Winds of Change

Shiganshina District, Behind Wall Maria, Paradis Island, Eldia | September 15, 845.

POV | Jared Vaughn/ Armin Arlert

*Thud!*

"Run!"

'Mmm…of course, baby, I'd run to the moon and back for you..'

*ThUD!*

"Armin, wake up!...wake up now! we gotta run!"

'Damn baby, no need to rush...We can go, though, with my arm in tow with yours…'

*THUD!*

"RUN!"

"Armin!... ARMIN!"

Jared's eyelids couldn't help but twitch ever so slightly, hearing all the ruckus around him. He was used to noise, having lived beside construction sites for many years; however, the dissonant hubbub reaching his ears was too chaotic…more so than usual.

Not only that, his bed felt way harder than what it usually felt, almost no different from concrete, and even worse, it vibrated erratically, with each vibration progressively increasing in magnitude.

All of this made it nearly impossible to remain in dreamland.

"Armin! Wake up! Wake up now!"

The voices he subconsciously assumed to be from his one-night stand drew nearer. They sounded squeaky, almost as if they belonged to…children?

Additionally, interspersed between the words of the voices were shrill, chaotic noises - strikingly similar to the noises he heard whenever he clocked in for work - and blood-curdling wails.

'Tch…Why is it so noisy? And are those screams?'

The racket was loud enough to force him to open his eyelids, and begrudgingly, he did so. At the same time, he sat himself up in the direction of the noise and voices, intending to unravel its source. His body, weirdly, felt stiff and weak.

"Ngh!"

Upon sitting up, he was greeted by a wave of searing pain. His legs, his arms, his chest, his head…everything hurt. The pain was greatest in his head; it felt like someone had smashed a rock.

"The fuck?! Why does my body hurt so much?"

He grimaced confusedly, feeling immense pain. Subconsciously, his right hand went to his forehead, touching the region where the pain felt the most intense. He flinched, seeing the blood dripping from his palms. Just what the hell was going on?

"Armin! RRUNNNN!"

Hearing the louder of the two squeaky voices, he finally directed his sights to his surroundings, and once he did, his pupils dilated exaggeratedly. The cause? It was because he saw them…the devils of humanity,

Titans

Three towering humanoid freaks of nature were stomping toward him at an alarming speed. They completely dwarfed everything around them and arrogantly traipsed about – as if they were invincible.

The sight of them sent shivers down his spine to the extent that he was utterly unable to realize that two children were running in his direction – a brown-haired boy and a black-haired girl.

One of the Titans was incredibly terrifying. It was blonde-haired and dwarfed the others by a considerable margin. Though, that was not the scariest thing about it.

The scariest thing about this Titan was its eerie smile, wider than any Jared had ever seen in his 26 years of living. The smile was awfully jeering, almost as if the Titan was saying,

'You're about to die.'

'Run..'

Seeing the scene before him, he became hysterical, and before he knew it, he was bolting away from the Titans with all his strength, adrenaline coursing through every fiber of his being.

'What the fuck!...a Titan?! Am I dreaming right now?'

He tried to convince himself that he was still dreaming. Everything that was happening was too bizarre. It had to be a dream.

*Huff* *Huff* *Hu-*

"Ouch!"

'What the hell is wrong with my body? Why am I so small?!'

He suddenly fell, face first, to the ground after running merely a few meters. His body was aching everywhere, and he felt out of sync with it. He desperately wanted to run, but because of it, he couldn't.

'...Fuck..'

"Armin, are you alright?"

It was then he finally paid attention to the voices he had been hearing all this time. They had drawn incredibly close to him; his eyes widened upon realizing the sources that they originated from.

*Huffff*

"Armin, are you ok? Why'd you stop?"

Eren concernedly asked as he stopped at Jared's position, his breathing labored and erratic. Jared was about to reply but became tongue-tied upon seeing the proximity of the Titans to them – they were just a few meters away now.

Eren ignored his silence and hastily urged the black-haired girl beside him, who, unlike him, was breathing shallowly as if the running hadn't caused her to break a sweat.

"Mikasa, quick! Help me carry him. We've got go now!"

With an anxious expression on her face, Mikasa hastily joined Eren in his attempts to lift Armin so they could carry him.

"T-They're h-here…"

As he was being lifted, Jared finally managed to stutter, his expression petrified and ghastly pale. His finger was pointed toward the Smiling Titan, the first of the Titans to reach them.

'Is this the end? Just what is going on, for fucks sake?! How am I here?! Did I really get transmigrated?'

Jared's mind was in turmoil as he watched the Smiling Titan extend its hands toward them. Everything had happened too quickly, and he couldn't make head nor tail of his current predicament.

How the hell did he go from a weekend one-night stand to being at the gates to the afterlife?

All he knew was that it felt real…real enough for fear and dread to firmly grasp his soul with its grisly claws…

POV | Eren Yaeger

Fear. It was all he initially felt upon seeing the hands of the Smiling Titan cover him and his friends with its shadow. The sight of the very same hands that brutally butchered his mother sent bone-chilling horror down his spine.

His mother…the fact that he would never see her again had not yet sunk into his head. After watching her die, he ran for his life only after Mikasa had forcefully dragged him due to the arrival of more Titans.

His dear mother was no longer going to be there to welcome him home. She was the most compassionate person he had ever met. She was pure and innocent, yet she had perished under the hands of these freaks…

As he thought about it, his face gradually contorted into an expression full of anger and resentment. He was seething with rage. Why? Just why did they have to live like this? Why did they have to live like caged birds? What could they have possibly done to deserve this loathsome fate?

Those fucking Garrison officers who were drinking on the job as well…those bastards. If they actually performed their duties responsibly and manned the walls, maybe…just maybe, his mother might not have died today. Fucking cunts…

He abhorred this way of living with every ounce of his soul. It was unfair, unjust, cruel,..simply every negative word he could think of. He wanted to be free...free from the ever-present threat of these damn Titans.

The threat was like a scythe that hung over his head, waiting to be released. He wanted it gone…forever…

"Damn it all…"

POV | Mikasa Ackerman

Similar to her friends, trepidation embraced her soul. It was the first time she had been this close to these monsters. Seeing them up close made her mind go blank, void of any rationale.

Despite her overwhelming fear, she was oddly…calm, which was surprising for a girl her age. In truth, the Titans didn't frighten her as much as she thought.

What did was the thought of watching her friends die before her eyes. Thinking about this, she glanced at Armin and Eren, though her gaze lingered longer on the resolute brown-haired boy.

Subconsciously, she reached for her red scarf and covered her mouth with it, eager to receive its warmth. To her, the seemingly ordinary scarf held so much importance; it was a constant reminder that she wasn't alone – it was proof that she had a family and could fight…fight for others.

Once more, she shifted her sights to Armin, Eren, and the Titans,

'I'll protect you all…'

POV | Jared Vaughn/Armin Arlert

'It's over...'

Just as he was about to succumb to his fate, the sound of slicing air reached his ears.

*Whoosh!* *Fwish!*

A blonde-haired figure suddenly streaked past him at breathtaking speed and…

*Slit!*

He heard the sounds of metal tearing through flesh. Blood splurged all around him, snapping him out of his state of mindlessness. Not sparing a second, he immediately glanced at the figure now aerially maneuvering around the Smiling Titan.

'Hannes..'

He subconsciously recognized the figure as none other than Hannes, the Garrison Regiment officer who saved Eren and Mikasa in the canon.

Due to Hannes' attack, the Smiling Titan's forearm now lay bare in front of him, severed from its main body. He couldn't help but exhale deeply, feeling his nerves soothed.

They were saved.

Using his ODM gear, Hannes circled around the Smiling Titan and drew it away from them, giving them an opening to escape.

"Run!" He yelled as he took off in the direction of the remaining Titans.

"Come on, Let's go!"

Eren, hearing that, wasted no time and immediately gestured to Mikasa to anchor Armin's right hand over her shoulder while he took his left.

Jared didn't resist their advances and allowed himself to be assisted by them. His body felt frail, and he couldn't move a muscle.

As the trio moved away from the chaos and toward the refugee rendezvous point, they passed more military officials. Jared was quiet the entire time, lost in his own thoughts.

When they were near the ferry scheduled to take refugees toward Wall Rose, he gazed at the setting sun and sighed heavily,

'It sure is windy today…'

The winds of change had blown, and Wall Maria, the first of its victims, had fallen…

***

A/N: If you like the story, show it some love by donating Powerstones! Thanks!

I didn't touch much on Jared's previous life background in this chapter, seeing as a lot was going on, but don't fret; you'll learn more about him in the next few.