In Which Araminta Has a Mission to Complete!
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Flightless Bird ∕ Chapter Two

FINALLY, THE DAY WAS FINALLY HERE. After months of preparation, the Scouts were finally going to join Eren in Liberio for their attack, and in a few hours, Araminta would be the new holder of the War Hammer Titan — if everything went as planned, that was.

She liked her new ODM gear, she really did. Since she had taken Hange's place as the head researcher of the Scout Regiment, it was her first project she'd completed that was almost entirely under her supervision, so that was pretty exciting. The only problem was she didn't have pockets, which meant she didn't bring her pearl with her.

And she wished she could have, because she was about to explode from nerves.

Currently, she was standing in the front room of their recently finished blimp, leaned up against the back of Hange's seat. She gripped the top of it, tapping her fingers along the edges in an attempt to soothe her jitteriness.

"Araminta..." Hange started, turning to give her a bothered look. "You know I adore you, but you have got to stop the finger tapping."

She froze, then withdrew her hands. "Oh. Sorry. I guess I'm just nervous." She let out an uneasy laugh.

Hange sighed, turning their attention forward. "Aren't we all?" They murmured. "Our first big mission since I've became commander... There's a lot riding on this."

Araminta nodded along in agreement. "I know. And our first mission with the new gear. And, if all goes to plan, this time tomorrow I'll be a Titan shifter." Her fingers reached up to touch the scar on her nose, and she wondered if turning into a Titan would make it go away. She kind of hoped it wouldn't. Her scars made her feel more badass.

Hange gave her a weak smile. "It's crazy. I never would have thought you would become a Titan..." They held out their hand, and Araminta automatically put her hand in theirs. "You're going to do great, though. Plus, we can do so many experiments! It'll be amazing!"

Araminta grinned at them, and at the prospect of all the things she would be able to learn. "You're right. It's gonna be great." She told Hange, who gave her hand a squeeze.

"Just remember, Araminta... Don't use the serum until you're absolutely sure we have the War Hammer Titan in our possession. Okay? Otherwise we can't turn you back."

The idea of being stuck as a Titan forever caused her to shiver.

"Of course. I promise, I won't jump the gun on this." She swore to her commander, giving their hand a firm shake.

The door to the command room flew open, and it was Sasha, grinning wildly. "Arie, come quick! We're doing a good luck toast!" She shouted, and Araminta could hear shouting coming from behind her.

Hange groaned. "I thought I told you guys we're not doing that! Not after Martin got ahold of it last time and got so drunk he shot someone!"

Sasha blinked. "Oh."

"Don't worry, Hange, I'll go shut it down." Araminta let go of Hange's hand, and patted their shoulder on the way out.

Once the door was closed behind of them, Araminta stopped Sasha. "Who has the bottle?" She asked her.

"Becker." She replied. "You're seriously going to shut it all down?" She stuck her bottom lip out to pout.

Araminta shook her head. "No, don't worry. I have an idea. Go get Connie, Jean and Mikasa and meet me in the supply room. Okay?" She smiled at her, and Sasha nodded.

"Aye-aye, captain." She did a salute, then they both headed back into the main room of the airship, where everyone would be gathered.

She spotted Becker in the process of pouring himself a cup of the alcohol, and before he could finish, she snatched it out of his hands.

"What the fuck, Holm?" He whined. "Just let us have one drink! Please!"

"No can do, Becker. Hange said no alcohol, no toasts, no nothing."

Beside Becker, a blonde soldier next to him rolled her eyes. "And it's no surprise you're enforcing their stupid rules. Little lapdog." She muttered under her breath.

A few of the other soldiers snickered, while Araminta smiled. She'd heard comments like this from other recruits all the time, especially in recent months. Whether it be about her closeness to Hange, or even about her being Eren's girlfriend, she heard it all the time. At first, it used to bother her, but she didn't care so much anymore. Instead, she found it amusing.

"You think their rules are stupid?" She asked the girl, tilting her head. "I'll make sure to let them know you feel that way. Since I am their lapdog, and all." She shrugged. "And don't worry, I'm sure your snide little comments won't come up at all in discussions of promoting you."

She gave the girl's head a pat, then headed towards the direction of the supply room with the bottle still tight in her grasp. Once she got there, she opened the door, slid in, then closed it behind her.

Connie and Sasha were having some kind of heated argument, while Jean and Mikasa were talking quietly. It reminded Araminta of the night she'd gotten drunk with Jean, when he swore he didn't like Mikasa. She still wasn't convinced he was being honest.

"I brought a treat." She announced, then held up the bottle.

"Oh, thank god. I thought you were gathering us in here to yell at us or something." Connie let out a breath of relief.

"Why would you think that?" Araminta asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

He shrugged.

"You stole his champagne?" Jean laughed, and she nodded. "He's going to be so pissed if he finds out. He said it took a lot of effort to smuggle it onto the airship."

Araminta shrugged. "Let him be pissed. I'll punch his stupid face if he tries anything." She looked around the shelves lining the walls, but of course there were no cups. "Okay, we're just going to each take a sip — one sip, because we are not getting wasted before the mission. Then, when we make it out alive, we come back here and drink the rest. Deal?"

Mikasa nodded. "I'll make sure Armin celebrates with us." Then she frowned, looking away. "I hope he's alright out there. He'll be okay, right?"

"Mikasa! This is exactly what we're toasting to!" Sasha told her. "A toast to all of us coming back to the airship safely, right?"

"To coming back to the airship safely." Araminta said in agreement, and raised the bottle into the air. Then, she took a quick sip of the bubbly drink, and passed the bottle over to Jean.

Once the bottle had reached Mikasa, Araminta turned to Jean. "I need you to do something for me." She whispered, and he looked down at her in confusion. She pulled a small, rectangular box off of a hook on her belt, and held it out to him. "When there's an opening for me to eat the War Hammer Titan, I need you to inject me."

His confusion shifted into bewilderment. "What?! I'm not doing that. Ask Sasha to do it."

She groaned. "Please? Sasha won't do it, I already asked her. She doesn't approve of me turning into a Titan."

"Neither do I!" Jean whisper-shouted back at her.

She grabbed one of his hands and forced him to take it from her. "Just fucking do it, okay? You're smart. You know this is going to be a good move." She told him.

He opened his mouth, ready to reject, but let out a defeated sigh. "Fine. Then you have to stay close to me while we're down there. Alright?"

"No shit."

Araminta felt something poking her arm, and turned to see Connie trying to get her to take the bottle. She flashed him an apologetic smile, then took it so she could hide it.

"You did a great job with the gear, 'Minta." The gray haired boy told her. "It really accentuates my muscles, don't you think?" He flexed his biceps, and Sasha giggled.

"What muscles?! You look exactly the same." She teased, and Connie whacked her arm.

"He's right, though. The gear is great." Mikasa told her, and Araminta noticed she was still wearing that cursed red scarf.

"If only you were at good at cutting hair as you were at making gear." Sasha sighed, reaching out to play with the strands of her unevenly cut hair.

Araminta smacked her hand away. "It's not that bad."

Connie laughed. "No, it's definitely bad."

"I like it, it's like... Spunky." Jean defended her.

"Of course you would think that." Connie mumbled. Before Araminra got the chance to ask what the hell that meant, Sasha perked up.

"I think we're getting ready to jump!" She told them, and Araminta imagined her to be like a dog with its ears straight up to listen.

"Okay, okay, really quick, I just want to tell you all to stay safe out there so we can come back and share the rest of the bottle, okay?" She told them all seriously, and they nodded.

She held open the door for them as they filed out of the supply room, and Mikasa was the last one out, but she stopped by Araminta, clearing her throat. "When I see Eren... Is there anything you want me to tell him...?"

Right. Mikasa was supposed to stick close to Eren and bring him back to the airship since he didn't have any gear of his own.

"No... There's nothing except what I need to tell him myself."

Mikasa nodded understandingly. "Okay." She smiled at Araminta. "Stay safe. And good luck. With your mission."

"Thank you." Araminta returned the smile.

If she was going to be able to pull this off, she was going to need all of the luck she could get.

ARAMINTA HAD KILLED OTHER HUMANS BEFORE. IN THE CRYSTAL caves beneath the Reiss church, she had killed so many people, she couldn't even remember exactly how many there were. And of course, there was her first kill, when she had saved Armin from being shot. So, she was no stranger to murder.

It didn't make it any easier, though.

She tried to remind herself, these people are responsible for your family's deaths. Every single one of her comrades that had been eaten or smashed by a Titan died because of these people. They didn't give a rat's ass about her, some lowly Island Devil, so why should she feel bad about killing them?

Willy Tybur had been giving some grand announcement, which was the reason for so many people being gathered in Liberio. It wasn't just Eldians, though, there were many important Marleyan figures there. That was, she supposed, the main reason they chose tonight for their attack.

There was a line of canons up on one of the walls surrounding the square where the rally had taken place, and they needed to be taken out. As Commanding Officer, Jean instructed everyone to fire their Thunder Spears at the canons — as well as the military operating them.

That was the reason she asked him to be the one to give her the serum. She knew Jean, and she knew he disliked killing as much as she did, but he was able to put his personal feelings to the side and make the best decision for battle.

They soared up above the wall, and everyone took turns firing their Thunder Spears down at the top. Araminta froze, though, when she saw what was just on the other side of the wall.

There was Eren's Titan, slumped over with a huge crystal piercing through his chest. On the ground looked to be the remains of the War Hammer Titan. What really caught her eye, though, was the two figures on the nape of his Titan's neck.

Mikasa and Eren.

She threw her Thunder Spear late, and it ended up flying to the ground below and exploding there. She cursed under her breath as she landed on one of the nearby rooftops, where Jean landed down next to her.

"What the hell was that?!" He demanded.

She didn't pay him any attention, though. Instead her attention was focused on the War Hammer Titan, which looked like its nape had been blown off by Mikasa.

"Jean." She said his name, and turned to look at him. "Get me down there then give me the serum."

"No." He immediately told her. "If Mikasa just fired a bunch of Thunder Spears at that thing's nape, there's no guarantee the person inside is even alive."

Araminta clenched her jaw together, prepared to yell at him, but looked back down and decided he was right. It was too risky to do it now.

So, her attention instead turned to Eren. He was pretty far away, but she could tell his hair was longer — way longer. It was like the two of them had swapped their hair lengths since they last saw each other.

Jean cleared his throat. "Do you want to go to him? Nobody's going to stop you if you do." He said with a bitterness to his tone.

Her gaze remained on Eren, but she shook her head. "No, I don't. Let's go. We can come check on the War Hammer later." She told him, and there was the ghost of a smile on his lips.

For a moment — a brief moment — Araminta looked over at Jean, in their new uniform and gear, with his face illuminated only by the distant floodlights over the square, and she thought he looked good. It reminded her of that night in the hotel room.

The thought was fleeting, though. She could hear someone behind her zipping away, and it dragged her back to reality. With a sigh, she looked back at Eren one last time, before using her gear to follow after Jean and the others.

On the roof of one of the buildings, a bunch of Marleyan soldiers had posted up and were trying to shoot the Scouts down from the sky. Araminta wasn't as good with a gun as Sasha was, but she considered herself to be pretty good.

She flew up above the rooftop, and shot one of the soldiers down. When she landed down, there was another soldier preparing to shoot down one of her comrades, so she made haste to shoot him in the chest before he got the chance.

Behind her, she heard the sound of a gun being loaded, and turned around to see another had his gun aimed at her. Before he got the chance to pull the trigger, though, he was being pierced by a grappling hook and dragged over the edge of the building. Jean hoisted himself up over the edge, brushing himself off.

He started to walk over to her, but something behind her must have caught his eye, as he started running. She turned around with her eyebrows furrowed together, but then she saw it.

Floch and his goons had set up big barrels full of explosives on the rooftop.

"Stop! Are you guys trying to burn down the whole internment zone or something?" Jean yelled at him, and Araminta rushed over to help shut this down.

"We're supposed to keep civilian casualties to a minimum! Don't you understand that, Floch?"

The redhead turned to face them, his eyes narrowed.

"Everyone here is an enemy. These are just our enemy's homes. Don't forget what they did to us! The Titans, who have been slaughtering our people for years came from here, right? So they've got this coming, and then some." He spat at them angrily, and Araminta couldn't help rolling her eyes at his little tangent.

"Seriously, you have got to stop with this mindset." Jean reached out to put a hand on Floch's shoulder, but he shrugged it off.

"Look there." He pointed over at Eren's Titan, who was still hunched over with the giant crystal shoved through his abdomen. "He's trying to tell us something. He's telling us to fight. We can't just cower behind our walls, waiting for death to come. We need to fight like he does. Like devils."

Araminta tightened her jaw as she looked away from Eren. "So, you just want to prove them all right? And let them believe we really are just filthy island devils?" She asked him, narrowing her eyes.

"Why not? That's what they already believe us to be. If they want to call us devils, let's show them how devilish we can be." Floch replied, with an appropriately devilish smile.

Before Araminta got the chance to punch that stupid smile off of his face, Jean had his hand on her shoulder, dragging her away from Floch. "Look, you can think that way all you want, but as long as I'm here, you're not detonating these."

Floch glared at him. "Fine. Have fun being a pussy." He snapped, then zipped away with his goons — probably to go find more people to kill.

Araminta saw a bright light by out of the corner of her eye, and turned to look back at the Titan fight. The War Hammer Titan had gotten back up, and just materialized a crossbow out of thin air. It was her first time seeing the War Hammer, and she was entranced by the way it could just summon weapons.

"You don't think my Titan will be that ugly, do you?" She asked Jean, who was standing right beside her and watching the whole thing.

"All Titans are ugly, Min." Jean pointed out.

"Not all of them! Eren's and Annie's are cool!" She told him, and he snorted.

"What are you talking about? Eren's is the ugliest of them all." He laughed, and she shoved his shoulder.

Behind them, she could hear a small commotion, and she turned around to see Sasha and Connie had made it over. She let out a sigh of relief, and Sasha quickly ran over to pull her into a hug.

"We stalled their reinforcements." Connie informed them.

"And you got all the lights up?" Araminta pulled away from the hug to ask them, and Sasha nodded.

"They're all in place."

"Are things going all right?" Connie asked, looking over at Jean.

"They are for now, at least." He looked over at the War Hammer Titan, who was now trying to hit Mikasa with a sword. "If we can get that thing taken out long enough for Araminta to eat the person inside soon, we'll be fine. But that's a big if. The only way we're going to know what happens next is to make it out of this mess alive. So focus."

They all nodded in agreement.

"So, you're really going to try to take it?" Connie asked Araminta, who was intently watching the fight.

"Yeah. Try." She replied with a sigh. "I'm just waiting for an opening... Wouldn't want to turn myself into a Titan then have no one to eat, right?" She joked.

"We would feed Eren to you if that happened." Sasha said. "He would probably let us, since he's so down bad."

Araminta rolled her eyes. "He would not. He doesn't even want me to take the War Hammer." She grumbled, then looked back at the fight. Eren dove off the roof he was up on while Mikasa kept the War Hammer Titan distracted. He transformed mid air, and once he was in his Titan form, she watched him dig his hand into the stage.

"What the hell is he doing?" Connie murmured.

Araminta's gaze drifted over to the Titan Eren should be fighting, then she noticed it. A cord running along the ground, connecting to the War Hammer's foot on one end while the other went under the stage.

When Eren pulled a big crystal out from under the stage that attached to the cord at the bottom, it all made sense. "Oh my good, look! There's a person inside of there." She excitedly pointed out to her friends.

Eren detached the cord, and the War Hammer Titan froze, then started to collapse like it was powering down.

"I think that the holder of the War Hammer Titan is able to control the body remotely, from that little crystal." She told them. "Jean. Get the serum ready."

Jean let out a sigh but did as he was told, and pulled the small box off of his belt. Just as he was about to take off the lid, though, Araminta watched in horror raised the crystal to his mouth.

"What the fuck?" She shouted, then stomped over to the edge of the roof.

If you really want to do it, I know I can't stop you.

So, what? He was just going to eat before she got the chance to? Even though he knew how important doing this was to her?

Before he got the chance to bite, though, a small, quick Titan came out of nowhere, and latched its jaw onto Eren's nape. Oh. It was the Jaw Titan.

"Shit! Everyone move in!" Jean yelled, and Araminta flew off the roof over in the direction of Eren.

Araminta hated herself. She had every reason to be pissed at Eren, to hate him, and to not care about him. But seeing him seconds away from being eaten by the Jaw sent her heart into overdrive. She needed to get over there as soon as possible.

There was a green blur — Levi, she assumed — and the Jaw's grip on Eren loosened. He walked backward and smashed the smaller Titan into a building, and it fell off of him and down to the ground.

Araminta watched the Jaw Titan scramble up the same building, no doubt trying to escape, but when he reached up for the roof, she launched a Thunder Spear at his clawed hand and knocked him back down to the ground.

She was about to dive down to fire at him again and try to finish him off, but suddenly there was heavy gunfire, and she had to swing backwards through a window to avoid it. She cursed under her breath, and peered her head out the window to find the Cart Titan, all armored up with heavy machinery on its back that was being used to shoot at the Scouts.

There were far too many things going on at once. Outside, she heard a loud noise, and looked the other way to see the War Hammer Titan had summoned one more body and pierced through Eren all over — he had barely been able to stop it from piercing straight through its neck. Then, there was the booming footsteps coming from the other side ofthe building, which she assumed meant Zeke had finally joined in the fight.

She looked down the window and saw all of her comrades and Captian Levi gathered down below in an alleyway. She shot the Cart Titan a look, making sure it wouldn't be able to see her, then jumped out of the window so she could join them down below.

"Soldiers! Try not to get yourselves killed!" Levi shouted, and that was all she heard from him before he was zipping away.

How inspirational, Araminta thought, then turned to Sasha. "Inside the Cart Titan's gear, there's people in there manning the equipment." She told her, and they both turned to look at the Titan in question. "Do you think you would be able to get a good shot in one of those openings?"

Sasha nodded. "Of course I can. I just need a good shot."

There was an explosion nearby, and Araminta covered her ears to protect herself from the noise. Her gaze drifted back to the roof the Cart Titan was shooting from, and then she spotted it — a spot Sasha would be safe, and be able to get a clear shot.

"Up there, Sash!" She told her, pointing at the spot. "I'll go with Jean and we'll take that thing down, okay?"

"Araminta?" Sasha called her name as she started to walk away, and she turned around to face her. "It's like the captain said... Try not to get yourself called."

Araminta smiled, and gave her a salute. "Aye-aye, captain." She parroted Sasha's earlier words, then flew away to go find her commanding officer.

Another explosion, just below her. She looked down to see the Beast Titan lying face forward, and it looked like Levi had completed his mission and blew up the nape — or at least made it look like he blew up the nape.

To make matters worse (for the Marleyans), there was a bright light in the distance, then a gust of wind shot through the air, nearly knocking Araminta to the ground. She was able to catch onto a wall with her hook, though. Armin must have finally arrived to the port and blown it to pieces, meaning the airship would be here any minute.

Once the wind calmed down, she finally found Jean, watching the Cart Titan from afar. "Min, the second we have an opening, I'm going to hit it in the eye. Then, I need you and the others to rain fire on it from above to make sure it stays down. Got it?"

"Got it."

Someone tried to shoot a Thunder Spear at the Cart, but she knocked it away before it could explode. Then, Araminta spotted Sasha, getting her gun ready and aiming it carefully at the cart. There was a bang, then the firing from one of the guns stopped.

"Now!" Jean shouted, and they were both in the air immediately. He slid across the rooftop, and sure enough was able to lodge one of his spears in the eye. After the explosion was triggered, and she was sure he wasn't under the Titan anymore, Araminta launched herself into the air, then fired her other Thunder Spear.

She staggered off of the roof, and landed in the alleyway with a thud. Araminta rushed over to get a good look, while Jean dove down to finish her off once and for all.

"Stop! Leave Pieck alone!"

Her eyes widened when she saw a young boy jump in front of the Titan, waving his hands in the air for Jean to see him. Araminta could see Jean hesitate, then he fired anyway.

Just as he fired, though, a gust of steam was released from the Titan, knocking it away so exploded somewhere else. Jean landed up next to Araminta, cursing under his breath.

"Damn it, I missed. Do you think it was the steam, or was it because I hesitated?" He asked her, his chest heaving up and down with labored breaths.

She didn't respond, instead watching as the woman inside the Cart Titan sat up from the nape, and the same boy crawled up to cradle her. "Shit. As long as he's with her, we can't do anything." She muttered.

A group of soldiers who must have been hiding below emerged and began firing at the Scouts, trying to protect the Cart Titan. One of them turned his gun towards Araminta, but luckily Jean pulled her back at the last second before the bullet could hit her.

"Jesus, be careful!" He snapped at her, and she glared back at him.

"I was going to move!" She told him, but that was a lie, she was not going to move in time.

There was a cough behind them, and Araminta looked over her shoulder to see that Connie and Sasha had come over to join them.

"Hey, good shot, Sash." Araminta complimented her best friend, reaching a hang out to high five her.

Sasha shrugged, a smug smile on her face. "It's no big deal." She said oh-so-modestly.

"Jean, it's here!" Connie exclaimed, and they all looked in the direction he was pointing to see the airship was approaching.

Shit. She didn't have a lot of time left.

"Jean!" She forced him to look at her. "Come with me! I need to turn into a Titan now if I have any chance at getting the War!"

Jean shook his head. "Not yet! That thing's still stuck in a crystal, you wouldn't be able to eat it if you tried!"

"But — "

She must have missed something, because she looked back at where the Titans were fighting, and saw an arm being flung into the air. Eren was ripping the arms off of the Jaw Titan.

But why?

Her gaze drifted to the crystal in his hand, and she noticed a claw mark. Then it hit her. The Jaw Titan was able to break through the hardened crystal.

"He's going to use the Jaw Titan to crack it open!" She realized. "Jean, come on, I need to do it now!"

When he just stared at her, not budging, she huffed in frustration and grabbed the syringe case from him. "Fine! I'll do it myself!"

"Araminta, wait — !"

She jumped off the rooftop, narrowly avoiding the soldiers that were still trying to shoot her, and made her way over to Eren and the others. Her heartbeat was loud in her ears as she raced through the sky, going as fast as her gear could possibly take her. There was no way she was going to lose the War Hammer today — especially not to Eren Jaeger.

With a grunt, she landed on the remains of the destroyed stage. Eren had the crystal shoved into the Jaw Titan's mouth, and was squeezing as he tried to shatter it. He held it high in the air with his mouth open, ready to drink the blood.

Araminta hurriedly rolled up her sleeve, enough to expose some of her skin. Then, she pulled the syringe out of its case, and with a hiss, she poked the needle into her vein.

It turned out, Eren was right. If she wanted to take the War Hammer Titan, there was no way he was going to be able to stop her. If he wasn't going to let her have it now, then she was going to force him to give it to her. She knew Eren, and she knew there was no way he was going to let her stay a pure Titan forever if he had the chance to turn her back into a human.

"Eren!" She screamed his name as loud as she could, and he froze. His eye shifted to look over at her, then widened when he saw the needle in her arm.

With a shaky breath, she readied her fingers, then injected herself.

Her vision went black.

erm... haha... what will happen? 😅 anything
could happen! just kidding i think it's pretty
obvious what will happen / what has happened.
this was something i was unsure about but
finally decided on this so thank you for your
help user Enchanteiia.

eren doesn't need the war hammer titan idgaf
he has enough going on already!! and there's
only 2 girl titan shifters we need more #girlbosses

next chapter will be... well if yk the show yk
what's coming next. good luck!