Night fell over the refugee camp like a suffocating blanket.
Fires burned low.
Parents held their children close.
Wounded soldiers groaned in tents.
The smell of wet earth and smoke lingered in the cold air.
But I couldn't sleep.
Not after almost transforming.
Not after Kade's suspicion.
Not after hearing the word "replacement" echo inside my skull like a curse.
Armin sat beside me on an abandoned crate, both of us wrapped in thin blankets.
He kept glancing at my hands, as if making sure I was still… me.
"You can't stay like this, Junta," he whispered.
"You're barely holding yourself together."
I rubbed my forehead.
"I don't know how to fix it."
"You have to try."
His voice was quiet but firm.
A boy terrified of losing more people… yet still brave.
I admired that.
But bravery wouldn't solve the burning in my bones.
I lowered my voice to a whisper.
"Armin… if I lose control—if I hurt someone—"
"You won't," he interrupted instantly.
"How can you be so sure?"
Armin swallowed.
"Because you're scared. Truly scared. People who want to hurt others… don't fear themselves like you do."
I clenched my fists.
Steam seeped between my fingers.
He noticed.
He scooted closer, shielding the sight from others with his blanket.
Quietly, he murmured:
"If you need to go somewhere safe… I'll come with you."
My heart throbbed painfully.
"I can't ask you to do that."
"You didn't ask. I offered."
His determination shook something inside me.
Something human.
Something fragile.
But reality slapped me harshly a second later.
Bootsteps.
Heavy ones.
Approaching from behind the tents.
A silhouette moved through the firelight.
"Kade," I whispered, freezing.
Armin stiffened.
The man stepped out into full view—
dark hair, calm eyes, cloak brushing the dirt.
He scanned the area like a predator searching for prey.
And his eyes landed directly on me.
Armin whispered sharply:
"Junta, run."
My legs shook.
"No. Running would—"
"RUN!" Armin hissed.
Kade started walking toward us.
Not rushing.
Just moving with absolute certainty.
He knew exactly what he was going to do.
I stood up on trembling legs and backed away.
Armin quickly stepped in front of me, blocking Kade with his tiny frame.
"Kade… please. He's sick. He needs rest."
"Step aside," Kade said flatly.
Armin refused.
"He's not dangerous."
Kade didn't blink.
"I saw him nearly explode into something that wanted to eat all of you."
Armin's breath caught.
He couldn't deny it.
But he still didn't move.
"Junta isn't a monster," Armin said.
"He's our friend."
Kade stared at him for a long, unsettling moment.
Then his gaze flicked to me.
"…Kid," he said coldly, "you're coming with me. Whether you walk or I drag you."
My pulse spiked.
Steam rose off my skin.
Kade's muscles tensed, ready.
Armin stepped between us again.
"No. He's not going."
"Arlert," Kade warned, "move."
Armin shook his head violently.
"Not until you tell me why you're so sure he's… not human."
Kade's eyes sharpened.
"I've seen men who hid something inside them. Soldiers who returned from battle with eyes like beasts."
He pointed at me.
"His eyes look like that. A creature fighting to get out."
My heart clenched painfully.
I backed away another step.
Kade took a step forward.
Armin's voice broke.
"Junta, don't—"
I ran.
But I didn't run toward safety.
I ran toward the forest behind the camp—
where shadows swallowed light
and where no one would be hurt if I lost control.
Kade shouted.
"STOP!"
I sprinted harder, heart pounding, steam bursting from my body like a furnace.
Armin ran after me.
"Junta!! Wait—!!"
"Don't follow me!" I shouted back.
I didn't want him here.
I didn't want anyone here.
Trees blurred past me.
The pain in my spine erupted again.
[WARNING: Evolution Required]
[Titan Form: Instability at critical threshold]
[Begin Titan Upgrade to prevent spontaneous transformation]
I stumbled into a clearing behind the treeline, falling to my knees.
"No—no— not here—"
Armin crashed through the brush behind me, desperate and panting.
"Junta—!!"
"Armin! Stay BACK!!"
He froze.
Then Kade emerged seconds later, blade drawn, eyes locked onto me like I was a rabid animal.
"Don't move," he warned Armin. "He's about to change."
Armin shook his head.
"He isn't! He's fighting it—can't you see?!"
Kade didn't answer.
He could see.
He just didn't care.
---
The pain hit.
Like a lightning bolt through my spine.
My back arched violently.
Steam ripped out of me in a geyser—
white, hot, blinding.
Armin shielded his face.
Kade held his stance, unmoving.
My vision flickered red.
Bone cracked beneath my skin.
My fingers twisted.
Teeth began forming in my jaw—
not human teeth.
Titan teeth.
I screamed.
"STOP—!!"
The System flashed again.
[BEGIN EVOLUTION?]
[Y/N]
I slammed my fist into the dirt.
"YES! YES, JUST DO IT!!"
[Evolution Starting…]
[Standby…]
My body shook violently.
Titan bones formed around my arms—
then shattered.
Formed—
shattered.
Over and over.
The ground beneath me split.
Armin cried out, "Junta—!!"
Kade raised his blade—
"What the hell are you becoming?!"
I wanted to answer.
I wanted to scream.
But then—
Everything stopped.
Just for one second.
The pain halted.
My heart stilled.
My breath froze.
And a new message appeared.
One that made my blood run cold.
[Titan Form Upgrade Complete]
[New Ability Unlocked:]
[PHASE TITAN: Stage 1]
Armin gasped.
Kade's blade slipped from his hand in shock.
Because behind me—
invisible to them, but burning into my vision—
the silhouette of my Titan form appeared.
Two blazing eyes.
Ribs like obsidian armor.
Steam swirling like a cloak.
A Titan unlike any in this world.
A monster.
A weapon.
A warning.
Armin whispered, voice trembling.
"…Junta… what are you?"
I wanted to say "nothing."
I wanted to say "human."
But the truth slipped out like a broken whisper.
"I… I don't know anymore."