Hello, Drinor here. I'm happy to publish a new Chapter of Attack on Titan: A Warrior of Devils
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Chapter 35, and Chapter 36 are already available for Patrons.
Jaime
The door to the meeting room felt heavier than it should have been. Jaime pushed it open with a hand that trembled slightly, his purple eyes red-rimmed and unfocused. He stepped inside, and the warmth of the lantern-lit space washed over him, but he felt no relief, it felt like a bad sunburn.
Commander Erwin Smith sat at the head of the table, his broad shoulders squared, his blue eyes swept over Jaime's disheveled appearance. Captain Levi leaned against the wall to Erwin's left, arms crossed, his expression unreadable as always. Hange stood near the window.
Jaime forced his spine straight despite the exhaustion weighing on every muscle. He brought his fist to his chest in a crisp salute.
"Commander," he said, his voice hoarse.
"At ease, Cadet. Sit."
Jaime dropped the salute and moved to the chair, sinking into it like a sinking ship. He kept his hands on his knees, fingers curling into the fabric of his trousers to stop them from shaking.
Erwin leaned forward, clasping his hands on the table. "Did you learn anything from Annie Leonhart?"
Jaime swallowed hard, forcing his mind to organize the fragments of truth Annie had given him between the lies and the heartbreak.
"Yes, sir," he began, his voice steadier now. "Annie's primary objective during the expedition was to capture Eren Yeager."
Erwin nodded slowly. "We suspected as much. Did she say why?"
"She didn't give specifics," Jaime admitted, his fingers tightening on his knees. "But she made it clear that she was under orders. Orders from... wherever she comes from."
"And where is that?" Levi questioned.
Jaime turned his gaze to the Captain. "She wouldn't say directly. But based on what she did tell me..." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "Whoever she serves, they're holding her father hostage."
Hange's eyes widened slightly. "Hostage?"
"Yes," Jaime confirmed, his voice taking on a bitter edge. "If she doesn't return with something to show for, they'll kill him. Maybe even her, for failing."
"Well," Hange said with a little smile, pushing her glasses up her nose, "that doesn't sound like a very nice place."
"No," Jaime agreed quietly. "It doesn't."
Erwin's face remained the same, but Jaime was sure he saw an expression of delight on his face. Jaime could not understand why, and it irritated him. "Did she give you any names? Any indication of where this place is located? Who leads it? What their ultimate goal might be?"
Jaime shook his head, frustration bleeding into his exhaustion. "No names. No specific locations. But..." He hesitated, then continued. "I believe she comes from outside the walls. Even beyond Wall Maria."
"Beyond Wall Maria?" Erwin repeated. The expression of victory on his face was more apparent, but it disappeared just as quickly.
"Yes, sir." Jaime met the Commander's gaze. "And if this place is willing to kill the parents of their warriors for failing missions, then even if we somehow find it, I wouldn't expect a warm welcome full of hugs."
"There's a big chance the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan are from this place too," Levi said, his voice flat and cold. "So it doesn't matter if they're friendly or not. The Colossal and Armored Titans caused the deaths of thousands. If they're all from the same place, then that place is our enemy."
Jaime nodded slowly.
"There's something else," Jaime added, his brow furrowing as he recalled Annie's specific word choice. "Annie kept referring to herself as a 'Warrior.' Not a soldier. A Warrior."
Erwin's eyebrows rose slightly. "A Warrior?"
"Yes, sir. She said it like a title. Like it was a military rank." Jaime leaned forward slightly, his exhaustion momentarily pushed aside by the need to communicate this clearly. "I believe 'Warrior' is a military rank where she comes from. Like 'Soldier' or 'Captain' or something similar. Or..." He paused, considering. "Or maybe it's a rank solely used for people who can use Titan abilities, like her and Eren."
"That would make sense," Hange interjected, her mind clearly racing. "They'd need a way to distinguish them from regular soldiers. A specialized rank for their most powerful weapons."
"It's possible," Jaime agreed. "But I can't be sure. It's just a theory based on how she used the word."
Erwin was quiet for a moment.
"Is there anything else?" he asked finally.
Jaime opened his mouth to respond, but before he could speak, a sharp knock sounded at the door.
"Enter," Erwin called.
The door opened to reveal Petra Ral, her orange hair tied back neatly, her expression professional. "Commander, the soldiers you requested are here."
"Good. Let them in."
Petra stepped aside, and four figures filed into the room. Jean Kirstein entered first, his eyes flickering at Jaime for a brief moment. Armin Arlert followed; he seemed quite alert. Eren Yeager came next, looking confused and a little angry as usual. And finally, Mikasa Ackerman, she glanced briefly at Jaime.
The door closed behind them.
Levi pushed off from the wall, his gaze sweeping over the four newcomers with obvious displeasure. "Erwin, why are the kids here?"
"Eren is our Titan," Erwin replied simply. "He needs to know what's happening."
Levi nodded grudgingly. "Fine. But what about the others?"
Hange stepped forward, her enthusiasm returning. "Armin Arlert and Jean Kirstein might be useful due to how close they were to the suspects. And Mikasa is a strong soldier. We need all the information we can get."
Armin's eyes widened slightly at the word "suspects," but he said nothing.
"Why were we called here?" he asked instead, sounding a little nervous.
Erwin looked at each of them in turn, his expression grave. "Because you all need to know the truth. Annie Leonhart is the Female Titan."
Armin and Jean already knew that, same for Eren, but Eren's green eyes lit up like green lightning.
But Mikasa...
Mikasa's entire body went rigid. Her eyes widened, then narrowed into something cold and dangerous.
Her gaze snapped to Jaime, and the fury in her expression softened instantly into something closer to concern.
"Are you alright?" she asked, sounding concerned.
Something in Jaime's chest tightened painfully.
"I'll get better." he said quietly, meeting her eyes. Then he turned back to Erwin, forcing himself to focus. "Commander, why did you bring them here? I assume it's for more than just catching everyone up."
"You're correct," Erwin confirmed. He gestured to Hange.
Hange stepped forward, pulling a small notebook from her jacket pocket. "We ran background checks on Annie Leonhart. According to her official records, she comes from a village in the more remote parts of Wall Maria territory." She paused, letting that information settle. "But here's the interesting part. Two other cadets from the 104th Training Corps claim to be from the exact same location."
Jaime's heart began to hammer against his ribs.
"Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover," Hange finished.
Jaime's eyes widened. The word "devil" echoed in his mind. His suspicions about Bertholdt, the memory of that training incident, and the way Reiner had always been so close to both of them.
"No," Eren said immediately, his voice rising. "No way. Reiner and Bertholdt would never do this. They're our friends. They're soldiers. They—"
"So was Annie," Mikasa interrupted quietly. "She was your friend too. But that didn't change the truth."
Eren stared at her, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled for a response.
"I have doubts," Armin said carefully, his voice thoughtful. "But they are just doubts."
Jean turned to him. "What do you mean?"
Armin's brow furrowed as he recalled the expedition. "When Reiner, you, and I faced the Female Titan during the expedition, there was a point when she grabbed Reiner. She had him completely in her grasp."
"Yeah," Jean confirmed. "And then he cut her fingers and escaped."
"Right," Armin said slowly. "But she held him for several seconds, Jean. Several full seconds. She could have crushed him. She could have thrown him. She could have done anything. But she just... held him."
Hange leaned forward, her interest clearly piqued. "And then what happened?"
"Reiner escaped by slicing her fingers," Armin continued. "But after he got away, I noticed something. The Female Titan looked at her palm. She just... stared at it for a moment. And then she turned and started running in the direction where Eren was positioned."
Erwin's eyes narrowed. "Did Reiner seem particularly interested in Eren's location?"
Armin nodded slowly. "Yes, sir. He asked about the formation. About where Eren would be positioned. At the time, I thought he was just being tactical, but now..."
"This is insane," Eren protested, his voice shaking with anger and confusion. "You're talking about Reiner. He's always been there for us! And Bertholdt—he's too timid to hurt anyone! This has to be some kind of mistake!"
"It's most likely true," Jaime said quietly.
The room fell silent. Everyone turned to look at him.
Levi's eyes sharpened. "What do you mean?"
Jaime took a breath, his mind going back to that training session two years ago. "Two years ago, during hand-to-hand combat training, I was wrestling with Annie. Bertholdt was watching with the others." He paused, he could almost see the look of anger in Berholdt's eyes, not just his, Reiner, Annie, and Ymir were all very angry. "At one point, Bertholdt got angry. He kicked me away from her. And while he did it, he shouted that I was a devil."
Hange's eyebrows rose. "A devil?"
"Yes," Jaime confirmed. "The word stuck with me because it seemed so strange. And during my interrogation of Annie today, I asked her what kind of place would kill fathers for the failure of their soldiers." He looked up, meeting Erwin's gaze. "She muttered that it was 'expected treatment for a devil.'"
It was very clear what he was suggesting.
"Wait, what do you mean? What does Annie's father has to do with this?" Eren asked, sounding confused, as were Armin and Jean, but they did not ask questions.
"The same word," Hange breathed.
"The same word," Jaime confirmed. "I know it might be nothing. But I have a feeling it's not. I think it means something specific. Something important."
The conversation continued around Jaime, Hange explained what Jaime had learned after questioning Annie to Armin, Jean, Eren, and Mikasa. Voices overlapping as theories were proposed and debated. But Jaime's mind had drifted elsewhere, snagged on another memory.
Ymir.
When Bertholdt had called him a devil that first time, Ymir had been watching. She'd been furious with Bertholdt. She'd shouted at him. Jaime knew that Ymir was protective even towards him, despite her trying to hide it, but that moment...Ymir had been furious. Which was a strange sight to see since Devil sounds like a very simple curse, an odd one, but nothing to get angry about.
Was she in on this, too?
The thought made Jaime's blood run cold. Ymir was his best friend. She loved Krista—he knew that as certainly as he knew his own name. Ymir would die for Krista. She would never betray them. She would never—
But Annie loved you, a small voice whispered in the back of his mind. And look what she did. It sounded like Kenny; he sounded disappointed with him.
No. Jaime shook his head slightly, trying to dislodge the thought. Ymir was different. Ymir was—
"Cadet Jaime."
Jaime blinked, realizing that everyone in the room was looking at him. He looked in front of him and realised that the Commander was staring at him.
"I'm sorry, Commander," he said quickly. "I wasn't listening. May I have permission to rest?"
Levi opened his mouth, clearly about to grant the request, but Erwin shook his head.
"No," the Commander said firmly. "You're important for the mission tomorrow."
Jaime's frustration grew even more. "Sir, with all due respect, I just interrogated... I haven't slept in over twenty hours. Can't I have a moment of rest?"
"No," Erwin repeated, his voice leaving no room for argument. "You were one of the few soldiers who fought the Female Titan and wasn't defeated. Your skills and your knowledge of Annie's fighting style make you invaluable for what comes next."
Jaime's jaw tightened, but he said nothing.
Erwin stood, his presence commanding the room's full attention. "Tomorrow, we begin two simultaneous missions. Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover will be split up—one assigned to each mission."
He turned his gaze directly to Jaime. "You, Cadet Jaime, will be assigned to the mission with Bertholdt Hoover. If he is a Titan shifter, we'll need someone capable of engaging him if it's needed. Someone who knows how these shifters move and think."
"Commander," Eren interjected, his voice desperate. "What if this is all just a big misunderstanding? What if Reiner and Bertholdt are just soldiers? Just our friends? What if we're about to ruin their lives over coincidences and suspicions?"
Erwin's expression softened slightly, but his voice remained firm. "If that's the case, Cadet Eren, then nothing will happen. We'll observe. We'll wait. And if they're innocent, they'll go about their duties as normal, and we'll apologize for the suspicion."
"And if they're not innocent?" Mikasa asked quietly.
Erwin's eyes hardened. "Then we capture them. By any means necessary."
The room fell silent once more. Jaime stared at the table, his mind felt like a storm that wouldn't calm down.
"Dismissed," Erwin said finally. "Get what rest you can. Tomorrow will be difficult for all of us. Except for you Cadet Jaime. We need to talk."
Seven Hours Later
The streets of the military compound were empty at this hour. Jaime walked without direction, his boots scraping against the cobblestones. The moon hung overhead like a pale eye, casting everything in shades of silver and shadow.
He didn't know where he was going. He just wanted to go somewhere, somewhere where the taste of ash in his mouth would go away.
"It wasn't going to be anything fancy. Just a small place."
His own voice echoed in his memory, and with it came the images. Annie sitting across from him at the tea shop in Stohess, her blue eyes soft as she watched him over the rim of her cup. The way she'd wrinkled her nose when he'd suggested she had a sweet tooth, even as she reached for another pastry. The rare, precious sound of her laughter when he'd made some dry observation about their fellow cadets.
"Somewhere in the countryside of Wall Maria, maybe near a river."
He remembered training in the woods, Annie correcting his stance. The feel of her fingers adjusting his grip on the practice blade. The way she'd smiled when he'd finally executed the move correctly. How that smile had made him feel like he'd conquered the world.
"I know you like the quiet. I know you hate crowds."
The night in the forest came back to him. Annie climbing into his lap, her weight warm and real against him. The way she'd looked at him while he sang, her eyes reflecting the firelight, her expression so open and vulnerable it had stolen his breath. Her lips on his.
"I wanted to wake up every morning and see you sleeping next to me, safe."
Jaime stopped walking. He found himself standing in the middle of an empty courtyard, surrounded by darkened buildings. His hands were shaking again. He pressed them against his face, trying to hold himself together, trying to keep the pieces from scattering.
"But understanding isn't forgiveness. And I don't think I can ever forgive you for what you did to Marco. Or to the people you killed."
The sound of the cell door closing echoed in his mind. CLANG.
And then, cutting through the memory of metal on metal, came another sound. Her voice. Raw and broken and terrified.
"Jaime, don't leave me! Please! I don't want to be alone!"
Jaime's breath hitched. His chest felt tight, like someone was squeezing his lungs. He wanted to scream. He wanted to go back down to that cell and hold her. He wanted to run. He wanted—
"Jaime."
The voice was quiet, careful, but it still made him jump. Jaime spun around, his hand grabbed the knife he always carried, the knife Kenny had given him, but he lowered it when he saw who was in front of him.
Mikasa stood a few meters away, her dark hair loose around her shoulders, her red scarf wrapped around her neck despite the mild temperature. Her eyes filled with concern.
"Mikasa," Jaime said, his voice rough. He cleared his throat, forcing himself to sound normal. "Eren is not here and I don't know where he is if that's what you wanted to ask."
"Eren is with Armin," Mikasa replied simply. She took a step closer. "How are you feeling?"
Jaime shrugged. "I'll get better."
It seems his words were not enough for her, and it seems she could see through his lie.
"You can talk with me if you want," she said, sounding softer, too soft, a tone he had never heard her use with him...only with one other. "I learned from my second mother that it's not good to bottle your emotions."
For a moment, Jaime considered it. Considered telling her everything. About Annie. About the cell. About the future he'd built in his mind that would never exist. About how his heart felt like it had been carved out of his chest and left bleeding on that stone floor.
But then it all came...
Arthur's face, pale like a ghost, thin like a skeleton, and his empty eyes staring back at him. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The knife in his hand. The smell of blood. The—
No.
Jaime shook his head sharply, trying to dislodge the memory, but it shifted, morphed. Arthur's scream when the shopkeeper's blade came down. The boy's arm hitting the ground. Blood spreading across dirty stone.
And then it was Annie. She was smiling at him, she whispered something, she kissed him, Jaime kissed her back, she pulled back, but...it was not Annie. Her skin peeled off from her face like wax, revealing the meat, the bone beneath, her lips peeled off, falling down, revealing white bone. It was not Annie. She was the Female Titan...
A bolt of electricity shot through Jaime's skull.
For a split second, the world went white. And in that whiteness, he heard something. A voice. Small and desperate and very familiar, it felt like he was hearing himself talk.
"Please don't make me forget. Please. I'll be good. I promise I'll be good. Just don't make me forget again."
A child's voice. Begging.
Jaime gasped, stumbling backward. His hand shot out, catching himself against a nearby wall.
The voice was gone. The images were gone. There was only the courtyard. The moon. Mikasa watching him with widening eyes.
"I'm fine," Jaime said quickly. His voice sounded strange to his own ears. "I'm fine. I just—I need to go find Historia and Ymir."
He pushed off from the wall, his legs unsteady but functional. He needed to see them. Needed Krista's warmth and Ymir's sarcasm to remind him that there were still good things in the world. Still, people who cared about him who weren't traitors or monsters or—
"Who is Historia?"
Jaime turned slowly, confusion cutting through the fog in his mind. "What?"
"You said you need to find Historia and Ymir," Mikasa repeated, her brow furrowed. "Who is Historia?"
Jaime stared at her. The question didn't make sense. Why was she asking him that? Everyone knew Krista. Sweet, kind Krista with her golden hair and gentle smile. She was one of their classmates. She'd been in their training corps for three years. How could Mikasa not know who—
Wait.
"I said that?" Jaime asked slowly.
Mikasa nodded. "You said you were going to find Historia and Ymir."
But he hadn't said that. Had he? He'd meant to say Krista. He'd been thinking about Krista. About going to find her and Ymir and maybe, just maybe, feeling like a human being again instead of this hollow, broken thing.
"I meant Krista," Jaime said, shaking his head. The confusion was making his headache worse. "Krista and Ymir. I'm going to find Krista and Ymir."
Mikasa's expression shifted into something troubled, but she nodded slowly. "Okay."
Jaime didn't wait for her to say anything else. He turned and walked away.
Jaime's head was a mess. Who was that kid who begged not to forget, and how can someone be made to forget anything? And why did Mikasa say that he said the name...Historia
Who was Historia, and why did it feel like he knew her name?
If you want to Read the Following TWO Chapters, Search 'patreon.com/Drinor' on Websearch