ARMIN
I couldn't believe what I was seeing, our best and last hope was slumped forward and not moving in front of the large boulder that I had suggested was our best chance at sealing the breach. After Pyxis had saved us from the garrison regiment, I had offered Eren's services in the way of plugging the front gate with the large boulder that had initially come up as a means to save Trost and gathering our remaining forces, we had collected as many soldiers in one place to lure the Titan's away from the south of the city to give Eren and the elite squad the best chance of success with the time we were buying with our lives, only for a smoke flare to rocket through the sky to signal the elite squads defeat.
Refusing to give up I had run with all I had over the walls and made my way through the throngs of Titans that were heading to where I had found Eren's titan form lying with its face mangled and Crying out in fear, I had dropped myself onto his back and searched the surrounding rooftops for the one person I knew would not be far away.
"Mikasa" I shouted, finding her on the rooftop over from us "why did the plan go belly up?"
Giving no answer, she continued to stand there and stare at Eren like all the hope had left the world.
What the hell happened?
"Why on earth is he just slouched here like this" I shouted to her again, and this time she seemed to snap out her trance as she began to wave her arms aggressively.
"Getaway! It's dangerous!" she screamed "Something went wrong, he lost control and wound up like that. I tried to snap him out of it, but I couldn't get him to respond. He's been out like this for the last few minutes."
"But the plan?" I shouted incredulously; we couldn't do this without him.
"We had to shift tack" she called back "Right now all we can do is protect him. He's defenceless, and there are just too so many. I don't know how much longer we can keep this up!"
Not long I'd wager, given the number of Titans I had passed to get here, time was not on our side. We had to do something, and we had to do it fast but how do we reach Eren?
Think Armin think! The last time Eren transformed like this, he had collapsed out of sheer exhaustion and Once the steam had begun to rise, his body had pulled itself free from the weak spot that all Titans had.
From the back of the head to the nape of the neck, One meter high and 10 centimetres across!
He had to be there; it couldn't be a coincidence that the weak spot was exactly were Eren had emerged, that must be how these things work. Unhooking my ODM controls, I looked down at Eren's nape and knew what I had to do.
"Armin!" Mikasa cried out in terror when she saw what I intended to do.
"I'm pulling him out of here!" I told her "You just hold of the other Titans as long as you can! When Eren first emerged from this form, it was from the weak spot. I don't know, but something tells me that's a big part of the picture. How these damn things work. He will be alright as long as I don't hit the centre."
"This won't kill him" I promised, well I hoped it wouldn't at least, but I still had to try and launching my grapples into his back, I secured my footing before drawing my blade "But, well, it is going to hurt. A lot"
With a cry, I buried my blade deep into the nape, and instantly Eren's Titan form screamed and flailed, I guess I was on target.
"Stop it you will get yourself killed!" Mikasa screamed in panic and I spared her a glance to see that even though she was afraid, she hadn't moved an inch from her spot on the rooftop.
"I'm fine. Just do what you can to keep the rest at bay!" I called back, she really needed to help the others "Trust me there are tonnes of other people you should be worried about! Now leave Eren to me and go do what you do best"
Watching her disappear over the rooftops, I turned my attention back to Eren and got as close to the ear as I possibly could.
"Eren can you hear me?" I called to him but there was no movement, "You've got to pull yourself together! If you stay like this, we are all going to die".
Ego, try and taunt his ego.
"Whatever this body is doing to you fight it! Your Eren Yaeger god damn it! What's this steaming lump of flesh have on you, huh?" I taunted and again, there was no movement.
"Come on!" I snarled as I slammed my fist repeatedly into his flesh "Dammit! Wake up! Get out of there. We need you! EREN!"
He either couldn't hear me or he wasn't listening, what could I say that would reach him?
His mother.
"Remember what they did to your mother? Remember what the Titans did to her? You were hell-bent on avenging her death! You swore to massacre the titans!" I provoked and once nothing happened, my panic rising as it looked more and more likely this was it.
"Eren! Please! You have to push through it! I know you're in there! Listen to me!" I cried in desperation as I could hear the cries of dying soldiers getting closer and closer "If you don't get a move on the titans are going to kill us! It will all end right here!".
Family. He cares about our family.
"Please, Eren! Mikasa needs you! Aurora and Rian need you! Eren, please... for me, wake up" I begged but again there was no movement, no sound, nothing. His wounds weren't healing, but steam wasn't leaving his body either, so at least his form wasn't weakening. I had one last idea to try, and if this didn't work, then I don't know what comes after this.
"Remember when we were kids? All we talked about was the world outside. You know, beyond the walls. Frozen tundra that stretches to the skies. Sand dunes. Oceans. Forests. The world my parents wanted to see. I'd always thought you'd all outgrown that dream. I was kind of sad it didn't come up anymore. But then I realized you all let it go because you didn't want me to join the scouts. Rian's idea no doubt, he always did think he knew what was best for me-" I broke off as tears began to fall from my eyes.
"Eren ... please" I sobbed because I didn't know what to say anymore. I had tried everything I could think of but he couldn't hear me. The setting sun broke through the cloud bank and shone down upon us as another late autumn's day came to an end.
**********
The sun was gently lighting the Yaeger patio roof as another autumn's day was beginning to come to an end, closing my book for the evening I looked around to see what the others were up to.
Mikasa was trying to teach Rian Beigoma, a game that her mother had taught her, while Aurora sat in the rocking chair with her long hair unbound, humming as she knitted with Eren at her feet as was his usual spot, unwinding the wool ready for her to knit with a faraway look in his eyes, no doubt dreaming of a future beyond the walls. I loved days like this, it was all so peaceful.
"I think I want to join the scouts" Eren suddenly said, interrupting the peace and Aurora startled before she stared down into the back of his head with wide eyes as she put her needles down and reached out to rest her hand on Eren's head.
"I don't think you understand what you're saying Eren. I know we used to dream of adventures beyond the walls, but that was when you were little and didn't know any better. To go outside the wall is dangerous, almost all the Scouts who go there die. Why would you throw caution to the wind and venture outside?" Aurora asked as she leaned forward to stroke Eren's hair and though her voice was gentle her eyes were deadly serious.
"Don't act dumb" Eren snapped as he jumped up and batted Aurora's hand away "You know damn well why!"
Aurora jerked back in her seat as if she had been slapped and looked at Eren with narrowed eyes, a light flush splashing her cheeks to show her rising temper and even Eren began to back up seeing the look on her face.
Please don't fight.
"Eren" Rian warned, his tone suggesting he was not having Aurora spoken to in that way and Patting Mikasa's head before rising to his feet, Rian came over to stand by his sister and placed his hand upon her shoulder to calm her, but Aurora shrugged it off and moved to kneel before Eren.
"Why do you want to join the scouts Eren?" Aurora asked as she grasped Eren's shoulders tightly, her grey and green eyes boring into Eren's, and he matched her stare for stare with his shoulders set squarely.
"Because the world beyond the walls is my birth right!" he declared as his closed fists trembled.
Aurora stared at him for a moment as all the anger left her body, her eyes filling with unshed tears at seeing something that I was clearly missing. Leaning forward she placed a kiss of Eren's forehead as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
*********
He had always been that way; he was born with a fire under him. I had not understood that day what Aurora had seen, but I did now. Had he said he wanted to join the scouts for glory or something stupid she would have turned him inside out and he wouldn't have known which way was up, but it was written on his face that day, and every day after, he needed to join the Scouts because he was would never be content until he saw the outside world. It's what made Eren special, he was never afraid of a fight or even the prospect of death. No, he wasn't motivated by fear like ordinary people, the only thing that ever really got under his skin was the idea of being trapped in these walls like a caged beast, of never being free, maybe that's what I needed to tell him, that he was fighting for our freedom.
"Tell me honestly" I asked, with the image of Aurora strong in my mind, "Even though your first steps beyond the wall meant the difference between a warm hearth and hell on earth, even if it meant risking your life and gambling against the possibility of dying like our parents. Why would you throw caution to the wind and venture outside?"
Eren's Titan form jerked forward and let out a mighty scream as the steam began to rise from his body and The flesh around his jaw began to knit back together as his head twisted around so his large green eye could focus on me and I could see the answer in his eye as clear as it had been that day.
Because the world beyond the wall is our birthright.
JEAN
That had been far to close, had those idiots not come after me I would have been a goner.
Rolling to my knees, I looked down on the burning city of Trost below and heaved a deep sigh of relief. How many times was I going to find myself a gnat's hair away from death? Somehow, I don't think this will be the end of it.
Of course, my ODM gear would fail, that's how my luck worked these days, and of course, I had to scurry for my life from Titan's again as Connie, Annie, and Marco saved my ass while we waited for Eren to get his act together and plug the damn breach.
Getting real tired of this shit.
Panting to catch our breaths we all lay upon the rooftop ready to give it all in because there was no way in hell we could pull this off now, not with Eren collapsed somewhere in the ass end of Trost like an all you can eat buffet for the Titans to chow on.
Of all of Armins ideas this one has got be the worst, even had me believing for a moment that we could actually win.
"I'll be damned" Annie gasped and pushing myself up I followed her line of sight to a view that made my heartbeat with the promise of victory once again.
My god...
Sending shivers down my spine I watched in god fearing awe as Eren's Titan lumbered down the main street carrying the gigantic boulder and the hope of Trost on his shoulders, committing to sealing the breach and ending this nightmare.
Is this really happening?
"Defend him" the squad leader's voice boomed across Trost "To the last man if that's what it comes to. I don't want a single titan anywhere near him"
The soldiers bellow shot into action as they rallied to their leader's call and I knew this was it, now or never, if we failed here then we would never win.
"It looks like we're back on! Focus on keeping Eren safe!" I commanded before jumping back into the fray as Titan's had begun to appear everywhere and converge on Eren like he was a beacon for the ugly bastards, if we didn't cut them off, they would be up his ass in minutes.
"Annie! Marco! Take the east! Connie you and me we have the south! We have to cut them off before they are on top of Eren!" I shouted in mid-air and Marco and Annie shot off, leaving Connie and me to mop up the south.
This is it! We can't let them touch Eren.
They came from all angles and no matter how many we cut down another two seemed to take its place, it was almost like the fuckers knew what we were doing and were acting against us, which after everything I had seen today, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
Spinning through the air, I pushed myself harder than I ever did at training camp. It was do or die, and as I hacked my way through each monster that crossed my path and I could feel my strength beginning to falter as the onslaught went on and on when Suddenly a loud primal scream that I would recognize anywhere tore through the air and pushing myself higher with my gas, I looked down at the breach and saw that it was no longer there. Instead Eren's crumpled steaming Titan lay in front the large boulder which had plugged the giant hole in the wall, securing the city and I roared in victory.
He fucking did it!
Green smoke cut through the evening sky like a beacon of hope and landing on the nearest rooftop, I let out a cry of relief as tears sprung to my eyes. We had taken back my home, we had taken back Wall Rose. Breathing in deeply, I wiped the tears from my eyes before looking around for the others and spotted Connie on the nearest rooftop crying his eyes out, but Annie and Marco were nowhere in sight.
We have to get out of here!
"Find Marco and Annie and tell them to fall back to the wall!" I shouted to Connie before taking off to do just that. Shooting my hooks, I grappled on to the nearest building and propelled myself into the air for a better vantage point and zig-zagging below me, Connie searched the streets around us for any sign of Marco or Annie.
They couldn't have gotten far; maybe they doubled back to Eren's position to cover his extraction.
"JEAN!" a voice shouted in alarm as a large dark shadow passed over me and I barely had time to think about the Titan when a large body collided with mine, forcing us both to the rooftop below just as a giant hand swiped out missing us by inches. Groaning in pain, I rolled to my side to see Reiner staring at me with wide eyes at our narrow brush with death.
That big beautiful bastard, where the hell had he come from? And in the nick of time too!
"JEAN! REINER! GET OUT OF THERE!" Connie screamed as suddenly three massive 13 meter Titans swarmed from nowhere and began to circle us, blocking our escape with the nearest of the three reaching out and grabbing my leg as Reiner stumbled backwards and tried to take me with him, but the Titan's grip was too tight and I was dragged along the rooftop as I screamed. Clawing my nails across the tiles, I felt my fingers split, the blood making it impossible to get a hold to save myself, as I wailed for my life. This was it, no more cheating death today.
Please no! Not like this!
The rooftop disappeared from underneath me as the Titan dangled me upside down by my leg and lifting me to its bloodstain maw, it opened its mouth ready to sink its teeth deep into my torso when a out of nowhere a flash of red and silver hurtled past and Suddenly the Titan screamed in agony, releasing my leg and letting me fall to the rooftop below as I saw a small figure clad in green with wings on their back, stab their blades deep into the eyes of the monster that had tried to eat me.
The wings of freedom?
"JEAN!" Reiner shouted as he jumped forward and broke my fall. Scrambling back together, we watched in awe as my saviour ripped their blades out of the Titans eyes before grappling and swinging behind the Titan, carving out the nape.
Using the falling momentum of their kill, the soldier lunged forward and grappled, shooting behind the next Titan and bared down on nape, adding another to their kill list.
Who the fuck is this guy?
The last Titan flung its arm into the air to smash down when my saviour grappled on to its fist and used their gas to sail high into the wind before spinning so fast, they became a blur and descended on the Titan's nape as a battle cry tore from their throat and blood arced and splattered their twisting form as the last of the Titans died at their hand.
Landing on their feet, my saviour stood tall as the steam rose from their feminine body. Turning her head, her vibrant red hair fell into her haunting grey and green eyes as it escaped its thick braid around her head and a prickling feeling ran over my skin as I watched her unclip her dull blades and draw fresh ones, the metal singing in the air as they left their sheaths. Reiner gasped beside me as sunlight burst through the sky and lit up her hair like a fiery crown as the wings on her back rippled in the wind and I understood entirely what he was feeling, she looked like she had been sent from above to save us.
An Angel of vengeance.
"On your feet soldiers" she commanded as she turned her haunting eyes toward us, "We have a city to save."