The nameless figure

The marching exercise in the Wasteland was over, though it had been full of twists and turns and all sorts of unexpected incidents.

As the designated record keepers, Armin and Thomas were summoned to Instructor Keith's office one after the other to explain what had happened. What they discussed remained a mystery.

As time passed, the incident gradually faded from everyone's minds. Before they knew it, winter was almost upon them.

During a morning theory class, Armin was quietly organizing his notes when he accidentally knocked a book onto the floor. He had always treasured that book-it was the only thing his grandfather had left him.

Armin hurriedly bent down to retrieve it and carefully brushed the dust off its cover. When he looked up, he met a pair of cold blue eyes. "A-Annie? Did you need something?" he asked nervously.

If there was one girl the boys in their class didn't dare provoke, it was Annie. Her formidable fighting skills intimidated everyone, while her cold demeanor kept plenty of boys at a respectful distance. As Jean put it, who would go cozying up to a block of ice for no reason? Was Christa not cute enough, or Mina not gentle enough? Apart from Yago, nobody went out of their way to approach the Ice Queen, did they?

The Ice Queen was what most people called Annie. The girls were a little better about it, but her usual attitude was far too cold, so she didn't have many friends among them either.

Annie looked at Armin and asked, "Where's Yago? Why didn't he come to class today?"

Armin breathed a sigh of relief. So she was looking for Yago. That made sense. Remembering how weak Yago had looked that morning, he explained, "Yago seems to be sick. He went to the infirmary to get checked out, and now he's resting in the dorm."

Annie frowned at that. "Okay, thank you." After murmuring her thanks, she turned and left.

Watching Annie walk away, Armin felt something vaguely strange, though he couldn't say why. He soon dismissed the faint sensation and went back to organizing his notes.

Annie returned to her seat and found herself a little unsettled by the empty chair beside her. Without the guy who was always slacking off and sleeping through class, teasing her every now and then, things really did feel different.

Annie took a small notebook from the inside pocket of her jacket and opened it. Two folded drawings lay tucked against the first page. She gently unfolded them, and a faint smile curved her lips. After carefully folding them again, she put the notebook back in her pocket, wondering whether she should bring that sick guy something.

Meanwhile, Yago lay on his bed with an agonized expression, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms. His hands were beneath the blanket. Had anyone lifted it, they would have seen wisps of white steam constantly rising from his hands, with occasional flashes of yellow electricity.

Beneath the brilliant stars lay that same familiar desert and that same pillar of light shooting into the heavens. This time, Yago picked a direction and immediately sprinted toward it.

After running for who knew how long, Yago soon drew close to the pillar of light. He reached out a hand and realized that, just as he'd expected, the barrier was still there. Above the pillar, eight slender paths of light flickered in and out of sight, connected to it.

Through the barrier, Yago once again saw that blurred figure. This time, however, it gradually became clearer. He stared at it until he could make it out. It seemed to be a little girl, crouching on the ground and piling up sand like a child playing on a beach.

Yago felt an urge to take that girl's place. Yes, to replace her, like a powerful wolf in a pack seeking to supplant its leader. The feeling was beyond his control, making him feel like a puppet.

As though she had noticed Yago's gaze, the little girl slowly turned around. An inexplicable tension gripped him. Every cell in his body sounded an alarm, and an intense sense of danger engulfed him.

Yago held his breath, his pupils widening. The little girl before him had vanished, replaced by a Titan that towered into the clouds. Its full height was almost impossible to see. Compared with this Titan, the Colossal Titan that had once appeared in Shiganshina District was practically a cub.

The Titan's movements carried an unparalleled force of presence. Yago couldn't move a muscle.

A soft whisper suddenly sounded beside his ear. "Fate cannot be changed, and you will be no exception. Why do you try to resist fate?"

The whisper kept repeating until Yago couldn't bear it anymore. He shouted furiously, "Fuck your fate! You're so damn noisy! Who the hell are you? Fuck your bullshit fate!"

His furious shout seemed to have worked. The whisper actually disappeared, along with the enormous Titan and the pillar of light before him. Yago's consciousness began to blur. In his hazy awareness, he saw a figure in a white lab coat approaching him. Instinctive fear rose within him, a terror he couldn't suppress.

As the white-coated figure drew closer, Yago's fear grew stronger and stronger, yet he still couldn't move. At last, the figure stood before him, its face seemingly veiled in mist. He heard only a soft murmur. "Norman, my most perfect creation. Hehehe... make those rotten-minded old fossils in Marley regret it! Hahahahahahaha!" The words dissolved into wild laughter, filled with obsession and madness.

The voice filled Yago with revulsion and fear, yet at the same time, he felt a strange trace of familiarity. This person seemed connected to his former self. Yago had lost all his memories from before the Survey Corps found him. This person had to be connected to those memories!

Yago's eyes snapped open! Half the blanket was already soaked by the steam. He raised his hands, his nails still buried deep in his flesh. When he pulled them free, the wounds began to heal, giving off white steam.

Yago struggled to sit up. His body had never felt so weak, but he could also vaguely sense that once this period passed, he would become even stronger, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

But was that just a dream? Who was that girl piling up sand? Who was the person in the white coat? Who am I? And what is Marley?

Yago felt his head swell. There was far, far too much he still didn't know. His body seemed to hold countless secrets.

Yago sighed. He couldn't worry about all that right now. Although he couldn't remember his past, he still had people and a world worth protecting now, didn't he?

A little while later, Yago suddenly realized something. "Shit, how am I supposed to explain this blanket?"

Under these circumstances, people could easily jump to one conclusion: he had wet the bed. Yago's scalp prickled. This was bad. In the dead of winter, with such a huge wet patch, they probably wouldn't believe him if he said he hadn't wet the bed. Worse still, he couldn't tell them the truth. Titan Power was far too shocking a secret. What was he supposed to do?!