(A/N: You see, these are the kind of messages that makes me smile and feel like that I did do a great job on a lot of stories and being an inspiration to many who love wrestling or any kind of books in general, but according to insomnia (imagine if the diagnosis were a person), it should fuck off and grab the dirtiest part of its asshole.
What I mean is that I've been suffering from insomnia lately to where I can't sleep at night and I only sleep during the day and I haven't been able to get better about it.
The melatonin doesn't work, the Benadryl doesn't work, so if you see a chapter or whatever during the night time, over here in NY it is just that early in the fucking morning, just know that it's chewing me up and spitting me out like I do with so many chapters. It's just something I'm suffering from and there's a 50/50 chance I might die from this because I did learn that it can kill if not treated.
If I die from insomnia in the near future, then so be it, but at least I appreciate all your love and support after writing these stories for all of you. It makes me happy to know that you enjoy what I put on the table.
It's just that humbling.
So without anymore blabbering, let's just get into it.)
~Elias POV~
Shitstain and I were running from the Titan that was trying to kill us, but then, I saw something in the distance.
It turned out to be a poor fellow cadet, crushed underneath debris, with his/her gear sticking out.
Elias: Jean, I see some ODM gear. It's not much, but it'll definitely help you.
Jean: You sure?
Elias: I'm sure! Let me distract it first and then you go do your thing, alright?
Jean: Sounds good!
Elias: And when you're done, let me get those tubes from your gear. I'm almost out!
Jean: You're lucky it's a quarter empty. I'll get them off as quick as I can, but for now, go!
Elias: Thanks Shitstain.
Jean: No problem! Wait, what?!
I flew around and got the Titan's attention by yelling at it...
Elias: Come on you ugly piece of shit! I'm a tasty snack to your liking!
That was way out of context, but whatever the hell.
It tried to grab me and I dodged its attacks and tried to grab me again, but I cut the fingers off. The Titan's, not my own, and flew down to keep running, just to distract it, but when I looked at its glare, I started thinking about...
...the way I died.
It lunged itself at me, but I dodged it as quickly as I could while slamming myself into a wall, hurting my bad shoulder.
Dammit, I gotta get some help once this is all over.
Then, Marco came in and started to distract it!
Elias: Marco! What the hell are you doing!
I then heard Shitstain managing to grab the gear off the corpse and put it on, but the problem was that the triggers were too stiff.
However, he managed to save the tubes for me, which I can appreciate.
Jean: Hey, Heinrich! Got ya the tubes, but don't call me "Shitstain" again!
Elias: Sorry, what was that?
Jean: You're gonna be the end of me!
He passed me the tubes as I put them on my sheathes and looked to fly away and get back to Mikasa and Armin.
Right now, Ian and the others are gonna need all the help they can get so I can't waste any more dicking around.
However, when I got back to Mikasa, Armin was there as well and I thought I wouldn't see it happening: Eren has gotten his head straight as he hoisting that boulder on his back!
Elias: Yes! YES!!!
Ian: Defend him! To the last man if that's what it comes to! Eren must reach the gate! I don't want a single Titan anywhere near him! The three of you, go! I want you with Eren immediately! Hop to, soldiers! That's an order!
Three of Us: Sir, yes sir!
As he looked to fly way, we saw Team Mitabi running towards the Titans! Like, are they stupid or something?!
Ian: Team Mitabi! What are you doing?
Mitabi: The ugly sons-a-bitches have lost all interest in us! We need to get close enough to grab their attention!
Elite H: Hey big guy, over here!
Mitabi: You walkin' away? Maybe you want us to shove our blades right up your smelly asses?
They turned right towards them and they started running away right back!
Armin: They're insane! Setting foot down there is suicide! If they get cornered somewhere there'll be nothing they can do!
Ian: Yeah. I know. Let's move out. Everyone, follow Team Mitabi! Heinrich, you're on point!
Meaning I get to choose whichever team I choose, so I'm going independent on this one, even if I was a few minutes ago.
To hype them up, I screamed out...
Elias: LET'S GO, YOU ASSHOLES!!!
They cheered and yelled in a battle cry as I looked to distract a few Titans away from Eren so we could get this done.
I even had to kill a few just to get their attention.
Elias: Why oh why do you exist!
Before I could even fly away to be near Mikasa and Armin, a Titan grabbed me and pulled me into its mouth!
Then, I felt a hand grab me and threw me out of there, but when I looked up, it was Ian!
And right in front of me, the Titan bit down and his head came falling down.
I caught myself before flying back up and killing said Titan, taking revenge on behalf of Ian who saved me. Rest in peace, guy.
I followed back to Mikasa and Armin who were on the ground, running towards the gateway, but a Titan was coming through the entrance.
Armin: There's still one ahead of us!
Mikasa: I'll take care of it!
But out of nowhere...
?????: OUT OF THE WAY!!!
It was Rico as she slashed that Titan's eye up, as Mikasa and I came around, hooked our anchor into the back of its neck, and sliced the nape together as Eren kept walking towards the gateway with the boulder.
And as Armin yelled out...
Armin: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Eren's Titan roared and slammed the boulder right at the entrance, closing the hole!
We made history and I saw that Rico was extremely emotional and fired the yellow flare, letting everyone on the wall that the mission was a success.
However, there were two more titans coming toward us as we had to get Eren out of the Titan and get the hell out of here before we could get killed.
Rico: Mind the stragglers! Ackerman, Heinrich, pull back!
Mikasa: With all due respect, we are not withdrawing until we recover Eren!
We ran up to the Titan and looked to see what was wrong.
Elias: Armin, how is he!
Armin: Unconscious and scorching to the touch! We have to get him up the wall!
We all flew up to the Titan's corpse we saw that Armin was struggling and we had to do something quick or we're dead.
Armin: Uh oh, damn it. He's fused to the carcass! I can't work him free!
Elias: We're gonna have to cut then.
Mikasa: Elias! We don't know if how it'll affect him.
Elias: There's no time for a debate! Armin, pull with all your might.
Armin: Okay!
Elias: Alright. PULL!!!
He did as I cut the flesh and they fell, but I caught them just in time.
Just as I landed with them, the two titans were onto us, until something flew in, spun around, and killed those Titans with ease as they fell to the ground!
In the Titan's corpse, I recognized the silhouette immediately. One of my dad's longtime companions when he was in the Scouts.
Armin: Mikasa?
Then, she landed next to us and had to ask...
Mikasa: Who is that?
Elias: You guys are in good hands now. Everyone, I wanna introduce you to one of my dad's friends, Captain Levi of the Scout Regiment.
He looked at me in shock, but he held his own and continued to talk to us.
Levi: Pay attention, kiddos. This is the part where you explain to me exactly what it is I'm looking at.
We explained everything to him as we had to get Eren to safety.
However, from what I heard, thanks to the coordinated efforts of the Scout Regiment and the Garrison Regiment's Corps of Engineers, Wall Rose once against stood as a bulwark against the Titan hordes. It was a full day's work dispatching the Titans who remained corralled within Trost's perimeter, during which the wall-mounted cannons fired ceaselessly as it was music to my ears.
Most of the Titans nearest the wall were wiped out by explosive shells. The few that remained once the smoked cleared were summarily cut down by the Scout Regiment. During the so-called cleanup operation, two Titans, a 4-meter and a-7-meter, were captured alive and successfully restrained.
However, all told, 207 people were either dead or missing. 897, including myself, were counted among the injured. So while the reclamation of Trost represented the first true victory for humanity in its fight against the Titans, too many soldiers had fallen for celebration to be in order.
While we helped with the cleanup of Trost to take away the dead and bury them with honor, I learned that Marco Bodt, Jean's childhood friend, had been mysteriously killed, eaten in half if you will.
I saw that Jean was weeping for his friend and I didn't know how to help, but I somehow managed to find what was left of Marco's cadet uniform jacket, with the swords crossed together.
Instead of letting it go to waste, I took the jacket, hid it in my own, and saved it for when the time is right to give it to Jean because I know that he would want something to remember Marco.
Also, Ian was a huge loss as I wanted to go to his funeral. I never got to thank him for pulling me out of the mouth of a Titan when I was close to death. It was a scary moment, and I'm sure to carry it on with me for the rest of my life.
When the two day cleanup of Trost was done, I started writing a letter to Carla, because I know that she would want to hear from me.
So, I grabbed a piece of parchment paper, a feather, some ink, and started writing...
"Dear Carla,
For some time now, we've been dealing with struggles within the military. Eren turned out to be a Titan shifter, but we were able to get him out of the trouble, for now.
The reason I say 'for now' is because of the possibility of Eren being either turned in to the MPs or to the Scouts.
This was very important to me because I wanted to make sure that we had all our hopes for him to be cared for.
I don't want the MPs to take him, but if the Scouts manage to get him and use him to take back our home, I'm all for it, and I hope you are too.
However, we suffered many casualties at Trost, losing over 200 soldiers and nearly 900 were left injured, where yours truly is a part of the injured list. Do not worry about me, it's nothing major, just a small stab wound in my shoulder that should be easy to fix and it should heal in a few months or so.
Now, I know you're not very keen on Eren joining the Scouts, but this was his dream and he wanted to make a difference. I'm keeping my promise of looking after him. My dad would've wanted me to do the same as if Eren was my real brother, and I am. The same can go for Mikasa because she made the promise to protect him with me. I don't know if this will convince you, but if it does, I'll be personally very grateful.
Please trust us, Carla. We will keep him safe. I hope to hear from you.
Love, Elias"
I sent the letter to Wall Sina and looked to spend time with Hange again after all this time, but first, my time with Mikasa was to come.