The Shifter Titan (Annie Leonhart x Male Reader)

0: Prologue

It was supposed to be a simple mission. Five Titan Shifters, bring the Founder back to Marley, go back home, and be received as heroes. Nobody would've thought that the group would lose two Titan Shifters in the span of minutes. 

Elena didn't want to be a Warrior. Her whole life had been spent in disnohour and shame after her parents were discovered as being part of the Eldian Restoration movement, leaving her to be raised by her grandparents alongside her brother. She couldn't remember her parents, just the result of their idealistic actions. Because of their involvement in the traitorous complot, her brother had to sign up to the Warrior Candidate Program to save the family of possible exile to Paradis. 

But then her brother was accused of murdering a Marleyan woman. Apparently he had been walking one day from Warrior Training when his devil blood took over and made him go feral, killing a Marleyan. Everyone knew he had been framed, but with their family already on the Marley's Government bad side, there was no trial. Although she was only four years old at the time, she could still remember her grandparents heartbroken look as her brother was taken away, never to be seen again. 

With traitorous parents and a murderous brother, Elena didn't have an option other than enlisting as a Warrior Candidate. Some kids did it because their parents forced them to, while others did it because of an unusual sense of loyalty towards Marley. As far as she knew, she was the only one in the group who did it because the government gave her two choices: be a warrior or the death of all of her family. 

After arduous training and being passable in all aspects of training, the Marleyan Government miraculously assigned her a Titan: the Shifter Titan. It was a fairly good Titan, being able to imitate the powers of the other Titans, but it wasn't great. Just like her, it did everything with mediocrity. It suited her. 

Two years after inheriting the Shifter Titan, Elena, along with four other Warriors, were assigned the mission of retrieving the Founding Titan and bringing it back to Marley. The others who were chosen had been Marcel Galliard, bearer of the Jaw Titan and would-be leader of the mission,  Bertolt Hoover, the Colossal Titan and timid boy, Annie Leonhart, the Female Titan and most apathetic person to ever roam the Earth, and Reiner Braun, the Armored Titan and most loyal Eldian who would suck Marley's toes if it had them. All in all, the group was balanced in terms of power, but the personalities of everybody conflicted constantly. 

For example, Reiner always had a bit of hidden hatred towards Elena simply because of her family, which meant that they dreaded working together. Bertolt liked Annie, but the shy boy never did anything to gain her affection, so it was always awkward with them. Then was Marcel, who was everyone's friend but sometimes got to Elena's nerves. 

The mission went well...for the first four hours. After docking in the port, the group made their way into Titan territory, making sure to move in the night so they wouldn't be eaten alive. Then they made camp, which is where it all went downhill. 

Marcel decided that it would be a wonderful idea to tell Reiner that he wasn't supposed to inherit the Armored Titan, that it should've been Porco, Marcel's brother, but that Marcel had talked shit about Porco so that he would live a long life. It was a truly unnecessary confession in Elena's opinion, because Reiner would be sulking after the fact, and a sulking blonde male warrior was not anyone's dream. 

They rested in the campfire for the night, the atmosphere around them being tense and shitty. As the day broke, Elena volunteered to pick up wood alongside Annie. The stoic blonde was the closest Elena would call a friend, even if they barely made conversations. However, they both knew that Marley was full of shit and that the world around them was the same. Even if Annie's family hadn't committed treason, the short warrior had joined the program because her father forced her to. There was no love for Marley in her heart, which made Elena identify herself with the blonde.