"...you're special."
"...Mimic..."
"Eren...key...basement..."
"Founding...Marley..."
"Again?" Angharad spoke the words aloud, but all they did was echo in front of her.
A knock on the door.
She turned to see the same familiar door to her office. Like always, she had to enter first, and then wait for the second knock to answer it for her brother on the other side.
Another knock on the door.
'There it is.' She thought. "Come in". Grisha opened the door and walked in, closing the door behind him. He looked horrible, and his hair was a mess, as if he had continuously run his hands through it for hours.
"I need to talk to you." His voice was hoarse, and scratchy.
"You can tell me anything." She responded the way she always did. "I'm your sister, you can trust me."
"I don't know if you'll feel that way after I tell you what I've been hiding."
"Hiding?" She took a step back from him now. "What are you hiding from me?"
"You're 33-years old now." Nope, I'm 38, actually. Her brother reached into his pocket and hid the contents behind his back. "You deserve to know the truth." She heard the sigh he let out, rather than watch his chest rise and fall with the action. Suddenly she realized that she could still hear his breathing, could still hear the way he stumbled over what he wanted to say rather than listen to his silent mouthing of the words. "There's something you need to see."
Oh my god, I can hear him!
"Brother, what is it?" Angharad spoke, hoping to sound encouraging, when really she was itching to find out more information her brain had found necessary to hide from her.
"My time is almost up." Grisha spoke softly, almost as if he was afraid of the words.
"What are you talking about?"
"My 13 years...The Attack Titan, the Founding Titan..."
"Grisha, you're really scaring me." Angharad moved forward, but Grisha only moved back. "What are you talking about?" She watched Grisha's eye flicker to hers nervously, and she couldn't help the way she snapped at him. "Don't lie to me! Tell me the truth."
"I need to pass on the power of the Titans."
"The power of the Titans?" She repeated. "I need more of an explanation than that!"
"Back in Marley, there was this man, this General, who was telling the citizens about a chance for Eldians to become honorary Marleyans. He said that the power of the Titans could be ours, if we pledged ourselves to Marley and their cause."
"So, what did you do?" Her voice shook slightly, and she swallowed the feeling of understanding that washed over her.
"I..." He kept speaking, but it was silent again. She could no longer hear him, could only watch as his lips moved but no sound came out.
"Dammit!" She lunged forward and gripped the lapels of his coat, she wanted to shake him, wanted to scream at him, but he continued to act like he didn't notice her sudden change in behavior. "Why the fuck does this keep happening? Tell me what I need to know!"
"And then, on the wall...just before I was sent over, I was given something for you."
"What...What do you mean?"
"I need to activate your powers." He stepped forward, his hands hovering over her shoulders, as if he was afraid to touch her.
"You need to step away." She spoke lowly, and Grisha's eyes widened at his sister's words. She had never used that tone with him, never spoke to him as if he was the threat. It unnerved him.
"Do you understand?" His voice was shaky, and his gaze was ducked down, out of her sight.
"Understand what? You still won't tell me anything!" She screamed at him, and unlike usual, her brother flinched, as if he was actually afraid of her.
"All you have to do is follow their lead. Just do exactly as they do." He took a step back and his spine straightened, as if he was preparing himself for what he was about to do.
"Grisha." She gasped. "Wouldn't it be easier to just tell him the truth?" The truth about what? What am I saying? "He's been through enough, they all have." Grisha knew she was referring to Mikasa and Armin, as well as his son.
"No. He needs to forget...for now. You both do." Grisha finally revealed the contents of his pockets. She could see he was holding a syringe in his hand.
Grisha turned to look at his younger sister. She had matured so much in the years they'd been living on the island. She was respected and well loved by her fellow soldiers. She belonged here.
"What do you mean?" Her heart was beating out of her chest now. Grisha moved the way he always dead, and he rushed forward to stick the syringe in her neck, the bright purple liquid slowly draining into her veins. Her eyes began to feel heavy, her body becoming weightless, and her skin felt like it was burning. She grasped at her brother's jacket, trying to hold herself up. "Brother! What have you done?!"
"Sleep, my dear sister." Her brother gently laid her down on the couch. Her hands felt numb, and she couldn't move no matter how hard she willed her body to obey. Grisha turned to exit her office. With his hand on the doorknob, he turned to look at his younger sister one last time. "You will see home soon enough."
But I am home. Home is a sea of green cloaks and the Wings of Freedom.
~
Her eyes fluttered open, for once she wasn't gasping awake. The morning sun's rays warming her room, and she could see the way her curtains billowed in the breeze. Angharad breathed deeply, the scent of tea wafting from a few doors down. Already knowing who it was that as up this early, she smiled softly, stretching her limbs and flexing her wrists as she prepared herself for another day of training her titan form.
Her and Levi had spent the previous day running their team ragged. Running for miles in the morning after a light breakfast, and then hand to hand combat training for a few hours after that. There was a brief break for lunch and she and Levi had watched their team limp to the mess hall after their return to their vigorous training. Angharad had to hold back her amused smile as she listened to Petra and Layla tease Oluo for the way he groaned and complained about having to train in the coming summer heat.
Yes this was her home. These grumbling, annoyed soldiers and the Captain.
Levi
He hadn't spoken much to her after the surprise discovery of her own Titan powers. She'd continued to accompany him for tea and paperwork in the evenings, and they talked about their training schedule and various drills, but other than that he'd kept pretty silent. It wasn't like he was a super talkative person in the first place though. The thought made Ang laugh, and she finally sat up and dressed for the day.
Hanji met her in the open field an hour later, Levi and the rest of their squad in tow. Eren rubbed at his eyes, trying to clear the sleep from his vision. He used to do that as a toddler too. He had grown so much, matured so much. He wasn't a baby anymore, and Ang was having trouble with the thought that he might not need her help as much anymore.
"Okay, everyone ready?" Hanji was cheerful this morning, and Ang smiled back at her with a wave as the group neared her position. Hanji seemed to be in a better mood than usual this morning, which was saying something for the scientist.
"Ready when you are, Section Commander." Ang turned and walked alongside her best friend, Levi and their squad trailing behind them.
~
Vision blurring, sweat rolling down her temples, sore muscles, and ears ringing...Angharad was absolutely exhausted. Blinking again, she wiped the sweat from under her eyes, and stretched her arms above her head. Her heart was pounding and she could feel the stitch in her side from the seemingly endless miles she'd ran for the past couple hours.
Hanji had a theory that endurance training would be a good addition to their Titan shifting exercises. If she and Eren had a better idea of their physical limits, then it would help them make better on-the-spot decisions when beyond the Walls. So Angharad had ran.
And ran, and ran, and ran, until she couldn't physically move her limbs anymore and she collapsed to the ground in front of Levi and the rest of their squad, all of whom had been watching her run laps for the past ½ hour. Oluo had tapped out first, waving his hand ahead of him at the rest of the group who had continued on. Eld and Gunther were next, with Layla and Petra giving up not long after them. Jeremiah had kept up a pretty good speed with Eren and Angharad. Eren, who was still fresh out of training, was used to the vigorous running that Commandant Shadis kept up, while Jeremiah was starting to struggle before eventually walking over to rest against the wagon next to Layla.
Angharad felt alight with adrenaline. She felt like she was on fire, like she was running off energy from her teammates. Eren ran beside her for a few more minutes, but he eventually gave out and made his way to the wagon to rest. Angharad kept going, arms pumping next to her, braids flying out behind her. She'd continued to run until her untimely collapse, much to the surprise and shock of her teammates as well as Captain Levi and Section Commander Hanji.
"Do you think she's dead?" Levi snorted at Hanji's nonchalance about the Navigator who was currently face-down in the dirt.
"No." Levi droned as he took a step forward. "Oi, Ang!" He nudged her shoulder with his boot. "You're too stubborn to die after just a few laps. Get up!" Angharad lifted her head just enough to glare at him fiercely. She groaned in pain, pushing herself to her knees and eventually, gripping the edge of the wagon to pull herself to her feet. Brushing her hands down to clear the grass and dirt off her uniform, Angharad fixed her rumpled shirt and faced Levi and Hanji.
"So, just head out to the middle of the field, and wait for the signal." Hanji patted her shoulder moving to stand by Moblit, while Levi moved to follow after Ang.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Levi asked her. "We don't know how the exhaustion will affect your Titan form."
"Only one way to find out, my dear Captain." Angharad left him at the edge of the field as she continued towards her position. Angharad came to a stop, taking a deep breath and waiting for Hanji's flare.
A shot of green smoke.
Here we go...
Angharad lifted her hand towards her mouth, turning her thumb sideways the way Eren does.
Just do exactly as they do...
Grisha's words from the previous night's dreams ran through her head again. Exactly as they do. Ang brought her thumb to her mouth, biting down hard, splitting the skin. There was a flash of green-yellow lightning, and the next thing she knew she was being pulled from the steaming muscle and hauled back to the ground. She blinked up at Hanji.
"What did I do?" Ang asked worriedly. "Did I hurt anyone?"
"No. You didn't do anything at all." Hanji responded. "All you did was stand there, watching your surroundings. And you ignored us completely." Hanji helped her sit up against the back of the wagon. "Eventually we figured you couldn't hear us so we just cut you out."
"But I didn't hurt anyone?" She asked again. Why couldn't she remember anything that happened while she was transformed?
"No. It was almost like you were waiting for someone to tell you what to do. It was really weird, even for you." The joke did make Ang laugh, and she looked around to see their squad packing up the horses. How long have I been out? "I think we're done for the day. At least we know your limit now."
"At least we know." Angharad sighed and Hanji hopped off the wagon to mount her own horse. Levi stared at her from his own dark steed. Nodding once to let him know she was okay, he responded the same. Moblit gave her a soft pat on the back as he moved to sit in the driver's seat. Ang felt her eyes close with the gesture. No matter how much she ran, no matter how exhausted she was, she would keep fighting, for the sake of her family.
Her own sea of green cloaks and the Wings of Freedom.