Chapter 14: Trust
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The following EIGHT chapters are available for Patrons.
Chapter 15 (Titan Captured), Chapter 16 (Alone at Night), Chapter 17 (Blessed Titan Shifter), Chapter 18 (Mikasa's Titan), Chapter 19 (Ymir's Night), Chapter 20 (Subjects of Ymir), Chapter 21 (A Monster with Tears), and Chapter 22 (Lady Ymir) are already available for Patrons.
The ground shook violently, Krista felt her body being yeeted in the air, as the ground started cracking like glass, she fell violently to the ground, a sharp pain across her forehead, usually she would have checked it, but now she forced herself to stand up, her heart bumping loudly on her ears, her eyes going to where Eren should be, only smoke, barely able to see anything due to the lack of a moon to light the night.
"Eren," she shouted in fear, thinking the worst had happened; just as she was about to run towards the many rocks that had fallen, screams of terror and pain engulfed the night; closing her ears to muffle the screams, she couldn't bear them.
Suddenly the ground started shaking again, almost making her trip; Krista focused her eyes forward, seeing the smoke created by the avalanche clear out; suddenly, a man came out running away in fear, shouting something she heard despite the closed ears.
"Run Away, A Titan," he shouted, making her eyes widen in fear and horror, her mind for a moment thinking to run away. Still, she remembered that Eren needed her help; just as she was about to charge forward where the avalanche had happened, a giant hand suddenly came out of the smoke, grabbing the man as if he were a mere ant; Krista felt her body froze, her blood turned ice cold, she felt fear, not even registering that she had fallen in her knees, her legs refusing to run away, but simply watch as the hand crushed the man, letting out a loud SNAP sound, as blood flew in the air, the hand throwing the body away like nothing.
Krista stood motionless, several other people tried to run away, but they all met the same fate. Krista knew it was her time, her mind going back to her mother, cursing her existence; if only I could have done something with my life, she thought, her body shaking; a grunt reached her ears, despite the fear, her heart beating on her chest like a hammer, she looked up to see a Titan looking down at her, taller than she had imagined they would be, she had heard about them, seen drawings of them, everyone told them they were terrifying, the devil itself.
Yet none of them did justice; she felt small, and her skin felt like a thousand ants were crawling on her skin. Her blue eyes met with his clouded green eyes, She expected to see Hunger in its eyes, but she didn't expect to see concern; his eyes reminded her of Ymir's eyes whenever she was concerned.
Krista saw the Titan kneeling; she wondered why this Titan wasn't eating her or crushing her as it did with the others; just as he was about to voice out her question, that's when the titan's body started emitting steam. Is he dying? She thought, confused; she had read that Titans started emitting steam when they healed their wounds or when they were dying.
Suddenly her eyes noticed a slight movement at the top of The Titan's head, her legs standing up, blue eyes meeting concerned green eyes. "Krista, are you alright?" Eren questioned her, jumping from the head that was still decomposing.
She opened and closed her mouth to speak, unsure what to say, what was even happening; finally, after a whole minute of silence, Krista found the strength to speak.
"...Eren?!" She said his name as if she had forgotten who bore that name. She could see lines on his face, going down from his eyes to his jawline. Everything else was normal.
"Don't be afraid of me. I won't hurt you," Eren spoke softly, putting a hand on her shoulder; it pained him to see her look at him with fear.
The moment his hand touched her naked skin, she felt her whole body engulfed in electricity, and for a mere second, she saw a giant tree made of pure lights before returning to normal just as quickly.
Her eyes looked around in confusion. Did I imagine that? She thought before her attention went back to Eren.
Hearing his words, she felt herself relaxing, her heartbeat slowing down, breathing in and out, she thought, remembering the words of a woman with a hat, she couldn't remember a face, but she could remember whoever she was; she loved her.
"What happened? How did you become a Titan?" She questioned, this time her tone filled with resolve.
Eren looked down slightly; he knew this day would come sooner or later; he just hoped Krista would believe him. Opening his mouth, he told her of his ability to turn into a Titan, that out there were nine like him, amongst them the ones who destroyed Wall Maria. He wanted to tell her about Ymir being the Jaw Titan, but he held his tongue before he could tell her, knowing if Ymir hadn't told her, then it wasn't his place to rat her out.
After hearing everything, Krista's eyes moved to one of the bodies lying crushed on the ground, his chest squashed inside, twice thinner than an average person's, and his face filled with blood.
"Did you really have to kill them?" Krista questioned despite knowing the answer; someone like Eren couldn't allow the word to come out from the kidnappers that he was secretly a Titan. And from his words, The Colossal and Armored Titan was like him, people with the power of the Titans, but instead of helping humanity, they were trying to destroy it.
"Krista, They were trying to sell us into slavery, to take away what little freedom we have. They didn't think about us when they decided to do that, why should we think about them? I didn't like doing it, but sometimes we have no other choice," Eren explained softly, trying not to scare her further.
Krista pondered on his words; what he said made sense; sometimes, people were simply forced to do certain things out of their free will, whether or not they liked doing it.
Krista smelled the blood, reminding her of her mother, her neck split open, the blood flowing outside like rain, the strong aroma of iron. Krista suddenly felt her stomach giving it all out; falling on her knees, she puked everything out, feeling a hand on her shoulder.
"You alright?" Eren asked with what Krista thought was a concern; she felt good knowing Eren cared for her.
Whipping away what was left on her lips with her sleeve, she stood up with his help; not looking at the bodies, she forced her eyes to look at him.
"What now?"
"Now, we walk towards where we came from; the others must be concerned," Eren replied, putting his arm around her shoulder protectively; the blonde girl simply nodded her head without saying anything.
Walking back, Eren looked around, hoping to see perhaps his group searching for them, knowing Armin wouldn't abandon them to their fate and knowing his head, he would find them. Silence fell over them; Krista looked up at Eren, his lines less noticeable now.
"Does Mikasa and Armin know?" She finally asked, not being able to bare the silence.
He replied with a nod before adding. "So does Ymir," he said, taking her by surprise.
"Miss freckles, pay more attention than you think," He japed, earning a slap on the shoulder from the blonde girl, who allowed herself a small smile.
"Eren, thank you for saving me. You're a good leader," she spoke with a smile and a slight blush across her cheeks. There were many other questions she wanted to ask, how he has this power? Why hasn't he used it when Wall Maria was breached? When did he gain these powers? Does he know anyone else who is friendly and has Titan powers?
But Krista closed her mouth for now; she didn't want to overwhelm Eren with questions, knowing he would tell her eventually.
"You're giving me too much credit; I should have been able to do something before we got kidnapped," Eren replied grimly.
"Don't say that. You did what you could. You protected me; that's all that matters," Krista said; looking into his eyes, he smiled in return.
Eventually, his lines disappeared, and Eren's face looked normal. Soon after several minutes of walking, they heard the sound of wires and gas releasing; hearing this, Krista was quick to shout.
"Armin, Jean, Ymir,"
Soon Mikasa landed in front of them, joined by Ymir, Armin, and everyone else.
"Ereh," she said, concerned, walking up to him, checking him if he was injured; same for Ymir, who went to Krista, noticing the small cut on her forehead.
"What happened to the kidnappers?" Reiner questioned, seeing that neither Eren nor Krista looked that bad.
"An avalanche happened," Krista said just as Eren was about to speak; everyone else turned to look at the girl who was looking down in guilt.
"Eren saved me, but the avalanche killed the others," she spoke, her voice cracking a bit; Ymir put a comforting hand on her shoulder, reassuring her that she was safe now.
Reiner nodded in understanding, feeling bad that Krista went through something like that. "What is done is done; we are happy to see you two safe," Reiner said, hoping to approach the blonde girl only for Ymir to send him a glare, making him back away.
Armin didn't ask, knowing what probably happened, and so did Mikasa; Ymir made a mental note to ask Krista later what actually happened but already had a few ideas in her head.
So, Eren saved my girl; perhaps I should reward him appropriately, she thought with a perverted grin.
As usual, Annie kept her distance from everyone, but she narrowed her eyes when she heard the explanation; it sounded too convenient.
Is Eren perhaps a Titan Shifter? Or is Krista? No, if any of them had the Founding Titan, we would have felt it too; we weren't that far away, and knowing Eren, if he indeed had that Titan, he would have already killed all the Titans, she thought, even if Eren was the one, what should I do? She questioned herself, not finding the answer.
She was supposed to tell the others and capture him, but should I follow their orders? She questioned herself, her eyes looking at everyone around her; she felt here more at home than she ever did back at Marley. While the majority kept their distance from her, Mina, Sasha, and sometimes Ymir were fun to have around, and Mikasa made her blood boil in excitement to fight and show her where she belonged.
What awaited her back in Marley? Her father, who used her for his own benefit, sure, Pieck was a good friend, but that was it. With that thought growing in her mind like a tree, she thought perhaps training with Eren tomorrow which could be fun.
Back at Eren, he asked how they were able to find them so soon.
"It was Sasha; she followed your tracks," Armin said, pointing at the potato girl who puffed out her chest at the praise.
"Yes, leave it to me to hunt everything," she replied with a bit of pride in her voice.
"Hunt everything! Are you a hunting Dog?" Ymir questioned with a deadpan look on her face.
"No," she replied a little too quickly, earning a laugh from some of the cadets.
Eren watched them laughing and smiling; he understood what he was protecting, his eyes going to Mikasa.
That Day Will Never Repeat
Later
After returning back to the camp, Eren and his team explained everything that had happened; since he was the leader of his team, it was Eren's job to explain everything to the smallest detail; after he was done, the instructor told him he could leave, but he wanted to know something first.
Keith was still writing in a large notebook. "Ser, could I have changed something?"
Keith kept writing for a full minute in silence before putting down the pen, his eyes focusing on Eren.
"Why are you asking?"
"I was the leader, sir. I feel I could have done more, at the very least, to avoid Krista being kidnapped," Eren replied with a downcast look at the end.
Keith listened to his words before shaking his head. "You did all you could, Yeager, you say you could have prevented Krista from being kidnapped, but the most important thing is that you kept your anger inside when they pointed guns. A worse leader would have ordered or tried to do something foolish that could have risked the whole group; with the options you had, you did all you could," Keith said.
Eren nodded in understanding, thinking his instructor was done. "I know what it is like to lose people you command. Listen to this advice, and never think about what ifs; everyone tends to think if I would have done this differently, things would have gone better, but there is an equal chance of things going even worse. That's why we should accept the situation we are in and use the past as a good lesson so that we won't make the same mistakes again," Keith spoke, his eyes looking at the many faces behind Eren, so many he had lost count, yet, he remembered each one of them, the faces of the people, young and old, all smiles until he sends them to their deaths.
"Thank You, sir," Eren said with respect; he noticed the melancholy behind his eyes but didn't ask anything.
Standing up, he turned to leave the room when the instructor called him.
"Yeager, you will be the leader next time. I hope you do as good of a job as you did,"
"Yes, sir," Eren saluted before leaving the room with a smile.
Keith saw the door close, his eyes seeing Carla and Grisha's faces.
"Your son is unique. He's like a fire growing that one day will illuminate the road for the rest of us. I just hope his fire won't be extinguished before it can explode in a beacon of hope,"
Ymir
She waited until she made sure they were actually alone in the woods; if someone caught them like this, they would think they were there to snog, but that was in second place on her to-do list.
In the first place was...
"Okay, now tell me what actually happened?" She questioned, turning to face the blonde girl; the tall girl could tell when Krista was lying to her just by looking at her eyes.
Krista hesitated for a second before telling her everything that happened with the kidnappers. After she told her everything, Ymir noticed how her girl blushed whenever she mentioned the suicidal bastard.
"I see. I have to thank Eren for saving my girl," Ymir proposed, causing Krista to blush furiously, especially when she heard the word 'reward' from Ymir.
"Ymir stop being a pervert," she shouted as if trying to scold the tall girl, who smirked in triumph.
"Why would you say that? I didn't mean anything naughty. Why would you think I meant that?" Ymir questioned with a growing devilish smirk when Krista started stuttering, not sure how to escape the situation she was in.
"What do you think about Eren's ability to turn into a Titan, and how come you knew about it?" She questioned, crossing her arms with a pointed look.
Ymir knew she was changing the subject but decided to answer. "That's because I can do it as well," she said, without a hint of hesitation.
She expected Krista to back away in fear, or perhaps denial, or maybe just walk away without saying anything. Instead, she asked something she didn't expect.
"Can I see it?"
Ymir was caught off guard, rubbing her hair in actual nervousness, unable to come up with an answer, before she thought of something to say. "Not here, we are not that far from the camp, and a bolt of lightning would be too noticeable to everyone," she replied; Krista nodded in understanding.
Turning to walk back, Krista decided to ask her something. "Ymir, any idea why when Eren touched me, I felt electricity?" She questioned, her voice almost a whisper, despite being alone.
Ymir's eyes widened for a moment before looking at her with an actual serious look. "Can you explain it more? Did you see anything?"
"Well, I felt like my whole body got electrocuted, and for a moment, I thought I saw a large tree made of lights," Krista explained, confused, making Ymir smirk; well, well, it seems the people of the walls actually have a chance, she thought, thinking of taking to Eren as soon as possible.
Eren
"Are you sure about this, Eren?" Armin questioned; he and Mikasa were in the woods; Eren told them they needed to talk about something as soon as he returned from Keith.
"Yes, Armin. Without the Founder, Reiss has nothing, no way of changing people's memories," Eren replied with resolve; he briefly glanced at Mikasa, wanting to see if she had any objections.
"Eren, I think we should think of this through. I understand you are frustrated that we don't know their identities, but we have no way of knowing how Survey Corps will react to the Truth. We have the power to turn into what everyone inside the walls fears, and we are unknown to them. People hate what they don't understand, and paranoia is also a factor," Mikasa said with a stoic look.
Eren sighed, a bit tired; he knew he was pushing things a bit, but right now he...
"What about Ymir?"
Armin arched an eyebrow. "What about her?"
"Ymir holds the Jaw, I have yet to see if she is a Blessed Eldian, but besides the point, we are good friends. I know she's not one of them since The Armor and Colossal haven't shown up yet. I think we should tell her that you two are Titan Shifters as well," he suggested; both of them shared an uncertain look.
"Not how; we won't tell her how you two can, only that my father was able to make three syringes that turn people into Titans," Eren added; sadly, he still didn't know where to secure Royal Titan Blood if he could do that, he could easily create perhaps hundreds of serums that turns people into Semi-Titan Shifters.
"I think we can do that; with Jaw on our side, we are four titan shifters against two or perhaps three," Mikasa agreed, Armin thought the plan was risky, but he knew life itself was a risk; only through taking risks, one could achieve something.
Erwin Smith
"Here's the report, commander," Keith Shadis said, handing him a report of what apparently happened in the training corps last night.
Erwin had told Keith if he could inform them of anything unusual during the training corps; thankfully, Keith had been more than willing to share information; he was a former commander and understood the importance of their work.
Keith had spent the entire day reading every report, one by one; after that, he told two of his men that actually were from Survey Corps but, for the three years, were helping him train the new cadets to check the place.
Arriving at the scene, Keith had checked everything before Military Police arrived, wanting to have every evidence he could get his hands on, and it seemed his persistence had rewarded him.
Both Krista Lenz and Eren Yeager had reported that an avalanche had crushed the kidnappers and completely destroyed the carriages. Still, Keith hadn't been a commander for years without picking up on certain things, he didn't know if it was because he had spent time with Military Police or the age, but he could tell when someone was lying, and he knew they were both lying. Now, whenever their reason for lying was a good one was an entirely different matter; he believed Carla's son wasn't hiding or doing anything immoral or bad, he tried to save the girl after all, and the kidnappers would have been either executed or put in jail for fifty years, if not forever.
Another reason why he believed why they weren't being completely honest was the place where it happened. Not only that, but the whole place looked strange. Usually, an avalanche would cause too many rocks to fall down a mountainside, yet, Eren and Krista survived somehow; not to mention, there weren't that many rocks, and one of the carriages was nowhere to be seen as if it had been destroyed to pieces.
The most alarming thing was the injuries of the dead bodies; they were crushed, that much was as clear as day, but he had seen that type of crushing before, there were many times when a Titan would accidentally crush someone with their hands, and many Titans tend to ignore corpses, and those kidnappers had similar injuries.
Keith knew perhaps his old age was catching up to him, and the cadets weren't lying, but it was his duty to report anything unusual.
Erwin, on the other hand, had a ghost of a smile on his face; yet again, this report included Eren Yeager, the doctor's son.
The injuries are too strange, and the cadets are without any injuries. Is it just luck? And the reports say that many of the bodies were nowhere near the rocks; he questioned himself, already thinking of something, a way to find out the truth.
"Thank you for the report; for now, simply train the cadets; Survey Corps appreciates your help," Erwin said before saluting, showing his respect to the former commander, who saluted in return, soon leaving the room.
Only ten minutes later, Levi, Mike, Nanabi, Moblit, and Hange showed up in his office after he called them.
"A new breed of Titan, perhaps?" Hange questioned with an excited look on her face the moment the door closed behind them.
"I'm sorry?!" Erwin questioned, confused when Levi decided to elaborate.
"Four eyes made a bet with Nanabi and Moblit on why you called us here," he explained with an eye roll at the end.
"Come on, Levi, be more fun. It would help if you smiled a bit more often. It suits you," Hange said encouragingly, looking at Levi with a broad smile as if to show how someone should smile; Levi looked disgusted; Mike thought Hange was beyond crazy. Meanwhile, Erwin left out a chuckle of amusement.
"Close enough, Hange, but not there yet," he said, amused before his face turned serious, which caused them to salute.
"I have a job for you. I need you to...
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