The Empire of Titans

Eren

He stood motionless, still holding his father's eyeglasses, the rain pouring down on his face, his coat still on the ground, half of his father's body only two feet away from him, the blood spreading around the ground.

Eren didn't know what he was feeling anymore; he felt...nothing, a part of him still not believing what happened to him, was that a dream? He thought as he kept holding the eyeglasses of his father.

Suddenly his head felt like splitting in two, the pain unbearable, as he remembered his father's words.

Read the letters after you wake up; they will explain everything I wasn't able to.

Eren's eyes slowly moved to the letters sticking out of his father's coat pocket. Putting his hand on his eyes, he shook his head in denial; his father explained to him how a Titan shifter's power could be passed down to someone else. Was that really the only way? Eren thought, feeling his eyes welling up with tears.

He thought of his mother, the image of the smiling titan biting down on her, the image of her legs sticking out of her giant teeth, the dammed titan smiling.

Titans were people that were punished by Marley to endlessly walk around Paradis until they were either killed or eat a titan shifter.

Eren's mind went to the person, whoever they were before transformed into a titan. Did they feel and see everything they did without being able to stop themselves? Eren didn't know. In a way, he felt terrible for the trapped people and became Titans.

The True King erased our memories using the Founding Titan, making everyone believe that we are the last of humanity and that Titans have devoured everyone outside the walls, Eren remember his father explaining why everyone thought that they were the last of humanity, feeling rage for the King, making them all his slaves, making everyone that the future was blank and punishing everyone that dared to do or read anything that was about the outside world.

The powers of the Ymir's Titan were split into nine Titans, The Founding Titan, War-Hammer Titan, The Colossal Titan, The Armor Titan, The Beast Titan, The Cart Titan, The Jaw Titan, The Female Titan, and The Attack Titan.

Eren remembered the ugly face looking down on them, the colossal titan, that's how people had started calling him, and the Armor Titan who broke down the second gate like it was nothing, not caring in the slightest about the people they would kill by doing that.

Eren now understood someone had destroyed the walls, someone who could turn into a titan; the boy didn't know who it was, but he would make sure to make them pay for what they did; he would make everyone responsible pay for what happened to his family.

Suddenly Eren felt dizzy, everything blurry in front of him, his face hit the muddy ground; he didn't even hear the footsteps coming closer, only a gasp of shock.

"What Happened Here?" Shadis exclaimed; seeing the boy, Eren lying on the ground made him feel terrible, but seeing half of a body made his stomach twist, and his heart fell into the deepest of hells.

Grisha, he thought grimly, recognizing the clothes on his body, what was left of them; he immediately looked around, thinking someone had attacked them, but couldn't see anyone anywhere; the only thing left was the burned ground around the boy, especially a nearby tree that looked ready to fall, due to its medium body half missing, as if someone took a big chunk out of it.

His eyes fell on the poor boy who wasn't moving; I'm sorry, Grisha, he thought, feeling his heart breaking all over again for his friend; his mind suddenly reminded how he had left in the middle of his wedding, like a coward just because he had been jealous for his friend.

Shadis walked up to Eren, who in one hand was holding his father's glasses, and in the other, he was holding the inner part of his father's coat.

Shadis used the coat to cover him before picking him up and holding him in his arms; he would make sure to call the MP later; perhaps they could get to the bottom of this and make whoever did this pay. Shadis's mind went to bandits; everyone knew since Wall Maria fell, they were bandits everywhere, lying to the survivors that they would offer food in exchange for doing something for them, only to kill them and rob them of whatever they had.

Shadis surprisingly couldn't see a single thing indicating that they were robbed, and if they were, why did they leave Eren alive, any other case he had heard, they would kill everyone they robbed or kidnap the kids to sell them as slaves later.

Everything around him was burned; every piece of grass was burned, and some of the trees had clear signs of being burned, or at least that's what Shadis thought.

Holding the boy in his arms, Shadis looked down on Eren, his face peaceful, sleeping quietly; I hope he's having good dreams, Shadis thought; he hoped the boy wouldn't dream of what happened to Carla. He knew many scouts who were hunted by nightmares of Titans, Shadis himself had seen nightmares of Titans cornering him before eating him slowly; he would usually wake up just as the Titan was closing his mouth.

If only I had been there to help, I could have done something; my life would actually mean something, but I was never special; I wasn't like you, Grisha, nor like Erwin or Levi; no, I'm just an ordinary person, he thought walking through the forest, soon reaching the camp where the people left from Shiganshina were sleeping.

Barely any place left forced them to sleep close to each other, and using only one blanket to lay on and cover themselves with it; many were clearly feeling cold.

Shadis looked at Eren again; his face was too much like his mother's; he wondered if this boy would be like Carla or Grisha. Will he be special? Or just a bystander? Right now, he didn't know the answer to that; Grisha believed his son was special, but what if he was wrong?

One thing Keith knew, after what happened to Eren's mother, he knew the boy most likely would want to join the Survey Corps; Keith, at that moment, decided that he would make sure himself if Eren was special or just like everyone else.

He wouldn't allow him to throw his life away if he wasn't; Carla, your son will be safe, whenever he lives as a Proud soldier of Survey Corps or as a farmer somewhere, he will live, Shadis thought, soon arriving where his friends were sleeping, he put him down on the mattress where he was asleep before, covering him.

Shadis walked away without looking back; the time would soon come for Eren to be under his care.

Annie

Three guys and one girl were busily arranging the plans for the next day, while a lone female sat off to the side, apparently undisturbed by their chat. "I'm curious about them all. Is it possible that they're all devils?" As the three guys continued to converse, the girl gazed up at the horizon, deep in concentration. "Marley says they are all devils, if that's true. This won't be easy." Marcel murmured, his voice trembling with apprehension. He hadn't given any attention to the kind of individuals who may be waiting for them inside the walls.

"What are you talking about? Everyone knows they are devils; they are devils that deserve to be punished for what their ancestors did, unlike us who are honorable Marleyans," Reiner boasted with a voice that was really annoying to Annie; she just rolled her eyes at his words, it was known that he was way too loyal to Marley, if they asked, he would gladly kiss the ground they stepped on, that's how deep his loyalty resides in his heart.

"Annie, you're not speaking much tonight, are you okay? Is everything alright?" Bertholt, one of the boys who inquired, looked at her with a tinge of anxiety. Annie never really spoke to anybody; Pieck was the only fighter with whom she had a solid friendship, but she wasn't with them.

Annie hardly looked at him; she didn't want to speak to any of them; it wasn't like she was friends with any of them; they were just a group of Warriors sent to slaughter thousands of people for no apparent reason.

Reiner scowled at her when he didn't get a response, his face moving closer to where she was, irritating her even more, particularly his awful breath. "Are you going to be ready for tomorrow?" He asked with a tone as if he was interrogating her instead of just asking kindly.

Annie's eyes became even colder; if looks could kill, the gods themselves would perish under her gaze. She decided to answer the question after seeing the two other boys gazing at her as well.

"Of course, I'll be ready. And I'm OK, just thinking," she responded flatly, gazing across at the boy before returning her gaze to the sky.

"Okay, we're all going to retire to our beds. You should also get some sleep." Bertholdt spoke enthusiastically, but his voice trembled slightly, earning a deadpan look from Reiner.

"Is just in my head; there's nothing to be worried about; we've planned this out," she said quietly to herself. She shifted back and forth before finding a comfortable position to sleep. Now alone, her mind was free to go whatever she wanted, but simply not going anywhere; she didn't know why she was even doing this; she had no family waiting for her back home, no one to make proud with what she was doing, true she had her "father." Still, calling him one would be an offense to the actual fathers who care about their children; he simply used her to have a higher status, sending her to become a warrior, not caring how hard the training was, and most importantly, she now only had thirteen years left to live in this world. But his last parting words still made her blood boil.

"Make our motherland proud, don't disappoint me, girl, or there will be serious punishment for you."

A scowl escaped her mouth; why was it so hard to be a normal girl with a normal family. "Will I ever have anyone in my life who truly cares about me?" She asked herself quietly but did not find any answers.

Tomorrow

The following day started normal, but a Pure Titan suddenly attacked them; Marcel sacrificed himself to save the worthless Reiner, who ran away the moment the titan who devoured Marcel.

Annie saw Bertholdt and Reiner immediately running away as the pure titan ran away into the forest deep.

Annie seeing she was left alone, followed them; she couldn't do anything alone; at that moment, she knew they were screwed; they had just lost the Jaw Titan.

*****

"AAAHHHH," Reiner screamed in horror before turning around, sighing in relief to see Annie and Bertholdt running towards him; he relaxed slightly, knowing it wasn't another pure titan.

"This... was... the first time... you won against me... in a foot race," Annie said, her breathing labored.

Bertholdt slumped down, desperately trying to catch his breath, his face pale like snow, the image of Marcel dying still fresh in his mind.

"If you two had just stayed, we would be able to take Jaw back, but instead, you two started running away like cowards leaving me alone, forcing me to follow you two," Annie spouted at his face, her face angry, before relaxing slightly, turning around, walking in the opposite direction.

"Let's go; this is over. We should go back to Marley. We are leaderless; we can't continue this mission," Annie decided; this whole situation was hopeless, she knew her guardian wouldn't be happy with her results, but at this point, she didn't really care anymore.

"Wait" Reiner exclaimed in terror; his face had lost all the color, looking more like a corpse.

"We can't go back; we have a mission to complete. We can't go back to Marley empty-handed and without Jaw on top of that," Reiner screamed frantically towards Annie, who didn't look concerned in the slightest; Bertholdt was simply looking between his friends, feeling the tension rising in the air.

Annie finally turned her face to Reiner, furious at him. "This is your problem. I don't care if they decide to give your Armor Titan to anyone else; this is not my problem," Annie spoke coldly before whirling around and deciding to leave...

"H-How do you know; You won't Be Punished," Reiner shouted at her; this made her stop walking, turning to Reiner, who had a small smirk on his face.

"We can't find the Jaw right now; what if whoever ate Marcel decides to attack us. We need to go to the wall; we need to get the Founder; Bertholt can kick open the gate," Reiner continued, completely ignoring the furious look of Annie.

"Huh?! No one can use their titan on the first try," Bertholdt said in confusion.

"Says the boy who used it on the First Try," Reiner shouted, angry at him, before turning his focus to an approaching Annie, holding her face down.

Thinking she had agreed with him, Reiner spread out his hands, but receiving a fist in the face, falling against the ground, Annie started kicking his face, again, and again, and again, breaking his nose and jaw, his face bloody.

Reiner barely heard what she spouted, only when she stopped kicking his face, seeing her walk away, Reiner took that chance when she wasn't facing him.

"If you want a Marcel, I will be him," he spoke in her ears as he held his arms around her throat before making her pass out.

Year 846

With the year nearly at a close, a cool breeze washed over three figures as they stood isolated in a field a short distance from the Trost refugee camp. The small girl among them pushed a few stray strands of hair from her face as she finished recounting the information she'd nearly blown her cover to obtain. Both boys stood in silence for a while before the stockier boy spoke. "I see... As we thought, King Fritz is just a decoy. It's not just the man; the whole family is a sham... They're all just puppets with no real power of their own." He slammed his shovel into the dirt, wedging it hard beneath the stump in front of him, "The ones controlling the center of the Walls are probably from another lineage that sucked up to King Fritz a hundred years ago. It's because the power of the Founder doesn't work on them, so he lets them rule in exchange for their promise to keep the secret."

"So let's infiltrate them." The taller boy interjected, "Surely they're connected to the real King of the Walls."

"How? Should we try and get employed by them as servants?" The girl looked between the two as she spoke. "Or should I try and get closer to one of their men and get him to marry me?"

"No, no way we're not doing that!" The tall boy shouted, panic laced in his voice. "On second thought, it can't be done. They're not of the People of Ymir, so even though they're at the center of power, they won't let their bloodline become infected with our 'cursed blood'".

Pacing off from the two, she continued, "And since the Walls have been breached, they'll be wary of intruders and won't take in any new servants... And I don't have the charm it takes to seduce a man anyway..."

"That's not true..." The taller boy protested again, frustration replacing his panic. "If that's the case... We only have one way to get inside." The stockier boy drove his shovel deeper, leaning on it as he spoke, "We enlist as soldiers and get close with the Military Police Brigade."

Annie and Bertolt said nothing; the blonde girl simply thought of what had happened since they sneaked inside the walls.

The first thing they learned is that the people inside believed they were the last of Humanity and that the rest of the world was overrun by Titans; this made Annie feel worse.

Within a week, she had understood by simply watching the people around her that Marley had lied to everyone; she always knew they all couldn't be devils. Still, now she understood Marley used propaganda to lie not only to the Eldians outside the world but to the rest of the world as well. Annie knew they were responsible for destroying their lives; how many men, women, and children died because Marley wanted more power.

She knew Bertolt felt guilt as well, but he still had something to look forward to back at home; Reiner was as always talking about island devils whenever they were alone. Saying they deserved what was happening to them and they shouldn't feel guilty.

Before, it would annoy her to no end, but now it made her furious; she didn't know if he was completely oblivious to what they had done or if he was trying to fool himself into thinking that what he did was justifiable, Annie didn't know and didn't care.

What am I supposed to do? Well, we will soon join the training corps; we will soon be soldiers; let's see where it leads from there.

Eren - Year 845

It had been a week since his father died, and the only things he had left from him were his glasses and his coat; after waking up the following morning, Eren had been convinced all that was a dream, a terrible dream, but when Mikasa and Armin asked if he was better and telling him what happened last night, Eren knew it was no dream.

The boy had simply told them he was fine, knowing none of them believed him; thankfully, they didn't try to ask more. Eren's mind was already packed with what his father had told him about the world.

The whole day he had simply ignored all thoughts of what happened, especially the letters left by his father. Still, when Mikasa and Armin fell asleep the same night, Eren had left, finding a tree to rest on; he started reading the letters, making sure no one was around.

My name is Grisha Yeager; I'm from a place called Marley beyond the sea; the rest of humanity has not been wiped out; humanity is still thriving outside the walls. This place is located on an island northeast of Marley, surrounded by the ocean.

The rest of the letter explained everything about the Eldians who lived in Marley and how they were treated. Eren read through the first two letters that explained how he was sent here and how Keith Shadis found him, Eren didn't know the man, but he was sure he had heard the name before, not sure where.

Eren read about Zeke; apparently, he has a half-brother, and he didn't know whether to be happy or not; on one side, he had family outside, but on the other, his father was punished because Zeke betrayed them, but his father had explained that he was a horrible father, Eren could hardly believe the letter was talking about the same person. Eren decided to ignore his brother for now.

My son, if you're reading this, that means I didn't have time to explain everything. Since coming here, I wanted to know why the future generations who held the Founding Titan didn't try to kill the titans outside the walls. The day I left, the same day the colossal titan breached the wall, I confronted the Real King of the walls, the Reiss Family; they refused to do anything about the titans. Forcing me to attack, I consumed the holder of The Founding Titan. I know what I did was wrong and is not justifiable. I'm sorry for everything bad I did.

My son, If my plan went well, right now, you should hold the Attack Titan and The Founding Titan. Don't tell anyone you have the Founding Titan, at least for now.

Every wound you have will heal faster. That's one of the abilities of a Titan Shifter. In order to use your Titan power, you need to have any kind of injury that results in bleeding; it doesn't matter if is a simple small cut on your finger or biting your own hand or tongue in order to bleed. You need a clear objection in your mind when you want to transform into a Titan.

Keep in mind that if you turned into a titan and, for whatever reason, you were pulled out of your titan, you can't transform again until your body is fully healed.

The more you use your titan, the more you can use it. One of the abilities of every titan is the ability to harden their skin.

The rest of the letter explained everything about each ability of every Titan.

You can't tell this information to everyone; I'm sure you can trust Mikasa and Armin. You can also trust Erwin Smith; I once met him a year ago. One of his scouts was sick; Keith had suggested to him that I could heal him. Erwin is a trustworthy man. We talked a lot about the outside world.

I trust you, my son; I'm sure one day you will lead our people to a better future to make sure what happened to Shinganshina will never happen again. I love you with all my heart.

Your Father, Grisha Yeager.

After reading every letter, Eren could only cry his heart out; while he felt pride to think his father trusted someone like him for the future, he knew his father was no more. Every memory he had with his father and mother was like a precious treasure to him.

I still have Mikasa and Armin; with this power, I could protect them. I can make sure that they will live long and happy lives.

Eren decided to put the letters back when he saw a ninth letter, which he hadn't noticed; when he started reading it, his eyes widened in shock. After reading it from beginning to end at least three times, he immediately pulled it away, hiding it.

That's the secret ability Eren Kruger said to my father, he thought before remembering the three extra syringes in his father's little box; now he understood why there were three more.

Mikasa

It had been a month since the death of her second father, she had silently mourned for the man who invited her to his home when she had nowhere else to go, the person who gave her a second family, but the Ackerman girl knew she needed to be there for Eren, Armin seemed to have similar thoughts.

MP couldn't find who was responsible for his death, and neither did Eren know who was as silent as the grave; when asked what happened, Eren would only say that he didn't really remember, and Mikasa didn't know whenever or not he remembered everything.

After that day, Eren had started changing drastically; the first sign was him not talking about killing all the Titans anymore; since that day, Eren seemed to be completely in his own little world, leaving no time to talk about Titans.

In the first week, Eren was withdrawn and barely talked, only speaking whenever she or Armin asked something but not starting any conversation himself; his green eyes full of fire seemed to have died out, only small sparks left. That lasted for a whole week before he suddenly returned back to his usual self, except he seemed different.

Eren didn't get angry whenever some soldier said something disrespectful about the survivors of Wall Maria; he seemed calmer; after the first week, Eren started training, doing push-ups, and running around. At first, Mikasa and Armin thought nothing of it, but now it has been a month since he started.

Right now, they were eating together; Mikasa was sitting on Eren's right, who was busy eating bread followed by a spoon filled with soup, the soup itself was good enough, with only vegetables on it, but no meat.

Mikasa was happy that Eren wasn't trying to starve himself like the second day after Wall Maria fell. He looked deep in thought; Mikasa had also caught Eren reading a few letters; when she asked him about it, he immediately hid them behind his back before telling her that he would tell her eventually. Mikasa felt left out and bad that he seemed to not trust her with whatever he was hiding but believed when he said that he would tell her soon.

"I have decided to join Survey Corps," Eren suddenly said, drawing the attention of his friends; before Mikasa and Armin could say something, Eren continued.

"After two years, I will join the training corps; I will join the Survey Corps after I graduate," Eren finished with a clear confidence in his tone, his eyes showing to both of his friends that he wouldn't back down.

"I will join too, then," Mikasa said immediately, knowing and expecting Eren to say something like 'I don't need you to watch over me' or 'I'm not a child anymore,' but instead, Eren turned to face her with a smile.

"Thank you, Mikasa; I'm glad to know that you will have my back," Eren said sincerely, showing that he meant it. Mikasa was quite taken aback by his words before a small blush crept on her cheeks; thankfully, her red scarf did a good job hiding it.

Armin smiled at Eren but, at the same time, wondering what had changed. "I will join too; together, we will see the outside world," he said passionately.

"Yes, we will together see the ocean," Eren claimed with confidence; he truly believed they would live to see it together one day.

Eren smiled at both of them before turning back to his meal; as they were eating, Armin pondered about Eren's sudden decision to train, he knew they would need to prepare when they joined the Training Corps, but there were still two more years until the time comes.

"Eren," Armin said, drawing his friend's attention, who turned to face him.

"Is this why you have started training? You want to be prepared for it," Armin asked carefully.

"Yes, but not only that, but I need to be better to make a difference; there are many good scouts who, despite years of experience, still fell to the titans, that doesn't mean I'm foolish enough to think I can do everything by myself, I will need the help of others as well," Eren said with determination and passion in his voice, his green eyes shining like a blazing fire.

After hearing his declaration, both Mikasa snd Armin were thinking the same things, when did Eren change so much??!! Mikasa was happy to hear that; perhaps Eren was finally growing up, maybe he didn't need her help anymore to watch his back all the time.

Armin was puzzled; he wondered what had changed, maybe his father's death had caused this change, but he couldn't help but feel that he was missing something here. Especially when it came to the letters his friend was secretly reading; unlike Mikasa, he hadn't asked what he was reading, but he would lie if he said that he wasn't curious.

After eating, the three friends were forced to work in fields to secure food for the others and themselves; despite being kids, they still worked without complaining.

Eventually, the night came, and Armin and Mikasa had fallen asleep except for Eren, who looked up at the sky; there was no moon tonight; he knew it would be too hard for anyone to see him or his titan form. Slowly standing up, he glanced at his friends again, ensuring they were sleeping before walking away silently.

Walking deep into the forest, he had a knife under his belt just in case of any unpleasant surprises; after walking far enough, Eren checked around; due to the night without a moon, he could hardly see anything, but that's what he wanted after all.

Knowing he was alone and no one was nearby, Eren reread his father's letter just to be sure.

Have a clear goal in your mind; that is very important not to lose control; the first time turning into a Titan is the hardest.

Eren put the letter back in his pocket. Usually, he would want to use a knife, making it easier for him to make a bleeding injury, but he knew sooner or later he would be forced to bite his hand or even tongue to draw blood.

Knowing that, he put his left hand close to his mouth, his mind on his friends, father, and mother, how much he wanted to protect them. He would make sure they lived long and happy lives, his mind on the Colossal and Armor Titan, he would make sure they died in the most painful way possible; with that thought on his head, he opened his mouth wide open before biting on his hand with all his strength, the blood poured out before a bolt of yellow lightning hit where he was.

First, his skeleton formed around him, soon followed by muscle, skin, and meat around the bones; his face was the last thing to be completed, long dark hair reaching his shoulders.

The Attack Titan stood on his legs, his stomach muscular, his arms full of muscles, and he had pointy ears with sharp white teeth. Eren found himself being able to see clearly now, much to his surprise, much to his relief, it didn't seem he was having problems with controlling it for now, but when he looked around, especially the trees that were below him instead of being taller than him, he noticed it almost immediately.

His Titan form stood 27 meters tall, almost double the size of his father's titan form; not only that, but the skin around his nape was crystalized.