Looking Through Me | Attack on Titan Fan Fiction

Chapter 11: Invisible Titan

I screamed, throwing my head back in terror and revulsion, but it came out as an animalistic roar that made the air shake. I looked around, waiting to return to my original, smaller body. The more I tried and prayed, nothing happened. Nothing at all.

Where was that person? The Shadowed person? This was all their fault!

I looked down, turning around with caution, trying not to squish anyone. They weren't anywhere! The military was beginning to prepare their arsenal, and attack. Attack me. This couldn't have been happening. This was just a hallucination, right?

Or was this reality? People continued screaming and running around the destroyed cathedral, and I saw people with brown cropped jackets beginning to fly in the air around me like I was King Kong. What were the Garrison doing?!

Where they trying to...kill me?

I shrieked again, the rattle shaking the sound waves around us, and people fell and covered their ears like they were going deaf. No, no, calm down! I was hurting them!

My mouth shut, and my tongue traced my teeth. They were flat and sharp, and wide.

The panic and mayhem continued without end. I felt faint, but overwhelmed with power at the same time. The Shadowed wasn't anywhere, and they weren't about to blow their cover either. I bent down, and picked apart pieces of the roof. Where the hell were they hiding?! I'd find them, and kill them. This was their fault. They killed Darius Zackley, not me. I wasn't about to be framed for something else as well.

Something slashed through my heel, and I nearly fell forward but my arm caught me. I saw a person wearing the familiar military uniform, looking at me in fright. Like I was a...monster. I wasn't a monster. I hadn't done anything!

He went in for another blow for my right heel, but I grabbed him out of the air. When I held him, he screamed and wriggled. His eyes were wide, and I felt heavy with pity and regret. Gently, I set him on one of the stone plates that made up the cathedral from before. The man wasted no time getting to his feet and running.

I felt so...embarrassed. This wasn't who I was deep down, but no one could see that. Tears built in the corners of my eyes, and I let out a choked sob that sounded like another war cry.

All I wanted was to disappear. To just poof out of here, with no one trying to kill me. To be back with Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, and remain and friends and screw around. This wasn't what I wanted.

My head slouched forward, and I stared at my feet. The people around me continued slashing at my body, but I didn't care. I didn't fight it. There was no point. As I stared at my feet, something peculiar happened.

A scale-like pattern spread across my feet and toes, and reflected in the light before...my toes disappeared. My feet started to fade as well, and the scales started to crawl up my legs. They began to vanish, and followed suit of the scales that spread across my body.

I was finally turning back! Or so I'd liked to have thought. Instead, my body steadily turned from visible to...invisible. It faded, until not even a strand of hair was able to be seen.

The people around me started looking back and forth, like they couldn't see me anymore. They were looking right through me. I was completely invisible.

Before I could be discovered, I turned my tail and ran the other way, being that my heel had recovered. No one was in the streets, hiding in their houses, so I ran down the open path. I couldn't be killed by anyone! I was innocent! Wait, wouldn't they feel the ground shake as I ran? To test my theory, I skidded to a stop and stomped the ground. Nothing made a noise and the streets didn't buckle, crack, shake, or even make a dent. Could I move through things, too?

I pressed my hand to a building, but all I felt was the shingles of the red roof. Nope, couldn't get through that. Now that I thought about, it meant that I couldn't leave the walls, and now I was trapped. They'd find me eventually.

I panicked, and pumped my arms into a full-on sprint. Like before, the ground didn't quake, so they couldn't find me that way. I ran into the wall of the district, but nothing happened. Pressing my side to it, I tried shoving it or anything that might work, but my scaled feet slid across the ground. I pounded on it, but that time, a huge crack sounded. I actually made a noise.

"There!" I heard somebody scream below me.

I looked at them, and the wall, them, and the wall again. Then, I looked down, and realized my camouflage was gone. The invisible scales were gone, and all that was seen was tight skin stretching over my heavily-built body. The small figures raced towards me, and I pressed myself against the wall, and screamed again. I was vulnerable. The scream reverberated off the walls of the district, sounding like the howl of a hellhound.

I saw one person fly towards me, and I saw a flash of brown hair, black hair, and blonde hair flying towards me with green hoods. Even Eren and everyone were against me? They flew towards me, and I felt my heart break.

Time slowed down as Eren flew past my eyes, and his hair was ruffled. His eyes were brimming with pity, and then it was over. He flew past, and split from Mikasa and Armin. Without a clue what to do, I covered the back of my neck with both my hands, and roared again in defense.

Something tore both of my heels, and I shrieked. When I glared down, I saw Mikasa and Armin slashing my feet, and I fell forward. As I collided with the ground and a few houses, all my wounds released pressurized steam, but I kept both hands on my neck. These people had a strategy, and it nearly made me cry.

Next, I felt Eren slash at my wrists and fingers, until the thin pieces of flesh tore and all that I had for arms were stubs without any hands. I wailed, and shook my head back and forth, begging them to not continue. My attempts to get up caused me to fall back to the ground in a heavy heap, because my hands were severed and my heels had been slit.

With one final cry of pain, my back of my neck was sliced open and I felt the infinite explosions of torture overwhelm me, making everything fade to familiar blackness.



"You have until the count of ten! If she doesn't wake by then, we're firing!"

"No! Wait longer!"

"Ten!"

"STOP!"

I heard screaming around me, and I felt like crap. I felt wet and cold, my throat was like sandpaper, I felt sick to my stomach, and a headache made my temples pound. My eyes blearily slid open, and I blinked but it did little to improve my sight. Everything blended together and shifted into one giant splat.

"Nine!"

My vision began to clear, little by little, and the colours started to divide. Shapes slowly formed, and I tried shaking my head and blinking faster.

"Eight!"

"NO!"

All the screams made my head pound, and I groaned.

"Seven!"

The colours took form, until I saw the faded tan of a shirt, chocolate brown hair, and emerald orbs. Was that...Eren? What did he want? He almost killed me.

"Six!"

"I BEG YOU, STOP!"

"Eren...?" I whispered, and he snapped his head down.

His eyes were wide and sanity-deprived. All the light and courageous flame behind them were gone.

"She's awake! Stop!" he yelled, and held me closer to his chest.

"Eren...I can't...breathe," I whispered, and he released his grip slightly.

"Is she awake?" another man yelled.

"Yes! Stop!"

Everything cleared, and behind Eren, I saw Mikasa and Armin standing, defending me with their bodies. Why do they still care?! I'm a lost cause.

When I looked down, I let out a choked sob. My right leg was completely gone, steam bleeding from it.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't cut you out clean because the steam was too much. It'll grow back soon," Eren murmured.

"I'm scared..." I said weakly.

He placed a warm hand on my cheek, and looked straight through me. "Just be quiet for awhile, okay? I'm sorry."

I gazed away from him, to the numerous cannons and guns being held at us.

"Miss Jennika Manri!" someone bellowed, but I couldn't tell who it was through all the people that surrounded us.

"Yeah?" I yelled back weakly, but it was little over a whisper and I doubled over coughing.

I don't think they heard, but they continued anyways. "Miss Manri, you have forfeited all innocence! I am here to sentence you for the first-degree murder of Darius Zackley, and you are found guilty! You are, as of now, placed on death row, and your public execution will be in one week from today!"

To that, I had no response. I didn't say anything, but my lip quivered. Hot tears spilled from my eyes, and I covered my face with both my hands. I didn't do anything. I was innocent. I curled into a ball, and from there, the exhaustion took over my body and from there I fell asleep like the dead.



I don't know how long I was asleep for, but I also can't remember when I woke. It felt like million-year hibernation, like when you fall asleep right after pulling an all-nighter. I felt so replenished, and for a moment, I thought I was home.

In place of what I wished for was the same room that I'd been in twice on two previous occasions. And it wasn't what I wanted.

Not even Mikasa leaning on the door, Armin sitting at the foot of the bed, or Eren holding my hand while out cold right next to me made it better. I assumed that it was past 10 p.m. because the sky was a dark navy, the silver light of the moon casting looming shadows across the room. Before any conversation could begin, I ripped the sheets off to see my right leg, back and completely healed like nothing was wrong. It was all a dream. A stupid, unreal, dream.

"Mikasa?"

She basically ran to my bedside, and I rubbed the sleepiness from my eyes. "You wouldn't believe the crazy dream that I had..."

Her forehead creased. "What happened in it?"

I smiled a bit. "It was crazy. Like, batshit crazy. I dreamed that Darius was killed by some crazy person that wore black. They tried killing me, and then I turned into—get this—a Titan! How stupid, right? But it gets even crazier! Then people thought I killed the judge, and I was put on death row!"

Her mouth closed, and her coal-black eyes averted from mine. She looked at Armin, who looked stern and stoic.

"It was a dream, right? Mikasa?" I asked, and shook her shoulder lightly.

She stood up, and patted Eren's back. He shot up in less than a second, then slouched rubbed his eyes. "How're you feeling, Jen?"

"Okay. But Mikasa's acting weird." I let out a nervous giggle.

She finally looked back at me, and sat on the bed. "That wasn't a dream."

I felt my heart plummet, and all my energy drain. "Wait...what?"

"You are on death row," Eren whispered, and his hand let go of mine as he got to his feet. "I can't believe it. People think that you're allied with the Titans and the person in black."

"The Shadowed..." I muttered.

"What?" Armin questioned.

I waved my hand. "A nickname I made."

When I analyzed their serious complexions, it made my heart beat faster and faster, until I felt faint. "Am I really on death row?"

They slowly nodded. Mikasa stood beside Eren, who was then joined by Armin. "But you won't die," Eren said, "I won't let anyone hurt you. No one."

"What are you talking about? We should just give up. I appreciate your efforts, but I just think... We've hit a dead end, guys. I'm sorry," I said, and turned away.

I fell into the wall next to me, and felt my cheek sting. For a moment, my heart stopped. Who slapped me? I looked back at them, and I saw Rick with his arm raised. I gasped, and blinked, and Mikasa took his place. She...slapped me?

"Don't be stupid," she scolded me. "You won't die."

"Damn right," Eren growled. "We did it once. We can do it again."

"Guys, seriously," I said.

"You wait here. We'll be back for you in an hour or so. I might have a plan," Eren commanded, and walked to the door.

He held it open, and Mikasa and Armin filed out. Eren gave me a stone-cold stare, and whispered, "I won't let anyone I care about die. Never."

With that, he shut the door, and the sounds of their footsteps down the hall receded. I looked up at the ceiling, and fell back against my pillow. Why? Why would they do this?

I let out a deep breath, and cuddled my chest into my pillow while a small smile crept up my face.

Eren... You kept your promise.