𝔇𝔢𝔣𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 (𝔏𝔢𝔳𝔦 𝔵 ℜ𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔯)

XCVII - Blood Of Consequence

"I was disappointed when I woke up and was greeted with your absence."

***

~The Next Day~

Hanging from the wall just outside of the Trost Southern Gate, wires holding me from plummeting to the titans that reached for the dozen of us from below, we waited for the blinding flash that would be emitted from Eren's smaller figure as he transformed into his titan form. Putting his skills to the test was happening today, in just a few minutes as Hange gives him a quick debrief on what's to go down from now on until the task is complete, the boy already previously had practices before we arrived in the district.

He was exhausted, to say the least. Since the meeting Levi, Erwin and I had attended with Darius, Pyxis and the other commanding officers of the military just a fortnight ago, Eren hadn't rested for single day since but was still dutifully willing to power through with today's trial run of his hardening progress. I couldn't help but worry for the boy, even with my being there with most of his experiments during the last two weeks and watching as he gained more and more control over his titan and it's abilities, my mind can't help but wander back to when we were being hunted by the Military Police.

Back when we were performing experiments on the brunette in the clearing a while away from the cabin we had sought refuge in for a day or two, Eren could barely withstand three transformations within rapid succession, what if that were the case today? There were few titans around and about the gate today, a dozen of us on the West side of the gate and another dozen of us on the East. It was just to draw the attention of the man-eating beasts away from the boy who was going to properly seal the gate with something that was guaranteed more protection than a giant rock that would break easily with another swift kick from the Colossal titan.

My fingers bounced a little on the triggers of my hilts with anticipation and a sense of subtle anxiety, almost as though my body were waiting for something bad to happen anytime soon. How optimistic of myself, my body having such faith in everyone here. But I couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary. If worst comes to worst, there was a long line of soldiers atop the wall, swords readied. Myself and two dozen soldiers hanging from the walls, and to top it all off, Levi was standing directly above the gate with Hange and Eren, waiting for the mission to commence.

The large contraption that Hange had thought of; the titan guillotine, was huge. Multiple large wooden beams stretching across the width of the wall for stability as thick metal chains hung from a reel and a beam that protruded a little off the wall, holding a massive log. When the machine was activated, the chains would release and drop the log onto the titan that was standing beneath it, and with enough luck and the keen eye of the operator, it would crush the nape of the titan, effectively killing it instantly.

Simple enough, and it seemed much more safer than sending out soldiers to kill them by hand. In just a few moments, Eren was going to properly seal the hole, and then we can finally see if the contraption works in Hange's favour.

My eyes watched the top of the wall eagerly, the angle I had made close to nothing on top of the wall visible except for the protruding parts of the machine. I could hear my heartbeat drumming in my ears, the sound of the pumping organ alone being louder than any of the groaning of the titans below or the somewhat casual chatter amongst the dozen of soldiers I was currently surrounded with. In my peripheral I could see the fear that crept across some of their faces, others looked as though they were trying to ignore the potentially impending doom that was guaranteed if their wires and hooks were to fail now.

"Hey Y/N! You good?!" The mention of my name from an unknown sources mouth snapped me out of my daze but failed to reduce the pounding of my heart in my ears. I blinked multiple times, searching the faces of the soldiers for the one who mentioned my name, all of them staring at me in return. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, wondering perhaps I imagined the voice to distract myself. No, with everyone looking at me that wasn't the case.