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Soon after the surprise of your brother rising from a Titan carcass, you and the others finally went over the wall but were immediately told to separate from Eren. Everyone but you, Armin, and Mikasa left him. Next thing you know, Mikasa is standing in front of who knows how many soldiers while you and Armin were beside Eren.
His eyes opened finally, but there was no sanity in them. "Eren, come on!" You whispered to him loudly.
A smile crawled on his lips when his eyes looked as if they were lifeless.
"You're mine. All of you." He spoke, making you relieved yet confused of why he said that as his first words after coming back.
"You're all gonna die."
Both you and Armin had the same looks on your faces as if you were staring into a mirror. You both were shocked, and maybe even a little scared at the moment. Armin and you looked at eachother and back at Eren, expressions still the same.
"Eren..?" Armin whispered to him quietly.
Feeling the weight of his arm lighten, you assumed that he was back to his senses, but not just yet. "Eren, are you awake?"
His green eyes looked up as his eyelids lifted up more. The shine in his eyes faded in before he jumped at the sight of many soldiers in front of him.
Mikasa looked back at him with worried eyes. "You alright?" Mikasa asked him with narrowed eyebrows.
"Eren, hey, can you move?" Armin asked, slowly getting desperate for an answer from him. "Can you hear me? Say something!"
What if he didn't remember you?
"Do you remember anything at all? Us? Hey, answer us!" You held his arm on your shoulder tighter as you felt even yourself get desperate for any answers from him.
Armin grabbed Eren's shoulder, tears on the edge of his eyes. "They're terrified, but they'll understand!"
Eren looked at Armin with a confused, yet scared face. "Armin, what--" He turned to you, staring with even more confusion when he saw your worried expression. "Y/n, what is talking about? Tell me--"
"You catch that?" You hear one of the elites speak. "He said we're all gonna die."
The three of you looked at the soldiers behind you, gritting their teeth. But you knew damn well it was fear and cowardness. You were sure of it.
Another soldier started to speak in the distance. "Son of a bitch wants to eat us. You watch!"
Your eyes gazed over the soldiers, looking at each one of their expressions. They were all covered in fear, gripping their blades like their life was about to end. The Captain of the Garrison Regiment also had a terrified look on his face, but it looked as if he was also disgusted. Mikasa was only facing one side of the soldiers, but the other side had a clear path of making it to Eren.
Standing up, you let Eren's arm slid off of your shoulder as you left his side. "Y/n what're you--?"
Taking out your blades, you glanced back at him.
"I'm doing what I can to keep my family alive."
...
"Is it true what they say about you saving those kids five years ago, sir?" One of the Elites asked him. "They're Cadets now, right? Won't they be at the Vanguard, too?"
Hannes got everything together as he took a step to the side. "That's right." He replied, making the Elite gasp and looked down.
"I'm really sorry, sir." He replied with a guilty look on his face. "Don't know why I felt the need to bring it up."
"They're good." Hannes cut the man off. "Some tough little bastards. Believe me, they know what it takes to stay alive."
"One of 'em's just about the best fighter I've ever seen."
"The other's so stubborn it can drive you crazy. Loads of inner strength."
"Their friend's a certifiable genius."
"Stubborn one's sister knows damn well on how to put someone in their place at the right time. Will always find the right time to."
"They'll be fine. Not a doubt in my mind."
...
"Cadets Eren Jaeger, Y/n Jaeger, Mikasa Ackermann, and Armin Arlert!" Kitz shouted at the four of you. "The three of you have jointly committed an act of high treason! Whether or not a swift execution is the result depends on you!"
Gripping your blades harder, you glared at the captain. "Any attempt to move from where you stand now, anything I deem the least bit suspicious, will be met with cannon fire! Do not test me."
"Answer carefully."
"Eren Jaeger, what exactly are you? Human? Or Titan?"
Eren didn't reply yet, but you were focused again on the soldiers faces. "I'm sorry, sir!" He replied. "I don't understand!
You could see the captain mutter something to the elites before he looked back at him. "Answer me, damn you! Evasion will get you nowhere!" He pointed his finger in our direction. "Don't try to stall with pretend ignorance! You won't stand a chance! You're be blown to hell before you can assume your true form!"
"What true form..?" You hear Eren mutter. You very much wished he knew about what happened.
"Please! Scores of us saw it happen!" The man shouted. "You emerged from the carcass of a fallen Titan in full view of your comrades!"
Now he did.
"A creature of unknown origin, ability, or allegiance has slipped through and infiltrated Wall Rose, and that creature is you! Under the circumstances, your being sanctioned by His Majesty is neither here nor there! You are a risk I am well within my rights to eliminate!"
"I will not let the situation stand! Every moment I squander mulling over your supposed innocence puts us all in further jeopardy from attack by the Armored Titan! Hell! For all I'm aware, you're a tactical diversion precisely for that purpose! I'm sorry. Humanity's fate hangs in the balance! I cannot waste any more time or manpower on you!"
"Do you understand?!"
You understood that his voice was annoying, for sure. "My conscience will not falter to watch you die!"
An instinct told you that something was about to happen. The Garrison will strike anytime now, sending their soldiers or by cannon fire. "Sir, please! This may be our best chance! We'll expend far less artillery if he's in human form!"
Mikasa took a few steps ahead from where she was. "Excuse me!"
"I wouldn't. Not while we're standing here. Unless anyone's feeling up to the task, in which case, well, I bet that both of us are happy to demonstrate our own techniques. On you and every last of your traitorous flesh."
Mikasa knew very well that you are as strong as Annie and herself. She's seen others underestimate you right before they got themselves face first in the dust within the first second. You've gotten more confident of yourself as you went through your Cadet training.
Your arms rested at your sides. "Okay. Somebody talk to me now. The hell is all this?" You hear Eren behind you.
"Mikasa, Y/n!" You hear Armin call out to you, making you turn your head. "You can't them all on! Even if you both took down a few, there's nowhere left for you to run!" He said in a panicked voice.
"Whoever comes at Eren, deals with me. I'll take on the entire regiment if I have to." Mikasa said with a stern expression. "I don't give a damn what they try to throw at us."
"This isn't the only way! They're just scared. They don't understand what's happening! We need to calm down and just talk it out!" Armin argued as you turned away to look back at the soldiers.
"...and if we're not able to successfully do that, then the only resort is to fight back." You added on, knowing that would make him panic more.
"One more time!" The captain shouted. "Are you a human or a Titan?"
The three of you looked back at Eren, seeing if he'd answer. He looked down at the floor, thinking about the time he's spent with you guys before looking back up.
"I'm human!"
You looked back at the Captain quickly, seeing his arm rise in the air. It was like time slowed for a split second.
"You two, head for the wall! I've got Eren!" Mikasa said, making her way towards Eren.
Looking at Armin, you noticed that he wasn't moving towards the wall. You quickly went over and snatched his hand, making sure he was beside you and not behind you. As you ran, however, you saw Eren running towards you while dragging Mikasa along with him.
You nearly tripped over yourself, falling under Eren's protection. A sudden explosion happened where you were, making you brace for impact from the cannon. You felt total confusion when you still felt alive and unharmed.
After the impact, smoke started to fill the area. You could hear the distant panicking from the soldiers, along with smack-talk about the situation.
Your attention was diverted from the sounds out there to stuttering next to you. Looking at Armin's face, it looked like he hide tears from being scared.
"Armin, are you okay?" You asked him in a concerned manner.
He looked at you and nodded. "Y-Yeah. Just... shaken up, I think?" He replied. Well, you should be happy that he isn't hurt or at the worst, dead.
"It'll be fine." You reassured him, making him turn his head at you. "If I'm correct, he did this to protect us. I'm sure of it."
"S-So," He said, less panicky. "We're in the i-innards of a giant skeleton that Eren... created?"
Mikasa, who was sitting near the two of you, looked at Armin to reassure him. "As Y/n said, Eren did this to protect us. That's all we need to understand for now."
As you observed your surroundings more, you eventually heard running footsteps getting closer. It made you look at where you assumed the footsteps were coming from.
"Y/n! Mikasa! Armin!" You hear Eren call out, rushing around the corner of the Titan. "Hey, are you guys alright?!"
You felt a sense of relief seeing that your brother was okay. "Eren, how'd you--?" Armin questioned as he struggled to find words.
"I don't know!" Eren replied before looked up at the vaporizing Titan. "But look. It's already starting to vaporize just like a corpse of a Titan. Let's get out of here!"
He walked away to see what was going on past the smoke. "I can't tell whether they're watching and waiting or completely dazed." He explained to you. "I suppose it doesn't really matter much either way."
The three of you started to stand up to take a look back at the TItan. "I'm sure once the smoke clears, they'll resume the attack. After seeing this, I think we've blown any hope of reasoning with them."
You saw Eren hold something in his hand suddenly, making you look at the key that hung around Eren's neck. "The key..." You muttered, remembering that your father had a supposed secret in the cellar.
"The cellar." Eren said. "I'm starting to remember. This key..."
Both Eren and you looked at eachother, both thinking the same thing. "Our house in Shiganshina!" He spoke aloud before looking down at it. "Father said I'd have to go back there. Everything hinged on it! I think it's why he gave me the power to transform."
"What do you think might be in there?" You asked him.
He looked up at you. "We might learn the Titan's secrets."
His expression slowly shifted to anger before he raised his fist to hit the huge piece of bone next to him. "Why did he keep this stuff secret? How many thousands of Scouts have already died because our father didn't share this information? It could be the last chance humanity has! The answer's been hidden away under our house this entire time? Is he insane? Damn him!"
"Where have you been these last five years, Dad?"
Mikasa came out of nowhere, grabbing Eren's shoulder. "Eren. We have other business to deal with."
The four of you tried to think it out, but neither Eren or Mikasa could come up with an actual agreement. Eren made another two ideas, one of them being that Armin convince the Garrison Regiment to use Eren's ability under Military command, or to retreat.
Although Armin did need some assurance, you three knew that he could do it. Once you assured him, he stood up.
"I will persuade them, trust me. You guys just act as non-aggressively as you can, agreed?"
You all nodded. You were sure that Armin could do it. You believed in him with all you had.
"Halt, halt!" You hear beyond the smoke, along with a sound of slipping from Armin sliding out. "Is this supposed to be your true form, Monster? I don't buy it! I'll give the signal to fire, I mean it!"
"Eren is not a foe of humanity!" You hear Armin's voice shout. "We're willing to cooperate with Military Command and share everything we've learned about his powers!"
"Your pleas fall on deaf ears!" The Captain shouted. "He revealed his true form and because of that threat, he cannot leave here alive! If you insist that he's not an enemy of ours show me proof! Otherwise, we'll blast him back to whatever nightmare he crawled out of!"
The smoke cleared, making you have a clear view of what's going on. "You don't need any proof!" You hear Armin argue. "The fact of the matter is it doesn't matter what we perceive him to be!"
"What?" The Captain let out in confusion.
"The reports say hundreds of soldiers saw him. Those who were there say they saw him fighting other TItans! That means they saw him get swarmed by the Titans as well. To put it plainly, the Titans saw him the same way they see each and every human being; as their prey! And it doesn't matter how else you may look at is! That is an irrefutable fact!"
The silence after that last sentence made you feel confident. You started to hear whispers, but you weren't sure if they were good whispers or not. The soldiers untensed their holds on the blades, making you think that they were starting to see where Armin was coming from.
"Prepare to attack!" You hear the Captain shout, making you get ready to whip your blades out. "Don't let yourself be swayed by his cunning lies!"
An irritated expression covered your face at the unreasonable figure ahead of you. Your face was covered with disbelief at his desire to always be right. It annoyed you so much.
"The TItan's behavior has always been beyond our comprehension." He explained. "I wouldn't put it past 'em to assume human form! He's speaking our language in an attempt to deceive us! I refuse to let them continue this behavior unchecked!"
Everybody held their blades up again at Armin, making you have the urge to run up to him, but in the end, you didn't.
Armin looked back at you three, but he saw your determined faces for him to keep pushing through. He looked back at the Captain, saluting.
"I am a soldier! I have dedicated my heart to the restoration of humanity, sir! Nothing can make me prouder than dying for such a noble cause! If we were to use his Titan ability and combine it with the manpower we have left, I believe we can do it! We can retake this city! For humanity's glory, in what little time I have left to live, I will advocate his strategic value!"
"Quiet!" He shouted aloud.
You saw his hand rise up in the air, making you nearly slip on the ground to try and run towards Armin. Moving your feet as fast as you could, you watched the Captain's hand completely up in the air, but it didn't move down from a hand catching it.
Stopping in your tracks, you saw from who you think was Dot Pyxis, top officer in the southern territory. He let go of the hand, walking ahead to take a look at the situation.
Feeling the relief of not getting killed, you hear the officer say to gather the reinforcements. "I think we could at least do these young soldiers a favor of hearing them out."