'Get up.'

...

'You have a role to play.'

'You can't escape it.'

'Arise.'

...

'You made a commitment. So honor it.'

'Fate won't wait for you.'

'Get up.'

Y/n's eyes flew open as she jolted awake. It took them a moment to adjust to the warm light, squinting and blinking the blurriness away. A dull throb pounded in her head like a hot fire that spread through a forest. She began to slowly sit up, a decision she soon regretted with every muscle in her body aching.

Heavy weights pulled on her arms as she heard a clinking, metal sound. Y/n looked down, shocked to find chains around her wrists. More awake now, she snapped her head up to find herself in a stony, cold room with tightly-spaced bars enclosing her. Only the warm glow of torches illuminated the expanse, mounted on brick walls covered in mould and grime.

"You're finally awake," a familiar voice alerted her.

"Eren?... Where are we?" she turned to her brother from the next bed over, wincing from the lingering pain in her head. Y/n studied him, seeing the same ironclad chains around his wrists. He wore tired eyes, dark and burdened with heavy bags and his face appeared gaunt — as though he'd just seen the worst of hells.

"I don't know, but it looks like an underground prison cell. I think they're keeping us here, because..." Eren paused a beat, looking unsure of how to find the right words.

"Because?..." a worry gripped Y/n. It suddenly felt very hot in the room, as if someone had cranked a non-existent heater to the maximum setting.

"Because we're Titans."

"What do you mean we?!" she rose her voice. Y/n stirred abruptly, but stopped midway as the chains pulled her back. They began to cut into her skin. Yet strangely, she barely even felt the pain. Ignoring the oddity, she continued nonetheless. "Look, I know you might be one — we still need to talk about that by the way — but what the hell are you even saying?"

"I'm saying it as it is. Really, I'm just as surprised as you are and literally going through the same thing right now, but I'm not lying." Eren leaned his head back on the wall. "Check any wounds or cuts if you don't believe me."

Y/n held up her hands, still caked in the now brown, dried blood, to examine her fingers. Lo and behold, they had all miraculously healed. No more were her fingers raw where she had picked at her loose skin and hangnails. No more were the scrapes and cuts from when she had dug them into solid stone. Even her nails had regrown, almost as if they'd never broken off at all.

Her eyes flicked back to Eren with voiceless questions, furrowing her brows.

Eren began. "Do you remember when that insane Garrison Captain was about to bombard us with cannons?"

Y/n nodded, unsure of where he was going with this. She rested her hands back on her lap.

"Well... In the moment he fired, something happened with you. You transformed, blocked the cannon shots and protected me, Armin and Mikasa. Even the flowers next to me remained intact."

His sister's eyes widened, unsure how to respond as she grappled with his words. She, a Titan? Y/n could barely believe Eren had crawled out of one, how was she supposed to believe her own 'transformation?'

Eren continued nonetheless, casting his gaze downwards. "Your Titan looked — how do I say this — unfinished? Like it just needed to serve its one purpose."

Y/n tried her best to recall all of these events, yet nothing resurfaced. This only exacerbated the throb in her head. She bit back a cry to ask, "Okay... Assuming all this is true, what happened after?"

"It is true — and you passed out almost immediately. We literally had to dig you out of your Titan's nape, so you wouldn't get boiled alive in the steam. And if it weren't for Armin, the maniac would have bombarded us again."

"Armin saved us?"

"By talking him out of it, yeah."

Y/n felt a pride swell within her. It was no simple task to one, not break under the frustrating ignorance of a lunatic, and two, deescalate such a stressful situation in such a peaceful way. She always knew Armin was capable of amazing things, which she very much respected him for. But she only wished he would too.

Smothering a smile, Y/n queried, "And after aallll of that, can you finally tell me why we're being held captive in some nasty prison cell?"

"The Military Police has retained custody of you." an unfamiliar voice entered the room along with a screechy scraping of the floor.

As the faces emerged from the shadows, Y/n and Eren recognized them almost immediately. Dragging a chair was a tall, blonde man with strong features, thick eyebrows and sharp, blue eyes: the leader of the Survey Corps, Commander Erwin. He was followed by multiple guards.

One of which was a much shorter, dark haired man, wearing a cravat and a bad temper: Captain Levi Ackermann, humanity's strongest soldier.

Eren's childhood heroes, Y/n recounted. Back in Shiganshina, when the town bells had rung, it was a signal of the arrival of the Survey Corps. She remembered her twin dragging her along to gather with a crowd of countless people, watching them pass through their town. His grin was unforgettable as he cheered them on — they embodied everything he stood for, determination, curiosity, valor and freedom. Enlisting in the army, she knew she'd see them again one day, maybe even thank them for the comfort they gave her brother in this insane world.

But Y/n never thought she'd see them on the opposite side of a cell.

"I know this must be very confusing and frightening for you," Erwin set the chair to sit, while Levi leaned against the wall. "But tensions are high with everything that's happened."

Erwin turned to Y/n, maintaining a stoic expression. "You don't know because you weren't conscious, but your brother was used in a military operation to retake Trost."

'The hell?!' Y/n snapped to Eren, her eyes demanding immediate elaboration. Yet he only looked back at her as if to say 'Now's not the time.'

"When the Colossal Titan first attacked, a large chunk of the Wall had broken off. Eren transformed and lifted the rock to plug the hole again. Your brother aided humanity's first victory against the Titans. However, this was of course not without the expense of many lives — approximately 207 dead and 897 wounded."

It felt as if yet another bomb had been dropped on her — one sliver of earth-shattering news after the other. Y/n barely had time to process the last.

Eren hung his head low, a glum evident on his face. He couldn't even bear to look at her.

And she understood what this meant. For the rest of his life, he would bear the responsibility of their deaths. Lives they put down for him to give meaning to. Y/n felt a pit in her stomach.

"As you can imagine, the people aren't exactly celebrating right now. It may not be your intention, but we don't know what you two are capable of. This is just for safety."

Erwin reached for the pocket of his uniform jacket."We only recently received permission," he pulled out a very familiar, golden key, "To speak with you."

In that moment, both Eren and Y/n's eyes widened as memories of that day poured in. It was like they were sitting at the dining table all over again, and Mikasa had just outed Eren's secret desire to join the Survey Corps.

Their father's key. The one that lead to their old basement, which she had so desperately wanted to uncover with Eren when they were still kids. She had nearly forgotten all about those simple days.

It was the last they'd seen of their father; when he swore to finally open its doors upon his return, unveiling the mysteries that lurked inside.

Though that wasn't the only mystery he swore to reveal.

'You've come of age and are old enough to know,' her father's words replayed in her mind, as though they'd been dug out from far back.

'There's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time now. You'll find out soon when I return.'

But he never did. He could be dead or alive and the twins would never know. What secret he'd promised to tell her, she'd thought was lost forever.

And as it shimmered in the warm light, it waved hello like an old friend. Since their father had entrusted it to Eren, the key had never left his neck. It was always there, but Y/n had never acknowledged it — until now when it was in Erwin's hand.

"That key..." Eren spoke, overcoming the paralyzing shock first.

Erwin held it up. "Yes. It's yours — you can have it back later. The basement of your house in Shiganshina, Doctor Jäger's house, holds the answer to the mystery of the Titans. Is that it?"

"Yeah... I think so. That's what my father said," Eren replied as if it weren't at all a strange thing to say.

"I'm sorry, what?" Y/n couldn't keep up anymore. Had she just woken up from a 100-year slumber and the whole world had just moved on without her? She was beginning to think that Eren and her both being Titans wasn't the strangest thing said today.

"You have amnesia and your dad's missing." The Captain leaning against the wall finally spoke. "Pretty convenient, isn't it?" He folded his arms over his chest.

"Levi," Erwin turned to him, his face hardening more than it already was. "We reached the conclusion that they have no reason to lie," he turned back to the twins, softening just a tad bit. "There's still so much we don't know. But right now, we need to ask you what your goal is."

Their goal?

What was this? Some trick question? Y/n tried to think of a clever response. Maybe this was a test to see if they were dangerous or not. She had to play her words carefully.

"To get to your house, we must retake Shiganshina and Wall Maria. Your Titans would be the most effective way to achieve this." Erwin paused a beat. "In other words, all of our fates are dictated by your choices — and this key can save humanity from despair. So what's your decision?"

Y/n turned to Eren, seeing how he would respond. Yet what she found was that same fire in his eyes from that day; that same desire to eradicate the Titans still burning hotly. She saw how his hands tightened around the bedsheets, hellbent on the vengeance for their mother. It was like all arrows in his life pointed to this one end goal, never straying from the path.

"Answer up, you pieces of crap. What do you want to do?" Levi directed her attention back, looking very uninterested.

Eren finally looked up from his lap, as though he were born for nothing else. "I want to join the Survey Corps, and slaughter all the Titans."

"Oh?" Levi cocked his head to the side. "And what about you?" his eyes flicked to Y/n.

"Same thing."

Short and direct. The Captain had a scary energy to him and she didn't want to get caught in his scrutiny.

"Not bad."

A silence stretched for a moment. Y/n felt their stares of judgment practically scratch at her skin. She'd never felt so small under someone's gaze in her life; even Shadis wasn't nearly as bad. It was as if she could hear the muffles of their thoughts, whispering and humming about her and Eren's fates. Would they be cast out? Enslaved into military weapons? Turned into lab rats? The quiet was eating her alive.

"Erwin." Levi finally spoke, breaking the ice in Y/n's nerves. "I'll take responsibility for them." he pushed himself off the wall to near their cell. "Convey that to brass. It isn't that I trust them," he clutched the steel bars, peering into the cramped space. "If the two betray us or lose control of their ability, I'll kill them on the spot. Only I can do it."

Alright... That was still better than nothing. Y/n knew she couldn't ask for too much at once. For now, this would have to do.

"I accept your request," Levi leaned back, letting go of the bars. "You can join the Survey Corps."

"That does it then." Erwin stood up, grabbing his chair, "This is where we part now. We'll persuade them somehow, just give us more time."

With that, he and Levi turned to head for the door before Y/n could get another word out, leaving two guards from the Military Police at watch.

The prison was now eerily quiet as the guards glared cruelly at them. Neither Eren nor Y/n dared to speak, exchanging nervous glances.

For now, they had no choice but to wait.

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A/N: I just wanted to say thank you guys so much for surpassing 5k reads! I appreciate all the engagement you guys have been giving this story and I'm happy to write more for y'all! 🫶