"What is this ability you were talking about?" Armin asked curiously beside him; Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were making their way through the forest; due to the lack of light from the moon, they could hardly see anything beyond one meter, but that's what they wanted after all.
"Well, I'm not entirely sure, but my father mentioned in his letters that the other three syringes are what he calls Royal Titan Blood; he says that he could make only three due to the lack of Royal Titan Blood, my father says that injecting the syringe to an Eldia should allow them to become a Semi Titan Shifter or Imperfect Titan Shifter," Eren explained, thinking of what kind of Titan Armin could become if he's injected with the blood, according to his father, it was completely random, but one thing he mentioned was that it could never result to a Semi-Founding Titan since according to him that was impossible to happen.
But one thing bugged Eren more than anything if The Attack Titan had the ability to create an army of Semi-Titan Shifters, why wasn't this done before? According to his father, Ymir, The Founder had kept this ability secret for some reason.
While a Semi Titan Shifter could never be as strong as the original, at least it was tough to become stronger; still, becoming a Giant Titan and having healing abilities was much better than nothing; maybe I'm just missing something here? There must be a reason for Ymir keeping this information a secret until now, Eren thought.
He really needed more information; if what his father said was true, Eren needed two things to create a new Syringe that turns an Eldian into a Semi Titan Shifter.
First, he needed the spinal fluid of the Attack Titan, something he could quickly achieve, but the second thing was a tricky one; he needed-
"Brats, what are you doing here?" The trio froze in their tracks; Eren reacted immediately, looking in the direction from where the voice came from; his hands turned to fists, his knuckles turned white, and his fingernails cut the skin on his palm enough to draw a bit of blood in case they encountered bandits or some thugs. Still, his eyes widened when he immediately noticed the ODM gear around them, his eyes settling on the one in the center with cold eyes; Eren instinctively took a step back in fear; that glare could make everyone nervous.
Eren knew they weren't bandits, but the presence of soldiers in the forest was a red flag.
What are they doing here? Armin asked himself as Eren stepped forward, standing in front of his friends like a shield. Armin took a step back, knowing being too close to Eren when he turned into a Titan wasn't the brightest of ideas; it would be like hugging a bolt of lightning.
"The Wings of Freedom, you're the Survey Corps," Eren shouted in clear admiration; Armin left a sigh of relief; he knew they weren't bad people, but he quickly thought of a possible excuse to be in the forest in the middle of the night.
Soon the soldiers dropped down from the trees they were standing on; Armin gave the excuse that they were simply curious kids wanting to see if the rumors of the Titan were true; they seemed to trust his words; eventually, they were led outside of the Forest followed closely by one girl who despises being close to the camp of the refugees, kept a close eye if anything unexpected happened.
"You shouldn't go outside like that again," The girl suddenly spoke in a strict manner.
"I'm sorry, we won't do it again," Armin apologized with the warmest tone he could muster that sometimes sounded almost like a girl.
The girl Mikasa heard was named Petra simply smiled softly at them, accepting their apology.
"Ahh, What were you doing in the forest? Is there really anything true to the rumor?" Armin asked in a somehow scared tone, hoping she could tell him what they knew of the rumors, if there was anything that could endanger Eren, the frightened tone was added in his voice to convince her hopefully.
Eren was slightly taken aback by Armin's voice. Did his friend always know how to act?
Petra thought about it; the innocent face of the blonde kid did make her consider it, but she eventually shook her head.
"Nothing is there for you to worry about; they're just rumors spread by drunken buffoons," Petra answered kindly; Armin breathed a sigh of relief, hearing her words making Petra giggle slightly at his face.
Soon they reached their camp; Petra made a double check on them before walking away; they pretended they were asleep until a half-hour later, Eren opened his green eyes.
"Do you think they heard anything we were talking about?" Mikasa asked; the thought of someone listening to them was something she really didn't like; it would raise many questions.
"I doubted it. If they had heard anything, they would have asked something, not just allowing us to return back," Armin answered with a thoughtful look; Eren mentally nodded; it made sense.
Eren thought that perhaps they should have told them what they knew? They were the Survey Corps, after all?? Would they believe us? Well, if I showed them my Titan Form, that would be more than enough proof, but I shouldn't forget their reaction could easily be the natural reaction, killing me and perhaps doing something to Mikasa and Armin. No, I need to have allies before I decide to reveal anything, I might be able to turn into a Titan, but I still can't keep that form for long and still can't turn twice into a Titan without getting exhausted at the second transformation, first I need to make sure Armin and Mikasa can become Titans as well before I decide to do something, Eren decided with fire in his eyes.
"We need to delay this; we can't do anything until we are sure that the Survey Corps are not around anymore, catching us off guard," Eren spoke in a low tone, almost a whisper.
Armin and Mikasa simply hummed before falling asleep for real.
For the following six months, they did nothing; not once did Eren go to the forest; the last thing he needed was the survey corps mistaking him for a Pure Titan that wanted to eat them, no that could easily end in a disaster, especially since one of them in the forest had been Captain Levi, Humanity's strongest soldier.
Eren didn't know how strong he was but didn't want to take chances; despite a long time passing by, the Yeager refused to go to the forest; better safe than sorry.
But as the time passed, he wondered where the intruders could be; he held the Attack and Founding Titan, so either they were still inside the Walls or had left the walls to ask for reinforcements.
In the seventh month since the little incident, Eren was finally convinced to go to the forest again and get stronger, but something happened...
"They're sending every grown-up from Wall Maria to take back the wall from the Titans?!!" Eren's eyes widened at what he heard; the people everywhere were talking about the same thing; some were openly crying in fear, some hugging their children, telling them everything would be alright; Eren gulped; what were they doing?
Soon he returned back to his friends, but Armin's grandfather was there as well; despite being an old man, he was strong and intelligent.
Kneeling in front of Armin, saying something to him that he couldn't hear, Eren didn't try to interrupt them; Mikasa was sitting away from them, allowing them to talk in peace.
Eren walked up to Mikasa, who noticed his presence, handing him a plate full of soup; Eren glanced briefly at the food before turning to his friend, who seemed to be holding back tears.
Clenching his jaw, Eren thought of ways to help perhaps, but could he do it? Sure he could take out a lot of Titans, but there were hundreds if not thousands of Titans; what could he do against that, where was he even supposed to go once he got tired and who knows how people would react to someone like him, not mentioning that The Eldians sent here would be aware of his existence, something Eren wanted to be a secret until he knew he was ready.
"Eat, Eren," Mikasa said strictly; seeing him not eating, Eren sighed before biting a piece of bread followed by a spoon of soup.
Armin grabbed the hat his grandfather gave him, his eyes on the verge of tears; his grandfather had a sad smile, seeing his nephew like this.
"Listen, Armin; This might be our last moments together. Remember those that are close to your heart; as long as you have an anchor in your heart, you shall never sink, keep looking up at the sky, the endless sky, forward and forward, and eventually, you will reach what you desire the most," the old man spoke warmly, his hand on his shoulder, knowing his time was no more.
"Grandpa," Armin said in a hoarse voice, tears rolling down his cheek.
"Remember what I always said," His grandfather said, his index finger on his chin, making him look up to him.
"Always look beyond,"
"Always look beyond,"
They said in union, Armin smiling briefly, remembering all the times he had with him. That day, people were sent to be slaughtered by the Titans; it took two months for what was left to return.
Only a hundred people were left, fewer mouths to feed, which led to more food, but many got depressed and lost hope due to not taking back Wall Maria despite losing 250,000 people to the Titans; many started to think that the situation was just hopeless and it was simply better to at least live good until the day comes for everyone left to die.
"I'm really sorry, Armin, me and Mikasa are still with you, always remember that," Eren said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, with Mikasa doing the same on his other shoulder.
After hours of silence between them, Armin stood up; his eyes briefly glanced at the hat left by his grandfather before turning to Eren with a determined look on his face.
"We have only eleven months left; let's see if your father's words were true," Armin stated with an unusual firm tone; Eren's eyes widened slightly before nodding.
He still had the three extra syringes filled with blood; it seems Armin and Mikasa were going to get the first two; as for the third one, that remains to be seen...
Year 846
Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were once again making their way through the forest; nothing interesting had happened with the Survey Corps since that day seven months ago.
None of them had seen any of them for four months now; for the first four months since the incident, They would still sometimes notice them around the camp but wearing civilian clothes. Eren doubted they still checked the area, but even if they did, this time they were in a different forest; after the failed attempt to take back Wall Maria, what was left of the refugees were sent to a more comfortable place to live, not that Eren cared much about his living conditions.
There was no moon in the sky, and the bonus was the number of clouds around; they knew the chances of someone seeing them were slim, but they were careful, talking only in a low tone in case someone was listening to them.
"Armin, I don't know what kind of Titan you will become, but I will be there in case you lose control," Eren encouraged him with a friendly smile that seemed to do the trick; Armin breathed in relief, his shoulders slumped down.
Eventually, they reached a clearing, not many trees around, far enough from the house not to be noticed. Eren grabbed the box from his inner pocket; Armin stood ten meters away; despite the situation, he didn't look scared. Mikasa swallowed nervously; she hoped everything would go well; she trusted Doctor Grisha and Eren with all her heart; she knew someone like Eren would never go along with this unless he were a hundred percent sure that it would work.
The plan was for Eren to transform first and Mikasa to inject him; she would stay on Eren's shoulder to be safer in case of Armin losing it.
"Mikasa, if he loses control, remember to call out his name, and Armin, remember to have a clear goal in your mind," Eren said, strictly pointing his finger at Armin, who nodded with a serious face. While having a goal in mind worked when you transformed into a Titan, he hoped that could help Armin somehow; perhaps that way, he wouldn't lose control.
Eren walked away at least twenty-five meters before biting down his hand; a bolt of lightning struck where he was, and his transformation alone sent a wave of wind around, almost knocking down the nearby trees.
Eren stood twenty-seven meters tall, his nape crystallized, his green eyes shining like stars in the night sky.
Mikasa turned at Armin, the syringe in her hand, looking at Armin, who simply nodded with determination. "We will always be there for you," Mikasa reminded him before injecting it into his arm.
The moment she injected it, Mikasa ran up to Eren's open hand, raising his hand up for her to jump on his shoulder, keeping her balance by grabbing his long hair.
A bolt of lightning struck Armin; bones formed. First, the muscles and tissue formed around, Eren mentally sighed in relief seeing that it wasn't the colossal Titan, but he was surprised to see large bones forming around his body like larger Armor plates, just like the Armour...
"He became the Armoured Titan," Mikasa seemed to have reached the same conclusion. Armin's head had short blonde hair, surprisingly no ears on his head, sharp jaw; his face structure kind of resembled Armin's face, but what was new was the sharp edge on his arms.
His Titan form stood thirteen meters tall, with bone armor all around him; just as Mikasa was about to call out his name, Armin left out a roar, shaking the trees nearby before his eyes settled on Eren's Titan.
Armin's titan eyes were a dark blue; they were the eyes of a monster, and none of them could see Armin in them.
Shit, Eren thought, preparing to find a way to bring him back.
"Armin," Mikasa shouted, worried just as Armin started running towards them like a boulder, his feet alone shaking the Earth around as he ran; Eren put his feet firmly against the ground before moving to his left just as Armin was about to hit him, his arm moved around his neck, putting his feet behind his legs, before using his strength to force him down, smashing him against the ground, the strength caused the earth around to split, his large bones like armor on his back started cracking.
Armin roared as Eren used all his strength to keep him down; Eren cursed himself for not being able to speak in his Titan Form; thankfully, despite being a large Titan, Eren's Titan form had a lot of muscles all around his body.
"Armin is us, Eren and Mikasa," She shouted again, keeping herself on his shoulder by holding his hair tightly.
Armin still was using all his strength trying to break free, but Eren kept holding him down, opening his mouth to speak but letting out only grunts.
What should I do? That moment of distraction was enough for Armin to free his right arm before swinging at Eren's face right where Mikasa was; the other Titan lifted his head just as the fist was about to hit his jaw.
Quickly grabbing the elbow of his right arm, he forced his arm to his left side, pushing it down against the ground; his forearm putting pressure against his neck.
Armin roared again in anger, but due to the pressure on his neck, he only left out loud grunts, trying to break free again.
"Armin, don't forget your dream to reach the Ocean with us," Mikasa shouted, hoping that reminding him of his dream would do something.
Armin's Titan body suddenly went stiff, not struggling anymore; Eren noticed it but still kept his pressure against his limbs in case this was a false alarm.
Armin's eyes cleared, blue like the sky, as recognition was behind his blue eyes.
"E-Eren, Mikasa," he spoke, his voice a bit deeper than usual.
Eren smiled before pulling away from Armin, allowing him to stand up on his feet; his friend looked confused before looking at his own hands and arms.
"N-Never thought I would be so buff," Armin joked, looking at his arms and legs, earning a chuckle from Eren and Mikasa.
Mikasa sighed in relief; all the weight on her shoulders suddenly disappeared like it was never there; Eren's shoulder slumped down, feeling lighter all of a sudden.
Armin was about to speak again when he suddenly felt much weaker, his vision going blurry all of a sudden; he fell on his knees as his Titan started imitating steam.
Mikasa rushed to his location, reaching his nape; Armin was already coming out, the tissue still glued on his face, trying to pull it out somehow; she was about to help him...
"Don't. I need to be able to do this on my own," Armin said with resolve, his mouth free; eventually, he went free, the body of the Titan decomposing; the only thing now were bones.
Armin was breathing heavily, three red lines across his cheek on each side of his cheek, his vision all blurry; he felt the need to sleep. Eren had come out of his Titan form as well, making his over to Armin.
"You did good, Armin," was the last thing he heard before falling asleep, Mikasa holding him up before he could hit the ground.
"Is a normal thing to happen the first time," Eren said, easing her worries.
Walking back to the camp was quiet between them; Eren was holding Armin on his back, but he was delighted that it worked.
"Ereh, why didn't your father inject you with the blood instead of turning you into a Pure Titan?" Mikasa suddenly asked as they were making their way back.
Eren pondered on it but found no answers; he had thought of it before, he knew his father was sick, but maybe he just wanted me not to remember eating him since if he became a Semi-Titan Shifter, he would remember doing the deed, something he was grateful that he couldn't remember.
"Maybe he didn't want me to remember; I don't know any other reason," Eren answered, soon arriving back at the camp.
Mikasa looked at Eren helping Armin to his bed; a small smile formed on her lips, along with a slight blush. He's always so caring towards the people he loves, she thought, instinctively touching her red scarf with her hand.
Soon they both fell asleep as well; the following day, they decided to inject Mikasa after a month of training first since they wanted Armin to first get used to his Titan before making Mikasa a Titan Shifter as well.
One Month Later
After training for five nights straight, Armin and Eren were forced to quit since the moon had slowly started to show up in the night sky and make it harder not to be detected.
But turning into a Titan five times was more than enough for Armin, who by the end could easily turn into a Titan, run around, and use his fist precisely, just like Eren; he also had started trying to focus his healing ability on a single wound and no healing at all if the situation was ever needed.
One thing they noticed was the speed of his healing ability; unlike Eren, whose wounds healed very fast, for Armin, it took almost twice longer to heal any wound. Armin came to the conclusion that it must be because he was a Semi-Titan Shifter.
Now only ten months left, Eren wanted before starting their Training Corps to at least be able to verify if a Semi-Titan Shifter could harden their skin as well. They were many things they didn't know about the Semi-Titan Shifter's abilities; they knew next to nothing; that ability was never used before after all.
One day Mikasa had asked Eren why wasn't he using the Founding Titan to control all the Pure Titan outside of Rose, but Eren told her that he couldn't do it; he could use the abilities of the Attack Titan just fine but not the Founding Titan, even his father didn't know how to use them, something Eren knew he needed to figure out as soon as possible. That was his biggest trump card after all.
Right now, yet again, on a moonless night, they were going to a different location this time; this time, it would be Eren injecting the blood.
Mikasa was standing unmoving, her face serious and filled with determination; she wasn't scared. With this ability, she could ensure that Eren and Armin would never leave her alone in this Cruel world.
Armin had already transformed into the Armoured Titan; Eren prepared the syringe, standing in front of Mikasa before putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you ready, Mikasa?" Eren asked, wanting to make sure that she was ready. Mikasa simply nodded with wild determination.
"Okay," Eren murmured before injecting the Royal Blood.
The moment he did that, he backed away, knowing he had only a few seconds; biting his hand, he finished his transformation just as a bolt of lightning struck where Mikasa was standing.
The bones formed quickly, forming a fourteen-meter Titan. Her feminine body formed, proof that she was a Female Titan, as the muscles, meat, and tissue formed quickly, much faster than Armin; when the skin started developing around the muscles, Eren noticed something different.
With teeth made out of crystals, the white hardened skin around her hands and jaw...
Not Good