AURORA
I gasped for air as the tunnel filled with dust and as we scrambled down into the darkness with a giant hand appearing from the dust cloud reaching out for us. Screaming, I slashed my blade down in a downwards arc and cut the Female Titan's fingers from her hand and watched as it slithered back out the tunnel over the dead bodies of our comrades.
Mangled corpses lay beneath the rubble, and the brick walls were spattered with blood and gore from the men and women who had bravely tried to restraint Annie Leonhart, giving their lives in doing so. Anger clawed it's way up my throat as I stared at the red liquid dripping from the brickwork, and my hands shook with unbridled rage as Rian's large hand wrapped around my arm and forcefully dragged me down the tunnel away from the entrance.
"Damn it! That ring, she must have known I was lying to her from the very beginning!" Armin cried as he ran down the tunnel, "She knew we were leading her into a trap. I should have taken a different approach."
"Save the should-haves for after were out of this!" Rian ordered as I pulled my arm from his hand and picked up my pace, pushing to the front of the group, "The question now is what do we do next?"
"We rendezvous with squad 3 then get the hell above ground and contain her!" I shouted behind me as loud crashes echoed from above us and down through the Earth.
The bitch is on top of us!
"So we're fighting her out in the open?" Mikasa asked, voice calm and ready. Good, we would need her for what was to come.
"We have no choice, so Eren it means were switching to plan B." I affirmed as I turned to look at a pale looking Eren, "She is all yours, got it?"
Nodding his head, Eren didn't speak and pushed on ahead, his breathing coming out in shallow pants, as the sweat poured from his forehead.
He's not got this.
"Over here." I voice called down from the tunnel ahead, and I huffed a breath of relief as Squad 3 came into sight, "What the hell happened is plan A a no go?"
"Yeah, she has already transformed. Get your asses above ground we have to contain her." I commanded just as a thundering crash sounded from above and the ceiling caved in revealing a large skinless foot as it stomped down right on top of Squad 3.
"NOO!" I screamed as I was heaved back and shielded on the floor as dust and debris flew up the tunnel by Rian's large frame. Coughing and spluttering, I struggled to breathe as dust filled my lungs and panic began to take over me at the thought of suffocating beneath the earth. Grasping my shoulders, Rian rolled me over onto my knees and whacked my back hard so I could cough up what was blocking my throat before reaching forward and grasping my face in his hands.
That was too close.
"She caved in the ceiling." Armin gasped horrified as air returned to my lungs and Rian, satisfied I wasn't choking, nodded to me and released my face before turning to help Mikasa with Eren.
We have to get out of this tunnel, or it will end up being our tomb.
"We've got to pull them out of there!" Eren cried out as he struggled against Mikasa's grip on him, his eyes fixed on the giant foot and the dead men beneath its heel.
"Get back!" Rian ordered as he seized Eren and dragged him back towards me, "They are dead!"
"What the hell was that, does she not care if she kills Eren too?" Mikasa exasperated as she watched the Female Titan pull her foot out of the hole she had just created in the ceiling with hate-filled eyes.
"She took a chance; it was risky, but she gambled on Eren being able to survive. We are dealing with someone who has been backed into a corner." Armin stressed as he peered up into the hole and saw the Female Titan staring down at us, "She's desperate, and that makes her all the more dangerous."
Pushing to my feet, I stepped forward and looked up into the light and glared at Annie in her Titan form as my blood boiled with the fire that had been ignited inside of me. Armin was right, she was dangerous, but we had found her when she had left us with nothing, we cornered her like the treacherous rat she is, and we exposed her for the whole world to see, we had survived her before, and we would do it again because yes she was dangerous, but so are we.
And before were done, she will know just how dangerous we truly are.
As if hearing my thoughts, the Female Titan stomped her foot down again and caved in the ceiling meters away from us, and we all moved back towards the entrance shielding our faces from the dust.
"Damn it, we are cut off. If we try to get airborne without ODM gear, she will swat us like flies." Armin panicked, and I shook my head in frustration because if our only two options were to take our chances with ODM gear or wait for her to crush us, I knew which one I was taking.
"If we stay here, it's only a matter of time before we are crushed." Rian panted as he pulled in deep lungfuls of air, struggling to breathe with the swirling dust. Our eyes met briefly, and his bright blue ones conveyed precisely what I was thinking.
We are not dying down here.
"I know what I have to do, I'll change and shield you guys just like that time with the cannon fire." Eren suddenly piped up as he jumped to his feet and grabbed mine and Mikasa's arm's, pulling us to him, "Get in close."
Wait he can't actually mean transform in here! He has to be joking!
My eyes darted around each of their faces looking for the punch line of some bad joke, but as Armin and Rian pushed Mikasa and me closer to Eren and hunkered down over the top of us, I realised he was deadly serious.
Oh fucking hell...
"Not loving this Eren." I swallowed nervously as I gripped onto Mikasa and Rian and braced ready to be either crushed under Eren's titan or freed from this godforsaken tunnel.
"Noted." Eren drawled as he brought his hand up to his mouth, "Brace yourselves."
Squeezing my eyes closed I felt Rian's arm tighten around me as he buried his head in the crook of my neck just as the sound of flesh tearing, wet and stomach-turning, echoed above us as Eren drove his teeth into his hand.
Nothing's happened...
Again the noise echoed and then again and again and yet nothing happened, no blinding light, no blast of heat, no giant Titan towering above us. Opening my eyes, I lifted my head to see Eren staring at his hand in disbelief as blood ran from his lips and down his chin sluggishly.
Oh god... he can't do it.
"No, not again! Why now!" Eren screamed as he tore another chunk from his fingers, "We don't have time for this, just work damn it!"
He needs a goal, though how he is lacking for one at a time like this is well beyond me!
"Don't try to force it" I winced as he dug his teeth deep into his flesh, and I jumped up and grasped his hand "You need to have a clear goal in mind like Hange said."
"How do you know that's what's going on here?!" Rian demanded as he too jumped to his feet, eyes wide and alarmed and I turned to glare at him because he wasn't helping.
Don't you dare lose your shit on me now Rian!
"Well do you have a better idea, last time I checked we weren't the Titan shifters!" I argued back as I jabbed an accusing finger at Eren, "He is!"
"Stop it!" Armin shouted, and both Rian and I turned to him in shock as he crouched down in front of Eren, "Eren, come on, I know you can do this, just focus."
"IM TRYING!" Eren snarled as he turned away from Armin and bit into his hand again like a savage.
Why isn't it working?
"Really?" Mikasa drawled as she grasped the front of Eren's shirt and pulled him towards her, "Are you sure you're not having second thoughts? Doubts about Annie?"
What?
"Eren?" I whispered as I stared at him disbelieving, surely, he can't still believe she is innocent, not after hearing what she said, not after watching her transform and kill more of our brothers and sisters in arms, he couldn't...
"It's her, the female titan. No matter how much you don't want to believe it, it doesn't stop it from being true. What did we see back there just now, she's a murderer. Period." Mikasa stated harshly, "This isn't complicated."
"Get off my back goddammit I'm not stalling for time!" Eren snapped as he turned away from her and cradled his hand against his chest as he cast his eyes down in shame.
He's refusing... He's refusing to fight...
"Dig deep, its Annie. You know it is, and you know you have to fight. Unless there is something deeper keeping you from it." Mikasa prodded accusingly, and Eren turned to look at her wide-eyed as another crash boomed on the opposite side of us as The Female Titan again stomped another hole into the tunnel.
He can't save us...
Fear dug its claws into me as I realised what had been staring me in the face. How fucking stupid could I get? Ever since Eren transformed in Trost, I had been looking to him for our salvation, and in my naivety, I believed that fate had sent him to save us from the Titans. When was I going to learn my lesson, how many would I have to watch die before I got it into my thick skull that Fate doesn't give two fucks about us, she doesn't care if we live or die, we were on our own, nobody was going to save us.
You must break free, or else you will never be strong enough.
Something clicked inside my head as pieces seemed to fall in place, and I clenched my fists as the answer stared me in the face. My heartbeat hammered in my chest, so much so I could hear the pounding rhythm in my ears like war drums calling me to action. I was done being a victim, I was done waiting to be saved, and I was done watching other people die while I did nothing. I was born different, everything I had endured was to make me strong and now that strength gave me the key to change my own destiny and fuck what fate had planned because I was born free, and I chose to fight.
I will be my own saviour.
"Fuck this waiting around!" I snapped as I jumped to my feet and unclipped my ODM gear, "All of you get up!"
Everything became sharper as soon as I made the decision to act and adrenaline flooded my veins as my heart beated to the call to war, I knew what we had to do.
"Aurora?" Eren whimpered, but I ignored him and addressed the others, if he wanted to get his head in the game, he could do so, but I was done holding his hand.
"Mikasa, we will head for that opening." I ordered as I pointed to the opening above Squad 3 before turning to Rian and Armin, "Rian, Armin you head for the exit at the same time. I'm sure Annie will go for one of us and when she does, run in the opposite direction for all your worth and get airborne, were falling to plan C. Herd and contain the Female Titan."
"Are you out of your damn mind, what good is that gonna do if one of you gets killed?!" Eren exploded, and I grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged him up to his feet, bringing his face close to mine.
"It beats waiting around for you to decide if your gonna shift or not!" I retaliated, and Eren cringed at the sight of my wrath. "People are up there dying because of this indecision! We don't have time to wait for you to get your thumb out of your ass and we certainly didn't survive Shiganshina and Trost to die in a fucking tunnel in the ass-end of Stohess! I'm taking the choice away, we follow this plan now, that's an order!"
Releasing his shirt, I pushed Eren aside and turned to face Armin and Rian, who both withdrew their blades and took deep calming breaths.
"Ready?" I asked, knowing we never truly could be.
"Yeah, good luck." Armin smiled stiffly, and I nodded my head as I looked upon him with pride.
Be brave Armin.
"See you on the other side," Rian promised as he placed his hand over his heart and I returned the gesture before he too turned on his heel and pulled Armin down the tunnel. Sucking in a deep breath, I gave Eren one last look before turning and racing down the tunnel with Mikasa by my side.
If any god is hearing me, keep my brother safe, keep them all safe...
"MIKASA! AURORA!" Eren screamed in fear as our footsteps echoed through the tunnel, "RIAN! ARMIN!"
"DON'T DO THIS! IM NOT WORTH IT! YOU HEAR ME! YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO!" Eren begged, and I found myself halting at the pain in his voice.
"What choice do we have?!" I demanded over my shoulder, unable to turn back for fear I would lose myself and his silence was my answer. We had none. Pushing onwards I engaged my ODM gear and grappled upwards into the blinding light, ready to do the only thing we could. Fight.
"The world is a cruel place," Mikasa whispered to herself, but I felt the words resonate in deep within my soul. She was right, the world was a cruel place, but it had created us, a new breed of human rising from the ashes with fire in our eyes ready to fight, unafraid to meet our deaths because we already knew what it felt like to die a thousands times and because of that, we will never submit again.