Age of Titans Chapter 2 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you the second chapter of Age of Titans! Time to continue training! How will that go? Will certain discoveries be made? Will different progress than Canon happen?

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So without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 2 – Cadet Training, Discovery, Ally

Combat Training for the Cadets was intense. Having to learn to hold a proper stance, to learn how to throw a proper punch and kick so that you didn’t injure yourself or lose your balance; it was hard for many of the cadets. Several of them had already been tossed on their ass and gotten verbally torn apart by Shadis for their piss-poor performance. But there were some stand-outs among the 104th Cadets. Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt had their military training from Marley to use against their fellow cadets. Annie was easily the best at close quarter combat of the three of them.

Mikasa had speed and strength on her side. She easily defeated her opponents without trouble. Her frame was deceptive in how strong the ravenette was. Ymir wasn’t much of a fighter, but her height gave her reach on most of her opponents. Sasha was a nimble girl, her footwork wasn’t trained but her instincts were good. Most of her opponents couldn’t hit her at all. Krista was trying hard, but almost none of her opponents could bring themselves to go all out against the sweet girl. Annie would be one of the few that would put her fellow blonde through her paces.

Eren was the star of this training, aside from Reiner and Bertholdt, among the male cadets. The green-eyed teen fought well, clearly having some experience with fist fights. The brunette teen had knocked nearly every opponent he’d fought, flat on their ass in less than a minute. Annie could appreciate his straight-forward style, mostly for its efficiency. Watching Eren sock that Jean guy in the face was enjoyable. The teen was all about joining the Military Police as soon as he got out of the Training Corp. He’d clearly had a higher standard of living than most of the other soldier hopefuls. That he still wanted to move into the interior showed a strong desire to move up in the world. That could be good or bad for her mission, so Annie watched him too.

“Leonhardt! Ymir! You’re up!” Shadis called out and Annie moved into the sparring area with the taller girl.

“Go easy on me, Annie.” Ymir grinned at her bunkmate.

“No.” Annie responded flatly as she took her stance. Ymir cracked a grin at her reply.

“Begin!” Shadis barked at the two teens.

Annie waited for the strike she knew was coming. Ymir didn’t disappoint either. One of her long legs snapped out for a sidekick and Annie weaved around the attack. She entered Ymir’s guard quickly and blocked the taller girl’s punch with her forearm. Without hesitation, Annie wrapped one arm around Ymir’s neck while her other went under the girl’s outstretched arm. Her hand locked together behind Ymir’s back, between her shoulder blades, and she maneuvered her foot behind the tall brunette’s ankle. A quick twist and she’d taken Ymir off her feet and to the ground.

That was when the shock hit.

Both girls’ eyes widened as they lay on the ground. By muscle memory alone, Annie completed her hold on Ymir and pinned the brunette down. Not that Ymir was trying much to escape from Annie. The two couldn’t meet eyes in their current position, but both knew what they’d felt. Ymir was a Shifter, the new Prime Jaw Titan Holder. If she hadn’t been so shocked by the sudden discovery, Annie would have been amused. Her old idea to track down the new Prime Jaw Titan Holder from three years ago had come to fruition without her having to do anything.

“Don’t panic,” Annie whispered quietly into Ymir’s ear from where the two were semi-struggling in the dirt. “I’m not going to say anything, nor will I harm you in any way.”

“What are you doing here?” Ymir increased her struggles, mostly to keep Shadis from calling the match so she could have more time to speak with Annie.

“I can’t explain that here, we don’t have time.” Annie replied in the same hushed tones as she forced Ymir down. “I’m not your enemy. You and I have a common enemy, in fact.”

“What do you mean?” Ymir realized she couldn’t get out of Annie’s hold at all. Her greater height meant next to nothing in this situation.

“We’ll talk in private later, but I know how you got to this island and I want you on my side against them.” Annie whispered close to Ymir’s ear as they heard Shadis call the match in Annie’s victory.

The two of them separated and stood up. As they brushed off the dirt on their clothes as best they could, the two girls locked eyes. A silent conversation passed in only a few seconds between them. Annie was trying to reassure Ymir that she meant her no harm and wanted to talk privately. Ymir was hesitant, but willing to at least talk to the blonde. Both had come from the outside world. Both of them had been under Marley’s boot. They had a shared experience in that at least.

-Barracks Three ~ That Night-

Annie and Ymir had finished their dinner and shower a bit faster than their bunkmates so they’d have a chance to talk in private. If it wasn’t for that, Ymir would still be in the showers teasing Krista. The cute blonde was just too easy and Ymir could really see herself falling for the sweet girl. But this conversation took precedence over everything else tonight. Annie was from Marley; the stoic blonde knew about the outside world, this was not something Ymir had been prepared to deal with.

“You wanted to talk…” Ymir trailed off leadingly.

“Yes, thank you.” Annie nodded to the taller girl. She tried to relax and let her stoic look fade a bit, but she had been accused of having ‘resting bitch face’ before. “How long were you stuck as a Pure Titan?” The blonde figured she should at least break the ice by learning a bit more about Ymir.

“Assuming that they use the same calendar within the Walls as they do outside of it,” Ymir got a nod from Annie that they did. “Then it was about sixty years.”

“I see,” Annie didn’t know what could have caused Ymir to be sentenced to ‘Paradise’ all that time ago, but to be fair, the Marleyans sometimes just chose people they thought might cause trouble. The bastards didn’t even see Eldians as people, so they had no care about condemning any of them to Pure Titans.

“Sorry about your friend,” Ymir apologized, though she didn’t really seem to be sorry about coming back from what was basically death. “I didn’t return to consciousness for a while afterwards.”

“It’s fine,” Annie assured her bunkmate. “Marcel wasn’t a friend, merely another soldier. I have no love for Marley, Marleyans, or any Eldians that willing serve them.” The heat that was rising in her tone made Ymir’s eyes widen. This was the most expressive that anyone had seen Annie in the Training Corp. “I take it you know what you possess already?”

“A Prime Titan,” Ymir nodded as she finally relaxed enough to sit beside Annie on the blonde’s bunk. “It’s the only thing that can bring an Eldian back from becoming a Pure Titan. I knew as soon as I woke up, but I don’t know how I knew.”

“It happens, sometimes.” Annie informed the other girl. “Not often, but lingering memories can inform a new Holder every now and then.”

“You seem very informed.” Ymir gave the blonde a questioning look.

“My family has a long history with Titan Shifters.” Annie replied with a very small smirk. “Are you aware of which one you hold?”

“Jaw, right?” Ymir asked as she unconsciously moved her right hand to cover her mouth. “I transformed to run to the safety of the walls. My Titan Form was much different than what I’d been trapped in originally.”

“That makes sense. The Prime Titans are the strongest and have the ability to change from one host to the next.” Annie explained as she wondered just what Ymir’s Jaw Titan looked like.

“So why are you here, no way you’re here alone.” Ymir asked the other girl, her brown-eyes meeting Annie’s blue.

“I’ll give you the summary since we don’t have much time.” Annie exhaled as she began to explain what Marley’s intentions were for sending her to Paradis along with Marcel, Bertholdt, and Reiner. She even told the other Shifter about her real mission to restore Eldia by finding a new Ruler for the Walls. Her untrusting nature prevented her from telling the brunette that Eren was the key to everything just yet. She was already taking a large risk by revealing what she had to Ymir.

“Fuck.” Ymir summed up her feelings on the whole situation in a single word.

“I won’t ask you to help me directly. But your support would be very much appreciated, Ymir.” Annie looked the other girl in the eyes again to convey her sincerity.

“Geez, twist my arm why don’t you?” Ymir gave a rueful sigh. “If you can’t find a new Ruler for Eldia, then Marley is eventually going to steal the Prime Founding Titan and kill everyone on the island, or worse, turn them all into Pure Titans.”

“That is the basic plan as far as I’ve been able to gather without drawing suspicion.” Annie admitted as she sought Ymir’s eyes with her own again. “Will you offer me your support?”

“Yeah,” Ymir exhaled, letting the last of her tension leave her shoulders. “I don’t really have any friends within the Walls. I do like Krista though. You too, by the way, Sasha, and Mikasa are good people from what I’ve seen. If it means stopping Marley from killing them all, then you have my support.”

“Thank you, Ymir.” Annie gave a short bow to the taller girl. “I’ll tell you what I know and what I can once I’m sure of the truth of what I find out.”

“It’s fine; just don’t give me any reason to think that you’re going to betray me.” Ymir’s eyes took on a deadly serious look. A powerful, intense emotion burned behind those chocolate eyes and Annie actually felt a bit of a spark from the other Shifter. “I’ve had more than enough betrayal in my life.”

“You have my word.” Annie promised as she looked into the brunette’s eyes. Ymir intently searched the blonde’s gaze for any hint of dishonesty, finding none she relaxed again and moved over to Krista’s bunk.

“Ymir, Annie, are you two feeling alright?” Krista asked a few moments later as she walked in with Mikasa and Sasha behind her. “You both finished your dinner and shower so fast, I was worried you might not be feeling well.” Once again all four of the other girls thought they saw a divine light around the smaller blonde.

“Krista you’re so sweet.” Ymir smiled at the blonde as she patted the space next to her. “Come sit with me.” Krista did just that and squeaked cutely when Ymir wrapped her left arm around the other girl’s shoulders.

“We’re fine” Annie informed the other three girls. “Just planning to sleep a little early tonight is all.”

“Mm.” Mikasa let out a noncommittal hum as she headed for her own bunk.

“Works for me!” Sasha smiled at her bunkmates as she practically leapt into her own bunk.

-Training Grounds-

“Watching Eren again?” Ymir teased Annie as she walked up to the blonde.

“Not like that.” Annie denied the brunette her fun. If Ymir wanted a reaction she could get one from Mikasa.

In truth she often watched Eren over the last several days. How could she not, he was the key to her entire mission. The fact that the young man was becoming eye candy at a rather rapid pace, thanks to his Shifter healing allowing him to gain musculature faster, was just extra. The green-eyed teen was constantly pushing himself in training. Running further during endurance training, lifting more in strength training, and he was even picking up combat faster than most of the others. It might be a good idea to introduce herself to Eren when they eventually got paired up for sparring.

“Sure, sure, whatever you say.” Ymir smirked at the blue-eyed girl. “He’s definitely benefitting from the training though. He’ll stay my top pick among the guys if he keeps this up.”

“I thought you were all about Krista now.” Annie got her own light ribbing in.

“She’s my girl, but I’m greedy and want one of each.” Ymir snickered as she watched Eren do extra training by his own volition. “Eren just happens to be the best choice, even if I do have to share with you and Mikasa.”

“Uh huh.” Annie deadpanned and Ymir grinned.

“ODM Gear training starts tomorrow, are you worried?” Ymir gave Annie a sideways glance.

“Not really.” Annie shook her head. “It seems mostly balanced based. It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.”

“Here’s hoping.” Ymir shrugged before she turned to face the approaching Krista who was sweaty from just finishing her endurance running.

‘I’ll need to find a way to talk to Eren soon.’ Annie mused as she glanced at Ymir fawning over Krista. ‘But how do I get him to believe me?’

-Next Day ~ ODM Training-

“It’s aptitude test time, so listen up!” Shadis barked at the cadets. The man was standing in front of the tall devices that would hoist the cadets a few feet off the ground so that they could get a feel for the balance required for the ODM Gear. “There is no place for you here if you cannot perform this exercise! If you fail, then you’ll be shipped to the fields!”

Along the line of tower-like devices, multiple cadets were being tested on their ability to balance with ODM Gear. Connie was making jerky motions as he repeatedly corrected his balance to maintain an upright position. Jean was also focusing solely on keeping his balance. Slight twitches in the teen’s body, along with the occasional repositioning of his arms, showed how much effort he was putting into the exercise.

Unlike the boys, all of the girls from Barracks Three were acing the ODM Gear aptitude test. Mikasa hung in the air, perfectly upright and without any hint of strain or effort. Sasha was practically swinging on the two wires holding her off the ground. The girl from the mountain village seemingly allowing her natural instincts to take over as she kept her legs extended and her hands on her thighs with a smile. Annie, much like Mikasa, basically stood in the air without issue, looking absolutely bored by the test. Krista was swaying slightly on her feet as she balanced, the blonde’s eyes narrowed but her body mostly relaxed. Ymir dangled easily from the two wires, maintaining her upright position with enough easy that she could gaze at Krista with a little grin the whole time.

Eren, however, was completely upside down and had no idea what he’d done wrong as he hung in the air with the blood starting to rush to his head. The green-eyed teen swayed back and forth as he tried to think of what he’d done wrong. The first second or two was fine, then his weight had shifted and he was upside down. Eren wracked his brain for any idea as to what he could do to correct the problem.

“What the hell is your problem, Yeager?” Shadis roared at the upside down teen. “Straighten yourself up immediately before I kick your teeth in!”

“Yes…sir!” Eren replied even though he knew he couldn’t flip back upright from his position. Instead he simply grabbed the wires supporting him and hauled himself upright. The thick metal wire nearly tore through the skin of his hands, but Eren shoved the pain out of his mind as he pulled himself up. He managed to balance for a few seconds before he lost it and flipped upside down again. But this time he caught himself, with his hands flat on the ground, and shoved himself back upright.

“That’s a good recovery, Cadet, but not proper form!” Shadis yelled at the young man. “I hope you like farm work, because at this rate that’s where you’re headed!”

Hours later, during the rest period between training and dinner, Eren was practicing again. Mikasa and Armin were giving him advice on how to maintain his balance and posture while in the air. Eren could only maintain his posture for a few seconds before he ended up flipping each time. It was after several rounds of this that Annie, Krista, Sasha, and Ymir walked over to the trio.

“Can we help you?” Armin blinked at the four girls unsure of why they were here.

“Just coming to see what’s up.” Ymir shrugged as she watched Eren flip himself upright with his hands again.

“It seems odd that Eren is having so much trouble with this.” Krista commented on the brunette’s struggle.

“You need to relax.” Sasha smiled at Eren. “You’re tensing up too much when your balance shifts.”

“I can’t help it,” Eren tried to force himself to stay upright but had to grab the wires as he started flipping forward. “It’s like trying to walk on frozen cobblestones. Your feet just suddenly slide and you can’t do anything about it.”

“You have the right idea,” Annie spoke and Eren’s eyes met hers. “You might be overthinking it though. This isn’t about getting your footing. The ODM Gear doesn’t need you to be grounded; it needs you to be able to shift your balance from one leg to the other.”

“She’s right, Eren.” Mikasa nodded to Annie, who gave her a slight smile in return. “You lock up when your balance shifts and that’s causing part of the problem.”

“Shifting balance…” Eren looked thoughtful as he moved his legs. Right leg, left leg, right leg, left leg; he repeated the motions a few times until he felt like he’d gotten a feel for it. When he let go of the wires, he balanced, as his weight shifted, he countered it by extending the opposite leg. The counter-balancing extended his time upright by another couple of seconds. Eren felt his weight shift again and his balance faltered. He extended his opposite leg and barely managed to keep himself from flipping backwards.

“He’s getting it.” Ymir grinned at the young man.

“I still don’t get why he’s struggling so much though.” Krista looked thoughtful. “He’s doing everything right, but he’s not getting the same results as everyone else.”

“Way to go, Eren!” Sasha beamed at her fellow brunette. “You’re doing it!”

“Eren.” Mikasa also had a smile on her face. If Eren had failed, she would have followed him to the fields without hesitation. But even though she wanted to keep him safe, Mikasa knew how much becoming a soldier meant to Eren. She knew exactly how much Eren felt like he needed to do this to make his mother’s sacrifice worth it.

“Not bad, Eren.” Annie graced him with a small smile. Had the teen been able to focus on anything other than his struggle to maintain his balance, he’d have probably been a bit flustered at the attention he was receiving from the five young women.

-The Next Morning-

Eren and Drill Sergeant Shadis were engaged in a stare down. The older man’s eyes bore into Eren’s relentlessly as he judged the teen’s worth. When Eren didn’t back down and shy away from his gaze, Shadis decided to move on. He probably shouldn’t have expected it from Yeager anyway. He was Carla’s son, and Grisha was similar in mettle when he’d known the man.

“Eren Yeager, are you ready?” Shadis questioned the cadet.

“Yes sir!” Eren responded promptly with a strong voice.

“Proceed.” Shadis began the exercise and the winch was turned.

The wires were drawn upwards and pulled taunt. Eren felt himself be lifted up and his feet left the ground. Eren focused and steadied his stance. When the winch stopped pulling he extended his arms slightly and focused on his balance. Every time he felt his weight shift he would extend the opposite leg and bend the one that was faltering to counter-balance and maintain his position. Cheers rose up from the cadets at seeing the success. Any success was good for their unit’s morale after all.

Eren was just waiting for the pass from Shadis as he focused on maintaining his balance. It wasn’t until something shifted as he tried to counter-balance that Eren suddenly felt his center of gravity become upset and then he flipped completely and hung upside down again. His green-eyes were wide in horror at the thought that he might have just failed. They were going to send him to the fields!

‘I’ll be damned. He actually managed to pull it off for the required time limit. Even with broken gear. I guess he’s meant to be a soldier. I can’t keep your son out of danger, Carla, I’m sorry.’ Shadis thought to himself as he stepped forward.

“I can do this, sir!” Eren forced himself upright, not giving a damn as the wires bit into his hand and drew a little blood.

“Lower him.” Shadis looked at the man operating the winch. The man quickly had Eren back on the ground. “Cadet Wagner, exchange belts with Yeager.”

“Yes sir!” Thomas Wagner, a blonde cadet about Eren’s size saluted before quickly removing his ODM Gear belt. In a few moments Eren had Thomas’ belt on and was lifted back into the air.

“What the…?” Eren blinked at how easy it was to maintain his balance now. It barely took any thought to keep himself upright.

“Your equipment was defective.” Shadis mentioned as he held Eren’s belt in his hands. “If given a piece of functional equipment, you may not be a worthless pile of shit after all. The Quartermaster didn’t notice this broken clasp. I might have to pay a visit to the Supply Depot and crack a few skulls.” His grip tightened on the defective belt until everyone close by heard his knuckles pop. Several of the cadets sent a silent prayer to the Quartermaster and the Supply Depot personnel. “Congratulations Cadet Yeager, you actually made the cut. Now keep training!”

“Yes sir!” Eren saluted while suspended, not even upsetting his balance in the slightest. Many of the Cadets noticed this level of control and commented on it in hushed whispers.

“Looks like it worked out.” Annie spoke as she looked at the future King of Eldia. She turned her eyes to look at Mikasa.

“Yes.” The ravenette’s eyes were warm as she looked at Eren.

-Armed Combat Training-

It had been months now since the 104thCadet class had started their training. At the moment the cadets were taking turns attacking with a training knife while their partner defended. Annie watched it all with her stoic look firmly in place. The majority of the cadets weren’t taking the training seriously at all. She couldn’t really blame them though; hand to hand combat didn’t actually count towards their final grade much at all. But some of this was just sad. Jean and his partner were literally yawning as they just went through the motions of the exercise. Though watching Eren flip Reiner through the air and onto his back was amusing at least.

In the time they’d been cadets she’d made good headway in her plan to complete her mission. With Ymir on her side, Krista, Sasha, and Mikasa had become friends with her, which was still a weird thought sometimes. The girls of Barracks Three chatted, shared meals, and trained together. It had let her get closer to Eren and she couldn’t have gotten so close to him without drawing suspicion otherwise. The future King had slowly acclimated to the female attention around him and now counted all four of the young women among his friends.

Unlike Bertholdt and Reiner, she had maintained distance from most of the other cadets, but had built up a close-knit group around herself without rousing their suspicion. The only time they had questioned her about it, well Reiner questioned her at least since Bertholdt was too meek to do so, had been laughably easy to shut down their suspicions about her going native. Simply telling the burly blonde that she was acting as she was expected to among a group of girls had sufficed. Pointing out that if she completely shunned them, it would bring about curiosity and suspicion as to why she was there had shut the fool up quickly.

“Hey calm down, Ugly!” Connie shouted as he picked himself up off the ground from where Ymir had tossed him. Honestly that was just an unfair match up. Connie was short for a guy, Ymir was tall for a girl, the reach she had on him made it very difficult for the buzz-cut boy to do anything against the girl.

‘And there he goes.’ Annie suppressed a smirk as she watched Eren take a few quick steps to get within arms’ reach of Connie from behind. The short teen took a blow to the back of the head and hunched down while cradling his new lump. Seriously, would Connie ever learn not to call Ymir that? This had to be the sixth or seventh time Eren had punched the other cadet for insulting Ymir. ‘Very loyal to his friends and might be starting to show interest in all five of us.’ Annie mused as Eren demanded that Connie apologize. When the teen did so, Ymir had simply smirked down at him before giving Eren a flirty wink and made a kissing motion with her lips. Eren still froze up slightly when she did that kind of stuff, it was almost cute.

“Leonhardt, I don’t care how advanced you are in hand to hand, you’re not skipping out on training.” Shadis spoke up from behind the blonde. “Partner up with Yeager if you’re just going to watch him anyway.”

“Yes sir.” Annie replied with a flat tone. She made her way over to Eren quickly so as to get the man’s attention off of her.

“Annie?” Eren blinked when the blonde girl walked up to him. “What’s up?”

“Instructor Shadis’ orders, we’re supposed to pair up.” Annie informed him with a look that was warmer than what she gave to others outside of their little circle.

“Alright, fine with me.” Eren gave her a small smirk. “Do you want to go first?”

“Come at me.” Annie took her stance against him. Eren lunged forward at impressive speed, but Annie swung a powerful kick into his shin and sent him collapsing into the dirt.

“Ow, fuck.” Eren grumbled as he held his shin for a few seconds before trying to stand up. He quickly found out he couldn’t put weight on his right leg at the moment. “Really need to learn those moves of yours sometime, Annie. They’re impressive.” He tossed her the wooden knife and the blonde caught it easily.

“Maybe,” Annie shrugged as Eren was able to stand up again without trouble. She wondered if he realized just how fast he healed. He never made a mention of it, but the kick she’d just hit him with should have left him unable to walk for at least an hour or so. “Let’s be honest though, only fools take this training seriously.” She was suddenly in his guard and Eren barely reacted in time to stop the wooden knife from touching his chest.

“Fast.” Eren grunted as he held back her arms as she tried to thrust the training knife into his sternum. As always he felt a slight jolt within —sort of like getting a static shock— when he came in contact with Annie. It happened every time though, so he’d put it out of his mind a while back.

“The first thing you should know about the military, Eren,” Annie leaned in closer to him. “Is that the better you are at killing, the further away the powers-that-be want you from them. That’s what this whole farce of hand to hand training is about.”

“Whatever you say!” Eren grit his teeth as he turned and dragged Annie along by her arm. He was planning to flip her —much like he’d done to Reiner— but Annie wasn’t having it. She pivoted on her heel and kicked his foot out from under him. Eren hit the ground back first with a cough. He felt Annie straddle his torso and that gave him just enough warning to block her arms and prevent her from stabbing him in the throat with the dummy knife.

“You don’t win by fighting the nature of things on their terms.” Annie looked into Eren’s green-eyes with her cool blue. “Look around you Eren, all the sons of bitches really expect us to do is play the game. Don’t be a pawn.”

“What?” Eren questioned as they held the struggle for a bit longer. “Who’s a pawn?”

“Exactly,” Annie’s eyes filled with warmth for him. “Don’t be a pawn, be a king instead.” With that she ended their stalemate and stood up. Eren sat up without thinking and put himself nearly at eye-level with the blonde’s waist. His face was suddenly very close to her most intimate area. It only lasted for a moment before Annie stepped back and Eren blinked when he thought he saw a smile on Annie’s lips before she turned to walk away.

‘I’ve been so fixated on building myself up that I didn’t see it before.’ Eren thought as he stood up and looked at Annie’s retreating back. His eyes naturally drifted down to her ass, as they often did when he was behind her for any reason. He snapped himself out of it as he looked around at the other cadets. ‘Annie is absolutely right. They’re not honing their skills to fight. They’re honing their skill to run away.’ He clenched his fist at the realization. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be!

“I know, okay, and I’m not saying it’s right. But it is the way things are.” Armin replied over dinner at their table. The boys were the first to sit down and Eren had asked Armin about what Annie had shown him today. What the blonde had opened his eyes to at least. “Those who could potentially be dangerous are kept away from the nobles and other higher ups in the interior. It is odd that the best at combat are sent off to the edge of the Walls, or outside of them in the case of the Survey Corp, but it’s what happens from how I understand it.”

“Doesn’t that seem off to you though?” Eren questioned his best friend. “It’s like they don’t care about retaking Wall Maria or anything. Why are they so content to just stay behind the Walls forever?”

“I honestly don’t know.” Armin shook his head. Behind his eyes his intelligent mind was still trying to puzzle out the higher up’s long-term plans. Eren and Annie weren’t the only ones that found the assignments of certain troops odd. Not to mention the current system’s lackadaisical attitude towards trying to reclaim their lost territory.

“What’s got you two all serious-faced?” Sasha questioned as she sat down next to Armin with her food. She was followed by Mikasa, who took the seat to Eren’s right, Ymir who sat next to Armin with Krista on her opposite side, and Annie who sat on Eren’s left.

“We’re just thinking about things. You know, like why the higher ups don’t seem very interested in trying to take back Wall Maria.” Eren shrugged and Sasha looked thoughtful.

“It would be good to get our territory back.” Sasha commented with a grin. “Then we could keep more sheep, pigs, and cows again!” The brunette began to giggle and drool slightly before refocusing on her food.

‘Typical Sasha.’ Eren grinned at the eating girl. Trust her to see the benefits to her stomach about most any situation.

“Knock it off Marco,” Jean spoke to Marco loud enough for those at Eren’s table to overhear him. “Honor doesn’t have any damn part of it. You just want a nice cushy job in the interior playing glorified sentry.”

“Listen to you,” Eren tsked at the other brunette. “Interior? Five years ago this place was considered part of the interior.”

“You got a point to make?” Jean questioned as Eren took a drink from his mug. “I’m right here.”

“Poor Jean, so misguided.” Eren mocked the other teen. “I’m not sure your bloated ego could fit in the interior anyway.”

“Very funny,” Jean’s eye twitched as he heard the snickering of those from nearby tables.

“Seems a little backwards to me,” Eren remarked as the two began to glare at each other. “Fine-tuning your Titan killing skills just so the Brass will station you somewhere that you’ll never see one?”

“You’d rather I was good at getting killed? Thanks, but I’ll pass.” Jean retorted with a sneer. “Better to play the system than get gnawed on.”

“You son of a bitch!” Eren stood to his feet. It wasn’t exactly a secret that his mother had died in Shiganshina on the day of the breach.

“Bring it on you little bastard!” Jean stood up and left his seat entirely.

“Eren, please.” Mikasa had a hold of Eren’s sleeve as she kept him from leaving his seat entirely.

“You honestly believe the Military Police are going to take you to the good life?” Eren tsked at the other teen. His green eyes seemed to have an inner light to them as he stared Jean down. “You’re not a soldier, you’re a joke.” He practically spat the words at Jean as he stared him down.

Unseen by anyone, Annie shivered in her seat. A pleasant tingle had just run up her spine as she watched Eren give Jean a dressing down. This was what she wanted to see from Eren. This was what she was trying to build up within him every time they talked and interacted with any short bit of privacy they could get. This was the bearing of a King! The power to remind an unruly subject of their place with mere words and presence alone!

The collective tension in the Mess Hall eased when Jean backed down and returned to his seat. Annie had to force herself not to bite her lip at what she had just witnessed. She was supposed to find a new king for Eldia. That was her mission and she would complete it with Eren. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t be attracted to him and the strength he exuded, right? Looking across the table she saw that she wasn’t the only one feeling a little enamored. Ymir was lightly panting with her eyes fixed on Eren.

The door to the Mess Hall creaked open and the terrifying visage of Shadis was half-seen behind it. The tension in the room just spiked to ten times what it had been when Jean and Eren were having their stare down. Mikasa pulled Eren back into his seat quickly and then placed her hand on his arm.

“Would someone care to tell me what all the yelling is about?” Shadis demanded in a cold tone that sent shivers down the back of many of the cadets.

“Just an argument that got a little too loud, Commandant.” Ymir spoke up after raising her hand. “It was settled without coming to blows.”

“As it should be.” Shadis’ tone was like the grave, cold and final. “If you can’t eat in peace, then you can lose your dinner privileges, am I understood?”

“Sir, yes sir!” The entire Mess Hall chorused as one.

“That’s what I thought.” Shadis stated before leaving the Hall and slamming the door behind him.

No one moved for almost a solid minute after the Head Instructor left.

The rest of dinner was a quiet affair with conversations had in hushed tones.

-End Chapter-

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Training and an Ally gained. Annie and Ymir will work together. Now, they just need enough time alone to tell Eren everything. They need a secluded place to show him their Shifter powers and get him to realize that he has them too. They still have a bit over two years of training left. They’ll need to find the right place and time.

How will Annie and Ymir build up their allies?

Will Annie reveal the method to make more Shifters?

How will they keep it secret so that the power doesn’t fall into the current regime’s hands?

So much cloak and dagger stuff in the future before they can usurp the throne and make Eren the King of Eldia.

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!