Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan, it belongs to the author of Shingeki no kyojin. I just own the plot and possibly the OCs.
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"Talking" 'Thinking' Action _______________________
It all started with a dream. It was a sunny day with sun shining brightly as it ever does on these lands covered with flora as far as the eye could see I was standing in the middle of it all, enjoying every second of it. The fresh air, the smell of flowers and the warmth of the sun with nothing to worry about as Mothernature spoiled me.
I closed my eyes and opened them to see a rather big bird.
It was as big as my head blocking the light of the sun.
It was showing it's rear as it flew freely. I was in at the bird's appearance. It must've been an anomaly compared to it's kind since it appeared to be a eagle, as black as a crow with a grey tint to it.
It flew on and on and on… Until an arrow out of nowhere shot it down.
I was stunned at this moment. I panicked and looked around to find no one.
It was just me, the blue sky, sun and the flora surrounding me.
Realising that the bird might've fallen near me, I again looked around.
Eventually I found it.
Crash landed with it's left side buried on earth, tears were forming in it's unique pale green eyes.
I bent down to pick it up, the arrow buried in it's chest. It looked at me with it's eyes widened from shock and despair.
Were birds capable of displaying such emotions? It looked at me as if I was gonna eat it alive.
I don't what took over but tears started flowing from my eyes
Looking back, it was pathetic of me but, what can I say? The bird in front of me looked so... vulnerable.
It's eyes were full of fear. It was clear to me it wanted to live.
It looked at me blinking very slowly. It opened it's beak to maybe cut or bite me for I assumed such was the case but what it actually did shocked me: It cried out to me like I'm it's parent
"It hurts..." "It hurts so much!" "..."
Tears rolled down it's eyes as it breathed for the last time before closing them
It's deep voice was of a male crying in a higher pitch of volume, though something about those words and voice was nostalgic. I couldn't place a finger on it at the time, so I shrugged and focused again on the now dead bird.
At that moment, I did the only thing that I could think of: I buried him at the very spot he died after pulling out the arrow.
I used the same arrow to mark it as it's grave stone.
I spent the next moments still kneeling in front of the bird's grave before clapping my hands together, praying for him.
It was a ritual of my hometown and a means to pay respect to the dead.
I stood up from the ground as I looked at the now setting sun.
Weird, It was roughly 10 minutes and the sun was already setting.
Though I wonder, why did he cried in my arms? Why did he not think that I was the one who hunted him down? Heck, Why could it even speak?
I glanced at the grave and decided: I was done here.
I was about to turn around, when suddenly a small sphere of golden light came out of the grave.
It outshined the sun in seconds but strangely enough, It didn't emit heat or cold, it emitted nothing but pure golden light with lightning dancing around it.
It sounded like a thousand birds.
I was at awe, surprised, and scared obviously, I mean I was a normal individual who had never seen supernatural but before I could take any action, it rushed at me and everything went Gold lightning
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Reiner pov
"Hey Reiner, does he always sleep like this?" A sleepy Reiner just woke up. He was tired and sore after yesterday's training session. It's his 3rd year in the walls. A lot of things happened and frankly, Reiner is already done. With no leads to the founding Titan, the only thing he could do was join and infiltrate the military along with Annie and Bertholdt. It's just been a month since he joined the military and he is facing a burnout now, first Magath and now Shadis. 'Can't you leave me alone' were Reiner's thoughts when Connie called out to him. Oh well, he needed to keep up his act of a soldier.
"What are you talking about?" asked Reiner on top of his bed looking at Connie for explanation Connie looked up from the lower secsion of the bunk bed to Reiner, who was at the upper section of the bed before saying with a grim expression, "I meant Bertholdt, we remembered him doing odd sleeping poses but right now he looks like he is reliving a nightmare."
Standing with Connie were Jean, Marco, Thomas, Samuel with similar expressions to Connie.
Reiner got down from his bed to look at Bertholdt who was sweating explosively while twisting in his bed.
Reiner was in no mood to deal with this situation but was still concerned for his true comrade. He along with Annie were the only people who shared the same burden as him.
"Why didn't anyone wake him up!?" Questioned Reiner, which was almost a roar as he proceeded to wake Bertholdt up.
"Well Eren tried but was punched by Bertholdt in the face." Explained Marco a little flustered with Jean silently laughing at the memory "Wha- !???" Was Reiner's half ass response as he was punched in his left temple.
Reiner fell on the right side of his body, right within the semicircle of Connie, Jean, Marco, Thomas and Samuel respectively from the right The 'bystanders' had a brief laugh before they helped Reiner up, who was a little dizzy.
"What happened to Eren?" Asked Reiner, giving up on the sweating Bertholdt.
"The poor guy was punched in the bridge of his nose." said Thomas "Yeah, it was so bad that his nose was broken, and blood came out falling everywhere along with steam." said Marco sympathetically "Wha-!??" Was Reiner's reaction when suddenly, Bertholdt woke up. Face sweaty as hell along with eyes widen like he was shocked out of his mind, cutting Reiner off for the second time.
Reiner quickly went to Bertholdt's side, placing his hand on his shoulder, Reiner asked, "Bertholdt, are you okay?"
Even though Reiner knew Bertholdt wasn't okay, he still asked for the sake of it. And his response was Bertholdt, vomiting on legs before passing out on Reiner's shoulders Reiner heaved a frustrating sigh from his mouth, today just wasn't his day, Reiner thought along with few others, who found the situation chaotic, mainly Armin and Marco.
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Bertholdt pov:
Okay, so I am Bertholdt Hoover…
inhale
exhale
inhale
exhale
inhale
exhale
I'm Bertholdt Hoover, who is destined to die because Eren Yeager used him as a chess piece, who is a protagonist of a Anime Tv series.
inhale
exhale
I'm Bertholdt, who is the shifter of the colossal titan . . . THE FUCKIN COLOSSAL TITAN
'Breathe in, Breathe out... yes... this is just my mind, fuckin with me.'
inhale
exhale
inhale
exhale
'Yes, that is it. I mean, getting high while watching Attack on Titan, can do it to you right?'
iNhAlE
ExhALe
'After vommiting and passing out, having a splitting headache, you would've usually gone somber, right?'
INHALE
EXHALE
'Why the hell am I not in my own body yet!? Why Bertholdt!? Why not Armin or Levi!? God, What the hell did I ever did to anyone except that one guy, who has a really kickable face!? That doesn't, couldn't warrant such a punishment, right?'
'I was just watching the closing song of Aot s4 while drinking in my humble flat. So why did this happen to me!?'
At the moment I was at the infirmary, sitting up straight in a simple patient's bed, sweating profusely and panting hard.
Could you blame me? I was at the moment processing the fact that I'm in Attack on Titan and I was Bertholdt, Bertholdt Hoover, the main antagonist of s3 part 2, the guy who is destined to die, eaten alive in front of the people he needed dead, begging and screaming to be saved and rescued by his fellow warriors, all but in vain as his colossal titan is passed down to Armin.
'Calm down, calm down, calm down...'
'Calm down...'
While in mind it was me, in body, it was Bertholdt.
'Thank god, no one is here to visit this infirmary room or things would've gotten ugly.'
'The only thing I could do is think how I ended up like this'
I was in my own little world, grimacing at how things turned out this way. _____________________ Inhale
Exhale
Inhale
Exhale ... Currently, I'm sitting in lotus position trying to meditate on my bed.
It's been a while for me but just a day since I've awakened as Bertholdt and I'm still at the Infirmary room which was designated to me after what transpired...
'Yeah, I don't even wanna think about it...' Apparently, from what I heard, Eren suffered from a broken nose which healed in a day's time and I painted Reiner's pants with colossal digestive acid.
The reason I'm still in this room was because when Reiner visited me alone along with a nurse after an hour, after the incident(when I just woke up), It triggered a panic attack in me, at least I think.
Suddenly, Visions of every memory 'I' had with Reiner came and coupled with me suffering a panic attack, I was again going to vomit, I just knew it.
Since I was sitting on the nursing bed with a white blanket on my legs, I estimated that I wouldn't make it across the sink connected at the wall on my right which was parallel to my bed. The distance was of 6 meters with my body and mind occupied, taking everything in me to not vomit.
I sat up at the side of the bed, stood up from my bed shakily, my mind occupied with panic and memories along with a body I was still not used to, I took a step forward with the will to not embarrass myself, again.
Now I'm hyperventilating.
As I took another weak step forward, Reiner approached me while the nurse stood at the door's entrance, to maybe monitor us? Anyhow, Reiner cautiously put a hand on my left shoulder and asked the golden question of the year: "Bertholdt, are you okay?"
Now I was a suffering a panic attack and lack of control of my body's motor skills AND the need to vomit. That had caused me to completely forgot about Reiner. I mean sure, I suddenly got memories of everything about Reiner but I stopped processing midway due to my panic and bitter, bitter colossal acid juice that wanted to come out.
So I answered him with an awkward groan, with pain written on my face, all while trying to give him a 'Do I look like I am okay' look. "Wha-?" Reiner tried questioning me again, he was sweating a bit now that think about it, but was cut off by me, finally releasing my load on him.
After painting his pants with my insides, I felt extremely drowsy and weak. I couldn't even lift my head to see his reaction but he did took his hand off my shoulder abruptly. Maybe in a state of shock or frustration he was but I didn't care at the moment and just turned around and collapsed on my bed.
I woke up the next day. I was surprised why I didn't woke up in 2 hours but the next day before noon, in the morning at maybe around 9 or 10. I could only guess, since clocks don't exist on Paradise island.
I was briefed on my situation by a doctor. I am to stay here at the infirmary room till I recover from my supposed sickness.
'Well, they're are no doctors who specialise in psychology in Aot, so yeah.'
He also told me that the only reason I wasn't expelled from the cadet corps was because of mine or rather Bertholdt's great 3DMG's balance which was ranked just below Mikasa. Humanity in the walls couldn't lose any talents(no matter how minor) in times like this.
This whole thing happened the day I woke up. I don't know why but ever since I saw Reiner again I've been calm about my situation. 'Do I really care about why am I this calm about this or how I ended up here? No, not really...' 'Bullshit!' Part of me spite back.
A sigh escaped my mouth, not even a day and already close to losing my sanity. All I could is suck it up.
Through meditation, I might be able to awaken my memories again just like that. It's gonna take some time but luckily, I should have enough. As for my powers, they will come to me Naturally. As Grisha said "Your memories will teach you how to use your power". Let's just hope that's the case.
"Is this really a dream? Doesn't feel like one..." I spoke out loud as I relaxed my body from the stiff position, hoping to clear my mind with some shut eye.
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Reiner pov
"Sigh"
Reiner has been sighing lot and lot lately. Finally, he has a lead: Eren.
Thanks to the... incident, they discovered that Eren holds one of the nine in him. He didn't celebrate just yet he needed confirmation and he got it when he visited Eren, after changing his pants.
When he visited him in half n' hour, he saw Eren along with Armin, Mikasa, Connie, Thomas, Christa and Ymir from left to right respectively. They were actually exiting the area when he came face to face with them.
He cleared up the formalities as he drops his big brother act and goes warrior mode.
He asked Eren to cut himself a little around his left forearm.
Everyone were weirded out by this, especially Mikasa.
'It's fair.' he thought
'It's only been a month, I couldn't win their trust that fast.' He mused staring at the night sky waiting for Annie to join him in their usual meeting spot.
Back to recalling today's events, he shuddered at Mikasa's overprotective nature.
She was so against the idea of Eren hurting himself. In the end, she was put to rest when Reiner brought up the 'steaming phenomenon Eren was facing' card.
He was overjoyed when Eren confirmed his suspicions. Everyone had different reactions but the most unique was of Ymir. When Reiner questioned her about it, her only response was the word surprised. He couldn't get a read on Ymir but she was too suspicious for her own good.
Christa, bless that girl, held Eren's steaming forearm with a concerned frown over her face, trying to examine it, obviously trying to see if Eren isn't actually hurt anywhere.
'If only she wasn't a devil' Reiner shook his head at that thought.
Reiner recalled with a heavy sigh of what happened next.
Suddenly, the pained scream of terror and desperation Eren produced, shook the little infirmary building.
It was horrifying and chilling to hear a scream like that, especially if it came from Eren in Reiner's books, but he found something nostalgic about it, even now he couldn't place a finger on it.
Once he calmed under Mikasa's arms and Armin's grasp, his eyes turned sad and distant, finding the floor really interesting.
He just left the scene completely, even though he doesn't give a Titan's ass about anyone who originated from this island, he couldn't bear to be there for his own sake.
Now, comes the next part of this eventful memory recall: finding Nem-,... Bertholdt.
He was guided by a nurse, who came to check up on the commotion Eren caused. After dealing with it, she led him to Bertholdt. They came to the 2nd floor of the small infirmary building to the last room of the corridor.
The nurse did the honour to open the door revealing Bertholdt, who looked like he just woke up with his hair a mess and his complexion looking paler and more skinner.
"Sigh" Reiner sighed again at the memory. Long story short: Bertholdt coloured his pants with his bile juices and went to sleep again without a glance.
'That fucker...' is the only thing that comes to head whenever Reiner recalls what happened. Reiner visibly clenched his fists at his friend's antics before sighing.
'I should be grateful to him. Now I don't need to know what kind of people they are.' Reiner thought with a grimace.
Hearing the sound of someone putting their ass down on a wooden log, Reiner finally realised Annie sat down opposite to him.
"So? Why call this meeting when Bertholdt is still in the infirmary?" Annie asked in her less than appreciated tone.
Reiner knew that she doesn't consider him or Bertholdt as friends but partners, nothing more nothing less.
"We finally have a lead..." Reiner waited for Annie to comprehend what he said but in all honesty, he just wanted a reaction out of her. And he got what he wanted.
Annie eyes went wide at this. She has been roaming the capital in the night and forget about a lead, she couldn't find a clue. How did he got one? Annie seriously needs to know.
"Speak." Came Annie's reply with a hint of aggression and impatience. "Now."
"It's Eren." Said Reiner in all seriousness
"..."
"Elaborate." Demanded Annie. He knew she was desperate for this mission to end and so was he.
"Yesterday, Eren was punched by Bertholdt in the morning, I was asleep so I didn't witness it myself but..."
Annie motioned him to go on, she didn't want to be kept in the dark, she needed a direct answer with no circling it around.
"From what I heard Eren's nose started steaming and was fully healed after a moment in the infirmary." Reiner stated before continuing on.
"I visited him before he left infirmary, his nose was completely healed. And to be on the safe side of things, I asked him to cut himself a little on his forearm. My suspicion came out to be true."
Reiner stopped so Annie could digest the information before moving on.
"Once Bertholdt is out, we'll kidnap Eren and leave for Marley, they'll at least be happy with Eren and the information we have collected over the years."
For the first time he saw this kind of expression on Annie, The expression of hope shined brightly in her eyes.
"Is the mission finally ending Reiner? Are you sure this would be enough? If because of you, we were found to be lacking and were to be stripped of our power. I will kill you myself. You know that, right?" Annie asked in her usual cold voice but her eyes shined with hope.
'The contrast couldn't be any bigger.' Reiner thought with hidden amusement before addressing her.
"Yes"
"Good..."
They fell into a comfortable silence before Reiner fell into his own thoughts
'Once we're done with this mission, Annie will be with her father, same with Bertholdt and I...' Reiner took a deep breath too calm his nerves 'won't get to know what kind of people live here and not turn into a half ass piece of shit' Reiner completed his thoughts with more determination than ever to complete this mission.
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A/n: Made lots of rookie mistakes and the chapter in general feels kiddish but I promise the next chapter won't be like this.