The Empire of Titans Chapter 21 (A Monster with Tears) (Patreon)

"Which one of you holds the Founding Titan?" A bearded man wearing glasses and shabby dark hair interrupted their prayer.

Lady Reiss looked the most bewildered of all. And it truly was bewildering how a common man from some forsaken corner of Wall Maria could have gotten there.

"Who are you?!" Urklyn ran to shield his mother from the mysterious stranger. Florian, Abel, and Dirk all took refuge behind their brother. Lord Reiss seemed to recognize this stranger's threat more than anyone, so he took several steps back against the chapel's crystal walls.

Only one of the daughters remained still, unfazed by his raid.

She had black hair and big blue eyes, just like her cowardly father. Grisha wondered if, by any chance, it could be her.

"My name is Grisha Yeager. I have come to..."

"Go back to where you came from, Grisha Yeager. There's no room for sinners like you here. This is a holy ritual, and we are at prayer, as you can see." cried out Frieda, stepping past even Urklyn. Her calm and poised demeanor gave her away in Grisha's eyes.

Karl Fritz's will had taken over hers, beyond a doubt.

"Do you have any idea of what's going on out there!? Wall Maria has fallen! If you truly hold the power of the Founder, then you have to use it to save your people and rid the world of titans!" He was beside himself, but the young woman in front of him wouldn't flinch nor acknowledge his point.

"I shall do no such thing. There is no salvation for us for the things we have done. If retribution comes for us, then we shall welcome it with open arms." She spread her arms right then. The long and smooth sleeves of her robe made her look like an angel.

"Are you out of your mind!? This is Marley coming for us, you and me both!"

The Reisses exchanged puzzled, frightened looks as they cowered together into a shivering embrace.

A realization dawned on Frieda just then. "Ah... It seems you still have your memories, Grisha Yeager. And it must be because you are not from here. You must be the spawn of the unworthy who didn't make it to Paradis when the Walls were built." Disgust and loathing twisted her facial features.

She didn't look so pretty anymore. It was like someone else had taken hold of her body and was speaking in her voice now.

"Frieda! Kill him!" She could hear Urklyn urging her a few steps behind. Mother and Father were too scared even to speak, and so were the little ones.

The Reiss woman turned back to look at her family. "No need to worry. Just stay back. It will be over soon. I will protect you."

"If you won't comply with my plea, then you leave me no choice, Frieda Reiss." The dark-haired man went from hysterical to pale and cold. It was a fearsome change to behold.

"I have people I have to protect too."

The silver glimmer of a blade, a wound that drew blood. A powerful lightning bolt scythed the air, and then the thunderous roar of a titan followed.

Frieda witnessed the whole scene like she wasn't new to it. She took one more step forth toward her opponent and bit her own hand.

Krista woke up sweating. They were back at the Training Corps. She touched her forehead; her skin felt hot and full of sweat; she tried to catch her breath, but she couldn't understand why she was having these dreams. Krista thought the woman in her dreams seemed very familiar, as if she had met before, yet she couldn't quite put the finger on it. The man's last name was Yeager! Was he Eren's father, she thought, remembering that Eren told them that his parents were dead.

After a minute of trying to calm herself, she looked around to see her friends sleeping; Ymir's bed was closest to hers, followed by Mikasa, Mina, Sasha, Annie, and a few others.

Krista smiled, seeing her friend sleeping with a smile. A part of her wondered what it would be like to... her face turned red before she could even finish that thought; Krista's head hit the pillow, closed her eyes; it would be better to fall asleep after minutes of shifting around, the sleep wasn't coming! A second later, she felt a hand touching her naked shoulder.

She almost screamed when a hand covered her mouth, muffling her screams; opening her eyes, she sighed in relief to see Ymir above her, the tall girl looking at her with dark eyes, making Krista look away, feeling embarrassed.

"Y-Ymir, what are you doing?" Krista questioned after Ymir moved her hand away. The tall girl smirked deviously; Krista wasn't sure if she liked or not the situation she was in but couldn't help but lick her lips at the sight of her dear friend.

"I have been awake for almost an hour now. Tell me, are you alright?" Ymir answered, forcing the blonde girl to look at her.

Krista looked away for a moment, trying to move her hand away, feeling her heart pounding in her throat. "I-I- just a stupid dream, Ymir, nothing to concern yourself with," Krista answered, her tone barely a whisper, hoping the other girls weren't awake and seeing Ymir on top of her!

Ymir could tell Krista was lying through her teeth but didn't want to bother her, and Ymir knew if Krista wanted to tell her, she would have.

"Are you jealous that I fucked Eren?" Ymir suddenly asked out of nowhere. Krista looked back at her with widened eyes, her face turning redder by the second.

"Y-Ymir, stop it," she stuttered out. Sometimes she liked Ymir's blunt personality, but sometimes she really didn't know how to choose her words. Someone can't just say something like that out of nowhere.

"Ohhh, is my little Krista, Jealous? Don't worry, darling. You will always be my favorite," Ymir said teasingly, kissing Krista's cheeks, who tried to hide that it felt good.

Morning

Eren woke up, letting out a loud yawn; he felt refreshed and ready to fight everything on his way; looking at the window, the sun was beginning to rise, and he figured he had time to wear his clothes before Shadis barged inside to wake them up and remind them how worthless they were.

Surprisingly, two hours passed, and now Eren wasn't the only one awake; so were Armin, Jean, Reiner, and many others, and Eren knew he wasn't the only one who was surprised that Keith hadn't come to wake them up yet, silence had fallen over the boy's domain, except a few small talk between some of the cadets.

"Do you think something has happened?" Connie voiced out his concern; the others looked at him with uncertainty, except for Armin, who shook his head.

"Doubt it, yesterday he looked just fine, hell, he looked, ahhh, more alive than usual," Armin replied with a tilt of his head. A few chuckled at his words; Jean nodded along.

"Yeah, maybe there's some kind of special training today," he suggested; the others looked to agree with him. Eren was about to suggest simply going outside and seeing for themselves when...

The door opened, but it wasn't Keith who entered, except someone who, much to the surprise of everyone, was wearing the cloak of the scouts. This was noticed by everyone, especially Eren, who stood up with a broad smile to see a Scout right in front of him.

He was a man of average height with a slightly darker skin tone. He wore a short crop of brown hair that was kept to a point on the back of his head. His attire consisted of a short light brown leather jacket with the badge of the Survey Corps on both shoulders, on the front left pocket and on the center of the back, a light-colored shirt, a dark brown sash around the waist covering the hips, white pants, and dark brown knee-high leather boots.

"Everyone outside right now. Instructor Keith is waiting for all of you," he shouted at everyone; some who were still sleeping fell from their beds in fear that it was Shadis yelling at them.

"Sir, where's Instructor Shadis?" Armin asked, standing up from his bed, stepping forward, asking what everyone was wondering, except Eren, who recognized the man in front of them as one of the few scouts that fought him back then when he had caught the girl in his hand.

"He's outside. Now, everyone out," he ordered, this time much louder; some winced at the loud tone, rubbing their ears. Once the door closed, Eren needed to wear his boots before walking outside. Armin and the others followed him.

"What do you think is happening?" Reiner asked, his eyes looking at his comrades; Bertholdt looked nervous, his eyes scanning the area as if he was afraid that someone would attack them out of nowhere, something Armin noted on his mind.

"Who knows, maybe the Scouts have heard about the undying love that Eren has for them," Jean said sarcastically with a little smirk; Marco rolled his eyes, everyone expected Eren to say something, but instead, Eren kept quiet for a minute.

"I doubted it, Jean, and if anything, they should take you. They must have heard of your incredible ability to hide and run away. You would be the perfect bait," Eren countered with a smirk; Jean groaned, and the others snickered except the tall guy, who kept looking around anxiously.

Arriving at the place where they had the first instruction two years ago, Eren saw the man who was in their domain; beside him was a girl he recognized right away.

Shit, he cursed his luck; he remembered her as Petra, the girl in Levi's team and the same girl he had caught in his Titan form. Eren knew there was no way she would recognize him; it was not like his Titan form had 'Eren' written on the forehead with big red letters!

Eren took a deep breath to calm himself; Armin beside him seemed to have noticed how nervous Eren was, but his attention was on something else.

"Eren, if they're here, shouldn't captain Levi be here as well," Armin whispered to his friend; his eyes found Mina, who smiled sweetly at him, making Armin smile in return with a flushed face.

"Maybe, but keep quiet right now," Eren whispered with a little shrug; his eyes noticed the two scouts had their ODM Gear and ready to use at any moment. Mikasa walked up to him, and so did Ymir and Krista, Sasha was beside Mikasa, and Annie was alone but often glancing at Eren with curiosity.

As the cadets were discussing amongst each other what was happening, some even asked the two scouts, but Petra and her friend kept quiet.

Soon Keith walked up in front of the group of Cadets, the two scouts now standing behind him.

Letting out a fake cough, the whole attention was on him. "Everyone, today we will have a special type of training that has never been done before," he started; many of the cadets started talking amongst each other, wondering what this new training was about...

"Now, with the help of the Scouting Legion, they have successfully captured a Titan from beyond the wall," Keith continued. This made many cadets shift uncomfortably, some already shaking in fear, some hugging the nearest person. Three cadets, in particular, had their eyes wide open.

"What the hell is the meaning of this? What are you fools thinking? You want to get all of us killed?" Samuel shouted, looking at the two scouts behind Keith, whose faces changed slightly, looking slightly nervous, especially Petra. Many nodded along with Samuel; Eren was astonished hearing that; he wondered if, by any chance, they had somehow found the truth that Titans had been human all along.

"QUIET!" Shadis shouted at the top of his lungs, and many backed away, almost falling on their butts at the glare Keith was giving everyone. His eyes scanned for anyone dumb enough to talk; his eyes briefly flickered at Carla's son, whose face was as cold as snow.

Seeing that no one was talking, Keith continued. "The Titan has been chained and secured. I checked it myself; he couldn't move a muscle except for his mouth. He's no threat unless you decide to stick your head inside its mouth," his words made many sighs in relief, and their relief quickly turned to anger. Jean glanced at Eren, expecting to see pure rage, but instead, he looked as calm as ever, something that really caught him off guard, knowing Eren he had expected him to curse or something, but not complete silence.

"He will be brought here an hour later, so you have time to mentally prepare for what you are about to see. I know for the majority of you, this is the first time seeing one. As I said, he's secured, and the Squad led by Captain Levi himself will be here to ensure your safety." Keith added, a determined look formed on Eren's face; this could be an excellent opportunity to finally talk with someone high in the Survey Corps and introduce himself to Erwin Smith.

Keith's words made many relax, and hearing that an entire squad would come and ensure their safety made many relax. Eren spotted Franz hugging Hannah close; he was saying something to her, his arms around her shoulder to make her feel better.

"After an hour. I want everyone here; there will be no excuses. I don't care if your leg is broken or you're dying from sickness. Everyone is required to come here. Failure to do so will result in the person being dropped from Training Corps immediately. No exceptions!" Keith finished, his voice booming like a gun; many shuddered at the thought of failing the entire Training Corps just because they didn't want to see a Titan, chained or not. Many thought that wasn't fair.

Eren looked behind his shoulders; Krista looked a little insecure; their eyes met; he smiled brightly at her, making the poor blonde flush, something noticed by Sasha, who wondered what she was doing wrong.

One Hour Later

The entire training corps were saluting, forming a long line, with a second line behind the first; everyone could see what was in front of them, now knowing the time was drawing closer, made many start feeling tense and having second thoughts.

Eren kept his eyes forward and stoic; an hour ago, Sasha and Krista had approached him asking if he was alright; he had told them he was okay before asking them if they were doing okay, especially knowing that they would soon see a Titan.

Many asked why they even needed to see one. Armin, as usual, reasoned that it was to prepare them somehow in case they ever faced a Titan. This made many moan loudly, saying they were joining the Military or the Garrison for this very reason. To never see a Titan.

Silence had fallen over the entire line of cadets; no one dared to say a word; some were already sweating, their faces pale from fear, almost like snow.

The sound of wheels made many turn their heads, and all of them saw the large wooden gate open, showing what could be described as a creature from hell.

Some of the cadets felt lightheaded, their vision fuzzy. As the large wooden platform with wheels was getting closer, everyone's eyes were glued to the Titan chained at the top of the wooden platform. Chains and spikes secured its arms and legs; even the fingers were chained. The Titan was in a kneeling position, his empty eyes looking back at the cadets.

Eren heard some of the cadets faint from fear, but he didn't bother looking, his eyes not leaving the Titan, who was a six-meter titan; for some reason, he had expected a much larger one.

Ymir, who was beside him in the front line, couldn't help but feel as if the Titan was familiar; her eyes narrowed, hoping her gut feeling was wrong.

Keith looked disappointed at the cadets who fainted. He walked to the right side of the wooden platform, not wanting to be in front of the big smelly mouth.

Eren saw Captain Levi's squad, including Levi himself, walking up to stand just behind the wooden platform. From his height, everyone could tell which one was Levi.

Levi was short, straight black hair styled in an undercut, as well as narrow, intimidating steel blue eyes with dark circles under them and a deceptively youthful face. His face was expressionless; his extremely calm demeanor often made it difficult for Eren to guess what he was thinking.

He was wearing his Scout Regiment uniform, with a light gray button-up shirt underneath, along with his trademark white ascot.

Beside him was Petra. She was a relatively short woman with shoulder-length light ginger hair that had bangs swept to the left side and amber-colored eyes.

She wore the typical uniform of a member of the Scout Regiment with a white button-up shirt underneath. Beside her was a blonde male.

He has brown eyes and long blond hair, which has a middle parting and a bun folded at the back to keep his hair tied. He also has a small beard. He has small brown eyes and a serious face. Like most other Scout Regiment members, he was wearing a green cloak with The Wings of Freedom emblem on the back.

Another one had a much older appearance than his peers, having more pronounced wrinkles despite being implied to be around the same age as his teammates. He had slightly curly, light brown hair styled in an undercut and small hazel eyes. He wore the standard Scout Regiment uniform, as well as a cravat, and his eyebrows were often pulled down in a condescending manner, similar to Levi's. The other member was the one who had woken up the boys; Petra had woken up the female cadets.

"Very well, as you can see, this is the Titan. I want everyone to get a better look." Keith suggested but more like ordering them. His hand pointed at the Titan, who, for a moment, looked like it was about to fall asleep.

Many cadets shared uncertain looks with each other; for a moment, it seemed no one wanted to approach, they knew it was chained, but the thing was four times larger than any of them when one stepped forward.

Keith felt a little bit of pride to see Carla's boy approaching, but much to his surprise, Eren's eyes were filled with sadness; he had expected many things, rage and anger, but not sadness.

Eren walked up to the Titan, whose eyes focused on Eren, now standing one meter away; Keith stood in hand-grabbing range in case Eren made any sudden moves so that he could stop him.

The Titan looked back at Eren, its empty eyes looking at him with hunger, opening his big mouth, shutting it tightly, but catching nothing but empty air.

"I wonder who you were?" Eren whispered, making sure no one heard him. The Titan didn't react to his words. Not seeing a reason to stick around, Eren turned around and started walking back to the others.

"Brat, what is your name?" Eren turned to see Captain Levi addressing him. His cold eyes almost made Eren stiff where he was.

Saluting almost instinctively. "My name is Eren Yeager," he said proudly. The captain did not react; he simply gestured for him to keep going.

Back at the row of cadets, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie were watching Eren. Well, Annie was; Reiner and the tall one were looking at the chained titan and whispering to each other about what to do next.

"This is bad, Annie, if they find-" "Quite you fool, do you want everyone to hear you?" Annie scolded him with a cold glare, Reiner didn't back away from her glare, but he stopped talking, knowing she was making a good point. They were surrounded by cadets, only one of them needed to hear them, and their cover would be blown away. If that happened, Reiner knew they would need to run away and probably kill everyone by doing so.

"Strange! I thought Eren would be furious; I wonder why he didn't- you know, lash out!" Bertholdt pointed out, watching Eren say something to Mikasa. Reiner nodded, seeing that his friend was right; everyone knew that Eren hated Titans, and to see him walk towards one and not try to kill it, was baffling, to say the least!

"Who knows, perhaps he is growing up," Reiner replied with a little shrug, not really paying much attention to Eren; Annie's eyes narrowed at Eren. She knew for sure something was going on here.

One by one, the cadets looked at the Titan from a close distance like Eren; some got so afraid that they almost puked right there in front of the instructor. Sasha was fearful but gained enough strength to approach the chained Titan.

Jean wasn't that afraid, but he almost looked lost when he approached the thing. A part of him was trying to picture something like that, but the size of a building and not chained.

Marco had a nervous smile all the time; Krista surprisingly didn't show fear; she walked up to the Titan with surprising confidence, much to Ymir's delight. The blonde girl had seen Eren's titan. This puny titan was a toddler compared to Eren's Titan.

But everything changed when it was Ymir's turn. The closer the tall girl got, the more nervous she felt, not because of the Titan, she wasn't afraid, but she couldn't help but feel as if she had this Titan before, but she couldn't quite remember it.

The moment she stood one meter away from his big mouth, the Titan's eyes went to Ymir's face; his blank empty eyes turned sad as if it's going to cry. Something Ymir and Keith noticed. Stepping back, The Titan started releasing grunts, trying to move his arms and legs; the wooden platform started creaking, and many cadets began backing away in fear of the thing escaping.

Levi's hand went to his swords, eyeing the girl and the nasty thing. His moves got more violent; the chains started moving around.

"I-Is going to Escape!" One shouted in fear, running away, quickly followed by a small group of cadets. Seeing the opportunity, Reiner quickly told Annie and Bertholdt to follow him. They needed to talk right now and far away from everyone.

Opening his mouth wide, he released a loud grunt, almost like a roar, his eyes welling up with tears, slowly rolling down his cheeks.

"T-The thing is Crying!!" Jean pointed out, despite every part of his body telling him to run away to safety, he forced himself to stand his ground. Eren saw those things. I should not show fear, he thought, clenching his teeth; now a part of him understood why Eren hated the damn things.

"S-Su-Sub-Subject-" his words whisper, almost without meaning, but Levi and his squad heard them, and so did Keith and Ymir, whose eyes widened in shock. Keith looked at the tall girl from the corner of his eyes, wondering why the Titan was acting like this in her presence.

Eren wondered why they looked shocked he hadn't heard the Titan speaking; to them, it sounded more like grunts. Armin noticed that Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie were gone, wondering why? Levi's squad prepared to cut down the thing; Ymir wasn't sure if they wanted to kill the titan or her.

Not wanting to stay any longer, Ymir turned around to walk back to the others when the Titan whispered, this time more comprehensibly.

"Lady Ymir. Welcome."