Hate 40

[Hail. Hail. Hail.]

That was the chanting that rang in Eren's ears as the swarm of giant bats stood before him.

"So, does this mean they're staying here too?" Connie asked uneasily.

"I don't know if I trust them not to eat us, even with Eren around," Sasha said with a similar expression.

While the humans bore witness to the display of submission, Eren had his gaze upon the bats. Even with their heads bowed, they were watching him, waiting for any sign. He could smell the fear on them. As if he would kill them anyway.

It was tempting, truly, but that could be such a waste.

Thunder rumbled above, drawing Eren's eyes upward as the clouds churned above him. They almost felt...inviting.

{{{{You are too late.}}}}

Eren stiffened as he felt the ire of the Voice of the Storm.

{{{{She will not allow us to fully claim my throne today.}}}}

[....She?]Eren

As if in answer to his question, a great light and a melodic roar rang out from the heavens, the thick clouds pushed away by a great light breaking through the darkness.

"Look who showed up," Grice muttered as many squinted to see the figure descending.

"Is that....Mothra?" Hange said, awe shining in her eyes as she beheld the angelic insect.

For once, it was not just her. Many were staring in disbelief as the giant moth descended like a graceful queen from the heavens..

"She's....beautiful," Sasha couldn't help but say, Connie nodding in dumbfounded agreement.

The bats screeched as the rays of both the sun and Mothra's light came down upon them. They flew away and scattered to find refuge in the darkness where they could find it.

It would not be a lie to say that even Eren himself was in awe of the Queen of the Heavens, but more than that, he felt the contempt of the Storm. And with those emotions came flashes of memories of this figure in a younger Earth opposing the Storm.

In a time when she heralded a mountain rising from the sea with blue fire upon its back.

She landed before him, and he could see how small her own body was compared to his. He was pretty sure he could kill her. He just didn't know if he had a reason to.

[You have done well, Eren Yeager,] Mothra greeted with a soothing and regal politeness.

All six of his eyes narrowed.

[You know our name?]Drei

[How!?]Einz

Mothra slowly held up two of her front limbs, and Eren felt it was a gesture of peace from her. [I watch over all of the Ancients. Both those that Remain....]

She paused, looking down at the corpse of the giant bat.

[And those that have Returned,] she added, looking intently at Eren now. Or rather, through him. [It has been many ages, Conqueror from the Stars.]

{{{{Not nearly long enough, wretched fly.}}}}

She could hear the voice. Strange. Grice and the others could sense the Storm's attention was on them, but could the Storm speak to them directly? The Storm wasn't exactly talkative. The question remained, though, how could the Great Bat and this Mothra hear what should only exist in his mind?

Mothra's attention returned to Eren himself, drawing him out of his thoughts. [Be wary of him, Brave Hunter. You have no idea what he might unleash.]

{{{{.....}}}}

Eren narrowed his eyes. Why did the Storm feel amused by her words?

Before Eren could question anything, Mothra flapped her massive wings and took to the skies once more as she flew high and away.

"Once more, she just fucks off and leaves us confused as hell," Levi remarked to himself.

"Yes, she did," Erwin remarked suspiciously. Seeing that the fighting was finished, he decided to get everyone back on task. "Everyone! The battle is over! Search for any wounded, and gather the dead!"

With that, the walls were a buzz with activity, and Grice took this time to slide down the exterior of the wall.

"Poor Grice," Hange said softly as she looked over the side. "He must be going to say his last goodbyes."

Grice did not speak as he walked over to the corpse of his fallen comrade, the green blood pouring through the ruins and soil he lay upon.

They had survived a great deal together. Their lives under Marley's boots, the torture after they were captured, their inner beasts trying to overcome them as they adapted to these new forms. They lost so many along the way, but at last things had started looking up.

But this cruel world had a terrible way of humbling the hopeful, of reminding them why they should not be too optimistic. Because no matter whose side was winning, there were always losses in a battle.

And now, he had lost another of his friends.

[I'm sorry.]Eren

Grice looked up at Eren, his great wings making him look all the more massive now. And yet, despite his victory, the three heads all looked saddened. Angry, resigned, and grieving was how he would describe each head. But the sadness in their eyes showed through regardless.

[He died because of me. If I had acted sooner-]Eren

Grice silenced Eren by spinning to tail whip him in the face. All three faces, actually.

"Oh!" Sasha exclaimed. "Should... should we do something?"

"Like what?" Connie asked in bewilderment.

"Don't get worried unless one of them starts bleeding," Jean recommended with a scowl.

Eren just blinked and his heads glanced at one another, stunned by what just happened.

[Did....did you just....?]Eren

"Smacked you with my tail? Yes, I did," Grice said flatly before sighing heavily. "Don't talk like that, Eren. Boris did it to try to help you. If I had wings, I would have too."

[But....he didn't need to die. I could have...!]Eren

"What? Handle it yourself?" Grice asked with a headshake. "Maybe you could have, but he didn't know that. None of us did, really. That's what comrades do- if they think one of their own needs help, they help. And yeah, sometimes, we get killed trying to do just that."

Grice paused to look back at Boris, a sad rumble in his throat.

"Bastard looks damn peaceful," Grice finished off. "I'm sure his only regret was that he'd never get to fly circles around your golden ass. You still have to get the hang of those wings."

Drei softly chuckled as Einz grew silent and Zwei stared at Boris's body.

No matter how powerful they became, they could never save everyone.

[I won't let his death be for nothing.]Zwei

"You live. That already means it was for nothing," Grice said simply. "...Eren? Do me a favor, let Ellie out here?"

Eren looked to the sealed breach for a second before nodding. He turned away as he flapped his wings to take off and fly a small distance away, testing his new limbs as he turned to fly towards Trosts. It was different, using them intentionally as opposed to how instinctual it had been during the battle.

"Brace yourselves!" Rico called out as Eren flew overhead.

The wind generated from his passing was strong enough that many barely stayed on their feet, and a few fell off the wall. Mercifully, they all managed to save themselves with their ODM gear before they fell to their deaths.

Most, however, were just thankful that Eren's tails remained well above the walls.

"We need to warn the brat about doing that," Levi remarked. Watching as a box crate fell off the side of the wall and tumbled down below. "If he were flying any faster or lower, that might have been bad."

"That can wait for a few minutes," Erwin instructed, having braced himself well enough. He too looked down as Eren landed near the breach below to approach Ellie. "For now, allow him to help a comrade mourn."

Levi nodded in understanding before looking down at the blood on him and his weapons. "....Disgusting."

The wartdog watched as the golden dragon approached her with apologetic eyes. "He's dead, isn't he?" Ellie asked in dread and resignation.

Eren froze.

Drei answered.

[I'm so sorry. I'm here to let you out.]

Ellie whined sadly and nodded.

Eren approached the boulder, but stopped. For a moment, he just stared at it, having almost tried to move it with his heads again.

He held up the end of his wings. They weren't hands and arms, but they were better than nothing.

It took some awkward movements and arrangements of his new limbs, but he was soon able to push the rock aside with some effort.

[Take all the time you need.]Eren

Ellie nodded in thanks as she walked outside. It didn't take her long to spot Grice, and with him, Boris's body.

Eren tipped his heads as he soon heard a sorrowful howl from Ellie echoing over the lands.

{{{{You grieve for a weakling.}}}}

[Shut. Up.]Eren

{{{{...}}}}

Eren tried not to snarl at what he felt to be a mocking silence.

"Eren."

He snapped out of his inner turmoil as Mikasa landed on Einz's head.

The most wrathful head calmed as she reached down to touch his golden scales.

"Are you alright?" she asked in concern.

He wasn't. She knew that, but sometimes it must be asked all the same.

When Drei lowered his head, Mikasa spoke again. "It's not your fault."

Wasn't it, though? The Great Bat and his swarm had come for him to challenge the Voice of the Storm. If he had left and faced them alone, maybe he could have saved not only Boris but everyone else who died today.

No, he would have been killed if he hadn't devoured Bertold and gained these wings.

Maybe if he had figured this all out sooner.....

He stumbled forward suddenly.

"Eren?" Mikasa called out in surprise.

Eren didn't answer.

It only now sunk in that he had eaten Bertoldt.

He hated him. He had pretended to be their friend when he was the enemy! He was the one who kicked in the gates of Shinganshina! He had done the same here at Trost! He tried to kill all of them when they were discovered!

He Was The Reason His Mother Was Eaten!!!

....But he had devoured him, just like a Titan would have.

Everything was starting to spin a bit, and having three heads made that worse. His limbs were feeling sluggish and heavy as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"What's gotten into him?" Levi muttered as he saw Eren stumbling about.

Mikasa leaped off Einz's head and landed on the wall, while Eren's golden form suddenly fell over with a great thud.

"Eren!" Mikasa called out in alarm as she quickly landed nearby and ran up to one of his heads.

"Mikasa, what happened?!" Historia called out as she descended with Ymir and Hange right behind her.

"I don't know, he just collapsed!" Mikasa said in worry.

"Maybe he's just exhausted?" Ymir suggested with a raised eyebrow, glancing at the draconic giant. "I mean, he did just sprout whole damn wings."

"He was probably just running on adrenaline," Hange concurred, watching Eren carefully. "He's still breathing, so-"

Hange stopped as one of Eren's eyes opened.

But it wasn't Eren's emerald eyes.

It was a hellish, blazing orange and red orb.

"....Fuck," Ymir cursed under her breath as they all tensed.

{{{{Maggot Princess.}}}}

Historia inhaled sharply, knowing it was addressing her somehow.

"Historia? Talk to us. What is he saying?" Ymir asked tensely.

Ymir froze as the eye shifted to her, the pupil dilating with vile intent.

She didn't need translation to know this....thing wanted to kill her, right here and now.

Every instinct in her body told her to transform, to grab Historia, and run to the ends of the Earth. Then to keep running even then.

"So, you're Eren's beast," Hange said with a neutral look as she leaned forward and tried to get his attention.

She got it. The eye was still murderous, but at the same time almost...disinterested?

Hange just smiled. "A shame that you're such a grouch. I can only imagine the stories you could tell, One Who Is Many."

The disinterest turned to interest, if only for a second.

But Hange didn't have a chance to prod further.

Mikasa stepped forward.

The eye landed on her.

Mikasa glared back.

"I don't know what you are. I don't really care. But give Eren back," Mikasa ordered coldly.

The hateful eye held her gaze for a moment longer.

Then, it faded back to green, just before the eye closed.

"....Historia?" Ymir prompted.

"Umm. He called me a maggot princess?" Historia answered awkwardly.

"That's it?" Hange asked in surprise, looking from the blonde to th40golden scaled beast. "Huh. What a rude fellow."

"Don't make it sound like a random person you met in a bar," Ymir said with a shiver. "I thought I was going to shit myself there for a moment."

"Only thought?" Historia asked meaningfully. "I might have...."

Hange hummed as she looked over at Mikasa, who was still staring at Eren's heads. "You should be careful when that happens. Eren might not be able to take back control fast enough."

Mikasa nodded mutely, and Hange wasn't sure the girl was truly listening to her.

Oh well. She had a lot to report and study after all this.

Hange sighed loudly and said to herself, "I might have to get Grice to help collect the dead bats if Eren doesn't wake up soon."

Meanwhile

Eren was not surprised that when he rose, he was once more in that realm of sand, with a night sky and a tree made of light. But he could see that the night sky was littered with dark clouds now.

Eren numbly looked towards the tree.

And at its feet, he saw someone.

At first, he expected it to be Frieda.

But it wasn't.

It was a blonde...child? Or a woman?

Eren wasn't sure as he narrowed his six eyes on her.

Or....was it two eyes now?

Just as he felt like he was somehow both taller and smaller than the mighty tree, he now had this strange sensation of both staring down at this girl but also being almost eye to eye with her.

"Who are you?" he called to her.

She didn't say anything; she just kept walking through the desert sands to move past Eren.

It seemed to take her hours to move an inch and yet seconds to cross a mile.

Eren turned to watch her until she stopped at a sand dune with a large stone sticking out of it.

Wait....stone?

Eren narrowed his eyes, very sure that this hadn't been there before. Truly, across the massive expanse of sand, he could see nothing else besides the tree.

Acting more on instinct than anything, he reached out and with a single flap of his wings-or swing of his arms?- sent a gust that blew away the dunes like a sandstorm.

As the dust cleared, Eren inhaled sharply at what he saw.

The stone had been a horn. The horn of a bat.

The Great Bat, the Enemy of the Sun, the would-be Lord of Storms.

His face was twisted into pain and terror.

His still form was half sunken into the dunes of sand.

No, that wasn't right.

The bat's massive body was dissolving into the sands themselves, crumbling away like a long, withered statue against the passage of countless years.

Thunder rumbled in the sky above.

{{{{.....Pray this boy kills you, foolish upstart. I will not be so generous.}}}}

Eren frowned as he remembered the warning the One Who Is Many had given the Great Bat. It seemed he had delivered on it all the same.

He turned his attention down once more and saw that the girl was looking up at him.

She had such a haunted and exhausted look about her, her form withered and her clothes...

Looking closely, he realized she was bleeding, slow and steady. From where he couldn't tell, but it seemed like it was everywhere.

"Who are you?" he asked again.

Once more, the thunder rumbled, and a memory answered him.

{{{{Queen of Maggots}}}}

What? But that was what the Voice called Frieda. Why would....?

He blinked and saw the girl reaching to touch his leg.

The instant she did, a spark rushed through him.

He saw her bleeding and wounded, missing an eye with an arrow in her back.

He could hear men and dogs.

The girl wandered towards a tree, a massive one with an opening in it.

She fell down, sliding into someplace dark and wet.

She couldn't swim.

And then, in the darkness, a light.

A strange creature that swam through the darkness and came to the girl.

Its many tendrils moved to embrace her, to become one with her.

And then, with a flash like lightning, she arose as the first Titan.

"Ymir Fritz?"

Eren didn't even realize he had spoken as her name leapt to his mind.

He looked down and saw that she was gone.

He turned back to look at the tree again with a frown.

Eren didn't understand, not really.

But he had figured something out during that battle, just before he ate Bertholt.

"That's why you call us maggots," Eren said grimly to the clouds in the Heavens. "The Titans come from you, somehow, don't they?"

The tree, which was never truly a tree at all, pulsed with a terrible golden light at its center.

The wind took a sharp, wrathful turn and Eren could hear a voice.

"I'll Kill Them All."

It sounded like his own, but...

"All Of Them."

He knew now it wasn't just his.

"Every! Last! One!"