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God of Hate 32
🕑 Added 2024-11-28 06:00:30 +0000 UTC"What do you mean, what is a monkey?" Grice asked in legitimate surprise, looking around the humans in bewilderment, a mood matched by Boris and Ellie.
"Something we don't have on this island, obviously," Jean answered in annoyance.
"Are they very common in the outside world?" Hange asked curiously.
Grice paused before shaking his head. "No, it's just one of those creatures everyone normally knows about. Monkeys and Apes are believed to be related to humans in some way, or that was a theory I heard being discussed back in my day."
"Monkeys? Really? They think we're related to the hairy tree folks?" Ymir asked incredulously.
["Hmm? Why does she know about them?"] Ellie asked curiously as she looked to the other giants among her, along with their one translator.
Speaking of which. "Ymir was turned into a Pure Titan about....how long ago again?" Historia asked, looking to Ymir for answers.
"About sixty when I got out. Sixty-five now," Ymir answered dismissively.
["Wow, ssshe wasss born clossse to the Fall of the Empire,"] Boris realized in surprise. ["I'm almossst afraid to assk if Marley wasss more or lessss horrible back then to our people."]
"We're getting off-topic, " Commander Erwin spoke up. "We can discuss what a "monkey" or "ape" is in time. Please describe this Beast Titan as best you can."
It was Eren's middle head that spoke up this time to Historia.
"Hair, very long arms, sharp teeth," Historia conveyed. "He says he can throw rocks hard enough to kill people, and with good aim. Titans even if he got the right shot"
.
"And both it and this very small Cart Titan could speak?" Hange asked in interest.
Grice nodded. "We couldn't make out what they were saying, but Ellie and I heard them talking while I was dragging her up the wall."
["Please don't remind me,"] Ellie whined softly.
"A giant who is afraid of heights. How does she even stand up?" Connie asked with a chuckle.
Boris turned and glared at Connie for the jab, making the young soldier flinch.
"I'm pretty sure her fear of heights is relative to her own size," Armins reasoned with a diplomatic smile. "It's not as if someone like that would be scared every time they looked down at their feet."
"So, why did you idiots think attacking them without backup was a good idea?" Levi asked bluntly.
Eins glared at Levi and his reminder of their failed raid.
Drei gave the other head a scolding look, for he deemed it far from a failure.
"I regret nothing about that," Grice said firmly. "We found another of my comrades doing so, and we learned what the Beast Titan can do."
"Yeah about that, what the fuck?" Ymir spoke up. "Turning people into Titans with a roar? Look, I heard some fantastical stories about what the Nine can do, but that sounds like something reserved for the Founder. How is this hairy bastard pulling it off?"
"That is a good question," Erwin remarked ."Grice, do you and your companions know anything that might explain this?"
["I might, kind of,"] Boris spoke up with a troubled look. ["It hasss been well over a decade since we were brought here. Perhapsss Marley hasss dissscovered sssomething new through their own research into the Titansss?"]
[[[Marley has their own Hanges?]]]
[The world doesn't need more than one!]
[[Multiple Hanges. Terrifying.]]
Hange blinked. "Umm, why is Eren looking at me like that?"
"Ummm," Historia paused. "Basically, Boris thinks Marley might have invented something new to do this since they research Titans like Section Commander Hange."
"...That still doesn't explain why Eren is looking at me like that," Hange countered.
"Yes, yes it does," Mikasa countered without hesitation.
"There is an upside to this," Grice said. "They still need Eldians to turn. And I don't think he can just shout and use it on any Eldians, or control just any titan."
"Based on?" Hange challenged intellectually.
"Common sense. He could have come alone and rallied every titan he could, or just gotten within the Walls on his own to turn everyone into his minions. He hasn't done either," Grice reasoned.
"Sound reasoning," Erwin agreed. A power like that could easily wipe them all out if there weren't some limits to it. "So, you believe they cannot use such a tactic again without another factor, be it an unknown resource or a fresh supply of prepared Eldians to use as fodder."
"There's one thing I don't get?" Sasha spoke up, looking at Ellie. "You all said she was with these Tusked-Dogs or whatever she is, the ones who are, umm, wild or whatever we're calling it? How come they didn't turn on her?"
Ellie growled and barked her answer.
"Oh. That's kind of nice, actually," Historia said in surprise before translating. "Those creatures are pack animals. Even in that state of mind, they're not going to turn on a pack member without good reason."
"Interesting. So each creature has its own primal mindset," Armin mused.
Eren silently listened on. He and the others had agreed not to mention to the humans that these forms came with literal personalities, that these were the bodies of creatures from some long-forgotten era that they were somehow taking on.
Mainly because it didn't change anything. Extra personality or pure instinct, it boiled down to the same fact that all of them could go rabid under certain circumstances. That and they were fairly sure they would all sound insane to some degree. Still, they could unravel the finer details later.
"This does confirm that Marley has no intention of abandoning its mission against the People of the Walls," Erwin remarked, pointing out the biggest point to take away from this.
"They might get more ballsy now that they made you all run for it," Levi pointed out, shrugging at some offended look thrown his way. "People tend to act more stupid if they think they have the advantage."
Levi had a point, Eren conceded
[[[[So do we take the fight to them again or do we wait for them to make a move?]]]]
Erwin seemed to almost expect the question when Historia gave it to him. "By what you've all told me, they believe we will come to them. If we wait for them to make a move, it will give us more time to prepare."
"But that in turn gives them the same, and they might have reinforcements coming from off the island," Hange remarked grimly.
"Grice, how many more of your comrades do you think you can find and rally?" Erwin asked the crawler.
Grice hissed in thought. "Not many. There were about four dozen of us in total. Ten I know didn't even make it to the island, killed in the interrogations. Nearly half of the rest went rabid, and those killed a few more of us that weren't. I think there might be ten of us left at this point, maybe fifteen?"
Ellie's head drooped and her ears folded down at that.
Boris wrapped a wing around her in comfort. ["My wing will be healed in a few days. I can fly out and search for some of the others."]
Historia dutifully translated for everyone.
"Still trying to understand what something like this would look like flying," Jean remarked.
Erwin nodded. "We will need to prioritize them. While having them as allies would be ideal, we need to know how many are rabid and might try to attack the people within the Walls."
Eren stiffened. He hadn't really thought about that. If a group of crawlers scaled the wall, it would be a massacre.
"We shouldn't have to worry about that for a while," Grice remarked. "Eating Titans soothes even the rabid ones. Even if they bypass the dogs and the Marleyans, they'll have plenty of Titans to feast on for a while."
"Huh. So the titans are good for something," Connie remarked idly.
Erwin considered all the information carefully. "I appreciate the initiative you all took in this, and the caution you used to pull out before you were caught in a trap you weren't sure you would survive. However, the next time the enemy is engaged, I don't plan for it to be just you four alone. Understood?"
On instinct, all parties nodded.
"Very well, I shall leave you to recuperate and for our new members to adjust," Erwin said as he turned to leave.
["....God damn that man is intense and strangely inspiring. We could have used someone like him back in Marley,"] Boris mused.
["Trust me, I've had the same thought at one point,"] Grice admitted before turning to the others. ["I'm going to catch up with Boris and Ellie. I'm not translating a damn thing, so if anyone wants to listen to a third of a conversation, you're free to come along."]
"...Sure, why not?" Connie said with a grin. "I'm sure whatever I imagine will be funnier in my head."
"I'm coming too! After I grab my sketchbook!" Hange agreed with a wide grin as she took off. "Be back soon, lovelies!"
[Just don't let her near your asshole.]
Boris and Ellie looked at Eren in shock.
Historia snickered to herself.
"Let me guess, Eren brought up the thing about Hange poking his....?" Armin trailed off awkwardly.
[“Yes, he is, and yes you two, he is serious! Always be wary of that Giant-fetishist!"] Grice warned Ellie and Boris.
[Oh. So when you said giant fetishist, you didn't mean she was incredibly degenerate, you meant she had a...fetish, for giants. Like us,"] Ellie realized in discomfort.
[Isss...Isss it THAT kind of fetisssh or....?] Boris asked, hoping that wasn't the case.
["The jury is still out on that,"] Grice remarked evenly, Eren's three heads all nodding in serious agreement.
"Yep, yep it's a lot funnier in my head," Connie said, nodding to himself with a smile.
Historia covered her face. "I'm not so sure about that, Connie!"
Meanwhile
Rico Brzenska frowned as she studied the blonde man across from her. She wasn't sure why it had fallen to her to read this man into the situation, but it had all the same.
"So let me get this straight," he said with a gruff voice, stroking his chin. "The rumors about our golden friend being like the titan shifters are true? And he's...Eren Yeager?"
There was a distinctly hopeful tone to his voice. "That is the case, Captain. We originally were keeping the situation under wraps, but we know there are rumors of his identity circling."
"I heard, but, you know, I just thought it was wishful thinking to believe it," he said with a short laugh, smiling softly as he looked off to the side. "That brat really is alive then. Thank God."
"We're aware you have a history with him and his friends, Armin Artlert and Mikasa Ackerman?" Rico continued on.
"Yeah, that's right. I was stationed at Shinganishina before things went to hell. Watched those brats grow up and everything," he said with a sigh as he crossed his arms. "Still, that explains why this Riesenwache was formed out of his classmates."
"I'll get to the point, Captain Hannes," Rico said bluntly. "Obviously people have trouble taking soldiers so young seriously. For good reason, in some cases. Commander Erwin wanted to place an older soldier as the public face of the Riesenwache."
"You want me to be the spokesman for a group watching over two friendly monsters?" Hannes asked, skeptical but amused by the concept.
"Four of them, now," Rico answered. "All we're basically asking you to do is help keep things calm and running smoothly. None of those children are exactly ready for a leadership position. And it would prove beneficial to have this position filled by someone Yaeger and the others trust."
Hannes sighed. "I'm not fully confident in my people skills, but I should be able to manage. Besides, you're right. Better me than someone Eren might really buttheads with."
Rico nodded. "I believe the commanders are already having your transfer put in motion."
"I guess I didn't have much choice in the end, eh?" Hannes remarked, unbothered by that in this exact situation. "Fine. So. Which of the heads should I stare at when I talk to him?"
It was a strange yet valid question, Rico admitted. "......I would keep an eye on the head to his right. That one tends to be the more...aggressive of the three, from what I have seen and heard."
"Aggressive sums up Eren most of the time, "Hannes said with a chuckle before turning grim. "Be straight with me. Have there been any problems with him?"
"None I am privy to. He takes care not to be reckless around people, given his size," Rico explained. "There was an incident where someone shot a cannonball at him in crazed paranoia, but he has long since recovered from that."
"Recovered from a cannonball," Hannes repeated, shaking his head. "Anything Else I should know?"
"Section Commander Hange will be filling you in, I believe when she introduces you to the Riesenwache and to the four giants. I will advise you that only one of the giants can speak though."
"Yeah, I've heard that guy a few times. Kind of off-putting, like it's almost human but not," Hannes remarked.
Rico nodded in silent agreement with that. "Follow me please."
"Right on your tail," Hannes said as he followed the much shorter soldier.
Having been speaking just outside of Trost, it didn't take them long to enter Trost.
Hannes had been through Trost a few times since the breach was sealed and the Ttians killed. By Eren no less. The thought almost made him smile. In hindsight, that wrathful personality towards Titans really did fit Eren.
"So, they just roam around this city like a pin?" Hannes asked as he looked at all the minor and major damage to various houses.
"Yeager can't enter further into Wall Rose as a matter of fact, so there is little else for them to do or go," Rico reasoned. "Here, they don't have to worry about people being nearby too often."
Hannes didn't disagree with that, but he was surprised Eren didn't get stir-crazy, being stuck inside Trost for so often.
They both stopped as something came from around the corner, down the street.
Hannes tensed as he looked upon what he could only describe as an enormous snake, large enough to swallow cattle and people whole without effort. It slithered forward, raising up its head to look at them. Some kind of skin unfurled around its head, almost like a frown or something as it stared at them.
"Don't worry, they don't mean any harm," Rico remarked, passing as something snapped near the serpent, which looked towards its tail end in surprise. "But watch out when you get close, obviously."
"Right," Hannes said, swallowing thickly.
"Boris, stop scaring them! You're a giant damn snake, that's going to freak some people out!"
Hannes looked up in alarm as another creature climbed on top of a nearby building. He didn't have a comparison for this one, with its two legs and long tail, the head that looked like a reptilian skull.
"Hello, Grice," Rico greeted neutrally.
"Hmm? Do I know you?" Grice asked curiously.
"Not well, obviously," Rico said with a sigh. "I'm Rico Brzenska?"
"Rico? Ahh, right, the one in charge of the garrison here when Pixis isn't around," Grice realized.
Hannes blinked. It was..., kind of surreal, but the more this Grice talked, the less it bothered Hannes that he was talking to a giant monster.
There was a loud, canine-like whimpering in the background.
"We're just talking, Ellie, no one is looking at you!" Grice called over his shoulder.
Hannes blinked. "Is...someone talking a monster shit over there?"
"Monster piss, actually," Grice remarked, giving Hannes a once over. "You, I know I haven't met yet."
"Sorry, I guess I'm joining the Giant Watchers. Name is Hannes," he introduced.
"Hannes?" Grice repeated curiously. "Wait, are you that former drunk Eren told me so much about?"
Hannes deeply wished that he could still put Eren in a headlock in that very instance.
Comments
Kaleb Butler
Great chapter
