My OC Stash #6 - Titan through time by Syrup-Waffle (ShingekinoKyojin)

-First SnK fic in the stash~ I always felt that SnK's kinda like GoT, as we can never say which character is going to bite the dust next/ Luckily we get this time-travel fic with Eren tryna save all of his comrades. Plus I really do be living for Eremika interactions

Synopsis: As his life came to an end, Eren Yeager reflects on his past and all the people who lost their lives. Wishing he could do it all over again, suddenly becomes reality when he's back in Shiganshina as a child with the knowledge of all future events. Feeling the power of the titans still inside his body, he makes a vow to save all the people living behind the walls, once and for all.

Rated: T

Words: 71K

Posted on: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12626198/1/Titan-through-time (Syrup-Waffle)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1-3 (exceptional)

Oh no, why am I doing this to myself? I don't have time to be writing another story. :P I've kinda been binge watching season two of Attack on Titan, and then did the same for the manga. XD There will be massive spoilers in this story. So you're warned. If you haven't caught up with the manga and you don't wish to be spoiled, then don't read.

I had this idea for a long while, and since I was bored, I decided to write this. I hope you guys enjoy. :)

''Titans'' Speech

''Titans'' Thoughts

Thirteen years had passed. The island of Paradis was completely titan free now. The walls were not needed anymore, and as such, with the help of Eren and Historia, the titans within were eradicated as well. The country of Marley was at the brink of destruction, their titan shifters insignificant compared to the technological advances of their neighboring countries. Thunder spears were upgraded into the more effective Ackerman spears, the name a tribute to the family line who were so efficient in taking down these mindless, human-eating giants. An Ackerman spear had enough power to kill a titan in a single blow.

Unfortunately, what remained of the Eldians inside the country of Marley was killed, their internment zones burned to the ground. They had failed to retrieve the Founding titan two times over, and Marley declared it an embarrassment only punishable by death.

The rest of the world knew the real truth of Eldian history by now. They were not devils that used to cleanse the people of Marley in the past, they had brought prosperity to the land instead. Ymir, the first woman to ever inherit a titan, was benevolent. The people of Marley were jealous and anxious that this amazing power was going to be used against them sooner or later. So they spread lies, and once they gained enough power, began to oppress the Eldians. But now, the tables had turned. The Eldians of Paradis had allied with the neighboring countries of Marley, and they agreed to split the ground evenly if Paradis shared their resources with them.

Eren's time, unfortunately, had finally come; his thirteen years were up. He had accomplished his dream. In the end, he had crushed all the titans. He had been so ignorant of the world when he made that promise. He didn't know anything about the titans at that time, only that they ate humans and brought humanity almost to extinction. How foolish he had been that his mind didn't expand further than the walls he used to live in.

All the titans were his own kin: Eldians doomed to wander Utopia for eternity until they died, and humanity certainly wasn't at the brink of extinction either. It was all Marley's fault. They brainwashed the Eldians who were left behind into believing that they—the people of Paradis—were devils. Only if humanity inside the walls had perished, could the Eldian race be restored into its former glory and their sins be washed away. Pretty words that bore no meaning. They were empty promises, only believed if they were forced into your head the moment you were born.

Eren guessed the same could be said for him, and all the people who were born inside the walls. Their whole life was one big lie as well. Nobody ever told him different. He was sure that if Bertolt, Reiner and Annie hadn't attacked, he would still live his life in obliviousness of the outside world.

Yet, with all his accomplishments, Eren felt empty. Mikasa hadn't left his side the entire day. She tried to remain strong, but he could see she was seconds away of breaking down. It teared him up to see her in such disarray. He knew he had to leave her soon. Even when she knew this day was going to happen eventually, she wanted to marry him. They had done so exactly one year ago.

Right now, he was chained, ready to hand over his two titans. The Survey Corps discussed heavily about who was going to be Eren's successor. In the end, it was decided that Jean was going to inherit the Attack and Foundation titan.

''Eren,'' Mikasa whimpered with teary eyes. He was not used to seeing her in such an emotional state. She was always the shoulder he could cry on. He cursed himself for not kissing her that day when they were about to be devoured by the smiling titan. He'd wanted to spend so much more time with her. Why couldn't he have realized he loved her sooner? He'd been so dense, only fueled with anger to take revenge for his mother's death.

''Eren,'' she whispered again, her hands holding his cheeks gently. Her touch was filled with passion, tears flowing freely from her face. ''My whole life, I dedicated to you. The moment you saved me and wrapped that scarf around me, a feeling welled up inside of me that grew every day I spent with you. I did everything in my power to keep you save, but even I can't stop the curse of Ymir.''

''Mikasa…''

''Shh,'' she shushed him, laying a finger against his lips. ''It's okay, Eren I—I knew this was going to be the outcome.'' She hiccuped and closed her eyes, her sniffles turning into whimpers of agony. A sob escaped her lips, followed by another, until it spiraled down into nothing but emotional despair.

''Why?'' she cried angrily, her head turned low. She balled her fist and hit Eren on his chest. ''Why? Why? Why?'' she repeated, each hit filled with less strength. ''Why do you have to leave me?'' she whimpered in a soft tone. ''I love you.''

Mikasa closed the gap between her and Eren, and pressed her lips wantonly against his. Her lips quivered, salty and wet from her tears as she poured all her emotion into the kiss.

''Mikasa,'' Eren thought, his own eyes tearing up as she was kissing him for the final time. ''I'm so glad, that I got to meet you, and that I were able to marry you.''

Mikasa didn't want to let go of him. Eventually, Hange and Levi had to pry her away gently. She was unable to watch any longer, her soft crying breaking Eren's heart.

He looked around the room and saw his friends, all in an emotional state or trying to console Mikasa. ''My friends,'' Eren thought, ''how many of them did I lose?''

Only a handful had survived after all was set and done, and that pained Eren more than anything. ''So many lives, and they're all gone. Why did this have to happen?''

Eren closed his eyes. He saw Hange approach Jean with a syringe, ready to inject him, who was trembling in fear. Eren did not want to see how his friend would turn into a titan and devour him.

''If I could do it all over again, I would. I would save Paradis, and all the other Eldians living inside Marley.'' It was strange how calm Eren felt when he thought about this.

''Jean, if you're ready, then let's begin,'' Hange informed him.

Jean had to steel his nerves and swallow to get his dry throat wet again. He was going to eat one of his best friends. He almost couldn't stomach the thoughts.

''Eren!'' he screamed suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts and making him look up. ''I swear to fulfill my duties as titan shifter with honor! I promise to take care of Mikasa in your absence and I'll make sure to spread peace so that the Eldians can prosper again. So stop your crying before I have to beat the shit out of you, you hear me!?'' His voice was heavy as his emotions got the better of him. Jean's tears streamed down his face as he gave Eren a look of absolute sorrow and respect.

For the first time, Eren smiled, and closed his eyes again. ''Jean… Thank you.'' Eren let his eyes wander the room one more time. ''Everyone, thank you. We all stand here today because you believed. You believed humanity could one time get outside of the walls. All of us made that dream into a reality. It was because of our hard work that we stopped one-hundred years of living as caged birds.''

Eren saw everybody listening intently, their hearts filling with hope for the future. Yet, why felt he so miserable? He couldn't shake the feeling that he had failed.

''So many people,'' he thought again. ''So many innocent people.''

''Jean… It is time,'' Eren concluded. His friend nodded and gave the go ahead to Hange. At the same time, Eren saw his life flash before his eyes. ''Mikasa, Armin, Connie, Levi, Hange, Jean… please take good care of this world.'' Eren felt the pressure of a titan shifting close by, he knew it was only a matter of seconds before he felt those sharp teeth crush his flesh and bones into nothing.

''Is this what my father felt when I was about to eat him?'' At that moment, an incredible fear took over Eren's body. ''No, I don't want to die yet! I want to grow old with Mikasa and have children. I want to see the nation of Eldia rise to its former glory with Historia as its leader. I want my mom to hold me!''

Eren didn't know where that last thought came from, but he held on to it. He imagined how his mother would always soothe him when he had hurt himself. Mikasa would look at him with a scowl on her face. He always wondered why she was mad at him at such a moment, but only now realized it was because how much she cared and how afraid she was to lose him.

''Mom… Please hold me for a while longer.''

When Eren opened his eyes, he awoke with a jolt. Sweat dripped from his face, and his hands trembled. His pupils were dilated into pinpricks, his heart was beating in his throat, and his breathing was erratic and uneven. Everything was spinning before his eyes; he felt like he needed to puke.

''Eren!''

He gasped; the familiarity of that voice hitting him like a ton of bricks. ''There's no way,'' he thought, his breathing turning raspy. ''It can't be.''

''Eren, sweetie, you're as pale as a ghost! Grisha! Come quickly, there's something wrong with Eren!''

''Could it be? Am I dreaming while I'm dead?''

Eren's father stormed into the room with a concerned look on his face. ''Eren, calm down. What happened?''

He looked at his father owlishly, unblinking as if he couldn't believe it. Even if his vision was unclear, he could clearly make out his father's figure. ''What is happening to me?'' Eren could only murmur incomprehensible. He felt light headed, his arms two blocks of lead he could barely move.

''Carla, get my stethoscope!'' Grisha ordered, his voice not hiding his panic.

Eren felt the strong hands of his father gauging his temperature, which was way too high. ''This isn't good,'' he muttered. ''Carla!'' he screamed. ''Get a bottle of pills that's labelled as AB!''

''I'm on it!''

''Is my mind playing tricks on me?''

Eren was still looking at his father like he was seeing a ghost, until another figure worriedly joined his father's side. ''Eren!'' Mikasa's voice trembled. ''What happened?''

''An angel,'' Eren's first thought were. He didn't realize he actually said that out loud.

Mikasa's cheeks turned an adorable shade of red instantly, matching the scarf she wore so often. If the situation wasn't so serious, Grisha was sure he had to stifle a chuckle.

''Mikasa, you look so young. Am I really dreaming this?''

With a throat that felt like sandpaper, Eren tried to voice his thoughts. ''D-dad?'' he rasped.

Grisha shushed him immediately. ''It's okay, Eren. You'll be okay. You've got a high fever, so you need to rest. Don't use what little strength you have to talk.''

''Dad,'' Eren said again, ignoring his father's words of advice. ''What year is it?''

Grisha perked his brow. Was a virus messing with his son's brain and giving him a state of amnesia? If so, his antibiotics would have no effect whatsoever. ''You're overreacting, Grisha,'' he reassured himself. It was just a simple question.

''It's the year 845, Eren,'' his father informed him.

''So, then it is true…'' Eren whispered.

''What? What is true, Eren?'' Mikasa responded in a somewhat demanding voice. At the same time, his mother had returned with the stethoscope and the pills in question, while his father took a couple of them and held them to Eren's mouth. ''Here, Eren, these will make you feel better. Swallow them with some water.''

Mikasa was already running for a glass of water, not bothering to wait for Eren to answer.

''I'm really back. Back where it all started. Does that mean I don't have…''

An irregular beat of his heart stopped that thought from finishing. ''No, I still have it! I can feel the power of the titans still inside of me. But how? My father is right here with the same titan power. Is it even possible to have two of the same titan powers at once?''

Eren looked at his father, and then back at the pills. ''I'm okay, father. I don't need antibiotics, just something to drink.''

Grisha stiffened immediately at his reply.

''Did I say something wrong?'' Eren thought.

''Eren, honey? What are antibiotics?'' his mother questioned.

''Shit,'' Eren cursed. Antibiotics were unknown behind the walls in 845. Only his father knew about them because he was from Marley. He must have taken a few bottles with him when he came here.

''Well, I have to explain the situation to my father sooner or later. The fact we're all together means wall Maria hasn't fallen yet either.''

Then it dawned on Eren. ''I can save everybody. I can stop the wall from being breached by Bertolt, Reiner and Annie! With my father, I can save even the Eldians who're still living inside Marley!''

Eren could only think that the curse of Ymir was the cause of all of this. It must've reacted to his strong will to save everybody. It had sent him back in time to do things over and free the people of Eldia. He could accomplish this without losing a single life inside the walls!

He gratefully accepted Mikasa's glass of water and gulped it down, alleviating his sore throat and feeling much better already. ''Thanks, Mikasa. You're a charm.''

The surprise on her face and the blush that appeared on her cheeks were too adorable. If he knew he could embarrass her this easily when they were young, he would've done it way sooner.

''Eren? Could we maybe talk, privately?'' his father requested.

Eren nodded his head in agreement. He had a lot to tell him. His mother and Mikasa left the room, and when Grisha closed the door, he held the bottle of his pills in his hand and shook the contents.

''How did you know they were called antibiotics? Have you been snooping around in my basement?''

Eren smiled. For so long he wondered what was in his father's basement. To imagine the whole history of the world was stored there in three books was mind boggling.

''No father, I haven't. You know I would never go into your basement without your permission.''

''Then how?'' Grisha questioned.

''Can you make sure Mikasa isn't listening? What I'm going to tell you will sound ridiculous, but you won't have any choice but to believe me.''

A gasp could be heard from the other side of the door, before someone was running away hurriedly.

Grisha nodded his head. ''We're alone now. Please, tell me your story.''

Eren cut to the chase immediately. ''I know you're from Marley, Father. In fact, I know everything there is about titans, the history of Paradis, and the Eldians as well.''

For some reason, Eren had expected his father to react shocked, but he stayed surprisingly calm. ''I see,'' he stated, ''I figured as much, to be honest. You talk like a level-headed adult.''

''I do? I guess people really change when they grow older.''

Grisha nodded his head. ''Then I assume you're not my son, are you?''

''I am!'' Eren replied quickly, his tone hurt that his father would even think that way. ''To be honest with you, I'm from the future.''

Grisha grumbled. ''There's no way that can be true. You want to tell me that you got sent back to the past?''

Eren nodded his head. He knew he had to convince his father. He wouldn't have believed it either if Armin or Mikasa came to him one day and claimed they were from the future. ''I can proof it to you too.''

Grisha responded sceptically. ''How?'' This day was proofing to be quite an interesting one.

''Your plan is to retrieve the Founding titan from the Reiss family with your Attack titan and then give it to me, as your thirteen years are almost up. You actually succeeded and gave them both to me. In fact, I still have them.''

''Impossible!'' This time, his father did react shocked. He licked his dry lips and stared incredulously at his son. As much as he didn't want to believe it, it really began to look Eren was telling the truth.

''I really think it's the curse of Ymir,'' Eren admitted. ''Do you remember the time when the owl gave you the Attack titan? I saw it in your memories which I inherited from you. He mentioned saving Armin and Mikasa, and you were confused who those people were. But you know now, don't you? The owl knew the future: he was sent back in time as well. I can only assume to save you and give you his titan powers.''

Grisha didn't say anything for the longest of time. ''Could it be true? Is my son really from the future? If he is, then does that mean the Eldian people were wiped away?'' Grisha had so many questions that his head began to ache.

''Okay, you are right. I have to believe you based on what you're saying.'' Grisha sighed. ''But was does it mean? Why are you back?''

Eren looked at his father seriously. ''When are you going to leave for the interior?''

''The interior? Tomorrow, why?''

''That's when Bertolt, Reiner and Annie will attack. We have to intercept them before they reach the wall tomorrow.''

''Father, listen. Tomorrow, the Colossal titan, the Female titan and the Armored titan will attack Shiganshina and breach wall Maria. Countless of lives will be lost… including mom's.''

''What?'' his father whispered. He could feel his hands beginning to sweat. ''If that's true, then humanity is doomed.''

''We can stop them together! If we set out and reach them before they reach the wall, we can save everybody!''

Grisha reacted somberly. ''Eren, what you're saying is suicide. It's like surrendering and giving our titans to the enemy!''

Eren grinned. ''But we have the Founding titan. I can control it decently and I already know how I'm going to use it.''

The more Eren talked, the more Grisha's head began to spin. ''He's really serious about this. How can he even control the Founding titan when he has no royal blood running through his veins? If he was Zeke I would've believed him, but…''

Eren explained further at his father's questioning glance. ''I've found out that when touching a titan which has royal blood, I can control all nearby titans. I trained this until I was able to control titans with just being near somebody with royal blood. It's how I tore down these walls in the future when Marley was at the brink of defeat, as we had no use for them anymore.''

''Amazing,'' his father responded. ''So, my son did save the Eldians. I couldn't be prouder of him.''

''So what you're saying is that we should get somebody from the Reiss family with us, and then together, we can get the mindless titans to attack the Colossus, Female and Armored, correct?''

Eren shook his head. ''That would cause too much trouble inside the walls. Frieda would use her Foundation titan on you. We need to do this silently without anybody noticing. Once we've defended wall Maria successfully, we can go about changing some politics around here.''

Grisha didn't understand. ''Then how are we going to use the Founding titan?''

Eren looked at his father painfully. ''Dina, your first wife. She still wanders as a mindless titan outside these walls, doesn't she?''

His father stayed silent.

''But not for long,'' Eren whispered. Feelings of hatred still welled up inside his body as Eren thought about the smiling titan: the one who ate his mother. Unfortunately, that titan was also his step-mom. An innocent woman who was turned into a titan by the country of Marley, and who Eren ultimately killed.

''She'll be one of the first titans to breach wall Maria, meaning she's somewhere at the front of the horde. Our mission is to get close to her so I can command all the other titans to do to our bidding. If that won't be enough, we'll retreat to the wall, where I can command some of the wall titans to help us as a last-ditch effort. We'll defeat all three titan shifters, and give Dina the female titan.''

Grisha couldn't believe his ears, but this plan of his son might actually work. ''Dina would live again, and fight with us, for Eldia!'' he thought in disbelief and extreme excitement. ''What will we do with the other two shifters?''

''Well, I was thinking of capturing all three of them and finding a way to retrieve their titans without killing them. After all, they would be valuable allies.''

Grisha put his hand to his chin, deep in thought. ''You want to bet on the off chance that I can find a way to retrieve the power of the titans without killing the host?''

Eren shrugged his shoulders. ''It's worth a shot, isn't it?'' his features turned soft. ''Besides, if there's somebody who can find the answers, it'd be you.''

Grisha smiled warmly, and took his son into his arms, giving him firm hug. ''As crazy as this whole plan sounds, I want to give it a try at least,'' his father admitted.

Eren felt a huge relief wash over him. He had convinced his father. He was home, in his arms. His mother was alive, his father was alive, Mikasa was alive and he was alive. Tomorrow, he would stop the threat of Marley with his father. This time, Eren was going to save everyone.

So that concludes the first chapter. Did you guys like it? Leave me a review please. :) Next chapter, Eren and Grisha VS Bertolt, Annie and Reiner. Until then. ^^

~Syrup-Waffle

Chapter 2

I told you guys I didn't have time to write another story. :P I apologize for the wait, but I'm back! I would never abandon a story, so I'll try to be consistent from now on and give you a chapter once every three weeks! Also, I changed a couple of small things in the first chapter, but nothing major. :) I hope you'll enjoy chapter two!

''Titans!'' Speech

''Titans!'' Thoughts

''Hey, dad?'' Eren said, breaking the hug with his father. His voice was soft, almost unsure. Grisha assumed it was because he still hadn't fully realized yet where he was at the moment.

''Yeah, Eren?'' he responded calmly. As crazy as it sounded, Grisha had less difficulties accepting the fact his son was an adult in his teenage body and from the future than he would've expected. The prospect of saving all the Eldians and seeing his first wife again outclassed the absurdity of it all.

Eren coughed to find the right words, his eyes darting towards the door where his mother had gone through. ''She's there, probably doing the dishes while humming a happy tune. Mikasa is probably helping her, worrying about me.'' Taking a quick look around to take in his surroundings, his mind reassured him he was really in his old room. Everything was on the exact same spot as the day Shiganshina district fell.

''This may sound like an odd request,'' he whispered as he eyed his dad again, his heart beating faster in his chest, ''but could you send mom to my room? I—I'd like a moment alone with her, please.''

Eren almost choked up, his eyes turning watery. Now that his mind had settled down a little, the full weight of reality crashed down on him. His mom was alive. He could see her, talk to her, and hug her. The emotions that poured out of his body were like a dam that broke.

Grisha smiled warmly while he looked at how Eren wiped the tears away that rolled down his cheeks; he saw how much his son was aching to see his mom. It must be a surreal experience to finally be able to see a loved one again who had passed away for so many years.

''I understand fully,'' his father responded, opening the door to get Carla and then looking back. ''When you're done,'' he added, ''could you meet me in my basement? We have a lot of planning to do tonight.''

Eren nodded his head. He knew if they wanted to succeed, they had to think this through. No more rushing into battle blindly. He had the entire night to prepare for the titan-shifters from Marley. He knew all three of them like the back of his hand. Defeating them was going to be tough, but this time around, he had the upper hand and not them.

When Grisha disappeared in the door opening—apparently satisfied with his son's answer—everything seemed to get deadly silent. In truth, this was not the case. He could hear Mikasa's disgruntled voice from downstairs, arguing with his father who responded calmly and sternly. He could only assume she was demanding him to tell what was going on, but she eventually settled down. Yet, with all the noise going on, it was like he was at the grassy meadow where he used to play with Armin and Mikasa a lot when he was younger.

He always liked the silence there while he stared at the humongous wall otherwise known as Maria, convinced no titan was ever be able to break through. It reminded him of this moment, where it seemed nobody was able to harm him or his family.

Then, he heard the soft, feminine steps of his mother come upstairs. A silent gasp escaped Eren—the stiffening of his muscles his only preparation as she appeared in the doorway. There she was, and she was exactly like how he remembered; those warm eyes—now full of concern for him—locked unto his, seemingly searching for any possible injury. Her soft hands were clasped together—hands that would always soothe him so lovingly whenever he got in a fight or hurt himself.

''Eren?'' she asked silently, taking a gentle step forwards. She saw how her son was shivering. The white of his eyes was bloodshot and tears had poured down his cheeks. Whatever had happened was emotional, and she could hear how her son was crying out to her silently, begging her to hold him. It was a mother's instinct that had perfect accuracy.

At the sound of her voice, Eren hiccuped while fresh tears streamed down his face. ''Mom,'' he croaked, his voice uneven as he held out his hands to her. ''M—Mom!''

Carla didn't need more reason to rush to her son's side and envelop him into a gentle, motherly hug. She didn't need to say anything to console him either; she knew her presence was enough as Eren cried on her shoulder, holding her tightly like he was afraid she'd disappear into thin air.

At that moment, all the emotions Eren had held in for so many years were finally released. He cried tears of joy for his mom, but also tears of sadness for all the despair he'd been through. He could smell the familiar scent in her hair, hear the soft hums leaving her throat and reverberate through his broken mind, making him whole again.

He didn't know how long he just sat there, his mother wrapped around him like a protective cocoon, enveloping him and shielding him from all the evil in the world. All Eren knew was how much he realized he had needed this.

When he finally—almost reluctantly so—left his mother's embrace, he gave her a weak laugh, like he couldn't believe he was the luckiest guy in the world. His mother let a giggle escape her mouth in return. She wiped his cheeks clean with her thumb while stroking them lovingly, her eyes warm and pleasant.

Eren remembered he'd always groan when she did that, but he was not going to groan today. He understood she was confused about what was going on, but also saw she was okay with that. There was no way he was going to be able to hide what he was going to do with his dad for long anyway, and he wasn't planning on it either. His mom had the right to know, as did Mikasa. But for now, he had a district to protect.

''Mom,'' he whispered, pausing so he could take her hand into his, closing his eyes as she continued to give him gentle affection. ''Thank you.''

Later that evening in the basement of Grisha, Eren was going over the plan with his father one more time. ''All right, our top priority is to stop the titan-shifters from reaching wall Maria, so we have to leave early in the morning to intercept them.'' Eren drew a circle around the area on a map of Paradis where they'd most likely find them. ''We know what direction they came from and where they're heading, so their camp for tonight must be somewhere here.''

Grisha nodded his head in agreement. If Eren's recollections of the event were accurate, the simple math he had done to pinpoint their location would have to be correct. ''After we've found them, we stay low and we wait for the right moment to strike,'' Eren added.

His father rubbed his chin. ''You told me they were going to attack with four titans initially, right?''

''Yeah. The jaw titan is present too, but not for long. We shouldn't intercept until he's eaten by Ymir. Not only will she be a very valuable ally to us, but if we attack before the jaw titan is gone we have to deal with four of them. Besides, he was their leader, if we face them immediately afterwards they'll be vulnerable.''

''That's very clever thinking and strategizing,'' Grisha praised, ''but are you sure we should approach them in our human forms? What if they attack immediately because they see us as their enemies?''

Eren hummed. His father's question was a very legitimate one. He had thought about it a lot—if they would immediately surprise them in their titan forms or not, and ultimately, decided it was better to take the slow approach. ''They're not going to. In the state they're in, they most likely won't think of killing another human being, especially if we don't appear as a threat. Besides, we don't want to scare them; we want to talk sense into them first before we will resort to violence.''

''This is going to be hard.'' Grisha groaned. ''They have been brainwashed by Marley since they were born. I'm not much of a psychologist, Eren, but it's going to take time, more time than we have available.''

Eren knew his father was right, but he also knew these three titan-shifters by heart. They were just innocent Eldians—merely children—forced to do what Marley had commanded them to do in hope of a better life. He knew their motives, and with what he had to offer, hoped he could get them on his side.

''We're going to have to try. Especially the female titan, Annie Leonhart, is not fooled by Marley's deceptiveness. If we get her to change her mind, the two boys are most likely inclined to follow,'' Eren explained.

''And what if they don't?'' Grisha asked. He knew the answer already, but he was just making sure.

''Then we're going to battle and defeat them with the intention to capture them alive. We only kill them if really necessary,'' Eren responded resolutely. He had done enough killing in his previous life. This time, he was going to save as many lives as possible instead. ''Keep a look out for Dina and protect her with every fiber of your being. She can't die if we want the mindless titans on our side.''

Grisha rubbed his temple, his palms sweaty as he wiped them off on his pants. ''Eren, I just hope you know as much about the power of the titans as you do about this catastrophic event,'' his father said. ''Inheriting a titan power from somebody without killing the host is going to be a hard one for me to crack, never mind that my thirteen years are almost up as well.''

''Well, if somebody is going to find the answers, it's going to be you,'' Eren said resolutely. ''You're very smart, dad, but let's do one thing at a time.''

''All right then, you're right,'' his father agreed, calming down a bit. ''These shifters, we haven't talked about their personalities or skills yet, what are they like?''

Now, Eren smiled fondly. He didn't know why a frown hadn't appeared on his face instead. These shifters had betrayed the Survey Corps and killed countless of innocent human lives. Yet, the only thing he could think of was how Annie had taught him her fighting-style, how Reiner acted like the big brother he never had and how Bertolt was the silent support he could always rely on. He would never forgive them for what they did, but at this moment, all of that hadn't happened yet.

''I talked about Annie before. She's the female titan and also the scariest when it comes to facing in battle. Her style is very unique, relying on a lot of well placed kicks and blocking a lot with her arms. She also has the ability to harden parts of her body, though I can do that too.'' Eren smiled at his father's amazed look.

''Keep your distance from her or stay right in her face, take out her legs first,'' he suggested wisely.

''Reiner, the kid with the blonde hair, is the armored titan. He'll be very frail and indecisive when we face him because he blames himself that the jaw titan is dead, so battling him shouldn't be a problem for me. I've taken him down multiple times in the past—the future for you,'' Eren elaborated. ''His armor is pretty much impenetrable, as you may know, so you have to rely on locks and hitting him on his joints if you find yourself facing him.

''Lastly, Bertolt, the kid with the black hair, is the colossus titan. Whatever we do, our first priority is knocking him out before he can shift. He'll follow Annie or Reiner no matter what, so when one of those two shift, he will too, so then we go for Bertolt immediately. If he manages to get in his titan, I will focus all the mindless titans on him to keep him busy. We'll take down Annie and Reiner first, and lastly Bertolt by cutting his Achilles tendons.''

The confidence that radiated from Eren surprised Grisha for a moment, but then he closed his eyes and chuckled. Only his son could come up with such a risky plan and be confident it was going to work foolproof. ''Well,'' he admitted, ''I do have to say we have a big chance of making this work. After all, surprise is on our side and the conditions the shifters find themselves in are very poor. Also,'' Grisha added with a wide grin, ''You have to teach me how to do that hardening trick sometime.''

The excitement that twinkled in his father's eyes was something Eren never could get tired of. He gave his dad a firm nod and a warm hug afterwards. ''I missed you, dad. So, so much.''

''I can imagine it must've been hard for you, Eren,'' his father sympathized. ''But I'm here now, and so are you. It's going to be all right.''

At the same time, a distraught voice could be heard coming from upstairs that Eren recognized as his mom, immediately followed by Mikasa's angry one. Her footsteps got closer until the door to the basement was opened rather harshly.

''Mikasa, please,'' Carla pleaded after her, but she was promptly ignoring her surrogate mother and stormed downstairs to face Grisha and Eren.

She was still as beautiful as ever, with her gorgeous black hair flowing from every side, and the cute scarf he'd given her wrapped around her face. Her eyes were piercing daggers, though, particularly at him, but he knew her so well that he had no trouble recognizing it as the ploy she used to hide her concerns and uncertainties. From the inside, she was scared, because she felt something big and dangerous was about to happen to them, and she wanted to know every single detail right now so she could keep Eren safe.

''I'm sorry,'' Carla apologized, ''I tried to stop her, but she's persistent.''

''Eren,'' Mikasa said harshly, trying to sound intimidating. ''Tell me what's going on right now!''

Instead of being afraid of her or getting angry like he would normally be, he stayed calm and approached Mikasa until he was face to face with her. All of a sudden, her confidence was non-existent. Eren would never do something so bold like this, and instead of flat out refusing to answer her like she had expected to, he did something even more incredulous.

He gave her a kiss right on her nose.

The blush that appeared on her face was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen. Mikasa acting shy was something that was unheard of, but here she was, unable to comprehend what just happened. Gosh, she was so cute!

''I can't tell you yet, Mikasa,'' he replied genuinely, holding one of her hands, ''but I promise I will as soon as the time is right. You have to trust me on this one. Can you do that for me?''

Mikasa balled her fist and turned her head low. For a moment, Eren was afraid she was going to hit him, but instead, she gently put her fist on his chest. Looking up at him, her eyes had turned soft and a little bit scared; she'd calmed down at least. ''Do you promise me you'll be safe, Eren?'' she whispered.

''I promise you, Mikasa,'' he said. Eren knew she wasn't convinced in the slightest, but wasn't going to press anymore. She slowly went back upstairs again and found the embrace of Carla. ''Let's get you to bed, sweetie, it's getting late,'' she cooed. ''Eren, you won't make it late either, will you?''

''I won't, mom. Dad and I have wrapped things up here.'' He nodded at his father. ''I'll go to bed in a minute.''

His mom gave a kind smile and then disappeared with Mikasa upstairs. Eren sighed; this was going to be a lot tougher than he'd initially thought. Telling his father the truth was one thing, but his mom and especially Mikasa? Now that was going to be difficult.

''You shouldn't wait too long before telling the truth,'' Grisha suggested. ''It's like she has a sixth sense for things like this. She's deadly scared for your safety.''

''I know,'' Eren agreed, ''I will do so after we're finished saving Shiganshina.'' He shook his head. ''You have to tell mom too, you know.''

''I know, son,'' Grisha replied bitterly. ''But like you said, we'll do one thing at a time. Now let's get to bed. We need every bit of energy tomorrow.''

Early in the morning, at the break of dawn of a new day, the impossible had happened to Reiner Braun. He was on his knees in the dirt, clutching his head together in refusal. His whole body was numb, his eyes wide as saucers as he looked at how thick, salty droplets of his tears fell to the ground.

''Marcel, no,'' he whimpered, shutting his eyes tightly. ''It's all my fault,'' he thought, his head throbbing with pain. ''He's dead because of me. A titan ate him because of me.''

''What do we do now?'' Bertolt yelled to the group anxiously, his breathing erratic. They'd just fled from the titan that ate Marcel. They hadn't even reached the wall yet and their leader was already killed. He looked desperately at Annie, who was in complete shock herself.

She tried to even her breathing and control the slight trembles in her hands. She had to assess the situation and think about this clearly. A sigh escaped her lips while she rolled her stiff shoulders. Marcel was gone, Reiner looked like he was going insane and Bertolt was as scared as a trapped mouse.

''We have to abandon the mission,'' Reiner muttered from the dirt. ''Without Marcel we're useless, we will be—AH!'' A swift kick to his face shut him up, his already throbbing head exploding in pain. Blood gushed out of his nostrils where Annie had hit him. She kicked him again between the ribs, knocking the wind out of him.

For some reason, beating the shit out of Reiner made Annie think clearly, her body surging with adrenaline as she used another well placed kick to hit Reiner straight across his cheek; it'd heal, she knew. A titan-shifter had an amazing healing factor. For the time being, she hoped it'd knock some sense back into Reiner.

After she had kicked him for a final time in his belly—making him wheeze and clutch it in pain—her features turned into a scowl. ''Are you suggesting we should go back to Marley, be disgraced in front of the whole nation and then executed while our families will continue to suffer from our failure?''

She eyed Bertolt, whose whole body was shivering from the rough treatment she was giving Reiner. She put her hands in her pockets and glared at Reiner again. ''You shouldn't have fled from that titan that killed Marcel. Now the jaw titan is lost and we have no idea how to retrieve it.''

Reiner growled at her in his pained state, blood running past his lips and chin to the ground below. He hated that she was right—right in the fact Marley would execute them, right in the fact Marcel's powers were lost because of him, and it made him so angry.

He wiped the blood from his face, slowly standing up while grimacing at the pain Annie had caused. It soon turned into a dull throb, the hopelessness of the situation making him realize they hadn't much of a choice. ''We have no other option but to continue the mission then,'' he agreed to Annie. He was already formulating a plan to avoid any other mindless titans while also closing the final gap between their location and the wall when Bertolt tapped him on his shoulder feverishly.

''We've got company, guys,'' he said, pointing his gun in the direction of two silhouettes approaching on the horizon. Both Annie and Reiner stiffened, expecting the worst, only to drop their guards in surprised stupor when the silhouettes turned out to be humans.

They could tell one of them was young, maybe around the same age as they were, while the other was definitely an adult. They couldn't make out any distinct features yet, but it was clear they were approaching them, which raised multiple questions in the shifter's minds.

''What are they doing here so far outside the wall?'' Bertolt whispered finally, voicing what they were all thinking. ''You don't suppose they're military, right?''

''Not likely,'' Annie replied. ''They look like normal travelers, but that's impossible considering how many titans are walking around here.'' She watched with a tense expression on her face how the duo came closer, the rising sun casting them partly in a shadowy cloak. Bertolt still had his gun raised on them, sweat dripping from his face.

''Should I shoot them?'' He asked unsurely. All three of them knew they were the devils of Paradis that needed to be wiped away, but they also knew that their mission was to get the founding titan first and foremost. Moreover, killing them would not give them answers to their questions.

''Don't shoot, but keep your gun at the ready,'' Reiner ultimately decided. He looked at Annie for confirmation, who nodded her head.

''Let's see what they want.''

Finally, they could make out their features. The clothes they were wearing immediately ruled out they were part of any sort of military. It came abundantly clear the travelers were family as well, probably father and son. They weren't carrying any sort of weapon either, but they knew looks could be deceiving. They had learned that the devils of Paradis were ruthless, and this was their first time interacting with them.

Annie sharply noticed they were very calm even though Bertolt had a gun pointed at them, and while the distance was relatively far still, he was an excellent sharp-shooter. The determination on their faces was the most troublesome in Annie's mind; it screamed they were here with a mission, and she didn't like that one bit.

''Stop,'' Reiner eventually commanded when they were only about ten meters away, which resulted in Bertolt being extra cautious for any sudden movements. When father and son obliged silently, Reiner eyed them up and down.

''Who are you and what are you doing here?'' he demanded. He didn't like how calm they remained. They should feel threatened in a situation like this, but that wasn't the case at all.

''Allow me to introduce myself, young warriors of Marley,'' the father began, which made all three of them stiffen slightly—he knew they were from Marley. ''I'm Grisha Yeager and this is my son Eren Yeager. We are here on account for all people living on Paradis,'' he revealed diplomatically, his tone not unkind. ''Please hear us out.''

Annie scowled slightly; Grisha—if he was called Grisha—had a silver tongue. She couldn't detect if he was lying or not, which led her to the conclusion he was telling the truth, even though she didn't want to believe it.

''Why would we waste our time hearing you out?'' she challenged them, just to make sure.

''Because we mean you no harm,'' Grisha offered gently. ''We're unarmed, as you can see, and in the middle of nowhere. You could shoot us if you so wish, but the fact you haven't yet leads me to believe you want to hear what we have to say.''

Grisha had a good point. Annie looked at Reiner and Bertolt uncertainly, until both of them gave her a nod, telling her they were okay with it. ''All right,'' she admitted, ''we do want to hear what you have to say. So, go ahead.''

The man called Grisha paused for a moment, readjusted his glasses and then smiled slightly. ''I'm offering you guys a way out,'' he said simply.

''What do you mean?'' Reiner commanded, his nervousness building. The way how Grisha was implying things screamed he knew more than that they simply were warriors from Marley.

''I understand you are in a very precarious situation,'' he elaborated, ''with a dangerous task of infiltrating Paradis to receive the founding titan while also experiencing the death of one of your friends. There's no way back for you guys now, is there?''

Apparent shock was visible on all three of the shifter's faces. Reiner was baffled how much knowledge Grisha possessed about their mission. Had spies leaked information to Paradis in advance? He couldn't believe that could be the truth, the military of Marley had been so cautious.

At the same time, Annie was wondering the same thing. She felt anxiety kick in, but remained positively calm on the outside. Bertolt, however, was visibly shivering.

''How do you know all of that?'' he yelled, taking a few steps forwards while keeping his gun pointed at him. ''Answer me!''

''Bertolt, calm down,'' Annie replied, her mind working over hours to find an answer that would make sense. ''The last thing we want is to lose our cool.''

Bertolt growled at her, but eventually backed-off. Reiner had his teeth gritted as well, but didn't say anything for the time being. He knew Annie was right.

''I won't ask you how you know this information,'' she told Grisha, ''but it most likely means you also know we're extremely dangerous.''

He nodded. ''Hence why I want to avoid a conflict at all cost,'' Grisha admitted. He paused, looked at his son—who gave him a firm nod—before continuing. ''Listen, you guys don't have to destroy the wall or retrieve the founding titan. The people inside the walls are all Eldian like you and me, and they live a life of obliviousness. You would kill thousands of innocent people of your own kin, and for what? To become an honorary Marleyan? To restore Eldia in its former glory?'' Grisha shook his head. ''They're all lies told by your government.''

''Shut up!'' Reiner screamed while Bertolt also was on the brink of exploding. ''Are you devils trying to deceive us? You don't think but for a second that we would believe you!?'' he questioned.

For the first time, the boy who was introduced as Eren spoke up. ''We don't,'' he said gently, ''but is the alternative that Marley is speaking the truth anymore promising? They've locked you up in intermittent zones; they treat you like cattle and have taken your freedom away.'' He gave them all a serious look. ''You'd be all executed if you failed this mission. Would that ever happen if you were Marleyan?''

''Then what do you propose we should do?'' Annie replied, shutting both boys up before they would do anything rash. They looked at her like she'd lost her mind for even humoring the idea of listening, let alone being completely serious about it.

''Annie?'' both Reiner and Bertolt hissed incredulously. She waved them off; she was curious what they had to offer, which made Eren hopeful.

''Help me get you back your true freedom,'' he offered her genuinely. ''Please help us free the people of Eldia. We'll overthrow the faulty government that's installed in both Paradis and Marley together. You'd be free—truly free.'' He gave Annie a few moments to let that sink in.

''I know you don't trust us; I wouldn't either in your position, but I also know that you're deceptively good at spotting lies. So I'm asking you; has anything what my father and I have said not be truthful?''

''Don't listen to him, Annie,'' Reiner warned, his voice trembling and uneven. ''It's all a trick to lull you into a sense of security. The moment you take their offer they're going to capture you.''

Annie wanted to agree with Reiner, but something told her both Eren and Grisha were telling the truth. She knew Marley was full of crap and that her people were treated like trash. She'd hoped for a quiet life with her dad after she pulled this off, but knew deep down that was never going to happen. But now, these two strangers out of nowhere offered her such a ludicrous solution. She almost asked herself what she had to lose.

Both Reiner and Bertolt saw this too, their eyes widening like saucers at the very realistic threat to lose another friend and teammate. They had to do something drastically, and so, without warning, Reiner grabbed his knife and cut himself across the palm of his hand, triggering his shift into his titan form.

There you have it, folks. I promised you guys a battle, but I split the chapter because otherwise it would be too long. :P Did you guys like it, love it, hate it? Please review! I promise to respond to all the reviews I get. :3 Next chapter will truly be Annie, Reiner and Bertolt versus Eren and Grisha. Until then. ^^

~Syrup-Waffle

Chapter 3

Yellow lightning cracked across the sky. A thunderous clap could be heard from miles away of Eren's and Grisha's location. An enormous blast off wind threatened to blow both father and son away, while Bertolt and Annie were actually knocked off their feet, the former dropping his gun in the process.

Bones, muscles and connective tissue began to fabricate and build itself up like a tower rising from the ground, forming itself into a moveable body. A strong, durable exoskeleton—as hard as steel—protected the body from all sides. Lastly, two menacing, piercing eyes glared down on Eren and Grisha as the armored titan rose to his full height.

''That's a slight problem,'' Eren commented while frowning, shielding his eyes from dust still flying his way. He was pretty positive about the situation they were in at the moment; Annie actually had seemed interested in taking them up on their offer. She just needed a bit more persuasion. Understandably so, both Reiner and Bertolt would take more time.

Grisha gritted his teeth while looking at his son worriedly; the armored titan could attack them at any moment. ''Eren, now?'' he yelled, panic gripping him from every side.

Reiner gave an ear-splitting roar, the ground shaking and cracking at the unbelievable power he was displaying.

''Not yet,'' Eren responded, narrowing his eyes. He got into a battle ready stance and found the familiar surge of the founding titan's powers from deep within his body. His eyes flashed with the same thunderous attributes as Reiner's transformation, albeit on a smaller scale, and he gave a loud power cry.

Reiner was preparing to trample both Eren and Grisha like a couple of insects; the couple of meters he had to cover were nothing to him. ''I'll teach you a lesson for trying to trick Annie in betraying us, you devils!'' he thought angrily, foot raised high in the air to make an end to Grisha's and Eren's lives.

He was so blinded by anger that he completely failed to notice the twenty-meter-class that seemingly tackled him out of nowhere, knocking him off balance as he crashed explosively on his side, kicking up dust and shattering trees completely that were unfortunate enough to be in his way.

Both Annie and Bertolt were coughing to clear out their lungs; scratches and bruises covered their bodies entirely—courtesy of Reiner—as they picked themselves up from the ground. As disoriented as they were, they'd no idea what was happening until they saw a mindless titan on top of the downed armored titan.

''Annie, quickly,'' Bertolt screamed; knowing if he would transform now he would do serious harm to her, ''you have to help out Reiner against these devils! You have to—'' multiple high whistles zipped past him like the bullets of a machine gun, until excruciating pain wracked his mind and he felt like he was going to faint. He gurgled helplessly as blood spew forth from his mouth, his eyes wide in surprise, disbelief and total refusal as he looked at what was left of his shredded right arm and shoulder.

''Bertolt!'' Annie yelled hysterically, seeing that he was losing consciousness fast as he dropped to the ground, blood flowing from the gaping wounds in his right limb. His arm was torn off completely. Annie gawked at the apparent perpetrator in the distance; another mindless titan—most likely a five-meter-class—who was holding a bunch of rocks the size of baseballs in one of his hands. ''Did he just throw those?'' she thought incredulously, looking back at Bertolt's unconscious form. ''That's impossible! They're mindless titans. Only if you posses the founding titan—''

That thought died in her throat rather quickly as she looked at Grisha and particularly Eren. The electricity that flashed all around him said enough. ''No way.''

Eren, meanwhile, looked at his handiwork with satisfaction. ''With kind regards of Zeke Yeager,'' he thought as he looked at the immobilized colossus titan. ''Sorry, Bertolt, but I had to. You're way too dangerous to be dealt with right now.'' His eyes turned back to Annie, whose expression radiated realization—realization filled with horror, anxiety but above all shock.

''That's right, Annie. I have the founding titan. So what are you going to do now? Help Reiner, or will you try to appease?'' Eren looked back at his father and gave him a nod. ''Now!'' he yelled with determination dripping from his voice. He bit down on the skin of his wrist while Grisha did the same, following his son's lead.

Two more thunderous claps rang through the area. The earth shook like in an earthquake while two similarly strong looking titans took shape in the place of Eren and Grisha. If Annie's eyes could have widened more, they would've popped right out of her skull. She rubbed them to make sure if she was seeing things correctly, but her eyes were not deceiving her; in front of her was not one, but two attack titans.

Reiner roared like a hungry lion as he threw the mindless titan off of him like it was a small child. It crashed somewhere behind him in a plume of smoke. It had taken a moment for him to realize what was happening until all of his senses started to work normally again. He got up rather clumsily, his whole body stiffening the moment he let his eyes rest on his transformed opponents. ''What the—''

He couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. It was simply impossible and he wondered if he started to go insane. Two attack titans had taken a battle stance, ready to fight him while only one existed.

Eren was smirking all the way. It didn't take a genius to figure out Reiner was completely caught off guard. At the moment, he was their only opponent and that was favorable. Eren had plenty of experience dealing with the armored titan alone, but it was nice to have some back-up. The moment Annie started to transform, he would shift his efforts to her while his father would continue to fight Reiner; he figured his father wouldn't have an answer to her hardening abilities, which he did have.

Just like they had planned, Eren took the lead while his father followed suit. The familiar thrill of battle excited Eren as a rush of adrenaline filled his body; it was almost soothing to him in a sense. His titan form let out a monstrous roar as he charged Reiner with all the energy he could muster. He could feel how his father was close behind him, analyzing their opponent and staying level-headed; he was their line of defense after all and more importantly, responsible for the safety of Dina—the smiling titan who Eren had hidden close by. If something would happen to her, they were in grave danger and had to retreat immediately. But for now, they held all the cards in their hands.

Reiner let out a panicked scream in his mind, the shock that there were two attack titans about to battle him paralyzing him for a couple of crucial seconds. ''What is happening?'' his mind yelled to him anxiously. It took him longer than he would've liked to prepare himself, the anger he was feeling slowly overwhelming all his other senses. ''It doesn't matter,'' he reassured himself then, mentally shaking his head, ''they tried to trick Annie, and for that, they will pay. They won't be able to penetrate my armor anyway, and once Annie and Bertolt transform, it'll be three against two.''

Still, Reiner couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong. That random titan that attacked him out of nowhere; it didn't make sense. He had his arms raised to protect his head while his feet shifted apart, creating a battle stance to prepare himself for the oncoming blows.

Eren growled at the familiar stance, his dash coming to a sudden halt when he'd reached Reiner, preparing to give him a punch straight across his left cheek. His fist hardened to steel like proportions, all the momentum he had created carrying to his arm to deliver a devastating blow.

Reiner was quick to block with his left arm with the intention to retaliate with his right, assuming his armor would be enough to nullify the punch, only to be shocked once more at the brute force hammering his underarm. The strength in Eren's punch made a sickening crack reverberate through the area, his armor crumbling where he'd struck him. ''That's—'' Reiner thought, hissing in alarm at the damage taken. He couldn't block the follow-up from Grisha, who gave a powerful low-kick at his knee joint.

It luckily didn't do nearly as much damage, but the fact Grisha had attacked and retreated successfully meant Reiner was going to be in trouble very soon if his teammates didn't come to his aide. ''Come on!'' he thought angrily, ''what's taking you guys so long to transform and help me?''

He had no idea Bertolt was knocked out already and Annie petrified to the bone. She was staring with wide eyes at the unfolding battle, muttering to herself like a lunatic. In hindsight, it was obvious what she should do; all her training had prepared her for such a moment, but nobody had told her there was going to be another way out.

''They really weren't kidding,'' her mind argued, suppressing her instincts to help Reiner. ''What they offered was real; real salvation for you and all of the Eldians. They can give you a life with your dad. You'd be—normal.'' That word, normal, she'd longed for it for as long as she could remember. She wanted that so badly.

Yet, her loyalty to Reiner and Bertolt wasn't something she could throw away. They were her friends; companions who she cared for a lot. She'd sworn to protect them with her life. So, between such a devastating loss so early on in their mission and now these two mysterious attack titans making things extremely difficult, she didn't know what to do.

Reiner, meanwhile, was still waiting for some sort of help when the complete opposite happened. That titan he'd thrown off earlier jumped on his back again, reducing his movement and leaving him wide-open for a counter-attack. Eren took this opportunity to deliver a swift uppercut to Reiner's chin, seriously damaging it while trying to follow it up with a hardened kick against his side.

However, Reiner saw it coming in time. With a bit of luck, he managed to get a good grip on the titan on his back and throw it off of him like a lethal object to Eren. The titan crashed violently against Eren's titan form, knocking him over and interrupting his kick. Reiner roared thunderously with anger, Grisha's second low-kick finding its mark on his knee bringing him out of his stupor as he staggered slightly.

''They've got a clever tactic,'' Reiner admitted to himself, ''but that mindless titan should keep Eren busy while I'll deal with his dad. It appears he doesn't know how to harden his body, which is an immense relief at least.'' Reiner thought he had a lucky break, but the twenty-meter-class didn't even bother to roar at Eren. Instead, it got up alongside him and then faced Reiner again, ready to pounce on him once more.

It then dawned on Reiner while absolute horror gripped his body that either Eren or Grisha had possession of the founding titan. It was the only logical conclusion for this titan's behavior, which was immensely alarming.

The slight thunder that crackled around Eren's body confirmed Reiner's suspicions. The mindless titan attacked with a sudden leap. Reiner had no other option but to stop it with a powerful punch. His fist connected with the titan's face and ripped through it, sending boiling hot blood flying everywhere as its body crashed lifelessly to the ground.

He knew he had no way to protect himself afterwards. Eren's foot was devastating. It struck him right across his jaw, the force breaking it where he'd hit and partly dislocating it. Reiner cursed loudly, his heart beating a mile a minute. His slightly injured knee gave in as well when Grisha connected his foot precisely under his kneecap, bringing him down on one knee.

Reiner knew he was a sitting duck at this point. It was only going to be a matter of time before Eren had rendered his arms useless too, and then it was just a question of getting him out of his titan to finish him off completely. ''I'm done for,'' Reiner thought fearfully. He doubted if he could've taken on Eren alone at this point, never mind in combination with Grisha and the assistance of the founding titan.

''We've got him,'' Grisha thought, his happiness overtaking his surprise. His son's crazy plan had worked. They'd saved Shiganshina; countless of Eldian lives would see the dawn of another day, oblivious to the fact they would've been killed if they hadn't intervened.

Just as Grisha started to relax a little, another flash and boom shifted his attention towards his left. He grunted; Annie had finally transformed in her titan form and was running at him threateningly, seemingly having made up her mind. ''And we were so close in convincing her too,'' Grisha thought bitterly. Instead of waiting, he took his son's advice and began to close the distance.

It pained Annie to do this, but the moment she saw Reiner go down, she couldn't abandon him. She knew she'd basically just thrown her only chance away at a normal life. The pain she felt had made her teary eyed, pictures of her father hugging her flashing through her mind. It fueled her anger, sharpening her focus. Grisha roared at her, intent on tackling her legs and bringing her down.

In a split second, Annie had shifted her weight to her other leg and moved out of the way fluently. She avoided Grisha's tackle so smoothly that he was left utterly surprised. He could only watch as her knee hardened and she counter-attacked by bringing it roughly against his face. It exploded in a heap of blood, flesh and teeth, maiming him and leaving him utterly blind for the time being.

''Dad!'' Eren screamed, seeing his father go down. He had to give him time to heal properly, but that would ensure Reiner would be up and running by the time he was done too. ''Why didn't you wait and let me handle her?'' he questioned while gritting his teeth. This was a major set-back, especially since there were no mindless titans nearby to aide him except the five-meter-class and Dina. He knew the former wasn't going to do a thing against Reiner and he was never going to risk the latter. ''We're back at square one. I have to defeat Annie before Reiner is back on his feet again.''

Annie left Grisha's partly defeated titan alone when she'd heard Eren's furious roar. She had expected him to run at her like his father did, but instead, he walked to her slowly, taking on a battling stance she was all too familiar with. ''That's… my battling stance,'' she thought, whispering to herself. Her mind was giving her the weirdest sense of déjà vu she'd ever had. ''Who are you?''

She waited for Eren to make the first move, but he'd apparently expected that, because he was as patient as she was. They just eyed each other; one pair of eyes questioning everything, while the other pair of eyes seemingly held all the answers. In the background, Reiner was roaring, trying to get up, but his kneecap was locked in place, making him unable to stretch it, and his titan was way too bulky to stand on one feet. He could crawl, but knew that one well placed kick on his face would leave him utterly defeated. He could do nothing but wait until his knee had healed properly.

Finally, Annie was fed up with waiting. Her agile form made her able to bring her feet high above her head. She hardened it and moved it in a wide arc, trying to connect it with Eren's face. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew he was going to dodge it. She was as quick as lightning, but it wasn't enough to land her hit. Eren ducked like he'd expected her attack way in advance and then brought the rest of his body down in a sweeping kick.

He found her left ankle with his foot and saw it twist in a way it wasn't supposed to. Immediately, Annie lost her balance and fell down. She hadn't even hit the ground when Eren's hardened fist landed on her shoulder joint, destroying it into a bloody pulp and making her unable to lift her right arm. In just two quick moves, Annie was in the severe disadvantage.

''He knows my fighting style completely, like he has battled me countless of times before,'' she realized, smoke rising from the places on her body where Eren had hit her. She could only hope that she could stall him long enough now with her hardening abilities until she could move a bit again.

Eren didn't let his guard down in the slightest and that was the correct thing to do too. While Reiner couldn't join the battle from up close, he could still do so from a distance away. He had managed to crawl to a decent sized rock and throw it at Eren with the deadly accuracy of a marksman. Eren was just barely able to dodge the boulder, although it scraped the left side of his stomach, drawing a nasty gash across it which began to bleed immediately.

The distraction left Annie with the opportunity to do some damage herself. She raised her left fist and punched Eren on his calf muscles from her grounded position. The result was a limp that reduced Eren's mobility and hindered him greatly.

''I need to keep Reiner occupied,'' Eren thought, taking some distance from Annie. The commotion had lured in some more mindless titan to his vicinity, which was exactly what he needed. He commanded the eight giants of various sizes to attack Reiner, who was in the middle of crawling to another rock.

While Reiner was determined, that soon turned into despair when he saw the titans closing in on him. He roared to intimidate them and brought his fist down on the first titan that leaped at him. Just like before, he destroyed its head completely. The others were trickier to deal with. They all grabbed individual limbs and tried to hold him place, effectively rendering him completely immobile.

With Reiner dealt with for now, Eren looked back at Annie, already formulating a plan to get past her hardening abilities. He walked towards her—not being able to run anymore—and prepared to hit her straight between her ribs. As expected, Annie reacted accordingly and hardened the part of her body where he was about hit her, his attack and her defense cancelling each other out. However, it left the rest of her body completely open.

At the same time of his punch, Eren had commanded his five-meter-class to throw all the rocks he had left at Annie. The result was that she got pelted with a barrage of sharp objects that cut her everywhere.

''He's too strong,'' Annie's panicked mind thought. ''There's got to be some way to shut down the founding titan. He has to have some way to control them. There's no way he or his father are from royal blood, so how?'' Annie let her eyes scan the battlefield, but she couldn't detect anything; it was just an endless sea of rocks and patches of grass. The only thing that stood out to her was a relatively large rock that blocked her view a bit.

Eren attacked her again, his titan's piercing roar warning Annie to harden her ribs once more. The resulting blow was followed with another barrage of rocks. They were absolutely destructive in nature. Her left eye had been gauged; a weird, yellow-ish fluid dripped out of it. Her left ear had been completely torn off, and her whole body was bloody with cuts or chunks of flesh missing.

''She's not going to last much longer, I have to hurry up,'' Eren thought. Unfortunately, Reiner's victorious roar shattered those hopes. His knee had healed long enough to stand up again; the incredible strength he possessed overwhelmed the titans who were holding him down. They were unable to hurt him due to his armor, and now, too weak to keep him in place.

He began to throw them off his body like petty insects, crushing them under his feet or otherwise beating their bodies into oblivion. Once he was free, he ran at Eren with all the strength he could muster.

Eren's eyes turned to slits; he knew he had to play this smart if he wanted to win. Reiner brought his body back to punch Eren straight in his face. The massive fist was just barely avoided, the momentum Eren had created with his dodge a perfect weapon to use in his retaliation. Smartly, he struck Reiner at the same spot where his feet had hit his jaw, dislocating it completely. With a mighty roar, he grabbed what remained of Reiner's unhinged jaw, and began to pull, ripping it loose with a sickening crack.

The result was a soft tissue spot in the form of Reiner's mouth that was left completely open. One good punch from Eren there and he would splatter his head from the inside out, which would mean game over for Reiner.

It seemed Reiner knew this too and was backing away fearfully; not only because he was certain now that he couldn't beat Eren alone, but also because Grisha's titan had healed enough to be standing again.

Grisha gave a nod to Eren, indicating he was ready to fight again. He made an apologetic gesture with his hand, which Eren waved off. Eren then pointed at Reiner while he turned his attention back at Annie, who was desperately trying to stand on her weakened ankle. Grisha understood. He roared angrily, ready to face Reiner and beat him once and for all.

''I'm sorry, Annie,'' Eren thought, ''It's about time I finished this.'' Eren commanded his five-meter-class to throw a larger rock at Annie, who expectedly reacted on reflex and hardened her chest area to block it. The rock was pulverized on impact, but Annie also realized with growing horror that it was a fatal error she'd just made, and it would cost her dearly.

She couldn't block Eren's foot; she wasn't fast enough and too weakened to dodge it. It hit her square on the cheek and just kept on going right through it, pulverizing her head and knocking her out of the battle. Her titan fell to the ground, her human form finding the sweet abyss of unconsciousness as she was defeated.

''That's two down,'' Eren thought, ''only one to go.'' He commanded the five-meter-class to retrieve Annie's body out of her titan form. Once it had done so, Eren made it carry her into its jaw to Dina's location, who was still hiding behind the rock where he had left her.

Now that Eren had some time, he looked at the battlefield to search for Bertolt's body, hoping that he hadn't accidentally trampled him in their battle. What he found was his rifle and a lot of blood, leading away in a thick trail. ''Oh no,'' Eren thought, his senses sharp as he eyed the trail and saw Bertolt sitting a little bit farther ahead. He was conscious again, his healing factor working a lot faster than Eren had anticipated.

His face was screaming bloody murder, a knife in one hand while his other hand was still missing. He'd probably seen how he had defeated Annie and that he brought her body behind the rock, which made Eren assume he knew that he had the founding titan too, as well as that Bertolt was going to do everything in his power to get Annie back.

''I can't let you, Bertolt. If you see Dina chances are you know she's important to me somehow. Never mind that you'll probably see her anyway when you transform. You're a big guy, after all.''

Bertolt's eyes were entirely fixated on Eren's titan form, absolutely seething with anger for what he had done. Behind Eren he could make out Reiner's weakened titan fighting Grisha's to a stalemate. They weren't going anywhere for the time being, which meant there was only one obstacle in his way.

''I'll kill you, Eren,'' he thought murderously, the words dripping with venom. ''Manipulating Annie with false promises, stealing her body so you can harvest the female titan, knocking me out before I can transform—that all ends now!'' Bertolt cut himself across the cheek, the yellow thunder that appeared from the heavens blinding everybody for a split second.

Furious winds like a hurricane blasted up dust and pebbles everywhere, which made Eren shield his eyes. The loud explosion that followed almost threatened to knock him off of his feet. Steam erupted from Bertolt's location, rising high into the sky like an active volcano ready to explode. For a moment, only the hissing of the steam could be seen or heard, like the calm before the storm.

Then, Bertolt's face appeared from within the steam. High and mighty he looked down upon the earth below. From his point of view he could even see the wall in the far distance. But that wasn't what he was interested in at the moment; he was only interested in Eren and getting back Annie's body. ''Huh,'' he thought, ''there's another titan behind that rock; a fairly big one. Why is it crouching down like it tries to remain hidden?''

The first step he took rumbled the earth to its core. Even Grisha and Reiner had stopped fighting for a second to gape at the humongous giant. ''How are we ever going to bring that down?'' Grisha questioned incredulously. He gave a doubtful glance at his son, who also looked slightly alarmed. It seemed even he was still surprised at how big the colossal titan was, no matter how many times he'd seen it.

While he remained a huge threat, Bertolt's speed was severely limited in his titan form. There was no way he could protect himself properly, especially when the small army of mindless titans Eren had commanded to attack was distracting him too. Bertolt saw the titans closing in on him with a perked brow, seemingly not impressed. ''What's that supposed to do exactly?'' he thought with a scowl on his face.

Contracting his muscles, he opened up his secretory glands, which emanated a protective layer of boiling hot steam all around him. It withheld him from moving, but it was an easy defense mechanism to burn all the titans who were clinging to his body to a crisp.

Meanwhile, Reiner felt some confidence return back to him at the sight of Bertolt's titan. Grisha turned out to be trickier to take down than he had anticipated. While he didn't possess any hardening abilities like his son did, he made up for that with raw experience and sheer willpower. The blows he dealt were mainly focused on his joints, weakening them whenever he struck one.

However, he had dealt some big damage as well. There was a gaping wound at Grisha's hip courtesy of a well placed kick that had destroyed most of his crista. In turn, Grisha's leg threatened to dislocate with every step he took. Furthermore he'd torn off his left arm completely. It was just a matter of time before it had grown back, he knew, but the same could be said about the strength in his joints. The only worrisome part was his mouth; his armor didn't grow back even though his jaw was starting to reform. It would stay a weak point for the rest of the battle.

Grisha knew this too, who was constantly wracking his brain for a solution to make an end to this battle as soon as possible. His titan was reaching its end; the damage sustained more than he could heal back properly. ''I have to get in close, it's my only shot,'' he thought. He had held his distance until now because he was afraid Reiner would hit him, and when he did, he hit hard.

Now though, he surprised the armored titan with his sudden dash, his arms stretched out and ready to tackle him. ''Is he going to do the same thing he tried to Annie?'' Reiner thought, stupefied. He couldn't believe Grisha's desperate approach. He held his arms wide, ready to catch the attack titan in his grasp and then beat the shit out of him.

However, the moment Grisha was about to tackle him, he made a fake-out to the left, completely avoiding Reiner's attempt to grab him. Reiner let out a gasp and hissed in panic when Grisha used the momentum to grab him around his throat and lock his feet around his midsection, using his weight and the force of gravity to bring them both down.

The loud crash of both titans hitting the ground kicked up considerable amounts of dust, and from this position, Grisha had a perfect angle to hit Reiner's weak spot. He roared loudly and brought his fist down on his jaw, easily breaking it one hit.

Reiner's eyes widened at the dangerous situation he was in. He couldn't use his left arm with the way how Grisha was holding him and hitting him, while his right arm was locked firmly in place by his leg, making both of them completely useless. He couldn't get up either with the extra weight clinging to his back. The only thing he could do was lift his upper section of his torso and slam back down, and that's exactly what he did in his desperation.

Grisha continued to punch him repeatedly and in quick succession on his jaw, bone fragments flying everywhere as he felt Reiner lift him up and slam him back down. The massive weight of the titan was quickly threatening to break his spine, which would render his legs useless. If that happened, Reiner would be able to use his arm and then it would be pretty much over for him.

Yet, Grisha felt absolutely confident he was going to win. His punches had completely destroyed Reiner's jaw already. His knuckles weren't faring any better, but that didn't diminish him in the slightest. He kept on hacking away at skin and muscles, blood flying everywhere while Reiner's movements became more stiff, forced and very nervous. He managed to slam down Grisha again, who felt the strength in his legs leaving him. Still, Grisha didn't slow down.

''No, please! I can't—'' Reiner thought in panic, managing to free his right arm from Grisha's leg to try and bring down his elbow on his face in a finishing blow. When Grisha saw the threat of Reiner's elbow looming high above him—like the knife of a guillotine that was about to behead him—he gave one final cry and mustered all the strength he could find to ram his fist against what was left of Reiner's face as hard as he could, completely destroying all of his metacarpals in the process.

The effect was instantaneous. All of Reiner's higher functions seized to cooperate. His raised arm fell harmlessly at his side, the damage Grisha had done knocking him out cold. Grisha let a breath escape his mouth that he didn't know he was holding. He had given everything to defeat Reiner; his titan was as good as useless and out of the battle. The only thing that he could move properly was his right arm while only a stump was left of his fist. He had crushed his fingers into dust hitting Reiner over and over again. ''The rest is up to you, Eren,'' he thought, eyeing the idle colossus titan who was still using his steam as a shield. For the time being, he was trapped under Reiner and could only spectate.

Bertolt wasn't sure what was happening below him at the moment. One downside of his steam shield was that he couldn't see at all, never mind that he couldn't move either. He was confident he'd dealt with all the mindless titans for the time being though, and so, stopped his steam.

He would immediately regret that decision.

Eren had been patiently waiting behind Bertolt to drop his form of defense. Once he had done so, the access to his heels was free. Wounding his own hand to make a sharp edge out of his radius bone, he'd hardened it to steel and slashed it right through the tendon that connected Bertolt's calf muscles to his calcaneus. A sharp snap—like a thick cord broke—was the result.

Bertolt let out a yelp as his right leg suddenly gave away. He tried to find his balance, only to hear another loud snap in his left leg and felt that one giving away as well. He went down on his knees with a lot of violence, his large frame falling forwards. He tried to soften the blow by extending his hands, but the resulting crash was still spectacular; both Grisha and Reiner were lucky he didn't land on top of them.

''What happened?'' Bertolt babbled to himself incoherently. He tried to push himself back up, which he only succeeded in half; his feet still refused to cooperate, which was very troublesome. He looked around to spot any sign of Reiner, Eren and Grisha. When he couldn't find anybody—largely because of all the dust he had kicked up—he instead focused on what he could see, namely the mysterious titan who was still hiding behind the rock about an arm's length away from him.

From his hands and knees position, he couldn't see the five-meter-class who was carrying Annie around. He couldn't even be sure if that titan still had Annie; the smiling titan behind the rock could just as easily be holding Annie. He had to be careful before smashing everything under that rock with the palm of his hand.

First thing was first, he needed more vision. He reached out to grab the rock like it was a drink from the fridge and pulled, the protesting cracks of the rock giving away under the sheer strength of the colossus titan. Lifting up the rock revealed the smiling titan's full body, crouched down and holding Annie's body protectively on its lap.

''Annie!'' Bertolt thought, relief washing over him. ''You're all right! Don't worry, I'll get you out of there!'' He reached out to pinch the smiling titan's head between his fingers and squash its head like an overripe fruit, but that's where the titan suddenly reacted and began to run away with Annie in its arms.

''No!'' Bertolt stretched his arm desperately to catch the fleeing titan, but it was already out of his reach. He tried to crawl after it, only to feel a very distinct weight settle on his neck. His eyes widened significantly and his movements stopped.

''Forgot about me for a moment?'' Eren thought victoriously. He knew he had Bertolt checkmate. He wouldn't be fast enough to get him off of his neck and activating his steam would ensure Dina would be able to escape for sure with Annie. No to mention, it would burn away a lot of his muscles; muscles he desperately needed at the moment. Not that it mattered anymore anyway.

Bertolt lowered his head in defeat. ''Reiner, Annie. I'm sorry.'' In the next moment he could feel the muscles in his neck being torn open forcefully, exposing his human body to the open sky and effectively shutting down his titan.

Eren grabbed Bertolt's body from out of the disintegrating colossus titan, who didn't struggle whatsoever at this point and waited for inevitable death to claim him. Instead, Eren had no such plans with him. He gave Bertolt an apologetic look before knocking him out by shooting a finger against his nose. Eren's whole body relaxed afterwards and for the first time that day, he smiled. ''We did it,'' he thought, laughing as he lowered himself to the ground. ''We actually did it!''

He made his way to where his father had defeated Reiner. He had already dismounted his titan and was trying to pull out Reiner's body with little success. Eren chuckled and gave his father a hand. Gently, he ripped Reiner's body free from the armored titan and placed both unconscious bodies of the boys on the ground. Finally, he dismounted his own titan with a big, toothy grin on his face.

Grisha's own smile couldn't be wider as he embraced his son in a firm hug. ''Great job, Eren!'' he praised happily. ''We've got all three of them!''

It was almost surreal, but it was true. Not a single soul would be lost today inside the walls. He and his father had stopped the first lethal threat of Marley with stunning success.

''So, what happens now?'' Grisha asked unsurely. They had the three shifters, but what were they going to do with them? They couldn't just keep them locked in the basement of their home with the hope Mikasa or Carla weren't going to find out. Besides, the moment they found an opportunity to shift, they would take it. Grisha also needed all the space he had available if he wanted to find a way to take away their titans without killing them.

Eren gave him a grin. ''I've thought about that. I know the perfect place to keep the shifters for the time being, and also the right person to keep an eye on them in the meantime.''

Not very far from Eren's and Grisha's location, a lone girl had finally witnessed the starry night sky consciously again after a very long time. She felt like every breath she took was pure ecstasy, the feeling of just being alive overwhelming her. She couldn't express her gratitude or how lucky she had been that she had run into these warriors of Marley and devoured one of them. While she was repulsed by the idea of killing another human being, it had brought along her salvation. Ymir was finally human again, and it felt amazing.

It took some time for all of her memories to resurface. She had sacrificed herself for her Eldian followers back in Marley when the police had made a raid on their illegal cult. Her sentence was to wander utopia forever. How selfless she had been. ''But not anymore,'' she thought. From now on, she would live for herself and nobody else.

That was until she realized she was a long way from home. Her only chance of survival was to reach the wall and take refuge inside, but getting there proofed more difficult than she thought. At the dawn of a new day, while admiring the beauty of the sun coming up in the east, she was rudely interrupted by the familiar sound of a titan shifting in the distance.

''The warriors from Marley,'' she immediately thought, panic taking over her body as she hid herself away. If they found her she was dead meat for sure. She hoped they would go in the direction of the wall, but instead, more titans began to shift and loud roars could be heard, followed by massive clashes that could only indicate they were fighting.

Curiously, Ymir peeked from her hiding spot and looked in the distance at the massive battle that was unfolding. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Like glue, she kept her eyes on the entire battle until she even saw the colossal titan go down and be defeated.

''Who are those guys?'' she whispered to herself. She shook her head; she had to get far away from here before she was found. Preparing to turn around and flee, she was stopped abruptly as she ran into something very sturdy that wasn't there before. Ymir felt her throat tighten while her breathing turned erratic and her hands became cold with sweat. Looking up, she saw the same five-meter-class that had assisted the other two titans in defeating the warriors. All her muscles stiffened as the titan brought both of its hands around her small frame as gently as it could, and then put her on its back. With a scream, he took off in the direction of the two victorious titan shifters.

''Oh no! No no no no no!'' Ymir thought anxiously. ''I'm busted. They'll think I'm one of them and then kill me!'' She tried to struggle, but her captor was a lot stronger. Had she known how to shift she would've done so, but since she had no idea how it worked or if she could even do it, that wasn't even an option that rose in her mind.

She was shivering like a log when she finally could make out the faces of the two humans who had captured her. She was surprised one of them was around the same age as she was, if you didn't count the years she had spent as a mindless titan. Gently, the five-meter-class put her down in front of them until the boy took a step forward and smiled slightly.

''I can imagine this must be a nerve-racking experience for you, but you don't have to worry, Ymir. We're your allies, not your enemies,'' he reassured.

Ymir gasped. He knew her name, but that couldn't be possible; she had been a mindless titan for so long! ''Who are you?'' she questioned, stammering slightly.

''My name's Eren Yeager and this is my father Grisha Yeager,'' Eren introduced kindly. ''I'm glad you're doing well. I'm sure that after sixty years of wandering around in an endless nightmare you must feel blessed to feel the sun warming your skin once more.''

Ymir tried to even her breathing, but this Eren Yeager knew so much about her that it almost seemed like they were old friends. She wanted to scowl and give him a cold, indifferent reply, but she was too emotional at the moment to even find the right words. ''I—yes, I do,'' she admitted, almost whispering.

Eren nodded, his smile widening at Ymir's answer. ''Good. I understand you're confused right now, as you probably have no idea what's going on. But don't worry; I'll explain everything along the way to the wall. The most important thing right now is that my father and I can offer you a new life, entirely free from Marley,'' he promised.

That grabbed Ymir's attention. She looked up at Eren if she could find any insincerity, but there was absolutely none. ''You really mean that,'' she responded, like she couldn't believe it. ''But why me?''

''Because we need your help, Ymir,'' Eren said seriously, ''you know things about Marley nobody else inside the walls knows. Besides, you've got the jaw titan right now. You'd make a great addition to our team.''

Ymir looked confused. ''What do you want me to do then?''

Eren gave her a reassuring glance. ''Let's get out of here first. Like I promised, I'll explain everything to you on the way.''

And there you have it, people! Did you guys like it, love it, hate it? Review please! Next chapter the aftermath of the battle. Until then. ^^

~Syrup-Waffle

Off to FF.net for more~!