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TROST DISTRICT — WALL ROSE
Southern Territories, Early Morning
Printing presses of the "Trost Daily Chronicle" had been running since sun rose early, churning out thousands of copies of the morning edition. The headline screamed in bold, black letters:
"BANDIT MASSACRE AT CADET CORPS: 167 DEAD, GOVERNMENT PROMISES INVESTIGATION"
"Demon Dog" Sightings Confirmed — Military Police Assume Control of Investigation
Crystal Titan strikes again: ALLY OR FOE OF HUMANITY?
Survivors Describe "Hell on Earth" — "They Wore Our Faces," Says One Cadet
The newspapers were distributed by boys who waved the items at passersby. The streets of Trost were already crowded with the morning rush; merchants setting up stalls, laborers heading to work places while mothers clutched their children taking them to school.
If there was one thing in common with everyone's faces, it was apprehension, dread and the all too familiar crux of fear.
Trost Market District — 7:43 AM
A fishmonger slammed the newspaper down on his stall, his body shaking with contained fury.
"Bandits?" he bellowed, his voice carrying across the market. "BANDITS?! You expect me to believe bandits killed nearly two hundred cadets at a military training ground?! Bandits don't have that kind of firepower! How do they even attack fortified positions?!"
His neighbor, a vegetable seller named Marta, snatched the paper and scanned the article. As she kept reading the contexts, her weathered face grew pale.
"I-It says here the Military Police are handling the investigation," she said quietly. "That they're considering all possibilities."
"Considering!" The fishmonger repeated. "They're considering whether to tell us the truth or not, is what they're considering! I've got a nephew in the 103rd first quadrant! If he'd been at that training ground—" He couldn't finish the sentence. His hands were shaking.
A costumer that was buying fish leaned in to get a closer look at the newspaper. "My brother's in the Garrison. He said something big happened, they're not just telling us."
"Something big?" Marta repeated. "The papers are calling it bandits. Since when do bandits have the balls to attack a military base?"
"Since they got their hands on something they shouldn't," The fish monger muttered darkly. "I heard things. Things about monsters. Things about fire."
The customer's eyes widened. "Monsters? You mean the Demon Dog? That's in Wall Sina, isn't it? Just a rumor."
"…Just a rumor, yeah right. That's what they said about the Colossal Titan too, and now most of Wall Maria is a Titan buffet." The fishmonger jabbed a finger at the newspaper. "Mark my words. They're hiding the truth. And when they finally tell us, it'll be too late."
Across the market, a similar scene was unfolding at a bread stall. A group of women had gathered, each holding identical copies of the morning newspapers.
"—says here the Survey Corps was involved." one woman whispered.
"The Survey Corps?" Another woman scoffed. "Of course they were. Those suicidal maniacs are always in the middle of whatever disaster is happening. Probably what attracted the monsters in the first place."
"Monsters? The article says bandits."
"Bandits, monsters, whatever. The Survey Corps goes out there, pokes the Titans, and then something worse comes back. It's been happening for decades."
"That's not fair. They're trying to reclaim—"
"They're trying to get themselves killed. And now they're getting children killed too. Cadets. Teenagers. What were they even doing at a training ground at that hour?"
Wall Sina districts— 9:47 AM
Nobles and the higher classes roamed the street going about their business, but even then trepidation can be smelt in the air.
"Would you look at this!" A man named Dmitri showed to his neighbor holding her child. "That monstrous beast is still out there causing more trouble!"
Elena took the paper scanning the text. "The Demon Dog... it attacked a training ground? Took a child?"
"The paper doesn't say that! It says 'bandits' and 'unidentified creature' and 'missing persons.' They're using vague wordings to hide a conspiracy!"
"What conspiracy?"
Dmitri scoffed. "That it's all connected! Wall Maria falls to the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan. Then we hear about the unruly beast here. Then it's in Wall Rose. Then it attacks a military base and a training ground in the same week. And now the MPs are in charge of everything. It's like there are forces out there coordinating to wipe us out. You don't find that suspicious?"
Elena clutched her baby tighter. "I find everything suspicious. I've been suspicious since the day the walls fell. But what can we really do about it?"
"For one, I don't want more of this ruckus to reach Wall Sina any further, if that happens, we would have to be sharing space with those commoners. The government did better be doing something with all those taxes we pay-"
"BLASHPHEMY!"
A commotion at the edge of the street drew many people attention. A group of folks had gathered around a young man holding a newspaper, his voice raised. With the chain bearing the symbols of wall Maria, Rose and Sina. It was obvious this man was a member of the growing wall cultists.
"Those wall defiling scouts were present at the cadet training ground! And they fought alongside that crystal creature! A creature that the commoners dare call the wall guardian?!"
"Crystal creature?" someone shouted. "You mean the Demon Dog?"
"No, different! An abomination made of crystal! But the paper says it fought against the bandits, saved lives!"
"Isn't that a good thing, I heard it fought the armored titan months ago."
"THAT IS WHAT IT WANTS YOU TO THINK! THIS CRYSTAL TITAN HAS COME IN THE FORM OF DOUBT TO QUENCH OUR FAITH IN THE POWER OF THE WALLS! OUR TRUE PROTECTOR AND GOD! NOT SOME TITAN FIEND!"
Some of the crowd began dissipating as the wall cultist kept ranting on the greatness of the walls.
"I don't know who is more crazy, these guys or those suicidal survey corps." A business man muttered to his companion.
"Just ignore them, that's how they always start. But seriously, do you really believe there is a titan out there helping the people?"
"Are you serious? That's ridiculous! A titan that helps people? Next you'll tell me all the Titans are friendly. I bet that so called crystal titan is working with those new monstrosities causing this ruckus."
Trost Tavern — "The Broken Wheel" — 10:30 AM
Newspapers were spread across the bar, while a larger print was placed at the banner outside for anyone else to see.
"I'm telling you, it's all a load of horse shit," a burly merchant whose face was flushed with ale snarled. "Bandits. Monsters. Crystal creatures. And oh, there's even one that could fly apparently. Dear walls, It's like they're writing a damn fairy tale."
"Or covering up something real," Someone else replied. "Something they don't want us to know about."
"What's to cover up? A bunch of kids got killed. It's a tragedy. The government will do what the government always does—promise an investigation, find a scapegoat, and move on."
"And the Demon Dog? The one that's been terrorizing the districts all week?"
The merchant waved a dismissive hand. "Wolf with mange. Gets excited, attacks a few farms. I bet the flying one could just be an oversized bat they were hallucinating. This isn't like news press have sensationalize stories because it sells copies. Just last month according to hysteria, they claimed some garrisons fought off possessed refugees from entering Trost district."
"You didn't see the bodies, did you?"
Both men turned. Sitting at the opposite end of their table was an elderly woman. "I was hearing noises outside my house just last month." she said quietly. "When I opened the curtains, I saw soldiers near the gates raising their rifles at what was left of those people, they looked changed."
"Changed?" One of them asked.
"Possessed," the woman said. "By something. Something that wore their bodies like clothes and made them do... terrible things. The politicians called that whole ordeal 'hysteria' because the truth is worse. And now there is more worse things coming. The truth is that there are things in this world; things beyond the walls and Titans; that we don't understand and can't fight."
A heavy silence fell over the tavern. The ale the two men were drinking suddenly didn't taste as good.
"Then what do we do?" Hendrick asked, his bravado gone.
"We pray." the woman said. "Or run and hide, that's all humanity can do at this point."
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