1. Training Days Pt 1: Call Me Nap

Year 845

Annie Leonhardt's head was a swirling cyclone of different emotions, and every one of them could be traced back to the events of the past day. Her perpetually empty face managed to hide it from most of the people who passed by, but that did nothing to help her in the slightest.

"You're sure you can still go through with it?" Bertolt asked, as if she had a choice.

She nodded, trying her hardest to compose herself. The others would be back soon, and she would have to leave soon after. She wasn't sure how she would make it through the gates and into Wall Sina's interior, but it was almost certain that her target was there.

"Are you still thinking about Marcel?" His question had an obvious answer. Of course she was thinking about Marcel. All four of them were still thinking about Marcel. But they couldn't let his death weigh them down, for doing so would mean certain failure.

"I just want this all to be over," she replied, her body present and her mind anything but.

"I feel the same way." In his own painfully awkward way, Bertolt Hoover was trying to comfort her. She felt bad about it, but it wasn't like she was forcing him to do it. Still, Annie was in no position to be receiving any sympathy from him. He had been the one to destroy the gate, after all. He knew exactly how shitty their way of life was.

"Bertolt…" Annie began slowly. "What if I find him, and he's like us?"

"That shouldn't change the plan at all," he answered with one of the most inhumane thoughts he could have possibly concocted. "As long as I can find the Coordinate, along with Reiner and-"

"That's not what I asked."

Bertolt bit his lip. "I don't know what to say. Would you rather have her do it? She's willing to."

"I wish she had died instead of Marcel" was all Annie could say in response.

Year 847

"We now begin the enlistment ceremony for the 104th Trainee Corps! I am Keith Shadis, and I had the misfortune to be assigned to train you bastards. And I'm not here to welcome you at all! Right now, you're mere cattle, fit for nothing but Titan food! In three years, we'll take you useless pieces of crap and train you. Give you the means to fight the Titans. In three years, when you stand before a Titan, will you still be food? Or will you be a noble wall, shielding the king? Or perhaps, one of humanity's glorious soldiers that slay Titans? You will decide!"

The training grounds were located in a flat, open area, but the head instructor's words still seemed to echo in the mind of the boy of thirteen years standing at the end of the formation. He had arrived on time, maybe even a little early, however he had chosen to remain closer to the rear out of simple force of habit. The boy preferred to stay out of sight when in the company of strangers, and all but one person present qualified as such.

His given name was Napoleon, but he was known to most as Nap. As Keith Shadis droned on and on, the boy began to grow as tired as his nickname suggested. Nap may not have felt the need to be there, but he understood the importance of the initiation ritual for the other trainees.

The youngest of his peers were merely twelve years old, while the oldest barely reached fourteen. These were the prototypical "soldiers" that the Titans had forced humanity to resort to training from the ground up. They were little more than children, youths who for the most part had never laid eyes on the horrendous creatures that they would someday have to face in battle. These boys and girls had no clue what they were truly up against, and the black-haired boy was no exception. He did not let that notion interfere with his outward expression, however, as his ability to hide his emotions would be tested in full once Keith Shadis made his way over to him. But that would not be for a long while.

"You, there!" Shadis called to a small, blonde-haired boy near the front of the formation.

"Yes, sir!" The boy's salute was perfect, but his eyes betrayed his fear of the imposing bald man. He couldn't be blamed, as the head instructor of the 104th Trainee Corps was the closest thing to a Titan that he would see until he actually encountered one for himself.

"Who are you?" The routine question was barked out by Shadis.

The young boy trembled visibly, but managed to hold his ground long enough to answer "Armin Arlert, from Shinganshina."

The expression on the head instructor's face had not changed for even an instant throughout the introductions, but the boy named Napoleon would remark afterwards that his own amusement reached a peak at this early point.

He had heard it all before, and he knew exactly what the instructor's objective was. His own grandfather had put him through the ringer when the boy had first told him of his intention to join the military. Nap had never thought the old man capable of such a thing, but then again he had barely known him prior to two years ago. The man that so many people looked up to was nothing but a stranger to his own grandson, until the events of Year 845 changed that entirely.

"Arlert, what are you doing here?" Keith Shadis leaned over until his face was pressed so close to Armin's that, from Nap's point of view, it looked like the two of them were about to share a passionate kiss. Armin didn't hesitate on his next answer.

"Trying to aid humanity's victory!" The boy from Shinganshina barely managed to avoid falling backwards from the combined stress of belting out his answer and the intimidating Shadis breathing down his neck. The boy with the black hair almost felt sorry for him.

"That's a good answer, Armin Arlert. Then you will be food for the Titans. Row three, about face!" Shadis used a single hand to forcefully turn Armin's body, as the other trainees in his row quickly followed suit. The instructor then proceeded to the next trainee that caught his eye. This one was a boy with skin the same shade as his, with a shaved head and a grim expression. If he hadn't known any better, the trainee called Nap would have mistaken the boy for a younger version of Shadis himself. That only led the instructor to berate the unfortunate child even more.

"You there! You think you're funny? Who are you?"

The miniature Keith Shadis stuttered as he made his reply. "L-Langston Sten… I mean… Pyrite, from the Inner D-District!"

The Inner District, also known as Mitras, was the Capital of the land within the walls. As a child, Nap had spent a good amount of time in the interior of Wall Sina, and he had quickly grown tired of it. It was likely that Langston Pyrite had felt the same way.

"Is that some kind of joke? Why is a brat from the Inner District here?" Shadis screamed at the terrified boy, who began to stutter out of sheer nervousness.

"I-I want to protect my family at all costs! I don't want the things that happened to the citizens of Shinganshina to happen to them, sir!"

"And you think you can stop that from happening? Know your place, worm! You can do nothing to prevent the Titans from eating every human being left in this world, do you understand that?"

"Yes, sir! I understand!"

Nap's inner turmoil contrasted his outward appearance as much as his pitch-black hair contrasted his golden eyes. Those eyes had been trained on the pair of bald figures, but he lost interest in the affair as quickly as Langston gained confidence. He watched with his typical bored expression as Keith Shadis resumed his rampage.

"Row four, about face! Now listen up. I've seen some shit in my time. But you here… You maggots are the sorriest pieces of shit that I have ever seen. You're in for three years of hell, and you'll all be lucky to make it out alive."

Shadis continued onward, punishing new recruit after new recruit. Nap began to fidget against his better judgment, as his boredom escalated.

"Thomas Wagner, from Trost District!" said a nervous-looking blonde boy standing near Armin.

"Mina Carolina, from Karanes!" came the answer of a cute black-haired girl.

"Victor Paulus, Klorva District!" was belted out by a trainee so incredibly short that Nap couldn't even see him from his spot in the back.

As Shadis made his rounds through the petrified trainees, it became apparent to the new recruits that the instructor was blatantly passing by several of the other newcomers. Nap first noticed this behavior when Shadis walked right past a brawny blonde male with a determined expression, as well as the dark-haired beanpole positioned next to him.

There was also a lanky freckled girl with dark brown hair and eyes full of mischief, who didn't receive a second glance from the instructor. He repeated this behavior with a smiling girl with dark brown bangs, and a seemingly unapproachable boy with piercing green eyes.

Shadis also passed by a girl with dark eyes and even darker hair, whose appearance gave Nap the oddest sense of deja vu. It seemed almost impossible that he had seen her before in his young life, but he couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity that emanated from her.

The only face that was truly familiar to Nap belonged to a girl with blonde hair that covered one of her icy blue eyes, and this girl was also off the hook from the tirade of their instructor. One look into the eyes of any of these recruits gave away the reason. These trainees had already been through hell, and Shadis, being the former leader of the Survey Corps, understood this. His next target showed no such sentiments.

"Who are you, maggot?"

"Jean Kirstein, from Trost," the sandy-haired boy smugly replied.

The boy at the back of the last column of trainees began to chew on the inside of his cheek. It was a habit that Nap had attempted to break with the help of his best friend, but even she had not been able to do it. This was a failure that still haunted the both of them.

The boy watched as Shadis gave the arrogant Jean Kirstein a swift headbutt before yelling a few last words and moving to his next victim.

"Who are you, smiley? What are you doing here?"

"Marco Bott, Jinae City, Wall Rose South District!" replied the grinning freckled boy.

Truth be told, the golden-eyed boy was pleased that at least one of his fellow trainees was able to maintain a happy face throughout this ordeal. Of course, that was irrelevant when it came to the instructor's job. Nap watched as he left Marco to deal with the grin that had been wiped off his face, and proceeded to a scrawny boy with a head practically devoid of hair.

"Next! Who are you?"

"Connie Springer of Ragako Village, Wall Rose South District," said the recruit.

Connie's shiny head reminded Nap a bit of his grandfather, who had lost his hair at a fairly young age. The boy had inherited his grandfather's golden eyes, and he sincerely hoped that he hadn't also inherited the man's early-onset baldness. He very much liked his thick hair.

The attention of everyone present was diverted from Connie by a loud crunching noise that came from his left. Nap turned toward the sound in time to see a brunette with her hair in a messy ponytail swallow a piece of what looked like a baked potato.

As Shadis forgot all about Connie Springer and went to deal with the potato girl, the black-haired trainee's mind wandered off on its own. Slowly but surely, it was sinking in for Nap that he would never be able to return to the life that he had once known. And it was somewhat difficult for him to decide whether or not that was a good thing.

He hadn't been the biggest fan of life in the Inner District. There were moments when he had enjoyed himself, but overall it had been a rather dreary experience. Life in the interior could hardly be considered life, and during the eleven years that he spent there, the boy had never felt the thrill that he experienced when he finally stepped outside of Wall Sina.

It had only been two years since he left the Capital, but those two years had easily been the best ones of his young life. He had finally gotten to know his grandfather while living in the territory encompassed by Wall Rose, and the stories that the old man told had enlightened him in ways that no school ever could have. And, of course, he had met her.

Nap lazily gave another look toward Shadis as he towered over the potato girl, and began to use his tongue to feel the spot where he had been chewing on his cheek. He poked and prodded it as Shadis continued to be befuddled by Sasha Blouse, unable to make up his mind on whether this girl was fearless or thoughtless. He put the thought behind him, and watched as the dumbfounded instructor continued to question Sasha in a puzzled voice.

Like Connie Springer, this potato girl kept bringing the boy's thoughts back to his grandfather. It was easy to imagine him having a similar conversation with his instructor back when the old man was a trainee, but involving alcohol instead of a potato. Even in his youth, the boy's father's father had possessed an affinity for all kinds of intoxicating beverages. Luckily for him, Nap had not inherited this trait.

The eyes of the trainees remained locked on Shadis and the girl as she handed him a small portion of her potato as a peace offering, and the boy at the back knew that something must be done if the instructor was to retain any sort of authority over them. Shadis had to regain control before he lost them for good. His response did not disappoint.

"I'll give you two options, Sasha Blouse. You can choose which one suits you best. Option one: you can finish that potato while running laps around this training ground until you pass out."

Nap heard gasps from the other trainees as they were reminded of their instructor's true nature.

"Or, you can choose the second option, if you prefer." He stuck his hand that was holding the piece of potato into Sasha's face, and watched her eyes widen as he crushed it in his grip. "You can skip dinner."

The crowd of trainees grew silent as they awaited Sasha's response, but the boy in the back knew enough at this point to easily deduce her choice. Sasha Blouse would spend the next six hours circling the training facilities with nothing but the boiled potato in her unsatisfied belly.

One after the other, the trainees melted under the pressure of their instructor's gaze, with each one reacting differently than the last. Their names all began to blend together in the ears of the unbearably weary trainee with the eyes like twin suns.

"Hannah Diamant!"

"Nack Tius!"

"Jacob Way!"

"Jericho Grimm!"

"Christa Lenz!"

"Aaric Buffet!"

"Ellen Isaac!"

"Hilde Schultz!"

Eventually the exasperated Keith Shadis reached the end of the long line of trainees. The tall boy's unkempt dark hair hid a portion of the right side of his face, and the part which was visible seemed to tell Shadis that the boy wished he were doing something else, anything but standing there with the rest of the recruits. His golden eyes seemed oddly familiar to Shadis, and the look in them told him nothing about the boy's past. All in all, this recruit was rather unassuming, and it was only the fact that he was the last one that Shadis had seen that made him stand out at all. The instructor marched right up to the boy and stared him down.

"So, you have the honor of being the last peon to be dealt with today. What's your name, and where do you come from?"

The boy saluted like all of the others. He stared right back at Shadis and recited his reply as if he had done it a thousand times.

"Napoleon Pixis, Inner District, Wall Sina."

The instructor's eyebrows shot up his forehead. "Pixis? As in Dot Pixis? What kind of joke are you trying to pull here?" The boy was quick with his answer once again.

"Yes, sir. Dot Pixis is my grandfather, but I'd rather not be compared to him."

Keith Shadis pondered the boy in front of him for a few seconds, before opening his mouth for all trainees present to hear. "All new recruits, head to the barracks for your room assignments. After you filthy animals have settled in, report promptly to the dining hall. You had best enjoy the food that you are given, for you will all be food when you face the Titans! Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir!" came the resounding reply from the trainees as they quickly scampered off in the direction of the distant group of buildings that would house them over the next three years. Shadis then turned his attention to Napoleon Pixis, much to the boy's chagrin.

"So the grandson of Dot Pixis is a trainee under my instruction. Or should I say, the former grandson of Dot Pixis? From this moment on, you are nothing! You're below the dirt! You're only worthy of being stepped on by those stronger than you. I would be surprised if you even lasted the entire three years of this training. Just imagine the look on your grandfather's face when he hears about the fate that you're sure to meet. And let this be the last I ever speak of him."

With that, Shadis turned away from Napoleon and strutted off to meet with the other instructors.

Nap Pixis let out a deep sigh as soon as he could tell for certain that Shadis was out of hearing range. It had almost become second nature to him by this point to hide his emotions under stress. Keith Shadis was among the more perceptive men that the grandson of Dot Pixis had ever encountered, but Nap could tell by his reaction that even he was unaware of the knots that the thirteen-year-old boy had felt in his stomach when the instructor was speaking to him.

As Nap set off in the direction in which the other newly christened trainees had gone, his stomach began to loosen and he was able to calm himself down. That ordeal was over, and all that he needed to do until sunset was settle into his bunk and find out what grimy food was served at his quarters. The sun was nearing the end of its descent as he reached the run-down wooden shack that he would spend the next three years lodging in, if he didn't meet the end that his instructor had in mind for him.

The youths outside of the building had gradually filed inside as Nap approached, and when he finally got there, only a handful of trainees had yet to be assigned. He recognized the pair at the back of the line from their introductions, and they both turned around to meet him as he strode up on his impressively long legs. He wasn't particularly excited by the prospect of making any more friends, though he figured he could use more than the one he already had.

"Hey there! Sure took you long enough to get here, didn't it? What did the instructor chew you out over?" asked Connie Springer, casting a sly smile at the taller boy.

Nap shrugged. He wasn't exactly sure why Shadis had deemed his introductory scolding important enough that no one else could stick around to hear it, but he knew that the instructor wouldn't call the other recruits away without a reason. He pushed that thought aside for the moment and confessed to Connie.

"He really didn't say anything to me that he hadn't already said. The same old crap about being less than dirt and fit only for Titan food. It all kind of starts to sound the same after a while."

"It seemed like he recognized your name from somewhere," remarked the freckled boy next to Connie, Marco Bott. "Have you met him before or something?"

The golden-eyed boy figured that he would hear similar questions for the rest of the night. He wasn't exactly eager to make friends, because making friends meant revealing things that he would have rather kept hidden. There was only one person that he had shared everything with, and she was the one that he trusted with his life.

"I've never personally met him," was all he had to say, and while the other boys continued to trade questions with him, he never gave them too much information. That just wasn't his way.

He entered the dining hall late that evening, once again arriving after most of the other trainees. The food on his tray was far more bland than the stuff that he was used to, but he knew that he would become accustomed to it over the next three years of his life. Either that, or he would starve to death. Putting that thought in the back of his mind, Nap scanned the room for a few seconds before taking a seat next to the only truly familiar face in the room.

Annie curtly acknowledged his presence, which was about what Nap had come to expect after the two years that he had known her. The blonde girl always preferred to let her actions speak for her, and the first day of training hadn't changed her one bit. Still, she was the first real friend that Nap had made outside of Wall Sina, and both knew how much they had in common.

"You're late." If nothing else, Annie was direct with what little speech she chose to give. "I thought you were aware of how much I hate interacting with these people." She ripped a piece of bread off in her mouth, and turned away from Nap to stare nastily at the table in front of her.

Nap had always found Annie's cold outer shell to be ironically comforting. He had been drawn to her because she seemed genuine, and she didn't put up a false front just because other people were around. There were no games with her. Still, there was a lot that he didn't know about Annie's past, and there was just as much that she didn't know about his. Other than that, though, he told her everything. She was the only person he could be totally honest with.

"It's not my job to deal with that, is it?" Nap asked halfheartedly, as at that moment he had no desire to do so. "I know how much you like a challenge. Why don't you deal with it yourself?"

"I'd rather not take a test that I know I'll fail, thank you. I thought you knew me better than that, Nap." Annie did have a point. As much as she loved a challenge, she disliked coming out on the short end of it. Annie had always pushed herself to the limits and overcome them. That much had become clear to Nap over the past two years. Ever since Annie had appeared in his life by chance, he had admired her tenacity. Though she didn't always show it on the outside, Annie was a fierce and competitive person. Nap still had yet to beat her in a fight.

Nap's eyes searched the room as he absentmindedly chewed his own piece of bread. Most of the tables were sparsely populated due to the large crowd surrounding one near the center of the room. He noticed the uninteresting Marco toward the edge of the pack, and easily recognized the voice of Connie Springer coming from the very front of it. After a few seconds, Nap caught the general topic of conversation.

A boy from Shinganshina was being hounded for information about the Titans that had destroyed the walls, and he seemed to be eating up every second of fame he could get. Nap turned his head to Annie, who didn't give the slightest impression that she was hearing any of it, but he knew her better than to believe that.

Nap had never seen a Titan up close, and he had never been truly afraid of the beasts that lurked outside the walls. Even when his grandfather brought him to the top of Wall Rose to look down on the monsters, they hadn't upset the boy any more than the alcohol that the old man had offered him. To Nap, they were nothing more than an obstacle.

That being said, he didn't expect his career in the military to be an easy one. After living in the midst of the Garrison during the past two years, he understood just how much of a threat the Titans were to humanity, more so than most of the other trainees. There was still a lot that Nap didn't know about the Titans, but that wouldn't stop him from achieving his goals.

"I'm going to join the Survey Corps and exterminate all of the Titans in this world!" the boy said sadistically. "I'm gonna slaughter them!"

"Hey, what are you, crazy?" An obnoxiously loud voice came from an adjacent table, and Nap turned to see the brash sandy-haired boy from before, Jean Kirstein, leering amusedly at the hidden Shinganshina boy. "Did you just say you were gonna join the Survey Corps?"

Nap listened to the two boys exchange insults with each other as he noticed Annie glancing at another table, only a short distance away from the one where the Shinganshina boy was seated. The only occupants of the table were two boys, one of them bulky and blonde, the other one lanky and timid-looking. Nap was pulled away by another escalation of the ongoing feud.

Having had enough, the boy swiftly rose from the table and stared down Jean Kirstein. For the first time, Nap had a good look at the owner of the voice, and recognized him as one of the recruits that Shadis had passed over during the introductions. Being from Shinganshina, it made sense that he would have been put through a hellish life already.

"What are you saying about me?" the boy asked, emanating his inner Keith Shadis. The boy's fiery green eyes drilled into the rising Jean Kirstein, who strode coolly up to him.

"Come on, now," Jean said, trying to tame the wild beast that he was close to awakening. "It makes no difference to me. I'm sorry; I don't mean to dismiss your ideas. Let's be friends. Jean Kirstein." He held his hand out for the shorter boy, who considered it for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too. Eren Jaeger," he said, slapping Jean's hand and walking out the door of the dining hall just as the curfew bell sounded outside.

Quickly losing interest in that affair, Nap turned back to Annie only to realize that his friend had already left the room. He was ready to pick up his tray and head out when he noticed a girl walking toward him from the direction of Eren Jaeger's table. Her black hair and gray eyes glistened in the dim light of the room, and she smiled warmly as she sat down next to Nap and introduced herself.

"Hey, I couldn't help but notice you were sitting here alone. I'm Mina," said the girl, reaching her hand out to Nap while he adjusted on the bench to shake it.

He had no idea why this girl had bothered to acknowledge him, but he figured he would at least do her the courtesy of introducing himself before he followed Annie's lead and left for the night.

"My name's Napoleon, but it's ridiculously inconvenient. Call me Nap."

"Napoleon, huh?" Mina's eyebrows rose. "What's the story behind that name?"

"My father was tired of all of the men in his family having short names. His father was named Dot, and he was Stan. I guess I've disappointed him in that regard." Nap was shocked that he had revealed that much already to this girl, though from what he saw on her face she didn't think anything of it.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Mina said as she rose to her feet, and Nap automatically did the same. She was a good deal shorter than him, as were most people his age. Nap was by no means freakishly tall, but his long legs may have helped him appear that way.

"Yeah, same. It's a nice change of pace to meet someone who isn't terribly dull."

"I'll see you tomorrow at the Maneuver Gear aptitude test, Nap," she said, bidding him goodbye with a quick wave. Nap followed a few steps behind her, still wondering what in the world had possessed her to sit next to him.

He passed by Jean and Connie on his way out of the building, and he walked down the dirt path as slowly as his legs could carry him. His first day as a trainee had passed, and though he had spent the past two years preparing for this day, it had still hit him hard enough to make him feel completely and utterly exhausted. He chewed on his cheek some more as he walked.

Nap Pixis hadn't become a soldier because he was trying to save face. The choice had been his and his alone. Every decision he had made during the two years since he left Mitras had been made with only a singular goal in mind. It was a goal that he had inherited from his mother.

He was going to be humanity's savior.