"Armin...what are we going to do?" I ask him from across the other side of Eren, whom we are currently helping to sit up.
We've been at the trial grounds for about twenty minutes, waiting for Eren to wake up. During those twenty minutes, there's been a cannon set up ready to shoot at the four of us and we've been surrounded by people, ready to attack.
"I've been thinking about that as well..." He replies. "I'm sure we'll know when the time-"
"You're all going to die..." Eren mumbles with this scary look on his face, making Armin, Mikasa, and I gasp.
Mikasa looks back at us, specifically Eren. "Are you alright?" She receives no answer.
"Eren!" I exclaim. "Hey! Are you alright? Can you move? Can you hear us? Please answer us!"
Armin grabs him by his shoulders. "Listen! You've got to tell them everything! They're terrified, but they'll understand!"
Eren grunts softly, looking between Armin and I. "Armin...Y/n, I-"
"Did you catch that?!" A Garrison member questions. "He said we're all going to die! There's not much else you can make of that! That son of a bitch wants to eat us! Just watch and see! He will!"
"What..." Eren starts. "What the hell are they doing? Why are they pointing their blades at us? And...what's with that look? Are they terrified of me?"
I just stare at him. Does he not even know that he came out of a Titan's nape? If he doesn't know, then how are we going to get out of here alive?
"Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Arlert, and Y/n Arlert! The four of you have jointly committed an act of high treason!" Commander Woerman yells. "Whether or not a swift execution depends on you!"
"What..?" Eren mutters.
Commander Woerman continues. "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!"
Surely we're going to die...I don't think any of us have a clue as to how or why Eren appeared from the Titan's nape. He just can't be Titan. They're the very thing he seeks to destroy the most. There has to be some other explanation.
"Answer carefully!" Commander Woerman orders. "Eren Jaeger, what exactly are you? Human or Titan?!"
"I'm sorry, sir! I don't understand!" Eren replies.
"Answer me, damn you!" Woerman commands. "Evasion will get you no where! Don't try to stall with pretend ignorance! You won't stand a chance! You'll be blown to hell before you can assume your true form!"
"What true form?" Eren asks, sounding genuinely curious.
Woerman scoffs. "Oh please! Scores of us saw it happen! You emerged from the carcass of a fallen Titan in full view of your comrades! A creature of unknown origin, ability, or allegiance has slipped through and infiltrated Wall Rose and that creature is you!"
This man is crazy if he thinks Eren is one of the Titans that entered through the hole today. He was with us the entire time. There's no way he could've come through the hole.
He continues. "Under the circumstances, you being sanctioned by His Majesty as neither here nor there! You are a risk that I am well within my ranks 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 the attack by the Armored Titan! For all we know, you're a tactical diversion precisely for that purpose! I'm sorry! Humanity's fate hangs in balance! I can not waste anymore time or man power on you! Do you understand?!"
"Sir! Now may be our best chance! You should fire now!" A Garrison member suggests, making me gasp softly.
"Excuse me." Mikasa remarks, taking a few steps closer toward them. "I wouldn't. Not while I'm standing here. Unless anyone's feeling up to the task, in which case, well...I'm happy to demonstrate my own technique on you and every last inch of your traitorous flesh."
"Ok. Somebody talk to me now. What the hell is all this?" Eren asks.
I sigh. "Eren, you emerged from a Titan's nape. This small trial is being held to determine your fate and our fates as well, since we're defending you."
"What?!" He looks directly at me with wide eyes. "What are you-"
"Mikasa!" Armin jumps up. "You can't take on all of them. Even if you took down a few, there's no where left for you to run!"
She keeps her back turned to us. "Whoever comes at Eren, deals with me. I'll take down the entire regiment if I have to. I don't give a damn what they try to throw at us."
"Hey!" I exclaim, jumping up as well. "This isn't the only way! They're just scared, Mikasa. They don't understand what's happening! We need to calm down and talk things out, ok?"
"One more time!" Commander Woerman yells. "Are you a human being or a Titan?!"
Mikasa, Armin, and I glance back at Eren in anticipation. He's human. Why would he even have to consider saying Titan? He was born a human.
"I'm human!" Eren yells at the top of his lungs, making it go all quiet.
"So you say..." Woerman finally responds. "I guess I have no choice..." He starts lifting his hand up to give the signal to fire the cannon.
Mikasa turns around. "Armin, Y/n, head for the wall! I've got Eren!"
"Wait! No-" Eren yells, but gets cut off by Mikasa grabbing him.
Armin and I start to run away from where the cannon is aimed, but stop once the cannon fires and when Mikasa yells, 'No!'
We look behind us to see both Eren and Mikasa running towards us. Eren quickly huddles the four of us together and bites his hand, causing a bright yellow light, like lightning, to appear, making me shut my eyes tightly.
Once I open my eyes, I notice we're surrounded by some smoke, but once it clears a little, I see that we're now inside a Titan's ribcage. I look around me in absolute shock.
Something drops onto my head, making me look up to see the head of this Titan shift a little, making tiny pieces of bone fall to the ground. This is crazy...
"I know I heard them fire their cannon at us, and then there was a tremendous crash and a blast of heat." Armin remarks.
"Not to mention that we're also inside the ribcage of a Titan now." I add with a short gasp.
"Eren did this for us." Mikasa replies. "That's all we need to understand for now." Armin and I nod.
I get to looking around again and see these really pretty purple flowers that weren't even there before. "How did those get there..?"
"Mikasa! Armin! Y/n!" Eren yells, running around the ribcage to stand in front of us.
"Eren, how did you-" Armin starts to ask.
"I don't know." Eren answers without hearing what else Armin was going to ask. "Look! It's already starting to vaporize, just like the corpse of a Titan. Let's get out of here!"
He walks a few steps toward the Garrison members. "It's hard to tell if they're watching and waiting, or just totally dazed. I suppose it doesn't really matter much either way."
He turns around towards us. "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."
He brings the key out from under his shirt and holds it. "The cellar. I'm starting to remember. This key. Our house in Shiganshina! My 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. If I can make it back to our cellar, I might learn the Titan's secrets."
Suddenly, he bangs his fist into a rib of the corpse. "Why did he keep this stuff secret?! How many thousands of Scouts have already died, because my father didn't share this information?! It could be the last chance humanity has and the answer's been hiding under our house this entire time?! Is he insane?! Damn him...where have you been these last five years, Dad?"
Mikasa grabs his shoulder. "Eren, we have other business to work with."
He nods. "Right."
We all run out of the ribcage, before it vaporized and the skull fell down and crushed us. We huddle up in a small circle behind the ribcage.
"Listen." Eren starts. "I'm getting out of here."
"How?" I ask. "And where are you going?"
"I'll just transform again and run to the hole in the wall." He replies. "Then, I'll head straight over to Shiganshina and get to my cellar."
"You can transform at will?" Armin asks.
Eren looks up. "To be honest, I don't know how I'm doing it. I just know that I can. It's hard to put it in words, but it was like reflexive, see? In that moment, my mind focused on stopping the cannonball. That's why it's decaying already. It only had the endurance to meet that task." He starts breathing heavily.
"Eren, are you ok-" I begin to ask.
"Next time I'll be stronger." He growls, making a fist. "I'll be a fifteen meter high Titan-slayer just like I was before."
"Eren!" Mikasa exclaims. "Your nose is-"
Eren rubs under his nose, then looks at his finger, which now has blood on it. "Huh?"
"Your breathing is erratic and you're pale." Armin informs.
"Something's wrong with you, Eren. You're not well!" I add.
He wipes under his nose again. "As things stand, my health is irrelevant, but I have two ideas. You three could make it out of here alive, if you stop trying to protect me. I've brought you nothing but trouble as it is. I'm doing this on my own from this point forward."
Armin gasps softly, as do I. "You're kidding, but I-"
"Eren." Mikasa says firmly. "I'm coming too."
"No way." He replies.
"I plan to follow you whether you give me permission to or not." She continues. "I swear. I'll never leave your side."
"Mikasa, stop it. I'm being serious here!" Eren exclaims. "I'm not your little brother and I'm not some snot-nosed toddler!"
"Please stop fighting..." I ask meekly. "Now's not the time to fight..."
Eren looks at me and sighs, before looking back at Mikasa. "You didn't have to start a fuss. If you recall, I said I had two ideas."
He looks at Armin and I. "I expect you two to make the right decision."
Armin began stammering his words, but I'm intrigued with what he's got in mind. "What's your idea?"
"Well, I'm aware of how unrealistic this plan is." He looks at his hand. "Best case scenario? I try to use my Titan ability strategically, under military direction."
He looks back up at us. "This might sound crazy, but if you two think you can convince the Garrison Regiment, right here and now, that I present no threat to them, I'll trust you both and we'll go with that option. That's my second idea. If you don't think you can get it done, then my last resort is the first idea."
I look at Armin. "If you don't think you can face all of them, I'll go alone. You've got to decide now, though. We only have about fifteen seconds before they're ready to fire the cannon again."
"Armin." Eren starts. "I'll respect your decision either way. You can stay with me and Mikasa, while Y/n goes."
"Why are you leaving such a major decision up to us?" Armin asks.
I nod. "I was wondering that myself..."
"You two keep level heads." Eren answers. "You always choose well. No matter how ugly things get. I figure that's worth relying on."
I look at Mikasa. "This is related to how we supposedly saved you guys, right?"
She nods. "Yes. It is."
"You two do it all the time." Eren adds. "Take five years ago. If you guys hadn't gone to Hannes for help, Mikasa and I would've been eaten by the Titans."
Suddenly, the ribcage behind Armin and I breaks and falls to the ground, creating a huge gush of wind that blows my hair into my face. I never thought of that. I've just considered myself their friend that always slows them down. I thought of myself as dead weight.
"Armin! You need to decide! Our time's up!" Eren exclaims.
I stand up, ready to leave. "Armin, are you coming or-"
He abruptly stands up beside me. "We will persuade them. I promise. You two just act as non-aggressively as you possibly can, ok?" They both nod.
"Alright then." I quickly pull my hair up into a ponytail. "Let's go." In unison, we both turn and start to speed-walk our way out of the smoke.
I look over at Armin. "Have you thought of anything to say yet?"
He shakes his head. "No. I was thinking we'd just have to think as we talk."
"Yeah. I thought of that as well." I look straight ahead of me. "We should probably take our gear off, so they don't think we're going to attack them."
"Good thinking." He replies and we simultaneously take our gear off, having it hit the ground.
"Halt! Halt!" Commander Woerman exclaims, once we leave the smoke and are now in their sights. We both put our hands up. "Is this supposed to be your true form, you monster?! I don't buy it! I'll give the signal to fire! I mean it!"
I know I shouldn't disrespect him, since he has a higher rank than me, but he beginning to get a little annoying. "Eren is not a foe of humanity! He means no harm and poses as no threat!"
"We're willing to cooperate with military command and share everything we've learned about his powers!" Armin adds.
"Your pleas fall on deaf ears!" Woerman replies. "He revealed his true form, and because of that threat, he can not leave here alive! If you insist he's not an enemy of ours, then show me proof! Otherwise, we'll blast him back to whatever nightmare he crawled out of!"
I growl under my breath. "You don't need any proof! The only thing that matters is that it doesn't matter what we perceive Eren to be!"
"What?" Woerman asks.
"That's right!" Armin says, backing me up. "The reports say hundreds of soldiers saw him. Those that were there saw him fighting other Titans! That means they saw him get swarmed by the Titans as well!"
"What are you getting at, boy?" Woerman questions.
I sigh. "To put it plainly, the Titans saw Eren the same way they see each human being; as their prey! You can't change our minds about this! Look at it however you want, but you sure as hell won't change our insight on it!"
I start to pant a little after all that yelling. I look around at everyone and notice that they start lowering their blades.
Commander Woerman looks side to side, before looking down. "Prepare to attack! Don't let yourself be swayed by their cunning lies!"
I gulp quietly. The outlook on this isn't looking too good...
"The Titans have always been beyond our comprehension." Woerman continues. "I wouldn't put it past them to assume human form. They're speaking our language in an attempt to deceive us! I refuse to let them continue this behavior unchecked!"
I go as stiff as a board with my jaw dropped a little. This is hopeless. At this point, we're never going to be able to convince them. Although, it's obvious that he isn't thinking any of this through.
I look at Armin to see him looking back at Eren and Mikasa. So, I look back there too. Once I do, Eren nods at us. Then, we both look out in front of us and salute.
"We are soldiers!" I exclaim. "We have dedicated our hearts to the restoration of humanity, sir!"
"Nothing could make us prouder than dying for such a noble cause!" Armin adds. "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!"
I continue. "For humanity's glory, we will advocate his strategic value! Please believe us!" My throat really hurts now...
Without saying a single thing, he begins to lift his arm up. This is it...this is the end for us. I'm sorry I couldn't avenge you, Father, Mother, and Grandpa...
"That's enough." A man's voice orders, as he grabs Woerman's wrist before he could swing his arm down. "You should really do something about your nervous disposition, Captain Woerman." The man brings his arm down.
"C-Commander Pyxis?" Woerman stutters.
"Can you not see these two soldier's heartfelt salute?" The man, Commander Pyxis, asks. "I've only just arrived, but I'm quite aware of our situation. Gather our reinforcements. I think we could at least do these young soldiers the favor of hearing them out."
I drop to my knees, Armin falling right after, and I couldn't help but have tears in my eyes. If it weren't for Commander Pyxis, Armin, Eren, Mikasa, and I would be dead. Now...we've got to explain things to Commander Pyxis. Let's see how this goes...
A/N: Hey, cadets! I don't even know why you all are still reading this. I seriously feel like it's getting so boring. Hopefully, I can bring the interest back in the next chapter.
I hope you all have a wonderful test if your day/evening/night! Bye, cadets!