A/N: This chapter has been revised as of the 5th of August, 2018. More revisions for up and coming chapters are soon to come and possibly some more continuing chapters as well. Changes to the current plot will be added as the revisions continue. Please do not be alarmed. I hope you guys like the series.

Well, CIAO FOR NOW!

~Year 845~

I was just your average seventeen-year-old, helping my mother with the laundry and chores every day and preparing meals. If I was lucky, I might have been able to meet a nice guy eventually and settle down like all the other girls. However, fate, being the bitch that it always has been, decided otherwise.

First off, she decided that it would be funny to make restful sleep seem almost impossible by giving me the curse of chronic insomnia; many of my precious nights being wasted away starting up at the rafters of the roof of my bedroom. Secondly, plainly speaking, there were no boys around who I cared to give a shit about. It was just that simple, really.

Despite many attempts by my parents to 'go outside and socialize with others my age', when I did leave the house, it was only to go down the street to play chess with my elderly neighbor. If I had to vacate the house for a while, I much rather entertain a wise old man with a quick game or two than meddle with the cream of the crop of Shinganshina's finest and youngest bachelors any day of the week.

Thirdly, it was that year that the walls around my world came crumbling down into useless piles of rubble. Literally.

I had awoken from a brief nap to the sound of a massive explosion, the ground quaking violently beneath me as I jolted out from my bed. The ground stilled for a split second before a shockwave accompanied by an explicitly loud crash sent me hurdling against the wall, hitting my head and leaving me dazed and confused. Bringing myself to my feet, I rubbed gently at the sizable bump on my head and then my eyes to clear them. The wall farthest from me had splintered into a concave shape, a huge boulder of rock being visible from what used to be my window.

'What the fuck? Wait, that's the neighbor's house.' My breath stopped in my throat as I realized. 'Fuck! Mom and Dad were supposed to go over to the neighbors today!'

I bolted into a hard sprint, forgoing my shoes at the broken and splintered doorway as I rushing outside to be greeted by a chorus of screams and falling rock. The dust had just begun to settle as I looked towards the house next to mine, fear chilling the blood in my veins. That massive boulder that I saw at my window was sitting in a cradle of dirt and debris, blood slowly leaking out from underneath the edges of the wreckage.

'This has to be a nightmare. This had to be. It's not possible.' I thought, throwing myself at the piles of crushed wood and rock and pulling them aside as I dug, desperate and searching for the people buried beneath it. Townspeople were screaming and running past me but I didn't care, the panic in their voices echoing in my ears as I removed a large slab of stone. Dark brown hair stuck out from under another plank or two of wood with another auburn patch laying beside it.

'Please. Please, be okay.' I begged silently through the tears pricking at the edges of my eyes as I threw the slab aside, rushing to remove the last few planks and finally turn their faces towards me.

The tears that were pooled in my eyes streamed down my face as I saw the faces of my mother and father, crushed and broken by the heavy debris. Blood now caked my hands and feet, some of it belonging to me and some not; scrapes from handling the shattered pieces of wood seeping slowing from my fingers and palms. Shocked settled into my bones and pinned me in place, the sounds of screaming townfolks being drowned out by the heartbeat in my ears. My legs trembled beneath me, shaking harder and harder until I thought that I might collapse into the dirt. When my strength faltered and I wept openly among the dust and blood settling around me, I realized that it wasn't me that was shaking. It was the ground that quaked with a steady rhythm. Almost like... like footsteps.

A long, broad shadow cast itself over me, blotting out the sun bearing down on me that late summer day. I finally moved, turning my head to look up. A humanoid figure standing at roughly ten meters tall looked down at me, its lips dyed red with blood as a small scrap of cloth hung precariously from its mouth. I just sat there from my spot on the ground, looking back at it frozen completely in fear. This thing... this 'monster' was supposed to be a Titan, wasn't it? Its hand moved down towards me, it's mouth hanging agape with a guttural vocalization noise coming from its throat, however, my legs refused to move.

'Move, damn it! Just stand up and run already!' I screamed in my head, my body still ignoring my futile protests as I remained there, frozen and helpless. Shutting my eyes tightly, fresh tears poured down my face as I accepted my fate; a death of a fucking coward, I thought. And just as I thought its hand would secure around me, I heard the distinct sound of blade against flesh as it let out another guttural noise, this one being of pain. I peered from under my lashes to see flashes of red and green and flesh color fill my vision before I felt myself being broadsided and swept off my feet, the wind whipping around me violently as I shut my eyes again.

The flesh against me was hard and taunt but still resembled an ordinary human embrace instead of a crushing titan grip, the arm that was wrapped around my waist keeping me firmly but carefully into place. I could smell the bitter tang of blood in the air as it rushed over me, but beneath it, there was a more subtle and comforting scent in the mix. Earthy and bold, yet dulled by the reak of perspiration and fear; sandalwood maybe?

It wasn't until I left solid ground beneath my feet again did I open my eyes, planted in an area of neighborhood much closer to the inner wall than where I previously recalled.

"Hey, Miss? You gonna let go already?" A man's voice asked, turning my head to see a Garrison Soldier looking at me with a worried expression before his eyes glanced down at my hand still gripping his jacket. This guy... picked me up and saved me? Color me impressed.

Hesitantly, and with a meager amount of embarrassment, I released the thick tan material from my hand, determined not to focus on the trembles that washed through my fingers and the smeared blood across my skin. "Sorry." My voice was feeble at best and quiet despite the chaos quickly sweeping towards us.

"Are you able to walk on your own?" I gave a nod in response and followed his hand with my eyes as he pointed towards the riverside. "Get on a ferry if you can. It should take you to safety."

Without another word, he turned and sped off back in the direction I had assumed that we had just come from. At first glance, he seemed to have his head screwed on straight; well enough to save me at least, I thought before I trudged towards the riverside.

My body still felt stiff and ragged, my every movement being deliberately thought about before anything bothered to stir. The world around me had turned into a dark hue of color, dulling along with the sensations accompanying my environment. In all honesty, I didn't want to move, I wanted to collapse and mourn and grieve. I wanted to bathe in the ocean of negative emotions that clouded my mind but logic had thankfully won out. I knew that if I stayed here, I would have no chance of surviving, and I would have to do just that; survive, even if it was out of nothing but pure spite and adrenaline.

Closer to the riverbank, I discovered that the shoreline was already packed with panicking and desperate citizens. Mothers were holding up their children and infants and begging for the soldiers to take them to safety while the men fought with each other over who was going to have priority and get a spot on the limited number of ferries.

Standing there with a bruised and battered body, and ego, I can honestly say that it was a degrading and pitiful sight to see indeed. However, it was another soldier that had moved to atop a docking pillar and shouted with a sudden call of "WOMEN AND CHILDREN TO THE FRONT!" over the drone of squabbles and yelling, that helped to silence some of the fervescent turmoil that brewed in the hearts of the surrounding people. Some of the men weren't happy about that in the very least, at least the ones that were obviously unmarried and left on their own in that regard.

As reality began to sink when further into me, I found myself only being able to stand in place and watching the madness slowly encroaching further and further inland towards us. It was only due to being pushed and shoved by a few incoming civilians and soldiers did I somehow find myself seated on the ferry. The panic that surrounded and engulfed me had become muted in tone and volume as screams and shouts turned into whispers and whimpers of desperate prayer in my ears.

Even as we pushed off towards in the interior of Wall Maria, consumed by the realization that I was in fact alone in a crowded room so to speak, I felt hollow and numb. When another loud explosion overtook my senses just as we passed through the wall, I could only sit and silently watch upon seeing another large hole where the inner gate had been. Clouds of steam and smoke rose from the destruction and rolled off another large Titan as it stood up straight and looked across the land.

I should have felt overwhelming fear and trepidation upon realizing that we still were not safe, that my home was gone, and that the time of humanity had finally come to an end after a hundred years of safety and peace. I should have openly wept along with my neighbors and acquaintances but I couldn't find in it me. I just felt empty as I looked in the direction of what used to be my home, even after the wall had long faded from my view. I... We had lost everything we had ever known in life and it seemed that we were about to lose even more.

Reaching Wall Rose, we learned that the Titan hadn't yet laid siege and that for the moment we were safe. The refugees and I were scattered across the city of Trost shortly after we arrived, hunkered down in various warehouses while a few lucky souls found refuge under the roofs of some willing occupants of the city. That night, I had set myself up in the rafters of one of those warehouses, not sleeping a wink that entire night as I looked through a window back at the wall that was supposed to 'protect' us. I had thought, if the Titans attacked again, I had to be awake. I had to run at the first sign of trouble. But then again, trapped within an unfamiliar set of walls and surrounded by danger at all angles, I wondered where it was that I could really go where I could hide and possibly survive.

I thought for the first three days straight, not sleeping until the third night, my body finally giving out due to exhaustion and hunger.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned into a month, then two, and then into three. By my fourth month in Wall Rose, I had grown weary and tired; sick of waking up hungry to go plow the infertile and frozen ground to hope that we might reap a few potatoes from our efforts. Sick of the daily bullying of the Military Police and their half-cocked idea of how to sustain our strained food reserves and population; sending over twenty thousand souls along with the Survey Corp in a futile attempt to reclaim our lost land. Sick of the never-ending feeling of caked dirt and blood on my hands and feet, no matter how much I scrubbed them in the river.

I was sick of being a burden. And so, I finally made a decision. If I was going to die within these entrapping walls at the hand of a Titan, why not at least try to make a little hell in the process.

~Year 848~

Dinner had just ended and yet I had barely managed a few bites of it. The gruel they fed us was better than the slop that had been served out to me on the streets but I just couldn't find my appetite. Nausea slithered through me every time I thought about eating as my nerves wracked through me, so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn't even noticed anyone approach me.

"Nervous, Celica?" Blinking a couple of times, I glanced over at a girl with long black hair, her hazel eyes clouding her usual rather playful disposition with anxiety.

"Only as much as anyone else is right now. You don't exactly much better off at the moment Natasha." I commented, looking back down at my plate and pushing it gently aside.

"Can you blame us though? Tonight's the night after all. All the blood, sweat, and tears that went into the last few years, all of it has led to this moment."

"Yeah, well... What's one moment compared to a thousand others that we'll hopefully get to see before we kick the bucket?"

Natasha's face fell visibly, the small amount of pride that shown in her eyes and body language flickering away in an instance. Guilt replaced the wave of nausea that had crested in my gut and I sighed softly.

"That's... not... ugh. I didn't mean for it to come out like that. It's just..."

Another sigh escaped past my lips.

The past three years had been rough but I had imagined that it was easier than what would have happened if I had stayed on the streets like some of the other refugees. It was three years of hell, but it was three years that I had somehow survived and tonight marked an important milestone for the time to come.

Tonight was induction night and the choices we made tonight would impact the rest of our lives for sure. Despite the scattered cheers of joy and beaming pride within our small dining hall, for some like myself, we could feel the heavy weight burdened upon our shoulders along with the accompanying nervousness. It had become a fact within our graduating class that no one really wanted to join the Survey Corp but that they desperately needed the numbers after so many missions beyond the walls. While the top ten of the class were surely going to choose the Military Police as they were given that third option, the rest of us had a more difficult choice in my opinion.

Choose the Garrison or the Scouts.

I could swear that some of the other recruits were wracking their brains up until the very moment we were lined up in our formation and faced with the moment of truth.

A tall man with blonde hair and broad shoulders appeared before us, the wings of freedom crest stitched across the biceps and the back of his tan jacket; the Survey Corp Commander himself, Erwin Smith. His gaze flickered over each of us in the crowd, pausing for only a brief moment before speaking.

"To the 95th Cadet Corp Graduating Class, first off, I would like to congratulate you for having made it this far." His strong voice echoed around us as he spoke, offering up each corp choice to us while being surprisingly impartial to any certain one in particular. I had half expected him to try to make a decent case for the Survey Corp enable to recruit more members but I was decently impressed by the fact I was wrong in my assumption.

"I'm not going to sugar coat it for you Cadets. The Survey Corp is not for the faint at heart, nor is it a place for those of you who aren't wholly ready to face your worst fears and defend humanity at ANY cost. That includes your very lives." As his eyes scanned the crowd once more, eventually they landed on mine, lingering as he continued speaking. "That being said, if you believe that you have the constitution and backbone to join our ranks, we will welcome you with open arms."

When his eyes finally left mine, I breathed a soft sigh of relief, perfectly content to hide in the crowd of faces, relatively unseen. But now, for whatever reason, he had become temporarily fixated on me, even if it was only a moment. A moment, however, was all that people like him needed to judge you and he would be judge and jury for those of us in the formation. And for a select few of us, he would be our executioner as well. The metaphorical blade had raised well above our heads and descended upon us with his next few words.

"The choice is yours. Choose."

Silence fell upon us, deafening in its own right. The only sounds around us were ones of quiet and shallow breathing and the occasional swallow of fear before the first footstep was heard. It was one pair, then another, and another, until it sounded like a stampede all around you. Cadets fled one right after another, hiccups of tears and faint tears filtering through the footfalls.

My head dropped a little as I shut my eyes, hands grasped tightly at each other behind my back as I dug my heels firmer into the soil beneath me. I couldn't psych out, I wouldn't. I had to stay.

Eventually, the stampede of footsteps had finally stopped, save for one set that paced along the wooden stage.

Glancing up, I saw the Commander making his way off stage and down towards what was left of the formation.

"So..." He drawled. "Only five souls. That's quite astonishing." He paused again, letting out a soft breath as he looked us over. "For what's it worth, I would rather have five brave and confident souls in my ranks than fifty cowards anytime."

"It's still not the numbers we were hoping for regardless." Another voice sounded off to the side, where I glanced to see a shorter, dark-haired man with a severe expression on his face as he approached.

"Skill can triumph over sheer numbers any day, Levi. You of all people should know that." The Commander remarked as the shorter man stopped beside him and crossed his arms as he gazed at each of us, looking relatively unimpressed.

"Cadets," The commander spoke up again as he addressed us, snapping my full attention back to him. "Those of you standing here right now, you are all officially Scouts now, and this..." His right fist came to rest over his heart as he held the other at the small of his back. "This is a heartfelt salute. Will you give your hearts to the protection and preservation of humanity?"

With a firm 'yes' and salute in response, we each cemented our collective fates and began digging our metaphorical graves.

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