Power to Strive

Smile

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or this story.

Previously: The 57th Expedition is over and the viewers are disappointed by the failure. Ymir sympathizes with Annie. Eren wants to get training as soon as possible.

|~|

The sun shone brightly in a forest. There were several freestanding punching bags, dirtied and gray. "Keep it up, Annie!" A masculine voice said.

Annie kicked the punching bags, arms up in a guard position.

Why is it...? Eren looked on in confusion. Why was it showing Annie all of a sudden?

This does not look like a good sign. Mikasa frowned.

Jean verbalized as much. "Does it mean to show she's the guilty party?"

"Don't jump to conclusions," Christa said. "Wait and see."

The shot focused on the mouth of Annie's father. "That's my daughter!"

She stopped, breathing deeply. "What are you doing?" He demanded. "Don't stop!"

Hange and Erwin were disappointed they didn't get to see more of the surrounding environment, giving them a clue as to where they were.

|~|

Annie's sleeping face came into view.

"Oh, it was a dream," Sasha said.

"Maybe it's showing what she was doing when the expedition happened," Petra suggested.

Opening her eyes, hair messy from sleep, Annie sat up in the bottom bed of a bunk bed, leaning on her elbows. Curtains were pulled aside and sunlight poured through the window, the sound of birds chirping audible.

[Wall Sina — Eastern Wall City]

A beautiful shot of brown-roofed cream-colored buildings appeared.

"Huh? Didn't you hear?" A male voice said. "The Titan boy and his companions were summoned by the king."

"So it's post-expedition then," Erwin muttered.

|~|

[Stohess District]

The shot changed to two well-dressed men standing by a stone barrier standing between them and a canal. "They'll be passing through the city today," the brown-haired man with facial hair said.

"I see," the man with the glasses replied. "He's gonna wind up getting dissected for sure this time."

How can they speak so casually of a human being dissected? Christa had a hard time wrapping her head around it. Then again, it was likely they didn't even consider Eren a person. He was a weapon. Just a monster if he couldn't prove his worth so it was okay to cut him open and study him.

Two other men stood a small distance away and a third was holding a newspaper behind them, eavesdropping. "Either way," the first man said, "I just hope things work out so they'll seal the gates."