Age of Titans Chapter 1 (AoT/SnK Story) (Patreon)

Yeah…I couldn’t stand it either. I have to make this different. What was that ending? Well, it’s a good thing I’ve had a vague idea for a long time now. Let’s take the pieces of this World, along with the Power System we were shown, and make something more coherent.

Let’s make it different. Maybe better? This story is going to be completely AU and totally unapologetic about it. Let’s see if I can’t take this setting and tell another story. What does the World have to fear from only Nine People? Why hate and fear those that have already been brought low?

Unless there’s a reason that everyone fears them all.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 1 – Origin, Fall, and Mission

Ages ago, millennia ago, when Humanity was naught more than Tribes working to survive against Nature’s impartiality, there existed a young girl. This girl’s name was Ymir and she was a slave of the Eldia Tribe. Despite the harshness of the World often bringing out the worst in people, Ymir was an empathetic woman. She felt for others and their hardships. It was this nature, combined with her status as a slave, that led her to one day release one of the Tribes pigs. She saw herself in the animal, caged and just waiting to die at the whim of one of her Eldian masters.

The head of the Eldia Tribe, Karl Fritz, sentenced her to have one of her eyes removed and then be hunted in the forest for sport. It was during this panicked fleeing for her life that Ymir found a hollowed tree. Sheltering herself inside, she fell, the ground giving way beneath her feet. She landed in water and floated for a moment before beginning to sink. Just as the teen was wondering if death may not be a release from this life, a light shone in the pitch blackness.

Looking upon the source of this light, Ymir could only describe it as a type of bug. It moved slowly in the water, as if it was unable to truly swim. As she sank towards the creature it reacted to her presence. Ymir felt no fear, her life had been fraught with it, and she had just been running for her very life not long ago. The creature’s limbs brushed against her body. It seemed to be studying her. After a moment of this, just as Ymir felt her lungs begin to burn from a lack of air, the creature seemed to align its body with her spine. The next thing Ymir knew was a sharp pain and then a burning heat.

Screams and cries of terror rang out from the warriors that had been hunting Ymir. The tallest tree in the forest toppled over as smoke and steam clouded out the sky. From the steam emerged a giant! With an earth-shaking roar the giant announced its rise and the World was forever changed.

Ymir’s new power let her slaughter her pursuers as easily as one might swat an annoying insect. Karl Fritz saw this power and thought of the potential, the future such unstoppable force could bring to his Tribe and People. That was the day that Karl Fritz, a man that had lived his whole life in pursuit of power, bowed his head before someone else. By his authority Ymir was freed and would be looked upon with the same respect as himself.

Ymir had been changed, not only from her newfound ability to become a massive giant, but every scar, injury, and torment that her body had been burdened with was gone. Her lost eye had regenerated, her tongue that had been cut out when she became a slave had regrown, and she looked as if no injuries had ever befallen her. With her new place in the Eldia Tribe, things began to change bit by bit. The slaves were no longer disfigured and tortured. Roads were built by her massive form, wastelands were tilled and irrigated to become rich with life, and even impassable mountains were bridged so that humans could cross.

So it came to be that Karl Fritz eventually wed Ymir. Unbeknownst to the Chief of the Eldians, Ymir had been slowly learning the truth of her abilities over the years. In time the blonde young woman had figured out many things about her power. She knew it was bound to her very blood, that so long as she wanted to live, no injury that didn’t kill her instantaneously could fell her. She learned how to harden her giant form’s skin, to instantly produce any tool or weapon from her giant body’s flesh, all of this power she only showed when Karl Fritz thought to try and be too forceful or if the man started to slip back into his old mentality.

Before the newly-wed woman could even bring a child into the world, war with the neighboring Tribe of Marley broke out. The Marley Tribe had spent many generations amassing numbers and building up their armies. As they led their armored soldiers against the smaller Tribe of Eldia, they learned of Ymir. The Queen of Eldia, as she was now called, laid waste to the Marleyan army. The warriors of Eldia rode into battle against a devastated force of confused, terrified, and injured men.

It wasn’t even a fight.

The few Marleyan Soldiers that had managed to escape told their people of the monster that existed amongst the Eldians. Such claims were, of course, laughed off as the ravings of cowards that had fled from battle. Another army was sent against the Eldians, not even five percent of the men returned. The tales were the same, even from escaped Officers, and Marley began to fear. Rumors and tales of the Monsters of Eldia were spread by the Marleyans and a feud began between the two largest Tribes on the continent.

Ymir would go on to have three daughters. Maria the eldest, Rose the middle daughter, and Sina the youngest. Ymir felt the same power in her daughters that resided in her. But it was different, dormant, and unable to be used. She would spend the next thirteen years figuring out why. In this time her daughters grew up, Karl only allowed the strongest of his warriors to even attempt to court his daughters. Between the many wars with Marley, and even some of the other Tribes of the continent that didn’t believe the rumors of monsters, decades passed.

It was Ymir’s grandchildren, all nine of them, that directly inherited powers from her. Maria, Rose, and Sina had their power activated by their mother once she’d figured out how to do so. But in her many grandchildren, she performed the final act of her life. She split her power into nine. Each of these nine powers was given a name based upon their characteristics: the Founding, the Warhammer, the Colossal, the Jaw, the Armor, the Cart, the Female, the Beast, and the Attack. Only her daughters and her grandchildren were told the secret of awakening these powers in their own children.

Unfortunately, Ymir knew that there was another way to inherit one of these powers. It was a horrific way to force the power within her descendants to awaken. To cannibalize the holder of one of these Nine Powers; would see any descendant of hers awaken to the same power. These first powers, Prime Titans, could be taken into another of her bloodline through the act of cannibalizing the spine of the current holder. With this knowledge, before she split the power and passed it on to her grandchildren, Ymir wove an inescapable punishment into the Nine Prime Titans themselves. Anyone that knowingly and willingly consumed another of their kin to gain the Power of one of the Nine, would die without fail in thirteen years. On her death bed she prayed that such punishment would never be discovered by her descendants. She hoped that they would use the Nine Powers to protect their people and that someday, maybe the wars would stop.

The secret of Titan Shifting was held by the Nine Families of Eldia for generations. As more and more Eldians of Ymir’s bloodline were born, their own Shifter power was awakened when they were old enough. It seemed to be fairly random as to which of the Nine Powers an Eldian would awaken to when going through the process. But none could compare to the Power of the Prime Titans. The lesser Shifters even seemed to mimic the growth and development of the Prime Titans. With each new generation of holders, the Nine Prime Titans seemed to advance and get stronger. This was seen the most in the Armor Titans.

The Prime Armor Titan was originally covered in dense, bone-like plates that could stop any arrow or spear cold. Many generations of Holders later, and the Prime Armor Titan developed a rock-like, full-body covering that made it nigh indestructible. The next lesser Shifter to awaken to Armor Titan Powers also had this rock-like armor, as opposed to the previous bone-like plates. It was a discovery that brought immense joy to the Eldians. Their Tribe’s power would continue to get stronger throughout the future, securing their place as the penultimate power in the world.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. Many generations later and in-fighting had begun between the Nine Families and their vassal houses. The lands were ripped asunder by the battles fought between the Eldians. In the generations of war, many things were lost to the Eldians. The method of awakening Shifter power was lost as elders, the holders of the secret, were killed to prevent other sides from making more Warriors. Only the Cannibalistic Method was known as the Nine Families tried to steal the Prime Titans away from each other. It was in this time of upheaval that the Head of the Tybur Family sought out the King of Marley. To end the terror of the Titans upon the world, he betrayed his kin and led to their downfall. The King of the Eldian Empire, seeing the thorough slaughter of his people, fled with a portion of his people. With an untold number of his loyal subjects behind him they settled on Paradis Island.

During this fleeing of the Royal Family, eight of the Nine Prime Titans were lost. Seven of the Prime Titans ended up in the hands of Marley, thanks to the knowledge of the Tybur Family. The Prime Warhammer Titan would remain in their care while the Colossal, Beast, Female, Cart, Jaw, Armor, and Attack Titans would become the backbone of the Marleyan Military as they began to subjugate their neighboring countries. The Attack Titan holder disappeared on one of the very first battlefields the Prime Titans were deployed on by Marley. It was never recovered.

King Fritz, using the power of the Prime Founding Titan, turned countless numbers of his followers into Colossal Titans. With the Titans’ hardening ability, he constructed three massive, circular walls on Paradis Island. Each wall was named after one of the three daughters of Ymir. With a warning that should Paradis Island ever be attacked the countless Colossal Titans within the walls would be set loose upon the world, the King used the Prime Founding Titan to wipe away the memories of his subjects and make them believe that they were the only humans left in the world.

Back in Marley, a single group of Eldians persisted. They were members of one of the Nine Families, and the only one that was entirely Matriarchal. The Leonhardt Family were the inheritors of the Prime Female Titan, which gained its designation because it could only be passed down to women. They were also the only Family that still knew the method of awakening an Eldian’s Shifter ability. But they had to bide their time. The Marleyans were cruel to the now enslaved Eldians, and with the powers of the Prime Titans they couldn’t be stopped by making more lesser Shifters.

In this way, a century passed.

-Marley Army Grounds ~ Day of the Warrior Selections-

Annie Leonhardt kept her face blank and stoic. She looked over the former Warriors; all of them looked worn, tired, and sickly from the Curse of Ymir as it had been dubbed. They all allowed themselves to be eaten by the Pure Titans her fellow Warrior Candidates had been turned into. It made her stomach turn but she wouldn’t fall prey to the same fate. She was already a Shifter, though a lesser one. When her turn came, she allowed herself to be injected with the spinal fluid without fuss. She had a cut already prepared and transformed with none of the watching Marleyan Officers any the wiser. She was no actress, but it wasn’t hard to pretend to be a mindless Pure Titan. She approached the current holder of the Prime Female Titan, her Clan’s birthright, and looked down from her impressive fourteen meter height.

‘Disgusting.’ Annie thought as her Titan Form, a Female Type already, picked up the almost dead woman. She shoved the woman into her mouth whole, which didn’t arouse any suspicion from the Marleyan Officers. She wouldn’t kill the woman. The Curse would do that in just a few minutes. So long as she didn’t consume the near dead holder, she wouldn’t be stricken by the Curse herself. Just as she predicted, less than a minute later an immense rush flooded through her Titan Form, like a bolt of lightning, as the former Holder died to the Curse and the Prime Female Titan passed into her. Now that she had the Prime Female Titan power she pretended to collapse and allowed her Titan body to burn. She emerged from the flesh amid burning hot steam and felt as a length of chain was thrown over her. She was yanked roughly from the almost burning giant and ordered to stand.

After the preliminary check-up to assure that she was now a Shifter, having one of her fingers cut off only to watch it regenerate, she was ordered to attend a briefing. The blonde girl wanted to scowl, wanted to rage and lash out at the abusive fucks that had tormented her throughout her training to become a Warrior. But now wasn’t the time. She knew that she and the rest of the new Warriors would soon be sent out to prove their worth on a battlefield. She’d bide her time, like all of her family before her had for the last century. She knew that Marley would one day invade Paradis. They needed the Prime Founding Titan’s powers if they wanted to forcibly make more Pure Titans and control them as effective soldiers. With how much the various enemy militaries had advanced to combat Titans in the last few years, Annie knew it was only a matter of time.

‘Then I can carry out my real mission.’ Annie thought with a cold satisfaction.

-Wall Rose Refugee Camp-

Eren Yeager sat against a stone wall, stewing in silent rage. Mikasa Ackerman, Eren’s adoptive sister, held his left arm and laid her head on his shoulder. His best friend, Armin Arlert, was sitting on his right. Shiganshina District had been breached by a Titan so large it could see over the walls! People were already calling it the Colossal Titan. What was worse was the appearance of an Armored Titan that had burst through the gate of Wall Maria shortly after Shiganshina had been breached. Humanity had lost a large section of their land and countless lives in the process.

The biggest loss, at least in Eren’s mind, was the death of his mother, Carla Yeager. He could be forgiven for his state of mind as he’d literally watched his mother die. The image kept playing over and over again in his mind and with it an ever-growing rage against the Titans that had taken everything from him grew. More and more refugees from Wall Maria kept coming in too. As the Titans spread out through the now unprotected land, more and more lives were lost and more and more people fled to Wall Rose. Food, space, supplies, and clean water were quickly becoming scarce with so many people now sharing the reduced space.

“I’m joining the Military in three years.” Eren growled out as he stared hard at the floor. “I’m going to join the Survey Corp and kill all of the Titans.”

“I’m coming with you.” Mikasa immediately responded as she held onto Eren’s arm a bit tighter.

“Me too…” Armin sounded less sure, but the grip he had on the hem of his coat tightened.

-Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt-

‘Damn it, Reiner.’ Annie growled in her mind at the devastation her remaining two teammates had caused. There were so many Eldians dead, so much destruction, and all because Marcel had been eaten by a Pure Titan. Reiner had convinced Bertholdt to go along with a preemptive strike against the Island Devils and secure a way for them to sneak in as well. Annie had kicked the other blonde’s ass for the idea, but then she’d let her guard down and the boy had nearly killed her by choking her out. Then the two of them had gone ahead with Reiner’s plan anyway.

Technically speaking, Marcel dying had left their group leaderless. Annie was hoping to take control, but Reiner had been off to say the least, ever since Marcel had revealed that the blonde had only become a Warrior because Marcel had practically sabotaged his own brother’s position. Annie now had to find a way to carry out her real mission within the Walls. She’d been hoping to track down the new holder of the Prime Jaw Titan, but Reiner’s half-cocked plan had ruined any chance of that. For now she’d search discreetly for one that fit for her mission.

-Three Years Later-

Eren Yeager stood at attention in a line made up of all the new Cadets in the Military Training Corps. The group of almost two hundred young men and women were being looked over by the higher-ups and the intense gaze of the Head Instructor, Keith Shadis. Eren noticed the man didn’t linger very long on some Cadets, while others got verbally torn apart by the man.

Instructor Shadis was a tall and intimidating man. He was bald, with prominent wrinkles on his forehead and dark circles around his eyes. He had a small beard growing from under his chin. He was wearing the standard instructor's uniform for the Training Corps consisting of black boots, grey pants, a dark-grey button-up shirt, and finally his brown jacket with the Training Corps insignia on both shoulders and over his left breast.

“Cadet Mop Top! What’s your name?!” Instructor Shadis demanded of Armin suddenly.

“Armin Arlert, from Shiganshina, sir!” Armin replied after giving the standard salute of placing his fist over his heart.

“Really? Why the fuck would your parents curse you with such a stupid name?!” Shadis barked at the blonde teen.

“It was my grandfather’s, sir!” Armin answered immediately.

“Cadet Arlert, why is a runt like you here?!” Shadis got in Armin’s face.

“To help Humanity overcome the Titans, sir!” Armin declared loudly, his eyes closing as he responded.

“That’s fucking delightful to hear! You’ll make a good bite-sized snack for them!” Shadis’ response didn’t instill confidence in any of the Cadets. “About face, runt!” The bald instructor grabbed the top of Armin’s head and forced the short teen to turn around. With that done, the Head Instructor moved to his next victim.

Eren’s eyes followed two of the other higher-ups that were observing the dressing down that Instructor Shadis was dishing out. They seemed to be speaking, but Eren was too far away to hear them. Shadis had moved on to his third victim after Armin; a black-haired teen that looked nervous, but responded promptly and loudly to each biting comment from the bald Instructor.

“What do we have over here?” Shadis nearly spit in the face of a brown-haired teen.

“Jean Kirstein, from the Trost District, sir!” Jean replied with a salute.

“Why are you here, Cadet?” The Drill Sargent questioned the teen.

“To join the Military Police, sir, the best of the best.” Jean answered the intense man.

“That’s nice. You want to live in the interior, do ya?” Shadis asked the teen.

“Yes-” Jean was cut off after the first word by a brutal head butt from the Instructor. The teen collapsed to his knees while holding his head from the blow.

“Get on your feet, Kirstein! If you can’t even handle this you can forget the Military Police!” Shadis barked at the downed teen, who shakily made his way back to his feet before the Instructor moved on.

“What the hell is wrong with your face you smiling idiot?!” The man yelled into the face of another cadet. Eren tuned out the reply, wondering if he’d be passed up or if the Drill Instructor would be trying to tear him apart verbally soon.

“Cue ball you’re up next!” Shadis yelled at a shorter teen with a buzz cut.

“M-Me? Uh, Connie Springer, from Ragako Village, sir!” Connie gave a salute, but he used his left arm instead of his right, making his salute backwards.

“You’ve got it backwards, Connie Springer.” Shadis literally picked the teen up off the ground by his head. “That was the first thing you were taught. That salute is supposed to represent the resolve in your heart to fight those bent on the systematic destruction of our people! Is your heart on your right side?!”

A brunette girl audibly chomping on a potato caught a good number of people’s attention. Unfortunately for her, she was more than close enough to Connie to attract Shadis’ attention to her. The brunette seemed oblivious though, as she took another bite from the potato even as the Drill Instructor’s eyes drilled into the side of her head. Shadis dropped Connie bodily into the dirt as he addressed the young woman.

“Hey, you there, what do you think you’re doing?” Shadis demanded and the brunette girl looked around, as if trying to see whom he was talking to, before taking another bite from her potato. “YOU ARE OFFICIALLY ON MY SHIT LIST!!!” The Instructor yelled point blank into the girl’s face. “Just who in the hell are you?!”

“Sasha Braus, from Dauper Village at your service, reporting for duty, sir!” Sasha replied with a salute, though her saluting hand still had the half-eaten potato in it.

“Sasha Braus, huh? What’s that you’re clutching in your right hand?” Shadis’ tone could make a lesser man collapse from sheer terror.

“A steamed potato; it sat there in the Mess Hall just begging to be eaten, sir!” Sasha answered honestly.

“The theft I can understand; but why here? Why eat it here of all places?” The Drill Instructor questioned with a growl rumbling in his throat.

“It looked quite delicious, and it was getting cold, so I gave it shelter in my stomach, sir.” Sasha replied with blunt honesty, even as many of the Cadets looked at her as if she was insane.

“I can’t comprehend it; why would you eat that potato?” Shadis breathed out while staring the girl down.

“Are you asking me why people eat potatoes? I’m surprised you don’t know, sir.” Sasha stared at the Instructor confused. Several of her fellow Cadets were now certain that the young woman was nuts. “Here sir, have half.” Sasha offered after breaking the potato into two and offering the much smaller part to Shadis.

“Have half? Really?” Shadis questioned and Sasha gave him a smile. “RUN UNTIL THE SUN SETS!!!” The Drill Instructor ordered the brunette with a terrifying roar! “You’ve just lost meal privileges for the next five days, Cadet Braus!” Sasha almost burst into tears at the loss of food as she took off running.

‘Is she really that stupid?’ Eren wondered internally as Shadis seemed like he was a second or two away from an aneurysm. The new Cadets were dismissed to the barracks once the Drill Instructor had calmed down, though his clenched fist was still shaking. As the group headed for their bunks, Mikasa immediately sought out Eren, as did Armin. The brunette teen barely noticed as he and a blonde girl brushed against each other among the crowd. He did feel a slight shock that stilled him for a moment, but brushed it off as he headed for Mikasa and Armin.

‘What the hell?!’ Annie froze mid-step for a second as she registered just what had happened. That guy, Eren she thought his name was, he was a Titan Shifter! Not just that, he had two Prime Titans held within him! One of them was the Prime Founding Titan from what she’d felt! Eren was a Royal Blood, one of the rare descendants capable of holding the Prime Founding Titan! ‘A new King…’ Annie barely kept her face schooled in her normal stoic mask. To think she’d find her goal so quickly. That he already held the Prime Founding Titan was unexpected, but it was incredibly good news for Annie. ‘The holder of the Prime Founding Titan is the one that has the Right to Rule.’ The blonde’s eyes followed the brunette subtly as he met up with the short blonde and the ravenette girl that had been passed over by Shadis just as Annie had been.

-Female Barracks ~ Third Building-

‘Isn’t this lucky.’ Annie mused as she noticed who her bunkmates were; Sasha, Ymir, Krista, and Mikasa. She needed more information on Eren. He needed to know the truth about the world. He needed to know what was really going on. If she could get him onboard with her mission and her plan, then the Eldian Empire could be restored.

She had spent the last three years after the fall of Wall Maria gathering information on as many distinguished figures and higher-ups in the government as possible. She knew a few of the Military higher-ups would jump at the chance to overthrow the council and the fake King that sat on the throne. She knew that man was a fake from the moment she’d seen him briefly. Not to mention from her spying on a few conversations between the lackadaisical Nobles. Those greedy, entitled fools didn’t bother censoring their words when they thought no one was listening. She had no luck on finding out who this Lord Reiss was, but she knew he was the real King of the Walls.

‘Now, how do I start a conversation that I can steer towards asking about Eren without looking suspicious?’ Annie wondered as the five of them got settled into their barracks.

“Huh, I wonder why the girls’ barracks are broken up into these cabins.” Sasha spoke up, breaking the silence. “The guys are all in two longhouses packed with bunks from what I heard.”

“It’s because there are always a lot less female recruits.” Ymir answered her fellow brunette. “No sense in building another set of longhouse barracks for the girls when they’ll never be filled.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Sasha nodded with a smile.

“Assuming that we all make it through the three years of training, we’ll be bunkmates for that time. I hope we can all get along together.” Krista smiled at the other girls, her blue eyes sparkling with warmth. To the eyes of the other girls an ethereal light poured off the short girl and made her look like an angel.

“Cute…” Ymir murmured as she looked at Krista.

“Do you all have any family?” Sasha asked the group as she sat on her bunk. Annie could have hugged the other woman for asking the question she’d been racking her brain trying to figure out how to slip in to the conversation. “I have my parents and a few siblings back home.”

“No family, not since I was a little girl.” Ymir shook her head, the tall young woman’s eyes darkening and Annie’s curiosity was piqued a bit.

“I’m afraid I’m in the same boat, Ymir.” Krista smiled at the taller girl consolingly. “I lost my mother and elder sister many years ago.” Ymir really wanted to hug the short blonde right now.

“I have a father. My mother passed some years back, no siblings.” Annie put in her situation, or at least as much as she was willing to tell. Now Mikasa should follow along, hopefully.

“No parents, only Eren.” Was Mikasa’s short reply.

“Are you siblings? Not to be rude but you don’t really look alike.” Sasha’s straightforward and somewhat blunt nature was proving to be a godsend for Annie.

“My parents died when I was a little girl,” Mikasa spoke, her tone subdued and flat. “Eren and Dr. Yeager took me in along with Mrs. Yeager. They became my parents.”

“So Eren is your adoptive brother then?” Krista smiled warmly at Mikasa. “It’s good to have family.”

“Wait, if you don’t have parents…” Ymir trailed off, her eyes growing a bit dull.

“Mrs. Yeager died the day Shiganshina was breached. A large boulder crushed our home.” Mikasa spoke in a dull tone.

‘Damn it, Reiner! You and Bertholdt fucked up so much!’ Annie growled in the privacy of her mind. The Eldians of Paradis already had their memories stolen by the King a hundred years ago. Now their numbers had taken a substantial hit as well. If Eren blamed her along with Reiner and Bertholdt for his mother’s death, she’d never get Eren on her side.

“Dr. Yeager came and took Eren away for a while a few days after the breach. It took him that long to find us in the chaos. But then...” Mikasa trailed off for a bit, until both Krista and Sasha sat on both sides of the ravenette and consoled her. “The Garrison brought Eren back. He was clutching Dr. Yeager’s glasses in one hand. That was all that was left. Eren was confused; he said he didn’t remember what had happened. The soldiers said the area of the forest they found Eren in was burned. Looting and robbery were already happening in the wake of the breach and they believed that Dr. Yeager died in an attack from those people.”

“So they started a fire to cover their tracks.” Ymir surmised as she sat on her own bunk.

‘Their father was a Shifter!’ Annie quickly put the pieces together. ‘He must have turned Eren into a Pure Titan and allowed himself to be eaten. So he must’ve been under the Curse of Ymir. But that means the Attack Titan hadn’t escaped Marley until just over a decade ago? Where was it hiding? Eren should have been spared the Curse then, at the very least, no one within the Walls knows about Titan Shifters. As a mindless Pure Titan, he couldn’t have willingly chosen to consume both the Prime Attack and the Prime Founding. The loss of their memories means that Eren couldn’t have knowingly taken the injection with the intention to cannibalize his father either. The Curse wouldn’t have taken hold of him then.’ The blonde teen’s mind was rapidly going through the most likely scenario. She had to figure the situation out, she needed Eren to live a long life if they were to restore Eldia.

Sasha and Krista did their best to console Mikasa before lights out. Unknowingly, all four young women agreed that Krista was too sweet for this world. Ymir especially wanted to protect the short blonde teen. Annie turned in for the night with thoughts and plans forming in her head. She’d need to slowly get closer to Eren. It would have to be slow, to make sure she didn’t arouse any suspicion from Bertholdt and Reiner, but she’d make contact and then work towards getting Eren on her side.

“Annie, please, you must succeed.” Annie’s father looked sorrowfully at his daughter. He knew he was putting the weight of the world on her shoulders and hated himself for it. “Even if it makes the whole world your enemy, you must succeed in your mission. You must find a new king for Eldia within the Walls. We’re going to be wiped out if nothing changes, every single one of us is nothing but sub-human to the Marleyans and the rest of the world. They fear the return of the Eldian Empire. But we can change this, we can be better! Our people can have proper lives. We need a new king. Annie, you must succeed!”

Annie started awake, breathing heavily. That dream, again. Her father telling her of her true mission. He’d done so in her deceased mother’s place when it was decided to send an invasion force of Warriors to Paradis. As she calmed her breathing and got her racing heart under control, her mind went to her goal, to Eren. He was the key, the one that held the Prime Founding Titan; he was the one that had the right to rule the Eldians. Shaking her head, she realized that she’d awoken earlier than necessary. Not that it mattered since the sunlight was starting to shine through the curtains. The Instructors would be loudly waking up the new Cadets in a short time anyway.

Breakfast was standard issue slop. A thin potato soup, bread, and some greens, along with water would be the majority of their meals during training. Annie made sure to sit at the same long table as Eren, Mikasa, and the short blonde friend of the two. She was further down the table from them, but that was part of her plan. She’d move closer over the next week or two until she’d either caught Eren’s eye or gotten close enough to Mikasa to warrant sitting next to them.

Physical Training and Conditioning was the first part of any new Cadet’s training. The harsh regiment would break those of weak will and send them packing in short order. The Military had no time or resources to waste on those that couldn’t cut it. Annie wasn’t surprised that Eren was among the top ten when it came to their training. He was a Shifter and they naturally had more stamina and developed faster thanks to their healing ability. The current top ten in the 104th Cadet Unit were Mikasa, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie herself, Eren, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Marco, and Ymir.

‘Is he?’ Annie wondered to herself, briefly glancing back at Eren as the Cadets ran laps around the training camp. Each lap was roughly a kilometer and they were being judged on their endurance at the moment, rather than their speed. Many of the Cadets had already dropped but several were still going. Annie’s mental question was about Eren’s current place during the run. The teen was running directly behind her and Mikasa. Keeping pace with them, rather than try and overtake them like Reiner and Bertholdt had done as they now led the pack. ‘Well, he is fifteen.’ Annie mused as she was fairly certain Eren was following her and Mikasa to stare at their asses. The training uniform was fairly tight to prevent any snagging while wearing and using the ODM Gear. The brunette young man was more than likely enjoying the view as he kept pace behind them.

‘Damn it! Focus Eren! Stop getting distracted!’ Eren roared to himself as his gaze dropped for the umpteenth time to the swaying rears of Mikasa and Annie ahead of him.

Glancing briefly towards Mikasa, Annie was only slightly surprised to see the ravenette with a small smile on her lips. It would seem that the two adoptive siblings didn’t see each other as siblings at all. Annie filed that bit of information away for later. All this meant was that getting close to Mikasa would be necessary to get close to Eren. Feeling the teen’s eyes on her ass again, Annie realized that she already had a path available to her. Unfortunately, she wasn’t exactly a seductress of any sort. Her mostly stoic nature drove away more people than it attracted. She’d also only developed recently to be considered a woman, so she had no experience using her wiles to wrap a man around her finger.

After the day of training, and an entire wagon-load of drop outs, dinner was served in the Mess Hall. As a sort of reward for their first complete day of training, and to promote muscle development, tonight’s potato soup had small chunks of meat in it. Beef it seemed, which all of the Cadets were grateful about. They wouldn’t be getting real meat like steak, ham, or whole-cooked chicken or turkey as Cadets. But the leftovers from the butchering process would be doled out to them to promote their development into strong soldiers. Annie ate while keeping a peripheral view of Eren and Mikasa. She’d moved a bit closer this time, but still far away enough to be looked at as random.

As the girls of Barracks Three were coming back from their showers and preparing for bed, Annie once more wanted to hug the blunt Sasha. The brunette had started to chat about the day with her bunkmates, which started up a conversation as normal. But when that conversation turned towards the males of their unit, Annie was determined to use this to her advantage.

“Mikasa, your brother is the kind of guy that was popular in my village.” Sasha smiled at the ravenette. “He’s strong and after Reiner he had the heaviest weight lifting amount among the boys! Strong men were always the popular ones in Dauper Village! They usually make the best hunters, which means their wife gets to eat lots of meat.” Sasha was drooling slightly as she daydreamed about food. It was already well-known that the brunette was food-crazy among the 104th.

“Eren…” Mikasa mumbled with the lower half of her face hidden by her red scarf.

“He’s not bad looking, I guess.” Annie took her chance to join the conversation. “I’d say his looks are above most of the other guys at least.”

“Oh my,” Krista’s cheeks were turning red and Ymir was snickering as she sat next to the short blonde.

“Well, he’s got my vote, at least among the guys.” Ymir grinned as she put her arm around Krista’s shoulders.

“Y-Ymir!” Krista was full on blushing now as the tall brunette pulled her into her side.

“Are you pouting?” Annie blinked as she looked at Mikasa sitting on her bed. The grey-blue eyes of Mikasa were staring at the rest of her bunkmates and her red scarf was mostly hiding her mouth. But with her eyes and her posture, her knees up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, it was clear the girl was pouting.

“No.” Mikasa flatly replied.

“Ah, sorry Mikasa,” Sasha apologized for bringing up the topic. “I spoke without thinking.”

“It’s fine.” Mikasa replied without moving.

“So you agree with us or something?” Annie was taking this chance to make a connection with Mikasa. It might come off as a bit forward, but if it could get Mikasa to open up a bit then Annie would take the chance.

“I… I…” Mikasa couldn’t seem to get out the words as she buried her face into her scarf and hid from their eyes.

“I’d say that’s a yes.” Ymir smirked at the hiding girl. “Don’t feel shy, Mikasa, you’ve got good taste is all.”

Mikasa peeked out of her scarf, the one that was her first gift from Eren, and looked at her bunkmates. Sasha was all smiles, Krista was bright and caring, Ymir gave her a knowing look, and then she turned her eyes on Annie. The blonde was still stoic as their eyes locked.

“Ymir’s not wrong, Mikasa, you have good taste in men.” Annie shrugged with a small smile breaking through her stoic expression. The top two females of the 104th Cadet Unit looked at each other for a moment. Slowly Mikasa stopped her hiding and returned the small smile to Annie.

“Thank you…” Mikasa didn’t know what else to say. It was nice not having her feelings questioned though. Her bunkmates all seemed like good people.

‘It’s a start,’ Annie thought to herself as she shared a small smile with Mikasa. ‘I wasn’t expecting Eren to draw so much female attention so quickly though. I might have to work around these four to get Eren on my side.” The blonde glanced over to the rest of her bunkmates and the small comradery that was just now starting to develop. ‘Maybe it’ll be less my side and more our side?’ She didn’t exactly mind that thought, they’d need numbers to take the Walls and establish Eren as King after all.

Only time would tell just how the future battles would go. The battles against the Pure Titans that Marley dumped by the dozens onto Paradis. As well as the battle that was completely unknown to the Eldians within the Walls. A battle against a world that hated and feared them.

-End Chapter-

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Well, I think I’ve sufficiently thrown the AoT World onto its head!

After the ending I was just…unsatisfied. So I decided to flesh out the vague premise I’d had a few years ago. With some additions and some polishing it out, I have a story that should be incredibly satisfying to AoT Fans!

What is this Proper Method of awakening an Eldian to their personal Titan Shifter powers?

Will Eren believe Annie and work with her?

Will the Eldian Empire be reborn?

If Eren becomes King of the Walls, how fucked is Marley?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!