𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓.ᴀɴɴɪᴇ ʟᴇᴏɴʜᴀʀᴅᴛ, ᴍɪᴋᴀꜱᴀ ᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴍᴀɴ

『𝟐𝟑』❝𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐄❞

𝐓𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟗𝐓𝐇, 𝟖𝟓𝟎 𝐀𝐓 𝟏𝟓:𝟓𝟒

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

  The journey up to the top of the Walls had been too slow for your liking, the cart that had dragged both you and Marco up fifty metres seeming to have operated without a single care, 'I can see why they'd want us to use these to enter Trost, really. But I think I'd almost prefer using up some gas just to avoid all of this anxiety climbing up here.' Granted, you'd never actually dare to do something as stupid as that -especially when you had just run out of gas before in battle, and someone's death had been the direct result of that- but to say that it hadn't been contemplated once or twice before the thought passed would be an obvious lie to yourself.

  The two of you had waited for the other three in your group at the bottom of the pulley systems -seeing as there were more than just one around, and they would have to use them in order to get on top of the Wall- until it was clear that they weren't coming, and had probably already entered battle, 'I still don't understand how they managed to sneak past us both, we were watching for them the whole time. Unless they got there before us, I don't see how it's possible.'

  Currently, the slow-moving cart had just reached the top -the two of you now motioning out of the system as you took steps towards the opposite edge of the Wall that led to titan-infested terrain with solidly clicking, rubber boots. For a second you were tempted to look down, but you knew that if you thought about it, you would most likely become fearful of such a fall, 'Think (Y/N), it's just like last time you had to jump off. Just don't think about it too much.'

  "Well," you started as you turned to Marco, the sound of pounding footfalls in the background as more cadets ran past you both and into the battle, "There's no point in stopping here, eh?"

  "You're not wrong," he agreed as he took a few steps back -an action that you mimicked not too long after, "Let's go in there and give it all we've got, friend."

  'Friend... He thinks of me as a friend too?' You couldn't help the way that you grinned at his words, broadening it a second later as you nodded your head and got out your blades, 'Marco really is a friend of mine, he and Annie both are the two that I can confidently call my friends. They're not like Armin or Eren.'

  "Yeah, let's go buddy."

  Without a word more spoken to each other, you both then ran forwards and jumped off of the Wall almost in sync.

  In a freefall, the wind ceaselessly whipped and tugged at your clothing and (H/L) hair -Marco just so happening to sink more quickly than you had as you did your best to follow him, the two of you heading towards the gate that needed to be resealed even though the both of you knew quite well that you wouldn't come close to reaching it. In the near distance you could see a few titans already shuffling about, heading to where you could only assume combatting soldiers were fighting as you flew downwards with readied blades, pushing past the wind resistance and squinting your eyes. If you looked to one of the two corners in Trost -they were opposite to the hole in the Wall, and directly at the side of inner Wall Rose- you could see a gigantic grouping of titans, with countless soldiers at the top of the pit -telling you that the plan to keep some of the titans preoccupied from Eren was a success, 'Now all we have to do is kill the ones who are leaving that group and heading back to Eren. We'll have to prevent the ones still entering Trost too, if we get close enough.' The sound of 3DMG rang out from Marco's place as he found himself close enough to the ground to do so, you copying his movements and sending out your wires from your own machine as you reentered reality.

  With only a partially graceful movement and faint reminiscence, you allowed the hooks to catch you and permitted yourself to bob up and down the aisles of houses with the freckled man -who soon slowed himself down a little to catch up to your side, "I think I saw one to our northwest," Marco spoke just loud enough for you to hear him as you both swung downwards and into the cover of the buildings, "Black hair, maybe seven to nine-metres tall."

  "How do you want to go about this?"

  "Do you want to try what we did on that titan before?" he asked, before then clarifying more, "Where I distract him while you get his ankles, and then you distract him while I go for the nape?"

  You gave him a solidifying, determined nod, "They say if it's not broken, don't fix it."

  Closely mirroring your look with his own kinder take, he sped ahead to set the plan in motion -flinging himself over a house and venturing to your left. Finding yourself on an upwards swing, you landed yourself on a rooftop and ran alongside its length to near Marco in what you hoped was not an attention-grabbing fashion; the man had just reached the titan when your sights fell on him, the dark head of hair sinking his one hook into the titan's shoulder as he hacked away at its arm's muscles, 'There, now I can make my move!'

  Jumping off of the building and almost landing in the alleyway that the titan was in, you started to angle yourself in such a way that would allow for you to take a cut on the behemoth's heels, 'I didn't cut deep enough last time, so I should try to cut deeper now -even if this titan is smaller!'

  Attempting to do as you planned, you swung yourself above the ground nearly in a horizontal line; your handles pushed against your palms as you forced the edges to go through the heatened flesh, spitting a little when a scouringly hot splash of blood hit to your face and past your lips, 'Shit, that's fucking disgusting!'

  Swirling around, you heard a giant thud play out -telling you that you had cut deep enough to render the titan unable to properly walk; reaching the apex of your swing upwards, for a brief moment you rested in the air -then allowing gravity to do the rest of the work as your eyes fell upon your efforts, confirming with satisfaction that you had sufficiently cut both heels to the point where the creature fell over. With its remaining arm, it grinned brightly as it reached out to you while your feet planted on a rooftop with a moment's pant -the titan ever eager for a meal as its grubby fingers wriggled and twitched in its try.

  Matter of fact, the beast nearly fell over as it grasped for you, the only thing that had stopped it being the fact that Marco swung in at that exact moment to take a hit at the neck. The slice was successful in bringing and keeping the monster down, given as it no longer made any attempts to get back up, and its flesh slowly morphed from a tangible being, to a gaseous state, 'Once again, I feel like this is way too easy for a mere cadet like myself -but, seeing as it greatly benefits me, I shouldn't complain.' you reasoned to yourself warily, 'In fact, I should try to brush it aside for now, it'll only distract me.'

  "Well, that's one down; good job there, we did good." Marco breathed as he grounded next to you on terracotta tiles, a small dot of sweat forming on his forehead that you were sure you replicated, "Do you want to head more towards the breach? The rest of our group might be there."

  "That's fine by me," you gave as you gestured your hand out for him to follow, responding as you both jogged on the buildings, "We're supposed to head over there anyways."

  "True."

  Reaching the end of the structure, the both of you then switched to your gear -leaping off of something solid and instead opting to dance on nothing but air; for the next few minutes, the two of you silently weaved above and below the housing that surrounded you, ever so alert for titans that might somehow be creeping up on you both, 'Where are they? They really didn't go AWOL, did they? What would they gain from that, weren't they worried for Eren? It would be hypocritical if they just abandoned everyone else, especially when the goal is to protect him.'

  It was only after the temporary search that you were granted what you were partly hoping to avoid, 'What is he, a thirteen-metre one?'

  Pointing with a sword, you alerted the amber-eyed homme of its presence, "There, Marco. Maybe thirteen metres, hasn't spotted us yet. Do you want to go for the ankles, or should I?"

  "You can go for them again." he offered, taking the same role as he had before as you both landed on a rooftop. He directed his head away from you, which would have caused for you to enquire about his strange development had he not voiced his reasoning himself, "I think I just saw Bertholdt over there," he spoke, "After we kill this one, we should go over there and regroup."

  'Thank the Walls, everything will be easier in a bigger group.'

  "Agreed." you sounded, "Let's make this quick."

  'This is absolutely insane, is this what it was like for the Fall of Wall Maria? I don't even want to imagine how low morale was considering they didn't have someone who could turn into a titan at will with them.'

  As practised twice now, Marco rushed himself forwards and acted as bait as you held back for a moment longer. As soon as you noted that its beady eyes were hooked on your platonic partner, you yourself then sped ahead as quietly as you could; going through the motions almost like clockwork, you watched as he moved to tear away at the beast's one arm yet again as you allowed yourself to dip down to the stone road once close enough. This time was different for you however, seeing as when you went to cut at the Achilles tendon, the titan lifted one of its legs upwards sharply -if it weren't for a quick reaction and a hastily commanded puff of gas from you, you were sure that you would've been flattened underneath its foot, 'But was it my own instincts that saved me, or this second, braver me's instincts that did?' Managing to cut through its other ankle despite cluttered thoughts, the titan was forced to partly kneel as you launched yourself upwards yet again -graceful in your movements until your name was yelled out.

  "(Y/N)!" Darting your eyes around for the owner of the voice, your eyes landed on Marco who was now facing against an eight-metre titan, "Finish that one! I'll take care of this one!"

  "Got it!" you gave in without a fight, deciding to trust your friend as you sunk your one hook into the side of a building and circled the fallen titan; making sure to be extra cautious of its one hand -as the one Marco cut was almost completely regenerated- you felt your harness tug and pull at your body as you swung past its nape, effectively shearing off tanned skin from the beast with your blades as you made sure to keep your mouth closed this time. Without a single verbal screech, the creature halted in its attempts to snack on you and started to enter a freefall -you only catching the tail end of it crashing into a row of houses and creating rubble as you darted towards Marco to help him.

  The only thing was, by the time he had entered your vision, he had already sent the beast careening to the floor; a spiral of smoke that was similar to the one behind you came from Marco's direction, and in not even a second more was the midnight-haired male hurling himself in your direction, "I got lucky with that one," he yelled to you as he came closer, "He lost focus of me and tried to go for you!"

  'Well, that explains why he was able to take down an eight-metre so quickly. He didn't have to worry about evading too many attacks, or having to disable his limbs at all.' you told yourself briefly with a deep breath, then bringing up another point in your head, 'Now we can regroup with Annie and them, and work together to keep titans away from Eren like we're supposed to.'

  It seemed as if your comrade had a thought process akin to yours, as his golden spheres soon flicked over to your (E/C) ones, "Head over now?" He asked in chopped breathing, nodding his head in the general direction that you supposed he saw Bertholdt in, "Yeah, let's not waste time."

  Thud.

  Almost as if the small noise was scripted, yet another gargantuan hobbled into view -eyes clearly focused on you as it tried to shorten the forty metres or so between you both, 'Well shit, of course there's another one of them. At least he's only five metres tall, we've at least got that.'

  For a second, Marco let out a defeated sigh and almost light-hearted chuckle at the titan's poor -or great, depending on perspective- timing -and it was right after that, that male shouts could be heard in the background, along with a thud -that could only come from a slain titan- and more shouting.

  Your heart lurched at not knowing what was going on in the supposed direction of your group, and Marco soon voiced a similar worry, "You should go and check on them, (Y/N)." His smile was weary, but his intentions were pure-born -he was attempting to reassure you that all would be ok.

  "No Marco, we shouldn't split up." you reasoned, remembering how you weren't able to save Heidi in part because of separation, "And besides, if anything, you should go ahead seeing as you saw where Bertholdt was."

  "This is just one titan, and we don't know their situation over there." he countered firmly but still gently enough, "If you think I should go over, then I have no problem doing so. But they might be fighting more than they can handle right now, when one of us can easily take this one down."

  'He does have a point... Whether I want to admit it or not.' you realised as you kept your hues trained on the approaching titan, 'I'm sure he can manage since he took down an eight-metre just now, and with this second me's strength, I'm sure that I could pull through as well. I'd just have to keep a watch for other titans that might approach...'

  "Ok, I'll stay since you know where they are." you dictated, "Just be careful, and try to be quick. It's really not a good idea to be on your own in titan territory."

  "I'll bring them here as soon as I can, if you don't get there first! I know it shouldn't take you long though!" he shouted with a thankful smile, running off to help his comrades with a heart that you were sure was still worried for their wellbeing. Without much to say, you focused in on your new opponent -quickly rasping your knuckles against your gas canister as you checked your gas levels, 'Good, I still have plenty enough. Looks like I won't have to worry about refuelling soon, but I should still conserve when possible.' A quick glance at your blades however told you that they were in a much different state -so without wasting any time, you released your dulled ones and replaced them with a new, fresh pair.

  Thud.

  Giving one quick look back at your friend's retreating form, you saw him disappear out of sight before you rushed forwards, 'I'll kill this one, and then all I have to do is get back over to my group.' You continued to not use your gear as you let the titan near you more until it was only seven or so metres in the distance -so as to save gas that you could use at a later date- until it started to giggle with excitement, "Haaahaa..."

  Repulsion grew in you at the memories that chuckle provided, and you tried your best to squash it before it could truly distract you from your task; sending out your hooks, you heard a wooden foundation groan as your metallic lifelines anchored into a building, 'Here, I'll go for the arms like Marco had!'

  Thud.

  Flying past its left side and managing to just avoid a swing at you that it had taken, you tried to sneak up behind it and cut away at its right arm; as you swung past the laceration you managed to inscribe, you noted that the arm was still functional, but not fully, 'Well, at least I did good enough to slightly hinder it. I'll have to... Wait, there!'

  As you had been sailing in the wind, your eyes caught onto the perfect chance to slice at its nape -so, sinking a single wire just below your target, you pulled and pushed on your triggers in such a way that sent you speeding towards the monster's weak spot. Adjusting your blades the best you could, you hurriedly tore through the flesh before landing on it and then jumping off of the starting-to-decay body; you released your wire's hold as you then sent both of them to a nearby rooftop to recollect yourself.

  Thud.

  Pools of a surprised (E/C) widened at the sound while landing, 'Another one?!'

  𝑩𝑶𝑶𝑴.

  'Shit, I-?!'

  Whatever that last sound was, the sheer strength the action -that caused the sound- held was able to make your knees weak -you uncontrollably tumbling onto the tiles and sliding down slightly before you could even try to implant your wires into the outer ceiling to brace yourself. You were just able to see the hand of a fourteen-metre reaching out for you as you turned back to see where it was, 'Fuck!'

  Not really thinking anything through and relying on pure instinct, you just managed to dodge its hold by lunging your body to the left as it slammed its fist through the building -the way the roof sagged leaving you no other option than to send your wires into the beast if you didn't want to fall into the structure and ultimately end up trapped for the beast's own delight. Horror struck you deep as you noticed another titan doing its best to sprint over to you, the nine to eleven-metre newcomer locking its sights onto you as it bursted with glee, "Haaa...!"

  Brushing off your fright the best you could, deep down you weren't completely sure if even the better version of yourself would be able to take care of the incoming threats, 'I don't even know what second me is capable of doing, but I don't have a choice! I can't escape, because there's nowhere to even escape to at this point! They'll catch up if I try to flee!'

  You allowed for yourself to gulp before you attempted to take down the fourteen-metre, not seeing a chance to go right for its nape and instead opting to head for its knees, 'I really don't like this, it puts me right in the ten-metre's reach!' You mentally protested as your body screamed at you to not go through with it, 'I'll have to chance it though, this is the most practical way I can think of!' Flying right for them, your arms strained as you pushed the sharp metal into its flesh -and you would've grappled away right then and there had it not been for the hand that grasped onto your wires, courtesy of the titan that had been running directly to you and the very one that you had been wary of, 'Let me go! I refuse to die to you after the countless titans I've faced!'

  Immediately, you wracked your head for any solutions -the first one that came to mind being to continue forwards, cut off the titan's hand, and then try to gain some distance between you and the beasts that you knew would be futile in the end once they caught up to you. However, the smaller of the two listened to your internal commands of letting you go as it then leaned forwards unnaturally; your bewilderment fading only when you realised that the mammoth creature had been killed as blood then splashed from behind it, which prompted you to use your 3DMG to speed away from the fourteen-metre titan -that you were sure was grabbing for you from behind- as your eyes locked upon the figure that had caused such damage.

  It was Annie Leonhardt. She had come to save you.

  Planting your feet onto a rooftop and preparing to help the blonde if she needed it, you soon found that your previous move that brought the fourteen-metre titan to its knees was enough to let the short female rip through the nape without any hesitation in the same fell swoop. More blood coated her as she gracefully spun through the air, steaming and landing not too far from you in a kneel before she straightened her legs and stood up. Storming her way over to you, she slammed her blades back into their holsters as she made her way closer -you trying your best to brush off her supposed anger as you felt yourself become relieved that she was still in one piece, 'Dear Rose, she's ok!'

  Giving her a nervous, tiny smile due to her aggression, you took a small step forwards as that familiar feeling of guilt -that you had been in touch with for a while now- washed over you, "Annie, I-!"

  Smack.

  You stuttered backwards as the fourteen-metre that she had just slain fell to the floor in the background, making the silence that followed her action more prominent once things quieted down yet again. You wanted to speak her name in a question, but the stinging on your right cheek prevented you from uttering a single word -forcing you to instead take in her features as she glared at you with more intensity than you thought possible. Her spheres that were usually of a lightened cobalt darkened considerably as water barely brimmed at the bottom of them, her words laced with anger and maybe even a small bit of helplessness mixed with shame as she yelled at you, "You want to join the Survey Corps, don't you?!"

  Every single word you knew left you at that very moment, your right hand cupping your cheek as she continued, "If you can't even take down two titans like that, you won't last ten seconds out there! You're going to die!"

  Despite the violence that she was pushing onto you, you could see something bigger brewing underneath her words -that she was venting out some other emotion onto you and that she wasn't really angry with you; her fists tightened at her sides as she then grit her teeth and looked off to the side, the larmes that had been building up in her frustrated orbs not spilling as she refused them of that luxury And instead made them dissipate, "You would've died right here and now if I hadn't come when I did." she forced out, now refusing to look at you at all almost as if overridden by inner conflict and speaking under her breath, "You're lucky he..."

  The last part of what she had said was hard to make out, but you didn't dare to ask for her to repeat it as you simply guessed the end of the unfinished sentence, 'What happened to make Annie this upset? Is she concerned for me...?' At the thought, you couldn't help the way that you felt that guilt inside you tenfold -nerves teeming with the emotion as you swore your cheeks started to feel hot with shame.

  Then, a sudden realisation hit you almost as hard as her slap had, and you suddenly adopted a feeling that you felt you should've been aware of it weeks ago -causing for you to freeze smally as the platinum-haired girl then sported a tone that lost a good bit of its previous aggression, yet still remained strict nonetheless, "(Y/N), you're not fit for the Survey Corps. I can't tell you which branch to join, but I know you are going to die if you join that division."

  A brief second was left for you to respond, one that you didn't take for the sole reason of not being sure what to say. Seeing as she had nothing left to say, she took out her blades and started to make her way to the end of the building with empowered steps, "Get back up the Wall." she spoke lowly without looking back, "Our job here is done."

  You could tell from the small cues in her stature that she felt a tiny remorse for what she had just done -that, despite hitting you, she had your best interests at heart; it was something that you would've never guessed witnessing or picking up from her, but it had just played out before you all the same.

  And even that felt different than when Mikasa had said she was sorry for hurting you in the past -this time it felt more genuine, somehow. Annie's single hit was a wake-up call, done in private and not for the show of others -Mikasa's past actions were a mere cover-up so she could keep face with Eren. It made you feel sick with turmoil.

  This time, with what you now identified as real guilt, you could feel regret devour you whole -you trusting that your other comrades had been able to return to safety and wordlessly following the girl in thought. After all, you had just realised that that guilt you had been recently feeling around the blue-eyed teen wasn't guilt, but a new forming crush instead, 'I get that my emotions have always been all over the place, but how would I miss something as important as this? Am I really this clueless about my own feelings?'

  Your 3DMG clicked and clinked as you watched her make her way above and below in patterns, soaring and sinking in such a way that got her closer and closer to safety -she wasn't going as fast as you knew she could have though, which only made the remaining butterflies in your stomach mix the true remorse even further at her hidden -and quite possibly unintentional- consideration.

  'What does this mean for Mikasa and I?'

  You tried to shift your thoughts away from the matter at hand but ultimately failed, absentmindedly noting that the Survey Corps had in fact arrived and joined the battle when you saw the famously recognisable heads of hair belonging to those in the Special Operations Squad -and not too far off in the distance, where the breach had been, was an immovable boulder blocking any new titans from coming in.

  Boy, did you have a lot to think about.

───── ❝𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞❞ ─────

Heya there!

Not much to say, but I just wanted to mention that I thought all of your theories were rather interesting; some of y'all speculated that she read the manga, that she was a time-traveller, that she was a seer of sorts, or that she held the Founding Titan power -all of which seem to not be baseless based on what's been provided thus far.

I loved reading all of them though, I wonder what you guys'll think when the truth is revealled aha ^^''

Also, this was by far my favourite chapter to write so far 😅  Anyways, thanks for reading!!

─Cαɾɾιҽ Gαɾα 💜

───── ❝𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧❞ ─────

Words: 4.619

Words Total: 107.216

Written: 13 July, 2021

Posted: 25 July, 2021

Edited Last: 24 July, 2021