Leo Simon
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The Empire Returns Chapter 1
🕑 Added 2023-04-11 13:02:29 +0000 UTCI stood saluting to the space in front of me as Keith Shadis strolled around casually before promptly yelling in a random cadets face.
I let my eyes to travel from Cadet to Cadet as I mentally counted all of the people here who would die at the hands of our enemies.
I saw a number of Cadets shaking in their boots as I recalled their anime deaths. Eaten by a titan, also eaten by a titan, shot by Connie because you got in their way when they tried to stop the rumbling.
My blood however boiled slightly as my eyes landed on Reiner and Bertolt, the mass murders, the half hearted pieces of shit with The Power Of The Titans that belong to Eldia. I had to force myself not to glare as the memory of Carla Yeagers death flashed through my eyes and any doubt I had about killing them was promptly reduced to ash.
There's no doubt in my mind that Eren and the others could have killed them many times over if they came at them with no hesitation and full intent to kill however because Eren got attached he hesitated and because of his poor decisions good, loyal, innocent men, women and even children all lost their lives.
It's true that on some level I pity them, being raised to hate themselves with a passion, to loathe the only hope that their people have left in a world that whips them, in the end all that matters to me is the actions that they take and lives it cost.
The attack on Shiganshina passed through my eyes as I forcefully recalled the events that occurred as our fellow titanised patriots were let into the walls by the Colossal titan, who had the nerve to look down on us when he chose to murder thousands of innocent people, devoured everything in their path, men, women, children, even babies nobody was spared from the hell they brought that day.
I never understood in the anime how Hange and the others could completely cast aside the thought of a full scale rumbling, I'm not a murderer but turning the other cheek and showing mercy to your oppressors is taking the path to extermination, the warriors weren't sent to my city as bringers of peace, they were sent to bathe the streets in the blood of Eldian civilians, to reap their lives away as though they were but seeds of grain in a field that got caught on a passing scythe.
The Rumbling is a brutal, and unbelievably extreme, measure to secure their right to live. But it's also the only real solution that they had.
Honestly what had they done for four long years as the outside world prepared to destroy Paradis? A half baked plan to turn their Queen into a breeding horse and pass the problem onto their descendants all for a world that hate them? To live Fifty years of paranoia and fear before the world makes bombs rain down from the sky and murders everyone on the island? To let Hizuru exploit them as they do fuck all and twiddle their thumbs on the sidelines as the world makes plans to butcher everyone on the island.
At the end of the day many will die I just hope that those deaths are on the other side. I'll look for a way to avoid the rumbling if possible and if that turns out to be the only way to let the people of Paradis live... then so be it.
'Crunch'
I snapped out of my inner thoughts as I heard the sound of someone loudly biting down behind me.
Everyone turned to gape at the sight of a red headed girl munching away at a potato with wide eyes and sweat rolling down her forehead as though she can't help herself.
Keith Shadis promptly dropped all the attention he had on Connie and dropped the bald boy to the ground in order to focus completely on the idiotic girl in front of him.
I had to resist the urge to facepalm at the sheer stupidity of the scene that played out before me as the girl actually offered the bald man 'half' of the potato but anyone with eyes could tell that piece was noticeably smaller than the other piece, that's a third if you wanna be generous.
He promptly snatched the piece away before stomping it into the ground causing Sasha to look at him as though he just killed a close family member as her eyes seemed to moisten.
"EITHER YOU RUN UNTIL THE SUN GOES DOWN OR YOU SKIP MEALS FOR THREE DAYS!!"
I had enough of his shouting as I spoke out." I think you should cut her something slack sir." All eyes turned to me in both surprise and bewilderment at me defending the potato eating girl.
Keith raised his eyebrow at me as he walked my way and spoke in a whisper." Oh and why's that?" He questioned forebodingly which caused the other cadets to somehow get even more terrified than when he was yelling his head off.
"She said she was from Dauper Village, it's a hunting village in the mountains, such places have been getting smaller and smaller ro grow crops and the people living there don't get as much food, she may very well have not eaten for days." I elaborated with what I knew about the village.
Mikasa and Armin exchanged a look at seeing what their friend was doing.
Keith seemed to back away slightly as he spoke normally, although it still cut through the dead silent air sharply," what's your name cadet?" He asked rather normally.
I saluted." Eren Yeager, from Shiganshina, sir." I answered seriously with a straight back looking him right in the sunken eyes.
Keith didn't seem surprised by my name, suppose he already kind of knew who I was, and then asked me a question he asked most of the other children at this opening ceremony that question but he asked it far more genuinely this time.
I smiled softly." To take back Wall Maria and go home sir." Many people were visibly surprised at my answer, simply not believing that its possible, whilst others looked at me like a mad man. Only my two friends didn't seem to react much to my words, having heard them multiple times before.
Keith narrowed his eyes." I see, and just what are you willing to do to achieve that goal, Yeager?" He answered surprisingly calmly.
I spoke 100% seriously." Whatever I need to sir, I'll be whoever I need to be to make that dream a reality, be it a hero, a villain, or even a devil, they won't show us mercy so I won't show any to them." I smirked lightly.
Keith's lips twitched up ever so slightly at me." Really now? Then you can start by sharing Braus's punishment, will you run those laps or skip out on meals?"
Sasha's eyes widened as she sweated bullets as I grinned to everyone's surprise." We'll be running those laps sir."
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I had no trouble keeping pace with the large amount of running the instructor ordered us to do but Sasha was starting to lag behind me ever so slightly.
"Why did you defend me back there?" The now infamous potato girl questioned seemingly confused at me deciding to bite the bullet with her as she panted lightly.
I paused for a second as I slowed down slightly." That's a good question. I guess I just figured you'd have an easier time with the punishment if you've got someone there with you, besides we're all gonna be soldiers and if we wanna beat the titans then we need to work together."
Sasha seemed to look guilty for a second." But I'm not looking to fight titans. I just wanna join the MP's so that I can have three meals a day. Kinda pathetic huh." Her shoulders dropped slightly as she momentarily forgot her physical fatigue.
Ah she still wants to become one of the Military Police. The corruption of the MP's is extremely bad in Wall Rose and even Sina because they don't really do their jobs and allow crime to run rampant.
The people of Wall Rose actually act in great favour of the Survey Corps, given that they're the only ones who actually go out and fight the titans, and act with a lot more support to them than I remember from the show. I guess I shouldn't expect every little thing to be the same here as I saw in the anime.
"Nothing wrong with wanting to live comfortably but you shouldn't expect to never have to fight, even if you do join the Military Police." Sasha seemed to perk up at that as though I'd just said something completely alien to her.
I turned to her seriously." Back in Shiganshina people believed that the walls would never fall, they were more than willing to shut down the scouts for even attempting to try and see the outside, because why'd they need to go outside the walls when the inside is safe-" my eyes flashed in hot anger which made Sasha flinch away as I tried to calm myself down."- that day in Shiganshina so many people died because they grew complacent, I always said that we needed to be prepared even before that day, and because they refused to be ready the titans had an all you can eat buffet. Men, women, children, even fucking babies, nobody was spared that day out of all Ten Thousand people that lived in Shiganshina less than Five Hundred lived through that slaughter, the rest all died brutal deaths at the jaws of a titan."
Sasha was completely horrified by what she just heard, she always heard that Shiganshina was a massacre but to hear someone talk about that day with such hatred was terrifying for her.
I shook my head trying to let my rage pass." This isn't a safe haven from the titans Sasha, this is a bubble waiting to pop, I'd they can do it to Wall Maria then they can do it to Rose too, eventually we'll run out of walls to hide behind. We need to draw a line in the fucking sand now before we can't draw it at all." I spoke heatedly as Sasha finally seemed to realise the full gravity of just how fucked humanity is.
Sasha hated to admit it but my words contain more than just a grain of truth to them. She figured when her dad sent her to join the military it'd be simple, get into the top ten and live an easy life in the interior, but when he describes just what happened in Shiganshina and how utterly powerless they were to stop it she can't deny that it makes her anxious.
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"Wow they've been at it for five hours now right?" Connie spoke in surprise at the tenacity that both cadets possess.
Sasha was limping along seemingly pushing forward through sheer will and Eren deemed to be fine if a little winded.
Connie sighed." That guy really stuck up potato girl back then, wasn't worth it though, dudes gotta run with her now." Connie spoke in disapproval.
Armin could only think about how much Erens changed since Maria fell, before he was reckless and lost his temper easier but now he hardly ever blows up like he used to and is even calmer and less snappy when Mikasa frets over him. He'd think he was a completely different person but-
Armin thinks back to all the moments where Erens emerald green eyes seemed to shine with hatred and primal anger so intense that the thought made him a shudder as he almost found himself pitying the enemy who finds themselves on the receiving end of a force so intense that it destroys everything that gets in its path.
-Eren hasn't changed at his very core, even if he's matured a lot he still hasn't changed where it counted.
Armin remembers how one month ago Eren showed them something that reignited his hope that things could change.
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"Guys I need to show you something, but I need you to promise to keep it a secret, if others find out... well the results won't exactly be pretty."
Armin was confused about why Eren dragged them all the way out into the middle of nowhere, Eren has been doing whatever it takes to try and make them that little bit happier, be it extra rations, getting them something sweet or simply trying to get them to smile.
In one month they'd join the Cadet Corps together and Erens goal was, of course, to join the Scouts. Mikasa practically gave up on trying to talk him out of it and just accepted that she could only come with him.
Erens even apologised to her a few times about practically making her join the Survey Corps just because he's going and that he's sorry but he needs to do this. He seems to treat her a lot better these days with Armin not seeing the boy snap at her since Shiganshina fell.
Mikasa seemed worried for Eren." There's nothing to worry about Eren, whatever it is I'm sure that it's not as important as you think."
Eren nodded and walked a few steps away, him and Mikasa were about to follow but he held his hand up." Your gonna want to stand back for this."
Confused and begrudgingly him and Mikasa respected the request.
After Eren walked a few dozen meter away he held up his bleeding hand as sparks flew around him.
Wha-
'Boom!!!' A loud crash of yellow lightning crashed on Eren that was bright enough that Armin had to cover his eyes to block out the dots that appeared in his vision.
Armin let his hand fall from his face and what he saw next really made him wish he didn't.
Standing where Eren once stood was a 15 meter titan, Armin didn't catch anything more than a fleeting glance at a few titans in Shiganshina, being more worried about running away, but all the ones he saw looked obese or grotesque in someway whilst this one was ripe with muscle and a ten pack with vibrant green eyes that were far more expressive than Armin remembers the regular titans having.
Armin felt frozen in fear as the titan locked eyes with his, his fear overruled his logic in that moment as he was about to run but.
The Titan kneeled before steam started emitted from its nape, Armin watched with his fear slowly ebbing away until Eren climbed down from the now steaming titan body with strange marks around his eyes.
"I can turn into a titan I just figured you should know before we go off to become Scouts." Eren spoke seriously.
Erens words barely registered to Armin as he processed what he just saw.
Eren can turn into a titan! How?! This just didn't add up to Armin, he's always been on the side of logic, even as a child he never believed in those fairy tales. Even with titans them them existing just seemed so wrong to him, of course he knows now that they do exist since he was forced to face that truth two tears before but still.
He turned to Mikasa to see that she looked mostly unaffected, shocked, obviously, but otherwise fine.
Armin couldn't help but yell out." Eren how the hell are you able to turn into a titan?!" He had so many questions, like why he was struck by a lightning bolt before the body appeared? Why its disappearing now that he's left the nape?
On the top of that list was where he got that power.
Eren looked seriously at them, Eren only seemed to pull that face when talking about something important." Everything I'm about to tell you stays between the three of us, the things I'm about to tell you are things that our government puts people to sleep for, knowing this do you still want to know?"
Armin was confused again how simply knowing about the titans could get them killed but he isn't ignorant to the corruption in the government given the 'territory retrieval operation' and knowing about the titans would be able to help us kill them easier and if we can do that-
Armins eyes widened in realisation. How could he have not realised sooner, the government finds it convenient that their world is so small, it makes the people easier to control, but if the government actually knows the true nature of our foes then would they really value security in their power over the lives of humanity.
Actually of course they do.
"The government knows the true nature of the titans?" Armin asked after he calmed down
Eren seemed surprised that he analysed the situation so quickly but nodded.
Armins looked down for a moment." I know I won't tell anyone, you Mikasa?"
Mikasa nodded calmly feeling curious herself about the titans.
Eren looked grim but accepted." Okay it starts with dad, he was from a place called Marley, a country that lies beyond the walls."
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Armin looked at his hands feeling slightly hopeless at the current situation. Sometimes he wishes he could just let it all out. To let these people know who the real enemy is, that the mindless beasts that cage them inside the condines of their middle wall are the very least of their problems. But he's not an idiot, the government is supposedly keeping a close eye in everything that goes on in their tiny world and if Erens words hold truth then the government has no quarrels about torturing to death anyone who learns, or tries to reveal, the truth.
It just insanity to Armin, people are starving and huma- the walled people are dying yet all the people in charge seem to care about is making sure they maintain absolute control over the citizens of this tiny world until Marley comes to kill them all. He knows that humans are greedy but this is truly taking it to a whole new level.
He and Eren have talked things over about the titan powers from what he saw from his father's memories and apparently Marley has seven of the nine Titans with Eren having the final two residing inside him so it's essentially 1 vs 7, not exactly great odds, however Eren believes he knows which titans were most likely sent to the walls.
There were thousands upon thousands of refugees flooding into Wall Rose two years ago, if three or four people managed to slip into the crowd who'd be able to tell the difference?
The Nine Titan powers are apparently the Attack, Founding, Colossal, Armoured, Female, Jaws, Beast, Cart and Warhammer Titans.
The Attack and Founding reside inside Eren so that leaves seven. The Warhammer apparently is held by the Tybur family who helped Marley dismantle the Eldian Empire and isn't used by Marleys military so it isn't a likely candidate either. That leaves the six titans that Marley has in its military as possible enemies.
Apparently Marley has used the Power Of The Titans to conquer entire countries and has constantly been at war with the world, they wouldn't leave their homeland defenseless against their enemies so him and Eren agree that they'd likely keep at least two Titans behind to deter and defend against attacks.
So with that out of the way they've guessed that four titan powers were sent to destroy the walls that day. These are just assumptions but they are accurate ones. They've seen the Armoured and Colossal titans so the other two should either be fast or good at combat to make it past the, at the very least, tens of thousands of titans on the island.
"-min Armin." He snapped out of his thoughts as Connie saw that he was lost in his own thoughts.
Armin suddenly looked up and saw that everyone was staring at him causing him to laugh sheepishly." Sorry I just got lost in thought, what were you asking?"
Connie looked slightly annoyed but asked his question anyway." Your from Shiganshina right, you were there that day?"
A freckled boy, Marco if he remembered right, immediately chided the bald boy about being more sensitive.
Armin sweated lightly." It's fine, I'll try and answer your questions if you need me to."
He was almost immediately assaulted by questions from the other cadets.
He honestly feels like he'd rather be Eren right now.
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I finished running when the sun went down and Sasha practically collapsed. I've always enjoyed running but that was a lot even for me. My uniform was unfortunately drenched in sweat with Sasha not even being able to move a muscle.
"Hey potato girl." I only got a weak groan in response.
I rolled my eyes as I picked her up and hung her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Pun not intended.
She wasn't actually heavy at all, or maybe I'm just strong, either way it wasn't much effort to haul her ass to the female barracks.
"Hey is that Sasha?" I heard an overly feminine and fake voice call out behind me seeing the potato lover being carried on my back.
I turned to see what looks like a human angel carrying a jug of water and a loaf of bread.
So this is the future Queen huh. Gotta admit I kinda dig her, that flowing golden hair, those completely blue irises and also... how absolutely puny she is, seriously the girl is tiny even by the standards set by a bunch of Twelve year old.
"Sure is, nearly collapsed by the time the sun went do-"
I fell backwards as the redheaded girl literally pounced off my shoulder and grabbed the loaf of bread out of the blondes hands with her teeth!
Sasha seemed to act on instinct since the moment she regained control of her actions she had a loaf of bread in her mouth." It's bread!"
Histo- well I guess it's Christa right now isn't it. Something about the way she fakes her every little action makes my skin crawl for some reason.
I pity her, born because her slut of a mother wanted to become some fat fuckers concubine it'd be hard for anyone not to feel a little sorry for her. The royal government won't even allow her to simply use her real name, to have pride, to do anything, they took away her freedom and they make sure that we all aren't allowed to keep our freedom, we were all born into this world and if somebody wants to try and take my freedom like Marley and the rest of the world then I'll erase them, slaughter them, fucking butcher them like the pigs the-
"What do you think you two your doing?" I heard a condescending voice come from the darkness as Ymir stood into the light to look down on us.
Ah the holder of the Jaws Titan, a girl who is just like Historia in the sense that no matter how hard she tries to be selfish she isn't like that in nature and that turns in the warriors favour. That won't do, I have ambitions for the new Eldian Empire, we'll recapture all the Nine Titans and shatter Marley into a thousand pieces before burning it to the ground, The Power Of The Titans is Eldias power and will be returned to Eldia where it rightfully belongs.
I could find Dinas Titan and feed Ymir to my stepmother if my plans for her fail but-
I glanced at 'Christa Lenz'
-I have a feeling she'll go wherever the royal girl goes, so I just need to earn the blondes loyalty and Ymir should be on our side. If not then I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Historia stammered as Sasha wolfed down her food." We-well I..." she trailed off and I could tell she was being... no acting or feeling dishonest, she feels dishonest somehow.
"Well Sasha passed out so I figured I'd carry her back to her barracks." Ymir seemed to smirk at that.
"Sure you weren't just looking for an excuse to peep on the girls?" Historia seemed to stutter and chide the girl as I actually chucled at that.
"Tempting as that is I just figured since we're all gonna be soldiers we should look out for each others hide, make sure we're ready when we have to fight." Ymir seemed to scoff in distaste at that.
"Figures your just another asshole going round here playing soldier." She spoke honestly. Seeming to perceive me as some guy who's just blowing hot air, cos how can Paradis possibly stand against Marley right?
I shrugged." We all need to fight eventually, if two years ago are any indication its obvious we have to put everything we have into fighting the titans if we want to survive." Ymir didn't look impressed as she looked seriously at me.
"Fighting them is pointless, if you've really seen what they can do then why go back into that hell?" She either wanted to know my reasons and convictions or she's just entertaining me.
I turned serious too looking at her intensely with my bright green eyes." Hell finds you everywhere in this world, whether you ask for it or not, it finds you. At least if I join the Scouts I can go back in there ready to fight willingly, maybe I do die but at least I'll make them work for it instead of being trapped under a rock unable to do anything but kick and beg for mercy."
Ymir has to admit she respects me a little after hearing my reasons but that doesn't mean she agrees with it." Guess your a suicidal bastard then." She smirked slightly expecting me to react violently or something.
To her surprise I smile." I'd rather be a suicidal bastard than some fool that lies to himself that everything will be fine if I hide behind these walls." Ymirs eyes widened at my words.
I get up as Sasha quits feasting and drops onto Historias lap unconscious." Well it was nice meeting both of you-" I hold out my hand to shake Historias hand."- it's Eren Yeager."
She shook my hand and instantly my body felt like it was zapped by lightning but all the energy and none of the pain.
