Attack on Titan: Wolfborn

Chapter XXI: The Voice Inside

Thunder cracked overhead as realization hit Anja like ice water. The glints of metal she'd spotted weren't weather vanes—rifle barrels caught the dying light, arranged in a perfect circle around the farmhouse clearing. Scouts emerged from their positions, weapons trained, moving with practiced precision.

Her heart hammered against her ribs. "Captain, what is—" The words died in her throat as she took in the full scope of the ambush. Part of her wanted to protest, to deny—

"Don't move." Levi's voice carried that same casual tone, but his stance had shifted subtly. Ready. Waiting. Her brother's pendant felt heavy against her chest—what would Heinrik think of what she'd become?

More movement caught her eye—figures on the farmhouse roof, the cliff face behind it. Her mind raced, calculating distances, searching for gaps. There had to be a way out, had to be—

"Last chance," Levi said quietly. "We can do this the easy way."

A crow landed on the farmhouse roof, then another. Their black eyes watched, unblinking. The pendant felt heavy against her chest as her breathing quickened. "I don't understand..." But even as she said it, fragments surfaced—blood on stone floors, Nac's terrified eyes, that crimson fog that always came before—

"I think you do."

Something primal took over—not rage this time, but pure survival instinct. She bolted.

A warning shot cracked past her ear. She pivoted, changing direction as more shots kicked up dirt at her feet. But they weren't trying to hit her, she realized too late. They were herding her toward the center.

Something whistled through the air above. She looked up just as heavy weights crashed down around her, steel cables snapping taut. The net drove her to her knees, the metal biting into her skin. It should hurt more, she thought distantly. After everything she'd done, it should hurt more.

More crows settled on the farmhouse roof, their wings dark against the storm-heavy sky. Through the steel mesh, she saw Levi approach, unhurried. Behind him, scouts moved in, rifles aimed with deadly precision.

"Bring the restraints," Levi called, never taking his eyes off her. "And someone get Hange. Tell her we're ready to begin."

Anja struggled against the net, panic rising not from being trapped, but from the memories that wouldn't stop now. The blood, the screams, that terrible joy she'd felt while— Movement behind her. A shadow fell across her face.

The last thing she saw before the rifle butt struck was those birds, watching. Always watching.

Evening shadows lengthened across Trost's central plaza as Annie made her way through the growing crowd. The storm that had threatened all day was finally rolling in. Military Police patrols moved through the edges of the square, their presence a reminder of the recently lifted lockdown.

She adjusted her jacket, fingers finding the creases where the Military Police insignia would soon rest. Her hand brushed against the ring on her finger—a reminder of a promise that couldn't be broken.

The certainty she'd carried for so long felt fractured like ice cracking beneath her feet.

The streets filled with graduates, their faces bright with conviction. Annie watched them file past. How easily they divided the world—humanity against monsters, good against evil. She'd seen it before, worn those masks herself. In the end, beneath all the lies they told themselves, everyone was just human. Just trying to survive.

Like that day in Trost's back alleys, years ago. When a lost girl found her, both of them were broken by the same walls. It felt simpler then, just two refugees seeking shelter from the rain.

She'd never been one to mistake survival for righteousness. The world was cruel enough without adding illusions to it. And yet here they all were, gathering like moths to flame, drawn by promises of glory and purpose. Their eager faces reflected in the rain-slicked stone, all of them so certain of their path forward.

The crowd pressed forward, and her steps faltered at the entrance to the central plaza. A life-sized poster dominated the stone archway—Anja standing proud in a green cloak, arm raised in a gesture of defiance against 'humanity's enemies'. Annie's throat tightened. The evening light cast strange shadows across the paper, making that printed smile seem hollow, and accusing. Like it knew.

She couldn't forget that warmth in her eyes last she saw her, the disappointment in that alley as Annie turned away. She hadn't found her since. Maybe it was for the best.

"I'm sorry..." The words escaped her in barely a whisper. Sentiment was a luxury she couldn't afford. Not with how close they were to—

"Here to see her?" Armin's voice was quiet beside her. She hadn't heard him approach—sloppy.

Annie kept her gaze forward. "Just passing through."

He moved to stand beside her, careful to maintain distance. Always so careful, this one. They watched graduates file past, their faces reflecting hope and certainty in equal measure.

"The Military Police ceremony must be starting soon." Armin studied her face with that careful attention she'd grown to recognize. "Though I thought... well, you might want to say goodbye properly. After all these years training together..."

The word 'goodbye' settled between them like a weight. Annie's silence stretched a beat too long.

"You should join us," Armin offered, gesturing toward the crowd. "Find a good spot before it gets worse."

They moved through the press of bodies, the air thick with anticipation and evening mist. Excited chatter filled the plaza—snippets of conversation about the Scouts, about glory, about Anja's speeches in the refugee settlements. How she'd fought in Trost, how she understood their struggles. Annie listened, keeping her face carefully blank.

"She really reached them, didn't she?" Armin's voice was thoughtful. "Especially the ones from Wall Maria. I guess they all saw something of themselves in her."

The crowd shifted, forcing them closer together. A few files ahead, Bertholdt turned, catching her eye. He offered a slight nod before facing forward again. Reiner stood beside him, shoulders squared, ready for whatever came next. Just like always. A reminder of what she was here for, a promise that couldn't be broken.

The stage remained empty save for a few scouts standing guard at its edges. More whispers rippled through the crowd. Where was she? Shouldn't she be here by now? Annie found herself craning her neck slightly, searching despite herself. Her fingers twisted the ring unconsciously.

The first drops of rain began to fall, striking the upturned faces of the crowd. A cool breeze carried the scent of coming storm.

"You know," Armin said quietly, watching her scan the stage again, "everyone always said you were cold, distant." A soft smile crossed his face as Annie's eyes darted away. "But I've seen differently. You're not as detached as you want people to believe." He paused, noting how her shoulders tensed slightly. "You care about her, don't you?"

Thunder rumbled in the distance. The rain fell harder now, drumming against stone and wood, against faces turned skyward in anticipation of someone who wouldn't come.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The sound echoed through old wooden beams, finding its way into the converted barn where Anja knelt. Her legs had long since gone numb against the cold stone floor, the iron collar pressing against her throat with each shallow breath. Her hands, bound behind her back with rusted restraints, had lost all feeling hours ago.

She couldn't see anything in that absolute darkness. Couldn't tell if her eyes were open or closed. But she could smell the musty air, taste the metallic tang that might have been blood from her split lip or something worse. The taste, the scent...

Blood.

Her right eye pulsed with sudden, stabbing pain. She gasped, trying to steady herself against the wave of agony. Images flooded in, warm and dark, real and impossible:

Standing in morning mist, so small her head barely reached her mother's hip. The green cloak settling on Heinrik's shoulders, wings of freedom catching dawn light— but the memory twisted, became hands crushing a throat, blood flooding her mouth, such terrible joy—Heinrik's smile trying to be brave, Mother's hand trembling in hers— but now she was running through ancient woods, pursuing somethingt, steam rising from its footprints.

The pain intensified, memories bleeding into each other:

Darkness. Cold stone. Bodies huddled in filth, collared like animals. The whimpers echoing off wet walls— shifting to tall trees stretching endlessly upward, dappled sunlight, the weight of fresh prey on small shoulders— then suddenly the slaver's flesh giving way beneath her fingers, their screams mixing with a baby's distant laugh from that cabin in the clearing, smoke rising from its chimney like the steam from fallen Titans.

"No," she whispered, but the darkness swallowed her protest. The fragments came faster now, each as real as the last. Past and present, joy and horror, memory and nightmare—all of it twisting together into something she couldn't escape:

Mother mending clothes by candlelight— but the needle became a blade plunging into flesh, blood spraying across trees— then Heinrik teaching her to spar in the shadow of an old tree— but the wooden sword turned red with gore as more throats opened beneath her hands.

The pain in her eye receded for a moment, leaving her gasping in the dark. What was happening to her? These memories... they all felt real, all carried the same weight, the same intensity. Whether tender or terrible, they burned with equal truth.

Pain lanced through her skull like white-hot needles. Static crackled across her vision as Trost surged forward, unavoidable now:

The crimson fog thick in her mind. Nac dragging himself across tiles, leaving a trail of blood— but overlaid with a child's small hands clutching a rusted collar, the smell of unwashed flesh and despair— then that path winding toward the cabin, a voice calling welcome— but it was Nac's voice now, recognition turning to terror as she—

She retched, the collar biting into her throat. "Monster," she whispered into the darkness, the word tasting like bile and truth.

The pain exploded behind her eye, and everything crashed together:

Trees blur past. Blood pouring. Arm gone. Titans behind. Always behind. Kill. Run. Kill. Then—fire.

Her whole body convulsed against the restraints. The memory consumed her:

Burning. Can't move. Can't escape. Flesh melting. Bones charring. But something else too—dark wings above. A voice in the flames, speaking words she almost understood...

Blood covered half her vision now, her right eye a mass of pure agony. Her screams echoed off the stone walls, mixing with remembered screams, with the sound of flesh burning, with the beating of countless wings.

Thunder cracked overhead. The door burst open, spilling light into her prison. Through the haze of blood and pain, she glimpsed a silhouette framed in lightning.

The rain traced cold paths down Annie's neck as she searched the empty stage, thunder rumbling in the distance like a warning. Around her, the crowd shifted restlessly, their murmurs mixing with the steady drumming of water against stone. She felt Armin's presence beside her, too observant by half.

"She talked about you, you know," he said quietly, eyes distant as if recalling memories. "But she always kept things close to her chest, especially when it came to you."

ᛟ

Down narrow stairs, each step echoing against damp stone, Levi descended into darkness. Old hooks hung from the ceiling, their shadows stretching like crooked fingers across moldering walls. The air grew thicker with each step, heavy with the scent of rust and decay.

ᛈ

Armin continued, his voice barely carrying over the rain. "But I watched sometimes—the way she'd come back day after day, covered in bruises, never a word of complaint." Rain dripped from his bangs as he studied Annie's profile. "Others called you cruel, said you enjoyed hurting her. She'd get so angry at those whispers, but she never explained why."

ᛖ

The sound of ragged breathing punctuated by soft rattling chains grew clearer. In the chamber below, Anja knelt in the center, wrists and neck bound with iron, head bowed. Blood had dried in dark streaks down her cheek, black in the dim light.

"So..." Levi's voice cut through the darkness as he moved to stand before her. "Ready to start talking?"

ᚾ

A murder of crows settled on the plaza's empty stage, their gleaming eyes fixed on the scene below. Thunder rolled, and the rain fell harder.

ᛁ

Silence stretched between Levi and his prisoner, broken only by the steady drip of water and the rattle of chains. Then, barely a whisper: "I remember."

ᛟ

Armin's voice softened, almost contemplative, though Annie noticed how carefully he watched her reaction. "It took me a while to understand. The way she'd seek you out, despite everything... she must have seen something in you worth all that pain. Something worth believing in."

ᚢ

"Tell me," Levi commanded in the darkness below. His boots scraped against stone as he circled his prisoner.

ᚱ

Her fingers found her ring, twisting it once, then again. "Trust like that..." Annie's words caught in her throat, heavy with things she could never say. "It only leads to disappointment."

ᛖ

"I killed them... killed him." Anja's voice cracked. "I killed Nac."

ᛁ

Thunder rolled overhead as Annie's voice dropped lower, almost lost in the rain. "It doesn't matter anymore."

ᛖ

"We know that." Levi's tone remained neutral, but his steps slowed. "How did you get him to the sewers? What did you do to him? To the Titans?"

Lightning split the sky as confusion flickered across Anja's face. "Sewers...? Titans...?" She shook her head slightly, wincing. "No, I... during the battle. I killed him during the battle."

ᛊ

Movement caught Annie's attention. Through the curtain of rain, a figure emerged on stage, tall and commanding, golden hair stark against the darkening sky. The crowd's murmuring died instantly. Even the crows fell silent, their black eyes fixed on the scene below.

ᚨ

Levi studied Anja carefully. Something was wrong with her breathing—too shallow, too quick. "Look at me when you're talking."

ᚹ

"Good evening," Erwin's voice carried across the plaza without effort. "I am Commander Erwin Smith of the Scout Regiment."

ᚨ

She raised her head slowly. Fresh blood stained her face, below her right eye... Levi frowned. The pupil had begun to dilate strangely, expanding like an ink stain in water.

ᚲ

"I regret to inform you that Private Wolf is currently indisposed and unable to attend." Erwin's words fell heavy as stone. "She sends her regards."

Something in his tone made Annie's skin prickle. Clinical. Rehearsed. Her fingers twisted the ring faster now, an unconscious tell she couldn't quite suppress. Definitely wasn't the usual recruitment speech. The crowd's excited murmurs had died to an uneasy silence.

ᛖ

A tremor ran through Anja's body. Her chains clinked softly against the stone floor. "I... I had to remember. Had to—" She cut off with a sharp intake of breath, her back going rigid.

ᚾ

"I know many of you stand here today, driven by dreams of glory," Erwin's gaze swept across the crowd, unflinching. "Dreams of advancing beyond these walls. Of becoming heroes." He paused, letting the words hang in the rain-soaked silence. Then, his tone sharpened like a blade. "Those dreams end here."

A murmur rippled through the crowd, the sound barely audible over the patter of rain on upturned faces. Annie's jaw tightened as she watched him.

ᛃ

"What happened to your eye?" Levi's question cut through the darkness below.

Instead of answering, Anja's body began to shake. The tremors started small, but each one seemed to build on the last, like waves growing before a storm. The chains groaned against their anchors.

ᛟ

"You've heard stirring speeches about humanity's spirit. About honor, courage, sacrifice." Erwin continued, his words falling like hammer blows. "Now hear the truth: look to your left, to your right. In one month's time, those faces you see now will likely be nothing but memories."

ᛁ

A sound rose from Anja's throat—something between a laugh and a sob. "Can't... can't hold it back anymore..." Her voice cracked, became something else entirely. "It's inside... watching..."

ᚾ

"Our last expedition left thirty percent of our forces rotting in titan territory," Erwin continued, his words cutting through the rain. "These aren't just numbers—they're sons, daughters, friends, lovers. People who believed, just as you do now, that they would be the ones to make a difference."

ᚢ

The door burst open behind Levi. "I heard—" Hange broke off, eyes widening at the scene before her. Lightning flashed, illuminating Anja's face—blood now streaming freely from her right eye, the left pupil consuming the iris like spreading darkness.

ᛊ

"The reality of the Scout Regiment isn't glory," Erwin's voice rose above the thunder. "It's watching your comrades die in ways that will haunt your dreams forever. It's making choices that will break you: leaving comrades behind, choosing between the mission and mercy, you'll be carrying the weight of those decisions until your dying day."

ᚲ

"Levi, hold her down!" Hange said, already moving as Anja's convulsions intensified.

ᛟ

Annie watched as the first wave of cadets turned away, their footsteps heavy on rain-slicked stone. Smart ones, she thought. The ones who still remembered how to be afraid.

ᛗ

"No! Get away!" The voice that tore from Anja's throat wasn't her own anymore. "It's coming out—they're all coming out!"

Hange approached with a syringe, then hesitated. "Levi, if she's like Eren... any wound could trigger—"

"We don't have a choice!" Levi grunted, struggling to hold Anja still. Her skin was ice-cold through the fabric of her shirt, like touching marble. Something was wrong with her breathing—too shallow, too quick. Like there were two rhythms fighting inside her chest. "Do it!"

ᛖ

"You won't die gloriously," Erwin continued, relentlessly. "There is no glory in being devoured. You'll die screaming, choking on your own blood, begging for a swift death that will not come as titans tear you limb by limb." He paused, letting his words sink in. "All those who wish to join another branch are dismissed. The Garrison Regiment and Military Police serve vital roles in protecting humanity. There is no shame in choosing life."

ᚺ

Hange drove the needle in. The sedative dispersed, but Anja showed no signs of slowing. "This isn't possible," she muttered, reaching for another syringe. "This amount would drop a horse—I need more."

ᛟ

Annie glanced at Armin beside her, watching his face grow pale but determined as others filed past them toward the exits. She slipped away as they passed, finding shelter in a nearby alley.

ᛗ

The chains holding Anja snapped with a sound like gunfire. Her back arched impossibly as something began to push against the skin around her right eye, distending it grotesquely. Through the pain, through the chaos of her fractured mind, she could hear it clearly now—the voice inside

The thing that had always been there, watching, waiting. The voice that whispered in her dreams, that sang in her blood during those moments of crimson rage.

"Please..." her voice changed, becoming something younger, more desperate, fighting against that other voice inside. "No more... they are watching... please..."

ᛖ

"For those who remain," Erwin's voice cut through the storm, "I will share information that has been classified until now." His eyes swept the crowd with predatory intensity. "You may have heard rumors of a Titan among us."

ᚲ

Hange drove the second needle home, emptying another massive dose. "Hold her head! Something's trying to—"

ᛟ

Annie's heart stuttered. No. He wouldn't dare.

"The rumors are true." Erwin's voice carried across the plaza. "We have in our ranks a soldier who can transform into a Titan. Eren Jaeger will be our weapon in the upcoming expedition."

ᛗ

Anja's right eye bulged, the skin around it splitting as something dark began to emerge. Her scream harmonized with the thunder overhead, a sound of primal agony that echoed off the stone walls.

"What the hell—" Levi cursed through clenched teeth, muscles straining as he fought to hold her down. The stone floor beneath them was beginning to crack. "Hange, whatever you're going to do—"

"I see it," Hange breathed, a horrible fascination creeping into her voice. "There's something in there, moving beneath the—"

ᛈ

The remaining cadets stood rigid, their faces set with determination. From her hidden vantage point, Annie studied their reactions. Some showed fear, others resolve. Her eyes found Armin in the crowd, watching as understanding dawned on his face when Erwin pulled a small metal object from his jacket. A key.

ᛚ

Thunder crashed as Anja's voice changed again, crackling with pain and something older. Something that didn't belong in a human throat. "Burns... just like before... the fire..."

"Our mission is to reach Shiganshina," Erwin declared, holding the key high. The metal caught the storm light as rain streamed down his face. "This key unlocks Jaeger's basement. We know crucial information about the Titans lies within—information that could turn the tide of this war."

ᛖ

In the chamber below, something black and writhing began to emerge from Anja's eye socket. Hange's breath caught. "It's like the one they found in—"

ᛏ

"Hange, just get it out!" Levi commanded, his usual composure cracking. "Now!"

ᛟ

Annie's fingers had gone white around her ring as she pressed against the alley wall. Basement? What could it mean? Her eyes found Bertholdt in the crowd, saw her own uncertainty reflected in his rigid stance. Was this some kind of trick? What did Eren know?

"The chances of survival on this expedition are even slimmer than what I've already described," Erwin continued. "We will be pushing further into Titan territory than ever before. "

ᚾ

Hange's forceps gleamed in the candle light as she worked. The thing in Anja's eye pulsed, its segmented body caught between emergence and retreat. "It's wrapped around the optic nerve," she muttered. "It's been feeding here, growing all this time..."

ᚹ

The rain fell harder now. Annie studied Erwin's face. His conviction seemed absolute, unwavering. Could it be?

"Now, knowing the full truth," Erwin's eyes met each face in the crowd, his voice rising with authority, "knowing the dangers that await you, I welcome you to the Scout Regiment."

ᚺ

The creature thrashed as Hange pulled. Anja's eye came free with a wet snap, the thing's dark mass still coiled around it. Her scream pierced through stone and earth, echoing off the chamber walls as blackened blood sprayed across the floor.

Something tore loose deep within Anja's skull. The parasite writhed in Hange's forceps, its segmented body flexing as clear fluid dripped from dozens of tiny legs. Anja slumped forward, blood streaming from the empty socket.

... :.;: ?! ;;;

Silence fell across the plaza, broken only by the steady drumming of rain. Behind Erwin, the storm clouds began to break, letting weak sunlight pierce the gloom.

"You who stand before me now," Erwin's voice carried a weight of genuine respect, "yours is the path of greatest sacrifice. Through your courage, humanity shall find its salvation."

... ?! ;; ;;;

In the chamber below, Anja's breathing had steadied, though occasional tremors still ran through her body. Hange carefully transferred the specimen to a glass jar, watching as its movements grew slower, more sluggish. "Levi," she whispered, "It's identical to the other one... It can't be a coincidence."

?! ?!

The remaining cadets stood tall, faces set with unwavering determination. Some bore the look of true believers, others something harder to define. But the look on their faces was clear—there was no turning back now.

Erwin's fist struck his chest in a salute that resounded like the thunder rolling in the distance. "Dedicate your hearts!"

The plaza erupted in unison, fists meeting chests with a roar that echoed against the walls. Annie, concealed in shadow, watched it all unfold.

As the storm drifted beyond the walls, the plaza settled into uneasy quiet, though the distant rumble of thunder remained, leaving only the truth behind: cold, merciless, and unyielding as steel.

;: ;:;...

Below, Anja stirred at last. Her lone eye fluttered open, unfocused yet fixated on something only she could perceive. Her cracked lips moved, forming words that barely escaped into the still air:

"Please... no more... help me..."

Lightning cast harsh shadows across the farmhouse's makeshift laboratory. Two glass jars caught the flash—one containing a clouded eyeball, dark veins spider-webbing through it; the other, a segmented creature, black and insect-like, parts of its body dissolving slowly in the fluid.

"Fascinating!" Hange darted between her microscope and scattered notes, nearly knocking over a rack of blood samples. "The parasite's composition—The structure seems to be breaking down in the solution, and yet..." She gestured wildly at her microscope. "The remaining cells are constantly shifting, reorganizing themselves. As if they're trying to maintain some kind of cohesion."

Levi shifted against the doorframe, the wood creaking under his weight. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, but his grip on his blade never wavered. Fresh scratches marked his ODM gear. "That kind of strength isn't normal," he said, voice rough from lack of sleep. "Even for a trained soldier."

"There's something else," Hange's eyes gleamed behind spattered glasses. "The samples show minute changes—nothing like Eren's regenerative response, but..." She shuffled through pages of frantic observations, knocking over an empty glass bottle. "The cellular structure maintains integrity under conditions that should cause total breakdown. No steam emissions, no visible healing, yet her body adapts somehow. I've used enough sedatives to kill a dozen men and she's still breathing." She adjusted her glasses, staring at her notes. "It's like looking at an entirely different biological framework."

Erwin lifted Heinrik's pendant, examining it in the lamplight. Simple metal, parts of it rusted, bearing a wolf's head and crossed swords. Something that might have been writing scored one edge or perhaps just a scratch. Blood had dried in its grooves.

"Did she confess?" he asked, setting the pendant down beside the scattered reports.

"She killed Tius," Levi said. "Admits it. But…" He straightened slightly. "When I mentioned the sewers, the research titans... Either she's an exceptional liar, or—"

"Or we have another player." Erwin's voice carried a note of grim satisfaction. His eyes fell on an ornate letter bearing an intricate seal, its golden edges catching the lamplight. "I thinned the ranks. Anyone still willing to join after that..."

"The parasite," Hange said suddenly, staring at the jar. "It's moving again, but differently this time—"

The sound of chains shifting echoed from below.

"They're holding," Levi noted, "for now."

"Erwin," Hange turned from her workspace littered with empty bottles. "Putting her to sleep isn't an option anymore. She'll wake soon. What do we do with her?"

Erwin stood silent for a moment, his reflection stark in the rain-streaked window. He watched black shapes gather in the trees, stark against the rain. "If she truly managed to wound the Armored Titan. That alone makes her..." He paused. "An interesting asset."

"Her resilience is extraordinary," Hange leaned forward, eyes bright with possibility. "She kept going when she should have collapsed. Think of what we could learn from studying this..." Her voice carried that familiar eager tone. "The potential applications alone—"

"She's unpredictable," Levi said flatly. "More liability than asset. And the Military Police won't stop their investigation."

Erwin turned from the window, his expression hardening. For what was coming, they needed every advantage they could get. "As far as they're concerned, Private Wolf is a decorated hero. We'll announce she's undertaking classified training. Meanwhile, we learn everything we can about what she is, what she can do, and most importantly—who or what else might be involved."

"Please... no more..." The words drifted up from below, Anja's voice cracking. "Help me... they're watching..."

Erwin and Levi exchanged glances. Recognition flashed across Levi's usually impassive features.

Below, through chains and darkness, Anja heard it—a whisper like wind through feathers:

"Sister..."