Chapter Text
I am the commander of the Scout Legion, a part of the trinal army of the Humanity. Or, what it's left of the Humanity.
It has been almost 100 years since the first appearance of the Titans and the destruction of the World as we've known. Nobody knows how and why the Titans appeared. It all began with a few scattered cases and people claiming to have seen humanoid monsters. At first it seemed as something out of the urban legends which no one took seriously.
Not until it started for real.
They appeared in large groups, attacking the small villages and devouring every human being that came across their path. Despite all the technology, the Humanity wasn't prepared for something like this. The creatures seemed to be impossible to kill. They'd regenerate so quickly that every army in the World was unable to defend their countries. Soon, there were no countries left. The governments fell, everything was in chaos. Now there is only one thing – the Humanity. We had to stand together against the Titans because otherwise, we would've been erased from the face of the Earth.
With the last strengths, the Humanity managed to build walls away from the largest cities that were not always enough, but at least they were sufficient most of the time to keep the creatures out. I say away from the cities because the Titans were obviously attracted by the noise and the warmth and the safest thing to do was to flee the cities and settle elsewhere.
Since then, we've had a few major breakthroughs. We've learned how to kill the Titans. But that presented a new problem. In order to reach the nape of their necks, the fighters had to get really close. The second breakthrough was the invention of 3-dimensional maneuver gear, which allowed the army to fly through the air and attack the various types of Titans that went from 3 to 15 meters.
We had to go back practically to the medieval times. Only the deepest, safest havens have electric power and most of the people live like centuries ago. We've even built settlements within the walls that resemble the middle ages because we've lost the technology along the way. Not that we've forgotten about it – we have no materials other than what nature gives us, wood, stone and that little bit of metal that mostly goes into producing 3D gear. Communication is completely cut off. We know there were once more places like this, within the walls, but it's been nearly 30 years since any other human came up to wall Maria from the outside.
We might as well be all that it's left of Humanity in the whole World.
- Erwin Smith
*****
Shiganshina District
"Run!"
"Evacuate! Quickly!"
People were screaming partly in terror, partly in agony; soldiers were yelling and trying their best to keep the civilians safe. Wall Maria had been breached and the titans were slowly but surely entering the border city, grabbing the citizens, biting them in half, devouring them with no traces of conscious thinking. Their faces were mostly expressionless, void of all emotions. Some of them had their mouths stretched out in diabolical grins, which were most likely involuntary spasms. They were hideous, disgusting creatures, existing for one sole purpose – to erase the mankind.
A green-eyed boy watched in horror as parts of buildings as well as parts of human bodies were tossed through the air by the monsters. At the moment of the breach, he was in the middle of the town's main square, very close to the wall.
He couldn't move from the shock. He wanted to run, he needed to run but he couldn't move a single muscle in his body.
"Eren!"
A familiar voice and a yank from a deceivingly thin and delicate hand awoke him from his stupor.
"Mikasa," he gasped, stumbling slightly. "We have to go! We have to get to my mom!"
The black haired girl silently nodded and turned to run, not letting go of Eren's hand.
On their way, they've barely managed to evade being crushed by a collapsing house – thanks to Mikasa's quick thinking. She made a sudden turn into an alleyway to try and avoid the creatures and the flying debris.
Hearing the wrecking of wood and rock, Eren and Mikasa skidded to a stop as they've approached their home... The place that used to be their home.
The house was in rubbles.
Mikasa's fair face turned even paler, her thin lips trembling. Eren stared with round eyes. Maybe his mother wasn't in the house... Maybe she managed to hide someplace else...
A painful moan made the boy's heart sink. Without even thinking of a possible danger, he ran towards the rubble, finally finding his mother pinned under a heavy wooden beam.
"Mom!"
"Eren," Carla grunted, seeing the two. "You're safe... You both are..."
The boy immediately grabbed the beam and tried to lift it off of her. It was too heavy. "Mikasa! Help me get this off!"
"The wall is breached, isn't it?" Carla asked quietly, calmly.
"Yeah," Eren gasped, not able to move anything, even with Mikasa's help. "That's why we have to get you out of here!"
He whimpered with fear as he saw the tall creatures sluggishly walking through the streets, only a couple of blocks away.
"Eren," Carla begged, "Take Mikasa and run! Now!"
"I want to but I'm not without you," the boy yelled, pulling on the beam again. He felt the splinters painfully piercing his skin and his fingernails twisting and breaking from the force he'd used. Useless. Completely useless.
"The rubble crushed my legs," his mother said grimly. "Even if I get out of here, I can't run. Do you understand?" She looked him in the eye.
One of the titans was slowly closing in. It had seen them.
Hot tears began to trickle down Eren's face as panic rose within him. "No! I'll carry you!"
"Why don't you ever listen to me, Eren?!" She screamed nearly hysterical. "At least listen this one last time!"
Next to Eren, Mikasa started sniffling as well, still trying to free his mother.
Carla was now openly crying. "If you don't go, all three of us will..."
She was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of 3D gear wire. A blond middle-aged soldier landed next to the rubble and hurried to them.
"Hannes!" Carla's eyes filled with a faint glimmer of hope. "Take the children and run, please," she asked their old family friend.
"I'll kill the titan and save all three of you," the man assured, assessing the situation. With a determined look on his face, he went towards the titan that was approaching.
It was a gruesome thing, looking as if it was grinning at them. Like a huge, horrid puppet meant to be in a circus freak show. Only, it was real.
It was so real that Hannes abruptly stopped, all coloring leaving his face. Eren could see his hands, even though gripping the swords, started shaking. The man quickly turned and to Eren's complete disbelief and dread, he hoisted him over his shoulder, grabbed Mikasa under his arm and began to run, leaving Eren's mother under the rubble.
"Hannes, what are you doing?!" Eren screamed, squirming under Hannes' iron grip. "My mom is still there!"
Eren looked at his mother for what he knew was the last time. She reached out with her hand, her features scared but determined.
"Eren! Mikasa! You must stay alive!"
"Mom," the boy whimpered as Hannes kept running from the titan that was now already next to the rubble that once was Eren's home.
The creature reached down with one hand and effortlessly pulled his mother from under the beams. She kicked and punched at its closed fist around her waist until it gripped her with its other hand and broke her like a twig.
It felt like a dream. Like a horrible nightmare. Eren kept his eyes glued to the titan and his mother's lifeless body in its grip. In the end, the creature brought her to its mouth and ate her.
Eren heard himself screaming and then there was nothing.
*****
When he came to his senses, Hannes was still running. Eren couldn't tell how much time had passed and whether he fell unconscious or his mind just blocked out everything. Automatically, he started kicking and hitting Hannes over his head.
"We could have saved my mom!" He yelled angrily.
"What are you doing?" The man snarled and threw him onto the ground. "Eren..."
The boy felt his eyes filling with new tears once he finally realized that Hannes was crying as well. The soldier kneeled on the ground next to him, releasing Mikasa as well.
"You couldn't save your mother because you lacked the strength. The reason..." Hannes sobbed miserably, "The reason I didn't fight the titan was that I lacked the courage."
Eren wasn't able to reply to that. Hannes mutely stood up, sniffled one last time and took his and Mikasa's hand, leading them towards the passage which connected Shiganshina with the territory deeper within the walls.