Leave the Soul Alone

Aren't you lucky That I was such a good person? For now you won the gamble, But what I gambled on Is only s t a r t i n g. [ Independent Annie Leonhardt ] [ Tracked Tags ] crystallioness

[crystal--lioness]

ooc: So I guess you could say I'm restarting my blog. I'm keeping my rps going that I have with certain people like my Eren and Armin. But otherwise, it's a whole new fresh start. uvu

[crystal--lioness]

Shattered Faith || AU

[akarui-kyandoru]

    Tragedy seemed to run through her veins, seeping into her bones and eating away at the marrow. Born to die, perhaps. But weren’t they all? The revelation made his heart turn even heavier in his rib cage. He knew what it was like to grow up motherless. But at least he’d gotten a taste of his parents’ love as a young child. She had none. She was the source of this deep well of sadness. She was blaming herself for something that had never been in her control. No, he wanted to say, You didn’t kill her. You didn’t. That wasn’t your fault. Words of comfort lodged in his throat.   

    “Annie…” A smooth step toward her was punctuated by a moment of hesitation before he followed through with the second step. He bent over her where she was bound in the chair, hair falling forward and shadowing his face. Showing sympathy could be advantageous. Gaining her trust was a good tactic —or, any shreds of it he could still pry from her. This was just an act like any other. Just an act. This wasn’t real. But…she was real. Living. Breathing. She was no longer crystallized. He wanted to take the soft pale skin of her hands in his and bring her wrists to his lips. He wanted to rekindle the warmth he knew was dormant within. To stop the black bile of the disease of cruelty from running through her veins. He leaned in, hands resting feather light upon her wrists where they were restrained. “…you didn’t,” It was barely a whisper, but it was there. The act was slipping away from him. 

    Fingers wrapped around her wrists, tracing small nameless patterns across her skin. He wondered what kinds of messages he could scrawl across her skin with his lips. Gaze flickering down to her lips, he wondered if he could slip his secrets into her mouth. Quiet. Direct. Unforgettable. His eyelids fluttered shut and he leaned into her until he felt his lips brush the corner of her mouth, not quite a kiss. Something rose within him at the contact. 

    Guilt.

    This immediate desire to soothe his enemy terrified him. What a great and terrible burden a heart was. The transformation was immediate. The space between them multiplied painfully as Armin jumped back and away from her. This was problematic. This was weakness. This was…shameful. Many of his friends were dead and he had been selfish enough to lose himself in the enemy’s eyes. But now he was found. He knew what had to be done. For humanity. He was not a good person. For a moment, it was all he could do to look away from her, fists clenched at his sides. But his courage returned soon enough.  

    He had to break his own heart.

    “You said it’s my turn,” The staccato sound of his own voice startled him on the inside. It was dark, low. “Former Scouting Legion recruits Bertholdt Fubar and Reiner Braun have been irrevocably compromised.” He held her gaze steadily, not backing down even as his own insides screamed in protest. She didn’t trust him anyway. He had to draw a line for himself in the sand. “Their identities as the Colossal and Armored titans were made known and they attempted to kidnap Eren. They were unsuccessful.” 

    “You know why that is?” From this, he could not go back. “I told Bertholdt you had awoken. I told him that you were deep in an underground facility undergoing unimaginable torture. I warned him about all the things we were doing to you.” A beat of silence passed and it felt like a millennium. ng ”  

    The weight in his chest was confirmation. The quest to break his own heart had been successful. 

    “Your turn," The words could barely make it past his lips.

[crystal--lioness]

Everything inside Annie stilled. Armin…told Bertholdt what… ’I told him that you were deep in an underground facility undergoing unimaginable torture.’ Berhtoldt’s face appeared in her mind, the shock that it was Armin that told him that, the pain of not able being able to save her when he had the chance and….’I lied to him. And it was their undoing.’ the anger that caused him to snap.

She stared at Armin, trying to figure out just who was sitting in front of her. This wasn’t the boy who sat and read books of the outside world. This wasn’t the same boy who always called her a good boy. The same boy that always tried to keep Armin and Jean from fighting. He wasn’t a liar, a manipulator. This wasn’t Armin and --

Oh…that’s right..

It was him. She had experienced the lies and manipulation first hand when they had captured her. War always changes people. Annie knew that more than anyone. Though she never expected it to be him. The Armin she once knew who spoke of humanity and freedom was long gone and was replaced by the person sitting in front of her.

Laughter broke free and she threw her head back, unable to contain the madness anymore. The Armin she knew was long gone, and the one sitting in front of her was going to die. She was going to kill him. She was going to make sure he felt the same pain Bertholdt had felt that day. The pain of being unable to save his comrades.

Then the laughter stopped. She looked over at Armin with cold dead eyes as she did something she rarely ever did. She smiled. Leaning across the table that separated them, her voice was soft almost a whisper but she knew he would be able to hear her loud and clear, “I’m going to give you a fact that has yet to come.”

  “I’m going to kill you all.”

[crystal--lioness]

Once Upon a Dream || Mermaid AU

CAPTURE HER! THERE ARE OTHERS! SHE'S TRYING TO KILL EREN. MARCO GET HER! WHY IS THERE SO MUCH BLOOD?! MARCO?!  SHE KILLED MARCO! MIKASA DON'T KILL HER! WE NEED HER ALIVE TO DO RESEARCH!

Annie slowly opened her eyes as she stared at all the metal around her from her rock. As she pushed herself up, her eyes searched the  room to see if he was still there and found the room empty. Annie flicked her gold tail in annoyance as she pushed herself into the water, letting out a series of clicks and whistles in disgust, waiting for the setanim to change out her water.

After the attack and Annie was captured, Annie was taken to what she soon learned was a lab. She was forced to learn the setanim's names repeatedly as if they thought she was an idiot. She didn't care enough to remember most of them, only the ones she'd seen daily and held her setanim's interest. 

The second person they introduced Annie to was Mikasa, who had left the ugly scar on Annie's beautiful golden tail out of revenge for the one they called Eren. They soon learned not to allow the silent female into the room after Annie let out a glass shattering screech out of disgust of having the woman even near her. Annie let out a quiet pleased whistle as Mikasa gave her a death glare as they shooed her out of the room.

Eren was the third, the one they were doing this for. They needed to study a sessa or what they called mermaids because Eren had begun to show signs of scales and trouble breathing on land during certain times. Annie found him familiar but didn't care enough to put the pieces together. She didn't mind his company but he often talked about killing her own out of some sort of revenge, in return Annie often gave a warning hiss and received a cold glare in return. 

Jean was the fourth who was the most cautious out of all of them, rarely ever acknowledging her. Annie learned the one she had killed was his best friend, Marco. He never spoke of revenge, but only stayed close to her setanim's side when he was on duty to make sure he would not receive the same fate. Annie was fine with that, it showed just how much of a warrior he was. One who did not act on revenge but with instinct and logic, he would have made a good Kallotom. Another who's company she did not mind.

And the first she had met, was the one that was there when she had first opened her eyes, Armin. He looked at her with the most kind eyes as he patched up her tail, cleaning it and wrapping it up with weird clothe daily. He read to her daily and tried often to get her to interact with him. Rarely ever leaving her alone with someone else. He was no Kallotom, but so much better. Annie soon decided something about the male. 

He was her's.

And he was late.

She stared out the clear barrier that kept her between the setanim. Pressing her hands against the cool surface, wondering just what would happen if the barrier broke. The idea becoming more and more appealing the longer she waited. 

[crystal--lioness]

D I S C L A I M E R

For the new AU Kapin and I will be writing. I have to thank un-bacio-dolce for giving me permission to use the mermaid language she searched long and hard for. 

She found a lot of the sources for the mermaid language that I will be using for mermaid Annie. Which I will be posting translation at a later time.

[crystal--lioness]

Shattered Faith || AU

[akarui-kyandoru]

-¤- Blood turned to ice water in his veins, something akin to fear and shock pooling in the bottom of his stomach. This wasn’t the private —and possibly selfish— closure that he had sought. This was a new breed of the game they had always played. And it was uncertain if he knew the rules anymore. 

She was a monolith. A column of ice in a cell of iron.  

         Neither of them where who they once claimed to be.

-¤- The images of gore that flashed through his mind made him visibly pale. But his posture remained straight as if he were a blameless innocent. The words conjured up a picture of the smooth apples of her cheeks —a soft plane he had one thought of kissing— stained with gore at too young an age. Flooding back to him came pictures of Trost, Eren’s blood splattering his face and staining his uniform. Reaching out for his best friend as he crouched in the gaping mouth of Death itself, their fingertips so far and yet so antagonizingly close. The cries of his comrades as they died preventable deaths—

 “I believe it’s your turn again.

-¤- The low cadence of her voice was a welcome awakening from the gruesome scenes playing in his head. Bound by their old rules, he refrained from commenting on what she had disclosed despite its obvious horrors.She was no longer the object of his desires. She was the enemy. He had to keep those facts straight in his mind. Many things had changed, but this simple rule format he could obey. How on earth could he follow that confession? It wasn’t a matter of competition, but a matter of not having anything as powerful to say except— Bertholdt. 

The words to explain what he had done to her friend lodged in his throat. 

             He chose among truths, a story as far from Bertholdt as possible.

-¤- “Back in Trost, Mikasa ran out of proper fuel. I gave mine to her along with my extra blades and told her to leave me. But that’s a lie. I didn’t give her all of my blades. I kept one.” He paused, feeling the heavy air wrap around them as if with a mind of its own. “I—I planned on killing myself on that roof we were on rather than being eaten alive. But Eren taught us to fight to the end, and for that reason she refused to abandon me. He’s the reason we’re still here.” Perhaps it was the unwelcome flashbacks that made him dwell upon that day. It was a moment that had always remained between Mikasa, Connie, and him —if Connie had even understood the meaning of his words. 

Maybe he just wanted to make it clear that death held no fearful power over him anymore. 

"I suppose that makes it your turn again, Annie." 

[crystal--lioness]

Annie wasn't all that surprised that Armin would do that. He was that kind of person. Eren was their heart, Armin the brains, and Mikasa was their dagger. Without the heart to hold them together, it wouldn't be long before they began to crumble. And she was quite sure death was also an option to Mikasa as well. 

She stared at him for a few more moments wondering of all the what ifs, and what could have beens, she wanted to wake up in her own bed, her father outside chopping wood, and maybe Armin would come get her before going to class. But there was no way that could have happened, they lived too far apart, in too different worlds. This chaos was what brought them together and it was also that same chaos that ripped them apart.

She thought about all her secrets, ones that she could tell him. The ones where she had slaughtered his friends. But the one memory that came to mind, was one she knew he could relate too. Something she related too when he told her about his parents, something she felt guilty on feeling comfort that he felt some of her pain. The next words that came out from her, sounded unusual even to her, never before had she felt sadness come from her own lips, "I killed my mother...she had died giving birth to me."

She looked at him without really looking at him, watching the memories of her father's grief play in her mind, "Does that make you happy, Armin? Knowing that I experienced some of the same pain you have?" She didn't want his pity. His sympathy. She didn't want any of that. But maybe...deep inside her, she wanted his understanding. Maybe that's what she wanted this entire time. 

She then pulled herself away from the memories that haunted her in her sleep. Her voice no longer holding the same sadness but no emotion at all, "Your turn again."

[der-racher]

That was true. Eren hated the Military Police. Numerous times in the past he saw soldiers, as they called themselves, getting drunk every day, using their position to gain privileges and respect while they gave nothing in exchange. Not like those he looked up to, the Scouting Legion soldiers. Those were real soldiers; there he aimed to some day get, so he would be able to put an end to a life of fear for all humanity.

The first part was now accomplished: he was a member of the legion. The second objective, however, seemed still so far away. Although that would never stop him. “Protect the families?” Eren had heard this excuse in countless occasions. “From what? Titans are out there, we must first prevent them from breaching the walls, we must first make sure they cease existing. If the Scouting Legion had half the people the Military Police has, the job would be much easier. Humanity would reach freedom sooner.”

[crystal--lioness]

Annie had no answer for him. She couldn't make him understand without explaining just what was going on inside the walls. And even then she didn't completely understand herself. All she knew was that it was dangerous inside these walls, danger she needed to figure out so that she could finish her job.

"...they're cowards. As soon as they see a titan, they run. That's what you want? To be abandoned while out there. They need to be protected because..." Bertholdt, "The colossal titan was able to get through once. Almost twice. Someone has to protect them."

[crystal--lioness]

☾— Are they prone to nightmares or dreamless sleep? ☼ — Something that/Someone who makes them happy.

☾— Are they prone to nightmares or dreamless sleep?

Dreamless. It's uncommon for her to actually dream but if she does they're dreams of her father and slowly became dreams of Armin. She considers them both nightmares.

☼ — Something that/Someone who makes them happy.

She'll never admit it but Armin was her escape. To pretend for a moment that maybe she could be a good person to someone.

[crystal--lioness]

ooc:  This drabble was inspired by the latest chapter of SnK.

      'Why didn't I kill you?'

Annie wondered that for a very long time. It was always a question that was always in the back of her mind. Especially now that she was out of her crystallized haven, learning what they had done to Bertholdt and Reiner. There was no turning back for them.  

She waited patiently in her cell, she knew it wouldn't be long before the heroic scouting league would want to question her. She would make her move. She may not be able to kill all of them, but Annie swore to herself that she would make sure she would leave another trail of bodies as she made her way to Wall Sina.

Light finally spilled into her cell as the door was opened. She tensed up, ready for them to take her to whatever torture chamber they prepared for her. Instead she was shocked to find Armin standing there, his eyes staring straight at the ground.

"...What do yo--" She stopped as soon as he began walking toward her, as though he was sleep walking. Annie hardly got a good look at his face until he fell to his knees in front of her. His eyes almost dead as he stared at her. "...Not everyone is a good person Annie. But I'll keep fighting for humanity...I'll see the ocean one day..."  

      'Ah...now I remember...'

This person understood pain, lost and what it was like to be broken. But he stood up and fought anyway. He would keep fighting, and by the looks of it, no matter what he went through. Armin would always do what's right for humanity, even if he lost his own in the process.

He was close enough that she could reach out to cup his face even with the chains, leaning forward she pressed their foreheads together. Their breath mingling as they sat their for who knows how long before she finally broke the silence in a cold harsh whisper, 

"I will be the one to devour you." 

[izmennitsa]

                                   A kingdom of {isolation},

               and it looks like —————

                                                                                   ———— I’m the queen.

[crystal--lioness]

"Why are you crying?"

"…."

Annie had heard of this woman. Armin’s new mentor, Hanji Zoe. She was the one the few she had to be extra careful around because no matter how kind she appeared, she knew how to torture titan better than anyone. She could only imagine what the woman would do to her or Reiner and Bertholdt if she found out what they were planning. 

Pushing those thoughts aside, her hand subconsciously reached to touch to her cheek and found it dry. Annie’s eyes narrowed at the scientist. Annie wasn’t easy to read, the only other person that could really be able to read her was Armin. Though it wasn’t surprising that he would pick a mentor that was as compassionate as he was to the point they could read past the mask people wore. 

"I’m not…if you’ll excuse me I must get back to my duties…” She turned her back on the woman, vowing to never go near her again. 

And the next time they would meet, Hanji would hold not hold the same campassion as before and  would threaten to devour Annie for everything she knew.

[crystal--lioness]

Visit Original Link

I feel something so right By doing the wrong thing And I feel something so wrong By doing the right thing I could lie, could lie, could lie Everything that kills me makes me feel a l i v e

I feel the love And I feel it burn Down this river every turnHope is our four letter word Make that money Watch it b u r n

[akarui-kyandoru]

Visit Original Link

I will keep quiet You won’t even know I’m here You won’t suspect a thing You won’t see me in the mirror But I crept into your heart You can’t make me disappear Til I make you 

You’ll never know what hit you Won’t see me closing in I’m gonna make you suffer This hell you put me in I’m underneath your skin The devil within You’ll never know what hit you 

[crystal--lioness]

                       whomever you fear

                                      fear me  [ ｍ ｏ ｒ ｅ ]

[ask-fubar]

The Shingeki no Kyojin Ask Blog “DIE YOUNG” Collaboration is finally complete!! 

Thank you everyone for working with me to create this! It was a lot of work for all of us but I think it paid off. The SNK ask blog community is amazing and I’ve met so many awesome people through it and we can make cool stuff like this. 

The credits for the video are listed in the video comments on youtube.

[choke-on-glitter]

[ ❀ ] meet the blogger:

[crystal--lioness]

name: Mickayla. height: 5’6”  eye color: Blue birthday: January 31st favorite color: Blue and grey best school subject(s): English and Science current shirt color: Black day or night: Night.. celebrity crush: Natalie Dormer. coffee or tea: Cherry coke. favorite food: Chicken Nuggets or Chili.

[crystal--lioness]

Shattered Faith || AU

[akarui-kyandoru]

-¤- Have you become so unkind? He’d wounded her first, and now it was her turn to twist the knife in his side. How long had they used the concept of being a good person to control one another? It struck him that he was the guiltier party in this instance. He’d manipulated her with a concept he himself had confessed to not fully believe in. There was no such thing as a person who was truly good for everyone.

-¤- Her proposal raised a red flag in his mind, the weight of her gaze pinning him down. His fingers —which had gripped the iron bars like a buoy in a stormy sea— slid from their place and came to rest at his sides. Hadn’t they already been playing games with each other for a while? They weren’t the innocent games of years past. There was no doubt in his mind that their old pastime was about to become a twisted shell of what it used to be. Retrieving the key from his pocket, he unlocked the door without a word. It clicked closed behind him with an echo.

-¤- “I’m trying to be good for you.” The lie ran off his tongue like saltwater, neither a thing of comfort or refreshment. But a part of him wanted desperately to believe it. “You could still be good for me, Annie.” With a tilt of his head and the ghost of a smile, he gave her an inch. He would not let that inch become a mile. In this complicated game they played, any move could be their last. “I’ll play our game, for old time’s sake.”

-¤- It was unconventional and dangerous. Thoughts about closure hadn’t strayed too far into interrogation. It wasn’t his purpose in seeing her. It wasn’t what he had been asked to do. In his heart he hadn’t wanted to be one of those people to her. But it was too late. They each had chosen their sides. His eyes met hers like a river flowing to the sea. The estuary of their gaze was devoid of life. He’d once imagined discovering to ocean with her; having their hair tossed by the salty breeze and the sun-warmed sand shifting beneath their feet.

He’d dreamed many impossible dreams.

Now it was time to crush them beneath his feet and leave them behind in this cell. A broken offering to a fallen goddess.

-¤- “Here’s my fact—” On some days, he still felt his mind was clouded by a broken heart. The idea of the sea was beginning to sound more abstract and unreachable with each passing day. He still awoke in shock from dreams about her skin, dreams of her stopping his beating heart with her bare hands. Dreams of him stopping hers. “—in the year you were gone, I made my first solo titan kill.”

A benign truth to test the waters that could so easily drown him.

[crystal--lioness]

“I’m trying to be good for you.”

      "You could still be good for me, Annie.” 

LIE. She knew better.They both knew they weren’t good people. There was no way either of them could ever be kind again, especially to each other. Armin was a good liar but Annie was better. She was taught to lie. Armin had to learn. She barely lifted her chin, her cold eyes narrowing at him as though she was looking down at a weaker opponent. All he was doing was reminding her that he was no longer the Armin she knew.

“I made my first solo titan kill.”

Was that right…she wasn't all that shocked. Annie knew one day he would kill a titan. Everyone else thought he was just book smart, but Annie knew better. He wasn't physically strong yet, but he also wasn’t done growing. She knew when he finally finished growing, he would surprise everyone. He would be a threat to every titan and titan shifter there was. 

Because unlike Eren, Armin knew better to jump into a fight without thinking. Unlike Mikasa, he wasn't a cold blooded killer that just killed without a second thought. Without figuring out a plan. Without finding his enemy's weakness. 

Annie thought through all the things she had done. Images and sounds of the people she had killed played in her head. She knew he wanted answers of who she truly was, not the girl she pretended to be for so long. He wanted to know the monster. And she was willing to give him what he wanted.

"My first kill was a small family. My father said if I couldn't kill them, then I wasn't cut out to be a warrior and protect our home." Her voice was soft as she remembered her father's words. "They say your first kill is the one you always remember. And  for my case it's true.. It shocking what humans will do to survive. The father thought he could fight me off and the mother...well she left her toddler there to die as she ran." 

She stared off as she remembered the toddler's big green eyes stared up at her in fear. It was the one time Annie showed mercy. Killing the child swiftly and ended up digging a hole in a field of flowers that wasn't far from their home. Annie swore she would never show that mercy to anyone ever again. 

She glanced back up at Armin, "I believe it's your turn again.

[ppitte]

Who likes doing something like this?