculating, looking for a different window, perhaps another way out. He eventually started to sprint but it was too late. The building collapsed, and the man went down with it.
Mr. Braus didn't even had time to shout or react, the shock was too much and it made him forget about the Titans. He shouldn't have been this close to the windows. One of the Pure Titans grabbed him and he tried to pull free, mustering all his strength, but the beast had him deep on its grasp. The family became desperate as other Titans started to smash the building they were now on, it was a fragile structure and they were all quickly exposed to the many monsters. Mrs. Braus couldn't even breathe or move as she saw that Titan mindlessly gnawing on her husband's leg as he screamed and bravely hit it, with failing strength but hitting it nonetheless. The family was completely lost, they had reached a new level of desperation. Mrs. Braus, the children, Gabi, they were all paralysed.
When the Jaw Titan came sprinting, extremely fast. It quickly and swiftly took down the Titan that was gnawing on Mr. Braus and it proceeded to kill it, biting off its nape. The fast Titan climbed around the buildings and continued to expertly kill all the Pure Titan threat. Falco was a natural, and he acted in his pure Titan instinct.
"A-Are you alright, Mr. Braus?" Connie frantically asked to the injured man, while checking his mangled leg. He was bleeding profusely. The brave man nodded, he couldn't find his voice to speak, so he only tapped on the soldier's shoulder and Connie nodded back at him, trying to keep him calm.
"Connie! Are you on your own?" Mrs. Braus shouted from the higher floor as all the children watched in pure admiration as the Jaw Titan defeated its enemies.
"He's with me!" Connie pointed at the Jaw.
"Falco…" Gabi trailed off, under her breath as she watched, as mesmerised as the others. And Kaya looked towards her and smiled. 'We are not doomed after all,' all the children thought.
"Come down! Quick!" Connie shouted to the family. "We're getting out of here!"
Mrs. Braus quickly looked for some supplies in the building's first floor, she grabbed anything that could serve as makeshift bandages and she turned to see some large ropes. "Children, grab that," she told her kids, thoughtfully.
They all went outside and Mrs. Braus and Connie quickly tried to mend and bandage up Mr. Braus' leg, as the man was slowly starting to pass out. "Stay with me, stay with us," his wife tried to soothe the poor man, for he was in deep pain and agony.
Gabi smiled as the Jaw Titan stopped triumphantly in front of the children. All the Pure Titan menace was gone, it had killed them all. They were safe. The girl reached towards it, and the Jaw Titan gently brought its head down towards her. And Gabi patted it, letting out a small, joyous laugh.
"Can we trust it?" Mrs. Braus questioned and the girl nodded solemnly. "Yes," Gabi gently said as she looked into the Jaw Titan's confused but loving eyes. "Yes, we can."
They used the ropes to secured themselves into the Jaw Titan's back as Connie tried to communicate with the boy. "Just follow my lead, alright? We're gonna get all these people to safety," the soldier softly told the Shifter and Falco nodded, he understood; his thoughts were more clear now.
'Not everyone,' all the children thought.
The Braus all looked back at the now scorched building, all very sorrowfully. They all internalised their solemn goodbyes to the man who had been a great deal of help: the good marlean.
They all climbed aboard and the Jaw Titan gently sprinted in between the rubble, leaving the crumbling city of Shiganshina behind.
-.-
"You can stop holding me now," Pieck awkwardly commented. "I'm pretty sure it's over."
Jean hadn't realised he was holding her so close and so tightly. He came back to his senses. The Second Earthquake was over.
"I'm sorry," he awkwardly apologised as they fixed themselves up. "You have a very tight grasp," she joked, to lighten the mood.
"I thought Titans were the scariest thing on Earth," the soldier scratched his head. "But I never experienced the earth shaking before. It feels so violent, it's scary," he admitted. "I'm sorry if I over reacted," Jean apologised once again.
"Not at all, I like a man who can admit to his fears," Pieck comforted him. "You have my respect," she smiled.
"Are you up for a run now?" Jean asked, smiling back as they proceeded to walk in the crumbling, destroyed city.
"Maybe we might have to, after all," Pieck commented and pointed at the Pure Titans coming their way.
The two rushed up one of the buildings, the tallest one Jean had identified. They arrived at the roof where the soldier could finally sight the Army compound in the distance. "Damn it, we're too far!" He grumbled. They were surrounded.
"Then we fight," Pieck suggested as they stood back to back on the roof, as the Pure Titans approached slowly and mindlessly.
"How? What even is the point?!" Jean questioned, desperately.
They stood, back to back, on silence for a couple more seconds.
"I guess Mr. Jibber-Jabber is jibber-jabbering no more," Pieck awkwardly joked and mindless laughed.
"Stop with the nicknames," Jean complained, nervously reaching for her hand, she looked down towards his.
"Oh, come on, John," she continued.
"Jean-" he was about to correct her, "just call me Kirstein," Jean offered.
"Alright, Kirstein," she held his hand firmly. "What now?" Pieck asked as they both turned towards each other.
The Pure Titans were already all over that rooftop, the Warrior and the Soldier were truly doomed.
Jean looked into her petite, sweet face. "You know, it was nice knowing ya," he started his goodbyes, "it was for what? The last two hours?"
"What are you talking about?" Pieck laughed nervously as they both looked up towards the Pure Titans.
"I'm just saying I feel like we would have been good friends," Jean added with sincerity.
"How much gas do you have left?" Pieck questioned more seriously, she was thinking.
"Not much," Jean responded, "probably for one more go and I'm done. We're done."
Pieck looked down to her hands, considering. "Well can we go very high?"
"Not with a way to come back down," Jean explained.
"I'll find us a way," Pieck affirmed.
"What?" Jean became confused.
"Throw me," she suggested, firmly.
"I don't- what?" He stumbled in confusion. She jumped on his arms and held tight. "Go as high as possible and throw me as far as you can," Pieck told him. "Trust me." She firmly looked into his eyes.
Jean nodded, he was desperate and out of plans, so he decided to trust her. He held her tight and started to run across the rooftop, he was gaining speed as the Titans tried unsuccessfully to grab them. Jean jumped, high up, releasing the remaining of his gas supply. They built momentum as he threw the Shifter further into the air, unsure of what to do next. Pieck bit her hand.
.
"What is your favourite animal?" Zeke asked his companion, around the marlean offices, in a slow and lazy afternoon.
"Why?" Pieck asked back uninterested.
She was leisurely lying on the sofa as she observed him light up a cigarette near her, seated in an armchair, Zeke crossed his legs in a four lock and and let out a thoughtful puff.
"We all have one, what is yours? I'm curious." He further explained.
"What does it matter? Animals are your thing, not mine," Pieck replied, still very much uninterested. She then went back to reading her magazine.
The older Yeager insisted on the conversation. "I always loved apes, for instance," he comment.
"You mean monkeys," Pieck teased him, looking over from her magazine.
"No," Zeke said sternly, he fixed his glasses. "Apes. You know there's a distinction," He complained and she laughed. Zeke continued. "I find them fascinating. I've always have, ever since I was a toddler, it was one of my favourite toys," he looked back at her more intensely. "You must have something in mind surely," Yeager insisted once more.
"Why are you nagging me about it? You should ask it to whoever is going to inherit your Titan, not to me," Pieck complained, slightly more irritated.
"It's not about that," he explained, again fixing his glasses, "I'm just curious."
Zeke Yeager thought the girl was too closed off, she was a difficult person to read. The War Chief had been looking for cleverer ways to read his comrade, but she wouldn't budge.
He kept smoking, and they both fell silent for a moment. For a while there was only the tick-tock noise from the clock, the puffs of the cigarette and the slow cloud shadows moving across the windows in that lazy afternoon.
Pieck thought about it, she sighed. "Alright," she finally put the magazine down, and leaned closer to her friend, a little more animated. "Does it have to be real?" Pieck cheekily asked while holding onto a pillow.
"Real?" Zeke put his cigarette to the side. "What do you mean?" He asked back.
"Well, I just happen to prefer mythological creatures," Pieck explained with a lovely and cheeky smile and Zeke looked at her with confusion. He stopped and considered, curious and astonished about the possibilities.
.
The rays of lightning shone all over as the new Titan came to be. Pieck revealed her own wings as she finished transforming. This new, strange Titan was thirteen meters tall and was entirely coated in delicate red and yellow titan-crystal-feathers and had very sharp claws for hands and feet; with a slender female figure, long black hair and fiery red eyes, the Titan cruised the air elegantly and flew downwards as her new friend was still falling.
Jean had no buildings to latch onto, no fuel left, no escape plan, so he kept falling. He was too distracted to think about his eminent death however, for his eyes were locked into that light show. He was absolutely mesmerised. The Titan quickly flew downwards and swiftly caught the falling soldier on her back. Jean held her hairs tight as she had just been holding onto him seconds before. He watched as she graciously extended her wings from side to side.
The soldier looked into the Titan's red eyes and she looked up at him, upside down. "You're like a mini-version of her," Jean noted while pointing up. "Well can she do this?" The Phoenix Titan asked back as she built up her energy. She blasted the Pure Titans down below with her red and green fire, coming solely from her throat.
The Titan then slowly started to build fire also on the tip of her wings and tail as she flew around the city. The soldier looked around him and became worried as the flames naturally spread inwards. "Alright, no need to burn me too," Jean joked, reminding her he was still up there. Pieck graciously landed on the top of the Army compound. She swiftly removed herself from the Titan, reemerging on Jean's side. He quickly held his heart with that small scare, and took a deeper breath, regaining his bearings.
"Too hot in there?" He joked, "what was in that candy?" He continued with a small laugh.
Pieck looked up to the bright blue skies, contemplative. She wanted to see it with her own eyes, rather than with the beast's ones. The Shifter was a little out of breath and still fully attached to her Titan, she turned to Jean: "Didn't you need to refuel your equipment?"
"Right," Jean raised his hand, confirming it, he slid down the Titan's side. Pieck looked up again, "You do that, and I'll go take a better look at that thing." She went back into the Titan and spread its wings again. Jean looked up and watched as the magnificent Phoenix Titan rose up and up into the sky.
[854] Somewhere in the woods near/outside Wall Maria
"How are you feeling?" Hange asked as Levi slightly opened his one working eye. They were in the middle of the woods, outside the - now destroyed - Wall Maria; hiding from Yeagerists, after the Zeke incident.
The Captain slowly sat upright, feeling up his bandages. "My whole body feels broken," he replied, miserably, Levi looked around his missing fingers, contemplative. "Thank you, for not giving up on me," he thanked his Commander.
"W-Why are you standing up?" Hange asked in confusion and trepidation as the man stood up with difficulty and limped around their makeshift camp. Levi was looking around their supplies, checking the swords.
"Because I still need to fight," Levi replied full of dignity, he turned to her. "Why are we in hiding?" the Captain asked.
Hange looked down, with her hands on her knees. "I needed to be sure you would recover," she quietly replied.
"Where are the others?" Levi asked, crossing his bandaged arms. The Ackermann was his own brand of mummy and he was ready to get back into action.
"I'm not sure," Hange replied, not very motivated, she scratched her hair.
"Well, I'm recovered," Levi continued to walk around their small, hidden camp.
"You just said your whole body feels broken," Hange argued, crossing her arms. She knew he wasn't apt to fight, but the Captain was a stubborn man.
"I'm recovered enough," Levi assured. "What is going on out there? And what even is that thing?" He questioned, baffled, while pointing upwards. Levi looked contemplative towards the bright blue skies. "I thought I was only dreaming, hallucinating…" he trailed off.
"No, it's real alright," Hange replied, looking up as well. "It's a Titan form we've never seen," she commented. "I don't even know how can something that big fly so high into the skies," the scientist wondered.
"And the tremors?" Levi asked, with his bandaged hands on his bandaged hips.
Hange scratched her head once again, unsure. "It could be the Walls, the proposed 'Rumbling', I'm not sure…" she trailed off.
"We won't find out while hiding in the woods, will we?" Levi pointed out.
Hange looked to the side, the Commander seemed preoccupied and slightly frozen.
Levi walked over and kneeled in front of her. He held her shoulders, getting her attention. "Hange, we need to fight," he told her sternly.
"Yes, I know that-" she replied looking to the side again, avoiding his eyes.
Levi interrupted, asking promptly. "Then what is the plan?"
Hange sighed, defeated. She looked up at him. "How can we be prepared to fight something we don't understand?" the Commander questioned.
Levi laughed. He smiled at his old friend. "I thought that was your drive," the Captain argued. "Aren't you curious as to figure out how a creature like that can be defeated? C'mon Four-Eyes, where's that brilliant brain of yours?" He questioned, slightly knocking on her head.
Hange started to consider, looking for her curiosity. She looked up and smiled at her friend. The Commander swiftly stood up and started to pace around the forest, in their small, hidden camp. Levi could tell she was scheming and that started to cheer him up, the Ackermann smiled with the sight. Hange was looking around the river and up to the skies, she looked over their small supplies and raised her hand. "First, we'll need to gather supplies, and an efficient method of transport," she considered with one finger raised and Levi smiled. "There you go then," he replied.
[854] The Skies of Paradise
Ymir flew leisurely across the paradisian sky, the enormous and gracious Titan was enjoying the free breeze. She looked towards the big continent in front of her, and the many islands around the vast ocean, Ymir was considering, she wanted to destroy it all, but she wasn't in a hurry. The beautiful queen had all the time in the world. So, she kept flying leisurely, swimming across the clouds. She looked down below to see Wall Maria finally crumble down completely, Ymir smiled. Now she could start to have some fun.
When she could see that air battalion coming into the horizon. Ymir became confused. She hadn't expected the humans to be that prepared or even ready to counterattack. Hundreds and more hundreds of airships were coming, flying towards the Island. It was truly an unexpected sight. The Marlean Attack would be airborne. The Second Wave had started.
Ymir also turned to see what looked like a very tiny Titan flying towards her as well, coming upwards from Shiganshina. 'How odd,' the Queen thought. She looked back towards the Marlean battalion once again, and noticed other, much faster and swankier-looking airships appearing out of nowhere.
The airplanes appeared in the middle of the air, one by one; coming in formation in between the older airship models, in a flash of bright blue light. The future squadron had arrived.
Ymir was no longer alone in the sky.
.
-The roots of Evil-
≃2000 years ago
[Thirteen Years before the first appearance of The Titan]
- the glowing rocks
The Eldian village was quite a small thing, just a blurb in the Marlean Empire's map, worthless. They paid taxes and were worth to raid only a few times per season. The Chief was always left hopeless. Fritz was miserable.
The miners were laughing hysterically at the crazy man. "He's eating those rocks once again," they commented.
"I see, everything," Vékell exclaimed solemnly, looking directly into the sun. He turned to face the Chief in the distance and graciously bowed. Fritz looked back at him in dread.
"Those glowing rocks are off limits, Vékell, you know the rules," Fritz walked over and calmly explained to the crazy man. Ever since the glowing rocks had been found, somewhere deep inside those caves, Vékell had started to eat them. He claimed they gave him the power to see the future.
"Congratulations on the birth," the crazy man replied.
"My wife hasn't given birth yet," Fritz countered, crossing his arms. "And this is not the first or the second, or even third. This is number six so your soothsaying is not very impressive," the Chief joked.
"This one is a girl," Vékell cleverly replied, holding up his staff. He looked into the skies, very reflective one again. "Beautiful Astra, she will be born at midnight, under the beautiful moon…" he trailed off.
"Alright," Fritz replied nonchalantly, and started to walk off. He had more worries in his mind, the Chief had a village to feed and to protect and the last raid had left them with nothing.
"You need us," Vékell whispered and Fritz turned to him again. "The creature knows how desperate you are. We can help you," the seer proposed.
"You can help us by stop poisoning yourself with those glowing things. We don't know what they are and I'm done losing my men," Fritz argued with some frustration.
"Power," the seer countered. "That's what they are." He held his staff firmly. "Isn't it so hurtful, so very painful, to feel so powerless?" Vékell questioned. "We can change that," he proposed again with an evil smile.
Fritz walked off, very contemplative as the seer watched him go.
Astra was in fact born at midnight, after an arduous labour. The village commemorated the next day, within their limitations, of course. There wasn't much food to go around, but they still made a small party for the new heir.
The Chief was contemplative, he could tell the seer was always side eyeing him, Vékell was still waiting for a response. And Fritz could firmly understand the meaning and the pain of feeling powerless. He was too familiar with this sentiment at this point, and now he had yet another mouth to feed.
"Not long until another one comes along, huh?" Ludvík joked, slightly drunk by the Chief's side. "You two just keep popping them up!"
"She is so blessed, that one," Zorka added, at her husband's side. "Cheers to you, my dear," she praised her friend.
Tara smiled with the tiny baby in her arms, surrounded by all her children. The mother was joyous. Fritz looked down, considering.
"I want it," he told the seer in the edge of the village. "I need power, you said you can help me. Tell me how," Fritz ordered to the crazy man, holding him by the cloth.
"It's not that simple," Vékell replied as Fritz let go of him, he fixed himself up. The seer looked contemplative once again. "I can see a great future for you. Magnificent! But you will need to be willing to sacrifice," he started to explain.
"I'm willing," the Chief solemnly replied.
"It wants the girl. The rocks want her," Vékell said, holding his staff quite firmly, mesmerised. "You must bring her," the seer requested. "Bring the girl to the forest."
"The newborn?" The Chief asked in some confusion and Vékell nodded. "Why?" Fritz questioned.
"Sacrifice," the seer replied.
Fritz became silent, considering. "You said you're willing," the seer argued.
"What you're asking-" Fritz was about to argue but Vékell interrupted.
"Oh, I'm not asking, the creature is the one asking-" he expertly argued. "It will give you what you want. You will win this battle and many more battles. It will make you a king! An emperor. But only if you obey us," Vékell set the rules. "You need to follow the creature's command."
'King, emperor,' those words resounded around Fritz's head. The ageing Chief could never imagine such a glorious future for himself, not in his entire lifetime.
"Trust me. I can see your future," Vékell bowed. "Your Majesty."
Three days after the baby girl was born, they went deep into the woods, in the middle of the night. The seer had prepared the place for the sacrifice. They made a customary Eldian ritual, which was already ancient at their time. But this time, the flesh eaten wouldn't be of a fallen enemy warrior, no, this time it was the innocent and pure flesh of the three-days-old newborn.
The Chief ate the flesh of his own progeny and the seer only stood watch. Only the moon was the other witness. After the ritual, the seer burned the tiny bones into ash. It had been done. The sacrifice was completed and the First Seal had been broken.
"Power," Vékell reminded his Chief and Fritz smiled.
He returned triumphantly to the village at the break of dawn, Fritz knew they were about to have a more prosperous year, and they did. To his grief-stricken wife, the Chief gave the ashes and explained the baby had died on her sleep and justified that he didn't want Tara to see the poor, tiny corpse. She cried for weeks, months. But eventually, the mother was blessed once again.
≃2000 years ago
[Twelve Years before the first appearance of The Titan]
- a price to pay
"She always loved the lake, I just know she would want it to be here," Ludvík commented quietly and solemnly. His wife had passed away, and he had decided to bury her in her favourite lake. Fritz stood by his side with a hand on his shoulder, to comfort his friend.
"You know we will help you take care of your boys," Tara comforted her friend. "All women in the village can help a little, specially with this one," she gently caressed the newborn in his father's arms. Ludvík's wife had died in childbirth.
"They can be a piece of work, but I can manage," Lud joked, he looked at Tara more worriedly, for the woman was also heavily pregnant. "It's a dangerous business, take care of yourself," he told his friend, showing genuine concern.
Tara caressed her pregnant belly. "If it's a girl, I'm naming after her," the mother smiled.
Zorka was born a few weeks after that funeral, and Tara kept her promise: a homage to her dear friend.
Fritz was joyous, and he knew well what came next. After three days he took the girl into the forest and performed the ritual once again, as the seer ordered. No one was the wiser, the Chief came back with only his daughter's ashes, to Tara's desperation. The village thrived, their lives were becoming more and more prosperous, and the Chieftess was still kept in the dark.
Two sacrifices. The Second Seal had been broken.
≃2000 years ago
[Nine Years before the first appearance of The Titan]
- the child in the woods
Eldia was slowly shaping itself as small kingdom now, they were growing in number and in harvest. They were better protected and better organised, Vékell was even making a name for himself as the kingdom's soothsayer. Fritz trusted him for everything, every little advice. After all, he had delivered.
"There's much to come," the seer told Fritz, "much more." Vékell held his staff. "Your wife is blessed again," he commented.
"Not that there's nothing new in that," Fritz complained.
"But I'm sure we will have another girl now, you know we need one more," Vékell reminded him. Fritz became contemplative, he looked down at his mug and at his jewellery and smiled.
"Then it will all be done," the seer continued.
"I feel sorry for my girls, I truly do," Fritz comments while finishing up his mug.
Vékell sighed. "Don't worry about it," he assured. "The creature will give you three new girls of its own. Those girls, they will be powerful. Believe me," he drank some from his mug. "I wish I could be here to see it."
"Why wouldn't you be?" Fritz questioned.
"My future ends soon, that's how it must be," the seer explained.
"She's pretty enough, not as ugly as the others," Elke commented to her mother, a couple of hours after Tara had given birth. The young girl was admiring the newborn in her mother's arms.
"Why can't you have more girls? I'm tired of the boys, they annoy me." Elke proceeded, the girl was very argumentative.
Tara caressed Elke's bright red hair. "Now, now, you must learn to get along with your brothers," the mother admonished slightly, she sighed looking lovingly but sadly at her baby girl. Suvi slept peacefully in her mother's arms. "I don't know why, your father thinks they are born sick," Tara tried to explain to her eldest girl, very sorrowfully. "Let's hope this one wasn't born sick too."
Three days passed and the ritual was in section, deep inside the woods. This time Ludvík had decided to follow, he had noticed Fritz sneaking out of the tent in the middle of the night and he realised it couldn't be a good thing. His friend was changing, he knew the seer had played a part but there was more to it. Ludvík knew their eldian rituals well, but this was aberrant to him: Fritz was not eating a fallen enemy warrior, he was eating a child. His own child from his own entrails. The Ackermann was horrified.
By the time Ludvík had reached deep into the woods the ritual was almost completed. The newborn child was certainly dead and almost completely consumed, he didn't know what to do. He could see how the so called 'seer' revelled in the sacrifice and how Fritz seemed joyous as well. It was a horrid sight.
Three sacrifices. The Third Seal was about to be broken.
"Your victory awaits you," Vékell commented sadistically to Fritz as they watched the ashes burning away.
"Victory?" Ludvík questioned, finally deciding to appear, even though the seer and the creature knew he was there from the beginning.
Fritz became slightly ashamed as he realised his friend had found out about his rituals.
"You can have great power too," Vékell wickedly proposed to the Ackermann and Ludvík swiftly raised his sword towards the seer.
"Put your sword down," Fritz ordered, standing in between the two, protecting the seer.
"What have you done?" Ludvík questioned Fritz, upsettingly.
"What I have done, I have done for all of us. For our people," Fritz declared.
"You still reek of blood," the Ackermann rebuked in pure disappointment while Fritz cleaned the blood and flesh remnants from his face. Ludvík took the burning cup with the newborn's ashes, still in flames and rushed out of the forest as Fritz and the seer followed, trying to keep up. The Ackermann was fast and he was determined.
Tara was already crying in her tent for the past few hours, she had woken up and her baby was gone again, 'once again, not again,' the mother couldn't believe it. All the village could hear the crying of the desperate mother. She started to smell the cremation and she saw Ludvík coming from inside the woods with that burning cup on his hands. It was Suvi.
She walked slowly out of the tent and her friend placed the cup gently on the ground. Tara looked confused. "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," Lud apologised, he kneeled down. "I saw everything, I saw what they have done," he continued to explain as Fritz and the seer finally approached. Tara looked confused but already extremely upset. Ludvík considered on how to proceed, he knew it was too much for the broken mother.
"They performed the ritual, he consumed the newborn," Ludvík revealed to the mother, pointing at Vékell, not at Fritz. He knew the thought of her husband eating their own child would break Tara's mind.
So the seer took the blame, and he accepted it. Tara yelled with much anguish and strength, she took her sword and swiftly beheaded Vékell. The seer was dead.
The mother became a mute for many weeks, she wouldn't talk, she would only cry. She would have nightmares of her children being eaten alive, Tara was lost.
Fritz was aware Ludvík didn't lie for his protection, but for the sake of Tara and the children, and he finally felt ashamed of his actions. After Vékell was dead, it seemed whatever spell he was under was wearing off. He was afraid for Tara, for the woman seemed too broken and he feared she would never recover.
The Third Seal was broken.
Nine days passed since the last sacrifice. And the dimensional barriers were opening up, the portal was ready.
"Mom! Mummy!" Tara could faintly hear in her dreams. "Mom!" The girl shouted and cried. "Mummy!" Once again. "Mummy, where are you?"
The girl was lost and desperate, she wanted her mother more than anything, she cried and cried in the middle of the forest, and Tara woke up.
Fritz frantically stood up once he saw his wife rushing out of the tent in the middle of the night. Tara ran towards the woods. She could hear the girl crying.
"Can you hear that?" She asked.
"Please, my dear, just go back to sleep," Fritz pleaded, fearing she went mad. But the broken woman just ran further into the woods, she was determined to find the origin of the sound.
Tara ran in the dark woods, in the middle of the night, barefoot and desperate, she could hear the cry.
"Mummy!" She heard much closer now. Tara turned to look: the four-year-old stood in front of her, like a little princess, with her pretty adorned, but already torn dress and her angelic but lost face.
Ymir looked frightened, she was lost in a completely unknown land.
End of Chapter Seventeen: "Ymir"