The forest didn't feel the same anymore.
Even the wind seemed cautious—
like it had witnessed something it wasn't supposed to.
I leaned against a tree, breathing slowly, trying to steady the tremor in my hands.
Armin sat nearby, knees pulled in, watching me carefully.
Not scared.
Not anymore.
Just… thinking.
"You felt it, didn't you?" he asked quietly.
"…Yeah."
"Like something was resisting you."
I nodded.
"Like the world didn't want me to win."
Armin frowned slightly.
"Then we just have to keep proving it wrong."
Simple.
Impossible.
Very Armin.
---
The System flickered again.
Soft this time.
Not a warning.
Not a threat.
Something… deeper.
[Memory Fragment Unlocked]
[Origin: Elias — Previous Host]
[Stability: Partial]
[Playback Initiating…]
My vision dimmed.
"Wait—" I muttered.
Armin leaned forward.
"Junta?"
But the world was already slipping.
---
I wasn't in the forest anymore.
I was somewhere else.
A village.
Small. Quiet. Peaceful.
Sunlight touched wooden rooftops.
Children ran through the streets laughing.
It felt… warm.
Too warm.
Then I looked down.
These weren't my hands.
Slightly larger.
Rougher.
"…Elias," someone called.
I turned.
A woman stood at the doorway of a small house.
Gentle eyes. Tired smile.
"Dinner's ready."
My chest tightened.
This wasn't just a memory.
This was a life.
---
The scene shifted.
Night.
Fire.
Screams.
The village burned.
Titans—
not like the ones I knew.
Smaller. Faster.
Wrong.
Elias—
I—
stood in the center of the chaos, shaking.
"Move! Everyone, MOVE!" someone shouted.
A man grabbed my shoulder.
"Elias, you have to run!"
"No—!" I shouted—his voice, not mine.
"I can't leave them!"
The ground shook.
A Titan approached.
Not large.
But terrifying.
Because it was looking directly at me.
Not randomly.
Not instinctively.
Intentionally.
---
Pain.
Sharp. Sudden.
My hand—Elias's hand—was bleeding.
Bite mark.
Blood dripping.
And then—
Steam.
The same steam.
The same heat.
The same horror.
---
"It's happening…!"
Someone screamed.
The world blurred.
Elias fell to his knees, clutching his head.
"I—I don't understand—!"
Bones cracked.
Skin burned.
But unlike me—
He didn't have control.
Not even a little.
The transformation started—
and stopped.
Started—
and broke.
Incomplete.
Unstable.
Wrong.
---
A voice whispered.
Not human.
Not kind.
"Candidate… rejected…"
Elias's body convulsed.
His Titan form collapsed before it could even fully form.
The steam cleared—
And he was still human.
Barely.
Dying.
---
The man from before fell to his knees beside him.
"No… no, stay with me! ELIAS—!!"
Elias smiled weakly.
"…I tried…"
His voice trembled.
"…but I wasn't enough…"
My chest tightened painfully.
No.
No, don't say that.
---
The world cracked.
The scene glitched.
The fire froze mid-air.
The screams distorted.
And then—
Everything went black.
---
I woke up gasping.
Back in the forest.
Back in my body.
But my heart—
wasn't just mine anymore.
Armin grabbed my shoulders.
"Junta! You spaced out again—what happened?!"
I couldn't answer immediately.
My throat burned.
My chest ached.
"…I saw him," I whispered.
Armin stilled.
"…Elias?"
I nodded.
"He wasn't supposed to die like that."
My hands trembled.
"He tried to become something… but the world rejected him."
Armin's eyes darkened.
"…And you replaced him."
I clenched my fists.
"Yeah."
Silence settled between us.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Real.
---
Armin spoke first.
"…Then that means something important."
I looked up.
"What?"
He leaned forward, eyes sharp again.
"The world didn't reject the Titan itself."
My breath caught.
"It rejected the host."
I froze.
Armin continued:
"But you…"
He pointed at me.
"You weren't rejected."
The implication hit like a thunderclap.
"I was… accepted."
Armin nodded slowly.
"Or at least… tolerated."
That didn't feel reassuring.
But it felt true.
---
The System flickered again.
[New Skill Stabilized: Phase Grip]
[Description: Allows partial interaction between phased and physical states]
I flexed my hand.
A faint shimmer appeared—
and for a brief moment—
my fingers passed slightly through the tree bark…
before solidifying again.
Armin's eyes widened.
"You can control it now."
"…A little."
But it drained me fast.
Everything about this power came with a cost.
---
Armin stood up.
"We need to plan."
I blinked.
"…Plan?"
He nodded, serious now.
"Yes. Because running blindly won't work anymore."
That was new.
Armin wasn't just surviving.
He was adapting.
"First," he said, counting on his fingers,
"you need control over your Titan ability."
"Second, we avoid detection—military and those… things."
"Third—"
He hesitated.
"…we figure out why Eren affects you."
My stomach tightened.
Yeah.
That.
The biggest unknown.
---
Before I could respond—
The System flashed again.
But this time—
slower.
Heavier.
[Warning: Narrative Pressure Increasing]
[Next Correction Unit: Stronger Variant]
[Estimated Arrival: Soon]
My breath slowed.
"…It's coming again."
Armin didn't panic.
He just nodded.
"Good."
I stared at him.
"Good?!"
He met my eyes.
"Because this time… we'll be ready."
---
I looked at my hand.
At the faint shimmer of something that didn't belong in this world.
At the memory of Elias—
a boy who tried…
and failed.
I clenched my fist.
"I won't end like him."
Armin gave a small, determined smile.
"No," he said.
"You'll go further."
---
But deep inside—
something stirred.
Not just my Titan.
Not just the System.
Something else.
Watching.
Waiting.
Judging.
---
And far away—
beyond the forest—
someone else had started moving.
Tracking.
Hunting.