Chapter 17: The Crystal Titan

Eight years ago before the Warriors were selected to inherit Six of the Nine Titans to wield for Marley. A young Lazarus was training with his mentor, Lucia Muller, to properly harness and control the Winged Titan. They were training in a massive open field in a countryside far away from Marley.

The two of them were both in Titan form sparring with each other. The two of them were training in hand to hand combat using their Titan’s strength.

Lucia’s Female Titan was vastly different compared to Annie’s. Her Titan’s figure had a more busty proportion. Her muscular body was also more grey in colouration. Her Titan also had her long gorgeous red hair. Her arms were covered in hardened skin, and had crystallised arm blades.

Both Titans were exhausted from fighting and were on the verge of collapse. When Lazarus was about to attempt to charge at her, Lucia’s Titan forms a T sign with her hands, telling him “time out”.

Lazarus stood down, and the two Titans soon collapse onto their knee’s. Both Lucia and Lazarus emerge from their napes and climbed down to the ground to meet each other.

“Phew… You’re certainly getting stronger.” She complimented him.

“Yeah a little. Hand to hand combat is easy enough. It’s my other abilities I’m struggling with. Most frustrating of them all being creating weapons out of hardened crystal.”

“That’s understandable. Hardening is one of the toughest abilities to maintain as a Titan Shifter.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re hardening is almost on par with the Warhammer’s, Those arm blades were strong enough to even make a dent in my hardened skin.”

Lucia and Lazarus soon take a breather and sit down upon the soft grass and take a moment to enjoy the fresh air. After a moment of rest, Lucia addresses her apprentice.

“Hey Lazarus… Do you know why or how the nine Titan powers have hardening?”

Lazarus turns to his mentor, confused by her question. “What do you mean? They’ve always had them, right?”

Lucia shakes her head. “Nope. The Nine Titans gained the power of hardening from an outside source. Most Marleyans believe the power of hardening came from the Founding Titan, but that is actually not true… The truth is, there’s actually ten Titan powers, not nine.”

Lazarus was not expecting to hear something like that right after training. Lucia continued with her explanation, noticing the desire to know more in her pupils eyes.

“There was another Titan that was born alongside Ymir. It’s unknown how it came about, but it is a Titan that is known as the source for all hardening capabilities. It’s called the Crystal Titan. A Titan that has the power to create anything out of hardening.”

“Isn’t that what the Warhammer Titan’s abilities are?” Lazarus questioned.

“Yes. But the difference between them is, the Warhammer can only create weapons out of hardening. The Crystal Titan can construct anything it’s user can think up. It can build castles, roads. It can even build an entire city with its crystals, or so the legends say… It is truly a powerful Titan indeed. One the Eldian Empire took great advantage of alongside the Founder.”

Lazarus was in awe as he pictured what such a Titan would look like in his mind. The very thought of a Titan possessing that much power. It sounded like it would be on par with his own Titan powers.

“You said the Crystal Titan was the source for all hardening. How exactly does that work?” He asked.

“When King Fritz had his daughters devour Ymir to split her power between them, he also had the first Crystal Titan user give them his own spinal fluid for them to drink. By drinking his spinal fluid, the soon to be nine Titans all gain the power of hardening as well. However, that power doesn’t last forever. With every new Titan Shifter inheriting one of the nine, the power of hardening starts to weaken until they are unable to use that power anymore… Some Titans, like the Warhammer, can maintain the power of hardening for much longer than others. But that’s only because the Tybur family has a large supply of Crystal Titan serum to keep it alive. Other Titans however cannot maintain it unless they consume more of the Crystal Titans spinal fluid.” She explained thoroughly.

“Even my Female Titan is starting to lose it’s hardening ability. My arm blades are the extent of its power.” She looks over to her decaying Titan body. “My hardening was nothing compared to what your mother could do as the Female Titan. Her’s was regarded as one of the most beautiful Titan’s in the world… To us Eldians at least.”

“Wow. Really?” He asked in disbelief. He heard stories of how his parents were regarded as being a part of the greatest and strongest generation of Warriors in Marley. But he didn’t think they were THAT popular. It only made him wish he could’ve seen them in their prime.

“So if all hardening came from the Crystal Titan. Then where is it now?” he asked.

“No one knows.” Lucia replied almost instantly. “Some say it’s somewhere on Paradis. And most believe it to be a myth. But I believe it to be real. I just pray that when you and your friends get sent to Paradis to take the Founding Titan, you won’t ever come across it. For it is said that the Crystal Titan is just as powerful as the Founder itself.”

Back in the present time, Lazarus was watching from above the forest. The Female Titan was staring down at the newly formed Titan emerging from the steam it had generated.

“What’s going on?! What is that thing?” Annie mentally called out to Lazarus.

“It’s… the Crystal Titan! Just like Lucia told me in her stories. It is real… And Michael is it’s host!” He explained to her.

The Crystal Titan soon lets out a huge roar that sounded a lot deeper compared to the usual Titan roar and angrily glares at Annie.

It then charges towards her with it’s hardened fists up, ready to attack his enemy and rescue Eren.

The Female Titan hardens her own arms and defends herself from the incoming punch. But to her surprise, the Crystal Titans punch instantly breaks through her hardening and lands a devastating blow on the side of her face, sending her flying through a whole tree and causing it to fall over.

She struggles to get back up as the Michael prepares for another attack. Annie takes a couple leaps back to keep her distance from him.

Inside the Titan’s nape, Michael was only half conscious when it came to controlling the Titans body. Right now his mind was set on killing the Female Titan, blocking out his sense of questioning as to how he also had the power to transform into a Titan.

The voice of the old man continued to speak within his mind as he was controlling the Titan’s body.

“It has been so very long since a descendent of our bloodline had awakened our power. So do not worry about not knowing what to do. Allow the spirits of your ancestors to take over while you observe. As you do, we will share with you the knowledge on how to fully wield this power for yourself.”

The Crystal Titan stops it’s approach and raises it’s left arm up, and then slams it down on the ground. In response, a dozen huge crystal spikes erupt out of the ground and head in the direction of the Female Titan.

She uses her agility to dodge the forming crystals, but failed to notice the giant sword swinging for her neck.

She barely had enough time to dodge as she leans her head back as the sword was inches away from severing her head from her body.

The Female Titan hardens its legs and performs a roundhouse kick after recovering, and actually manages to land a hit on the side of Michaels head.

But the Crystal Titan continued to stand tall despite being kicked in the head with full force. It slowly turns back to look at her, causing Annie to feel uneasy.

“This is all my fault!” Michael thinks out loud as his Titan body was fighting on autopilot. “I allowed the Levi Squad to die while I protected Eren! And I couldn’t even do that! I let him get eaten by you! They died for nothing!”

The Crystal Titan starts violently swinging it’s massive sword around, trying to land a hit on Annie, who was forced to keep being on the defensive rather than offensive.

“I don’t know what this power is. But right now I don’t care! I just want to kill you! I want to tear you apart, piece by bloody piece! And once I’m done with you, I’m going after the rat with wings! I’ll tear them off his body, and shove them down his monstrous throat!”

He unleashes another anger-fuelled roar as his sword dematerialises. He was going back to using his hardened fists.

Annie quickly takes her unique fighting stance, causing Michael to gain partial control over the Titan and lowers it’s fist in shock at what he was seeing.

He recognised that fighting stance. He’d seen it before three years ago during the 104th Cadet Corps. That stance alone allowed him to deduce the identity of the Female Titan.

His mind flashes back between the day he and Annie were about to spar during hand to hand combat training and their actual fight right now.

During the match, all of the cadets were gathered round the two combatants, placing their bets on who they think will win this match. Some think Annie’s gonna win while others rooted for Michael.

The two of them put up their defences and pose in their own unique fighting stances. They both stare at down at each other, each of them with an intent to defeat the other.

Annie soon begins her charge and readies herself to deliver her signature deadly roundhouse kick.

Recalling how it went back then, the Crystal Titan leans it’s head to the side and wraps his right arm around her leg, locking it in place.

He then uses the leverage to slam her into the ground with a roar, she then stands up, but Michael gets closer and staggers her by hitting her with punches rapidly in the chest finishing with a stronger punch that’s knocks her into the air.

With all his strength, he manages to lift up the Female Titan and starts to spin her around by the leg, smashing her into several trees in the process. This was how their sparring match went down as well.

He then lets go and sends her flying through the air. Just as she was about to hit the ground, another set of crystal spikes erupted out of the ground and impale her from behind. Fortunately, one of them missed her nape.

Annie struggles against the spiked pillars, letting out an agonising scream with each attempt she made to pry herself free.

The Crystal Titan slowly approaches his pinned down enemy and raises it’s left arm. The dozens of crystal spikes respond to him and break out of the ground, levitating the Female Titan upwards.

He then follows this up with another hardened punch to the face. The destructive force behind it was enough to break her jaw off, sending it and Eren flying to the side of the forest.

Michael then thinks back to the near the end of her spar with Annie, and recalls how he managed to pin her down with his upper body strength. Everyone around them were all shocked at how he was able to overpower Annie and pin her down.

He raises his wooden dagger up before bringing it down fast, stopping only mere inches away from her chest.

In the present, the Crystal Titan pins her down in a similar fashion. But instead of using his own body, he used the crystal spikes levitating around him. He telepathically targets her limbs and speared them, preventing her from moving.

He stands over her and angrily glares at his now helpless victim. The Female Titan’s eyes shot wide open in fear. There was absolutely no way she could win this fight. She didn’t know anything about her opponent to determine its abilities and weaknesses. She practically went in blind challenging him, and it’s now about to cost her her life.

The Crystal Titan forges a dagger out of crystal in its right hand and was prepared to finish her off for good. Now that Eren was safely out of the way, there was nothing holding him back from killing her.

Michaels thoughts were completely consumed by hatred and revenge that he was unable to think clearly, forcing the spirit of the old man to maintain control over the Crystal Titan.

“Look at you now, bitch! You must terrified! Hahaha! I bet you’re probably shitting yourself right now! But don’t worry, I’m not gonna kill you just yet. No. I’m gonna make you suffer the way you made others suffer.”

The Crystal Titan plunges the knife in her stomach, forcing the Female Titan to roar in agonising pain. Michael only laughed in response to her screams.

“Yeah! Does that feel good? This is only the beginning, you damn monster! I’m gonna rip and tear you to shreds! I’ll keep letting your body regenerate, so that I can tear it apart all over again!”

The Crystal Titan roars directly into her face as his raises his sharpened claws and proceeds to slash at her body like a rabid wild animal tearing away at it’s prey’s flesh.

“Rip and tear!”

Eren eventually regains consciousness atop the Female Titan’s decaying bottom jaw. At first he was grossed out upon realising he was covered in her saliva. But he was snapped out of that thought process the moment he noticed the Female Titan screaming as it was being brutalised by a Titan he’d never seen before.

“Rip and tear! Rip and tear! RIP AND TEAR!” Michael repeated in his mind over and over again, his rage increasing with every saying of the three words.

“What is that?” Eren muttered as he attempted to get up in his weakened state.

“Eren!”

Eren turns around, shocked to see Mikasa approaching him.

Upon landing, she immediately rushes over to his side and pulls him into a tight embrace, not even noticing the fact that he was covered in saliva.

“That’s disgusting.” Levi uttered as he landed inches away from her. “He’s covered in Titan spit. Save your little lovers quarrel for later, once he’s showered.”

Mikasa stops what she was doing and looks away in embarrassment to Levi’s statement.

“It’s- It’s not like that.” She hesitantly denied.

Their little spat was cut short at the sound of the Crystal Titan roaring a few meters northeast of their position. It was waiting for the Female Titan’s body to regenerate before proceeding to hack away at it again with it’s hardened claws.

Both Levi and Mikasa were forced to cover their ears in response to the roar, as well as act shocked at the discovery of yet another new species of Titan.

“The Armoured Titan?” Mikasa guessed.

“No. This is something new.” Levi stated. “I don’t think it’s a threat to us, given the way it’s attacking the Female Titan like that… Still though, just who the hell is that?”

The Crystal Titan continued to slash away at the Female Titan until it’s ribcage became visible for everyone to see. Her whole body had now grown limp from the constant abuse it’d received. It’s arms and legs stiffened in response to them healing around the crystal spikes.

Tears soon began to run down her eyes once she realised that there was nothing she can do. This was it for her. Annie is going to die right here, with no way of escape.

“Enough of this!” He rips the dagger out of her chest and raises it above her head. “Time to finish you, once and for all!”

Within the nape of the Female Titan, Annie Leonhart was crying tears of despair. For the first time in her life she was truly terrified. Not just the Crystal Titan, but also afraid of never seeing her father and Lazarus again. She’d been so focused on the mission to recover the Coordinate, that she felt like she never had a chance to enjoy living her life. Out of all the Warriors, she was the only one who didn’t take time to enjoy the little things Paradis had to offer. She’d been a loner, and now she was beginning to regret it.

“I can’t die here! Not in a place like this! I can’t leave my father all alone. Not when I promised him I’d come back alive!”

Her perception of time started to slow down as the Crystal Titan was lowering it’s blade towards her face. A vision of Lazarus’s face then appeared in her mind. Of all the faces she expected to see in her final moments, part of her felt a little at ease that his was the face that appeared in her minds eye.

“Please Lazarus… If your out there somewhere. You’ve got to stop Michael. He may be your friend, but he will kill me if you do nothing! I don’t want to die yet! I still haven’t told you how I felt about you! I want to live!… I NEED TO LIVE!” She shouted with all her desperation, hoping to be rescued.

Annie’s prayers were answered as she was saved at the last second by a massive blast of fire that explodes into the Crystal Titan, knocking it off her body and sending it flying back into a tree.

Levi, Eren and Mikasa look in the direction of where that fire blast came from. They were all shocked to see that it came from the Winged Titan who’d finally decided to come down and step in.

This was the first time either of them were able to get a good close up look of the creature.

Its appearance was somewhat identical to Eren’s Attack Titan, with the obvious differences being its massive bat like wings that were now tucked into it’s back. It’s whole body was covered in hardened skin and even had plates of armour atop it. It had sharp claws, long white hair, glowing red eyes and six horns coming out of its head.

“Is that- Mikasa was about to ask, only to be interrupted by Eren.

“It’s him… The Winged Titan!”

The Crystal Titan climbs back up onto its feet and stares down at the new player who’d entered the forest. At long last he was able to get a good look at his greatest enemy of them all. He takes up his signature fighting stance and readies himself to attack.

Levi instantly recognised the fighting stance as his own that he used for hand to hand combat. And as far as he knows, there were only two individuals he taught to fight like that. Commander Erwin and…

“Michael? Is that you in that Titan body? … Just what the hell is going on here?!”

“So you’ve finally decided to come down and reveal yourself.” Michael thought to himself as he stared at the Winged Titan. “Come down here to save your friend, huh? Maybe you do have a heart after all. No matter how small and black it may be.”

The Crystal Titan lets out another roar as it rushes over towards it’s next opponent, reading the dagger to strike him.

“Whatever the case, I’ve finally got you right where I want you! Right here, right now! I will make you pay for the way you attacked my home!”

The Crystal Titan closes in on the Winged Titan and prepares to attack him with everything he got.

Unfortunately, the Winged Titan manages to overpower him by charging electricity into its left fist and lands a devastating, electric punch to it’s chest. The force behind it was enough to make the Crystal Titan cough up blood, whilst he felt his entire body being electrocuted.

He then gets sent flying back once again, only this time he was heading straight for Eren, Levi and Mikasa.

“Move now!” Levi ordered.

Mikasa grabs Eren and quickly moves out of the way with Levi as the Crystal Titan crashes into a massive rock. The impact was powerful enough to crack it.

The physical contact he made just now with Michael, causes Lazarus to freeze in place. The Winged Titan starts to roar uncontrollably as it clings to it’s horned head.

Lazarus was experiencing another blackout in his Titan form. But this wasn’t like his usual visions of the past. This time his mind was rapidly flooding with a series of images and voices from the past. Every single memory he had lost the night of Michaels disappearance were all coming back to him at once.

The pain proved too much for him to handle as he started breathing fire everywhere, setting the giant trees ablaze.

When it was finally over, the Winged Titan lowers it’s head in exhaustion and takes a couple deep breaths before regaining its composure.

“Looks like that Titan really pissed of the winged bastard, attacking his comrade like that.” Levi commented to himself.

The Winged Titan then notices Eren with Mikasa with Levi in the distance. Now would’ve been the perfect opportunity to capture him and leave. But that was not why he came here. He came to rescue Annie, and nothing else.

He wasn’t sure if he could take on Levi, Mikasa, and Michael in his new Titan form. But he didn’t wanna risk finding out either. So before any of them could attack him, he takes a deep breath and starts building up heat in his body.

Then he unleashes another fire blast on the ground in front of him and Annie, creating a massive wall of flames to keep them out. The flames begin to spread among the tall trees.

In the midst of all the panic, The Winged Titan rips the crystal spikes off of the Female Titan and picks her up in his arms. With his objective complete, he had no reason to stay. The plan to capture Eren may’ve failed, but they’ll find another opportunity. For now, getting Annie to safety was his only priority.

“You’re just gonna run away? I don’t think so!” The Crystal Titan lets out another roar at the departing Titans. “I won’t let you escape!”

Before he could attempt to follow them, he was stopped by Levi who fires an anchor into his shoulder and lands on top of it.

“Stop Michael!” He shouted with authority.

The Crystal Titan instantly stopped the moment he heard his true name called out. He turns to face Levi. His eyes stopped glowing and reveal Michael’s actual brown eyes, showing that he is now in control.

“I know it’s you in there. I don’t know if you’ve been keeping this a secret from us, or if you only just found out yourself. But that doesn’t matter right now! If you don’t do something about this fire, it’ll set the whole forest ablaze! Forget about those two, saving Eren is our top priority. Or have you forgotten that I entrusted you with that task?!”

The Crystal Titan said nothing in response. Like Eren, he was unable to speak in Titan form. But he knew that his captain was right. Many Scouts may lose their lives should he allow this fire to spread.

Using his special powers, the Crystal Titan covers the burning trees with hardened crystal, putting out the flames in the process.

He repeats the process with the ground around him until all the fires have been extinguished. By the time the smoke cleared, the Winged and Female Titans were long gone. But thanks to his efforts, they failed to secure Eren.

Michael inevitably complies with Levi’s orders and carries him, Mikasa and Eren back out of the forest to join up with the other Scouts.

“Michael. By the time we regroup with the others, you’ve got some explaining to do. You’re just like Eren. You realise this presents a problem for all of us. We’re all forced back into that position on whether we can trust you with this power or not. And after this, The MP’s will seek to regain custody over Eren. And you as well if they discover your power… Erwin’s not gonna like this. And Four Eyes is probably gonna die from overexcitement once she sees this.” He turns his attention to Mikasa who was sitting with Eren on the other shoulder. “And you. Not a word of this to anyone until I say so, got it?”

Mikasa didn’t like the way he spoke to her like that. Ever since she’d witnessed him kicking the crap out of Eren during the trial, she’d been planning for her revenge and vowed to get back at him for it someday.

But he was still her superior and she was forced to obey him nonetheless, whether she liked it or not.

“Yes sir.” She reluctantly replied.

The remaining members of the Scout Regiment have been gathered outside the exit of the forest. Everyone who’d survived are now resting up and replenishing their gas and blades, as well as making sure their horses are well fed and ready to travel again soon.

None of them were aware of the events that transpired in another part of the forest. But they will soon discover that Eren wasn’t the only one unaware of his Titan transformation powers.

The peace and quiet – apart from the occasional moans and grief filled cries – was soon disrupted by the sounds of heavy footsteps approaching their position.

Miche was the first to react to it. Using his enhanced smelling nose, he tell that a Titan is approaching… with Eren, Levi and Mikasa riding on top of it.

“Commander Erwin, a Titan is approaching this direction! I think it’s got Captain Levi and Yeager.”

Erwin signals all the veteran Scouts to get in position while the rookies stayed back. He had a feeling it might be the Female Titan. But what came out of the forest was something he and the Scouts were not expecting.

The Crystal Titan emerged out of the forest and comes to a sliding halt. The Scouts all draw their blades in preparation to attack the new Titan threat.

“Stand down!” Levi shouted down from the Titan’s shoulder. “He’s with us. I know how this looks, but this giant rock collection is actually Michael!”

Everyone present – mostly the cadets – were all shocked by what just came out of the captains mouth. Michael was looking at Levi with annoyance. A lot of them were still trying to process this information.

Levi and Mikasa jump down from Michael’s shoulders as he knelt down to their level. Erwin slowly approaches the Crystal Titan and gives it a good look over.

“Son. Is that really you?” He asked slowly, still trying to accept what his eyes perceived.

The Crystal Titan nodded in response. He reaches out to him, but suddenly stops halfway.

Michael could feel the hand of the old man drifting away from him. He was exhausted after his battle with the Female Titan. And without the spirits helping him maintain control, he was unable to keep his Titan body upright, resulting in it collapsing to the ground.

Steam erupted out of the Titans nape and begins to decay around him until his actual human body is revealed, still connected to the flesh of the Titan.

“Get him out of there!” He ordered two Scouts.

“But sir-

“Do it now!” He raised his voice, reminding them who their commander is.

The soldiers, despite their doubts, carry out their orders. Using their blades, they sever Michaels arms from the Titan’s body and pull him out. The Crystal Titans body begins to rapidly decay, with the bones and crystal armour taking much longer to disintegrate than the muscle.

They lay the dazed and very tired Michael down in the grass. Erwin quickly rushes to his side and hold him in his arms, sighing in relief that he was alright.

“NOOOOO!”

The cadets were startled by the very familiar sounds of Hange screaming with her hands on her head and kneeling down, wallowing in dissatisfaction at the sight of the Crystal Titan’s decaying body.

“Why did you pull him out so soon?! I was really looking forward to examining it! I mean, have you ever seen such a beautiful sight?! All those shining crystals made it look like a living treasure trove of riches and science materials!”

“You mean you’re more upset about that then the fact that Michael has Titan powers too? You’re a nutcase.” Moblit uttered in the background behind her.

Erwin ignored Hange’s nonsense. All his focus was on his son’s wellbeing. Though he too had a lot of questions about Michael having Titan powers, he’s willing to ignore all that to ensure his safety.

Michael slowly regains consciousness. His vision was blurred at first, making it difficult for him to make out the individual. Inevitably he realises that he was staring into the eyes of his father, who was forming a relived smile.

“Dad?”

“I’m here, Michael. Are you alright?”

As he was about to answer, Michael notices his Titan body out the corner of his eye. The memories of what happened started to come back to him. He started to panic as he noticed all the glaring eyes pointed at him. Everyone knows now. The thoughts on what they all think of him now was starting to get to him.

“Dad, I swear to you, I didn’t know anything about this! I didn’t even know these powers existed inside me. I wasn’t hiding anything from you, I swear. I-

Erwin raises his hand in order to get him to stop panicking about the situation.

“Michael… There’s something different about you.”

Michael looks up at him in confusion, not fully understanding what he meant.

“I’m not talking about these powers you have… it’s your injuries. Your mask is gone, yet your breathing is as good as mine. And your face…The scars you got in Shiganshina are… crystallised.”

To Be Continued