1,066Grice kept his form low as he watched the battle between Eren and the Warriors, if it could be called that. Grisha's son was handling them rather one-sidedly. Whatever attacks they got in either did little damage or Eren just shrugged it off. He chose not to enter the fray, because he knew there was more going on here and wanted to figure out what.
There was a lot of food in the area, all over the city. That's what the beast, the Crawler within him, was telling him. It wanted to go down there and start eating.
But something about that was wrong to Grice. Why would the Marlayeans stretch out their forces instead of defending one position? His former comrades, overtaken by their own Crawlers and other beasts, would no doubt pick them off one by one.
More to the point, was no one watching atop the wall?
{SomethingNearItHidesWeEatNearNearNearHERE!}
Grice stopped suddenly, confused by the insistence of his crawler.
"Ahh, you're actually clever."
Grice heard the voice as clear as day and immediately leapt away.
It was an instant too late as lightning shot down. Grice hissed violently as he felt his harden skull and one of his limbs singled from the proximity to the transformation. He landed with one foot sliding over the edge.
A small titan, the Cart no doubt, leapt forward as Grice tried to catch his balance, and slammed it's strangely shaped head into Grice's own. It did no damage on its own, but it did cause Grice to slip on his already treacherous footing. The two-limbed beast went tumbling over the side and falling to the city below.
Eren looked away from his fight as he heard the sudden roar of his ally.
[[[Grice?!]]]
[Another shifter is here!]
[[A small one, like Ymir.]]
Those observations were cut short as Annie managed to graze the right eye of Eins, making that head snarl in rage and pain, snapping towards the Female Titan. But Reiner tried to strike at Drei from the other side. The left-most head dodged the strike, but narrowed his eyes as Reiner back pedaled before an attack even came.
[[They're trying to distract us.]]
It was an obvious thing. It was obvious neither Titan could defeat Eren as the battle stood. So, what was the plan? What were they waiting for? Another shifter getting into position? Some unknown weapon from Marley?
["Eren!"]
The roar of Boris drew all eyes upwards.
The Warbat descended upon the battle, driving into the Armor Titan and slamming him into the ground. Eren moved to keep Annie away while Boris constricted his body around Reiner's titan form like a snake ensnaring its prey.
[We have company coming! Crawlerssss! Let'sss take one of thessse dogsss and leave!"] Boris proposed forcefully.
Eren nodded, deciding that was the best move for now.
He let out a great roar.
[[[[Grice! Retreat!]]]]
With that order barked out, Eren turned to Boris again.
[[[Keep her busy!]]]
[[I can rip him out!]]
[Now!]
Needlessly to say, while Annie didn't know what was being said, she didn't like it. So with Eren distracted, she made a move to strike at him again. Boris, however, had already unfurled from Reiner's form and lunged towards Annie.
The Female Titan, while having no idea what this creature even was, managed to pull off a spinning kick to the creature's head. It caused Boris to stumble in pain but was otherwise fine as he used his tail to try and attack her.
Eren, meanwhile, immediately lunged at Reiner with renewed fury. No matter how Reiner tried to strike back, Eren's relentless three-headed assault continued. The Golden dragon tried to break limbs, tear off armor, and dislocate limbs, all to try and dismember the Armor Titan and retrieve the shifter within.
A great thunder erupted from overhead, signaling the transformation of another shifter.
While the other two heads continued to attack Reiner, Zwei brought his head up and glared at the foe.
A lanky armed titan, covered in fur.
{{{{...!}}}}
Eren stiffened as he felt the hate and bloodlust of The Storm spiking at the back of his mind.
That was all the opening the Beast Titan needed to hurl his attack...
Meanwhile
Historia sat across from Armin with a dour look on her face.
And Armin couldn't blame her. "I'm willing to lend an ear, but I'm not sure how much I can help, really," Armin said uncertainty
Historia nodded and sighed, taking a drink of her water. "Just...Armin? How do you think you and Mikasa would feel if Eren had known about all of this? Being able to turn into this giant monster, maybe even about the outside world? What if he had known and kept it a secret from you both?"
"That's… hard to imagine, really," Armin said, scratching his cheek. "Eren hiding a thing like that? I'm not sure he could have resisted trying to use that power for this long, let alone not tell us about it."
Historia shrugged and nodded idly, conceding the unlikeliness of the scenario. "But if he did...?" she prompted again.
"He'd have to have a very good reason for it all, if he wanted me to trust him again," Armin admitted with a smile. "But that's the question, right? Do you think Ymir had a good reason to keep all of that from you?"
"Of course she did. I mean, yeah, she could have just said she had a terminal illness, but that would have been suspicious for someone in the military, and one as good as her," Historia reasoned with a sigh. "Everything else? It was too dangerous for her to say anything. She had no idea Frieda was changing things, let alone when that started. She had no reason to think anything good would happen if she revealed anything. She said she would though, one day. My secret for hers. It was...a promise."
Despite her mixed emotions, Historia still smiled softly to herself at the memory they made together, the sun rising against the snow..
"Then, can I ask, what still bothers you? Is it...this curse, you mentioned?" Armin asked delicately.
The idea that the Power of the Titans, the ability to shift into a titan, came at a price made an uncomfortable amount of sense. Shifters could take on Titan forms and heal far beyond what humans could. Hence, they could only have the power for thirteen years before dying.
And that just begged the dark question, what was the price of Eren's power? Armin wanted to think that maybe it was just being unable to turn back into a human, but Eren's father had somehow done it. So if losing his human form wasn't the cost, what was?
Maybe the answer to that too was something Grisha had left in the basement for Eren to find.
"Yes. No? Kind of. I meant, yes, I'm upset she's going to die in eight years, but it's more than that," Historia said, rubbing her head as she struggled to make sense of it all. "I...Armin, I have lived for so long just trying to live as someone who would be missed when she died. I thought that was the best fate I could have. To die in the military and be remembered fondly."
Armin grimaced as he saw the truly tragic look of the girl behind the mask of the so-called "Goddess" he and the others had adored for so long. To think someone had masked their personality to that point, just to present some idealized figure of goodness that everyone would look back fondly of. Not for gain or fame, but just...to be remembered, fondly, with the expectation to die in the near future. That was such a sad goal, truly.
"But now that all this happened, I had...no plan to die soon. I know death might come any day, for any of us, but I wanted to live as long as I could, to the fullest I could. With Ymir, and all of my friends. But just as I'm ready to commit to living, I find out she is going to die in less than ten years," Historia admitted, looking down. "It's like the universe decided to punish me for finally starting to dream and hope for a better future."
"The world is Cruel, but Beautiful," Armin recited softly. "That's something Mikasa says sometimes. She said that Eren helped her understand that. Though, I can't see him ever saying something like that."
"Me either," Historia said, sharing a short chuckle with her fellow blond. "Cruel but Beautiful?"
"Let me ask you this? Do you still want to...be with Ymir?" Armin asked awkwardly. "Or was this all too much?"
Historia was silent for a long moment as she contemplated this. Eventually, she'd have to accept a future without Ymir. But the idea of not spending the years Ymir had left together, to not fill that time with joy and memories for both of them?
"I know what I have to do," Historia said before looking outside and looking sheepish. "But I should probably wait until tomorrow. I forgot how late it was. We should get to sleep."
"Yeah, we probably should," Armin agreed idly.
Historia looked at him in consideration. "Unless there is something you want to talk about as well?" she offered in sympathy.
Armin grimaced. "Bertholdt, Reiner, and Annie. Traitors, I know. It's still so weird sometimes. I sometimes think about seeing how they're doing. Then I pause and remind myself that they're enemies now. I've...lost people, we all have. I'm just not sure what hurts more. People you care about dying, or this? It's like they were never real to begin with," Armin said with a sigh. "Maybe they never were."
Historia frowned. "This whole situation is, well, fucked."
Armin almost laughed at the curse, somehow both awkward and casual on Historia's lips.
"The whole world hates us? Monsters greater than Titans exist? Eren is one of them? Our friends are Titan-shifting traitors? And that's not even getting into everything regarding my...sister," Historia said with a head shake. "It all seemed to change so fast. We thought we knew how the world was, but then suddenly...we didn't. And that makes it all the scarier."
"I don't know if scarier is the word I'd use, "Armin said softly. "It's more like...we had a map through a dangerous territory, now we find out that map was a fake. We're a bit lost, but I have to believe we're finding our way."
Historia felt a bit better at that. Then, she looked very grim. "Eren is definitely going to try and fight Reiner and Annie."
"I don't think Grice would even want to stop him," Armin said with a headshake. "Grice has been fighting against Marley since before we were born. You saw how he reacted to knowing that Frieda would try to lead Eldia to victory against Marley."
Historia recalled that rather vividly. The pleased growl, the angry warning if the "vows" took over Frieda once more. "Do you think they'll be fine out there?"
"I can't do anything about that but hope so, and plan for when they get back," Armin said with a headshake. "But if I know Eren, well..."
Historia nodded in understanding. Eren would be back, definitely. His new golden body reflected one key aspect of Eren's personality perfectly.
That body, like Eren, was too stubborn to die.
Meanwhile
Zeke wasn't sure what to expect, when he realized he'd be staring down his half-brother, some form of golden-dragon.
A beast with three heads, and green eyes shining malevolent.
Eren Yeager. Just what was going through his head, Zeke wondered? Did Grisha ever tell this young man about the first family Grisha had and lost? Did Eren know anything true about the outside world?
Zeke couldn't try and save him here, couldn't try to reach out to him. There were too many Marlayeans about, too many ears that would think him a traitor for trying to bring this foe to their side.
Could Eren ever turn back? Could any of them? Had Grisha condemned another son, this time to a fate of only living as a monster to be used as a weapon for Eldia?
For right now, it didn't matter.
What mattered was keeping Eren from killing or stealing any more of their warriors.
And the golden dragon was definitely still trying to rip Reiner out of his titan. Was it vengeance, for Reiner's seeming betrayal, or pragmatism in thinking that the Armored was the more important target?
It didn't matter as Zeke continued his own assault. But this was not like the other monsters. His brother's scales were not just for looks. Zeke's hurled rubble left only minor marks. Only the eyes took significant damage and that had already healed.
Perhaps a change of target was in order.
"Annie!" Zeke yelled as he flung the next one towards the other fighter.
Eren looked up in surprise, not expecting the voice from a Titan of all things, and saw the stones coming towards the equally stunned Boris.
Unlike Eren, Boris's hide was not so thick, deeper cuts forming in his body and holes ripped into his wings.
[[[[Boris!]]]]
["I'm fine!"] Boris yelled as he sped behind Eren, reluctantly using the younger man as a shield. ["Eren, the wild ones will be here soon! We have to go!"]
Eren growled down at Reiner. He could probably still get him, dead or alive, but he wasn't willing to risk Boris. Not right now. Even he knew the advantage of having an eye in the sky.
Each of his heads looked towards a certain enemy. Eins to Annie, Drei to the Beast Titan, and Zwei to Reiner.
[[[Get ready to wrap around me.]]]
[[We might not kill them.]]
[But at least, they'll have something to remember us by.]
Boris's eyes went wide as he saw the glow in Eren's throats.
"Hmm?" Zeke narrowed his eyes and tried to throw another strike before Eren could unleash this attack.
But it was too late.
From all three heads, beams of energy shot forth. Zeke couldn't help comparing it to the lightning that signaled a Titan transformation.
The lightning-like energy tore through the rubble in midair, and Zeke brought up his Titan arms as it only barely missed him.
Annie managed to dive behind a building and kept running as she heard and saw the attack still going, aiming towards her continuously.
Reiner, however?
"Run!" Pieck yelled as she threw her Titan body in front of the attack meant for the Armored Titan, the Cart Shifter expelling herself just before the attack could hit.
[The hell did she come from!?]
Taking that opening, Reiner grabbed Pieck in midair with his one good arm, the other healing after being mauled of armor and flesh, and managed to put some distance between Eren and himself.
The attack ended and Eren felt Boris wrap around him like a serpent.
While unsatisfied with how this turned out, Eren merely growled in triple as he turned to make his own escape.
{{{{No.}}}}
Eren felt time slow, feeling the full weight of the Storm's attention on him.
{{{{Kill.}}}}
The image of the furred Beast Titan came to his mind unbidden, along with a wave of hate that was not Eren's own.
{{{{NOW!}}}}
The instant stretched on for eternity, as Eren felt every urge to rush back and destroy this new foe.
"EREN!" Grice yelled from atop the wall again. "Get Boris out of there! It's a trap!"
That was all the prompting Eren needed to know what he had to do.
[No.]
{{{{!}}}}
Eren could feel the fury aimed at himself even as he ignored The Storm and kept on running to the exit.
["Why isss he worried about me and not you?"] Boris wondered with a frown, looking back at their foes. The Shifters weren't chasing them, but...
They could hear it. The roaring and howling from the other end of the city.
The Crawlers were here.
Still, Eren couldn't help wondering, just what about this new foe garnered such rage from the monster in his own body?
Of course, he couldn't dwell on that for long as he heard another roar.
No, not a roar This was a shout, a scream from the Beast Titan.
Just like that , Shiganshina was filled with lightning and explosions.
End of Chapter
Well, Eren and company more or less won the fight, but couldn't finish anyone off. At the same time, well, Zeke had to reveal his trumpcard to deal with the rabid monsters Grice's comrads became. Armin and Historia had a little talk as Historia is still working things out about Ymir, and is resolved that they will work out. Historia just had a lot more dumped on her all at once in this timeline compared to canon.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Early viewing of chapters 31-32:
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