Chapter 45 Ticking Clock

From the peaceful green grasslands outside the walls of Trost, inside of Wall Rose, the only sounds to be heard were the rising roars of Gohan. Around him, Eren, Mikasa, Hannes, and Carla all watched in trepidation as he once again continued to push himself, his aura of energy billowing around him.

It started off as normal, his aura invisible with only the whisps of wind showing its presence, however with more and more energy it began to transform, the ripples of power making themselves known as he pushed harder and harder. Both Eren and Mikasa had tried similarly during Gohans tutelage, and they knew how hard it was to try and forcefully bring out more power under controlled conditions. Unsurprisingly, Gohans rise had been incredibly controlled compared to their own, as despite the raw power he emanated, it was all contained extremely well.

At first, it had all gone well.

But as he had described, when Gohan reached towards the peak that they knew, Gohan simply hit a wall of some kind, a barrier that he seemed to smash his energy against fruitlessly. His aura that had been so controlled and contained now writhed in desperation, trying to free itself and break out to explode. His vocal groans had become more pained and raw, his muscles were visibly straining against something, all the while there was a sense of something that was building inside of Gohan, a pressure that just would not be let free.

For those who loved him, it was a heart wrenching scene to watch.

"Gohan!" Carla called out in horror, her arms cradling around herself in comfort. "Please stop!"

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!" Gohan continued to push himself. Veins bulging, teeth clenching, the pressure building and building until finally there was a loud pop as Gohan dropped to his knees and spewed out bloody vomit across the grass.

Eren and Mikasa were by his side in moments, supporting him and washing away the mess from his mouth. Gohan was gasping for breath, still retching even as his stomach was rendered empty, and blood only dribbled down his lips. A waterskin was pressed to his hands and he took it gingerly, hand shaking as he brought it to his lips to drink.

"Gohan…?" Mikasa's words were soft, concerned. "Are you okay?"

He was quiet for a moment, not answering as he allowed them to help him stand. His feet wobbled, and he fell away from the two of them, landing flat on his ass with an angry bark.

"DAMN IT!" He suddenly yelled, whirling around and striking out at the ground in rage. His control slipped, and the earth cracked under the power of his strike. "DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT! WHY WON'T IT WORK!? WHY IS IT NEVER ENOUGH!?"

His power flared, rising and falling with his shifting emotions as his anger brought him more energy. But as Mikasa and Eren carefully sensed, it still never seemed to reach higher than before, splashing against the plateau with nothing more than he had ever had before. Despite Gohans explanation that the Super Saiyan transformation had come from great emotion, and typically great anger and despair, it seemed that like the rest of his power it continued to be locked away from him.

All they could do was comfort him, placing their hands gently on his back as the boy who carried the weight of everyone's lives on his shoulders cried over his failures. Hannes pushed Carla over towards him, her wheelchair not great over the grassy terrain but she reached him eventually. She took his hands in hers and pulled him in, his head resting in her lap as whimpered and she gently caressed his head.

"It's not your fault Gohan." She soothed, hand stroking through his hair in the same way she used to do for Eren when he was younger and would still let her when he was upset. "None of this is your fault Gohan."

"It is." He whimpered. "I could save everyone, I could free everyone from this place, I could put an end to it all if only I had my power back." He pulled himself into the embrace tighter, looking to all the world the child that he still was.

"Hush now, none of that Gohan." She continued to stroke his head but knew not what other words to tell him. She had told him, as she knew so many others had that the world did not rest on his shoulders, nor did the lives of the people. But she also knew that poor Gohan had been forced to grow up with a very warped sense of responsibility and duty.

The young man's father had been a hero, the greatest hero of them all according to him, and Carla didn't doubt that the man was a truly good person. However, the cost of the world he lived in meant that his father hadn't been enough to protect people. It had been up to Gohan to help, he had been needed to fight and save people like the others. Whether against the monsters he had called Frieza or Cell, Gohan had been needed to fight as one of the strongest in his world, and more than that he had been trusted to do it.

Now, in a world where he was undoubtedly the strongest, he was still trying to be the hero to protect everyone. Except without his father to guide him, without their so-called Dragon Balls to fix their mistakes, Gohan was drowning in self-doubt and fear. Carla had two children in the military, two children who had been forced to join and serve as part of a life-or-death fight against extinction. However despite their similarities, their reasons could not have been more different.

Mikasa had joined to protect Eren, to keep safe the one she believed she owed her life to. Though she was a lovely girl and did truly love Eren with all of her heart, she did not have a love for humanity the way that Gohan did. Eren, her poor Eren, that day in Shiganshina had filled him with such rage and fear that he served not to protect, but to kill. In time, with experience of battle and loss, with Gohan's guidance and Mikasa's patience, he had tempered.

Her boy, the boy who had only eight years of life remaining… The price for power, bestowed unto him by her own dead husband. Carla put on a brave front, she'd done so for years as she bottled away her emotions to care for her children, wondering where her husband had disappeared to before she had finally relented and accepted that he must have died somewhere. Now though, she had another child to take care of, and she was not going to let Gohan drown himself in the pressure he placed on himself.

"There there Gohan, it's okay." She whispered to him. "You are now, and always will be a hero, but you'll find the secret in time. There is no blame here but what you place on yourself."

He didn't refute her, but she imagined he didn't fully accept it either. She had known he wouldn't, it would take him a great deal of time, and a greater deal of acceptance within himself for something like this to change. But she was and would always be, a mother. If there was one thing she had it was the love and patience he would need to get better, and she would give it.

Gohan was not her child, and despite how many years it had been since she had met the now young man, she had spent precious little of that time with him. He had spent two years in the wilds of Wall Maria, and three years training as a cadet. Her time with him had been limited to before the breach at Shiganshina, their brief reunion upon his arrival in Wall Rose, and their few days of time off during her children's Cadet training. Truly, there was very little time she'd been able to spend with him, and so very much she didn't know about him, even before his big revelation about where he had come from.

But yet, she still felt the attachment.

Maybe it was gratitude, her eternal thanks for him saving her life regardless of her losing the use of her legs. Maybe it was hormones, her emotional fluctuations after losing her husband and having watched her children grow up into a life she thought they would die in, and so she wanted to latch onto something. Maybe it was simply that she was a mother, and Gohan was a child without one, one whom he missed so very much.

She didn't know, but she did know that she saw Gohan as someone who needed a mother in his life, and she knew she was willing to be that person if he would let her. She'd promised herself already before that she would be there for him just as she would Eren, just as she would for her daughter Mikasa.

Though if Mikasa did finally admit the nature of her feelings to Eren, she would probably have to stop calling Mikasa her daughter without further explanation.

"Is this a bad time?"

They looked over to see the arrival of Ymir, Historia, as well as the rest of their former comrades from the cadets. It was Ymir who had asked, and though she didn't wait for an answer before dismounting her horse, she did seem a little more genuine in her question than normal. From the way Historia dismounted hers and Ymir immediately took to her side and relaxed a little, it was pretty clear to see that Ymir was still riding the highs of her new relationship.

"It's okay everyone." Gohan said, sitting himself up proper and waving the others to give him some space.

Mikasa and Eren were hesitant, making sure he was truly okay before they moved to greet their friends. Gohan remained seated however, only waving from afar as he let his body recover from the turmoil.

"Gohan! Are you okay?" Mina was quick to move by his side and check him over, though he waved off her concerns with a smile.

"Don't worry, I'll be okay, I just pushed myself a little hard." She was still frowning, and gingerly touched his forehead as if checking if he had a fever. He chuckled and gently shifted her hand away. "Really Mina, I'm fine, you don't have to worry."

"Of course I do, you shouldn't be doing this to yourself." She was scowling at him, looking like she wanted to tell him off more, but hesitating.

"Okay okay, I'll be more careful. By the way Mina, when did you start wearing that?" He pointed, and it took Mina a beat to realise he was pointing at the wrap she wore around her head. The very same wrap that she had chosen specifically as it looked a lot like Gohans. A beat later, and her entire face was flushed red and she very suddenly had to look anywhere but at him,

"Oh it's just, you know, very stylish and- and… lot's of people do it now…hahaha…"

The laugh was very obviously fake, but if Gohan noticed he didn't comment, instead nodding along and tapping his chin in thought. "You know now that you mention it, I think I have seen that before."

Fortunately for Mina, Sasha came to her rescue a moment later. Unfortunately for Mina, it was also to immediately check on Gohan's wellbeing and offer him some food she had smuggled away from the Garrison kitchen.

Gohan was too distracted to hear the mutterings of "bitch" under Mina's breath, instead happily and very thankfully accepting the offered potato to help refill his now empty stomach. Mina's attention was quickly pulled away from Gohan by the very interesting "oh" that came from Mrs Jaeger. Mina looked to the wheelchair bound woman to see her eyebrows raised and a very entertained glint in her eye as she looked both at Mina and then at Sasha.

"Well isn't that interesting…" The woman spoke.

"Um…" Mina wasn't sure what she was going to say in response, some kind of denial about whatever the woman had been about to suggest, however it was rendered moot when she spoke again.

"Don't worry darling, I was a young lady too once. I remember the eyes I had for my husband after he saved my life."

Carla remembered it had been Mikasa who had actually first told her about the lives Gohan had saved in Shiganshina, the boy himself too humble to think much of it and Eren too focused on his own revelation that had occurred that day. She remembered each of the names Mikasa had told her as a source of pride, and oh yes she had remembered Mina's being one of them.

The poor girls blush only grew stronger, and she seemed to try and hide away from the world. Carla might have done more, save for the shadow of a trio who moved to her side.

"You're…" A woman who Carla didn't know was with Ymir and Chri- Historia. "You're Carla Jaeger?"

"That's right."

"You're pretty, that makes sense." Carla could only tilt her head in confusion as the woman seemed to talk to herself, seemingly both subtly angry and self-conscious, as if she were jealous.

"Do I know you?"

"I'm Dina L- Fritz. Dina Fritz." She had hesitated, stumbling over the words as if correcting herself.

"You're the lady from the Titan." Gohan had noticed her presence and had stood up, immediately offering out his hand for introductions. "I've happy to see you're okay. I'm-"

"Gohan." Her voice was terse, and she had flinched back from his offered hand. He noticed, and looked a little apologetic, which had Dina shutting her eyes to focus before speaking again. "Sorry, I didn't mean that. It's just… I have these memories, of you. Including the last one."

"From Annie." He realised, understanding that it must have been hard for her to look at him when reflex called him a murderer. Reflexively, he touch a finger to the scar over his eye from where she had slashed him in the forest of giant trees. "Sorry about that."

"Don't be." She told him. "And don't be sorry to Annie either. She… I think she knew what would happen, she didn't hate you."

"I saw it happen Gohan." Hannes spoke up, his hand coming to rest on his shoulder. "Don't think for a second you made the wrong call. Everyone knows what you did was fair."

It was kind to hear but did little to assuage Gohan's guilt over his failure to find a better solution. "Well… I'm glad to see you're up and about."

"Yes I'm, feeling much better. But when I woke up, I'll admit part of the reason I recovered so quickly was because I was hoping to find someone. I wanted to find Grisha Jaeger."

Carla blinked in shock. "You wanted to find my husband?"

"Actually… I wanted to find my husband."

The others were in complete stunned silence as they worked through what she had just said. For Carla, she was beginning to wonder if she had ever known her husband at all.

Reaching the capital of Mitras had been a relatively quick affair once they had picked up the pace again. Getting to the capital had been one thing however, getting through to the military headquarters, past security, and finding the location of their meeting with the other officials had taken quite some time, by which point Levi and his team had dropped into quite something of a foul mood.

"Nile, it's good to see you." Erwin kept his good cheer upon seeing the other officials however and shook hands proudly with Nile Dok and the rest of his entourage.

"Erwin." The man greeted back, professional yet with a hint of genuine friendship. "Congratulations on your recent victory, and my condolences for those you lost. I know Section Commander Zoe was a particularly valuable officer."

"She was." Erwin's voice had dropped a few octaves, the grief still present despite how tragically used to it he had become over his years in command. "I've put in recommendations for her burial to be with full military honours here in Mitras."

"You'll have my support if you require it, but I doubt that Zach will reject it."

The other introductions continued as typical, Levi and his special operations squad introducing themselves to Nile's assistants. Unlike Erwin, Nile had not travelled with security given that the military police of Mitras fell under his command anyway.

"Why so many bodies Erwin?"

"Assistance, in case we have many questions about the recent operation." Technically, Erwin only needed Levi for answering any details about what may have happened, but there was also the concern about Gohan that may be brought up, and having the full support of the team would be valuable.

The doors to the meeting room were swung open by an assistance, and Premier Zackly entered with his typical nonchalant attitude. While the others dropped into neat salutes, he took his seat at the end of the meeting room table before he even acknowledged them.

"Be seated." He finally spoke, with Erwin and Nile taking seats at opposite sides of the table while their respective entourage's either sat down on seats against the walls or in Erwin's case, took their leave to wait outside unless they were needed with only Levi and Eld waiting inside. The rest of the team simply waited outside in the hallway with the other guards.

"Now then, let's address the first concern." Zackly began by pulling out a notepad he had previously prepared. "During the recent operation outside of the walls, two of the enemy Titan shifters were slain. Well done Erwin. However, one of the shifters was eaten, and as a result one of the Titans was turned back into a normal human, one who is now in recovery under the Scout regiments medical wing but who's transformation was witnessed by several members of the military. Rumours have already begun to spread about the Titans among the military especially, and now the civilian populace. I have already had discussions with the King and his council to hear their suggestions, alongside those of the church. Needless to say, they want the rumours squashed with the church calling for any such talk to be branded as heresy. I have convinced them that we will hold off all such actions until after this meeting today. So Erwin, time to explain."

"Yes premier. From the evidence we have obtained and now verified, there is no doubt as to the true nature of the Titans origins." Erwin paused, ostensibly to pull out the relevant papers and hand them off for reference, however he also did it to see if Nile was going to object. When he did not, it seemed that even he could not deny the evidence that they had gathered.

"Between the testimony of Ymir, as well as the restoration of a human from a Titan body, we now have enough information to present to the public and answer any such questions they may have. It is my strong recommendation that we immediately announce the origin of the Titan threat, as well as the threat posed by Marley before the rumours spiral out of control. Commander Pixis has agree with myself," Erwin held up a sealed letter stating as such, "that we must announce in conjunction this revelation, as well as the expansion of the Ki training that was commenced by Gohan Son. We will control the rumours before panic sets in, regain control of all narratives, and show our commitment and ability to overcome this threat."

Zackly nodded along as he listened to Erwin speak but did not make a move to either agree or disagree with him. Instead, he turned to Nile Dok afterwards. "Your thoughts Nile?"

"I am in agreement that we should release the information about the origins of the Titans as originally humans, as well as expanding Gohan Son's training of the military. However I believe detailing Marley and it's threat to the population would be too much too soon, and will start panic in the streets. If we can prove ourselves capable of reclaiming Wall Maria first, then perhaps it will be better revealed then, and we can even consider whether our actions afterwards will be military, or diplomatic."

As witnesses to the conversation, Levi and Eld were surprised to see how agreeable Nile was being about the process, only knowing the man for his interference with their operations and budget requests. However, Erwin was not too surprised. He knew the man far more personally than the others, and knew he simply had a sense of practicality that ran against the Scout regiment more times than not, and that there was no actual animosity towards their work.

Perhaps after all of this he and Nile could catch up like old comrades again? It had been quite some time since he had seen Nile's wife Marie, and he'd never actually had the chance to meet his children.

As the meeting continued and they discussed possible strategies of the release of information as well as the risks of not doing so, Erwin found himself relaxing in the comfy aura of a progressive meeting.

"I forgot how annoying it is to be in the big districts after a while, my head is buzzing." Oluo groaned and rubbed a hand at his head, almost wishing he could forget his Ki sensing abilities and return to normal.

"Yeah," Gunther agreed, "we're never in the busy places long enough now to have to deal with it. There's so many people everywhere, I can't stop noticing it."

"You guys remember Gohan's training right? Take a deep breath, calm down, and focus yourself on just one."

Petra demonstrated by making an exaggerated deep breathing motion, purposefully ignoring the peculiar gazes sent their way by the guards.

She had to admit though, her head was really starting to buzz as well with her subconscious picking up on so many people. It wasn't just that they were now surrounded by so many more people than they were used to, it was also that there were so many dense readings, and that they were all so varied in power.

There were low energy readings from children and regular civilians, or the disparity between the military police around them alongside officials who were not nearly as physically active. Even the MP's themselves varied wildly in power, much more so than the Scout regiment who were at least fairly consistently higher up. Meanwhile in Mitras people ranged from the pathetically weak to the surprisingly strong.

In fact, as Petra began to notice, there was quite a few who were surprisingly strong. She could pick out a good dozen at least who were much stronger than she had expected and would even give any of the Scouts a run for their money. She had to admit a begrudging respect for the MP's not being as bad as she had perhaps expected, she would have to give some of them credit.

As she watched those stronger readings in her mind however, something began to tick her off that something just didn't seem right. Those readings were strong, very strong actually, and she took a moment to realise just how outstanding they were compared to regular soldiers. She thought back and compared them again to the other scouts that she knew, and realised that they were much closer to the top end of the Scout veterans than they perhaps should have been.

"Hey Gunther, Oluo. Northeast, about a hundred metres, you sense that?"

The two of them looked at her with a raised eyebrow before they also picked up on it and frowned.

"Yeah, I feel that. Southeast too, fifty and one fifty metres, there's more of them."

As they began to really focus on them, there was closer to two or three dozen different higher level energy signatures, all of which were loosely arranged in a staggered circle around them.

"The hell is going on?" Gunther muttered, his body tensing like theirs as they all seemed to realise the potential threat.

Petra was about to ask another question when one of the energy readings shifted. It grew rapidly in power, like they did when doing their powering up as Gohan had taught them. That alone raised alarm bells until the person suddenly stopped, letting the energy die down again. Then it rose again and fell. Rising and falling four times in quick succession before it suddenly stopped.

"What was that?" Oluo asked, the other guards around them hearing his mutterings but clueless as to what they were sensing.

As if on cue, all of the higher-level energies began to move, converging inwards as the circle grew smaller and smaller. Petra cursed in her mind as she realised what was happening and what had just occurred.

"A signal!"