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Attack on Titan: A Warrior of Devils Chapter 3 (ODM Gear and Singing)
🕑 Added 2023-01-29 19:19:20 +0000 UTCThe sky is bright; the sun is warm. Despite the importance of the test they're about to face, Jaime can't help but feel cheerful. It's like he is starting a new part of his life.
The last four years with his mentor had been hell, but it worked in the end. All the times he had failed, all the times he got a punch in the gut, his nose getting broken, it was all worth it in the end. At least, that's how Jaime saw it.
Sets of four wooden poles hold up pairs of cables. At each set, they form lines, having already been dressed in the combat harness.
Jaime was standing close to the tall girl and Krista. He could see that Krista was nervous about the test. Her body was shifting nervously.
"Don't worry, Krista. I tried this when I was ten years old. It is much easier than it looks. You just need to not think about anything, calm yourself, and you will do fine." Jaime told her with a reassuring smile towards the blonde girl.
Hearing his words, she nodded. "Thank you, Jaime, but why did you use this when you were ten years old?" Krista, turning her to him, Ymir simply kept a stoic look, but Jaime could tell she was listening to them.
Usually, Jaime didn't really like to talk about the past. It always returned back to that day.
"I'm hungry. Please. Someone."
Jaime inhaled deeply to calm himself. He blinked several times, getting rid of the image of the boy with sunken cheeks and a face looking more like a skull.
"I-I. My mentor trained me after he found me. He told me if I wanted to go out there. I needed to be the best to survive. He made sure to train me on how to use ODM Gear." Jaime explained, watching who he remembered to be Annie. He had barely interacted with the girl since the day she told him her name, other than 'Good Morning' and 'Go somewhere else.'
"Your mentor sounds like a good man," Krista commented with a pretty smile. Jaime had to restrain himself from growling. His mentor was anything but kind. The way he would grin at people and his knife was quite intimidating.
"H-he was the only one who cared," Jaime murmured to himself, but from how Krista looked at him, she had heard him.
"He was good enough. I guess. He took care of me. He encouraged me to be good at what I liked to do, like singing or painting." Jaime said with a low tone, heard only by Ymir and Krista.
"You know how to sing?" Krista asked, bewildered, her eyes almost glittering.
Jaime simply shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure. I only sang once or twice for my mentor and his team. They said I was good enough."
"You shouldn't listen to his words Krista. He might purposely give you bad advice." Ymir cut in, loud enough for both Krista and Jaime to hear. The tall girl was annoyed by the way Krista was looking at the annoying boy from Wall Sina.
Krista turned towards her, gasping. "Don't say that, Ymir. Jaime wouldn't do that." She told the tall girl, who looked away, but Jaime decided to step in.
"Don't worry, Krista, that's just Ugly freckle's way of saying Thank you. You weren't the only one listening to my advice." Jaime said with a grin, and seeing the way Ymir growled, he knew he was right.
"Shut up, toddler," Ymir glared at him; Krista was between her and the annoying kid.
"At least. I'm not so tall that I must crouch whenever I enter any room." Jaime replied, leaning closer, and so did Ymir, who growled, ready to bonk his head.
"Stop it. You're both acting like kids." Krista scolded them, trying to push Ymir away, who reluctantly backed away, and so did Jaime, who couldn't help but listen to Krista.
Soon, Krista's turn came, her eyes on Ymir and Jaime, who mouthed 'Stay Calm' as they lifted her up. She took a deep breath as she completely relaxed.
Jaime and Ymir watched as Krista was handling it without problems. Krista's face brightened up when she saw that she was handling it perfectly. The men who were watching everyone looked impressed by Krista's skill.
Once she was lowered, she ran at Ymir and Jaime. "Good Job, Krista." Jaime and Ymir said at the same time, much to the annoyance of one another.
Krista laughed before hugging them both, making Ymir blush and Jaime rub his neck in embarrassment.
"Thank you, Jaime." She said, looking at him with a smile. The latter suddenly saw an aura around the girl and petals falling around her.
"You're a Goddess," Jaime murmured, but seeing Krista blush and Ymir groan, he knew they had heard him.
"You think so?" Krista asked, looking slightly downwards.
"Yup, you're a Goddess who was sent by our Lord and Saviour to grace us, mere mortals," Jaime said, giving the girl a side hug.
"For the first, I agree with you. But Krista is mine." Ymir said, giving the girl a side hug from the other side, who was embarrassed by her friends' antics.
Soon Ymir's turn came as she walked towards the mechanism that would lift her up.
"Good Luck, ugly freckles," Jaime whispered with a cheeky grin.
Ymir rolled her eyes before she, too, passed the test without problems but refused to look at Jaime, who had a triumphant smile on his face.
Jaime walked up to the mechanism. The first guy steps up, and one of the trainers attaches his harness to the cables. Slowly, one of them hoists him up off the ground with a crank handle. The cadet begins to wobble as soon as his feet are off the ground, swaying in the air, slightly forwards, slightly backward, his concentration evident. Jaime just stood there, mostly looking at how others cadets were doing. He noticed that the girl with the red scarf was doing pretty well.
The next cadet manages pretty well, swinging slightly but holding his balance. The third guy steps up, but even before he's been hoisted half the distance, he sways backward, over-adjusts forwards, and teeters on the edge for a second before pitching forwards. He hangs upside down, teeth clenched in frustration. He struggles, but it's already too late for him to right himself. The trainers unhook him, and he walks away from the group, kicking a stone in frustration.
"Hey," says one of the trainers, "We've got a talented one here." Jaime wanted to point out that he had training before he got here but kept his mouth shut. "All right, kid, hop on down from there. No time for showing off."
They lower him back to the ground and unhook him. Jaime walks away from the testing rigs to stand to the side of the lines so he can watch his friends. Jean and Marco were doing pretty well.
He tried to find Annie, but she was nowhere to be seen.
About two-thirds of the cadets manage to pass the test. Most wobble a bit, but they keep their balance. A few seem to be able to just hang there like him without really trying all that hard, and, to be honest. He is not surprised Mikasa's one of those. Armin shakes slightly but seems genuinely surprised when he manages to hold his pose just fine. The only one left was Eren, and Jaime was sure he'd be fine.
A few minutes later and Jaime wonders if his optimism has jinxed things. He can't help but cringe at the sight of Eren hanging upside down, legs kicking in the air. The other cadets seem to think it's hilarious. "He was talking big about murdering all of the Titans last week," says someone, "Not so big now, is he?"
"Not sure how you're meant to take you're terrifying revenge if you can't sit up straight, Yeager."
"What's the matter down there?"
"This is just plain sad. A clear case of pride before a fall."
"Hey, Eren, do you hear the fields calling?"
Eren doesn't even react to the taunt. He's just hanging there, staring into space. There's a look of shock in his eyes like he can't believe this is happening. Jaime can't blame him; he is just as surprised as he is. Eren never showed a tendency for clumsiness or a lack of personal balance for the last week, and surely he should be able to hold his position just through concentrating. It seems not, however. Eren is turned right side up, lowered, unhooked, and sent away.
Later
Jaime returned to the boy's domain after the ODM Gear test. Usually, he would perhaps spend time with Krista and Ugly Freckles, but he decided to spend time with Jean, who looked eager to test his chess skills; Marco was watching them play as Jaime moved a chess figure.
"Your turn, little Jean," Jaime teased with a smirk; Marco chuckled as Jean grumbled under his breath, cursing himself for mumbling in his sleep. Marco was sitting on his own bed, while Jean and Jaime were sitting on the bed right next to Marco's bed, the board spreading in the middle of the bed.
"Will you stop with this?" Jean asked, annoyed, his head resting on his hands as he looked at the board impatiently.
"Not my fault that you speak in your sleep, but I'm still wondering which one is better, Jean-boy or Little Jean? What do you think, Marco?" Jaime asked, turning at Marco, who exhaled, sitting in a crossed-legged position, his forearms resting on his knees, looking up at Jaime as Jean kept looking at the board, his patient running thin.
"Well, I think little Jean is better. What do you think, Jean?" Marco and Jaime turned to look at the man, who rubbed his head in frustration.
"Haha, very funny, Shorty," Jean said with a knowing smirk.
Jaime grumbled, always bringing that up again, but he didn't allow himself to fall for such a simple bait. "You will see, Jean, one day I will outgrow all of you. I will be as tall as the Wall." Jaime defended himself, pointing his thumb at himself.
"That's overkill, Jaime. Unless you're the Colossal in disguise, there's no way for you to grow that tall." Marco said with a smile.
Jaime rolled his eyes before looking down at the board and saw that several of his pieces were suddenly missing, looking up at Jean, who wore an innocent look on his face, Jaime saw how his pockets were suddenly full of something.
"Jean-boy," Jaime said with a tone as if accusing him. He extended his spread hand towards him, waiting for Jean to give back the pieces.
"I don't know what you're talking about; perhaps you miscounted," Jean said sheepishly with a chuckle at the end.
"What are your pockets filled with, then? Unless you went to the toilet when I wasn't looking." Jaime joked, pointing at the clearly filled pockets of his shirt.
Jean was about to counter his words when he looked over Jaime's shoulder to see Eren along with... Armin walks towards them.
Eren Yeager - Earlier
He looked defeated, demoralized. So much for a good day. "I, I just don't get it," Eren says, his voice uncharacteristically slow. "What did I do wrong?" He looks at them desperately, "Come on guys, what am I supposed to do? Help me out here."
"I don't think there really is a particular way to do it; you just kind of do it," Connie reply lamely.
"That's not totally true," Armin says hopefully. "Your stance looked a bit too tight; you need to loosen yourself up a bit."
"It isn't over yet," adds Mikasa, "You still have a second attempt tomorrow."
Eren puts a hand to his head, then nods. "Right, it isn't over yet. I'll beat this."
"We can ask around," Armin suggests. "There were plenty of others who were good at it; maybe they can give you some advice."
Armin looks back at the testing rigs, where a fresh set of cadets are tilting themselves back and forth to stay upright. Several spectators are still looking at them, and he notices one of them shake his head and turn away with a sigh.
The rest of the morning goes past in a distracted way. Even though he failed the initial test, Eren-along with everyone else who didn't give up on the first try-attended theoretical lesson on the Three Dimensional Mobility Gear. The basic concept is that grapple-tipped cables are fired out of a chamber by releasing the compressed gas. The gear is controlled by a pair of handles which not only provide the triggers and switches to direct the gear but also double up as hilts for the blades that soldiers carry into battle.
The lunch bell sounds, and all the cadets flock toward the mess hall. Success on the aptitude rig is the favorite topic of the day. People are bragging to each other about their performances, while others desperately try to glean some advice from those who were able to pass it. It looks like Eren will be competing for attention. "You've just got to concentrate and try to stay loose." Everyone who asks goes away disappointed.
The mess hall seems to have just as many people in it as before, but Armin knows for a fact it doesn't. At least thirty cadets have already chosen the fields over the Military. After tomorrow, he'd say around fifty more will be sent away involuntarily.
Eren fidgets restlessly at the table, picking at his food. "Don't play with it. Just eat it," scolds Mikasa. Eren scowls at her, but he does actually start eating his food.
After a few minutes, however, he slams his fist down on the table in frustration. "I can't just sit here, dam it!" he fumes. "I have to do something about this."
"You're not going to accomplish anything right now," Mikasa says dryly. "Just wait until after lunch. We've got some free time; you can try again then. For now, sit down."
"But, but," Eren splutters, his eyes flicking back and forth. He hisses in frustration and sinks down into his seat. "It's just if I get shipped out, I'm not sure how I'll take it. I don't know what I'll do."
No one replies. Armin can't think any of them can think of what to say to him. Armin, for one, doesn't really know what he'd do either. Armin can't help but worry that Eren might do something stupid in an effort to change that. Eren isn't someone who'd willingly put his fate in the hands of people he doesn't know.
After lunch is over-which with Eren feels like an eternity later-they, they head out to the test rigs, which are still set up and will remain so until tomorrow's tests are complete. Armin takes the winch as Mikasa hook Eren into the cables. "Remember," cautions Armin, "Keep yourself loose and try to distribute your weight evenly over your waist and legs."
"Right, loose but balanced," nods Eren. "Let's give it a shot."
Slowly Armin begins to winch Eren up. Just as Eren's feet leave the ground. Almost immediately, Eren leans too far forwards, spinning toward the ground and smashing his head against the dirt. The ground is deliberately chosen to be softer in this area, but the impact must still have been pretty hard. Armin quickly lowers Eren the few turns down, and Mikasa rushes forwards, practically tearing Eren out of the harness.
Armin tears off to fetch some help as Mikasa begins pretty much drag Eren over to the small medical hut. Eren moans quietly but doesn't say anything. Thankfully his head doesn't seem to be bleeding, so hopefully, there won't be any lasting effects.
After they drop off Eren to be tended to, Armin and Mikasa head outside again. "What are we going to do?"
Armin sits down on the veranda and stares at the dirt. "I really don't know. He can't seem to stay balanced; he falls forwards as soon as he's on his own support. I can't understand it."
"Neither can I. At the least, he should be able to hold for a few moments. Maybe he's trying so hard it makes him fail."
"That could be it. Even so, it doesn't add up; greater concentration should improve his performance, not make it worse."
They both sit still for a few minutes, pondering the situation. "What do you think he'll do if he gets sent off to the fields?" Mikasa asks eventually.
Armin bites his lip, "I really don't know. That worries me; he's likely to do something desperate."
"You don't think he'd try going out there on his own, do you?"
"I honestly don't know. Eren's desperate for this, and he can't think of an alternative. He might do anything."
Now
That evening, Eren is even more of a laughing stock since his accident. Asking other people for advice hasn't amounted to anything. Eren's confidence the first week seems to make his failure today such fine comedy that no one even considers potentially bringing it to an end.
Eren's earlier frustration has changed to depression. "How the hell am I supposed to kill titans if I can't even stand up straight?" He asks.
Mikasa puts her fingertips together and looks at him, "I think it might be time to let that dream die, Eren."
"What are you saying? Do you think I should go work in the fields?"
"I'm saying that what you want right now doesn't matter. Whether or not you're fit to be a soldier isn't up to you."
Eren clenches his fist and stands up. "Like I care. I'm not about to let this opportunity slip away just because of some dumb balancing act." He walks away from the table and heads for the door. Armin hesitates for a few moments, then follows him.
Jaime
He saw Jean looking behind him. He heard footsteps and figured someone was walking towards them, and from the way they were walking, one of them was angry. Every step made the floor made of wood creak.
"Guys, can you help me with the test? Can you give me any advice?" Eren said, almost desperately, looking at them; Marco had a thoughtful look as if trying to come up with something.
Jean dramatically cleared his throat before speaking with a very deep voice. "Look, Eren. Some are just not cut to become soldiers, like me." He said, puffing his chest before laughing; Jaime frowned; Eren was begging, and all he could do was laugh.
Eren clenched his teeth, and he seemed ready to beat up Jean, but Jaime put his hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
"I will help you, Eren. After all, we promised we would join the Survey Corps together." Jaime said, gesturing for him to follow him outside. Eren's anger disappeared before following Jaime behind along with Armin.
"You think you can help me?" Eren asked, his voice still sounding desperate after he ensured that Jean was out of their earshot.
"My mentor started training me on ODM gear when I was ten years old. I will help you as much as I can." Jaime promised with confidence, remembering the first time quite well. He understood Eren's desire to pass this challenge.
Eren's face brightened up after hearing that, and his eyes filled with hope once again as they walked outside toward the mechanism. Jaime helped him, but Armin didn't move the switch.
"Listen, once your feet leave the ground, move your right leg forward and your left backward, and spread your arms for extra balance," Jaime said seriously, looking directly at his green eyes; Eren nodded with determination as Armin flipped the switch. Jaime stood right next to Eren in case he lost control and avoided him banging his head against the ground. Again.
The moment his feet left the ground, Jaime saw Eren almost falling upside down once again, but he balanced himself, this time not falling.
Jaime narrowed his eyes. There was something off. For the past four years, he had used ODM Gear and not once has it twitched and moved like that.
"Come on, Eren, you can do it," Armin encouraged as Eren kept his balance, his body still moving around, he kept moving his legs to balance himself, but his body wasn't balancing properly.
After a minute of floating, Jaime gestured for Armin to lower him down. "Good job, Eren. This is more than enough to pass the test tomorrow." He said as Eren's face brightened up like a fire.
"Thank you for the help," Eren said, a smile not leaving his face. Armin looked happy to see the old Eren back.
"Don't mention it. We will become scouts, and we will see the outside world." Jaime said, his eyes looking up at the Wall in the Horizon far away from them.
After Eren and Armin walked away, Jaime turned towards one of the trees nearby. "How long will you keep standing there?" Jaime called out. The black-haired girl stepped out of the tree she had been hiding in, arching an eyebrow. She never thought that Jaime would detect her.
Jaime didn't really know the girl. Not once had they exchanged words with each other, but he had seen her following Eren around like a lost puppy. He didn't know her, but from how she looked at him, Jaime knew she was uncertain of his intentions, and Jaime couldn't tell if she was happy or not that Eren had been able to keep his balance.
Why are her eyes somehow reminding me of my mentor? Jaime asked himself. While not the same, her eyes were somehow similar, minus the broad grin that could make anyone shiver in fear.
"Mikasa, right?" She simply nodded, eyeing him up and down, with a hint of suspicion. For a whole minute, nothing could be heard except for the sound of the grass moving from a gentle breeze passing by.
"Why did you help, Eren?" Mikasa finally asked with a blank look, trying to keep her true emotions at bay.
"You want him to get kicked out?" Jaime asked instead.
"He would be safer if he wasn't here."
"No, he wouldn't. I have known Eren only for a week, but even I know he'd never be satisfied with fieldwork. Odds are he'd end up getting himself into an even worse situation. At least in the Scout Regiment, he'd be taking the titans on with proper training and equipment. You are his sister. You should support him."
"I'm not going just to let him throw away his life!"
"That's understandable, Mikasa, but you must look at this from his perspective." Jaime held his tongue, he hadn't outright asked him, but the word had spread that Eren's mother was eaten by a Titan the day Shiganshina fell to the Titans.
He didn't want to bring up painful memories. "His determination is quite unique, something I have seen only a few people have. Do you really think Eren will accept a life in the fields?" Jaime asked, folding his arms in front of his chest.
Mikasa broke eye contact, looking at her feet before looking up at Jaime's unusual dark-purple eyes.
"It all depends on whether or not he can manage tomorrow." She answered instead of answering him.
"You'll leave with him if he fails the test." It isn't a question.
She nods, "Wherever he goes, I go too."
"I'd suggest not telling him that," Jaime suggested before walking away and leaving Mikasa alone with her thoughts.
Once he reached his bed, Jaime opened his bag, found a blank piece of paper and his tools, and walked outside with the needed tools. Once he found a good spot, his back resting against a tree, he started drawing with his pencil.
I wonder what else I could draw outside? Jaime asked himself, with a sudden glitter in his eyes, imagining mountains so tall they could reach the clouds. He imagined trees larger than even the Colossal. He imagined all of that with a dreamy look on his face.
An entire world to explore, Jaime thought, as he kept drawing. One day he would see it all.
Tomorrow
The following day, every cadet had gathered to see whether or not Eren would be able to keep balance or fall upside down and go to the fields.
Usually, Jean would joke about it with Marco, but he wasn't that heartless to joke about it now; he knew how much Eren wanted to join the Survey Corps while he still thought he was suicidal for wanting that, and he could a bit respect his idiotic desire to become Titan Food.
Eren felt his heart beating in his throat; it was his time to step forward when he felt a nudge on his shoulder; he didn't need to turn around to know who had called him.
"Good Luck, Eren," Mikasa whispered, hoping her words would encourage him; Eren was genuinely surprised that she encouraged him. Jaime stood beside Ymir and Krista, who were mostly quiet.
"Lift him up," Shadis ordered. The engine started lifting Eren, who felt his gear twitching again, wanting him to fall upside down yet again, but he would rather die than allow himself to fail.
No, Never, he thought, keeping his balance as best as he could, using his legs and arms to balance himself; many cadets were confused, still not understanding why Eren's gear was moving so much.
It went on for several seconds; not once did Eren turn upside down. Keith narrowed his eyes, checking the watch on his wrist; after one minute of being able to keep his balance, Keith ordered his men to lower him.
"Sir?" Eren questioned, confused, seeing the instructor walk up to him before looking at his gear; it took only a few seconds before he spoke again with a much higher tone than usual.
"It seemed your gear was damaged," he spoke, holding Eren's belt in his hand, his hands tightening around the strap, causing it to creak. Everyone was quite impressed to know that Eren was able to balance himself even with a broken gear; Mikasa and Armin smiled happily to see Eren wouldn't be going anywhere.
"So the suicidal bastard didn't fail," Jean commented, slightly impressed, but he would never admit it even if it were a life-or-death situation.
Jaime smiled in satisfaction, but he wondered who was responsible for the broken gear. He knew it was intentional.
From all the people he thought of, Mikasa was a possible candidate.
Jean was another one, but Jaime knew that was probably not the case. While Jean was clearly against Eren's desire to join the Survey Corps, Jean wasn't someone who would go out of his way to sabotage Eren.
Later
"Here's a drink for those that passed the test," Samuel shouted with a raised glass of water. The others cheered along, especially Eren, who had smiled nonstop the entire day since he passed the test, and since he had done that with broken gear, many have started respecting him.
Almost Everyone cheered along, that was until Ymir decided to open her big mouth.
"Hey, everyone. I have heard from Jaime here that he's good at singing. How about a song to celebrate?" She shouted with a devilish smirk, looking down at Jaime beside her, who glared at her.
"I hate you, Ymir."
"I love you, too, shorty," Ymir said with a burst of laughter. Soon the whole place was demanding for Jaime to sing. He noticed that he had the attention of everyone. Even Annie was looking at him with a tiny bit of interest.
"Fine." Jaime agreed, standing up before clearing his throat loudly. Jaime hated himself for telling them. Everyone else had fallen silent, waiting for Jaime to sing.
An iron bullet is the proof of justice
Each shot brings me closer to being a hero
If you close your eyes and touch it
A devil's body, the same shape and temperature as my own
If I'm no good, what makes them any better?
The only difference is what side of the world we see.
Stop mourning the fate you were born with
Because we are all free.
If only I had the wings of a bird
I could go wherever I wished
But if I have no place to return home to
I surely couldn't go anywhere
I'm tired of just living to survive
This world may be cruel
But I love you all the same
No matter what, I must sacrifice
I will protect you all the same
Even if in the end this is a mistake
Never will I doubt it
What is right is firmly believing in yourself
A scenery where an iron rain falls
War is such foolish violence
What's the reason for this dark feeling that I can't hide?
I can't explain it
We are full of contradictions
If these words are translated
The true meaning will be lost
The only thing you can believe is
The world you touched
With your eyes opened
I'm tired of just living to survive
This world may be cruel
But I love you all the same
No matter what I must sacrifice
I will protect you all the same
The shadow of the chosen person
The corpse of the abandoned ones
I realized that
A devil is growing inside of me
Behind the justice, within the sacrifice
A devil lives within the heart
Jaime finished his song and saw that everyone had fallen silent. No sound was heard except their breathing and a fly.
Jaime wondered if they all would laugh at him when Krista stood up, clapping with the brightest smile on her face. Many others quickly followed her gesture. Especially Sasha.
Jaime sighed in relief, his eyes went to Annie, who was trying very hard to look as if she didn't care, but he could see she was impressed.
"Jaime, I think we will need you to sing a song every night from now on," Reiner said loudly, many agreeing with the big blonde man.
Jaime blushed in embarrassment at the praise. "I doubt our precious instructor will appreciate my voice." He said before sitting down beside Ymir and Krista. The tall girl kept an impassive look before muttering.
"Not bad, shorty." Much to Krista's delight. Jaime smiled triumphantly.
"You're welcome, ugly freckles." Earning a groan from the tall girl.
