Warrior Unit

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/55618504.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Category: F/M
Fandom: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Reader, Armin Arlert & Reader, Armin Arlert/You, Armin Arlert &
You, Porco Galliard/Reader, Porco Galliard & Reader, Porco Galliard/You
Characters: Armin Arlert, Porco Galliard, Reiner Braun, Annie Leonhart, Bertolt Hoover, Eren
Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman, Jean Kirstein, Connie Springer, Sasha Blouse, Krista
Lenz | Historia Reiss, Zeke Yeager, Dina Yeager | Dina Fritz, Levi Ackerman, Hange
Zoë
Additional Tags: Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon Era,
Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan Manga Spoilers, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack
on Titan Season/Series 04 Spoilers, Reader-Insert, Marleyan Reader (Shingeki no
Kyojin), Marleyan Warrior Reader, Titan Shifter Reader (Shingeki no Kyojin), OC
Titan - Freeform, Female Protagonist, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Enemies to
Friends to Lovers, Star-crossed, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Eventual Smut, Armin
Arlert-centric, Armin Arlert Has Survivor Guilt, Armin Arlert Needs a Hug, Armin
Arlert is So Done, Sassy Armin Arlert, Jealous Porco Galliard, Soft Porco Galliard,
Everyone Has Issues, Everyone Needs A Hug, Additional Warnings In Author's
Note, My First AO3 Post, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, trust the process lmao,
Warrior Unit (Shingeki no Kyojin), Warrior Unit
Language: English
Collections: Warrior Unit Multiverse
Stats: Published: 2021-07-28 Words: 84,082 Chapters: 18/?
 Warrior Unit
by ERENSLUVRR

Summary

"𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐬."

Everyone knows Paradis's side of the story, but what about Marley's? After being forced to pledge your
life to Marley, you're sent to Paradis Island to reclaim what was stolen so long ago by the Devils behind
the Walls.

But are the spawns of Satan as bad as you thought they'd be?

Notes

if you don't want to wait for updates, this story is currently updated to the latest chapter on Wattpad ! im
literally only posting here because someone decided they were going to copy and paste my story here
without my permission, so yeah :D ! i hope you enjoy ! lmao

you can find my Wattpad profile on my carrd ( erensluvrrr.carrd.co ), along with progress updates of
unreleased chapters and my other socials !!
彡 | 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
 WARRIOR UNIT
by -erensluvrr

ADDITIONAL WARNINGS

as you can tell by the tags, this story will contain dark and/or triggering material that may not be suitable
for all readers — including, but not limited to themes of depression, mention of suicidal
thoughts/ideation; self-harm; symptoms of PTSD; emotional abuse; descriptions of blood/gore;
descriptions of physical injuries, foul language, + more. while i hope it's obvious, i still want to make it
clear that it isn't the goal of this book to glorify/romanticize the aforementioned topics.

this book will also include smut / suggestive content. for many of you, that's no problem (lol), but for my
readers who aren't too comfortable reading things of that nature, i always include a warning in the
beginning of every chapter that includes anything on the borderline of smut, so don't worry!

with all of that said, please read with discretion.

 DISCLAIMERS

• one •
any character from the Attack On Titan franchise/series belongs to Hajime Isayama, and i am definitely
not claiming ownership/credit of said characters. however, the plot within this story and the personalities
that embody most of the characters is credited to i, the author. any similarities to other works is purely
coincidental and not intentional.

• two •
this story is more-so centered around the MC's character development and how she navigates life in a
world filled with war and being born into a system that was built to destroy her. although her
relationship with Armin is important and the catalyst to a lot of things the MC does later on in the
book, their romance is more of a sub-plot.

• three •
(atp you're probably like omg stfu, sorry lol) since this is a reader x character, i try to keep the MC as
basic as possible when it comes to physical features, so that everyone can relate or see themselves in her.
but there's some details that I think everyone should know before you continue: the MC is fem-
bodied and goes by she/her pronouns.

• four •
if you haven't made it to at least chapter 91 of the manga (or miraculously haven't been spoiled yet), i'd
suggest waiting to read this book! it starts off with events in that time period and could be a big spoiler to
someone who hasn't made it to season 4 part 1. this book follows the anime and the manga all the way to
the end! some details/facts will be changed up to fit my plot better!

🗒 ❛ AUTHORS NOTE! ༉‧₊˚✧

thank you for giving my story a chance! :)

hopefully it meets your expectations!

please don't be a ghost reader!! i love and value your comments/opinions. they give me lots of
motivation to keep updating the story. i won't be #that author who forces the readers to kudos in order to
get new chapters, but i'd appreciate a kudos too if you enjoy a chapter :)

thanks for reading ♡♡

© 2021 -𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗟𝗨𝗩𝗥𝗥ᵎᵎᵎ
 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭

You were practically drowning in the sheets of steady rain that poured down on your head. Your little
legs burned from the quick sprint you were using to get across the slippery, muddy terrain beneath your
leather knee-high boots. It took everything in you to keep up with the leading group of a large crowd of
kids; the heavy weight of a full backpack and the slender rifle in your hands didn't help much either.

In through the nose, out through the mouth.

"Faster! Run, you filthy seeds of swine!"

An older man sat on a brown steed, his brown eyes watching over all of you with the upmost attention.
Commander Magath; a man with tanned skin, thin facial hair, and sporting a black buzz cut. He was
searching for any signs of failure that he could beat out of you all later. His steed sat just beside the
muddy dirt path you all ran on, trailing through a thick forest filled with tall pine trees that gave off an
earthy smell because of the heavy rain.

Magath's shouts boomed through your ears harshly. It annoyed you like a persistent fly that wouldn't go
away no matter how many times you swatted at it, nonetheless, you ran even faster. You weren't in a
position to slack today; you've already been falling behind the last few times you trained.

"Don't you want to become honorary Marleyans?!"

More than anything.

But as much as you pushed, your efforts still failed you. You watched as a boy ran apart from the rest,
gaining speed further ahead. He quickly sped between the two soldiers who stood apart in the near
distance: the finish line. He won this round.

"Marcel Galliard! You pass!" Magath boomed out.

The blonde-haired boy who ran beside you slipped, falling on all fours into the icky mud with a loud
plop. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see his rifle slide across the ground towards your still-
running feet. To help or not to help. Stick with a friend or keep running.

You chose the latter.

━━━━━━
The rain had finally cleared up by the time you all were done training, now being replaced with a bright
sun looming overhead tall grey brick walls adorning sharp barbwire. Those walls are what separated you
from the rest of Liberio, essentially a cage to keep all of the 'filthy' Eldians in their place.

Along a cobblestone sidewalk, passing by various brick buildings that were home to either families or
small businesses, you walked joined by others.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help, Reiner." You felt bad for leaving your friend behind by himself. Any other time
you probably would've stopped to help. "Magath was watching us extra hard this time. I couldn't stop."

"It's okay, (Y/n). I understood." Reiner accepted your apology with understanding. His golden eyes had
been focused on the ground the whole time you walked. He seemingly didn't have the nerve to look
anyone in the eye, a telling sign that he had received yet another punishment.

"Another beating?" Bertholdt asked gently. The tall boy towered over you and the others. Short black hair
made up his head while soft green eyes gracing his face watched Reiner in sympathy. "At least you kept
up with us this time. You were doing good."

"Yeah... I was." Reiner's blank expression soon shown a glint of pride, a small smile curving up onto his
pale face as he thought over his mini victory.

Reiner Braun was what you'd consider the quiet underdog of the group. He had the potential to do great,
but it always turned out bad for him in the end somehow. There wasn't a day that went by where he didn't
get called out for something by Magath or teased by the other kids for not doing as good as them.
Nevertheless, you all still befriended him. No one deserved to be treated like an outcast.

"Yeah, if it weren't for the slippery mud, you'd have been right up there with us!" Bertholdt stated with
more confidence, a smile breaking out onto his own face at rising his friend's mood.

Bertholdt was the gentle giant. He was quiet as well most of the time, but never hesitated to show his
support for his friends. He was the voice of reason among you all and was usually the one to go to when
something dire happened.

It was only then that the boy behind you all scoffed loudly, "He would've fell regardless of the mud; he
always does. In fact, I'm surprised he didn't fall earlier."

Of course, the rude comment was from Porco Galliard. A boy with honey blonde hair pushed back over
an undercut, hazel eyes that rolled back into his head whenever he heard even a syllable of Reiner's
name, and a snub nose he scrunched up occasionally.

While the boy was great in training and had massive potential, Porco was terrible with teamwork. He was
too much of a hothead; the type to lash out and react before thinking it through. Most of the kids feared
him because of his 'bad boy' reputation among the others, but you saw right through it. You didn't hesitate
to give the boy a challenge.

"Shut up, Galliard. That run was actually hard, especially with the rain. Even you were struggling to keep
up." Your comment earned a hint of a laugh from Annie, the girl who'd been silently walking beside you
for majority of the path.

Her sunflower-blonde hair was clipped into a messy low bun while her icy blue eyes only focused on the
space ahead. She probably thought the two-mile race was no big deal. Training might as well have been
play-time for her.

Annie was well reserved and held a nonchalant attitude when it came to most things; you'd see a flicker
of some emotion on her face every now and then, but it definitely wasn't a thing that happened often. She
does her own thing most of the time, but oddly tended to stick around you more than the others.

"Coming to your boyfriend's rescue again, huh?" You could just hear the devilish smirk in Porco's tone.
He teased Reiner relentlessly and you in addition since you were the one who'd usually defend Reiner.
Sometimes it felt like he'd poke at Reiner just to get a rise out of you, and as usual, you'd fall for it every
time.

"He's not my boyfriend!" You spun around to face the irritating boy, only to be greeted by that same
annoying cheesy smile.

"Oh yeah? So, he wouldn't mind if I did ... this?" It took merely seconds for Porco to grab ahold of your
wrists, pull you in, and cage you in his arms. While you immediately tried to break free, his hold only
grew tighter. "Oh, c'mon. Y'know you want a hug."

"You're sweaty, Porco." You grumbled in response, somehow finding a way to wiggle around in a 180 in
his arms. Anything to avoid the disgusting, annoying, irritating grin that sat happily on Porco's tan face.

"Porco? We're on a first name basis now?" Porco taunted.

"Let her go, Pock." Reiner protested, looking over his shoulder tentatively. You could tell that he was
hesitant in the way he flexed his fingers out of nervousness, but he still was going up to the bat for you.

"Or what?" Porco sneered.

"Or this." A boy answered followed by a resounding slapping noise being heard through your ears. You
were instantly let go, finally free from Porco's sweaty hold, as you turned to look back once again.

Porco was rubbing the nape of his neck, a deep scowl sitting on his face as he stared daggers at his
brother. Marcel Galliard. Although he was older, Marcel was the same height as Porco. Unlike his
brother, Marcel sported short chocolate brown hair swept back over an undercut, in addition to big hazel
eyes that watched over his brother possibly 24/7 and an upturned snub nose.

Although Marcel was around the same age as you all, he shown more mature traits in his personality. He
was a natural-born leader among the group and never failed to think fast and logically. He was seen as the
friendly and warm one compared to his evil brother, who he practically had to keep on a leash from
attacking others.

You stuck a tongue out at Porco as soon as you caught his eye, a symbol of your victory this round. You
got an eyeroll in response as Porco finally backed down. Thank God for Marcel.

"Congratulations on your win today, Marcel!" You burst out excitedly, running forward to give the
grinning boy a hug. He caught on fast, hurriedly spreading his arms to catch you in them.

"Thanks! That was nothing but pure luck." Marcel chuckled sheepishly as you two unwrapped yourselves
from each other.

"That was pure luck," Porco mocked Marcel in a faux whiny voice before grumbling, "Shut up."

"That wasn't luck. That was all you!" Bertholdt chimed in, giving Marcel a cheerful thumbs up. "I knew
you could do it. You've always been known for being fast."

"I'm just glad it finally came in handy." Marcel laughed, scratching at the nape of his neck in
embarrassment. He wasn't used to all of the attention just yet. He suddenly perked up as if he
remembered something, "I have to let our parents know the news! I'll see you guys tomorrow." He
announced before quickly grabbing Porco by the back of his collar, much like a dog picking up its puppy.
Porco immediately protested as they went their own way.

Next up was Annie, who said her goodbyes as she veered off the path you all shared with nothing more
than a simple "Bye."

"I'm gonna go too. Don't wanna be late for dinner. Bye guys!" Bertholdt waved you and Reiner goodbye
before following behind Annie, jogging to catch up with the fast-paced girl who paid him no mind.

"I guess I'll go too." Reiner said, finally looking at you with the ghost of a smile still written on his face.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Be safe walking home."

"I will. Oh, and don't beat yourself up about today, okay? You did your best." Your hand landed on his
shoulder with a subtle squeeze, earning yet another smile from the blonde boy's face.

He quickly pulled you into a tight hug. It was short-lived, only lasted maybe five seconds before he broke
away and hastily jogged off on his own path. "Bye, (Y/n)!"

And then there was one.

You took your time walking the rest of the way home, kicking at stray pebbles on the ground, adjusting
the yellow armband that wrapped around your left arm, even counting the birds that soared in the sky
overhead. Anything to make the commute just a little longer.

If you had to pick any part of the day to be your favorite, this was it. It was the only time you got to
really be at ease; no adults shouting down at you, no heavy weight on your shoulders, nope. Just walking
through town with no worries. It was also the best time of the day to people-watch.

"Hey, kiddo!"

In the courtyard you walked past, there was an older man, no later than his thirties maybe, who stood
next to a woman around the same age. You presumed they were husband and wife as they spread their
arms out wide, patiently waiting for the kid who ran towards them. Big smiles graced each of their faces,
relaxed postures, eyes that lit up at the sight of each other. They smothered the kid with kisses and hugs
when he finally made it in his parents' arms.

They looked like a happy family.

You wondered when was the last time you got to experience that, if ever.

━━━━━━

"So how was training today?" Your mother asked. The question seemed genuine, even her tone was
sweet. It coaxed you into opening up fairly quickly.

"I think I did good!" You burst out with a little excitement. You were happy to let them know about
training today, seeing as it was one of the better times you didn't get called out by Magath. "I even kept
up with the top group today!"

You and your parents sat at the dinner table together, a thing you'd do if the two weren't busy with
something else. It was becoming rarer to have them both there, but with them both sitting at the table this
time, you found dinner to be a little better.
"That's great, bunny." Your mother seemed happy for you today as well, a small smile gracing her face.
"I'm glad today was a good day for you."

She's happy for me. Your mother's comments brought a smile to your own face before you dug into the
food sat before you. It built your confidence up once more, but then he started talking.

"You think you did good?" Your father cut in, "There should be no room to second guess yourself. This
training is vital to our lives, honey. You have to start taking it seriously."

And just like that, he brought a hammer down onto the crumbling confidence you just built. The food on
your plate didn't seem as appealing anymore.

"Don't you want to bring pride back to the family name? Prove that we're not the same as those devils
beyond the sea?"

You did. You wanted to so badly.

Your family was known for being involved with an old radical group called the Eldian Restorationists.
Well, your aunt specifically. She was a top member of the Restorationists and was discovered along with
the rest of the group before you were even born yet. Although the group, including your aunt, received a
hefty punishment and was sent to Heaven; the families involved still weren't spared.

Any family member related to one of the Restorationists had to find a way to prove their innocence, or
else they'd be sent to Heaven as well. You were forced to devote your heart to the Marleyan military as
soon as you were born. Joining the Warrior Unit was the only way your family could live.

But you couldn't just stop there, no, you needed something bigger. You strived every day towards
becoming an honorary Marleyan and truly restoring pride to your family name.

You thought that if you did this for them; get that Titan and that honorary title, your parents would give
you the affection you craved so much. A simple hug would be enough to ease your mind for days, maybe
even an 'I love you' to leave their mouths for once. Even if you knew that they didn't mean it.

But all you gave was a simple nod in response.

"You have to toughen up, kid. I thought that you wanted to be an honorary Marleyan as much as us?"
Your father questioned, watchful dark eyes watching you as you sunk into your seat.

"Samuel, she's doing her best." Your mother spoke against your father for once, her voice a little above a
whisper. "She hasn't gotten called out—"

"Dammit I'm tired of this! This is all bullshit!" Your father yelled, slamming his hands down on the table
with shaking force. "She's never going to make it! If I knew that she'd turn out like this, I'd have just gone
to make another one!"

"Don't say that, Samuel! You don't mean that! We need to be more supportive of her!" Your mother cried
out, attempting to console your father with trembling hands. "She's just trying her best!"

"Trying her best?!" Your father shook your crying mother off of him before storming out of the room, his
harsh yells still echoing throughout the house and into your ears. "Her best isn't good enough! She'll
never become a warrior like that! This family is doomed! We'll be sent to Heaven just like Simon!"

As usual, your mother went to his rescue, leaving her child behind to tend to her husband. She'd always
go run after him and leave you behind.
Every time.

A multitude of emotions were running through you. Sadness, shock, anger, the whole book.

But most of all, you felt exhausted.

━━━━━━

With each passing day, a new test was administered to gauge every individual's potential. And with each
one taking a new victor, your chances of being a Warrior candidate were growing slimmer. There was a
total of eight spots that needed to be filled for the Warrior unit, and four were already taken.

In a test featuring hand to hand combat, you were among the best. You dodged your opponent's hits
swiftly, gave quick hard hits in the right places, you even managed to pin them down. But in the end, it
was Annie who took the crown, demonstrating a powerful roundhouse kick that knocked her opponent
out of bounds in mere seconds before you were even done.

"Annie Leonhart! You pass!"

Three spots left.

A test featuring an obstacle course is where you truly lacked. You weren't quick enough to make it
throughout the course without getting stuck in certain places you found difficult. Porco unsurprisingly
took this win in a landslide, earning himself a definite spot.

"Porco Galliard! You pass!"

Two. Spots. Left.

You found that coming home to announce your loss after each trial was even harder than the actual tests.
Your parents were growing frustrated, time was running out, and that honorary title you wanted—no,
needed— was slipping further from reach. You'd almost given up hope and accepted defeat.

Then came the firearm test. You were being tested on your accuracy and aiming as you held a familiar
slender rifle in your hands. On the dusty ground, you lay on your stomach, joined by others beside you.
Your rifle was propped up on a mound of dirt in front of you, just enough to be in your line of sight, as
you squeezed one eye closed. You were utterly focused, zeroing in on the thick slab of wood propped
against a wall of dirt ahead of you, that acted as your target.

Beads of sweat collected along your forehead from either the heat of the sun bearing down on you or
your own anxiety. Your teeth bit down on your bottom lip as your fingers closed around the rifle's trigger.
All you could hear was the rapid thumping of the muscle in your chest before you pressed down.

"Fire!" Magath instructed.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three consecutive shots rang out from your rifle, each one making your ears ring slightly from the harsh
noise. You opened both of your eyes to get a better inspection of your work. Each bullet made it to the
target, leaving behind three rounded holes in the slab of wood ahead of you. But their location is what
stood out to you the most.
They all landed in the middle.

Apparently Commander Magath took an interest as well. He towered over your body, holding chunky
metal binoculars to his eyes as he took a look at your target. After an intense silent minute of inspection,
he reached down to pull you to your feet, to which you hastily obliged.

"(Y/n) (L/n)! You pass!" Magath boomed, and it took everything in you to not collapse to your knees.

Every kid's gaze was quickly averted your way. Some held looks of disbelief, disappointment, sadness at
another spot being gone. But most of all, there were looks of anger, envy, and hate. You were just another
target in their eyes.

═════════ 𝟖𝟒𝟑 ════════

"Did you guys hear?" Zeke tossed an apple between his hands as he announced, "They say they'll be
attacking Paradis Island in a few years, meaning it's about time for us to inherit our Titans. Out of us
eight, seven will be made Warriors at once."

Zeke was an older boy, a tall teenager with wavy blonde hair that fell just at his ears and excited light
baby blue eyes. He looked eager, a smile on his face as he sat in front of your group.

Marley's military force depends on the power of Titans, and with the world catching up with new
inventions daily, Marley would be in some trouble soon if they didn't find new resources. At least that's
what Zeke told you. Marley reorganized their army's structure to include the Warrior unit as a part of it's
plans. They planned on sending a group of Titan shifters to Paradis Island in the near future to take back
the missing coordinate; the Titan that held the strongest power.

While everyone else seemed somewhat excited, the thought of turning into a Titan only made your
stomach churn. You'd be injected with the infamous Titan serum before having to eat your predecessor in
the form of a pure mindless Titan, only then would you be able to truly hold the powers of the Titan you
seeked.

Zeke tossed his half bitten apple over to Marcel, who bit into the apple with no hesitation before passing
it on to Porco. Porco spun the apple around to find an untouched spot before taking a tentative bite. Zeke
probably couldn't tell but he had a major impression on the two; they thought he was the coolest thing
walking.

Unlike the rest of you, who had to really work to show off your potential, Zeke's position was practically
given to him. He was already chosen to inherit the Beast Titan, handpicked straight from his own
predecessor.

Your group, however, hadn't been told which Titans you'd receive yet. As far as you know, you were just
in the group of potential candidates. You'd come so close to the endgame; you'll be able to give your
family the title of honorary Marleyans.

"I'll finally become Marleyan!" Reiner cheered, nearly bouncing on the balls of his feet as he ran his
hands over his short blonde hair. His golden eyes flashed with happiness.

"What are you getting so excited for?" Porco questioned as he scrunched his eyebrows up at Reiner, "If
anyone's getting left behind, it'll be you."
"What?" Reiner's joyful smile was instantly wiped from his face. His own eyebrows scrunched up as he
turned to Porco in confusion.

"What do you have that the rest of us don't?" Porco snickered, "Are you real strong? Real smart? Good
with a gun? Great in a fight, maybe? No. You only made it this far by constantly going on about your
love for Marley in those written tests we took." Porco put his hands in a prayer position as he made a
faux whiny voice, "Yes, sir! I'll slaughter those island devils for you, just as soon as I've licked your boots
—!"

Reiner got ahold of Porco's wrist, making the boy cry out in pain. "Are you seriously making fun of the
mission?" Reiner snapped, his golden eyes were widening by the minute as he stared daggers at Porco,
"How dare you? You almost sound like a stray Restorationist who supports King Fritz. You traitor! I
knew it! I'll report you to the commander for this!"

It was a threat that shouldn't be taken lightly. You were surprised that Reiner even went that far, but
knowing Porco, he'd take it even farther. The fight would begin any second now, per usual.

"Report this! You little shit!" Porco brought his free hand back to throw a hard punch at Reiner's face,
instantly knocking the boy to the dusty ground.

"Leave him alone!" You yell at Porco. You were annoyed with his unprovoked bullying. "He's already
down, what more do you want?"

"Oh here we go! (Y/n) coming to the rescue once again!" Porco yelled back, stopping in his tracks to
look at you, "I'm starting to think you two like each other for real." Porco taunted, an evil smirk growing
bigger on his face.

You'd never look at Reiner in that way; you thought of the boy as a brother before anything else, but it
wouldn't hurt to tug on Porco's leg just this once.

"Maybe we do. You jealous?" You shot back, earning a look of complete surprise from Porco. It only
lasted for a second, but you all easily caught it. He had expected you to deny his accusation, as usual, not
confirm his teasing remark.

Porco's face quickly morphed into heated irritation as he kicked at Reiner's leg, who was still curled up
on the ground. "Get up, you coward!"

"He's had enough, Porco!" Marcel yelled, snatching the seething boy behind him.

"Anyone can whine about how much they hate that island! That's why you'll be doing it here for the next
thirteen years!" Porco shouted down at Reiner's trembling body, "We'll be the ones leaving, not you!"

And with that, Porco stormed off, shoving his hands in his green khaki short pockets as he stomped away.

Zeke took that as his cue, getting up from his perch on the steps to follow behind Porco, "Well I guess we
should go too. C'mon Pieck, let's go."

Pieck was a shorter girl around your age with shoulder length black hair and dark brown eyes. You'd
usually find her running behind Zeke somehow; they were practically a package deal since the choosing
of the candidates. She followed the boy instantly, jogging to catch up to his side.

"Reiner, hurry after us as soon as you're done crying." Zeke yelled over his shoulder, "I'll catch another
beating if you're late."
"Reiner, I'm sorry." Marcel shot an apologetic look at Reiner before running off to catch up with the
others.

And so then there were four.

You and Bertholdt made your way over to Reiner as he lay face down on the dusty ground. You could
hear his sniffles get louder as you got closer to his shaking body.

"C'mon Reiner." You said, grabbing one of his hands while Bertholdt grabbed the other before Reiner
finally helped himself up to his feet.

"I had to become a Marleyan," Reiner sniffled, "so that I can live with my mom and dad. Can't wait
thirteen years. But it's like Porco said, I-I'm weak." He stared down at his hands, dirtied from the ground,
before letting his tears drop freely.

"We still don't know who's going to have to wait behind." You said, "It isn't Porco's decision to make; it's
the army's, so don't listen to that idiot."

"But he's right." Reiner huffed, "I'm in the bottom of the group."

"You may not be the strongest, but loyalty's more important than you might think." Bertholdt assured,
giving Reiner a soft pat on the back before turning to the girl who lingered behind you all, "Right,
Annie?"

Annie looked up at you all from her shady spot underneath a tree, "Huh? Dunno'. I wasn't paying
attention." She shrugged before beginning her walk back to the training grounds, "C'mon."

You all quickly fell into step beside her as you walked past the tall stone walls, another reminder of the
cage you all were living in.

"Y'know as good as being a honorary Marleyan seems, we'd only get to enjoy the life of one for thirteen
years." Bertholdt burst out suddenly.

Yet another downside to becoming a Titan. You'd be shaving years off of your life in the process. But it
was worth it right? You knew that all good things came with a price. You thought back to that night of
joy shared with your parents, the praise, the affection you finally received after years of work.

Yeah, it made everything worth it.

"I'd still be a hero." Reiner declared dreamily, "If I can punish those devils, I'd be able to save the Eldians
— no, the whole world. And then, I'd make my parents the proudest of all."

You figured you and Reiner shared something in common after all.

━━━━━━

You stood in Commander Magath's office; a spacious room including a long meeting table, a wooden
office desk and bulletin boards among the walls loitered with a variety of maps and posters.

Today's the day you all finally figure out who'd inherit a Titan, and the even bigger question; which Titan
would be given to who.
It was nerve wracking and impossible to remain calm. So you all stood around the room— or in others'
cases, paced— anxiously awaiting the man who's words would determine the rest of your lives. The
room was hushed with thick silence as you paced the length of the table and back in a repeating routine.
That is until you were suddenly halted by Porco who grabbed the crook of your elbow.

"Would you sit down, idiot? You're even making me nervous." He admitted. He was leaned against the
wall casually, his palm still wrapped around your arm as he spoke.

You swatted his hand away before continuing your pace, "You should be nervous. Don't you realize how
important this is?"

Porco scoffed, "There's nothing for me to worry about." He glanced over at Reiner who sat at the long
meeting table. Reiner's head was held up by his hands, his legs jumped out of nervousness as he waited.
"Unlike some of you dorks, I got this in the bag."

"Don't get too cocky now.." Marcel mumbled. He sat at the table as well on the far end. His head was
perched lazily on his folded arms that lay on the table. "We still have no idea who's going or not."

And with that, Commander Magath's tall frame suddenly burst through the door. His arrival prompted
everyone to hastily get to their feet before filing into a single horizontal line in front of his desk.

A unified "Sir!" echoed around the room as Magath got settled behind his office desk. He held a thick
pile of papers in hand as he organized them.

Magath's strong voice soon boomed around the room, "As you all know, the Paradis Island Operation is
approaching fast. With that being said, new inheritors for the Titans within Marley's usage are in high
demand. If you're here, it's because I saw potential in you to fulfill that duty. But out of the eight of you
here, only seven will inherit a Titan. Let's begin.

For the Beast Titan, Zeke Jaeger has been chosen as the inheritor. I think it goes without saying that you
and this Titan go hand in hand, thanks to your personal abilities. You're the perfect fit for what we
envision for the Beast Titan.

Next up is the Cart Titan. Pieck Finger has been chosen as the inheritor. You show strong judgment and
we trust that you'd use the Cart Titan's abilities to their full extent."

Magath's words didn't surprise anyone just yet; you all were expecting this information to be relayed.
Now came the part that everyone was dying to hear.

"As for the Colossal Titan, Bertholdt Hoover has been chosen as the inheritor. Although you were noticed
for your physical skill, your personality is what landed you the spot. We believe that you'd be a good
candidate for the 'God of Destruction'.

The Female Titan will be inherited by Annie Leonhart. This Titan's abilities put with your experienced
knowledge of martial arts will make for a destructive force on the battlefield.

The Jaw Titan will go to Marcel Galliard. Your fast thinking is perfect for the Jaw Titan's swiftness on the
field. You'd be able to lead the way for the others on the battlefield easily.

The Spiked Titan will be inherited by (Y/n) (L/n). This Titan's launching abilities combined with your
sharpshooter skill will surely knock opponents off the map. You also shown off skill in hand to hand
combat, making you the perfect fit for this Titan's abilities."

You were nearly ready to leap for joy. I got a Titan!

But Magath wasn't done just yet, finishing his speech with just one more Titan, "The Armored Titan will
be inherited by ... Reiner Braun. His stoic nature fits this Titan well and would mesh easily with it's
specialized hardening abilities."

Oh?

You swore you could feel the heat of Porco's anger rising as he stiffened up beside you, seeing as Magath
was seemingly done with the naming of the inheritors.

Only then did the question arise in your head: How did Reiner beat Porco? As much as you found Porco
annoying for his relentless teasing, in the back of your mind, you always knew there was some truth to
his rude remarks. You were almost sure Porco would be the one to take the Titan.

"The Beast and Cart Titans will stay here in Marley to deter enemy nations, so Pieck and Zeke, you two
won't participate in the Paradis Island Operation." Magath continued, "And so the plan to retake the
Founder will be carried out by the Jaw, Armored, Colossal, Female, and Spiked Titans. In other words,
Marcel, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, and (Y/n) will be sent to Paradis."

Your reaction to this news wasn't clear; you felt conflicted. You'd be an honorary Marleyan, something
you'd been working towards for so long and now it was finally in your grasp. But in turn you'd have to be
one of the leading Titans to bring hell down on Paradis. But it was just as you thought before: all good
things came with a price.

Magath concluded his speech before exiting the room, thick pamphlets in hand as he went to the next
meeting. A thick silence fell over you all yet again as you thought of what this news meant for everyone.

Porco was fuming, a fire burning from the inside out as he shook with rage. All that work to get to the
finish line just to get pushed back. He couldn't believe what he just heard, the name that Commander
Magath called out instead of his. Out of everyone, why Reiner?

Porco was the one getting left behind.

You all couldn't deny the intensity lingering around in the air, just waiting for the right moment to snap
and break all hell loose. Zeke was the first one with the bright idea to walk away, quickly creating a
domino effect as everyone else turned to follow.

Porco wasn't having it though. He couldn't deal with the swell of hot emotions running him wild, so he
did what he did best.

Snatching Reiner by his collar, Porco slammed the terrified blonde into the wall before getting
dangerously close to his face. He was practically growling as he yelled out, "This doesn't make any
sense! You're at the bottom of the group, so why would they pick you." Porco said the last word as if it
was the most disgusting thing on earth, laced with venom.

Reiner's terrified demeanor was quickly diminishing right before your eyes. A lazy smirk curled up his
face as he chuckled, "Don't you get it? This just means you were at the bottom this whole time, Pock."

That was Porco's final straw. With a shout, his fist was flying at Reiner's face just before Marcel caught
his arm. He tugged at his brother to no avail, "Porco, you need to stop and calm down. Do you really
wanna be the one to go against the army's orders?"

And with those words, Porco collapsed to his knees. It was the first time you've ever seen the hotheaded
boy cry and show any other emotion besides annoyed and angry. This was a stature of defeat. Reiner had
finally won a victory over Porco.
While the rest of you stared down at Porco with shocked faces, Reiner on the other hand wore a look of
pure relief. He wiped the sweat away from his forehead with a small smile, glad that Marcel caught the
punch right in time.

You don't know what possessed you to bend down to Porco and help him up, but you did. Maybe you felt
sorry for the boy or was perhaps so much in shock from seeing a crack in his hard demeanor that you
were stunned into doing the unthinkable. But what was even more surprising was that Porco let you.

His cries didn't stop, the sniffling loud and messy as he sobbed. His face was buried into the crook of his
elbow as a last minute resort to hide his face while his free hand clung onto the sleeve of your uniform
jacket like a life line to help him from his drowning. You concluded that Porco needed a friend.

Reiner didn't feel the slightest bit of satisfaction as he watched Porco shuffle sadly out of the door with
you by his side. Even when you think you've got it all, Porco still has something better. That familiar
feeling settled over Reiner's shoulders once again as a scowl sharpened on his face.

Jealousy.

══════════════════

The destruction was never-ending. Miles of what used to be buildings, now crumbled to fiery heaps of
debris. It was hard to see through all the thick smoke, the dusky night sky not making it any better for
any survivors on the military base.

While there weren't many soldiers left on the other side, they still didn't give up the fight. They crowded
together on tall artillery towers scattered across the burning land, their mechanical cannons blazing away
at anything in their sight. Others attempted to run through the debris, their guns held tightly in their shaky
grips, but they didn't last long.

As mentioned before, the billowing smoke added on with the darkened effect of the night. It was the root
of their downfall, essentially creating a smoke screen around them that made them blind to their
surroundings.

The Female Titan sprinted out of the smoke, not even a full second passing by before it roundhouse
kicked a tower right in half. The soldiers on the tower were instantly killed as it collapsed on itself.

While the Female Titan took down towers on their own side of the base, the Armored Titan led a large
crowd of warriors through the middle of the battlefield. It's armor acted as a shield as it stomped in front
of them, multiple cannon fire bouncing right off of it.

And not too far behind that group of warriors was the Spiked Titan, both of it's arms outreached and it's
fists balled as spikes of hardened Titan skin launched from it's knuckles. They were aimed and launched
at fast speeds, a trail of powerful steam pushing the spike to it's target with precision. Cannons were
blown away, towers crumbling from the multiple blows, soldiers being either punctured or smashed to
death at the rounds.

The Jaw Titan soon sped past, it's small figure being used to it's advantage as it jumped from fixture to
fixture in the blink of an eye. With each new landing, it dodged a round of cannon fire before it
ultimately landed at the source. It's strong jaws crushed through the artillery with ease.
A cluster of boulders crashed down on another unsuspecting part of the base, adding onto the piles of
destroyed brick and stone buildings. The Beast Titan watched the catastrophe from afar, it's claws
crushing up yet another handful of rock before it took a swing.

Just behind the base, The Cart Titan discretely crawled it's way out from the sea and to land. It dropped
the metal container it held between it's teeth before slithering back into the navy blue waters. In the
container was Marley's biggest weapon.

In mere seconds, the Colossal Titan materialized, a fiery blast similar to one of a nuclear bomb following
soon behind. It was enough to blow away the rest of the base in it's wake, delivering the final blow that
pushed the enemy nation to it's drastic loss.

"They're incredible. Even stronger than expected." Commander Magath watched on through his
binoculars, a look of pleasant shock settled onto his face.

"I almost feel bad for those island devils. Those monsters will appear from thin air and start killing them,
someday."

"We've been training the members of this warrior unit since they were practically infants. It's clear that
they're stronger for it, but why send these kids to retake The Founding Titan? Frankly, I think it's a bit
insane."

"But those same kids just brought an entire nation to its knees right before our eyes."
 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐬

═════════ 𝟖𝟒𝟓 ════════

It was a celebration.

Confetti of every color that made up the rainbow rained down on your head. Excitement was buzzing
through the air as roaring crowds of people gathered along the sidewalks. Cheers of joy were heard from
everyone near and far at the sight of your group rolling down the cobblestone street in a horse drawn
carriage.

Their chosen Warriors.

It felt bittersweet; you were finally being seen, acknowledged, and praised, but only at the expense of
another's doom.

You were a little older now, at the still-very-young age of eleven. Stronger, taller, and donning a bright
red armband as you waved to the adoring crowds, soaking in the attention as best as you could.

But what was most important to you were the attention of only two. You quickly scanned the crowds
searching for a familiar face. A surge of anxiety bubbled up within you before you let out a big sigh of
relief. Your mother and father were lumped together in the thriving crowd, waving to you frantically.
Tears were streaming down their proud faces, new red bands bound tightly to their left arms.

You had finally given them what they wanted the most. You've restored pride to the family name.

The parade was a blur and before long, you were standing on the deck of the ship destined to take you
away, the vast blue ocean now an obstacle between you and the crowd of tearful families who stood at
the boat's dock.

"I love you!" Your mother shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice among the
other loud chants being yelled out.

"We'll be waiting for you!" Your father shouted, that same beaming smile gracing his face.

Just like the sea, your eyes were overflowing with salty tears. A wet steady stream trailing down your
face as you clutched at the ship's railing. You'd finally done it. You made your parents happy. All that
hard work was finally reaping its benefits.

You just wished they would've done it sooner.

You struggled to memorize the buildings and sights of Marley. The ship was being pulled away from the
dock by the ocean's tide, swaying gently on the waves as you drifted further away from your home.

━━━━

The large expanse of the blue ocean soon morphed into a sandy beach donning a large wall facing north;
'The Border to Heaven' as Commander Magath called it. It's where the Marleyan government would take
Eldians to change them into pure Titans.

"Move north once the sun sets." Magath instructed, "The Marleyan army will anchor here on the full
moon, so remember that as you carry out the plan to retake the Founder Titan. Carry out the mission and
make sure all of you come back."

And so that's how you found yourself sitting in a plain field of green grass, a darkened forest of tall trees
residing nearby. The full moon beamed brightly in the dusky night sky overhead.

You sat crisscross in your group's circle, letting your hands get close to the warmth of the flickering
flames that sat in the middle of you all.

"It's tough to cover much ground moving at night." Marcel sighed before taking another look back at the
herd of horses tied to nearby trees.

You would have to leave them where they are tomorrow. The plan was to be discrete as possible when it
came to approaching the walls. You didn't want to draw too much attention to yourselves, and a group of
kids in matching brown cloaks riding on horses wouldn't make it any better.

"I'm just glad we didn't run into any Titans." You commented, earning a nod of agreement from Marcel.

"We should expect to see them as we get closer to the walls." He replied, "They mentioned that there
wouldn't be any pure Titans this far out."

"Are we sure that the king won't use the Founding Titan on us?" Bertholdt suddenly burst out, giving you
all his signature worried expression, "I just don't get it. If we blatantly attack his walls, then won't he just
—"

"What's the point in asking about that now?" Reiner interjected. He looked over at Bertholdt with a look
of irritation, "Just put your faith in Marley's research."

"That's right. There's no turning back now." Marcel thought aloud. He stared down at his hands with a
look of ... conflict, you realized. "When we reach the wall tomorrow, we'll have to... to..." His voice
trailed off as he watched his hands drop in his lap.

With his words, a thick feeling of uncertainty fell over you. You understood Marcel completely. The
people behind the walls had no clue what was coming; the destruction and terror that awaited them.

There'd be even more blood on your already stained hands.

But this is what Paradis deserved, right? Those devils had it coming, even before you were born. They
did this to themselves when they nearly massacred the world so long ago. You were only making things
right. You're the hero in this situation.

Or at least that's what you had to keep telling yourself.

You thought you would love to get a chance to bring hell down on Paradis. For leaving you all behind,
for allowing the Eldians in Marley to take on the punishments while they got to live peacefully behind
those dreaded walls. And you did at first. You resented them with your whole being. But as time went on
and you really got a taste of what was to come, that hot anger just didn't fuel you as much anymore.

Truthfully, murdering off an entire island wasn't your end goal in the first place. It had always been about
protecting your family, making your parents proud, and giving them that Marleyan title they've always
yearned for. You made it your whole world and now that it was done, you weren't so determined about
this mission anymore.

But it was far too late to back down now, as Marcel said. Everything you've done up until now was
irreversible. You've killed and you've demolished a whole nation. You've already inherited a Titan, and
you valued your life far too much to be put on that crystal ledge for the next Warrior candidate to eat.

So, you sat quietly, and let the thoughts simmer out as you always did when you grew conflicted.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Reiner burst out. He didn't miss the sudden change in energy as he looked at all of
your downcast faces, "Don't tell me you're feeling hesitant to kill these devils. They're a threat to the
entire world!" He stood up, his arms waving to emphasize his point as he said, "Have you all forgotten
about what they did to Marley? To us? These are the descendants of the devils who trampled over the
world and turned it into a living hell!"

Bertholdt seemed hesitant as he dared to speak up against Reiner, "But... But it happened so long ago—"

"And the world still lives in fear of them!" Reiner shouted. He was seemingly growing crazed with rage
as he shouted, "The greatest nation in the world chose us to save it! To punish these devils for their
crimes!"

"Not you, Reiner." Marcel burst out. His hazel eyes were solely focused on the fire. While he didn't say
much, it was enough to make Reiner listen. "The truth of it is... you were never supposed to be chosen. I
influenced the army's decision to pick you by making my little brother look bad and making you look
better."

Looks of surprise danced among your faces. You had to admit that, at the time, it was shocking that the
unit chose Reiner over Porco, but you chalked it up to Reiner's fierce loyalty being the cause; Marley
loved when the Eldians bent to their will without question.

But now it all made sense for you and everyone else.

Reiner was exceptionally quiet as he stared down at Marcel with wide golden eyes. You didn't have to
look up to know there was a look of shock plastered on his face as well.

"I'm sorry. I only did it so that Porco would be safe." The flood of tears that were welling up in Marcel's
eyes finally ran over onto his cheeks as he mumbled, "I'm so sorry, Reiner."

Reiner didn't say a word in response, a stunned look on his face as he sat down on the grass.

Only Marcel's sniffles could be heard throughout the sleepless night.

━━━━━━
With the sun finally making an appearance over the horizon, you were back on foot, treading silently
throughout the seemingly never-ending empty grass fields. You were all stuck in your own heads,
roaming restlessly through your thoughts and anxieties of what was to come. The knot of uneasiness in
your stomach only grew tighter with each mile finished.

You'd been walking in silence for so long that when the ground rumbled beneath you, you almost thought
it was a figment of your imagination. That is until Reiner's loud shrieks pierced your eardrums, soon
accompanied by the unmistakable roar of a Titan.

You whipped around to see a pure Titan in all of its ugly glory. The hunchback Titan stood at seven
meters tall and had brown scraggly hair laying upon its thin shoulders. Its ribs were prominent, nothing
but skin and bones building its scrawny figure. The Titan loomed over Reiner, its mouth gaping open to
reveal its yellow blunt teeth.

"Reiner! Move!" Bertholdt shouted to the boy, but Reiner only gawked at the titan, struck by fear.

Only Marcel had the quick idea to dash over to Reiner, before using his body to push the blonde away
from the roaring creature. Reiner fell on his butt as he attempted to frantically scooch away.

"Run!" Marcel shouted at you all, his hazel eyes were wild with fear as he watched Reiner scramble to
get to his feet. "Get away!"

"Marcel! You have to run!" You shouted, tripping over your feet as Annie attempted to pull you away.
You didn't want to leave him behind. You couldn't.

Marcel's face was the symbol of true terror, tears streaking down his face as he cried. His shaky arm
outreached to you as the Titan finally closed their skinny fingers around his body. Those big hazel eyes
never left yours as large teeth crashed down upon his neck.

And so, you ran.

You ran as fast as you could, legs burning from your sprint as you dashed across the open fields. Reiner
was long gone, but Annie ran on the right of you while Bertholdt took up the left. No one said a word.
None of you dared to look back, only forward.

You soon heard Reiner's yells ring out in the distance. Panicked cries laced with tears as he harshly
shouted out your names into the open space. You all quickly followed the sound of his hoarse voice to
find him kneeled under a tree, his whole-body trembling in pure fright. You let yourself lean against the
thick tree for support, gasping to catch your breath, as Bertholdt did the same.

Annie was the one who stumbled over to the trembling slump of a brown cloak that was Reiner's body,
before she suddenly kicked him.

Reiner sprang up from his position, screaming incoherent sentences as he attempted to crawl away in the
grass. With his eyes squeezed shut, Reiner's hands waved out away from his body as if he was trying to
protect himself.

"Reiner, it's just Annie!" You gasped out. You were struggling to let the oxygen find its way to your
burning lungs. That had to be the fastest you've ran yet.

"You just beat me... in a long-distance race." Annie gasped, still trying to catch her own breath, as she
stared down at Reiner. "You've never done that before."

Reiner finally opened his eyes, big golden irises that looked at your group as if he weren't sure he could
trust that it was really you or your ghosts while he panted on the ground.
"Well, shit." Annie let out a big huff as she wiped the sweat from her face, "Marcel's gone for good now."

"There weren't supposed to be any Titans this far from the wall." Reiner panted, "They told us they'd be
closer to the walls."

"Well, it's not like every Titan is going to act exactly as our plans stated." Bertholdt replied, "Where did it
even come from? One minute there was nothing, the next there's a Titan staring down at us."

Nothing but sporadic pants filled the space as you all finally recollected your breaths. Now you were
faced with a new predicament: Marcel is dead, and you lost the power of the Jaw Titan all in one
minute. What are we going to do? Without the Jaw Titan, you weren't so sure if this mission could carry
out as originally planned. You'd lost any confidence you had left.

"If we had just gotten ahold of that Titan using our own Titan powers, we wouldn't have lost the Jaw
Titan." You brought up the biggest elephant in the room; How did none of us not think to use our Titans?
You felt like a coward. You were all too scared of a measly seven-meter Titan to act, and Marcel had to
pay for it with his life. You could only imagine how Porco would feel. He'd probably hate you all for the
rest of his life.

"We need to go back." Annie demanded suddenly, "Let's track down Jaws and leave. The Titan that ate
Marcel should be human again somewhere by now. Without Marcel to lead us or the Jaw Titan's power,
this mission is doomed."

It seemed you all came to a silent agreement on Annie's statement. You exchanged knowing glances
before Annie soon led the way, already walking back with Bertholdt and you following close behind.

"We can't!" Reiner burst out, making you all whip around to face him. He still sat on the grass, a shaky
hand outreached to you as he pleaded, "We can't go! We gotta continue the mission as planned!"

Reiner had beads of sweat falling down his face, a fearful expression painted on it that only reminded
you all of the impending doom that would await him back in Marley.

"Oh, right." Annie said, "If you go back, you'd be stripped of the armor. The next warrior will eat you.
Though, that doesn't really sound like a problem for us."

Annie was right. With Reiner already being on thin ice before, this failed mission would surely be the
end for him. The Armored Titan would go straight to the next person that Marley sees fit enough. You
felt genuinely sorry for Reiner, an apologetic expression sat on your face as well as Bertholdt's.

"Maybe they'll cut him some slack." Bertholdt offered, "It was an accident."

But you all knew that was something out of a children's fairytale. Marley wouldn't hesitate to replace
Reiner in a heartbeat.

"You think it'll just be me?" Reiner suddenly spat, "You all ran away too, so why would I take all the
blame? What makes you so confident that you three won't get eaten right along with me?"

"I'm sure we can work something out, Reiner." You suggested, "We've already proven ourselves to be
valuable to them when we won the battle with the last nation. And if we bring back the person who has
the Jaw Titan now, it'll look even better for us."

Reiner's face morphed into something harsher as he stared up at your group. His darkened golden hues
watched your reactions carefully, "Going after Jaws wouldn't be a good idea. If they use his power to run,
then that's it; our Titans are way too slow to catch up to it. And what if we screw up in our Titans? We'd
just get eaten too."
"But how could someone learn to use it that quickly?" Bertholdt chimed in, and you quickly agreed.

"I'm sure that whoever ate Marcel could be just as confused right now. They're probably still wandering
the fields as we speak." You added.

"You guys mastered the Colossal and Spiked on your first try, so you tell me!" Reiner snapped suddenly,
making you and Bertholdt visibly jump at his harsh tone. "If we go back to the boat as failures,
we're doomed! We need the Founding Titan. There's no going home without it!"

You were beginning to grow irritated with Reiner's poor attitude. You understood his frustration, but there
was no need to take it out on others. We're all frustrated and scared, not just you, you thought.

It seems Annie was growing frustrated too as she yelled out, "If you had even been a fraction of being
this calm when that Titan came at us, we wouldn't have had to lose the Jaw Titan or Marcel! All you had
to do was move, Reiner!"

"Well, it's too late!" Reiner shouted in fury, "If we ever want to go back home, we need results! We can't
go back without the Founder!"

"So, you think the three of us would be blamed for running after you, huh?" Annie snarled as she stalked
past you to Reiner. "So, you're putting all of us in danger to protect your own skin!"

Annie shot her leg out, kicking Reiner in the jaw with great force. Sprays of blood shot out from his
mouth as he fell on his back, clutching his face in pain.

"Annie, wait—!" Bertholdt yelled out to no avail.

"Why don't you come clean to Magath?!" Annie shouted down at Reiner, "It's your fault this happened so
own up to it! We're not heroes, dumbass!" Annie's shoe soles stomped down on Reiner's face with each
spoken sentence, "Honorary Marleyans?! Chosen Warriors?! Who gives a damn! The Marleyans just see
us as weapons! Don't you understand? They lied! Marleyan or Eldian; they're all just in it for
themselves!"

You ran forward before hooking your arms under Annie's, attempting to pull her away from Reiner's now
swollen bloody face, "Annie! That's enough!"

"And guess what, Reiner? I'm the same!" Annie shouted, her stance never wavering from your persistent
tugs, "I've gotta get home alive! If you feel guilty about Marcel, then die! You were supposed to die a
minute ago, right?! Take all of the blame and die!"

And with that, Annie finally let you pull her away as you stumbled back to Bertholdt. He watched Annie
with a scared face, as if he was afraid she'd hit him next. You took a look back, seeing that Reiner lay on
the now blood-stained grass, clearly unmoving.

"Annie, you went too far." You were scared that she might've seriously injured him, and knowing Annie,
it was completely possible. As much as Reiner might've deserved a slap to reality, you couldn't let him
die on your hands too.

"He deserved it. Now c'mon." Annie simply replied, already beginning to walk forward ... before Reiner
tackled her from behind to your surprise.

In one swift motion, Reiner had Annie in a headlock on the grass, his bloody face neared her pink-tinted
one as he struggled to keep her in his hold.
"Reiner, let her go!" You ran up to the wrestling pair on the grass before attempting to pull Reiner's arms
away from Annie's neck. His grip was lethal, never budging with your tugs. Is he trying to kill Annie?

"Reiner is dead." Reiner grunted, "If we need Marcel then that's who I'll be."

"Stop it!" Bertholdt yelled, his face was streaked with tears as he watched. "Reiner, we get it!"

"If we wanna make it back, this is our only hope!" Reiner yelled out, "Once our mission is done, we can
go home!"

Annie's blue eyes were now tinted red as they slowly rolled to the back of her head. She's losing
consciousness. You straightened up before giving Reiner a hard kick to the head, making him finally
release his death grip on Annie's throat. She rolled away from him quickly, gasping for air as she clutched
at her red neck while Reiner lay flat on his own back, his bloody face staring up at the sky as he clutched
at his head in pain.

"Can we not kill each other right now?!" You shouted at the beat-up pair that lay panting on the grass.
"Marcel is already gone! We can't lose or hurt anyone else .. Now, if we were to stay and go through with
the mission ... how are we going to do this?" You asked before looking over at Bertholdt, the next smart
person who came to mind.

He quickly wiped away at his tears with the sleeve of his cloak. His face was scrunched up in thought,
looking around at the fields of grass and trees that surrounded you before facing you again,

"I think ... I think I have a plan."

━━━━━━

The Female Titan took up a feminine form, resembling some of Annie's physical traits with shaggy
platinum blonde hair that fell just to its chin and piercing arctic blue eyes. Standing at fourteen meters,
the Female Titan bore a lean build that mostly consisted of exposed muscle tissue and bone.

It sprinted through open plains of green grass, rumbling the ground with its every stomp. Haunting cries
— no, screams — roared from its gaping mouth adorning blunt, yellow-tinted teeth. It's bellows only
egged on the stampede of various pure Titans racing and fighting over each other to catch up with it.

And sitting on the Female Titan's collarbones, hanging on to nothing but thick rope wrapped and tied
around the Titan's neck, was Bertholdt, Reiner, and you. You all shook with every foot stomp, but hung
on, nonetheless.

"Guys!" Bertholdt shouted, "Annie's running out of energy! The Titans are starting to catch up!"

The original plan discussed was for Annie and Marcel to alternate between using the Female and Jaw
Titan to run you all along the path, but with Marcel being gone, Annie's been doing it all alone. She
must've hit her breaking point a long time ago, and it was starting to show through her increasingly
slowed running speed.

"How are we still not at the wall?!" Reiner thought aloud, "I would've switched, but we can't wear down
the armor on the Armored Titan!"
You all couldn't risk using Reiner's Titan right now, since he'd strictly be of use later on for the walls.
And the same went for Bertholdt's Colossal Titan. He'd also quite literally blow you all and every Titan
away in his transformation.

It was left up to you and the Spiked Titan.

"I'll do it!" You yelled, hastily snatching the straps of your backpack away from your body before doing
the same to your cloak.

"Are you sure?" Bertholdt yelled, visibly concerned, as you handed him your cloak.

Reiner hurriedly grabbed your backpack from your hands before yelling, "She'll be fine! You got this!"

You dug through the pockets of your black slacks before your fingers finally closed around the slim
shape of a pocketknife. A small weapon with wooden encasing, allowing you to flip the knife out or back
in its slot however needed. It was passed down from the last holder of the Titan and the holder before
that, now a running tradition.

"Annie, switch out with (Y/n)!" Bertholdt yelled as you stood up, balancing yourself along Annie's
shoulder.

A quick swipe and the sharp blade was digging through the flesh of your palm, a line of dark crimson red
soon slithering behind it. The flicker of pain came and went in seconds before the familiar hot heat was
burning throughout your body. Bright light clouded your vision as you jumped off Annie's Titan and into
open air.

What came next was always a blur.

Similar to the build of the Female Titan, the Spiked Titan held a feminine figure that stood at fifteen
meters high. What made it stand out apart from the rest was its crystal-skin combination that made up its
lean build. Some areas like its knuckles, kneecaps, and nape were encased in a crystal-like covering;
hardened Titan skin that could form into sharp pointed spikes at the user's will. Other areas were covered
in skin that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight; an illusion given by the minuscule pieces of hardened Titan
skin embedded into its flesh.

Resembling some of your traits, commanding (e/c) eyes scanned over the grassy horizon before zeroing
in on the stampede of Titans that steadily grew closer.

"(Y/N)! C'mon!" Reiner shouted at the feet of the Titan. A sluggish Annie was propped over his shoulder
while he was accompanied by an anxious Bertholdt who's eyes darted around his surroundings nervously.

Squatting down, the Spiked Titan's hand outreached to the trio, lying flat on the ground for their easy
access. They all hastily climbed into its palm before the Titan brought them to its neck, it's hand now a
protective covering as they sat on the Titan's collarbones.

The Spiked Titan was sprinting now, speeding through miles of open fields with ease. It wasn't long
before the infamous walls graced the group's tired sights. Stretched out as far as they could see, the large
grey walls stood at an uncanny fifty meters high as it towered over them. The gate of the wall shown off
a large emblem; a woman's head adorned with a crown. Wall Maria.

So, this is Wall Maria ... It's so big! Are we sure that Bertholdt's Colossal Titan can even destroy it?

There's only one way to find out.

The Spiked Titan quickly put a shaken Bertholdt down on the ground, directly in front of the gate, before
sprinting away in the direction of the awaiting mob of Titans; a last-minute resort to get out of Bertholdt's
range of death.

While the Spiked Titan was busy keeping the savage Titans back, shooting spikes at the mobs with great
precision and aim just enough to knock them back, Bertholdt got to work on his own.

The sudden flash of bright yellow light radiating from the wall and high-pressured heated winds signified
Bertholdt's transformation as the steamy Colossal Titan soon stood at the wall's edge.

The Colossal took up a lengthy figure made completely of just exposed muscle tissue and tendons. It was
constantly releasing steam from the scorching hot surface of its body and could burn a person to a crisp
in a matter of seconds.

Although he was four times the height of any other Titan, his sixty-meter height just barely made it past
the wall's length as his head peered over it's top.

A chorus of terrified screams immediately pitched from behind the high barricade at seeing Bertholdt's
Titan, yet another reminder of the lives you all were changing in a matter of minutes.

A deafening boom echoed out across the fields as the Colossal Titan sent its large stubby foot flying
through Wall Maria's gate with ease. What used to be the emblem of what you figured was a queen was
now nothing more than a crumbling, gaping hole in the wall.

With that, the Colossal Titan slumped to the ground in a heap of steamed muscle before Bertholdt's
significantly smaller figure emerged from the nape of the Titan's quickly degenerating body.

"(Y/n)! Switch with me!" Reiner shouted frantically, as he took his own weapon of choice out, "Quick!
Before they catch up!"

It wasn't long before the Spiked Titan was nothing more than a slump of muscle on the ground itself,
your figure quickly breaking free from its steamy nape.

You hated this part the most. The intense heat made your clothes damp from sweat, pieces of Titan flesh
clung to your skin like leeches. Angry red lines trailed from your eyes to your jawline, and they didn't
stop there either. You were the only one amongst the group who found that you'd get marks on your
hands too, jagged red lines trailing from your knuckles to your wrists.

The Armored Titan stood before you in all of its fifteen-meter glory. With its solid brawny figure, thick
plates of hardened skin covered the entirety of its body, besides the exposed muscle tissue behind its
knees, elbows, feet, and in its cheeks. Apart from its glowing yellow eyes, the Armored donned prickly
short silver hair.

It crouched to the ground with a hand outreached to you before you quickly climbed into its calloused
palm where Annie's unconscious body lay. You held the still-warm girl to your side as best as you could
before Reiner brought you two up to his thick neck, just as you did before. It was easier to get proper
footing on his Titan, seeing as his whole body acted as one big gripping stone.

That's when you spotted the single pure Titan walking towards Bertholdt and the remaining carcass of his
Titan. You couldn't understand how it got past the other hordes of Titans you pelted back, yet there it was.
It was taller than the others with a scrawny figure, prominent ribs, and an unusually long neck. It sported
blonde shaggy hair that just reached its neck.

"Reiner! You need to go, now!" You shouted, but Reiner was already on the move, having spotted the
Titan by himself.
Even with the weight of his heavy armor, the Armored Titan dashed the short distance to Bertholdt before
promptly snatching the boy up in his palm to join you and Annie on his neck.

As for the pure Titan you saw, it seems you all were worried for nothing. The creature paid you no mind,
donning a big, ear-to-ear smile as it looked over at you all before simply continuing its walk through the
gaping hole of Wall Maria. It seemed to lead the way for the other ravaging Titans who broke into the
city.

Reiner took advantage of this rare opportunity, quickly hardening the skin on his fingertips and toes, as
he scaled the fifty-meter wall. The armor on his hands created cracks in the surface as he climbed, but he
continued anyways until you all were standing on top of the tall fixture overlooking the city you all just
tore to pieces: Shiganshina.

You and the others were quickly placed on the wall while Reiner continued on with his part of the plan.
You watched as he scaled back down the wall, into the nearly human-lacked town.

By now, Shiganshina was crawling with Titans of all sizes. Destroyed homes were set on fire, letting out
thick clouds of billowing black smoke that wafted into the once crystal-clear blue sky. The dark red
liquid of blood was splattered on almost every surface you could lay your eyes on, and you didn't miss
the occasional slaughtered corpse on the ground or in a Titan's fist.

But what really got to you were the screams that never seemed to stop. They were full of dread and terror
and loss. It told you that these weren't just members of yet another army you had to face, the city you all
just had a hand in tearing apart were filled with innocent people. Families and kids just like you.

Sure, you've crushed a whole nation beneath your very feet, but this... this was something else entirely.
You got to see the true aftermath of your actions. You felt the heavy weight of guilt settle upon your
shoulders.

You were sick to your stomach and there was nothing that could ease it.

So, when the Armored Titan charged through those inner gates with no hesitation in his movements,
earning yet another chorus of terrified screams and cries, you finally broke down the overflowing dam of
tears.

And that was the first hint of a splitting bond.

══════════════════ 𝟖𝟒𝟕 ══════════════════

On that dreadful day seemingly so long ago, you all were able to slip into the crowd of devastated
victims; it wasn't hard at all considering the whole place was in total chaos. After landing in a refugee
camp behind Wall Rose, you all were immediately put to work in the wastelands; the government's last-
ditch effort to make more food.

Under the intense heat of the sun, you'd work in the barren fields from sunup to sundown, pulling weeds
and planting crops. It was long, hard work for any eleven-year-old, but you didn't complain. You felt that
this was what you deserved; a punishment for what you'd all done.

You were on autopilot most of the time, nothing but an empty body working in the fields. You were there
physically, but in your head, you were still reliving that day.
You'd grown especially quiet nowadays, possibly even more than Annie who noticed right away. She
didn't push you or bring it up because, believe it or not, she understood. Nonetheless, she did keep note to
hang around you often, keeping a watchful eye. She had silently taken you under her wing without you
even noticing.

And so there you were yet again by Annie's side as you two sat on a large wooden crate, placed outside
of one the cabins amongst the fields. She handed you a canteen of cool water that you accepted
graciously as you both listened in on the conversation Reiner and Bertholdt were having with an older
man; another one of the refugees.

While you and Annie were in front of the cabin, Reiner, Bertholdt, and the man were seated on the side
of it.

"My village was in the mountains in southeast Wall Maria." The man was answering Bertholdt's question
of where he was from. "Unlike the more populated towns by the river, it took more time for us to hear
that the wall had been breached. In fact, the only way we found out is because of the Titans that came. It
was around dawn ... The livestock got awfully noisy .. Then a strange rumbling came from the ground
that only got louder. I realized that it was footsteps, so I rushed to open up a window, and there it was. I
can't remember anything after that. I escaped on my horse somehow and left behind three kids who were
just about your age."

Those words were possibly the last thing that man had said before he went off to take his own life. They
found him later on that day.

Another life you had a part in ending.

━━━━

"So King Fritz is just a figure head?"

"Not just the old man. It's a different family entirely. They're all just stand-ins without a shred of
authority."

It's been two years since you've all been sent to the fields and while only being thirteen, you've grown
accustomed to the vigorous work and lifestyle. The fall of Shiganshina was nothing more than a distant
memory now, something that shown it's ugly face in an occasional nightmare.

You and Annie stood off to the side while patiently awaiting your turns to tug up the roots of a chopped-
down tree. Meanwhile Bertholdt and Reiner worked with an axe and pole on said chopped tree trunk.

"So they're definitely not subjects of Ymir." Bertholdt guessed, referring to Reiner's statement about the
Fritz family. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows while his slacks were cuffed to his
knees, an efficient way to wear clothes in the heat as he took another whack at the wood with his axe.

"The people ruling from the center of the walls right now are probably just a different race of Eldians
who sucked up to Fritz a century ago." Reiner huffed as he helped Bertholdt. Unlike his partner, Reiner
chose the shirtless route while cuffing his slacks to his knees. He pushed the pole deeper into the hard
ground to work underneath those pesky roots. "The Founding Titan's power probably didn't work on
those Eldians, so the real Fritz gave them authority in exchange for their silence and loyalty."
"Then we just need to find a way to get to that family." Bertholdt declared, "They have to be connected to
the true king of the walls somehow."

"And how do we do that?" Annie chimed in from beside you. She soon straightened up after finishing her
work on her slacks; cuffing them up to her knees in quick haste. "Do we get them to hire us as servants or
something? Or do you want (Y/n) and I to get close to one of the men in the family and marry into it."
Annie asked sarcastically.

Her words prompted Bertholdt to drop his axe before quickly waving his hands in front of him, "No! No,
not that! You can't do that!"

"I know." Annie replied with an eye-roll, "That family is only able to stay in power because
they're not subjects of Ymir. They'd never risk infecting their family tree with our 'tainted blood'." Annie
used her fingers to make air quotes as she spoke, "Plus, ever since the walls were breached, they haven't
been hiring new servants in fear of invaders."

"And I doubt we'd have the charm to seduce a man anyways." You chuckled.

"That's not true!" Bertholdt burst out hastily, "You— and Annie— are very pretty!" While it seemed he
was trying to reassure both you and Annie, his green eyes lingered longingly on the latter. It only made
you laugh more as Annie turned to face him with a confused expression.

"Uh ... Thanks?" She replied, before reaching down to cuff your slacks for you. "(Y/n), you're going to
burn up in these if you don't show some skin."

You were about to reply when Reiner suddenly burst out with his own declaration. A determined look
graced his sweaty face as he said, "Well then we only have one option left. We'll become soldiers and get
closer to the interior Military Police."

"I know you don't want to hear this from me, but it's taken us two years just to learn this much." You
replied, "We only have ten years left to finish this, and you're telling me that you want to waste them
playing soldier?"

"It's been two years since Wall Maria's been breached and the King still hasn't made a move." Reiner
explained, "If the Tybur family is correct then that means the King is bound by some type of vow to
renounce war. In other words, we shouldn't expect them to do anything about the breach anytime soon.
We're gonna have to make a move first."

"Well in that case, we should just stop wasting time and put an end to this!" Annie exclaimed, throwing
her hands up into the air in frustration.

"And do what? Destroy Wall Rose and Sina too?" You burst out. You didn't know if you'd be able to
handle another wall incident, you were still reeling from Wall Maria. Your worried (e/c) eyes darted to
and from each of your surrounding friends' faces, and all you saw back were avoidant gazes— well from
everyone, but Reiner.

"(Y/n), are you having second thoughts about this?" He asked one simple question aloud, but you knew
that there was much more to it. There was nothing but walls of ice behind those warm golden eyes.

You needed to come up with something, and quick.

"I-I'm just saying. Yea, the Founding Titan might show up if we destroy all the walls, but one roar from it
and we'd have millions of Colossal Titans crushing the world to death. We need to come up with
something that doesn't risk us and the whole world."
Your explanation seemed to have a struck a chord within Reiner as he straightened up, puffing his chest
out as he said, "You're right. And then us Warriors would die with the rest of the world with an
incomplete mission. Humanity's fate is riding on us. We can only march forward."

And with that Reiner dug his pole deeper into the earth before the chopped tree trunk finally broke free
from the ground, exposing all of it's long dirty roots.
 𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐬.

═════════ 𝟖𝟒𝟕 ════════

"What do you call yourself, maggot?!"

"Reiner Braun, sir!"

"And what the hell are you here for?!"

"To save humanity!"

In the heat of the sun, you stood in an open dusty field, your new training grounds. At the edges of this
field were wooden barracks that you'd all be calling home for the next three years. You were lined up in a
row among many others as you all faced the screaming man who walked before you, daring anyone to
step an inch out of place.

Thanks to Reiner, you all were officially in the Cadet Corps; a regiment in the military behind the walls
that trains cadets to become members of one of the top three military regiments.

In your opinion, the Cadet Corps was just another version of the Warrior Unit, except you had a new
home, commandant, & uniform to go along with it. Plus, you all weren't competing over who'd get to be
a Titan shifter.

You sported a white button-down shirt, tucked into fitted beige pants, and the signature brown cropped
jacket that adorned the Cadet Corps emblem: a shield with two swords. Knee-high brown leather boots
completed your uniforms along with the belted straps that wrapped around your thighs, waist, and over
your shoulders like suspenders, a harness in simpler words. It was a big difference from the simple beige
pants and jacket you'd wear back in Marley.

Commandant Sadies was an older man with tanned skin and prominent wrinkles on his forehead. Besides
the thin facial hair on the man's chin, his face (including his head) was completely naked. Sadies' sunken-
in brownish-green eyes struck fear in whoever they landed on as he roamed the rows with his arms
behind his back, stopping at every other person for a loud introduction.

He skipped you and Annie who stood beside each other before heading for a shorter boy near the end of
your row. With big bright hazel eyes and grey hair shaved low into a buzz cut, the boy looked up to
Commandant Sadies in trembling fear.
"You're next!"

"Oh me?" The boy stammered out before immediately snapping into the salute, "Sir! Connie Springer
from the Ragako village, sir!"

Connie's introduction would've been just fine if he hadn't saluted the wrong way, crossing his left arm
over his torso to place his balled fist on his chest.

Commandant Sadies responded by swiftly picking the boy up— only by his head. "You have it
backwards, cue-ball! That salute was the first thing you were taught. It represents the resolve in your
heart to fight those bent on the systematic destruction of our people! Is your heart on your right side?!"

Connie was quite literally swaying with the wind as Sadies held him up, all before a loud crunching noise
sounded out from behind your row. The crunch grabbed Sadies attention instantly, dropping Connie like a
bag of bricks onto the dusty ground as he zeroed in on the culprit behind the offending noise.

"Hey, you there. What do you think you're doing?" Commandant Sadies was eerily calm as he moved out
of your sight and to the next row.

Your curiosity got the best of you. You couldn't help yourself from turning slightly to see the scene,
finally seeing the person behind the noise.

You were met with a young girl who had bright brown eyes and reddish-brown hair pulled into a
ponytail, besides the layered bangs framing her face. Pieces of potato were sprinkled around her mouth as
she took another large bite of the steamed vegetable in her hand.

Sadies approached her slowly, a look of genuine confusion on his face before it quickly switched to anger
at seeing the half-eaten potato. "You're officially on my shit list! Just who the hell are you?!"

The girl quickly snapped into the salute, the correct way of course, before yelling out, "Sasha Braus from
Dauper village! Reporting for duty, sir!" And yes, she did all of this with the potato still in her grasp.

"And what is that you're clutching in your right hand?" Sadies towered over the girl threateningly, but
Sasha still didn't back down as she held her own with her potato.

"It's a steamed potato! It sat there in the mess hall just begging to be eaten, sir!"

"The theft... I understand. But why here? Of all places?"

"It looked quite delicious, and I didn't want it to get cold, so I gave it shelter in my stomach, sir."

"But why...? Why would you eat that potato?"

"Are you asking me why people eat potatoes, sir?"

By now, you were sure that every person standing in that field had their eyes on Sasha and the
commandant. You all anxiously awaited what would happen next, the deafening silence becoming almost
too much to handle as the pair stared at each other. One appalled, and the other oblivious.

Noticing all of the stares and cowering under Sadies' intimidating gaze, Sasha's face morphed into one of
displeasure as she broke the potato into two. She held the smaller half out to the commandant as she said,
"Here, sir. Here's half."

Commandant Sadies was truly stunned as he took the half, only earning a sheepish smile from Sasha.
You were surprised that all she received was an order to run until the sun sets. You thought she was a
goner for sure or would at least be sent back to the fields. Back in Marley, Sasha would've been beaten or
sent away the very moment she was spotted with food in her hand. Unlike Sadies, the officers in Marley
wouldn't have even given her a chance to explain herself.

But what really struck you as different was how unsupervised the cadets in Paradis are. They pretty much
got to do whatever they wanted with their free time, you thought, as you watched everyone come and go
freely in the mess hall. In Marley, you all were watched around the clock whether it be by your
commander or the guards who stood watch at the zones' gate.

At this, you concluded that Paradis' military regiments were very laidback compared to what you were
used to, not that you minded of course.

You were snapped out of your thoughts as the crowd of kids behind your group's table got rowdier,
growing more chattier than ever as they threw question after question at some kid. But only one question
caught your group's full undivided attention.

"Eren! Did you really see the Colossal Titan?"

Bertholdt visibly stiffened in his seat across from you, his hand grasping a spoonful of soup halted in
mid-air. Worried green eyes darted to each of your group's faces as he willed himself to remain calm.

"Yeah, yeah. I saw the big guy." The boy, Eren, replied nonchalantly. You could see peeks of the boy
from between the crowd around his table, just enough to get a feel for what he looked like. You hadn't
heard his name during Commandant Sadies' introductions, so you assumed he had been skipped like you
and Annie.

Eren sported short chocolate-brown hair with bangs that naturally fell into a middle-parted, curtain-type
style. They reached just above his expressive big eyes, a vibrant teal green that stood out thanks to his
somewhat tan complexion. He wore an annoyed expression with furrowed eyebrows as the group shot
out another round of questions at him.

"Woah! So exactly how tall was the Colossal?" Someone yelled out.

"He was tall enough to stick his head over the outer wall." Eren answered plainly.

"Woah, wait! I heard he stepped over the wall completely!"

"That was the rumor in my village too!"

While this was a somewhat serious situation, even you had to let out a giggle at the comments. You
earned a swift slap to the leg from Annie who sat beside you; she did it under the table, of course, to not
attract attention.

"What? They thought he was so tall that he stepped over the wall, c'mon. That's funny." You whispered,
rubbing at the pained spot on your leg.

"Shh. He's about to say something else." Reiner hushed before taking a bite of his bread.

"Nah. He was big but not that big." Eren confirmed.

"So what did it look like?"

"It had a mouth like a skull. And no skin, just all muscle."

"And what about the Armored Titan? The one who broke through Wall Maria!"
"Is that what they're calling it? Through all of the chaos, it was just another plain Titan to me."

At that, Reiner nearly choked on his drink. Even Annie had a smirk on her face this time around, to
Reiner's dismay. You couldn't help but chuckle as you took a bite out of your loaf of bread.

"No way! So, what were the Titans like?"

This time, Eren's answer wasn't as prompt as before. He seemed to grow hesitant, earning more than a
few concerned stares as it suddenly grew quiet.

A tall, freckle-faced boy, you remembered was named Marco from introductions, was the one to speak up
first, "That's enough questions, guys. I'm sure he'd rather not relive everything he's been through. Let's
just back off."

"It's not like that!" Eren burst out suddenly, "Those stupid Titans, they're really not that big of a deal. If
we all focus on mastering the omni-directional mobility gear they give us, then it's Titan payback time.
I've been waiting years to be trained as a soldier. I'm joining the Scout regiment then I'm sending all the
Titans back to hell. I'll butcher every single one."

Reiner gave you all a pointed look over the brim of his cup as he took another swig. Not everyone was
depressed and scared over the Shiganshina incident as you thought. This was your first time really seeing
the rare reaction of anger from someone. Eren was a person who wanted revenge. But what could one
angry boy do for an island overrun with Titans? It was an unrealistic goal to achieve.

It seemed that it was the first time the others had seen a reaction like Eren's as well, judging by their
puzzled stares at the boy. Only one other spoke up against him though.

"Are you crazy or something?"

Jean Kirstein. A tall boy with short honey-brown hair accompanied by a darker toned undercut. Small
light-brown eyes gazed at Eren nonchalantly as he sat at a table across from the boy. Jean's chin rested in
his hand lazily while he leaned on his table. "Not that it's my business but signing up for the Scouts is
like a death sentence." Jean pushed.

"I guess we'll have to see then, or at-least I will." Eren retorted, "You seem content with hiding in the
interior with the cowardly MP's."

"I'm just being honest here, kid." Jean shrugged the comment off, "I think that's better than being some
loud-mouthed, wannabe tough-guy who's pretending he's not as piss-scared as the rest of us."

With those words, Eren stood up from his seat, making the crowd around him part ways so the two
bickering boys could see— or possibly get to each-other better. "Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"
Eren challenged.

"Alright, sure. You want to fight? Let's fight. Makes no difference to me." Jean replied casually as he
stood up from his own seat. "It's your funeral."

Eren and Jean were just meeting each other in the middle when the loud ringing of a bell halted their
movements. Dinner time was officially over. Most people quickly stood up from their seats, making a
beeline for the exit to leave, while others still stood around Eren and Jean. The silence was thick with
tension as the boys stared each other down.

Finally, Jean stuck a hand out politely, a sign of his surrender, "I apologize. Sorry for calling you names
and dismissing your choice of career. Put 'er there, kid. Whaddaya say?"
Eren took a long glare at Jean before finally answering, "I'm sorry too." And with that, he smacked Jean's
hand away before walking out of the mess hall without another look back.

You groaned in annoyance as you stood up, "And it was just getting good."

"You should've known they weren't going to actually fight." Annie replied as she gathered her dish before
standing up as well with Bertholdt and Reiner quickly following suit. "They're both idiotic cowards."

You all grew hushed as you headed for the exit, catching Eren and a girl with raven-colored hair in the
near distance, walking side by side as they headed for the barracks. Tall torches of fire lit up the
darkening evening in a warm glow, surrounding the property at a safe distance.

"Hmm... idiots, yes." You pondered over Annie's statement with narrowed eyes as you observed a
stunned Jean watch Eren and the girl as well, "But that Eren boy has some fire to him. Did you hear what
he said about killing all of the Titans? He's the first person I've heard say that."

"And he's obviously from Shiganshina." Bertholdt added, "You would think he'd be the most scared out
of the group, considering what he's seen."

"Maybe it's all a front." Reiner offered, "Maybe he's not as tough as he says he is."

Annie scoffed at that before mumbling, "That's rich coming from you."

"Huh?" Reiner questioned.

"Huh?" Annie repeated.

"You're just saying that because he said the Armored Titan was plain." You chuckled, earning an annoyed
eyeroll from Reiner. "He seems familiar though. I just can't put my finger on it."

"Well, he is from Shiganshina. He was most likely in the same refugee camp as us." Bertholdt suggested
with a shrug. "I wouldn't be surprised if we've seen him before."

Suddenly you snapped your fingers in a hurrah at finally uncovering the buried memory, "That's where
I've seen him! Wall Rose. He has to be the kid who kicked that soldier in the leg! I recognized his voice."

"Well, I'll be damned." Reiner chuckled, "That's him, alright. Makes a lot of sense now. The kid's a total
hothead."

You all hummed in agreement just as another yell broke out from the direction of the mess hall.

"Leave my clothes alone, goddamnit! What did you do?!"

Connie was hopping from one foot to the other as he scratched at his back, bunching up the fabric of his
shirt in an effort to remove something. When his back turned to your group, you all could see that there
was obviously nothing there but continued to let the hysterical boy search anyways.

"What the hell did you put on me?!"

Jean only stood there, his face the symbol of dread as he said, "Just my trust."

"Like I said: idiots." Annie mumbled as she walked ahead of you, "C'mon, (Y/n)."

And so your group was split into two pairs, Bertholdt and Reiner heading to their barrack while you and
Annie walked to another.
 ━━━━

You were awoken bright and early the next day for your first real dose of training.

You all were a sea of brown jackets under the high sun as you sleepily trudged towards the dusty field
ahead of your barracks. On the opposite end of the barracks was where the vertical maneuvering
equipment was located. Metal fixtures that stood tall on three sporadic metal columns. Wiring hung down
from their sides.

And in front of the machinery is where Commandant Sadies stood, the usual deep scowl on his face as he
waited for everyone to gather around him.

"C'mon maggots! Hurry it up!" He yelled out to the last few people jogging their way up to the group,
before his fear-striking eyes scanned the class in it's entirety. "It's aptitude test time, so listen up! There's
no place for you here if you cannot perform well! Fail this test and you'll be shipped to the fields!"

And with just those threatening words, you all were rushed off into different groups, each assigned to a
different vertical maneuvering machine. An officer stood at each one to supervise as they stood off to the
side.

Out of the group you were randomly put in, the only people you were familiar with was Bertholdt,
Connie, and Marco. Two others you recognized from the first days' introduction was Mina and Thomas.
You didn't pay the last unfamiliar person any mind.

"So, who's going first?" Mina chirped, giving a big friendly smile. She seemed to be an enthusiastic girl
with big grey eyes and long thick black hair tied into two loose pigtails. She was practically bouncing on
the balls of her feet as she looked around the group.

You, on the other hand, just wanted to get this over with. "I'll go first." You walked out of the group to
the center of the machine, before looking around you at the two wires dangling by your sides. You hated
to backtrack after walking out to the machine so confidently, but the purpose of the machine was beyond
you. "Uh. How do you do this?"

Bertholdt began to step forward, but it was the mystery boy who moved faster as he quickly came to your
rescue, hastily running out of the group to your side as he pulled down on one of the wires. "Here, I'll
help you."

He had golden-like hair that reached just below his chin, complete with a bang that sat above his eyes.
And his eyes? They were hard for you to miss; mesmerizing, you could say, as they stood out against his
pink-tinted cheeks. A pretty shade of cerulean blue that solely reminded you of the ocean on a clear
sunny day— you know when the sun hits the ocean just right and gives off the illusion of sparkles on the
waves as they move? yeah, like that. If you could stare into his eyes all day, you would without a doubt.

Kindness is all you could feel from this boy. It radiated from him like the sun, enveloping everyone
around him in that warm, fuzzy feeling— or was it just you getting all doe-eyed?

Before you knew it, he had you all clipped in and ready to go. "There you go. All done."

"Thanks..." You drew out the word, an obvious sign that you didn't know the mystery boy's name.
"Oh! Armin." He replied, a warm smile gracing his face before he quickly put out a hand for you to
shake, "Armin Arlert."

You giggled at his politeness before placing your hand in his soft palm. You swore his cheeks were
getting pinker as he shook your hand gently, those blue irises never leaving your (e/c) ones as he held
onto your hand.

"Ahem."

Suddenly, you remembered where you were and just how many people were standing ahead of you two.
It seemed Armin realized the same as he quickly let go of your hand, muttering a "Sorry" before he
quickly rejoined the group.

"Alright! We're sending you up!" The officer announced. "The objective is to stay balanced! No
flipping!"

With the crank of a wheel, the wires slowly lifted you off the ground and into mid-air. You hurriedly
regained your composure, spreading your arms and legs out slightly to keep from flipping over. You got
the hang of the machine (literally) pretty quickly. You hung in the air steadily with no signs of wobbling
or panic.

You caught the eye of two officers as they walked past, pointing out to you before yelling, "This is what
we're looking for! A perfect example of balance and coordination!"

Bertholdt shot you a thumbs up from the group. You beamed at the praise as the officer wheeled you back
down. You were practically a replica of Mina now as you nearly skipped back to the group.

After Connie basically did a full somersault in the air, it was Armin who went up next. He had your full
attention; your eyes were stuck like glue to Armin's friendly smile as he was lifted into the air.

You could hear Bertholdt chuckle off to your side before you finally landed your eyes on the cheesing
boy, "I'm sorry, but did you just go all googly-eyed for a boy with a bob-styled haircut?"

"I don't say anything when you go 'all googly-eyed' for Annie!" You hissed defensively, immediately
cutting off Bertholdt's laughter.

"Wha — What? Who said I like Annie? Who told you that?" Bertholdt's cheeks couldn't grow any redder
as he stammered out his words. He grabbed your arm in a panic, shaking it slightly as he whisper-yelled,
"(Y/n)! What do you know?! Was it Reiner?"

You had an evil smirk on your face as you dramatically turned away from Bertholdt and back to the
blonde who rejoined the group. It seemed that Armin was having the same problem as you; his eyes
always found their way back to you, to which you'd hastily stop your staring, just to repeat the process
again when you'd take a glance at him, and he'd hurriedly stop his staring.

Meanwhile, Bertholdt was as jittery as ever as he clung onto your arm. It was a sight to see to say the
least, a tall boy like him hanging onto you like you were his mother as he desperately attempted to make
you spill the details of his crush on Annie.

"What's your major malfunction, Jaeger?!" Commandant Sadies suddenly boomed from a nearby
machine. "Straighten yourself up!"

Both you and Bertholdt nearly broke your necks to take a look over at the person Sadies shouted to.
Surprise settled into your facial features at the sight of a mortified Eren hanging upside down in a vertical
maneuvering machine. His group laughed loudly at him, not even bothering to hide the fact that they
were making fun of him.

His last name is Jaeger...?

You only knew of one person with that particular name, and you knew it wasn't a common surname. But
Eren looks nothing like Zeke, you thought, and why would Zeke have family in Paradis? Eren with his
brown hair and bold teal-green eyes held no similarity with Zeke's blonde hair and bright blue
eyes. Maybe it's just a coincidence, you thought.

Although, Bertholdt seemed to think otherwise, his eyebrows furrowed up at the upside-down boy as he
retreated into his own thoughts.

The first day of training went by fast, and you considered the whole experience a breeze. Getting in the
top ten graduates of the class would be a walk in the park for you, and hopefully the others.

The sun settled low into the horizon, giving your surroundings a warm glow in the evening. The sky was
an assortment of blue, yellow, and orange hues all mixing together to create the prettiest sunset.

The barracks all included a wide, roof-covered porch connected to the front of it; it was a good spot to
relax if you didn't want to head inside your barrack just yet, so that's where you and the others decided to
sit. The 'others' being Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt.

The loud chatter from the mess hall could be heard from where you all were, only providing further
confirmation that you'd all be okay to talk for a while without the possibility of someone listening in.

"So Bertholdt and I can't be the only ones who heard Commandant Sadies call Eren 'Jaeger'?" You got
right to the point. You've been keeping it in all day and were pouncing at the chance to talk about it.

"No, I heard it too." Annie chimed in, followed by an agreement from Reiner.

"I'm assuming we're all thinking the same thing then?" Bertholdt questioned as his eyes dragged across
the group for further confirmation.

"Maybe it's just a coincidence?" Reiner suggested, "Eren looks nothing like Zeke. The kid has green eyes
and brown hair while Zeke is a blue-eyed blonde."

"And then there's the question of why a Jaeger is here behind the walls instead of back home." You
added.

"Maybe it really is just a coincidence." Annie shrugged, "We'll have to learn more about him if we really
want to get to the bottom of things."

Just in the middle of your debate, Bertholdt shushed you all abruptly before nodding his head towards
something ahead. You all followed his direction to spot Armin and Eren briskly walking up to you.

What's that one saying?

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

"Well, that's my cue." Annie stood up before promptly walking off without another word. She seemed to
be the only one who didn't give the other cadets even a slim chance to speak with her.

Meanwhile, Reiner pointed at Eren as he grew closer before asking, "What happened to you?"
Eren's forehead was completely covered in layered bandages as he stood before you. Pursed lips,
widened eyes, and sweaty palms were all the hints you needed to see that he was worried about
something.

"To keep a long story short, I hit my head... really, really hard." Eren seemed embarrassed as he shifted
his gaze to his feet.

Armin, however, seemed to be more comfortable with speaking to you all about what was going on,
informing you about Eren's issues with the vertical maneuvering machine.

"Nah. I don't think we could help with that." Reiner spoke for the three of you, waving the two boys off
dismissively.

"Oh, c'mon!" Eren burst out suddenly, "I heard from everyone that you're all really good at it! Please!"
Eren's big green eyes were pleading with you all to bestow upon him your godly knowledge of the
vertical machines.

"There isn't really a special trick to just hanging there." Reiner shrugged, "Not to sound harsh, but if it's
advice you want, we're not really the people to go to."

"Sorry. Maybe you just need a little more practice?" You offered. You did feel sorry for Eren, but what
could you possibly do to teach him how to simply hang? "Not everyone got it in one go. Hell, Connie
flipped a couple times before getting it right."

Eren's shoulders visibly slumped in disappointment as he huffed out a big sigh, to which Armin quickly
patted him on the shoulder in sympathy. "Let's just hope it'll come to you tomorrow."

The two were just about to walk off in shame until Bertholdt suddenly burst out, "Aren't the two of you
from Shiganshina?"

He quickly earned a confused glance from you and Reiner, but you two decided against speaking out,
instead letting the conversation run its course. Knowing Bertholdt, this was more than likely a ploy to get
more information as Annie mentioned earlier.

"Yeah, we are." Armin answered.

"Then you should know from experience just how horrifying the Titans are. Why on earth would you
wanna be soldiers and face off against them?" Bertholdt prodded.

"Well, I personally didn't see everything, but Eren did. He saw the bloodshed before anyone realized just
how bad it was." Armin explained, "And I— Well, I knew I couldn't just sit around while the royal
government forced people into the failed territory retrieval operation... So where are the three of you
from?"

Yeah, where the hell are we from, Bertholdt? You thought to yourself. You all hadn't sat down to discuss
that just yet. Truthfully, you didn't even expect to be so chatty with the other cadets, but here you are.
You and Reiner watched Bertholdt expectantly as he racked his brain for an answer.

"We all grew up together in a mountain village just southeast of Wall Maria." Bertholdt sighed, his face
suddenly downcast as he stared down at his lap.

Armin was surprised, "But — Then that means..."

"Yeah... unlike the more popular river towns, our village didn't receive word right away. The Titans were
on us before we even knew what was going on. It happened at dawn. All of the livestock were so restless.
Soon afterwards, we heard these strange rumblings that just seemed to get louder and louder." Bertholdt
let out a heavy breath, as if he was struggling to continue speaking through his 'grief', "Eventually, I
realized those rumblings were the sound of death growing closer. I, uh— I looked out my window and
there one was... After that, everything's kind of a blur."

Only then did you recognize the story Bertholdt was telling. He's using a refugee's story! You were
quickly reminded of the older man who told the exact story Bertholdt was repeating word for word, to
your group two years ago in the refugee camp.

You watched Armin and Eren's reactions, and the way their faces expressed genuine concern and
sympathy. This is just wrong. You all were part of the reason that man no longer lived, and yet here you
were, claiming his story as your own.

"I- I think we all just panicked." Bertholdt stammered out. You nearly wanted to burst out and say, 'Okay,
we get it'. He was laying it on too thick.

"Easy, now. You're just getting yourself all worked up again." Reiner 'consoled' Bertholdt by giving him a
pat on the shoulder awkwardly, meanwhile you were trying really hard not to roll your eyes.

"Basically, what I've been trying to say is this:" Bertholdt continued, "The five of us aren't like the others.
They've never been a witness to the Titans' horror like us."

"Bertholdt's right. We have to stick together." Reiner agreed before he suddenly stood up, "With that said,
we'll try to help you out with your vertical maneuvering problem."

"Really?" Eren's head perked up instantly at Reiner's words.

"Really. C'mon." Reiner replied.

And so that's how you ended up in the woods in the middle of the night with Bertholdt, Reiner, Eren, and
Armin.

You all trekked through the darkened community of trees, leaves and branches cracking upon your every
footstep. Pine green cloaks draped your figures as lit lanterns provided some much-needed light. You all
struggled to keep up with a fast-paced Bertholdt as he led the way. Does he even know where he's going?

He soon came to a halt, verbally and physically, as he held out his lantern to the object blocking his way,
revealing two lines of barbed wire blocking the path. After picking up a long stick, Bertholdt held the
upper line of wire up to create a gap of space between the two wires to which he stepped through. He
kept his position on the other side, still using the stick to hold up the wire as he looked back to you all
with an expectant face.

"Ladies first." Reiner chuckled, bowing to you formally before stepping aside.

You scoffed before angling yourself through the space between the wires, making sure not to touch either
line to avoid anything happening. Bertholdt stuck his free hand out for your access to which you quickly
accepted it as he helped you get yourself out of the mess of wires.

After Armin and Eren got themselves through without a hitch, it was Reiner's turn. Bertholdt held the
wire up even higher for him, seeing as Reiner was the most buff out of everyone. But even with
Bertholdt's help, Reiner still somehow scratched himself as he winced loudly.

"Are you okay?" Eren asked, concern crossing his face as he tried to take a peek at Reiner's hand.
Reiner quickly covered it with his cloak before Eren could though. "I'm fine. I'll shake it off." Reiner
laughed before glancing at you and Bertholdt.

While Bertholdt's face shown a flicker of worry, yours was still as casual as it could be. You knew Reiner
could just heal himself right back up, so with that you continued walking.

Bertholdt followed your lead, quickly continuing his talk to distract the others from Reiner's steaming
hand. "Anyways, with what I said earlier, I'm really no different from the others. I joined the ranks
hoping to be assigned to the Military Police and tucked away in the interior. If that doesn't work out, I
plan on giving up entirely. I don't really have the fortitude for anything else."

"There's no shame in caring about your life, Bertholdt. I'm sure everyone does." Armin replied.

"Do we?" Reiner added, a hardened look suddenly settling on his chiseled face. "I plan on returning to
the home that was taken from me. That's all I care about. And I'll do it, no matter what."

You and Bertholdt shared a knowing look before another voice called out, "What about you?"

You instantly went to look at Bertholdt who walked beside you before realizing that Armin was in fact
talking to you. You took a look over your shoulder to find those bright blue hues settled on you. His lips
curved up into a small smile once he seen that you were looking at him, meanwhile a confused
expression graced your face at his question.

"I meant why did you join? I-If you don't mind me asking." Armin asked again, scratching at the back of
his neck out of nervousness.

"To protect my family." You answered Armin's question truthfully, without even hesitating. You caught
Bertholdt's eye as he gave you a pointed look, raising his eyebrows up slightly as if to say 'More'.

"—From the Titans, that is." You added quickly, "I joined the ranks to help with the fight against Titans.
The day Wall Maria fell gave me a whole new perspective on life. If you don't stand for something,
you're contributing to the problem."

Well you weren't totally lying.

You felt like that was a good enough answer and judging by Armin's content flash of a smile your way,
you considered it a job well done. Bertholdt nearly laughed at the smug look on your face as you turned
back around before he took a look back himself, focusing directly on Eren.

"So, why'd you join?"

Eren's face didn't hesitate to contort into something angrier as his eyebrows furrowed together. A dark
look settled into his teal-green eyes as he said, "I've decided I have to kill them all. I won't stop 'til every
single Titan is dead and rotting. Every. Last. One."

Imagine if he knew there were three right in front of him.

You all grew hushed with intensified silence. No one was quite sure what to say back to Eren's response.

You could tell that Eren held a strong disliking for the Titans, anyone could see it really, but this was
something much different from the others. You could almost feel the hot anger bouncing off of him and
consuming the space around him. His strong hate was deeply rooted and wasn't going to be pulled up
anytime soon.
After the tense silence settled among the group, Reiner was the first to break it. "You saw what those
monsters are capable of, and yet you still wanna take them on?"

"Damn right." Eren answered instantly, "It's just that after screwing up the training, I don't know if I'm
cut out to be a solider.."

You all eventually came to another halt, blocked by a wall of jagged rock. It wasn't too high considering
that you could look over it if you stood on the tips of your toes. You seemed to be at the foot of a
mountain, judging by the rocky terrain under your feet now.

And that was your final straw.

"Bertholdt, where the hell are we going?" You burst out suddenly.

Without even trying, you broke the tenseness of the space around you. The others immediately burst out
laughing at you as soon as they seen your stance. Everyone but Armin, of course, who found it.. well,
cute. With your hands on your hips, you wore an annoyed expression. Your eyebrows were furrowed, lips
almost at a pout, as you zeroed in on the boy who took you all so deep into the woods that you had no
idea where you were anymore.

"You'll see when we get there." Bertholdt chuckled before beginning his small climb up the rock wall.
"Just trust me."

You groaned in annoyance, earning more chuckles, before reluctantly following his lead. You've came
this far, why stop now? And it's not like you knew your way back on your own anyhow.

After everyone found their way atop the wall, you all walked just a bit further before reaching the edge of
a steep cliff, overlooking an entirely new part of the wilderness. Grey clouds pulled away from the moon
to reveal mountains stretched as far and wide as you could see in the near horizon, standing tall against
the dusky night sky loitered with twinkling stars. The moon shone brightly, it's light danced on the waves
of a wide lake that sat in the middle of the scenery, giving it the illusion of glittering.

It was nothing like you've seen in Marley— You could never see something like this in Marley at your
own leisure. Your hometown was all city, buildings and concrete taking up almost every acre of land.
There wasn't much wildlife to begin with.

Armin couldn't miss the look of amazement on your face, the way your mouth slightly parted as you
gaped at the scene ahead of you. Moonlight casted down on your face in an ethereal glow, your (e/c)
irises were practically sparkling as your full lashes kissed your cheeks with each stunned blink. Armin
didn't know how it was possible, but you looked even prettier than before.

Armin barely even said a few words to you, maybe ten total, and yet he's already feeling himself being
pulled just a little closer to the possibility of a crush. You were entrancing, a wonder in his eyes.

If there was a book about you, he'd read every single chapter through and through. He wanted to know
everything about you; from your favorite colors to your favorite flowers. But before he could go that far,
he still had to find out the most important thing.

"I don't think I ever got your name." Armin laughed, his gentle voice finally snapping you from your
daze.

"Oh! I'm (Y/n) (L/n)." You answered with a smile before holding out your hand just as Armin did earlier.
His surprised face made you giggle, but he didn't miss the chance to take your hand.
"(Y/n)." Armin said your name like it was the most amazing thing yet, flashing that beaming grin that
made you giddy inside. And maybe it was just the light of the moon playing tricks on you, but you swore
you could see those lovely blue eyes twinkle. "T-That's a pretty name."

Now you were the one who wore a surprised expression. Pretty? No one's ever told you that before. Hell,
the only comment you've gotten about your name was from Porco who said, in his exact words, your
name was 'an annoying name for an annoying girl'. He's one to talk, you thought, His name rhymes with
Pork. Fitting for a pig.

"Thank you." You smiled again, even bigger this time at Armin's compliment, and he feels like he's
gotten one of the best rewards yet.

Bertholdt and Reiner watched this exchange with curious eyes. It wasn't hard to miss the glint in your
eyes when you looked at Armin, the way you always broke into a smile when he talked to you, and it was
the same for Armin, of course. He couldn't stop himself from staring at you dreamily before quickly
averting his eyes whenever you looked again, or the way his cheeks were tinted a cheery shade of pink.

Are you really letting yourself get close to the enemy? Or is it all an act?

You and Armin had sat down by now, your legs swinging through the air casually from the edge of the
cliff. The three behind you two were nothing more than a distant thought. For all you two knew, it was
just the both of you sitting on that cliff.

"If you think this is neat, just imagine how the outside world must be." Armin sighed. He leaned back
onto his hands as his eyes dragged across the scene ahead of you two, what you saw in them was
yearning. A deep longing. "Water that glows like fire. Entire fields of ice. Giant rocks that take days to
climb. It's all out there, just beyond those walls."

His eyes were full of passion as he spoke with a dreamy-like tone. This was Armin's dream; he wanted to
see the many things of the world beyond the walls. He made it sound like something out of a fantasy, and
you would've fell right into it if you hadn't already seen the things you've seen.

If only he knew the outside world wasn't all he thought it would be. It was cold and full of loss. War.
Death. Poverty. If you were him, you'd want to stay in the ignorant bliss of these walls as long as you
could.

But instead of smashing his dream to bits and hitting him with reality, you let him keep it. Not everyone
had to get their hopes and dreams taken away from them like you did so long ago.

"It sounds amazing." You gushed, "Like something out of a fairytale." You soon let yourself be distracted
by the distant sounds of little waves slapping against rock from the lake below the cliff.

Armin took this time to look back at you again, studying your features with great interest. Sure, he
thought the view was a pretty sight, but it was nothing compared to you.

Reiner's hearty laugh rang out from behind you, urging you and Armin to turn around and take a look.
Reiner was slapping Eren on the shoulder during his loud guffaw, nearly doubling over from something
Eren said while Bertholdt was simply happy to be there. Eren seemed to be proud at making someone
laugh with one of his corny jokes, a lazy smirk settled into his face as he caught you and Armin's amused
stares. His smirk lifted even higher into a smile before he shot a thumbs-up, winking at Armin as he did
so.

Armin immediately turned around, embarrassed, as he pinched the bridge of his nose while shaking his
head. The thumbs-up was Eren's obvious way of saying 'Good luck with the girl!', and if that weren't
enough, he just had to throw in a wink for extra measure. You, however, didn't perceive it that way. You
simply thought Eren was just being silly.

"So how long have you and Eren been friends?" You laughed, asking out of genuine curiosity. It was
obvious that they were close; you'd rarely see one without the other around the camp.

"Since we were little kids." Armin smiled warmly at the fond memories surfacing in his thoughts, "Eren
was always there for me, still is. I used to get bullied a lot and found myself always at the doctor's office.
That's how I met Eren. His dad, Dr. Grisha, would tend to all the injuries I'd get from the other kids.."

Armin didn't quite catch the falter of your smile or the way you subconsciously glanced back at an
oblivious Eren with widened eyes. His dad's name is Grisha fucking Jaeger—

"So what about you three?" Armin asked, pulling you back to his attention.

You'll have to file the comment away in your thoughts for now. You'd talk to the others about it another
time. "I've known Bertholdt and Reiner, as well as Annie, since I was practically a baby. With the
village," Correction: Zone. "being so small, the community was pretty well-knitted. We did almost
everything together, and always had each other's backs. And, well, I guess we still kind of do." You
chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, I can see that." Armin chuckled, "You all seem pretty close as well with the way you look out for
each other."

"Armin! (Y/n)!"

You both spun around to face the three behind you, all watching you with expectant faces.

"C'mon, let's head back before it gets too late." Reiner yelled out, as the two of you got to your feet with
Armin extending a hand to help you up like the gentleman he is.

"I think we're way past that point." You laughed.

You didn't think much of the way Reiner playfully wrapped an arm around you, pulling you a little
further out of Armin's reach before walking back towards the darkened forest.

━━━━

Now was the moment of truth.

It seemed that the entire class surrounded only one vertical maneuvering machine as Eren Jaeger was
clipped into it. A feeling of anxiousness settled over the crowd, even for you to your surprise. You,
Reiner, and Bertholdt took up one side of Armin while a girl you came to know as Mikasa took up his
other side. You all stood together near the front of the group, most with worried faces as you watched on.

Eren, however, seemed to be the total opposite of the peers around him. He wore a look of sheer
determination and confidence, his fists clenching and unclenching in preparation for what was to come.
There was a fire behind his eyes that raged him on. He took Reiner's words of encouragement from last
night to the heart.

"Eren Jaeger, are you ready?" Commandant Sadies asked.

"Yes, sir!" Eren yelled out promptly, and you could tell that it wasn't a lie. Eren was truly confident in
himself.

"Proceed." Sadies announced to Thomas who stood to the side of the machine.

He began cranking the wheel almost immediately, the wires lifting Eren up ever so slightly as his feet
started to leave the ground. You could see him wobble and sway for a minute, but with gritted teeth, he
soon gained and kept his balance. Eren was finally holding steady mid-air.

A chorus of cheers erupted from the crowd behind you, to which you all joined in. A big grin flashed
across Eren's face, filled with the utmost pride— all before he flipped over. His forehead met with the
hard ground yet again to your group's dismay.

"No! Not yet!" Eren struggled to pull himself back upright as he yelled out, "Let me try again! I can do
it!"

"Lower him." Sadies announced.

Eren was mortified, his teary eyes the widest you've seen yet as he sat on the ground in defeat. You felt
bad for the boy, and for Armin and Mikasa too who watched their friend with saddened faces.

"Wagner." Sadies called out to Thomas, "Switch belts with Jaeger."

"Huh? Uh— okay!" Thomas hesitantly removed his gear before switching out with Eren who was just as
confused.

After Eren was all set up in a new belt and re-clipped to the machine, Sadies gave the command to lift
him up once again. You could see right from the beginning the drastic change. Instead of the shaky
tremors and wobbles Eren was showing earlier, he was holding completely steady the whole time now.
Not a twitch out of place.

Even Eren wore a surprised face as he hung from the wires, seemingly in disbelief as his eyes searched
his belt.

"Your equipment was defective." Sadies announced, earning a chorus of shocked gasps. "If given a piece
of functional gear, you might not be worthless after all. The quartermaster must've looked right over this
broken clasp." Sadies held up the belt to show the error, "Might have to visit the supply depot and crack a
couple skulls."

"But he still did it." Someone spoke out, "Even while wearing that busted gear, he was still upright!"

"So what are you saying?" Eren's voice was tinged with hope as he stared at Sadies with pleading eyes, "I
didn't wash out?"

"You made the cut, kid. Now keep training, cadet!" Sadies announced once more, earning another round
of collective cheers for Eren's victory.

Eren was elated, pumping his fists in the air as he yelled out, "I did it! I really did it!"

"Well it seems like things worked out for him." Reiner commented with a smile.

"Look, his eyes are saying 'check me out'!" Armin added on, a proud smile settled onto his face.

"No, they're not." Mikasa's gentle voice chimed in.

You all turned to look at the girl. Her raven-colored hair was cut into a bob-cut style similar to Armin's,
besides the long choppy bangs that nearly covered her dark-grey eyes surrounded by a bed of full lashes.
Mikasa was downright pretty, and wasn't too much of a talker from what you've seen so far.

"His eyes are saying that he doesn't have to leave me. Not anymore." Mikasa added with certainty. She
didn't pay any of your confused expressions any mind, focused solely on a beaming Eren.

Well that's ... something.

You all got over her comment pretty quickly, returning your focus back to the cheers for Eren who was
finally being let down on the ground.

And for the first time, you were rooting the devils on.
 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐭

═════════ 𝟖𝟓𝟎 ════════

The two years you've spent in the Cadet Corps came and went faster than you expected, and each of them
only made you stronger physically and maybe mentally for the long run. Figuratively and literally.

You were older now, and more collected because of that. You and Annie were at the momentous age of
sixteen, while your counterparts, Reiner and Bertholdt, took up the big age of seventeen.

After some training in the woods with the ODM gear, you all finally touched on hand-to-hand combat. It
was highly possible you were having more fun than anyone else. You found yourself pinning down and
flipping your opponents over with ease.

After you pinned Jean down maybe three times... okay, more than three times, it was Reiner and Eren
who walked up to you two proposing a challenge.

"The commandant not working you hard enough?" Reiner chuckled lightly, but what you didn't catch was
the slight darkening of his golden irises as he stared down at you and Jean.

You were casually straddling Jean's hips, holding his arms in place as you pinned them to his chest. You
were starting to get bored of winning every round so you opted to take a mini break. Jean, on the other
hand, didn't know wether to be scared or flustered at you sitting on him.

"You could say that, yeah." You shrugged, giving Reiner a 'what-are-you-up-to?' look as you released
your grip on Jean's wrists who sighed in relief.

"Or maybe you're just not pushing yourself hard enough." Reiner challenged, a sharp edge to his voice, "I
suggest you think back to why you enlisted in the first place, (Y/n)."

He was testing you. What may have sounded like a playful tease to the other two boys, was a completely
different message for you.

"And what do you mean by that, Reiner?" You dusted yourself off as you stood up, never breaking eye
contact. He knew you'd take the bait.
"Why don't you give yourself a real challenge?" The boy smirked, crossing his muscular arms over his
chest. "See if you can beat Eren."

"Just because he put you on the ground countless times doesn't mean he'd do the same to me." You
laughed in Reiner's face, diluting his proud smirk to a pursed line.

"Then prove me wrong." Reiner pushed a surprised Eren towards you.

You quickly got into stance, using your balled fists to guard your face while spreading your legs slightly
apart. "And if I win, you have to go against Annie."

A smug look revealed itself on your face at seeing a seemingly spooked Reiner stiffen up at your
words. Ha! Two can play at this game.

Eren's eyes were as big as they could get as he stumbled in your direction before catching himself. "Uh
— Alright. Don't expect me to hold back then."

And with that the boy charged forward.

Eren was a bit faster than the others, but his strategy was sloppy. The wooden knife in his hand swung
wildly at your body to which you quickly dodged. As soon as Eren grew close enough, you quickly
grabbed ahold of the wrist belonging to the current fist swinging at your face, before using your free hand
to grab a handful of his collar to keep him from moving.

And with a quick swipe of your legs, Eren was officially on the ground. You took the wooden knife from
his hands without a problem. Jean, who decided to stick around and watch, let out a loud cackle as he
watched Eren struggle to sit up.

"Shut up, horse face!" Eren yelled.

"So," You dusted your pants off before stepping over Eren's body to get closer to a baffled Reiner. "Let's
go find Annie, shall we?"

A nervous laugh bubbled up from Reiner as he placed his hands on your shoulders, "C'mon, (Y/n). You
know I was just teasing you."

"Oh! There she is." You spotted Annie's sunflower-blonde hair flash amongst the other groups of cadets
fighting. You hurriedly called out to her, wriggling out of Reiner's grip as she approached. "Reiner told
me that he could beat—"

Your words were soon muffled as Reiner quickly placed a hand over your mouth before he stepped in
front of you, a sheepish smile quivering on his face. "(Y/n) was just kidding! I didn't say a thing of the
sort."

"Don't you dare."

Both you and Reiner looked down to see Eren finally sitting up, but still on the ground nonetheless, as he
stared daggers at Reiner. "You have to give yourself 'a real challenge', right?"

You slapped Reiner's hand away before adding on, "Yeah! Show us what you're made of Braun!" You
slapped the knife into Reiner's sweaty palm before shoving him towards Annie, which wasn't very far
considering the boy was pure muscle.

You could see the dark glint in Annie's arctic-blue eyes as she got into her signature fighting stance,
making that your cue to run for your life. You quickly jogged over to Jean before you both were watching
the two in amusement.

"This is gonna be good." You snickered to Jean.

"Oh, trust me, I know." He replied. He already watched Annie knock her past opponents flat.

"I guess a soldier can't really afford to back down." Reiner stretched his arms and legs before firmly
holding the knife in his grasp. After working up the courage, the boy decided to finally stride over to
Annie, "Get ready cause—"

In the blink of an eye, Reiner was practically a big human pretzel on the ground while Annie walked
away untouched. You and Jean were howling with laughter, hanging onto each other's arms as you
gasped to catch your breaths.

Even Eren was laughing, though he turned away when Reiner attempted to look at him, just to continue
his laughs facing you two instead.

━━━━

"You son of a bitch!"

"Bring it on, dumbass!"

You didn't have to look up from your meal to know who those words belonged to, but you did
anyways. A dinner and a free show. What could be any better? you thought sarcastically as you watched
an angry Jean and Eren bark into each other's faces.

"You rip my shirt, you're dead!"

"I don't give a damn about your shirt! You piss me off!"

Your eyes eventually wandered to the table beside them, where a familiar blonde was seated. He quickly
caught your gaze, flashing you a smile and a little wave to which you happily returned.

You pointed to the shouting duo before spinning your finger around in a circular motion towards your
head; the universal motion to say, 'these two are absolutely nuts'. Armin chuckled before mirroring the
boys' angry faces as he crossed his blue eyes. You quickly followed his lead, making a face of your own
before you both burst out laughing.

That was until Eren slammed Jean into the floor with a loud thud. You gasped when you recognized the
stunt Eren did. You noticed Annie's eyes widening at the sight as well, as she sat across from you.

Eren successfully pulled off her signature fighting move.

Jean sat up, clutching at the pained spot on his head as he stared daggers up at Eren, "Dammit! What the
hell was that move?"

"Little something I picked up this afternoon while you were busy cackling like a horse on the sidelines."
Eren jabbed, "You really think the Military Police is your ticket to the good life? You're not a soldier.
You're a joke."
The mess hall grew intensely quiet. Every pair of eyes in the place was locked on Jean and Eren, who
only glared at each other with each passing second. This was the first time you've seen Jean not give a
comeback to Eren's snarky remarks. You had to assume that Eren's comment must've really hit home.

The silence was quickly broken by the slow creak of the mess hall's entrance, the door opening to reveal
the darkened figure of a bald man as he peered in.

"Would someone care to explain the little commotion I heard just now?" Commandant Sadies glowered,
making the whole room feel uneasy with his menacing stare. "I do hope everything's alright."

Eren and Jean quickly scattered back to their tables, looks of dread painted all over their faces as they sat
down. It was dead silent yet again as everyone's eyes darted to and from each other in anxiety.

"Sasha passed some gas, commandant." Mikasa declared, earning a loud gasp from Sasha across the
room.

You slapped a hand over your mouth to conceal your giggles as Annie subtly did the same across from
you. The room was filled with hushed snickers and laughs as everyone willed themselves to hold it
together.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sadies grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose as he walked back into the
night. "For the love of god, Sasha, learn some self-control."

As soon as he left, the room erupted into howling laughter. Mikasa took it upon herself to deliver a loaf
of bread to Sasha in apology to which Sasha happily accepted. It seems all was well.

━━━━━━

With a backdrop of the dark forest and the moon beaming bright against a dusky night sky, you were only
being coaxed further into sleep. Nothing but the distant sounds of crickets and possibly an owl hoot or
two filled the space as you all waited for Annie to bring up what she dragged you all outside for. It was
nearly dawn.

You all were just outside of the camp's barricade, using piles of chopped trees for your seats as you made
yourself comfortable. You sat beside Bertholdt, resting your head on his shoulder while he rested his head
on top of yours. You both were halfway asleep at this point while Reiner glared at you two through his
sleepiness.

"Bertholdt, (Y/n), wake up." Reiner grumbled, earning nothing but sleepy groans from the both of you in
protest. At that, Reiner officially gave up, opting to lean his head back against another chopped tree as he
began to doze off.

Meanwhile Annie watched you all with an apathetic face. If you bothered to open your eyes to look,
you'd be able to tell that she was calling all three of you an idiot in her head. But you didn't have to
because she made it clear.

"Wake up, idiots."

The three of you instantly jumped from her loud voice, being slightly startled that she actually spoke
instead of just coldly staring you all down.
"While you all slept like babies after a long day of playing with your friends, I was crawling around the
royal capital's sewers." Annie yawned, stretching her arms above her head. "I ran into a man in a black
coat that was different from the rest of them. He's the real deal. He almost caught me and might've seen
my face. If I join the MP's and he's there, I'm through."

"So that's it, huh?" Reiner groaned, scratching at his short blonde strands in frustration.

"Let's just go back to Marley with all the information we have so far. It's been five years since we came
here, I think they'll be happy to hear anything at all, at this point." Annie suggested.

"Do you really believe that?" Reiner scoffed, earning no reply from Annie as she stared down at her
shoes. "I'm sure Marley will be more than disappointed with us if all we can bring back after five years is
little information. Especially with one less Titan."

It grew exceptionally quiet as you all thought about it. Hell, you nearly forgotten about the mission itself,
the end goal had wandered far from your mind the past years. You found yourself actually... enjoying
your time in Paradis? Who would've thought the evil devils you all were afraid of would be so fun and
well... human.

And besides that, you felt that Reiner was right for once. You all gained little to none when it came to
information about anything actually important to Marley like where the Founder Titan resides.

"I know you don't wanna hear it, Annie, but Reiner's right." You added on, rubbing at your eyes to will
the sleep away.

"Then what? What should we do?" Annie asked. She seemed desperate, almost, as arctic blue irises
darted to and from each of your faces.

"... We'll breach Wall Rose." Reiner declared. His words instantly made your head perk up, throwing
Bertholdt's off in the process.

At seeing your worried expression, Reiner quickly went to explain himself, "That's the only way left for
us to lure out the Founding Titan. If we just sit around playing this game for the rest of our time here,
we'll never find it."

Your slumped shoulders told him that you knew he was right. And you did. You just hated the thought of
disrupting more lives, especially when you came to know so many people affected by the first breach. It
made things so much harder now that you let yourself get comfortable with them.

"The day our class is in the Trost district is the same day the Survey Corps will be going on a expedition
beyond the walls." Reiner continued, "If we create as much chaos as possible, even our class will have to
get involved somehow. We can disappear through all the commotion. Even if they never find our bodies,
nobody will suspect that we made it out alive."

"A lot of your friends will die." Annie said bluntly, "Maybe even all of them."

You all watched as Reiner stood up from his spot to walk over to Annie, squatting down until his face
was mere inches from hers. "How many times have I told you? They aren't our friends. This camp is full
of Eldian devils. They're nothing like us, but it doesn't hurt to gain their trust. If anything, you always
isolating yourself is way more—"

"I'm going to puke." Annie blurted out, "Could you please not put your face so close to mine?"

It was like watching a totally different person talk. This person was the one you forgot about years ago;
the one who put Annie in a choke hold to continue the mission, the one who stomped over corpses to
break through Wall Maria's gate, the one who couldn't even view the Eldians as nothing more than
monsters, was right before your eyes again.

But if you all had to pick the closest person to the others here, it would be Reiner. He took on a new role
for himself in that camp. He had become something that was entirely different from his true self.
Someone strong, wise, a leader. Reiner made himself a role model, someone the others could lean on.

Had it really been all an act?

Reiner stood up and moved away from Annie, "You must be tired. I'm sorry for always putting the
burden on your shoulders."

He took a look over at you, and he could instantly tell that you were looking at him with different eyes.
The look of analyzation on your face said it all.

He heaved a heavy sigh before walking away, "Let's just leave it at that today."

You all slowly followed suit, shuffling through the grass as you made your way back to camp.

"Ive been having the same dream over and over." Bertholdt said suddenly, "I keep dreaming of that old
man who hung himself in that camp... I always wonder why he told us that story before he put the noose
around his neck."

You all were quiet as you thought over what it meant.

════════ A FEW DAYS LATER ═══════

You stood in a hall with heigh ceilings and tall stone pillars, each one adorning a lit candle to give the
space a warm golden glow. Chatter flowed through the hall loudly, accompanied by the occasional clink
of mugs clashing together in toast.

It was finally graduation night.

The official ceremony happened earlier in the evening. You, Bertholdt, Annie, and Reiner all successfully
managed to make it to the top ten of the class, in the top five spots actually. But you didn't expect
anything less; you would've been more surprised if you all didn't make it to the top. All those extra years
of training in Marley had to have been good for something.

Tonight should've been a happy moment, a time to give yourself a pat on the back in congratulations. But
being surrounded by everyone's smiling faces, giddy with excitement at choosing a regiment soon, you
only felt sad. You felt bad for them, to be more specific. You knew that Reiner's plan would be coming
into effect soon. It'd be like Shiganshina all over again.

You wished there was another option to find the Founding Titan without having to end more lives in the
process, but you knew that the wall breaching plan was the only way. You had a mission to carry out,
after all, you should be more urgent about doing anything to get you back home. But you genuinely liked
it in Paradis.

There were no guards hounding you for no reason, you weren't being taunted for your 'filthy blood', no
military officiants belittling you to nothing more than their personal weapons. Hell, even the armbands
seemed a little dumb now. I really went through all that just to get a damn piece of fabric?
But you knew you had to go back to Marley eventually. You couldn't stay in the ignorant bliss of Paradis
forever, could you?

"Hey."

You blinked out of your deep stare into your mug of water, your rippling reflection looking back at you
until you looked up to see your favorite blonde.

"Hi." You smiled, watching Armin sit down across from you at the table.

"You okay?" He asked, concerned blue eyes studying your face for any hints. "You're sitting all by
yourself."

"Oh, I'm okay! I chose to sit by myself." You chuckled. "Everyone else seems to be a little busy, so."

Reiner and Bertholdt were so wrapped in a conversation with a group of guys, it felt weird for you to
stand around them, Annie was nowhere to be found as usual, and everyone else was with their own little
friend groups, so you sat by yourself.

"But thanks for checking in on me." You said, "It means a lot."

"Of course. I'll never be too busy for you." Armin's eyes bulged out as soon as the words left his mouth,
like he hadn't meant to say the sentence out loud. He hurriedly turned away, pretending to take a look
around the hall, "So, uh, what regiment do you plan on joining?"

You giggled at his bashfulness before answering, making Armin's lips pull up into a sheepish smile. "I've
actually been leaning towards the Scouts."

Your answer should've been the MP's to go with Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt, but that didn't match up
with what you told him in the woods that night so long ago. You told him that you joined the ranks to
fight back against the Titans, how would you do that if you joined the Military Police? The Scouts were
all about fighting back and reclaiming the lost land, so it made more sense.

Just as you expected, Armin shot out the question. "While I'm not surprised that you'd wanna go for the
Scouts, why not go for the MP's? You made it in the top ten, so you're eligible to live a comfortable life
behind the walls."

"It sounds nice, but being an MP would mean sitting around. I'd rather be on the frontlines, fighting
back." You answered, "Sometimes being comfortable isn't always a good thing. Just like everyone behind
the walls. They've become too comfortable with being cooped up in a stone cage when they should be out
fighting for their freedom. This place'll never grow if they don't push beyond."

You weren't even trying to rant, but the words spilled from you nonetheless. You grew quiet as you
realized just how much you talked, but Armin seemed to enjoy hearing you talk. He liked the way you
think, the passion in your voice, the determined glint in your (e/c) eyes.

"You sound a lot like someone I know." Armin laughed softly before taking a sip from his mug.

"Uh oh. I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing." You laughed before taking a sip from your own mug.

"Hmm." Armin put on a fake look of thought, furrowing his eyebrows up as he tapped a finger to his
chin. The corner of his lips curled up slightly as he watched your expression go from playful to worried.

You reached over to move his finger away from his face with a whine, "Armin. Say something."
"I'm just kidding." He laughed, wrapping the rest of his fingers around your hand. "I think it's a good
thing. You're very passionate."

You were sure that your stomach did a full somersault. "Took you long enough." You grumbled, the
corners of your lips giving you away as you willed yourself to stop smiling.

You didn't want to let go of his hand just yet, so you took the courage you had left to grab onto it with
both hands. You busied yourself with tracing shapes, etc. into his palm as you continued the conversation,
"So what about you? Which regiment are you thinking about joining?"

Armin's cheeks were slowly growing their signature shade of light pink as he stared down at the both of
your hands. The slow drag of your fingers against his palm was enough to make his brain malfunction. "I
— I, uh. I-I'm thinking about joining the Scouts."

You were genuinely surprised by that, "The Scouts, huh? Why the Scouts and not the Garrison
regiment?"

"My reason is similar to yours; I don't want to sit by when there's an overwhelming threat to humanity
from the Titans." Armin explained, "It wouldn't feel right to not fight back.. I'm through with letting other
people fight for me."

"I think you'll do great in the Scouts. They'll be lucky to have you join them." You complimented him
with a smile. And you were being honest. Armin was a very smart individual, and it showed. Through
every test and drill in the Cadet Corps, Armin had an idea to win. Whichever regiment he decided to join
would be gaining a valuable asset.

"Thanks, (Y/n)." Armin's voice grew dreamy-like. His hand curled up against yours as you two continued
to hold hands, too lost in each other's eyes to even worry about what was going on around you.

"Ahem."

You both instantly jumped, turning to see Bertholdt and Reiner standing at the end of your table.

"I'm sorry. Were we interrupting something?" Reiner scowled, not even trying to hide the disapproval
written on his face. His darkened golden hues were trained on you and Armin's hands, making you slide
your hand out of Armin's grasp.

"Hey, Armin." Bertholdt greeted him with a look of worry before turning to you, "Hey, (Y/n), could we
talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure.." You drawn the word out as you stood up, turning to give Armin an apologetic look.

Armin could feel the tension and knew not to push it, but he definitely didn't like the idea of Reiner
pushing you around. Armin wasn't oblivious, he noticed Reiner's mannerisms way back on the cliff that
night.

Armin stood up as well before reaching over to give your hand a final gentle squeeze, in spite of the
subtle twitch of Reiner's jaw. "It's okay. I'll talk to you later, 'kay?"

"Okay." You smiled, squeezing back before Armin turned to leave, headed towards Eren and Mikasa. He
subtly took peeks over his shoulder to keep an eye on you the whole walk there.

Reiner and Bertholdt led the way towards the back of the hall where there were less people, since
everyone was mostly crowded towards the front near the tables of food.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" You asked, furrowing your eyebrows up at the duo.

"Do you like Armin?" Reiner burst out, turning to face you with an unreadable look. Bertholdt just stood
there, anxious green eyes darting between you and Reiner's tense statures.

You scrunched your nose at him before answering, "And what does that have to do with anything? Why
don't you mind your own business instead of snooping around mine?"

"(Y/n). Armin's an Eldian devil. He's—"

"Oh, brother. Here you go." You groaned, rubbing a hand down your face in frustration. "Now they're
devils, but just earlier they were your comrades. Your friends. You were just laughing it up minutes ago
with the damn devils—"

"That's not the same!"

"Oh, but it is! So you can kiss everyone's ass but I can't talk to Armin? What happened to 'gaining their
trust' huh?" You snapped.

"So you do like Armin?" Bertholdt chimed in, earning you and Reiner's attention. "... You never
answered the question."

You stared daggers at Bertholdt, your (e/c) eyes darkening with a murderous glint. If looks could kill,
Bertholdt would've dropped dead. Dammit. Of course, he'd notice. I was almost in the clear.

"No." You grumbled, "I don't see Armin in that way."

Liar.

You held Bertholdt's gaze. Who do you think you're fooling? You knew that he knew you were lying, you
were just wondering if he was going to make you admit it. After a couple seconds (that felt more like
hours) of staring, Bertholdt eventually heaved a sigh as he surrendered.

His face softened before he turned to Reiner, "Well if she says she doesn't like Armin then there's your
answer."

"Thank you, Bertholdt." You muttered before you turned to walk away.

Reiner quickly walked after you, "Wait, (Y/n). I'm—"

"Are you insane?!" Someone yelled out on the other side of the hall.

The chatter went dead silent as everyone turned to the source of the noise. Thomas Wagner. He was in the
crowd of people surrounding Eren, Armin, and Mikasa. He took a look around the room at first before
lowering his voice to talk.

At this point, you, Bertholdt, and Reiner were intrigued, the past conversation long forgotten. You all
walked closer to the spectacle before taking a seat at your original table, a little closer to the group. Annie
sat just across already, sipping from her mug of water as she watched on.

"Things have changed. Maybe not a helluva lot, but enough. Titans aren't the mystery they were five
years ago." Eren voiced loudly, everyone hanging onto his every word. "Every battle we've lost taught us
a lesson, gave us the tiniest push towards hope, and you're telling me that you wanna just throw the towel
in? Let all the death and destruction be meaningless? Not on your life! Humanity's future lies outside the
walls, and I'm gonna clear the way! I'm gonna take back what was ours!"
It was dead silent again as Eren finished up his speech, finally noticing how every eye in the hall was
locked on him. It wasn't long before he suddenly ran away, bursting through the double doors with all the
urgency in the world. Armin and Mikasa immediately ran after him while the rest of you stared at each
other, dumbfounded.

Sasha took this moment of timid silence as an opportunity to voice loudly, "Well... I call dibs on the last
piece of bread."

━━━━━━

It was a bright and sunny day in the lively city of Trost. There was an excited buzz in the air at the sight
of the Survey Corps trotting through the streets. Children and adults alike lined the sides, cheering on the
soldiers draped in pine-green as they embarked on yet another journey beyond the walls.

They rode on chocolate brown steeds, their pine-green capes flapping in the wind to show off the Survey
Corps emblem on their backs. A well-built man with bleach-blonde hair and bold blue eyes led the way,
followed immediately by a giddy person with auburn-brown hair and thick glasses, and a shorter man
with jet-black hair and a deep scowl. Your group's eyes lingered on the latter.

"So that's humanity strongest soldier, huh?" Annie scoffed.

"Where's the rest of him?" Reiner chuckled.

You all stood out amongst the crowd of smiling bright faces, apprehensiveness etched into your features
while your counterparts took up apathetic expressions. You watched as the Survey Corps inched closer to
the wall's gate, oblivious to what would happen as soon as they're gone.

As soon as they were out of sight, your group was on the move. Using the cover of the streets busy
celebration, your disappearances were barely noticed. Annie led the way, pulling you all further away
from the busy streets and into the empty backstreets and alleys.

You eventually came to one empty alley in particular, tucked away behind some buildings. The distant
sounds of loud chatter and laughter was still echoing past the empty streets to your ears when Annie
reached down to lift up the cover to a sewer canal.

Everyone but Annie immediately pinched their noses, seeing as she's grown used to the smell.

"Bertholdt, you'll have to go out this way." She instructed, "I'll go with you so you don't get lost."

"Okay." Bertholdt uttered nasally. He looked queasy as Annie slid through the opening in the ground to
climb down the ladder, before he soon followed suit. A squeal echoed through the opening immediately
afterwards.

"What? What's wrong?" You yelled as low as you could, without causing an echo.

"Nothing. Bertholdt's just being a baby." Annie deadpanned.

"That rat was the size of your head!" Bertholdt shrieked.

Reiner rolled his eyes as he grabbed the covering to the opening, "We'll meet back here after you're
done." He voiced loudly into the opening before positioning the cover over it loosely.
"C'mon. Let's go before the others notice we're gone." You said, already speed walking for the end of the
alley.

"Or do you just wanna get back to Armeen." Reiner taunted with a snicker. You shot him a cold glare,
quickly cutting off his laughter as he followed you. "You've grown up to be so mean."

"I wouldn't be mean if you'd stop picking at me." You quipped, not even facing him but choosing to
continue walking.

"We used to be close." He continued, ignoring your remark. "And then Por— Armin came along and it
tore us apart."

"It went to shit way before I met Armin." You muttered to yourself. Your bond with Reiner split a long
time ago, five years to be exact. The moment he put Annie in a choke hold, the moment he crashed
through that gate in Shiganshina, was the moment you looked at him with new eyes, a new perspective.
"You're not the same person I knew."

Reiner caught only the last part, striding to make it to your side, "(Y/n)—"

"There you are!" Sasha yelled out. She was practically glowing, her smile so big that her eyes were
squeezed shut by her pink tinted cheeks.

"Hey!" You yelled back, relieved for the interruption. You jogged up to meet the auburn-haired girl.
"Where's everyone else?"

"Oh! They're already on the wall. We've been looking everywhere for you guys." She replied. "I was just
heading there now if you wanna come with."

"Sure!" You turned back to Reiner to give him the details, but he was already gone. With a shrug, you
turned back to Sasha as she soon led the way through Trost.

You soon noticed that Sasha would only display her left side to you. To test your theory, you slightly
leaned forward as if you were taking a peek at something past her. She swiveled slightly with your
movements, but not quick enough. You still caught the big lumpy object under her jacket.

At your curious stare, she heaved a sigh of defeat. "Oh, fine. You caught me." Sasha lifted her jacket to
reveal a big hunk of tied meat casually being held against her side.

"What the he—!" Sasha immediately slapped a hand that reeked of meat over your mouth.

"Shhh!" She whisper-yelled, her brown eyes cautiously darting around her surroundings. "I got it from
the officer's pantry. I promise I'll share with you if you be quiet."

You snatched her greasy hand away from your face before you whisper-yelled, "Sasha, you'll get in
trouble! You need to take that back before they realize it's missing."

"Hell no!" She whisper-yelled back, her brown eyes soon growing watery. "I won't let them take my
precious Meaty away."

"... You named it?" You deadpanned.

"... Yes."

At that, you burst out laughing; a loud, hearty laugh full of amusement. A relieved Sasha soon joined in,
giggling until her laugh was just as loud as yours. You two looked like giddy idiots laughing loudly in the
streets side by side as you walked.
Your laugh soon subsided into chuckles as you took a closer look around you.

Stands lined the busy streets, filled with jewelry, clothing, food, fruit, etc. Whatever you could think of,
there was a stand for it. Little kids raced each other, weaving through the small gaps between people to
reach their finish line. Mother's held their bouncing babies close as they shopped, some dragging along a
jittery toddler or two.

Life.

Sasha noticed your wandering eyes and smiled, "First time here, huh?"

"Yeah." You answered, "There's just so much going on. So much to see and so much to do."

"Yup! Trost's a busy city." Sasha chirped, "There's always something going on around here."

"For this town to be so close to where the breach was, you would think nothing ever even happened. Life
is bustling here." You comment.

"Well it has been five years now. Can't live in fear forever." Sasha shrugged, "Plus, I like to think we've
made the walls a lot stronger these past years. Maybe that Colossal Titan's given up on us."

Her words made you frown, an unsettling chill running down your spine as you grew quiet.

I'm sorry, you wanted to say. I'm so sorry.

The feeling of guilt settled on your shoulders like an old friend, curling up to make itself comfortable as
you inched closer to the walls.

━━━━━━

You stood atop Wall Rose now, giving you a birds eye view of either side of the wall. You were closer
than ever now to the blue skies above, not a cloud in sight to hide the glaring sun. Sasha was practically
skipping as she led you closer to the group: Thomas, Mina, Connie, Eren, and Samuel. They were
cleaning the newly installed cannons when you two finally made it to them.

"Can you guys keep a secret?" Sasha was giddy with excitement as everyone turned to look. She lifted
her jacket open to reveal Meaty, a smile dancing on her face as she bounced on the balls of her feet. "I
totally just helped myself to the officer's pantry!"

Just as you expected, a chorus of shocked gasps was given in return to Sasha's statement.

"Sasha, they could throw your butt in a cell for that!" Eren exclaimed.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you?" Samuel burst out.

"What isn't wrong with her?" Connie didn't look the least bit surprised as he leaned against a cannon
lazily.

"I tried to stop her." You shrugged.

"It'll be fine. I'm willing to share with all of you." Sasha was drooling at the mouth now, her eyes lidded
as she daydreamed, "Just imagine all the sandwiches we can make." She shuddered, an animalistic noise
escaping her mouth as she smiled.

Yeah, this girl's too far gone.

"Go put it back!" Connie demanded to no avail. Sasha was too busy in lala land.

"Do you have any idea how rare meat has been since the Titans took down Wall Maria?" Mina
exclaimed, a look of worry settled into her usual enthusiastic face.

"Um.. a little bit. Sure." Sasha halfheartedly agreed, earning annoyed groans from everyone else. "Just
look at it this way: pretty soon, we're gonna take back all the land we need for livestock. We'll be
swimming in meat."

At that, everyone grew quiet. Anxious glances being exchanged throughout the group before Samuel
finally broke the silence, "I would really like a slice, please!"

"If he gets some then I do too!" Connie burst out immediately, his annoyed mood completely diminished.

"Me too! Save me some too!" Mina added on excitedly.

You laughed as everyone battered Sasha to make sure she'd hold them a slice. I'm gonna miss this.

As everyone got back to work, you decided to take a peek over the wall. You looked out over the empty
grass plains loitered with trees and tall hills in the distance. But more importantly, you looked directly
below. No signs of Bertholdt. That's weird—

"Whatcha' doin'?"

You flinched before turning around to see Eren behind you, a grin curled up on his tan face, his teal-green
eyes practically glimmering in the sun's light. You plastered a grin on your own face, "Just enjoying the
view. It's interesting to look at things from up here."

"Yeah, that's one of my favorite parts about being up here." Eren replied; walking towards the opposite
end, facing the city, as you followed him. "Kinda makes you feel like you're flying."

You hummed in agreement, feeling the warm breeze slither around your bodies. You both looked up just
in time to see a flock of birds soar through the expanse of blue above you.

"I can't believe it's been five whole years since it happened." Eren breathed out. His smile grew bigger on
his face as he studied the city below him, "Now look at us: ready to stand tall again."

You were just about to reply when a loud clap of thunder cut you off. You sucked in a breath, Dammit. A
familiar yellow glow enveloped everything around you before it was suddenly nothing but the sky again.
It was eerily quiet for those few seconds. Seconds that you felt dragged on forever as you spun around to
come face to face with the Colossal Titan.

Everyone was frozen to their spots, not moving an inch, as they stared at the Titan with the widest eyes
you've seen yet. The Colossal's beady black eyes soon flickered to you, looking down slightly before
landing on your (e/c) hues again. Bertholdt might not have said a thing, but you heard the message loud
and clear: Move.

"C'mon!" You yelled, practically pushing Eren off the wall as you moved to jump off. You figured you
could at least do Armin a favor and not have his best friend killed.

Just as your feet left the wall's edge, a powerful surge of hot steam shot across the top of the wall
followed by a loud boom that nearly made your ears ring.
As you latched into the wall, slamming into it's hard surface, you looked down to see Bertholdt
successfully kicked a gaping hole in the wall's gate.

"Sasha!" Mina yelled out.

You turned just in time to see Sasha half running, half falling as she chased after Samuel's limp body. She
shot a grappling hook out to anchor herself to the wall before shooting one down to Samuel, anchoring
right in his leg.

"Try not to move!" Sasha yelled down.

Your eyes hastily dragged across the wall, making a mental note of everyone currently hanging by their
wires. It seems that everyone got off the top of the wall in time. Good.

"Look at the wall!" Connie shouted, just now noticing the crumbled gate. He was growing deranged as he
stared. "They're gonna get in... They're gonna get in!"

"Let's go back to HQ for the others!" You yelled out as a suggestion. Anything to get them away from the
walls and to safety.

"No! This is our chance people!" Eren shouted, whipping out his blades with a face of sheer bravery, "Do
or die!" In the blink of an eye, Eren was speeding for the top of the wall. "We need to take out the
Colossal Titan! This is our chance! Don't let it slip away!"

You were stunned as you watched him fly up into the thick smoke billowing over the wall. No, no, no.
What is he doing?! Is he crazy?! You were conflicted on what to do next as you and the others still hung
from the wall. Do I go after him? Do I stay and just hope for the best? You heaved a heavy sigh before
finally coming to a decision.
 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲'𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞

"Take only what you need to survive! File through as calmly as possible!"

Trost's streets were in complete chaos, filled to the brim with people running for their lives as they darted
towards the wall's inner gate. It was a complete 180 from the jubilant scene you and Sasha walked
through earlier. Mothers clutched their sobbing children close to them as they ran, the sale chants from
stands now being replaced with terrified screams.

Unlike the panicked people surrounding you, you moved against the grain. You were running as fast as
you could, weaving and slipping through tight spaces within the frantic crowd with ease.

While the others went after Eren as soon as the smoke cleared, you ended up leaving them behind. You
were supposed to meet up with the others after Bertholdt was finished, to decide on what to do next.

After nearly getting lost, you were panting by the time you made it to the alleyway. Bertholdt and Annie
was just climbing out of the opening when you saw Reiner come to a running stop at the opposite end of
the alley. You both ran to meet up with the duo in the middle.

Bertholdt's Titan marks were different from the rest of you. Instead of the regular jagged lines, his marks
were more similar to his Titan and gave his face an almost skeletal look. They were already fading
though as he got to cool himself down.

"So, what now?" He asked as he slipped off the hood to his cloak. His hair was messy as he shook it out
with his hands.

"Do we leave now?" Annie asked, a tinge of hope in her voice as she closed the opening to the sewer.

"We have to wait for the Titans to come in and see if the Founding Titan will show up." Reiner thought
aloud, now pacing back and forth.

"For now, we should join up with the others. It'll give us a cover to wait around." You suggested. "If
nothing happens then we can leave when everyone's too busy with the Titans to notice us."

"Good thinking." Reiner nodded his head, looking to the others for confirmation. "What do you think?"

"I guess, if that's the only option we have left." Annie sighed eventually.

"I'm down too." Bertholdt chimed in.

"Then let's go."

 ━━━━━━

With the advance team being completely wiped out, Trost was officially overrun with pure Titans. Every
soldier was called to the Scouts HQ where they were assigned a squad and a part of the city to defend.
They've assigned the middle guard to all cadets, meaning you'd all be in charge of taking out the Titans in
the middle of Trost.

When the captains dismissed everyone, you searched and searched for Armin, but there were no signs of
the blonde or his friends. You hoped that you'd at least see him somewhere in the city.

You all were coincidentally paired in the same squad; you, Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt, in addition to a
beaming Marco. He seemed to be comforted by the fact that he landed in a group of people in the top five
of the class.

The rest of you were just glad you were already together, just in case it came down to going MIA, which
seemed to be a real possibility at this point. You'd think with another big breach happening within the
walls, the Founding Titan would've shown its face, but this was becoming harder than you'd all expected
it to be. The chances were growing slim to none for its appearance.

Not even a full hour went by before the vanguard was completely wiped out, leaving just the cadets in the
middle guard and the elites closer to the inner wall to fend off the savage Titans. There was just too many
to keep up with, they were everywhere and there wasn't enough gas between everyone to kill them all in
one round, so you all gathered in one area in the city.

With the sky growing into a gloomy cloudy canvas, there was a heavy feeling of defeat lingering in the
air as you all stood on the city's shingled roofs.

"Reiner," Annie broke the timid silence as she gave the boy a pointed look, "Should we move out?"

In other words: should we leave or finish up the breach? You all couldn't give away much with an
oblivious Marco standing just beside your group.

"Not yet. We have to let them gather up first." Reiner answered. We need more Titans to wreak havoc to
make the Founding Titan show up.

"It's no use." Marco breathed out, gaining your attention. "There's just too many of them. I don't think
any of us are going to survive this. I've accepted my pending demise. I just... I wanted my death to mean
something."

The tall freckle-faced boy seemed to be completely out of it. His light brown eyes were widened to the
max as he stared out into the city with an emotionless face.

You heaved a heavy sigh as you did your second scan of your surroundings before finally spotting the
boy you've been looking for all day. Armin. He sat on a nearby roof to himself. Despite the dreary energy,
a smile grew on your face. You were elated to see that he was alive and, from what you could see,
uninjured.

"I'll be back, guys." You barely even gave them time to reply before you were zipping off to the other
roof, which was only a short jump away.
The closer you walked to Armin, the more unsettled he appeared. He was cowering in on himself as he
sat up against another neighboring building. His blonde bangs covered half of his face as he stared down
at the roof. By the time you grew close, your smile diluted into a frown.

"Armin! It's time to go!" Sasha encouraged as she stood in front of him. At the sound of your footsteps,
she turned to you with a worried expression.

"What happened to him?" You asked in a low tone, worry crossing over your own features now as you
stood beside Sasha.

She lowered her voice as she leaned over to your ear, "Connie says he found Armin all by himself. We
think everyone from his squad was killed."

You pursed your lips in concern as your gaze shifted back to Armin. You couldn't imagine how he must
feel right now, being the only one remaining out of his whole group. He was most likely in a state of
shock. This is all our fault. I wish we didn't have to go this far.

You squatted down to his level before reaching a hesitant hand out to his shoulder, "Armin?"

At your touch he flinched, lifting his head up to reveal his big blue eyes blinking out of their hazy daze to
refocus on you. Under his watery gaze, all you wanted to do was burst out and say, 'I'm sorry!' a thousand
times.

"(Y/n)?" His voice was no louder than a whisper as he placed a shaky hand over yours on his shoulder.

"I'm here." You consoled. A lump grew heavy in your throat at the sight of tears falling down his pale
cheeks. You eventually sat down beside him, letting him cry onto your shoulder. Small sniffles that
turned into a messy sob as he shook beside you.

And all you could think was that you did this. You caused all this pain and grief. It was times like this that
you hated the most. You knew that you had a mission to fulfill, but you hated that you had to hurt the
people you cared for in the process. Hurting anyone at all brought you nothing but guilt and sadness.

"I'll be over there if you need me." Sasha watched on with a sullen look before leaving you two to
yourselves.

"I'm worthless, (Y/n). I let them all die." Armin muttered, "I should've been the one to die."

"Don't talk like that, Armin. This was out of your control." You reassured him. You didn't know what you
could say to comfort him. All you could do was hold him as his cries soon subsided.

"Armin!"

Armin flinched hard, making you look up to see who the voice belonged to. Mikasa. She held a look of
concern as she jogged over the roof to you two. You unwrapped yourself from Armin to stand up and
give them some space before you walked over to Sasha.

"What happened?" She asked, her gaze still locked on the pair you just left.

"You guys were right about his squad dying. He's really torn up about it." You answered as you soon
turned to look as well, "I just don't know who was specifically in his squad."

That is, until Armin's trembling voice resounded loudly across the rooftops as he announced, "They were
the cadets of squad 34. Thomas Wagner, Nack Tierce, Milieus Zeremski, Mina Carolina, and Eren Jaeger.
These brave five upheld their duties and died valiantly on the field of battle!"
Your nails dug into the palms of your hands at the mention of their names. Mina, the sweet girl who was
always so full of energy, was gone. Thomas, the friendly boy who was always looking out for others, was
gone. All because of you and the others.

But what really surprised you was the mention of Eren's name. You were almost sure he'd survive
through this. Hell, the boy tried to take down the Colossal Titan. You thought the pure Titans wouldn't
have been able to put a mere scratch on him.

Stunned silence followed Armin's announcement as he cried at Mikasa's feet. The latter, however, didn't
shed a single tear surprisingly. She helped Armin up to his feet before turning around to face the rest of
you as she walked away from him.

"Marco, if we eliminate or get past the Titans at HQ, we can refuel our gear and get back over the wall."
Mikasa voiced loudly, "Is that correct?"

By now, everyone gathered onto the same roof at Armin's outburst. Mikasa walked through the parted
group with purpose, drawing her blades as she did so.

"Well, yeah, I guess so— but there's just too many of them out there. Even with you on point." Marco
protested.

"I can do it!" Mikasa declared, "I'm strong! Real strong. None of you come close to my strength. I am a
warrior." Haven't heard that word in a while— "Know this: I have the power to slay all of the Titans that
block our path. Even if I have to do it alone. As far as I'm concerned, I'm surrounded by a bunch of
unskilled, cowardly worms. You all disappoint me. You just sit here and twiddle your thumbs and watch
how it's done!"

Her strong declaration immediately prompted protests throughout the group. They were trying to make
her stay, give up like the rest of you, but Mikasa didn't back down. She was bound to get back on the
field. Mikasa was just like Eren, in a way, to you. Stubbornly determined.

"If I can't beat them, then I die." Mikasa shouted once more, "But, if I win, I live. And the only way to
win is to fight!" And with those striking words, the girl was off, zipping through the streets.

You all were dumbfounded as you watched her figure grow smaller in the distance. She was moving fast
and with intention as she headed for the HQ.

"Hey! Don't just stand there!" Jean shouted, "We weren't taught to let our comrades fight alone! Unless
you're a coward, then stay out of my way!" Horse face was off to the races as he soon jumped off the
roof, followed by Connie and the rest of his squad.

It was like watching a domino effect in play. Everyone suddenly held the courage to fight on, jumping
from the roof with their blades drawn as they chased after Mikasa.

"(Y/n)! C'mon, we're heading out!" Reiner yelled over to you.

"Go ahead! I'm staying with Armin!" You yelled, despite your group's confused expression, before
turning back to said boy.

"Are you sure? I'll be okay by myself." Armin replied. His usual bright eyes were a dull shade as he
wiped his face with the sleeve of his jacket. He looked exhausted.

"I'm sure. C'mon." You grabbed onto his wrist as you led the boy towards the edge of the roof. He silently
complied, secretly grateful that you were staying with him.
Reiner and the others still stuck around to wait up on you before everyone zipped from the roof and
towards the others.

You didn't hesitate to cut into any Titan that dared to cross your paths, your steel blades digging into their
napes with no mercy as you latched from building to building. Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie watched you
with curiousity as they sped through the streets after you and Armin. Reiner almost wanted to yell out for
you to calm down so there'd still be some Titans loose around the city.

Everything was going smoothly. It seemed that Mikasa's plan of charging through to the HQ was working
as she led the group. The journey was only halfway done as you all worked together to slay the Titans
and push forward.

But then she fell.

"Mikasa!" Armin and Jean yelled out.

Mikasa abruptly fell right out of the sky before disappearing into a random group of buildings.

"Dammit! Her gas must've run out!" Jean yelled out. "She was pushing too hard!"

"C'mon!" Armin called to you before speeding off in Mikasa's direction. Without a word to your squad,
you followed after him with Connie right on your heels. "Did anyone catch where she went?"

"I saw her fall in that area." You answered, pointing over in the direction of the group of buildings.

The three of you swept every rooftop in search of her but had no luck in spotting the girl. That is until the
unmistakable roar of a pure Titan echoed out to your ears. You all immediately followed the noise, seeing
as it was the only pure Titan you could hear in that area; a telltale sign that it might've smelled a person
on the ground and followed the scent.

You all quickly zipped over to a nearby rooftop, and instantly spotted the raven-haired girl sitting on the
ground. She seemed to be in a daze as she stared at the fifteen-meter Titan who walked ahead of her.
Armin took charge and swung down to get her before coming to a crash landing on the rooftop with you
and Connie again.

"Are you guys alright?" You and Connie asked.

"Yeah, we're okay." Armin answered, getting himself to his feet before helping a shaken Mikasa up.

"Then we should head to HQ while we still can." You suggested worriedly.

Just then, a new pair of loud stomps shook the streets, warning of another pure Titan nearby. A long
fifteen-meter Titan featuring a lanky body and pale skin revealed itself from behind a building, headed
directly for the Titan you all spotted earlier.

"Dammit! Now there's two of the bastards!" Connie wailed.

"No! That one's different." Mikasa objected, pointing over to the Titan you all heard howl earlier.

You could tell right off the bat that Titan was superior. It held a tanned well-defined muscular figure. Its
choppy brown hair lay just at its shoulders, nearly covering its pointy ears and sunken green eyes. Now
that you really take a good look at it, this Titan didn't look the same as the other pure Titans at all with it's
unusual jagged and lipless mouth. It also lacked flesh on its cheeks, revealing its rows of blunt teeth and
long pointed tongue whenever it opened its mouth. After further inspection, you just chalked it up to
another abnormal.
The two Titans both gave a loud dominating roar, howling into each-other's face before the abnormal
Titan did something you all didn't expect. It raised its fists up before getting in a fighting stance.

"Huh?" All of you were confused at the sight, but your eyes couldn't tear away from the scene.

The pure Titan growled one last time before charging forward for the abnormal, but that came to an
abrupt end when the abnormal connected a hard punch to the pure Titan's jaw. So hard, in fact, that the
pure Titan's head disconnected from its body.

The disembodied head went flying through the air before reaching its final destination at a bell tower,
landing into it with a rumbling crash. You all were simply aghast, watching the incident with bulged eyes.

But what really got you was when the abnormal dealt its final blow: a ground shaking stomp on the
headless pure Titan's nape. And that's when it all clicked for you.

That's no ordinary Titan! It has intelligence!

"It— It just finished it off!" Armin's voice was colored in shock as he watched the abnormal with wide
blue eyes, "That Titan knew exactly where the weak spot was!"

"C'mon guys! Let's go while it's walking away!" Connie suggested, already attempting to walk towards
the edge of the roof. "The last thing we need is that thing coming our way!"

You were still stuck in your spot. Your widened (e/c) eyes were trained on the abnormal in great focus.
With furrowed brows and pursed lips, anyone around you could tell that the gears in your mind were
turning.

"No. It has no reaction to us." Armin noted in thought, "If it were like any other Titan, it would've already
tried to come at us instead of the other Titan."

"And it seemed to understand the skill of hand-to-hand combat." Mikasa observed, "What is that thing?"

"Let's just chalk it up to another abnormal." Connie protested, "Hell, it's always a surprise with them,
right?"

While they were still brushing through clues, you, on the other hand, were way ahead of them.

Well, it's obviously not the Jaw Titan. If it were the Founding Titan, every Titan here would've been under
its command; they wouldn't have even gone through the hassle of actually fighting anything. But then that
just leaves ... the missing Attack Titan.

A manifestation of humanity's rage.

"Let's get out of here." Connie declared, turning to walk away again before Armin grabbed his arm.

"Wait a minute! Mikasa's tanks are empty!"

"Huh?! What are we gonna do then! We can't clear HQ without Mikasa! And if we sit here, we'll get
eaten in no time!" Connie exclaimed.

"There's only thing to do." Armin declared as he sat on his knees. He quickly began to untwist his fuel
tanks from his gear, "I know there isn't much left in them, but—"

"No." You demanded, speaking up for the first time since the Titan stomped off. "We can work something
else out. How are you gonna—"
"It'll be a complete waste if I keep them." Armin objected, already sliding his fuel tanks in Mikasa's gear
to her dismay. "Just use this gas more sparingly, okay? Everyone's lives are riding on you, Mikasa." He
restocked Mikasa's blades before pulling out her broken ones, "Just leave me this, okay? I'd rather this be
my end than being eaten aliv—"

You barely gave the boy a chance to finish as you snatched the dull blade from his hand to toss it over the
roof, hearing it land on the ground with a loud clang. "Armin, I'm not gonna just stand here and listen to
you talk like this. You're coming with us."

Mikasa looked at you in newfound respect. She appreciated your efforts of sticking around with Armin
and watching over him. She squatted down to his level before grabbing his hand to help him up, "Armin,
I will not leave you behind." She said sternly, giving no room for Armin to object.

"Yeah, we're in this together." Connie slapped a hand down on Armin's shoulder in support (maybe a
little too hard, but Armin got the gist).

"B-But Titans are everywhere. You guys can't move with me on your back—" Armin protested but was
immediately cut off again. None of you were going to give in to his complaints; he was coming whether
he liked it or not.

"Let's move." Connie demanded, dragging Armin along by his wrist.

And as you and Mikasa ran, looking off in the direction of the Attack Titan (for different reasons, of
course), Armin watched you both in admiration. He found you both to be incredibly strong, physically
and mentally. Your combined strength and skill were a force to be reckoned with. But most of all, you
both had big hearts. He strived to be as good of a soldier as you two.

He was ashamed of himself; here he was being a burden and making everyone else pull through for him
again. You all didn't feel that was the case, but Armin was blinded by his insecurities. And so, he decided
to pull his weight; he'll get you all out of this one way or another.

"Hold on!" Armin snatched his wrist away from Connie, making all of you turn back to face him. "I've
got an idea!"

"Well, what is it? We're kinda on a time crunch here." Connie complained, his hazel eyes worriedly
darting over to the Attack Titan who paid none of you any mind as it roared through the streets.

You knew it wasn't coming for you guys anytime soon. If anything, you were more worried about the
regular Titans crawling around.

"Only you three are capable of pulling this off, so it's your choice." Armin started, "This might sound
crazy... But I think that abnormal could be useful. He only attacks his own kind and has no interest in us.
What if we could somehow steer him to HQ and let him wreak havoc on the Titans there?"

Connie stared at the boy as if he told him to go jump into a Titan's mouth, but knowing Connie, that's
probably exactly how Armin's idea sounded, a suicide mission. You, however, thought it was a pretty
good idea. You knew that the Titan wouldn't hurt you guys, and that way everyone stuck in HQ could be
saved.

At Connie's disturbed gaze, Armin went to explain himself, "Look, we already know that it's killed two
Titans so far. We can use him as a weapon."

"How the hell do you think we're gonna steer that thing?!" Connie burst out, "Just look at it! Punching
Titans and shit! Imagine what it'll do to us!"
"Something tells me it's running on instinct." Armin observed, "I'm almost sure that if you take down the
Titans he's fighting with now, he'll just go look for others. That'll lead him straight to the crowd of Titans
at HQ. We're not steering him, we're luring him. I think it'll work; I really do."

"Think?! You're asking us to go fly around a punching Titan because of a stupid gut feeling?!" Connie
snapped.

"If I'm right about this, we can knock out all the Titans at HQ in one round!" Armin snapped back.

"I think it's a good idea." You shrugged.

"It's worth a shot." Mikasa agreed.

Connie looked at you two with wide eyes. "Have the two of you gone insane?!"

"It's better to take a gamble on Armin's gut feeling than wait around to be killed." Mikasa explained. "If
there's a decent shot, why not take it."

"And the idea is a win-win. We'd be protected from other Titans as long as we stick around the abnormal,
while he kills them off for us." You chimed in.

Armin's smile was full of confidence at you two for believing in him, meanwhile Connie was still coming
to terms with the plan.

"... So basically, we're gonna recruit a Titan?"

"You could think of it that way, sure." You replied.

"We'll look like idiots if we mess up."

"But just imagine how many lives we'd save." Armin encouraged.

"It's still nuts ... but what the hell." Connie shrugged, "Let's do this."

With a shared smile, you all ran for the edge of the roof with a plan to turn this fight in humanity's favor.
 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐞

The plan turned out better than you all expected, making the speedy trip to HQ smooth sailing.

The grey, castle-like building was absolutely crawling with pure Titans. They walked around its
surrounding streets, climbed on it. Some Titans even managed to get on top of it. But all of this only
egged the Attack Titan on. It immediately got to work, punching Titans left and right while you, Connie,
Armin, and Mikasa found a convenient route to get in the building.

Armin shrieked in terror before you all crashed through the HQ windows at a speed that made the
shattered glass feel like nothing. Your adrenaline was pumping. You got to your feet with ease, shaking
off small pieces of glass that stuck to your clothing.

"What the hell?!" Jean shouted in disbelief.

"That was a close one! I was running on just fumes!" Connie exclaimed as he took out his empty tanks.

The large room you stood in was an absolute disaster. Desks and tables were flipped over and pushed
around the room; the bookshelves lining the wall were practically empty, seeing as all the books and their
ripped pages were scattered along the cherry wood flooring; there were splatters of blood in some areas,
as well as discarded shotguns.

Hell, there was even a gigantic hole in one of the brick walls. It gave everyone a front row seat to the
mayhem happening outside the building.

"A-Am I dreaming? Or what?" Jean sputtered as he inched closer to your unbothered statures.

In response, you reached over and pinched his arm.

"Ow!" Jean flinched, swatting your hand away.

"Does that answer your question?" Mikasa deadpanned.

You know what, Mikasa? I like your attitude, you thought to yourself with a smile.

"Armin, you're a certified genius!" Connie announced happily. He slapped Armin's back in his own
friendly way, earning a wince from Armin. "From now on, your word is law." Connie caught sight of
Jean before standing up to point out of the hole in the wall, "Check this out! We found an abnormal that
likes to fight its own kind! And the best part? He doesn't give a damn about us!"
"What?" Jean was in shock. He watched the Attack Titan stomp past the hole with wide eyes as it put
itself in another fighting stance.

"That's right! Your eyes aren't failing you yet! That big, beautiful killing machine is our way out of here!"
Connie happily rejoiced.

"Just listen to yourself! A Titan's not gonna help us!" Jean protested, having come to his senses. "You're
out of your minds if you think this could work—"

"It is working." Mikasa cut in, "For whatever reason, he's rampaging against them. Stand back and let
him do it. Trust me, you'll see for yourself soon enough."

"What other choice do we have anyways?" You asked, "You got a better idea, Jean-boy?" Jean avoided
you and Mikasa's expectant gazes in response. "I thought so. That Titan is the best chance for everyone's
survival. Just let it do its thing."

"Just look at him go! That Titan makes the others look like shit!" Connie observed, fist pumping as it
cheered the Titan on.

"Where's everyone else?" You asked, suddenly being reminded of your counterparts.

"They all ran away the second a Titan pushed it's head through this wall." Jean sighed heavily.

Ah, so that's how this happened, you thought, I don't blame them. Whatever pushed its head through
brick walls must've been a hell of a sight to see.

"We should go round everyone up." Armin suggested, "We're gonna need everyone together to plan our
next move."

And so, you all finally stepped away from the hole (Jean had to force Connie away because 'the fight was
just getting good') before retreating deeper into HQ. It was a bit of a hassle, but after finding everyone,
you all were finally grouped in one place.

It was a spacious brick and wood room that seemed to be directly over the supply room. The candle-lit
space was bare besides an an open through-the-floor lift centered in the middle of the room. Everyone sat
on the floor with faces of either worry or absolute panic.

You spotted the blank-faced trio: Bertholdt, Reiner, and Annie sitting to themselves, but their heads
perked up when they saw you walk over to them.

"Nice to see that you're alive." Annie deadpanned, looking up at you with icy eyes.

You chuckled nervously, "Yeah, sorry about that. I was with Mikasa, Armin, and Connie. We found
something that you're not gonna believe—"

"There's a big ass Titan outside that's kicking ass!" Connie exclaimed, making you jump from his sudden
appearance. "It makes the other Titans look like little weaklings! They're not getting in this building
anytime soon with him on a rampage out there."

"That sounds good, but what's to keep him from turning on us when he's done?" Reiner replied.

You and Connie shared a look before Connie replied, "Guess we'll have to worry about that when we're
safe."

"At least he's buying us a little time." Reiner remarked, his eyes flickering to you before they settled on
Connie again. You assumed he wanted you to explain more, but you couldn't with everyone plainly
sitting around.

"Good news!" Jean burst through the double doors with a group behind him. They all held wooden crates
in hand as they walked into the room. "Courtesy of the MP's, we just found a bunch of guns." Him and
the group sat the crates on the floor before ripping them open with a crowbar, revealing stacked piles of
shiny new slender shotguns within them. "Are we sure that this is gonna work though? We might as well
throw spit wads at 'em."

"I dunno' but they're better than nothing." Armin replied honestly.

The others around you all walked over to get a better look at the guns while you went over to sit next to
Armin. He sat beside a laid-out sheet of paper on the floor. On it, diagrams of the lift and the supply room
were sketched. He shot you a smile to which you fondly returned before his calculated eyes were
dragging around the room.

"We're looking at seven Titans in the supply room, and all of them are four-meters." Armin announced,
"If we time this perfectly, this much ammo should do the trick." Everyone crowded around the paper now
as he pointed out certain sketches. "Step one, we'll lower a group with guns into the supply room via lift
to get the Titans' attention. Two, when the Titans come into range, the group will fire in all four directions
on the lift to blind them. Then comes the hard part: before the Titans have time to recover, seven people
will swoop down from the ceiling and hit their napes. That's the plan. If we screw up, we're dead. That's a
hell of a risk for only one attack, but it's our only chance."

And with that, the plan was in full swing.

You were one of the people picked to kill the Titans from above; joined by Mikasa, Jean, Reiner,
Bertholdt, Annie, and Connie. While everyone else crowded onto the spacious lift, you all were forced to
use the stairs to get to the supply room.

"Okay, I'm gonna ask the obvious question." Connie said, "Can we even do this without ODM gear?"

"Those guys are only four-meters tall. Their weak spots aren't too high above eye level." Reiner
answered.

"He's right. Size won't be an issue here." Jean chimed in, "The spots are still only one meter high and ten
centimeters across."

"Back 'o the head to the nape 'o the neck!" Sasha burst out enthusiastically. She seemed to be trying to
psyche herself up as you all climbed further down the stairs.

"Worse comes to worst, you can always just shove one of these bad boys up their asses." Reiner
chuckled, holding up his blade. "That's their other weak spot."

"Are you serious? I didn't know that!" Connie seemed to take Reiner's comment seriously, watching the
boy with interest to learn more.

"Did I miss a day of training or something?" Sasha asked, scratching her head in confusion.

"No, he's just being a jackass." You rolled your eyes before feeling Reiner flick the back of your head.
Annie immediately returned the favor, turning around to flick Reiner's forehead.

"Knock it off, Reiner." Jean huffed, "You want your final words to be an ass joke?"

"I'll try to remember his honorable last words." Bertholdt held his hand to his heart dramatically, "Always
remember to shove something up a Titan's ass if all else fails."
Connie and Sasha burst out laughing. Meanwhile. you and Annie shared a look that said, 'what the hell
are we gonna do with them?' before glaring at Bertholdt and Reiner. Mikasa was quiet the whole way
down.

Finally, you all made it to the first level of the supply room. The space was set up with metal railings,
walk ramps, and fixtures above the actual room that gave a bird's eye view of everything happening on
the ground. The group was quickly split up, everyone jogging to get to their own perch around the
fixtures before the lift could come down.

You carefully hoisted yourself over the ramp's railing before grabbing onto a metal fixture connected to a
thick steel beam stretching across the room.

You could hear Connie whisper-yell on the beam parallel to yours as he watched you dangle from the
fixture, "(Y/n), I swear if you fall—"

"I'm not gonna fall!" You whisper-yelled back.

"You sure as hell look like it." Annie added from her beam, perpendicular to Connie's.

You finally hoisted yourself up onto your own beam, quickly gaining your balance. You turned to look at
Connie and Annie with a smug face. "Ha!"

You took your blades out, just in time to see the crowded lift slowly make its entrance in the middle of
the room. Every edge of the lift had multiple gun barrels jutting out at its sides, pointed at any Titan near
it. You could hear the loud clicks of them cocking their guns.

Everyone above quickly got into position, balancing on the beams at a crouch start, almost as if you were
getting ready to run in a race. You tightened your grip on your blades as you watched the scene.

"Wait for it..." Reiner announced to the rest of you.

You watched as the Titans stomped closer to the lift; it was surrounded at all angles now. Every cadet on
the lift held their guns at eye level, actively taking their aim. One final stomp echoed into the space as the
last Titan stepped closer.

"Fire!" Marco yelled out.

The lift was aglow with bright bursts of light, echoing blasts overpowering the once quiet room. Just as
planned, the Titans were caught off guard and temporarily blinded, clutching at their steaming eyes as
they staggered backwards.

"Go!" Jean yelled out.

You instantly sprinted forward, balancing along the steel beam as you dashed to the lift's area. You zeroed
in on a pair of Titans directly below you, "I got that one!"

"I'll take the other one!" Connie yelled back before you both jumped off your beams at once.

You free-fell through the air before your blades were digging through the flesh of a Titan's nape like a hot
knife through butter. A spurt of steam instantly shot out at you before you landed on your feet, running to
get out of the way as the degenerating Titan collapsed.

"Did everyone kill theirs?" Mikasa yelled out.

Your cautious eyes scanned the numerous steamy corpses on the floor before widening at the Titan that
still stood tall to your side.
Connie didn't cut deep enough.

"Shit!" He yelled with bulged hazel eyes. "My bad!"

The Titan didn't seem to like his apology though as it kneeled over to look at Connie in the face. This was
your chance. With the Titan bending over, the nape was easier to access without ODM gear.

You sprinted forward before jumping up and slamming your feet down onto the Titan's shoulders with
force, making it fall on its face as Connie dashed to get out of the way. To your shock, Annie ran over to
finish the job, slicing through the nape with ease.

You both gave each other a look of genuine surprise before Connie came running over.

"You both saved my life!" He wrapped his arms around both of you, squeezing you in a forced group
hug. "I owe you one!"

"Yeah, yeah. Get off of me." Annie said flatly.

Connie immediately let her go in fear of getting hit, but his other arm was still wrapped around you. You
furrowed your brows as he turned back to you.

"... Are we about to kiss right now?"

"Connie, get away from me." You smushed his face away from yours with a chuckle.

"I'm kidding! Just kidding!" He laughed, unwrapping himself from you before his laugh was cut short,
"Unless—"

"Nope." You confirmed.

"Damn, okay." Connie chuckled, scratching at the back of his head. "Tough crowd."

"They're all dead! Start loading up supplies!" Jean announced as the others brought the lift down.

Everyone immediately scattered off to the huge gas tanks lined around the brick walls to refill their gear.

"I can't believe that worked!" Armin exclaimed as he filled his gear up beside you, "I half expected it to
crash and burn."

"Duh! You should've known it would work!" You encouraged, "That plan was so well thought out for
something you just came up with in minutes. You should have more confidence in yourself, it looks good
on you."

A sheepish smile curled up on Armin's face as he re-connected his tanks to his gear. You wondered why
he grew so quiet as you finished up your own gear. Turns out he was just waiting for you.

As soon as you were done, you were in a warm embrace. You stumbled backwards out of surprise,
making Armin laugh, before you quickly returned the favor and wrapped your arms around his neck.

"What's this for?" You chuckled. Truthfully, you didn't care what the reason was; you'd take a hug from
Armin anytime, any-day for whatever.

"To say thank you." Armin murmured. "And also, just because I wanted to hug you."

"Hmm... Sounds good enough." You joked, making him laugh again before he pulled away. You frowned
at the hug's end.
"C'mon, we'll hug more later." He chuckled, grabbing onto your hand as he gently led you to the exit.
You practically skipped with happiness beside him.

"You ready, people? Let's do this!" Marco yelled out, earning whoops of cheer as you all stepped out into
the HQ's sunny courtyard.

This was a reinvented group that came out that building. What was once defeated was now fully
energized, hopeful, and ready for anything as everyone zipped off in different directions.

You looked up to one of the surrounding buildings in the courtyard to see a familiar figure standing atop
the roof. "There's Mikasa." You pointed her out to Armin.

"Let's go." He replied before you both hurriedly zipped up to the roof.

Mikasa was so into whatever she was staring at, she didn't even notice you, Armin, and the others land
behind her. She flinched out of surprise when Armin finally spoke up, "What are you doing? We have to
leave!"

"Look over there." She pointed to a building across the street with wide eyes. You both followed her
direction to see the Attack Titan. It was leaning in a caved-in building, being completely surrounded by
pure Titans who were .. eating it?

Oh, right. If there's someone inside who holds the power of a Titan, the pure Titans are automatically
drawn to it. They wanna eat the shifter, not the actual Titan itself.

"Cannibalism?" Armin questioned in shock. "Can he not regenerate like the others?"

"This may sound stupid, but I was hoping he'd be the key for us." Mikasa admitted, "I was hoping that
he'd help mankind break the cycle, turn the tide in our favor just long enough to give us some hope."

"He still can." Reiner chimed in, "He's too valuable to just let die. There's too much we can learn from
him. I think it's perfectly clear our priority should be to get the scavengers off him. He's no good to us
picked apart."

It seems it finally dawned on Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie what the Titan really was. Each of them gave
you a knowing look. They finally understood what you meant earlier when you talked to them.

"Are you guys out of your mind?!" Jean blurted out, "We've finally got a path out of this nightmare and
you wanna stay? For that?!"

"Just think about it. Having an abnormal as an ally would be a game changer." Annie argued, "A cannon's
got nothing on a Titan who likes to rip apart its own kind."

"Do you hear yourself? It's like you're talking about a new friend!" Jean exclaimed. He was absolutely
baffled as he gawked at you all with wide eyes.

New foot stomps soon echoed out to your ears. You all turned to see a pale tall, lanky pure Titan step
through the streets. It seemed to be headed for the direction of the Attack Titan like the others.

"That's the abnormal that ate Thomas!" Armin cried out.

At that, the Attack Titan seemed to have regained its strength. It shook the pure Titans off with ease as it
took off in long strides towards the lanky abnormal with a loud roar. With both of it's arms being bitten
off, it opted to use it's mouth as it chomped down on the lanky abnormal's nape.
You all were genuinely surprised to see it lift the abnormal up over it's head, strictly using it's mouth,
before using the abnormal's body as a weapon. It swung the body around, slapping any Titan off that
came near it before finally dropping the body on the ground.

With a final ground shaking roar, the Titan collapsed in a fog of steam from degeneration.

"Now what were you guys saying?" Jean said, "Cause I think it's a non-factor now.. Alright! Let's leave
while we can! We're lucky the ugly bastard didn't get bored and eat on us instead!"

None of you moved from your spots on the roof. Your eyes were glued to the Titan's open nape,
attempting to see through the wafting steam to get a good look at whoever was gonna come out of the
there. All you could see was a hunched over (human) figure.

I was right! This is the Attack Titan! I knew there had to be a shifter in there. This thing couldn't have
been a regular abnormal all this time.

But what really surprised you was the face you saw when the figure finally straightened out. Your eyes
nearly fell out your head as you sucked in a loud gasp.

Eren Jaeger?!

When you all brought him up to one of the HQ's towers, you couldn't do anything but stare in shock. The
figure you saw was indeed Eren. His steamed body was unconscious as he slumped against a sobbing
Mikasa. They both sat on the brick surface while the rest of you stood behind them.

Armin took tentative steps as he approached them. He looked like he saw a ghost; hell, he probably
thought he did. With his watery blue eyes, he collapsed to his knees by their side. He slowly raised Eren's
left arm, as if he were afraid it would break off, before interlocking their hands. Soon enough, Mikasa's
cries weren't the only ones you heard as Armin sobbed.

You wanted to be happy for Armin and Mikasa. Truly. They were lucky enough to get their childhood
friend back from the dead and reconnect. But you knew that this happy moment was short lived.

You worriedly glanced over at Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt. Three people so desperate to get back home
and finish a mission, that they'd take anything at this point. And lord behold, the biggest reward of all just
dropped from the sky. The missing Attack Titan finally found. Marley would have a field day with this.

Eren was in danger.

━━━━━━

"Hey, guys!" Ymir yelled out, "Where's Mikasa? Did she get hurt or what?"

After finally getting out of Trost, everyone was safely inside Wall Rose now. Well, everyone but Armin,
Mikasa, and Eren. Once the officers learned about what happened, they immediately took the others to
who knows where. The rest of you sat in the silent streets of Krolva district, awaiting your next orders.

You and your counterparts didn't get to talk much about Eren's Titan. You hadn't had a chance to split
away from the other cadets. You, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, and Jean were the ones to help Mikasa and
Armin take Eren up the wall and to the officers.
"You guys gonna say something?" Connie asked, referring to Ymir's question. They sat at a picnic-style
table across from the one you sat on.

"Wish we could." Jean grumbled beside you as he sat on the table's bench, "They slapped us with a gag
order. Can't say a thing about what we saw."

"You're joking, right?" Connie asked in disbelief.

"That's just nuts." Ymir chimed in, "We probably would've been able to see for ourselves if the bastards
would let us in." She was a tall, slim girl with a tan complexion. Intimidating brown eyes and freckles
graced her slender facial features. Her cocoa brown hair was always styled in a ponytail, besides the two
long bangs that framed her face.

"We volunteered to run supplies, but the situation was so bad that they wouldn't allow us to go in."
Christa explained. As usual, she stood beside Ymir with a worried expression. Christa was a shorter,
petite girl with long, sunflower-blonde hair and big blue eyes.

Jean scoffed, "They're nuts if they think people aren't gonna talk about something as big as that. Word'll
get out, and when it does, it's not gonna be pretty. And that's if we even survive."

Even though Eren's Titan killed a significant amount of the Titans in Trost, it still didn't help with the
gaping hole in Wall Rose's outer gate. You were sure that as soon as everyone left, Trost was overrun
with pure Titans again. Krolva district was just on the other side of Wall Rose's inner gate, giving you all
some type of barricade from the chaos.

"Be lucky you didn't have to be there." You sighed, referring to Ymir and Christa. "It was hell in there."

"Hell, huh? You were scared of a few Titans?" Ymir scoffed at you. And what is that supposed to
mean? You narrowed your eyes at her before a smirk curled up on her face.

As if on cue, a wagon full of wounded soldiers trotted past in the streets by horse. Some hung their heads
low in defeat while others simply laid limp. Bloody bandages covered most of their bodies.

"This is a nightmare!" Daz shrieked, startling everyone around him. He sat on his knees at Marco's feet,
clinging onto the surprised boy as he sobbed.

"Oh, brother. Here comes a tantrum." Ymir snorted.

"Stop being mean. He's scared." Christa scolded.

"Calm down!" Marco yelled, attempting to push Daz off of him.

"I watched those monsters eat my squad!" Daz cried out, hanging onto Marco's jacket now. "I saw my
friends die and I wasn't even mad or sad! All I could think was 'better you than me'! But soon, I know I'll
be up too! I'll be next! We're supposed to fight those Titans until they eat every last one of us! But I don't
wanna get eaten!" Daz reached to pull out his blade, "Screw this!"

"Hey! Hey!" Marco instantly went to grab Daz's arm, keeping him from pulling out a blade. "Keep it
together, okay? You're not alone in this! We're all fighting our fears. Just look at Sasha! Even after what
she's seen, she's still acting like a proper soldier!"

All of you turned to Sasha who sat on a crate nearby. Even Daz paused his struggles to look. As soon as
she realized you all were watching her, she let out a loud cry of pain as she kneeled over.
"My stomach aches! Please put me away with the wounded!" She put on a strained voice as she clutched
her stomach, opening one eye to take a peek at your reactions.

"We know you're faking, Sasha." Connie called her out, earning another loud fake cry of pain from
Sasha.

"Just lemme die!" Daz blurted out, resuming his struggle to pull out a blade. "I just wanna die!"

"Stop it!" Marco yelled, "Somebody help me!"

All of you immediately turned a blind eye to the duo, pretending that you weren't paying attention at all.

"I know you guys hear me!" Marco yelled again, inciting a whistle from Connie as he pretended to be
interested in the sky.

Just then, an explosion echoed out with a loud boom, rumbling the ground with it's vibration.

"What the hell was that!" Ymir yelled, immediately wrapping an arm around Christa defensively.

The rest of you jumped up and ran out to the street where other panicked cadets were crowded. Just a few
buildings away, closer to the fifty meter walls, a thick trail of grey smoke wafted into the sky.

"Cannon fire." Annie observed.

"But why just one shot?" Jean wondered aloud,

"What the hell would they need cannon fire for at all?!" Connie exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Is that Titan steam?" Someone yelled out.

At that, Reiner snatched you to his side. "We need to check this out. Now."

He shot out a grappling hook, latching onto a building before you both shot through the air. You could
hear the zipping sound of wires, signifying that the others were following behind you two.

Once you all landed on a nearby roof, everyone broke out into a run, headed in the direction of the smoke
— or Titan steam.

"You could've gave a warning." You panted. You and Reiner jumped over a short gap in between roofs
before running again.

"No time to talk it out." Reiner huffed, "We need that Titan. We can't afford for Eren to get hurt."

You all finally came to a stop on a roof belonging to a building that sat at the edge of a courtyard. The
courtyard was surrounded by multiple soldiers, all donning their blades as they stood alert. You spotted
Captain Woermann in the center of them, a distressed expression on his face as he stared into the
distance.

You followed his line of sight to see a cloud of steam and smoke in the middle of the courtyard, slowly
lifting it's thick curtain to reveal a half developed Titan. Only the upper body of the Titan was seen, made
of nothing more than muscle and bone, with an arm outreached to the sky.

"What the hell is that?" Reiner furrowed his brows at the ghastly sight.

You followed the direction of the Titan's outreached arm before coming to an answer, "This Titan was
Eren's way of stopping the cannon fire."
Everyone followed your line of sight to a cannon mounted atop the fifty meter wall, aimed directly at the
courtyard where Eren and the others were.

"That's why they only did one shot." Jean thought aloud, "Eren must've used his Titan to make them back
off."

"So they were going to execute him by cannon fire?" Bertholdt blurted out, appalled.

"It appears so. They must be scared shitless if they went to those extremes." Annie commented.

I hope they're okay.

The Titan was crumbling before your eyes, it's bones breaking apart piece by piece as they crashed to the
ground with a series of echoed bangs. The courtyard was enveloped in smoke now, the only way anyone
would be able to see what was happening in there would be to walk directly in it.

"Maintain your distance! All squads remain alert! He could strike at anytime!" Woermann yelled out.

"I wonder what they're doing in there." Jean wondered.

"Hopefully coming up with a plan." You replied, "They're already reloading that cannon and from the
looks of it, they're not gonna hesitate to try again."

You could already hear the crank of the cannon being re-aimed in the courtyard's direction. You glanced
over at Bertholdt and Reiner to see the duo looking antsy. Bertholdt's hands consistently tapped on his
thigh while Reiner continuously flexed his wrists. Telltale signs that they were debating on transforming.

"Wait." Annie simply said, seemingly catching onto their thoughts as well.

Then you heard the echoing clangs of metal hitting the ground, making you all turn to face the courtyard
again. Just for Armin to make his grand exit out of the thick curtain of smoke. His hands were raised in
the air as he tentatively stepped forward. Immediately all guns and blades were pointed at Armin.

"Eren is not a foe of humanity!" He yelled out, "We're willing to cooperate with Military Command and
share everything we've learned about his powers!"

"Your pleas fall on deaf ears!" Woermann snapped, "If you insist he's not an enemy, show me proof!
Otherwise, we'll blast him back to whatever nightmare he crawled out of!"

"You don't need proof!" Armin shot back, "The reports say hundreds of soldiers saw him. And those who
were there say they saw him fighting other Titans! That means they saw him get swarmed by the Titans
as well! To put it plainly, the Titans saw Eren in the same way they see us: as prey! That is an irrefutable
fact!"

You and the others wore a look of surprise as you watched the blonde argue against his superiors,
something totally out of character for him. You've never seen Armin this riled up, a look of sheer
determination etched into his features as he fiercely shouted out for Eren's cause. If you weren't so
worried for his life right now, you would've been proud.

The soldiers around the courtyard seemed to falter at Armin's argument, slightly lowering their blades
and guns as they wore faces of conflict and hesitance. They knew Armin was right.

"Prepare to attack!" Woermann called out, "Don't let yourselves be swayed by his cunning lies! The
Titans' behavior has always been beyond our comprehension. I wouldn't put it past 'em to know how to
assume human form!" Well he's not wrong— "He's speaking our language in an attempt to deceive us! I
refuse to let them continue unchecked!"

And just like that the blades and guns were held steady again, all strictly aimed at a mortified Armin. In
that moment, he finally caught sight of you on the roof, his wide blue eyes staring into yours to read an
unspoken message. You nodded your head as if to say, 'Keep going'.

Something in Armin switched. With a balled fist slammed to his chest in a salute, Armin's terrified
expression changed into a look of resolve. He was sticking to his resolution to make the soldiers hear him
out.

"I am a soldier! And I have dedicated my heart to humanity, sir!" He shouted, "Nothing could make me
prouder than dying for such a noble cause! If we were to use Eren's Titan ability and combine it with our
manpower, I believe that we can retake this city! For humanity's glory, and what little time I have left to
live, I will advocate his strategic value!"

The space was hushed in a tense silence. Nobody moved from their spots around the courtyard as
everyone trained their eyes on Captain Woermann. This was the moment of truth: would he consider the
trio an ally or foe?

Your question was soon answered as Woermann raised his arm, his hand as stiff as a board, as he held it
above his head. He was about to perform the signal for the cannon, you all realized.

If anyone happened to look up, they'd find it weird how you, Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt were all
moving to grab something. Annie with her ring, Reiner with his blade, and Bertholdt raising his hand.

You dug in your pocket, your hand closing around your pocket-knife. You just subtly flicked the blade
out when Woermann's arm was caught by an older man with a shiny bald head.

"C-Commander Pyxis?"

"You should really do something about your nervous disposition, Captain Woermann." Commander Pyxis
scolded. He held a warm smile on his face as he pointed out to Armin in the courtyard, "Can you not see
this soldier's heartfelt salute? I think we could at least do these young soldiers the favor of hearing them
out."

Oh...? You hurriedly put your pocketknife away, your counterparts subtly putting their own stuff away, as
you looked to see that Armin had collapsed to his knees with watery eyes and a heavy sigh of relief.

He just singlehandedly saved their lives.

 𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬

"Don't be a hero! Just focus on luring the Titans to our corner of town! If you don't need to, don't
engage!" An officer yelled out.

After a chaotic and panic-filled gathering in front of the inner gates of Wall Rose, the Trost Recovery
Operation plan was in full swing.

While in Titan form, Eren is supposed to pick up a boulder within the city of Trost and use it to reseal the
Colossal Titan's breach in the outer wall of Wall Rose. And everyone else's one and only job is to defend
Eren's Titan with their lives.

You and your counterparts couldn't even hide the surprise on your faces when you heard. You were sure
that the military would've kept Eren's abilities under wraps. But with a turn of events, they've unveiled
his Titan the very same day, using its abilities to their own advantage. It was smart, you had to admit, but
it cut into your own group's plan.

Now you were over the burning city of Trost once more, watching a mob of pure Titans claw at the wall's
surface with all the urgency in the world.

Some soldiers were hanging from the sides of the wall, merely feet away from the large grabby hands of
Titans swiping at them. You'd be an especially special treat if any of the pure Titans got ahold of you;
they'd take your power and return to their human form all at once. So you and your group opted to stay
atop the wall with the other hordes of soldiers.

The plan for now was to have everyone distract the Titans away from Eren's Titan while he put the
boulder in place, and from the looks of it, it seemed to be working so far. Nearly every Titan was in your
corner of the city, as horrifying as that sounds.

Well at least you thought it was working.

A red line of smoke shot up into the sky from the other side of town; a signal to the rest of you that
something went wrong with the squad involving Eren and Mikasa.

You glanced over at Armin, and as if on cue, he suddenly pushed through the crowd, running to a case of
gas tanks nearby.

"Armin! Wait a minute!" You yelled out to him, making the blonde halt his advances for just a minute.
You ran out of the crowd, followed by Marco as you both jogged to meet up with an anxious Armin.

"Are you seriously planning on going over there?" Marco questioned, "What if it's too dangerous?"
"I need to know if Eren and Mikasa are okay." Armin protested. His face was etched in worry and stress.
You knew there wouldn't be any stopping him if Eren and Mikasa's lives were involved.

"Then I'll go with you." You offered, making Marco and Armin look at you as if you were insane. You'd
rather make sure everyone was okay than stand around and wait to see the results.

Plus, someone had to keep an eye on whatever Eren's Titan was doing over there. You knew Reiner and
the others wouldn't mind you leaving, in fact, they'd probably encourage you to go check.

"No. I don't want you to get hurt." Armin argued, already stepping backwards.

"But you're willing to get yourself hurt?" Marco spoke in a accusatory tone to Armin, who seemed to be
ignoring him as he watched you follow him.

You matched Armin's steps by walking forward, "I won't get hurt. I'm probably one of the best suited
people for this. Trust me, you're gonna need another hand or two if you plan on going over there. Just
think of me as backup."

Armin seemed to think it over, all while steadily walking away with you following him. Finally, a look of
resolve washed over him, "Fine. But stay close."

━━━━━━

You don't know exactly what you were expecting, but this had to be the least likely of them.

Eren's Titan was slumped against the very same boulder he was supposed to be picking up. He was
enveloped in a cloud of steam wafting from his wounds; his hands were somehow cut off and the whole
left side of his face was basically smashed in, revealing the long, pointed tongue that sat limp on his
chest. It was gruesome to keep things short and sweet.

"What is he doing?" Armin said, mostly to himself. "C'mon, Eren. Wake up!"

"I wonder where everyone is...?" You said, looking over the rooftops to spot any figures.

You both stood on the roof of a building across the street from Eren, surveying the scene. You were
genuinely curious as to how he ended up like that.

It couldn't have been another Titan, because all of them were in our corner of the town. And Mikasa
wouldn't have let anything get the chance to even come near him... Did he do this to himself...? Thats the
only logical answer.

"I'm going to go get a closer look." Armin said before hurriedly zipping off the roof and over to Eren's
Titan, where he landed on the thick of his nape.

You yelled out to him, "Be careful—!"

Just then, a loud bang resounded from one of the buildings behind the boulder. Your hands hovered over
your blades as the cloud of dust settled, revealing Mikasa standing on top of a fallen Titan's head. She
looked surprised to see you and Armin.
"Mikasa! What happened!" Armin yelled up to her.

"That's dangerous! You need to get away from there!" Mikasa yelled back, referring to Armin standing
around on Eren's nape.

"Why is he just slumped here like this?" Armin yelled, ignoring Mikasa's suggestion.

"Something went wrong! He lost control and wound up like that!" Mikasa yelled back, "I tried talking to
him, but I couldn't get a response! He's been out like that for the past few minutes!"

"What about the plan?" You yelled over, wondering where the others were.

"Right now, all we can do is protect him. He's defenseless, and there's just too many Titans coming!"
Mikasa replied, "I don't know how much longer we can keep this up!"

Right. There's probably multiple Titans attempting to come this way because of Eren. His Titan could give
what every pure Titan in the area is looking for, their lost humanity.

You and Mikasa watched Armin pull out a blade. "What are you doing?" You yelled out to him.

"I'm going to pull him out!" Armin yelled back before turning to Mikasa, "Hold back the Titans as long
as you can!" He shot his grappling hooks down into Titan Eren's flesh, on both sides of him before
holding his blade steady. "The last time Eren came out of his Titan, it was from this spot! I dunno, but
something tells me that's a big part of how these damn things work!"

You were partly surprised that he figured it out that fast, but then again, everyone did watch Eren climb
out of his Titan's nape the first time around, so it wouldn't be that hard to put two and two together.

"He'll be alright! As long as I don't hit the center!" Armin yelled, reassuring himself more than Mikasa.

Clasped between his hands, Armin's blade was brought up over his head before suddenly being slammed
down, digging into the flesh of Eren's Titan. Mikasa let out a distressed yell at the sight.

Immediately, Eren's Titan perked up, roaring out into the street as he violently thrashed around. Armin
held onto his blade the whole time, being thrown around from Eren's movements. If it weren't for the
grappling hooks he latched onto Eren, he probably would've been thrown a long time ago.

"Stop it! You're going to get yourself killed!" Mikasa yelled out, mirroring your worried thoughts.

"I'm okay! Just keep the rest of the Titans away!" Armin yelled back, "Trust me. There are other people
you should be worried about! Leave Eren to me!"

With a look of conflict, Mikasa finally ran off in the other direction, leaving you two behind.

You took a slow scan of your surroundings, to be sure no Titans were coming your way before you went
back to watching Armin. He was slamming his fists against Eren's nape, who finally calmed down and
was now back to leaning against the boulder. You could tell Armin was talking to him, but you were too
far away to hear.

Whatever he was doing seemed to be working, because you could hear the low guttural growling of
Eren's Titan start back up. And then, finally, he stood up.

Armin hurriedly unlatched himself and zipped back over to you as Eren's Titan healed it's wounds.

"What did you say?" You asked curiously.

Eren's Titan was now back to its usual form, his face and hands were healed enough for it to begin
hauling the large boulder up and on his shoulder.

"Just something he needed to hear." Armin answered breathlessly, before he suddenly grabbed your hand,
tugging you along with him as he ran. "We have to let Mikasa know!"

The whole time you ran and zipped across the rooftops, Eren's Titan was stomping through the streets
beside you, boulder and all. The ground shook with his every step, trails of steam constantly surrounded
him from his body working to keep up with the heavy weight, and those neon green eyes were glowing
brighter than ever.

It looks like this is really gonna work.

"Mikasa!" Armin called out to raven-haired girl. Her big grey eyes followed Eren as he stomped past, full
of surprise and happiness at seeing him up.

The rest of the Elite squad stood around her, gawking at the boulder-holding Titan as he stomped up the
street.

"Eren was able to take control!" Armin announced enthusiastically, "All we have to do is protect him
until he reaches the gate, and victory will be ours!"

Ian, the squad leader, immediately shouted out, "Defend Eren Jaeger! Even if it costs you your lives,
protect him at all costs until he reaches the gate!" He turned to you, Armin, and Mikasa, "You three! Stay
near Eren and defend him! That's an order!"

"Yes, sir!" You all shouted back, and with those words, everyone zipped off the roof and, on the ground,
as they ran for Eren's Titan and the incoming horde of pure Titans in his way.

Mikasa and Armin immediately followed, but you were too busy looking at the distant figures on a roof a
couple blocks away, waving frantically to catch your attention. What are those idiots up to?

"(Y/n)!"

You looked down to see Armin on the ground. His eyebrows were creased as he stared up at you. "Are
you okay? C'mon! We have to go!"

You looked back up to the figures, who looked more anxious than ever, and knew you should probably
see what they wanted. You heaved a sigh before turning back to Armin.

"I— I'll be right back! I have to do something first!" You yelled down before zipping off without another
word. You knew if you stuck around, Armin would just badger you until you told him what was really
going on.

By now, Eren's Titan was stomping closer to the wall's gate. And around him were multiple groups of
soldiers; some running on the roofs alongside Eren, some running in the streets by his feet. Everyone was
putting in a hand to ward the Titans away.

And then there was you three, watching from a distance on a roof.

"They're really going to plug the hole with a rock. This is insane..." Bertholdt commented as he watched,
"Eren could end up getting eaten, and we wouldn't know a thing about how he got that Titan."

"Yeah, but if it comes to it, we'll just use our own Titans." Reiner replied as he watched.
"And then what? Run all the way home?" You scoffed, "Getting him anywhere right now would be too
tricky. All of those Titans would just eat us too."

"But if their plan works, they'll plug up the hole we worked so hard to make." Bertholdt said worriedly.

"Forget about the hole. We've been searching for something to get us home for five years, and now it's
finally right in front of us." Reiner said, suddenly happy.

He slapped a heavy hand down on Bertholdt's shoulder in encouragement before wrapping his beefy arms
around you and Bertholdt, to your dismay. "This is our ticket home, guys." He spoke.

"... What were you guys just talking about?"

You all practically jumped out of your skin, tensing up before slowly turning around to see someone on
the roof with you. You winced when you saw who.

Out of everyone, it just had to be Marco. Though from the look on his face, he seemed genuinely
confused. His brown eyes flickered back and forth between the three of you.

"What did you mean by 'our Titans', Reiner?" Marco asked, "And what's this about 'the hole we opened',
Bertholdt?"

You were internally panicking as you stood frozen. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. You all practically
gawked at Marco who only stared back at you with a puzzled expression. You tried to use his confusion
to your advantage.

"They were just playing around, Marco." You chuckled nervously, "You know how these weirdos like to
joke..."

Marco studied your faces once more before finally breaking out into a quivering smile, "H-Have you
guys lost it?! I mean, I can see how this situation would make you say things you wouldn't normally say,
but— But you need to focus on the mission! Look! The Titans are coming! Let's go!"

And with that Marco ran off the roof. He zipped through the streets fast, but not without turning back to
look at your group a final time. A worried expression was etched into his face, only giving away what
you feared would happen.

Reiner jumped off the roof without another word, zipping through the streets as he chased after the boy.

"Reiner, wait!" Bertholdt yelled out, going to chase after him. You were right on his heels as you both
attempted to keep up with the fast-moving blonde.

You eventually found Reiner and Marco on a side-roof to a house. Reiner was pinning a struggling Marco
down, straddling his back with his weight.

"R-Reiner! What are you doing?!" Bertholdt yelled as you both landed behind the wrestling duo.

"This is a joke, right?" Marco panted, "Reiner?"

"No, Marco." Reiner huffed, "The problem is you're too damn smart. I can't just let you go."

At that, Marco gasped as he finally realized the severity of the situation, before crying out, "Someone
help—!" Reiner immediately slapped a hand over his mouth, muffling Marco's panicked cries.

"Reiner, stop!" You cried out, "He doesn't know any better!"
Who were you kidding? Marco isn't dumb. In fact, his intelligence is practically up there with Armin's.
You knew that he connected the dots already. You saw it all over his face when he turned to look back at
you as he jumped off the roof. You should've known Marco would see right through your lie.

You just didn't want it to come to ending his life.

"(Y/n), let's be serious here." Reiner huffed, "Marco knows."

Bertholdt looked panicked, "Let's just talk this—"

He was cut off by the sounds of wires slicing through air, just as Annie landed in front of Reiner.

"Annie. Tell Reiner to stop." You pleaded.

"What's going on?" She demanded, her icy eyes studying the scene with great concern.

"Reiner's acting crazy! Help me!" Marco yelled, snatching Reiner's hand away somehow.

"He overheard our conversation." Reiner explained, "We can't let him live."

Even Annie's usual apathetic face morphed into one of horror, "Are you kidding me! You dumb
assholes!"

"A Titan's coming this way!" Bertholdt warned, pointing back to show a ten-meter Titan stomping its
way through the streets towards your roof.

Reiner hastily lifted Marco up, still pinning him back by his arms, as he turned to you. "(Y/n)! Take off
Marco's gear! Do it fast!"

"What— Why do I have to?" You stammered. You were practically shaking with panic at this point.

"Back at HQ, you risked your life to save Connie, didn't you?" Reiner spat, "Why did you put yourself in
danger? You've become attached to these devils, haven't you?"

"You two dumbasses caused this mess! Get Bertholdt to do it!" Annie yelled to your defense.

"I was talking to (Y/n)!" Reiner quipped before turning to Annie suddenly, "But if you want to give it a
go then go ahead!"

Once again, you were seeing another facet to Reiner's personality. This was someone totally different in
front of you. Cold and hardened, barely showing any emotion as he held a struggling, weeping Marco in
his arms.

You broke out into a cry, "Reiner, I don't want—"

"If I'm wrong then prove it right now! Prove you're a Warrior!" Reiner snapped, "If you and your family
of restorationists are any different than this filthy race of devils then prove it!"

"The Titan's almost on top of us!" Bertholdt warned.

You looked over to Annie with watery eyes. She looked just as panicked as you as tears streamed down
her frightened face. You could tell that she didn't know how to get out of this either.

This was the only way to ensure your safety. It was either Marco's life or yours; for being a traitor and not
committing to being a Warrior, for being exposed in the mission without bringing something home.
"(Y/n)! Annie!" Reiner yelled, "What are you two going to do! Are you a Warrior or not?"

You sucked in a breath in an attempt to calm yourself down before you anxiously wrung your hands out.
Then you were stumbling forward, falling to your knees in front of Marco as you hastily went to
unbuckle his straps.

Marco let out a terrified wail, his face streaked with tears as he yelled at you, "Stop it, (Y/n)! You don't
have to do this! Why?! Why?!" He got right in your face as he cried.

"I'm sorry, Marco. I'm sorry." You kept repeating as you cried. Your fingers kept fumbling with buckles,
your watery vision wasn't making it any better. Annie bent down beside you, working quickly to
unbuckle anything you hadn't yet while you finally took the gear from around his waist. You caught
Reiner's hard golden eyes from over Marco's shoulder as he stared down at you two.

"This is what makes us Warriors." Reiner declared, "You both did well."

As if that was supposed to make you feel any better.

Annie hurriedly helped you up to your feet before grabbing the gear from your shaky hands. Her elbow
crashed into a glass window beside you with ease before she threw Marco's gear inside the random home.

At that, Reiner dropped Marco from his grip before running off the edge of the roof, with Annie
following behind him. Bertholdt swooped you up as he jumped, just as you heard Marco cry out once
more.

"Why are you guys in such a rush to leave me?! We haven't even had a chance to talk this over! Please!"

You all landed on a new roof, only a house or two away, as the Titan finally caught up with Marco. The
round creature grasped Marco within it's hands in no time. Marco's screams and pleads were all you
could hear, filling up all the space in Trost's streets. You willed yourself to look away from the grim
scene.

And then it all finally stopped. It was uncomfortably silent. Nothing but sniffles from you and Annie
could be heard.

Marco was officially gone.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry." Annie uttered profusely.

"Hey... Why — Why is Marco being eaten?" Reiner stammered.

Your group's watery gazes all zeroed in on Reiner. It was a complete change in his demeanor. He gaped at
the Titan holding Marco's corpse with wide teary eyes, as if he were shocked or surprised. You could hear
the subtle hitch of his breath as he gasped.

You all couldn't do anything but watch in shock as Reiner sobbed, hearing the final resounding slam of
the boulder sealing Wall Rose's gate shut.
 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐬

6 DAYS AFTER THE RECLAIMING OF TROST !

"Are you sure this is where they said they are?"

"That's what I heard that commander say."

Covered by the dusk of the night, you approached the castle-like building of the Scouts headquarters. The
hood of your green cloak shielded your face from sight as you zipped over the many homes of Trost.

Word spread around quickly that the Survey Corps successfully captured two Titans and were planning to
study them. Of course, that wasn't good news for you and your friends. So, while everyone else was more
than likely asleep right now, you, Annie, and Reiner were up snooping around while Bertholdt stayed
behind to make sure everyone didn't notice your disappearances.

At first you all were going to just leave the Titans be, because why go through so much to get rid of two
measly Titans? But Bertholdt convinced you all that it was better to be safe than sorry.

You all landed over the HQ's open courtyard where it looked like they blocked a certain area off with a
tall curtain, wrapped off in the shape of a big square.

"Well that's one way to be discreet about it." Reiner scoffed as you zipped to the ground, "Looks like this
is gonna be easier than we thought."

The moon offered just enough light for you to see. Two Titans were indeed sitting behind the curtain, a
four meter and a seven meter. Both of them were tied by the neck to their own separate poles, and it
looked like the soldiers even went so far as nailing certain body parts to the ground to keep them in place.
Unfortunately for them, their heavy restraining only made it much more easier for your group.

You all took a walk around the perimeter of the curtains and immediately noticed a difference between
the two Titans. While the seven meter barely paid you any mind, the grinning four meter seemed to
follow you with it's eyes. When you made it to his side of the curtain, he was breathing heavily,
practically drooling as he attempted to move.

"I wonder which one is Sawney and which one is Bean." You chuckled nervously.

Annie pointed at the brunette four meter first before pointing at the blonde seven meter, "I think that one
is Sawney and that one is Bean."
"What are you? The Titan whisperer?" Reiner laughed.

"No, dumbass, I heard Armin talking about it." Annie explained before pulling out her blades.

"Reiner, you keep watch outside and I'll stay in here." You instructed.

"Yes, ma'am." Reiner did a fake salute before shutting the curtains closed behind him.

"Idiot." Annie said plainly as she went back around the Titans.

"Tell me about it." You sighed. You pointed up at Bean, the seven-meter. "Do this one first. Sawney is a
little too active right now. We'll have to distract him."

"Right." Annie said before she zipped up the seven meter and quickly dug her blades in its nape. Steam
instantly shot out at her, but she was already moving onto to Sawney. Sawney was bound laying down,
instead of sitting up like Bean, so that made it a little easier.

You jogged around to stand in front of Sawney, immediately catching his eye. You bounced from foot to
foot, Sawney keeping his eyes glued on you the whole time with a big smile on his face. It was kinda
adorable ... in a creepy way.

"Okay, do it." You said to Annie, who quickly obliged. She slammed her blade into its nape, hastily
dodging the burst of steam that shot out. She was by your side in no time as you two watched the Titans
degenerate.

Annie held her hand out in your direction before you simply blinked at it. With creased brows, you
looked from her hand to her blank face and back to her hand before you realized. "Oh! Sorry." You
laughed, slapping your palm against hers in a high five.

She shook her head with a small smile before you both left the curtains. Reiner was standing off with his
arms crossed, his head sleepily bobbing up and down as he struggled to stay awake. You walked up and
slapped him on the arm, immediately making him jump.

"If anyone decided to come out here, we would've been done for." You scolded.

"I had everything under control." Reiner protested to you and Annie as you both walked away. "Hey. Are
you guys listening? I wasn't asleep."

━━━━━━

"So now we can actually get in trouble for killing Titans?"

"It's crazy, but they were valuable test subjects."

"I know that. What I don't understand is why they're investigating us?"

"Right. We're already tired from cleaning up the battlefield. Who'd even have the energy?"

In a room at the Scouts HQ, everyone stood behind wooden tables; three people to each one. And on
those wooden tables were your ODM gear and papers with your information on it.
"Guess someone hated looking at those Titans even more than I did." Connie mumbled from beside you.
You stood between Armin and him. "Can't say I can blame them."

"The sad thing is that whoever did it, actually helped the Titans more than anything." Armin whispered
back in thought. "All that potential knowledge lost and for what? Someone's personal revenge? This is
just a slap to the face for humanity."

More like to save our own asses.

An investigation of everyone's ODM gear was happening because of the murder of Sawney and Bean,
which you weren't too surprised about. You were just surprised that they had the idea to investigate the
cadets so fast. Literally the next day.

With all of the protesting going around about Eren and his Titan, it wasn't hard for the public and
everyone else to automatically assume that the death of Sawney and Beane were committed by a rioter or
someone against Eren. But it seems someone was smart enough to look past that deception and start
searching for the culprit within their own ranks.

"Well, it might sound dumb, but I'm glad they did it." Connie grumbled. His hazel eyes were unusually
dull. He looked completely over it; a stark difference from his usual silly personality. "Before I actually
seen a Titan, I was convinced that I wanted to become a scout and take one on. Now I never wanna lay
eyes them again."

"Well today's the day we pick which regiment to join, so I guess you'll get your wish soon." You said
with a shrug.

Connie took a glance over at Jean, who stood at the next table over, before suddenly grumbling under his
breath. He turned back to you guys with a worried look, "Do you guys think Jean meant it when he said
he was going to join the scouts?"

"What? Jean said that?" Armin whispered hurriedly.

"Yeah. The night of the clean-up." You answered.

It was a night of remembrance of the ones who died, a memorial if you will. The look on Jean's face was
unforgettable. He looked overwhelmed, stressed, but most of all, fiercely determined.

"I think there's a strong possibility he will." You answered Connie's question.

Annie turned to look at you all over her shoulder, "Who cares? My minds already made up."

"So, you're really sticking with the MP's huh?" Connie said suddenly, "I'm really starting to think I might
go that way too."

"Tell me something," Annie replied, "If someone ordered you to lay your life down, would you do it?"

Connie's face scrunched up in confusion, "Huh? Of course not."

"Well then my advice is to do what's best for you." Annie said, leaving Connie stupefied as he thought
over what she said. She looked over at Armin, "What about you? Would you lay your life down?"

"Well ... If I could understand why I had to die, maybe." Armin answered thoughtfully, "I do think that
there are times people are going to have to die, even if I don't like it."

You hummed in thought at that. Maybe Armin wasn't as different from you, as you thought.
"So, you've decided already." Annie deduced.

"Yeah." Armin answered.

"What about you?" Connie nudged you.

"I'm joining the Scouts." You said, sharing a look with Annie. You could tell she deflated a little, but she
understood. This was all already discussed.

After holding a tribunal, Eren was put in the Survey Corps custody. So, naturally, you all had to go as
well to stick around him. Annie was still going to the Military Police to be closer to the Royal family, just
in case they actually had the Founding Titan.

"C'mon not you too." Connie whined, looking back and forth between you and Armin.

You shrugged, "I'd rather fight back against the Titans than sit around and wait for them to kill everyone
off."

Connie heaved a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping down in defeat. Though he did seem to take your
words in consideration.

"I'm impressed, Armin. For a weakling, you've actually got guts." Annie remarked, making Armin beam
a proud smile.

"Thanks, I guess." He scratched at the back of his head nervously before continuing, "Y'know, Annie,
you can actually be pretty nice. I'm beginning to suspect that you care about us more than you let on."

You don't think you've ever seen Annie's eyes grow that big. She stared at Armin in surprise. Looks like
someone, other than you, finally saw past that icy facade she put on.

"Sheesh, Annie. Take it easy, will you?" Connie snickered, "You look like you're about to have a heart
attack."

"It's just the way you're trying to discourage us from joining the Scouts." Armin quickly went to explain
himself, "In a way, it's like you're looking out for us. Is that why you're joining the MP's? I bet you think
you could do some good there too, huh?"

And just as fast as the facade fell, it was soon put back into place. "No. Not really." Annie said as she
turned around, "I just want to save myself. The only person I'm looking out for is myself."

You pursed your lips at her blunt words but didn't take any offense to it.

"You're already sounding like one of them." You joked, gaining another look from Annie. "I know you'll
fit right in." Annie held your gaze for a beat before turning forward again.

Then came the moment of truth. You swore the muscle in your chest was about ready to leap out as the
officers inspected Annie's gear — well, Marco's gear. You could see her posture slightly stiffen as the
officer picked it up and searched it, but he soon sat it down, turning to the woman beside him.

"She's clear."

You let out a breath you didn't even realize you were holding.

Soon afterwards, the inspection wrapped up. Nobody's ODM gear matched up to what the officers were
looking for.
You were all in the clear.

━━━━━━

The lazy afternoon sun sunk lower into the sky, giving the open courtyard a warm honey glow. You were
in the same place that graduation took place.

Everyone around you seemed to be deep in their own thoughts; either walking around, sitting on the
dusty ground or leaning up against the surrounding brick walls of the courtyard.

You opted to lean against the wall beside Annie. Next to you was Sasha, Connie, then Armin and Mikasa.

"So, today's the day huh?" Sasha said from her spot on a crate, where she traced shapes in the ground
with a stick.

"Yup." Connie replied, "Know which regiment you're choosing?"

"Nope." Sasha admitted, "I'm still thinking."

"Well, you better think a little faster, because time's almost up." Mikasa chimed in bluntly.

"I know, I know." Sasha whined, drawing a broken heart into the ground.

"Jean!" Armin suddenly called out, waving the boy over. "So, you're really set on the Scouts?"

"Yea. I am." Jean stated. He looked visibly tense as he stopped in front of your group.

"Woah, are you serious?" Sasha burst out, "What made you suddenly change your decision? Aren't you
terrified?"

"Huh?" Jean's face twisted up, one eyebrow arching over the other. "Of course I'm scared. I'm not an idiot
here."

"Then why are you—?" Connie started, before being cut off.

"Because I am scared of the Titans." Jean confirmed, "And I wanna do something about it."

"Huh?" Connie and Sasha stared Jean down, their faces scrunched in confusion.

"I think you lost them." You joked.

"Listen, I'm not going to stand around and drone that 'Skilled soldiers have a duty to join the Corps'
nonsense into your heads. I understand that joining the Scouts isn't for everybody, so I'm not gonna try to
guilt trip you into coming. Nobody convinced me to put my life on the line. This was all me." Jean said,
before rolling his eyes. "Unlike a certain suicidal maniac, I'm not in a hurry to die."

"Eren." Connie sighed in thought, "Guess he's already been a Scout for awhile now."

"Cadets!" An officer yelled out, "Fall in! Head over to the platform, it's time to make your choice!"

By the time everyone was all lined up in their respective rows, the sun had officially gone down, leaving
you all in the dark of the night. Besides the moon, torches of fire were the only source of light. They
lined them up all the way to the platform, dousing the blonde who walked out on stage in warm lighting.

"Good evening!" He boomed, and you suddenly had the urge to perk up. His voice held a tone that
automatically made you want to stand to attention. "I am Erwin Smith, Commander of the Survey Corps,
also known as the Scout Regiment." Erwin stood in the middle of the stage with his buff arms crossed,
scanning the rows of faces before him.

He stood tall above the other people standing on stage behind him, a commanding presence. His bleach
blonde hair was neatly parted to the side, showing off his thick dark-blonde eyebrows and piercing blue
eyes. He looked exactly like what you'd expect someone in his high position to look like.

"Today you will choose your regiment. I'm going to be straightforward with you: the Scouts need you.
We need all the warm bodies we can get. After the Titan attack in Trost, you all now know, and have
experienced firsthand the horrors that they're capable of."

The tension in the crowd around you was thick enough to be cut with a blade. A sea of worried faces and
jittery bodies.

Commander Erwin continued nonetheless, "However, the battle's aftermath gave humanity the upper
hand. I refer to Eren Jeager. After selflessly risking his life, he has proven without a doubt his
unwavering loyalty to our cause. Hope lives in him. Eren didn't just help to stop the Titan invasion; he's
offered us a way to learn the truth of their origin!"

Immediately there were choruses of stunned gasps and curious whispers flowing throughout the crowd.
You were only confused though. What did Eren know about the Titans that could help the Scouts learn
about their origin?

"Intel suggests that the cellar of Eren's home in Shiganshina, holds a vital secret regarding our enemy."
Commander Erwin continued, "We'll form an expedition to find this secret, and use it to break free from
the Titan's one hundred year reign once and for all!"

You didn't have to look behind you to know that Reiner and Bertholdt both perked up at Erwin's words.
Annie, on the other, hand held her blank gaze beside you.

"I know that they're desperate for recruits, but this is going too far. Releasing that information to the
public is just ridiculous." Armin hissed from your other side, looking visibly upset.

Of course, he knew about this already.

"I feel like they're just trying to be more transparent about it." You shrugged, "Like they're trying to build
some sort of trust with us by telling us. That, or this is their attempt at getting people excited to join."

Armin stared at Commander Erwin in deep thought, working through an answer on his own.

"Before we can reach the cellar in Shiganshina, another problem must be dealt with." Erwin announced,
motioning over at a group of people standing on the side of the stage. "We must retake Wall Maria."

A shorter girl with auburn, shoulder length hair came into view, holding a rolled-up banner in her hand.
You've only seen her once or twice, but quickly recognized her to be Petra Ral, the only female member
of the well-known Levi squad.

And joining her was Miche Zacharius, a taller man with parted blonde hair and darker facial hair. He was
another member of the Levi squad, infamously known for his hypersensitive sense of scent. The man
could smell a Titan from a mile away. And possibly even farther.
Petra and Miche held up the banner together, spreading it out to reveal a sketched diagram of the three
walls and its interiors.

"The gate of trost is now inaccessible because of Eren's seal, so we'll be forced to stage expeditions from
the Calanath district, further east. One month from now, we'll conduct a recon mission outside of the
walls." Erwin stated, looking out among the rows again. "Recruits from your ranks will be expected to
take part. I estimate a third of them will die. After four years, most will be dead, but those who endure
will be among the most capable soldiers alive."

Well that's one way to persuade someone. This sounds more like a warning, rather than a invite.

"Now after hearing all of this," Erwin boomed, "Whoever still wishes to join us, remain here. But first
ask yourself, can you give your heart? Can you give up everything, including your life, for humanity?
Those wanting to join other regiments are dismissed."

There was a beat of silence before one by one, people finally started walking away with scared looks on
their faces. Some people even started running, accidentally bumping into others.

Annie reached down to squeeze your hand, "I'll see you around." She whispered in a lower tone just for
you to hear, "Be safe. Remember to look out for yourself." Her eyes flicked up to Reiner and Bertholdt
before going back to you, and you got the message loud and clear.

Don't let these idiots get you killed.

Looks like Annie did actually have a heart under all that ice.

"I will. You do the same." You whispered earnestly, giving her hand a squeeze before she let go.

And then there was three.

So many people were leaving, it made the rest of you still standing behind look like fools. You were
surprised to see Connie and Sasha still sticking around. Connie's face was clouded in conflict, but he
didn't budge. Sasha held a obvious look of fear, her fists shaking at her sides, but she still stayed.

They're both actually going to join the Scouts?

Finally, all of the walking came to a standstill.

"I ask you," Commander Erwin announced, "If you were ordered to die, could you do it?"

"We don't wanna die, sir!" A cadet shouted out.

A smirk grew on Erwin's face, "Of course. Let's hope that you won't then. To you who stayed, you are
now one of us! Allow me to welcome you into the Scout Regiment! This is a genuine salute, soldiers!"
He snapped into a salute, "Together we give our hearts!"

You all quickly followed suit, your heads held high.

"Sir!" Everyone shouted back.

"Everyone joined." Armin breathed out, looking around at all of the remaining people.

While there was only a handful of you left, you noticed everyone in your friend group from the Cadet
Corps stuck around despite talks of leaving.
"Those of you standing here have worked through your fear." Erwin declared, still standing in a salute.
"You've proven yourselves to be brave. Each and every one of you have my respect."

━━━━━━

"Attention!"

You all instantly lined up horizontally to face the older soldier in front of you.

It was a clear and sunny day at the Scouts' second headquarters, a literal stone castle sitting in the middle
of practically nowhere. Lush green fields surrounded the property, a forest of trees residing in the far
distance.

You all stood just in front of the stables, watching the soldier pat the brown horse beside him. The soldier
had white fabric tied around his head and the signature green Survey Corps cloak draped around his
body. He gave you all a warm friendly smile.

"I'm Section Commander, Ness, and this girl is my horse, Charette." The soldier introduced themselves,
"Fair warning: Charette is known for pulling hair, so I'd be careful coming around her if you don't wanna
go bald. We're both very glad to meet ya'."

As if on cue, the horse bit down on the fabric tied around Ness's head, tugging on it to reveal the man's
balding head. You had to cover your mouth with your hand, holding back a laugh as Connie shook beside
you, attempting to laugh silently.

"Hey!" Ness swatted at the horse, "Stop that ya' freak! Can I get a hand here, you guys?!" He shrieked,
struggling to get his makeshift head scarf out of the horse's mouth.

Jean eventually jogged over to help the man as Connie burst out with a loud snicker, "Yeah, Jean, tell
your cousin to leave Ness alone!"

At that, you and Sasha burst out laughing, failing to keep your calm composure.

Armin gave you a gentle nudge, "Guys, don't laugh at him. That's not nice." He attempted to scold, but
was struggling to stop smiling as you all watched Jean snatch the cloth away from the horse and slap it
back onto Ness's head.

"I .. I think that'll be all for today." Ness said with a sigh. He gave up on fixing the fabric and just walked
away, his bald head catching the shine of the sun.

Your training began the next day. Instead of doing anything physical like you expected, you would spend
most of the day in a classroom listening to Ness drone on about Commander Erwin's new long range
scouting formation. He informed you all about your specific locations and your duties. Your job would be
to run spare horses and relay signals to the others within the formation.

After that was all over with, you all were walking around in a group outside of headquarters, exploring
more of it.

"I wonder where they keep the food..." Sasha thought aloud, tapping her chin.

"Hopefully you never find out." Connie grumbled, "You'd just eat it all from the rest of us."
"Hey! I would not!" Sasha protested, but at noticing all of your pointed stares at her, she gave up. "Ok
fine. I promise I'll share if — no, when I find the food supply."

"Yeah, right." You laughed, earning a 'Shhh' from Sasha, who giggled with you.

"Hey, isn't that Eren?" Connie suddenly asked, beckoning you all to turn around.

You hadn't even realized Mikasa and Armin left the group. They talked to the brunette excitedly, happy to
be reunited. Compared to how he looked when they walked him out of that courthouse, Eren seemed to
be in good shape. The Survey Corps cloak was draped around his shoulders.

"Hey, Eren! Long time, no see!" Sasha yelled out excitedly as you walked up to the trio.

"Hey, guys!" Eren yelled back, his face once again flashing a big smile. He scanned all of your faces in
surprise. "Wait, so if all of you are here then does that mean you all joined the Scouts?"

"Well, duh." Connie laughed, "Why else would we be here?"

"So did Jean, Annie, and Marco go to the military police then?" Eren questioned, craning his neck to
search for their faces among you.

"Well, Annie did—" You started, before Jean was suddenly walking up to the rest of you. At all of your
averted gazes, Eren quickly spun around to come face to face with the sullen boy himself.

"You joined too?" Eren gawked, his voice colored in shock. You could understand why; Jean was almost
always talking about joining the Military Police in the Cadet Corps.

Jean, on the other hand, held an unamused look on his face. "Marco is dead." He stated cooly.

Eren gasped loudly, stumbling backwards from Jean. "H-He what?"

Eren turned to look at the rest of you with a baffled look, before he chuckled nervously, "Marco's not
dead. You're all just joking .. right?"

Everyone stared elsewhere, unable to hold eye contact with Eren's sad eyes. Especially you. All you
could do was tug on a stray piece of thread on your pants.

"I wish I could tell you he died nobly or heroically, but the truth is, I don't even know how he went out."
Jean admitted, staring down at the ground. "He died alone. There was no one there to see it happen."

"So, Marco's dead.." Eren sighed.

The thick air of grief was broken by a soldier yelling from a distance.

"Hey, rookies! Line up! Your uniforms are here!" Ness shouted with a smile on his face. A soldier stood
beside him holding a stack of green cloaks.

You all quickly walked over to the patient men and grabbed a cloak from the pile. You opened yours up
to get a better look at the embroidered emblem. A shield with white and blue wings covering it, the
Wings of Freedom, they called them.

I could get used to this. You draped the cloak around you before snapping the clasp at your neck. The
Marley uniforms weren't as dramatic as this. Back in your hometown, you'd simply get a new pin to put
on your uniform.
You could see Reiner and Bertholdt giving each other a look over before turning to you with cocky
smirks. Seems like they thought the same. They thought they looked cool.

"It looks good on you."

You spun around to see Armin nervously fiddling with the flaps of his cloak as he smiled at you, "The c-
cloak, I mean. It suits you."

"I could say the same for you." You smiled, already falling into step with each other as you walked.

"So how do you like it so far?" He asked.

"Well it's only our second day." You chuckled, earning a bashful smile from Armin. "But so far, it's not as
hard as I thought it would be."

"You thought it would be hard?"

"Well, yeah. Did you see the commander? That man's built, and looks awfully strict." You admitted, "I
thought we'd be like running laps around the building or something by now. But everything's been fine."

"Don't speak too soon." Armin chuckled, "They'll probably make us do the laps tomorrow."

"I doubt it. All they've been doing is beating that long scouting formation in our brains." You sighed.

"Yeah..." Armin sighed with you, but not in a way that said he was annoyed like you did. His sigh was
more content as he slyly swung his arm by yours, his fingers grazing your hand slightly.

Is he trying to ..? No, he couldn't be.

"I-It's pretty out here." You suddenly burst out, anything to beat the silence that fell over you two.

You were walking around the side of the castle now, giving you a view of all the plants blooming out in
the fields. Star-shaped flowers were scattered across the grass, their hue a pretty pale violet.

"They call them bell flowers, but their actual name is campanulas." Armin explained as he slowed to a
stop. "A bunch of them grow around the walls in my hometown." He leaned down to pick one by the
root, twirling the stem around between his fingers, before he suddenly held it out to you. A bashful blush
settled over his face.

Your eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Thank you." Your fingers brushed against his as you grabbed the
flower's stem, and you swore you could feel a spark. You gulped when your eyes met those twinkling
cerulean hues, full of adoration and kindness.

Just like the day you two met, you were stuck. You both still held onto the flower, neither of you making
an attempt to move. You swore Armin was getting closer, and suddenly it was too hard to breathe.

This was your first time really feeling something like this for another. Well besides ... That didn't matter
right now. As much as you wanted to explore those new feelings, especially with someone like Armin,
you knew it just wasn't right. Not when you weren't being completely honest with him. And then there
was the slight chance that you would have to up and leave. You'd have to leave him behind wondering
what went wrong.

I shouldn't be doing this.. I can't do this.

"We .." You heaved a sigh, "We should probably go join the others." You missed the way Armin's
shoulders slightly dropped when you took the flower from his hand and stepped back.
"Oh. Uh.. O-Okay." Armin stammered, "You're right."

You both held that gaze a little longer before you started walking, with him following close behind.

Another time, maybe.

━━━━━━

"My copy of the plan said that Eren would be spearheading the right wing of the scouting formation."
Reiner announced.

"Me too." Bertholdt agreed.

That's weird. My plan has them in the left wing... Must've been a mistake.

"So how are we going to pull this off? There'll be a bunch of soldiers with ODM gear around." You said.

Hidden by the canopy of trees above you and the dusky night sky, you stood in a huddle with Reiner,
Annie, and Bertholdt somewhere out in the middle of the woods. You weren't too far away from the
Scouts headquarters, just incase anyone noticed your disappearances.

Annie, on the other hand, was far from where she was supposed to be, making this a time-limited
meeting. It was beyond you on how she made it out there to you all, but judging by the fading Titan
marks on her cheeks, you could get an idea.

The 57th Exterior Scouting Mission was merely a day away. And right on time, Annie shown up to
discuss a plan. The mission was the perfect opportunity to grab Eren and make a run for it; he'd be out of
the walls and in the fields. It wouldn't be too much of a hassle to swipe him up and run out to the
shoreline.

Annie seemed to be thinking over what you said before suddenly perking up, "What if I bring a bunch of
pure Titans with me? That'll get rid of the extra soldiers, and I could just grab Eren."

"And we wouldn't be in danger either because of how spread out everyone would be. We'd have enough
time to get away before the pure Titans start coming for the rest of us." Bertholdt agreed in thought.

"And we could always just use our Titans if everything goes right." Reiner shrugged, "Not like we'd have
much to lose if we have Eren secured."

You nodded your head in agreement, finally being on board with a plan for once. As much as you didn't
like the idea of innocent bystanders dying, you'd rather have a handful of them go than the whole
Scouting regiment. Armin included.

"If everything goes smoothly, we'll just meet up with Annie once we find a way to get away from the
Scouts." You added, earning nods of agreement from everyone else.

"Alright." Reiner clapped his hands together once, "Sounds like a plan. We make a good team!" He put
his hand out in the huddle before excitedly looking around, expecting you all to join in.

"No." Annie said before turning around to walk away.

"Oh, c'mon." Reiner chuckled, watching the rest of you walk away from the huddle. "Buzzkills."
You and Bertholdt followed behind Annie for a little as she made her way through the woods before you
both gave her a quick hug goodbye.

"Be safe." You yelled out to her.

"You too." She yelled back before she ran off into the darkness. You could hear the telltale stomping of
her Titan a couple seconds later.

Now it was time to get your hands dirty.

 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧

You were surrounded by a sea of pine green and brown. Green cloaks adorned with the Wings of
Freedom flapped graciously amidst the warm breezes that blew past. And brown steeds, anxiously
awaiting a command to set off on their journey.

City bells echoed throughout the streets, only adding on to the buzz of excitement flowing through the
crowd that watched you all from the sidelines. Giddy little kids and beaming proud adults.

"This is it! The day has come for humanity to take another step forward! Let's show those titans exactly
what humanity is made of!"

Shouts of cheer and excitement were heard all around as everyone lifted their blades to the sky in unity,
silver steel catching the shine of the sun as they stood proudly. You watched as the wall's gate began to
rise.

"Forward!" Commander Erwin boomed from the front of the formation.

The horses galloped forward instantly, already gaining speed. You were riding through what looked like a
ghost town, crumbled abandoned buildings covered with overgrown greenery were everywhere and there
were no people at all.

It wasn't long before you all had a visitor.

The tell tale sounds of a Titan stomped your way. You looked over to see the ugly creature itself, a Titan
in the ten meter class. It was attempting to smash a soldier, who quickly dodged it's hits with his ODM
gear, jumping from house to house.

"Eyes forward! Trust the support team! It's their jobs to handle it! Yours is to keep moving!" A soldier
yelled out, snapping everyone's attention away from the scene and back forward. You had to ignore the
Titan's roars and the loud sounds of houses being smashed.

"Forward!!" Commander Erwin bellowed once again, "Ride for all you're worth!"

You snapped the leather reins on your steed, gaining speed as you all finally made it out of the abandoned
town, riding out into the large expanse of the grass fields beyond the walls.

"Long range formation! Let's go!" Erwin demanded, giving out a signal with his hands.
Everyone began to split up into their assigned spots. You quickly directed your horse to the right,
following into step with Reiner and his spare horse.

"Armin, try not to piss yourself!" You could hear Jean yell with a snicker.

"Same for you!" Armin yelled back.

Jean rode off to the left as Armin sped up ahead of you and Reiner. He was in row 2:4 while you and
Reiner were in 2:5, not too far behind the blonde.

As soon as everyone was too far off to be able to hear your conversation, Reiner spoke up, "How long do
you think it'll take for her to finish up?"

"I dunno." You answered honestly, your eyes scanned that direction of the field. "That depends on how
fast the right wing got into formation, and if Annie was already coming this way beforehand."

Reiner hummed in thought before it fell to a comfortable silence. Nothing but the sounds of the horses
hooves meeting the ground could be heard.

Suddenly, the sound of a signal gun being shot, echoed across the field. You both looked up to see a red
stream of smoke fly into the sky ahead of you, possibly from Armin.

"A Titan." Reiner commented, "Already?"

"I would've been more surprised if one hadn't came this early." You replied as you quickly reached into
the pouch clipped onto your pants belt, as well as a signal gun. "Since they used the red instead of black,
I'm gonna assume it's just a pure Titan."

You grabbed some ammo, locking it into the signal gun, before holding it above your head. Your fingers
closed around the trigger, sending a blasting stream of red smoke up into the air to warn others.

Soon afterwards, a trail of green smoke shot up from a distance, signaling that the formation was
changing direction. You and Reiner quickly followed suit.

After another moment of silently riding, it was surprisingly peaceful. Hearing the birds chirp over your
head as they soared by, feeling the warmth of the sun beaming down on you.

The calm before the storm.

That quickly ended when a trail of black smoke shot into the air from a distance. Annie's arrived.

But you were more surprised to hear the faint sounds of a Titan's stomps .. coming from ahead of you?
You and Reiner shot each other a puzzled look.

"If that's Annie, then why is she this far in the formation?" You asked.

"Maybe it's just a regular abnormal?" Reiner offered.

You both held a pointed look before Reiner finally got some sense in him, "Let's check it out."

He snapped the reins to his horse while you did the same, speeding towards the source of the stomps.

Not much time passed before you spotted Armin sitting on the ground, trembling in fear. His horses were
gone and he was by himself.

"Armin!" You yelled out, making him jump. "Are you okay?"
You finally got close enough to see him nod his head. He shakily stood up on his feet, looking out into
the distance where you saw the figure of a titan running. The Female Titan. What is she doing?

"What the hell are you doing?" Reiner asked, staring down at Armin as if he were crazy. "This is full
blown Titan country. You can't be out here without a horse."

Reiner gestured to the spare horse standing between you two before telling Armin to climb on. Armin
hastily ran over and situated himself onto the horse, before you all rode off, following after the Female
Titan.

"What happened?" You asked, "Why were you on the ground?"

"That Titan came out of nowhere and knocked me off my horse." Armin rushed through his words as he
worked to calm himself down, "And then.. And then it ..." His eyes were wide and running wild with fear
as he trailed off.

You waited for him to finish, but it seemed he was having a hard time. You were about to console him
when the jackass opened his mouth.

"You gotta admit, it has a nice ass for an abnormal," Reiner chuckled, a cheesy smirk growing on his
face. The hell?

You scrunched your nose up at the random comment, "Every day I ask myself 'What the hell is wrong
with Reiner?'." You tapped your head, "Is there actually anything in there?" Reiner only gave another
goofy chuckle.

"That's not an abnormal." Armin declared. His eyes were solely focused on the Female Titan. "It's a
person controlling a Titan body; just like Eren."

"What?" You and Reiner questioned in sync.

"I'll explain in a 'sec. We need to fire off a signal to warn the others!" Armin said as he hurriedly grabbed
his signal gun. His eyebrows were furrowed as he struggled to load it. "C'mon! Work you piece of
garbage!"

You and Reiner were too busy giving each other looks of shock to even think about shooting off your
own signal guns. How could Armin have gotten to that conclusion so quickly? It only made it clear that if
there was anything or anyone to be worried about, it was Armin. His intelligence was mind blowing.

A gunshot rang out from behind you, to everyone's surprise. You all looked over your shoulders to see
Jean riding with his signal gun in his hand.

"Oh, don't mind me!" He exclaimed sarcastically, "Just saving the day. No biggie." He smirked.

"Oh man, that's not good." Reiner remarked, suddenly looking over to his right side.

You all followed his line of sight to see multiple trails of yellow smoke trailing into the sky, gunshots
from the signal guns echoed out in the distance.

"The right-wing spotters must've suffered too many casualties to carry on." Reiner deduced, still staring
at the smoke trails.

"Apparently they've been wiped out by a Titan ambush." Jean explained, now on your side as you all
continued to ride forward. "I don't know how it happened, but it was bad. Those sons' a bitches were
lightning fast. The spotters didn't even have time to react."
So, Annie actually did go through with the Titan ambush ... Why is she over here then?

"Wait. She came from that direction." Armin announced suddenly, "Could she have been the one to lead
the Titans here?"

"Who? That thing?" Jean asked, finally noticing the Titan ahead of you, "Why the hell is she
running away from us? Is it an abnormal?"

"No, she isn't." Armin stated confidently, "I still don't know how it's possible, but she's another human
who can take Titan form. Someone who has the same power as Eren!"

"Please say you're not serious." Jean groaned, annoyance already covering his face.

"Why do you think that?" Reiner questioned, his eyebrows furrowing at Armin.

"All Titans do is eat humans. They're just feeding into their instincts like any other creature." Armin
explained, "Yea, they kill us in the process, but that's not their goal. This Titan was completely different."

"When the others went for her nape, she swatted them away like flies!" Armin exclaimed, "She didn't
even eat them. She killed them with her bare hands and moved on! That's out of character, even for an
abnormal. That leads me to believe she brought the Titans that took out the right wing. Just like the
Colossal and Armored Titan when they struck. She's not running on blood lust; she actually has it in for
us! Or someone in particular." Armin continued; his eyebrows furrowed as he thought aloud. "The real
question is who? And why?"

"Could it be Eren?" Jean asked, catching onto what Armin was implying. Damn, they're catching on fast.

"Eren?" Reiner asked, appearing to be puzzled. "He's with Levi squad. They're spear heading the right
wing ... or at least they were."

Jean instantly snapped to look at Reiner in confusion, just as Armin sucked in a gasp of horror. You didn't
say anything though.

"Wait a minute." Jean spoke up, "The right wing? I'm pretty sure you're wrong there, big guy. My copy of
the plan had Levi's squad in the left wing."

"Mine too." You agreed, earning a look of surprise from Reiner. So, my copy wasn't a mistake, it was
intentional.

"That's weird because mine had them at the front of the right wing too." Armin added, "But now that I
think about it, that wouldn't make sense. Putting Eren at the vanguard like that wouldn't be a smart move,
strategically."

"So, if we all have different locations ... then where the hell is Eren?" Reiner said in confusion.

Armin's head perked up as he thought aloud, "They'd have to put him in the safest position in the
formation. And that would be, which I assume at least, is the rear of the center rank."

Reiner hummed in thought as he stared at Armin, before flicking his eyes over to you for a second. You
didn't know what he had up his sleeve.

"Guys!" Jean interjected in a panic, "We can't just waste all of our time debating about this. We need to
get word out about how dangerous this one is and smoke signals aren't gonna cut it! At this rate, she'll cut
down the command squad and if we let that happen, the formation will go to hell and then we'll all be
dead!" Jean exclaimed.
"So, what are you saying?" You asked.

"We gotta try to distract her so the platoon has a chance to retreat. If we're careful from this distance, we
should be able to do it without dying." Jean replied.

"She's smarter than the ones we usually deal with. From her perspective, we're basically insects. One
swipe of her arm and we're all flattened!" Armin warned.

"Is that a fact?" Jean chuckled nervously with a mortified look. "What a terrifying thought."

"Seriously. What have you done with the real Jean?" Reiner grumbled, staring at Jean. "No offense man,
but the one I knew only looked out for himself."

"Believe me, I'm still all for number one. I just don't wanna end up a pile of burning bones." Jean huffed,
"I know what needs to be done to win this. So, are you guys with me or not?!"

You all gave him a nod, showing your agreement.

"Pull your hoods up!" Armin instructed as he pulled his own hood up, covering his face. "She won't try to
kill you if she can't see your face. If she's looking for someone specific, she won't mow us down unless
she knows for sure that we're not them."

"Good idea." You said tugging your hood up over your head. "As far as she knows, anyone of us could be
Eren."

"That's actually kinda encouraging. Maybe we'll get lucky and she'll be nearsighted too." Reiner smirked,
pulling his hood up.

"Not gonna lie," Jean stared at Armin in awe, "the way you clung to Eren like a shadow used to really
creep me out, but I always knew you were brilliant." He snatched his hood up over his head with a smirk.

"Uhh ... thanks?" Armin replied, appalled at Jean's comment. "Not exactly sure how I oughta take that."

"Starting right now, everyone do what I tell you to do." Jean commanded, "We need to hold her attention
long enough for the rest of the formation to withdraw. Don't try going for the kill. If what Armin is saying
is true, then we need to take her in alive."

He pointed over to the left of Annie's Titan, "I'll take that side and try to go for her Achilles' tendon." He
pointed to the right, "Someone else take that side."

You were about to move up, but Armin moved faster. "Are you sure?" You called out to him.

"Yeah, I'll take this side!" He replied before his horse sped up, galloping at a distance beside the Titan.

It was just you and Reiner trailing behind Annie now.

She's running slower. She must be getting tired. Her time'll be running out soon. You weren't exactly
worried for Annie's safety though, you knew she could hold her own well.

You watched as Jean hopped into position, hoisting himself up to his feet, on his horse's back. The
Female Titan took a glance over her shoulder, already spotting the boy, unbeknownst to him.

"Wait! Jean—!" You were trying to warn him, but before you knew it, Jean was already latching his
grappling hooks into Annie's ankle.
She immediately twisted around, disconnecting Jean's hooks, as she swiped her hands through the air in
an effort to catch him. But Jean had the right sense to stop his advance. When Annie couldn't catch Jean,
she started running in the other direction. Armin's direction.

You realized her motives much too late.

Annie's Titan slapped Armin's horse away easily, sending the blonde and his horse flying through the air
in different directions. In the near distance, Armin crash landed, skidding violently across the grass. His
ODM gear fell away from his body and was now in a totally different area.

"Armin!" You called out to him, worry laced through your voice. But your call was more-so to let Annie
know who she just sent flying across the field. It was a weak attempt at getting her to spare him.

As soon as your voice carried out across the field, Annie's Titan hesitated. She was squatting beside the
boy's limp body, staring down at him as if she were studying him for herself.

Suddenly, Jean shot out his grappling hooks once more, zipping towards the Female Titan with his blades
ready. She swiped at him a couple times, but Jean was quick enough to dodge each one, until he was
flying above her nape. With that, Annie quickly put a hand over her nape.

"Jean!" Reiner yelled out, attempting to warn the boy. If Jean kept it up with his spins around Annie's
Titan, she wouldn't hesitate to injure him.

You watched her ball up a fist, her arm moving through the air to strike Jean before it suddenly hesitated,
at the sound of Armin's yell.

"Jean! Don't let that suicidal maniac die in vain!"

The Female Titan completely froze in place, her fist still outreached in mid-air.

"She did it!" Armin yelled again, "She's the one who killed him!"

Jean finally unlatched himself from the Titan before coming to a crash landing not too far away from you
and Reiner. He looked confused as he stared at Armin.

You, however, quickly caught on to what Armin was doing. This was his way of tricking the Female
Titan into stopping her advance in the formation. If she thinks Eren is dead, there's no reason for her to
still search for him.

You watched Armin slowly sit up, "I told him the right wing was suicide, but he went along anyway! And
now he's dead, thanks to her! She crushed my best friend! I saw it with my own eyes! His entrails were
stuck to the bottom of her foot!"

Jesus, if I didn't know any better, I'd think he was being completely serious. The faux grief and anguish he
put into his voice could've fooled anyone. You genuinely wouldn't be surprised if Annie suddenly got up
and ran back to the walls.

Reiner must've had the same idea though, as he quickly steered his horse for Annie, being sure to whip
his hood off in the process. He rode in front of her before suddenly jumping off of his horse and zipping
up to her with his ODM gear, his blades drawn and ready.

Reiner glided through the air, making a show of going for her nape, before Annie caught sight of his
figure. She abruptly caught him in her hand, holding the boy up to her face, before suddenly enclosing
him in a fist.
Armin and Jean looked horrified, gawking at the Titan with shocked faces. You, however, couldn't even
bother to pretend to be shocked. This looked more like a dramatic play than a life ending. You simply
shot your grappling hooks out for Annie's Titan. You'd look horrible if you didn't at least try to 'save' him.

As you zipped through the air, Annie's head snapped in your direction. You shook your hood off,
revealing your face, as you whipped out your blades. She must've recognized you, because she didn't
make a move at all when you dug your blades through her fingers.

Reiner's war cry could be heard far and wide as he dramatically jumped out of Annie's hand, swinging
around her body by his wires before landing on the ground with you.

"Grab Armin!" You instructed, before running for Jean. Reiner's body was still literally steaming as he
ran in Armin's direction. You looked over your shoulder as you ran, watching Annie stare down at her
hand for a minute before she stood up.

He must've given her Eren's location.

Jean fell into stride beside you, "Who knew that big beautiful bastard had it in him! I was always so
focused on Mikasa, that I forgot how good he is! We can really count on him!" You scoffed at that.

If only he knew.

It wasn't long before Reiner joined in the run, with a shocked Armin pinned to his side. You gasped at his
bloody face, but still kept your sprint.

"I'm sure that bought the platoon more than enough time!" Reiner yelled, "We need to get the hell out of
here! If she's not trying to eat us like Armin says, I don't think she'll follow us!"

The vibration from the stomps of Annie's Titan shook the ground beneath you as she finally ran off,
confirming Reiner's 'theory'.

"Alright!" Reiner exclaimed, "Looks like she's retreating! Poor thing's running home with her tail
between her legs!"

Armin took a look for himself over Reiner's arm, his eyes growing wider before turning back to the rest
of you. "She's not retreating! She's going in the direction of the center rank!" He realized aloud, "She's
heading for Eren!"

━━━━━━

You all ran for a while before finally reaching a spot to rest. Nothing but empty fields surrounded you,
and a few sparse trees. Jean's loud whistling echoed out in the distance.

"How's your gear?" Reiner questioned, inspecting Armin's gear. "I saw it fall off when you fell."

"Don't worry too much about it." Armin reassured, "It came off like it's supposed to, so nothing should be
broken. I can still use it."

You sat on your knees behind Armin, carefully wrapping a third layer of bandages around his head, as he
held his bangs up. He scraped himself pretty bad along his hairline, but luckily, you all had first aid
equipment in your pouches.
"Well that's good, but what're we gonna do, guys?" You asked, "We've only got one horse around, and it's
four of us. Jean's horse still hasn't came back."

As if on cue, Jean let off another loud whistle, before groaning in annoyance as he scanned the horizon.
"Reiner's horse came back like an old lover. Why the hell does mine gotta go AWOL?" He grumbled.

You didn't like how things were looking right now. With only one horse, two people were eventually
going to have to stay behind.

You finished up Armin's bandages. "All done. Is it too tight for you?"

Armin didn't give you a reply. He simply sat there, his eyes unfocused and in a daze.

"Maybe this thing really is too tight." You mumbled to yourself, quickly fixing the bandages again.

"Armin." Reiner said, kneeling over in the boy's face.

Still no reply.

"Armin!" Reiner snapped his fingers, "You with me?"

Armin finally blinked, "Huh?"

"You must've hit your head pretty hard." You said, moving around to stand in front of him.

"I guess it's still a little foggy, yeah." Armin mumbled, his brows creased together.

Armin got to his feet, grabbing your hands to help himself up. You put his arm around your shoulders,
letting him lean on you for some support.

"With Jean's horse being gone, two of us are going to have to stay here." Reiner announced what
everyone was thinking. "We need to figure out who."

Reiner and Jean gave each other a pointed look, seemingly already have made an unspoken decision on
who has to stay. Armin's grip on you tightened.

"Wait a sec!" He blurted out, "Shouldn't we at least fire off a smoke signal first? If everyone kept going
straight, row four squad three should be close to us by now."

You all exchanged a glance or two before Jean pulled out his signal gun, loaded up the appropriate
ammo, and fired it. A purple trail of smoke shot up into the sky.

"Well, that's the emergency signal." Jean sighed, putting his gun away. "I doubt anyone's gonna see it and
think 'hey, someone must need an extra horse.'" He grumbled as he walked off.

"Armin, listen." Reiner interjected, "We only wait three minutes. If no one shows then we have to decide
who stays." He walked off towards Jean.

"I'll stay if it comes to it." Armin blurted out to the rest of you, making you give him a look of surprise.

Jean was taken aback, "Wait a minute—"

"We were all thinking it." Armin shrugged.

"If you stay, then I'll stay." You said definitely. "No, buts." You said before Armin could protest.
He sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to change your mind. "Well, whoever ends up going, I just want
you guys to do one thing for me."

"What?" You all asked.

"I want you to report to only Commander Erwin—"

"Hang on, guys!" Jean exclaimed suddenly, "It looks like you'll be able to tell him yourself, Armin.
Someone answered the call and brought two horses!"

You all turned to look in the distance, surprised to see Christa riding to you with two spare horses in tow.

"Hey, guys!" She chirped as she got closer, "Everyone alright?"

"Well, damn!" Jean grinned, pointing to one of the spare horses. "That's my runaway!"

"Poor thing. He ran to me like the devil was on his tail." Christa said with a worried look.

With there only being three free horses, and Jean and Reiner taking two of them, you and Armin decided
to share a horse. You climbed onto the tan steed first before Armin climbed on.

"Oh no!" Christa suddenly yelled, "Armin, what happened to your head! You've been hurt!"

"It's okay." Armin reassured, giving her a bleak smile. "I'll manage."

"I'm glad you went out of your way to check out our emergency signal." Reiner commented, already on
his own horse.

"Well I wasn't far away so I came towards it. Then I found Jean's horse." Christa giggled.

"You're as noble as the steeds you tame." Reiner gushed, in awe. "We're all in your debt."

"It was nothing." Christa's eyes were going glassy with tears. "I'm just glad you guys are okay! What
would we do without you?"

You watched the boys grow bashful blushes, nearly bursting in admiration for the girl. You laughed,
particularly at Reiner. You don't think you've ever seen him look so mesmerized.

"We'd better hurry back to the formation." Christa noted, snapping the boys' googly eyes off of her as she
galloped forward.

"Right. The formation will probably be withdrawing any minute now." You said, snapping the reigns to
your horse to gain speed. Your face grew a little hot when Armin carefully slid his hands around your
waist to hang on. Stop freaking out. He literally has to do this. Sheesh. If this is what a crush feels like,
they can keep it. It's turning my brain into mush.

You all were barely riding for a good five minutes before multiple trails of green smoke were shooting up
in the distance.

"Green flares?! We're only changing course?!" Jean was in disbelief, scrunching his nose up at the sight.

"The Commander's squad has to have seen all the black and red flares." You were honestly shocked,
"Why aren't we pulling out?"

"Even if they haven't, it's obvious what we have to do in this situation." Armin said. You could hear the
click of his signal gun being loaded before a shot rang into the air. You looked up to see green smoke
wafting over your head.

Looks like this mission was gonna be harder than you thought.
 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝

"You've got to be kidding me." Jean complained, "Are we on a sight-seeing tour now? How much further
do they want us to stray off course?"

You were riding on the outskirts to a forest of thick tall trees. Only the center rank was allowed to go
through the forest while everyone else was ordered to ride around.

"Captain Erwin probably has an idea." Armin wondered aloud, "Maybe he's improvising because of the
Titan situation."

"Well that sure gives me a lot of confidence." Jean said sarcastically, "Maybe he's looking for a nice spot
to throw all of us a celebratory picnic."

You scoffed at the comment, "I wish. Maybe this is his way of taking cover from the Female Titan. It
could be a good hiding spot." You shrugged.

"No way. I'm praying he doesn't expect us to camp out here." Jean replied, "Not with that Female Titan
up our ass. No one in their right mind would make a stop here. We'd be like sitting ducks."

And as if on cue, one of the squad leaders yelled out to everyone, "All soldiers, halt!"

Everyone quickly stopped their advances, grouping together around some smaller trees to tie their horses
to.

You all gathered around the leader as he announced, "Alright, rookies, listen up! We're assuming
intercept position within the trees, so go find a perch! If any Titans attempt to enter the forest, stop them
with whatever it takes!"

Damn you, Jean. You spoke this into existence.

"Excuse me, sir." Jean asked nervously, "Why exactly are—"

The soldier zipped off before Jean could even finish his question. And that only pissed the boy off more.
He grumbled furiously under his breath.
"What'd I miss?" Bertholdt asked, suddenly appearing beside you. You turned to see him, and the
addition of a few others to the group: Mikasa, Sasha, Connie, and Ymir.

Reiner jumped to the opportunity, "A bunch—"

"I've given you an order!" The soldier suddenly snapped from above, glaring at the rest of you.

You heaved a sigh, "Guess we're hanging out in the trees."

You all randomly chose a tree branch to stand around on, or in your case, sit. You lazily leaned against
the base of the tree, making yourself comfortable. With the way everything's been going so far, you
assumed you'd be on that branch for a while.

"Can you guys believe this bullshit?" Jean said, loud enough for everyone, including the squad leader, to
hear. Not that he cared. "Am I the only one who's wondering why we're just standing around? Or why we
didn't go galloping home after the Female Titan showed up?"

Everyone watched him as he stared out into the empty fields, hands on his hips and a stern look on his
face as he grumbled to himself. It was kind of funny.

Ymir rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Does he ever shut up?" She yelled from her branch.

"He's found something to complain about the whole ride here." You said, "Get used to it, because I don't
think he's stopping anytime soon."

"Why are we suddenly playing bird house?" Jean questioned before changing to a sarcastic tone, "Oh
wait. I know the last one. No Titans allowed in the center rank's nature retreat." He stared daggers at the
squad leader, who sat in his own tree across from him.

"He'll hear you." Armin warned, "Keep it down."

"I don't care. He's not explaining anything to the ones risking their lives. Look at him, he acts all calm
and in control, but you can tell he's petrified."

"At this point, who isn't?" Armin replied.

"Has anyone seen Christa, by the way?" Ymir asked loudly, her eyes scanning over every branch in the
area for the blonde.

"She rode with us, but we got separated once we got to the forest." Reiner answered.

"Why was she with you?" Ymir asked, not bothering to hide the disgust on her face.

"We would've been stranded, if she hadn't come along, and rescued us." Reiner sighed fondly, making
you snort a laugh. He's literally talked to her for less than ten minutes and was completely wooed.

"Why would you have been stranded?" Bertholdt asked.

"We ran into the Female Titan." You answered, sharing a look with Bertholdt. He instantly perked up at
hearing about Annie.

"Oh my goodness! Really? What happened?" Sasha asked curiously.

"We got into a bit of a scuffle, but in the end, we sent her running with her tail between her legs." Reiner
chimed in confidently, a smirk on his face.
Ymir scoffed, "Please. It probably just saw your face and ran for its life." You choked on a laugh.

"Five-meter Titan approaching!"

You all snapped your heads in Jean's direction, since his tree was the closest to the edge of the forest.
Sure enough, there was a Titan running through the fields in your direction. And it wasn't alone, either.
You could spot multiple Titans trailing after it.

"Where the hell did they come from that fast?" Connie asked, his voice colored in surprise.

You heard Sasha give a panicked squeal, "They're all around us!"

You hurriedly looked over your branch to look down. There was a crowd — no, a mob of Titans on the
ground beneath your trees, clawing at the bark eagerly with wild eyes. You all were utterly surrounded.

You quickly caught Reiner's eye with a shared look of confusion. Did Annie do this? Bertholdt, on the
other hand, looked absolutely alarmed.

"So, I mean ..." Jean continued; his voice laced with nervousness. "We don't actually have to fight them,
right? A-Am I wrong?"

"For now, we don't." Armin confirmed, "Luckily, these trees are tall enough to keep us out of their
reach."

You watched the Titans unsuccessfully attempt to crawl their way up the trees. Some gave up and just sat
down, keeping their eyes trained on the bodies above; others laid down and made themselves
comfortable. Ugly bastards.

"Thank you, mother nature, for these big ass trees." You mumbled to yourself. You took a scan around to
see what the others were up to.

Mikasa sat on her own branch, staring down at the Titans with a blank face (as usual). She seemed
unbothered by everything happening.

Sasha sat on a branch next to Mikasa's. Her knees were folded against her chest as she rested her chin on
them, frantically looking around in fear.

Connie sat on a branch across from Sasha, his hazel eyes elsewhere as he absentmindedly clapped a
rhythm on his branch.

Similar to you, Ymir and Reiner both looked bored as they lazily leaned up against their own respective
trees, watching the Titans with no panic shown.

Bertholdt just looked plain worried (when does he not?) as he stood on his branch, practically covered in
a sheen of sweat. He must be worried about Annie.

"You doing okay over there?" Armin asked over the obnoxious sounds of Titans clawing at tree bark. You
turned to see him standing on his branch, looking at you with a small smile.

"I should be asking you that." You said, "How's your head? Are the bandages okay?"

"It's fine." He answered, knocking on his head for emphasis. "I think I just need a nap." He chuckled.

"You and me, both." You sighed with a laugh.

Suddenly, a harsh noise echoed out to the edge of the forest. Then another. And another. A series of
powerful bangs were heard, until it suddenly stopped. You all shot each other a confused look, before the
series of bangs started up again.

"You think that's cannon fire or what?" Sasha asked nervously, before turning to Mikasa. "I mean nothing
else makes that kind of racket, right?"

I don't remember them bringing any cannons. Although, it's too loud to be anything else.

Mikasa didn't give Sasha an answer as she stared off into nowhere, her face still showing no emotion.

Ymir looked around, obviously annoyed at the noise. "What the hells with all the noise? What're they
doing back there?"

Out of the blue, Jean and Armin landed on your branch. You got to your feet, giving them a puzzled look.
"What's wrong?"

"That's what's wrong." Jean answered, pointing over to him and Armin's original branch.

With its hands and feet spread between two trees, a Titan was actually crawling its way up their tree, in
its own funky way. You were genuinely surprised.

"The ugly bastard's really getting the hang of it." Jean stared at the Titan in disgust. "At this rate, he's
gonna build us a treehouse."

"The alarming thing is that this shows that they can learn." Armin noted, "Not a pleasant thought, but
they probably all develop at different rates."

"They want us to keep these Titans out of the forest, right?" Jean took a look at you and Armin. "I think I
just figured out why."

"And...?" You pushed him to his point.

"We're here to lure that Female Titan to a trap." Jean declared, his jaw tensing up. You and Armin
immediately exchanged a confused look with him.
"C'mon. What else could it be?"

After thinking about it, you decided that Jean's theory made sense. It would explain why the commander
hasn't decided to retreat yet after seeing the Female Titan like any sane person would. It's because they
were expecting her to show up, so they could lead her here.

Suddenly everything was clicking into place.

There was the mix-up of Eren's location. You deduced that it was a mistake at first, but thinking about it
now, Commander Erwin had it set up that way on purpose. He's looking at the new people as suspects.
Why did everyone but the rookies have Eren's correct location?

Dammit. It was a test. And we fell right in its trap. Literally. Annie should be okay. She always holds her
own.

"That's probably what the explosions were then." You thought aloud, "It was the trap setting off."

"It's just like you said, Armin. There's a person steering that thing and Commander Erwin wants to find
out who." Jean finished.
A loud boom shook the ground, making everyone snap their heads towards the noise. Seems the crawling
Titan couldn't keep its grip. It fell all the way back to the ground.

You could hear Sasha shriek from fear — Wait, no, that was Connie. He was dramatically grabbing at his
chest as if his heart would fall out at any minute.

Reiner snickered at him, before Ymir cut him off. "I don't know why you're laughing, Reiner. You looked
like you were about ready to jump off of your tree."

Reiner gave Ymir a look of annoyance before looking over at Bertholdt. "You okay?" He called out.

At this point, Bertholdt looked like someone doused his face in water, with the way he was sweating. He
plastered a weak smile on his face and gave you and Reiner a thumbs up. Knowing Bertholdt, he
probably came to the same conclusion that I did. Maybe even earlier. That's probably why he looks so
stressed. It's not like you could ask him about it though. Unless you wanted the whole forest to hear.

"But why put so many lives at risk, just because one of us can't be trusted?" Jean questioned, "We
would've been more prepared, and saved some good people."

"You think the commander was wrong to leave us out of the loop?" Armin asked.

"Well, he definitely wasn't in the right." Jean replied.

"He did what was necessary." Armin argued.

"Are you seriously trying to defend him?" Jean asked in disbelief. "Do you know how many of us died so
the commander could play detective? Hell, you almost died."

"Of course, I do." Armin explained, "All I'm saying is that it's easy to judge in hindsight. Anybody can
make a choice after seeing the results. It's easy to wait and say, 'They should've done this'. But, in reality,
there's no way to know what the results will be before you make a choice. He had to act on what he had
at the time. Even if it put his comrades lives in danger.

What would you have done? Let a handful of us die out here or everyone behind the walls? He made a
wise decision. He sacrificed a hundred lives for the good of all mankind."

An otherworldly cry rang out from the middle of the forest, rumbling the ground and everything around
you with its powerful roar. It sent chills down your spine as it droned on and on.

That's Annie! She must be in actual trouble.

The roar finally came to an end, echoing past the forest and out to the fields. And just as expected, the
Titans that surrounded your trees abruptly ran deeper into the forest, leaving you all behind without a
second glance. The ground shook as the mob of Titans fought past each other to run in Annie's direction.

Bertholdt looked like he wanted to hop off his tree and join them, but you sent him a look that said Dont
you dare.

"Why are they ignoring us all of a sudden?" Jean exclaimed, frantically looking around at all of the
Titans running away.

"You're telling me they're all abnormal?!" Connie shouted in disbelief.

"Who cares! We need to push them back!" The squad leader called out. "Engage!"
"Wait! Please!" Sasha yelled out. Her eyes were going wild with fear as she struggled to hold Mikasa
back from joining the fight. "I know that sound! It used to haunt me in my sleep; I'd hear it from the
forest in the dead of night!" Sasha looked over to everyone else, her brown eyes pleading. "Believe me,
nothing in the world screams like that except a dying animal! That's the sound of a creature who knows
it's got nothing to lose!"

"I'll be alright. I know how to be careful." Mikasa reassured with her blades already drawn.

"That is not the right attitude to have!" Sasha yelled out in frustration. "You can't just be careful; you
have to be terrified!"

"Have you ever seen me terrified?" Mikasa asked nonchalantly.

"No! And I'm telling you this'll be a good time to try it out!" Sasha yelled, "I was taught you have to be
on guard until the very end of a hunt!"

Before Mikasa could even make a move, the sound of a signal gun being shot was heard. You all turned
around to face the inner forest, seeing a trail of blue smoke fly up through the trees. Withdrawal.

"Hold on," Jean had a confused look on his face. "That's it? It's over?"

"Oh, thank god!" Connie shouted from his branch, falling to his knees in relief.

"Well, that's our cue!" The squad leader announced. Even he wore a puzzled look. "Get back to your
horses! We're going home!"

We just watched a stampede of Titans run towards the commander's squad, and now it's time to go?

You exchanged a look with Bertholdt and Reiner, who both looked conflicted. Should we stay and help?

After a beat of subtle glances, Reiner was the first to jump from his branch out of you three. "Let's go."
He zipped towards the edge of the forest, making the choice to leave Annie on her own for now.

You had to keep convincing yourself she'd be fine as you and Bertholdt followed behind him.

You landed on the ground to see Armin and Jean already waiting on their horses for you. You went over
to your horse and helped yourself up behind Armin.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Yeah." You answered, slipping your hands around his waist for support. You could feel Armin stiffen, at
first, before warming up to your touch. Looks like you weren't the only one freaking out.

Your horse rode beside Jean's as it sped across the green fields with the others.

"So, if we're leaving, that means the mission was a success, right?" Jean asked.

"Hopefully." Armin answered, "That would mean they've already discovered the Female Titan's identity."

Hopefully not.

"I wouldn't mind knowing that myself." Jean added, "I'm kinda impressed with the commander. How'd he
know she'd come after us once we took Eren beyond the walls?"

"Think about it," Armin said, "during the Titan invasion in Trost, wasn't it weird how the Titans seemed
to stop their advance halfway through? It was clear they had a purpose when they destroyed the front
gate, but they never made a move on the inner gate. You would think that they'd follow all the way
through and destroy both gates.

And they did nothing when Eren sealed the breach they worked so hard to make. Maybe something
happened that made them re-evaluate their plan entirely. Something took their focus away from the wall's
destruction."

"And what would that be?" You asked, wanting to hear what he'd say. Armin was getting everything right
to a T. It almost made you scared.

"The only thing I can think of ... is Eren." Armin answered.

"You mean Eren's transformation?" Jean gasped.

"That's the most logical answer." Armin replied.

Jean was in shock, "Then that would mean—"

"It means they were there." Armin said definitely. "Whoever called off the Titan attack, saw Eren
transform. It means the enemy is one of us."

You felt a chill run up your spine.

You all eventually would meet up with the others at a gathering spot; feeding the horses, loading the
wounded and the lost, and making sure everyone was in their correct positions.

But you were more intrigued to see them load an unconscious Eren into one of the wagons, signifying an
obvious fail for your group's mission. The Scouts weren't the only ones accepting defeat today.

With creased brows, you turned back to look in the direction of the forest. A pang of worry settling over
your shoulders.

What happened to Annie?

━━━━━━

The moment you all made it back into the walls, it was announced that the Scouts custody of Eren was
revoked. You weren't surprised at all. You all weren't even outside of the walls for a full day, and already
came back with half of the formation missing or wounded and nothing to show for the trip. The
government was losing faith in the Scouts.

You, Reiner, and Bertholdt were barely able to come up with a plan about Eren's possible regiment
change, before you were being sent away to Wall Sina the next day.

And so that's how you found yourself lazily staring out a window out of boredom. Nothing but the
wilderness and the plain blue sky stared back at you. There wasn't even a bird in sight. Well, there was
Connie's big head that kept entering your line of sight. But other than that, nada. You let out a heavy sigh.

"How long do you think they'll keep us here?" You heard Christa say from the table next to yours.

"Who knows. Hopefully not for long." Ymir sighed, "I'm this close to just running away."
You were confused. You would think there'd be a little more urgency happening, considering the Scouts
were about to lose one of their most valuable weapons. But nope. You've all just been sitting around in
the middle of no man's land all day.

"Y'know my village is just a little bit south of where we are now." Connie said.

"Huh. Town where I'm from is pretty close by too." Sasha replied. They both mirrored you; your heads
lazily perched on your hands to look out the window as you leaned on the table, a sleepy look to your
eyes.

You took a peek over at Reiner and Bertholdt's chess game, seeing them both fully engrossed in it.
Bertholdt offered to play with you, but you grew tired of him always beating you. Chess is overrated
anyways.

"Why can't I go see my family? It's not like we have anything to do." Connie mumbled, "Maybe I'll just
sneak out at night."

"Take me with you if you do." You chimed in, "This place is killing me." You dramatically leaned over
on Bertholdt, smushing your face against his arm before he gave you a simple pat on the head. Only to
return his hand to his chin as he thought over his next move.

"You got it, bud." Connie yawned.

"You want to go home that bad? My people told me not to bother coming back home til' I'm normal so ..
there's that." Sasha said.

"Everyone told me that I would never be a soldier because of my height. But turns out I had the brains for
it cause I ended up a prodigy." Connie subtly bragged, "Top ten of my class, actually. I wanna go rub it in
their faces. Somebody's gonna be eating their words, that's a promise."

"Connie," Reiner said, still staring down at the chess board, "I'll help you if you really wanna go."

"Really? Why?" Connie questioned.

"Doesn't this all feel a bit strange?" Reiner asked, "We're on standby in our regular clothes, they won't let
us wear our uniforms, and we can't even train." He stood up to stand at the window, "What's even more
suspicious is that our superiors are fully armed. We're not on the frontlines, what are they going to be
fighting?"

Connie sighed, "I don't know, man. Maybe they're just worried about bears or something. We are in the
middle of the woods."

"Sure. Bears." Sasha said flatly.

"I doubt it." Bertholdt chimed in, "If they were arming themselves against bears, all they would need is
guns. But they're wearing ODM gear."

You hadn't even thought about that. You partly thought that this was the Scouts way of staying under the
radar until they could fix things with the government. You knew that some people stayed in the city for
that very reason, including Armin and his friend group.

Sasha groaned before letting her head slap the table. Then, suddenly, she was jumping up from her seat
with a gasp.

"Guys! I think I'm hearing footsteps!"

Her announcement made the whole room grow quiet before everyone's eyes landed on the jittery girl. She
looked absolutely panicked, just like in the trees on the mission.

"What do you mean 'footsteps'?" You questioned.

"Like Titans! I hear the ground rumbling!"

"Knock it off, Sasha." Reiner said dismissively, "That'd only be possible if Wall Rose fell."

Sasha was in a frenzy as she threw her arms up, "Look, I'm not playing around! I hear something!"

Just as she finished, a soldier landed on the windowsill of the window to everyone's surprise. You quickly
recognized her to be apart of Miche's squad. She went by Nanaba. She had light blue eyes and parted
blonde hair that fell over a darker toned undercut.

She quickly opened the window, "Is everyone here?"

"What's wrong?" Christa asked.

"We've got company. There's Titans headed this way, approximately five hundred meters to the south and
closing." Nanaba announced, unknowingly confirming Sasha's suspicions. "There's no time for everyone
to change into their ODM gear, so I want everyone on a horse STAT. Evacuate every home and village in
the area."

Everyone quickly jumped to their feet, leaving everything behind on the tables, as they spilled out of the
room.

Amongst the chaos of running out of the building, Reiner quickly leaned in towards you and Bertholdt,
"Do we know if the wall's really been breached?" He had a panicked look on his face.

"I have no idea." You hastily whispered as you grabbed a saddle on the way out. "It worries me though.
Who the hell besides us has enough power to break through the walls?"

"Maybe this is just a drill. Maybe they're testing us." Bertholdt whispered back before you all ran out to
the stables to grab a horse.

You all frantically whispered back and forth as you put your saddles onto your horses and hoisted
yourselves on. But when you finally rode out into the fields and got a glimpse of what was coming, you
could only shake your head.

"This definitely isn't a drill." You said to yourself as you looked over to your right. There was a mob of
what looked like nine Titans in the distance, all hurriedly rushing to get to the area you all were just in.

"The moment the Titans reach the woods, we're splitting up!" Miche announced, "I want four teams,
recruits and soldiers alike in each one! When I give the signal, we'll scatter in different directions at the
same time! Get the word out to civilians! Do not engage the enemy!" He turned to look over his shoulder,
"Which one of you are the most familiar with the area?"

Sasha's hand shot up. "Sir, my village is just to the north of here! I know this region like the back of my
hand! Connie too!" She turned to the boy riding beside her, "Go on, tell him!" Connie held a blank gaze
though, and wouldn't answer Sasha. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"My village is to the south. Where the Titans came from." He said finally, " I could lead you to nearby
villages, but afterwards... let me go home. Please. I have to make sure my family's okay."
There was a beat of silence before MIche answered, "Go on. Guide the southern team, then go to your
village."

"Yes, sir." Connie replied before you watched Reiner ride up beside him.

"I'll come with you." Reiner offered.

"Are you crazy?" Connie was baffled at Reiner's eagerness, "There'll be Titans everywhere!"

"You think I care?" Reiner smirked, "I was planning on helping you get home anyways, wasn't I?" This
must've been Reiner's way of figuring out what was going on in that area. He looked over his shoulder at
you and Bertholdt, "What about you two? You coming?"

Bertholdt exchanged a glance with you before answering, "Of course. Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"They've reached the woods! The enemy is on top of us!" Gelgar, another soldier, announced.

"Scatter now!" Miche yelled, before everyone began to part ways. You and the others followed him since
he'd be leading the south team.

Just as Miche yelled out his orders, the mob of Titans immediately started running in your direction,
almost as if a switch was turned on. And to your horror, they were running fast too, taking meee seconds
to dash across the fields.

"What the hell?! Why'd they all start running?!" Connie exclaimed in fear.

"Gelgar! Take command of the south team!" Miche announced before suddenly veering in the direction
of the Titans. Everyone was absolutely baffled.

"Is he trying to act as bait?!" A soldier yelled out, "One man against nine Titans? That's ridiculous! We
should go help—"

"No!" Gelgar yelled back, "We need everyone here! Miche is the second toughest soldier in the Survey
Corps, after Levi. He'll get through it alive, trust me!"

You all continued onward to your respective areas, leaving Miche behind.
 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧

After a while of riding around and spreading the word to the other villages, Connie's hometown finally
came into view.

You barely rode into the town and you could already tell things weren't looking good.

The houses had large holes in them, as if Titans punched their hands through the roofs or sides to get to
whoever was inside. It was eerily quiet, practically a ghost town.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" Connie yelled out, "It's Connie! I came home!"

Only his echoes gave him a reply back.

"Connie, slow down!" Reiner scolded as you all finally caught up to him. "There could've been Titans
everywhere and you just left us behind."

"But this... This is my house ..." Connie murmured. He was in a daze, his hazel eyes wide and glazed
over.

That's when you noticed what Connie was so deeply engrossed by. You nearly fell off your horse at
seeing a pair of big golden eyes stare back at you. While they were creepy ... they almost seemed familiar
somehow.

"Cadets! Fall back!" Gelgar yelled, galloping in front of you with his blade wielded. But even he looked
terrified.

It was a Titan, but not just any regular Titan. This Titan's head and torso made up most of its body, not
being equal at all with its small, noodle-like legs and arms. Despite it being unusually big, its torso was
basically just skin and bones, outlining most of its ribs and even showing a few uncovered ones towards
its legs.

But what was really intriguing was that it was laying upside down in a crumbled house, it's upper head
and blonde hair cascading over where the front door would've been. Despite its situation, it still held a
wide, open-mouthed smile.

"Can it move?" A soldier asked.

"With those skinny legs, I don't think it would be able to support its own weight." Bertholdt deduced.

"Well then how'd the hell it get there?"

"That's what I'd like to know." You said with a shudder. This situation was really creeping you out.
Especially with the Titan's eyes following the group's every movement.

"Well .. Let's all take another look around." Gelgar suggested, more for Connie's sake. Connie looked like
he was in shock as he got off of his horse.

After searching through debris and taking a good look around, a couple times, you were greeted with
somber faces when you rejoined the group in the middle of town. No one had a good report.

There wasn't anyone around, not even a body.

After being sent to gather wood and preparing them for nightfall, you all found Connie once again staring
at his house, and more specifically, the Titan on it.

"Did you find any survivors?" Reiner asked.

"No. I-It's in ruins." Connie choked on a sob, "My hometown has been completely wiped out!"

You genuinely felt bad for him. Imagine coming home, thinking you were going to see your family and
friends, just to be met with your hometown totally destroyed and the people you love, gone.

Reiner walked up to Connie and placed his hand on his shoulder in some type of support. Reiner himself
looked like he was going to cry, and that partly surprised you. Reiner is always on your backs for getting
too close to the others, but it seemed that every time you looked, he was by their side. He never practiced
what he preached.

Gelgar and another soldier by the name of Lynne walked up to you guys, confused looks dancing on their
faces.

"None of us found any bodies. How is that even possible?" Gelgar thought aloud, waving his hands in the
air out of frustration. "The Titans bombard this place and there's not even a speck of blood?"

"The villagers must've fled!" Lynne said suddenly, an optimistic tone in her voice. "There's no way Titans
could eat and leave no trace. No one could've been eaten, including your family." She said, looking at
Connie who instantly perked up, "They must've seen the Titans before it was too late."

"You really think so? You think they're alive?" Connie asked hopefully, his watery eyes lighting up.

"Uh, yeah! For sure!" Lynne said, but anyone could hear the hesitance in her voice. "It's the only logical
explanation for why there's no, uh, carnage."

It was obvious that this was her way of trying to make Connie feel better. Just from looking at the town's
stables, filled to the brim with alive and well horses, you could tell that the villagers didn't escape.
Something weird happened in that town, you just couldn't put your finger on it.

Besides that, Lynnes's explanation must've worked because Connie seemed to calm down, taking deep
breaths as he grabbed a few torches from the others' hands.

"Anyone don't have a torch?" Gelgar asked to no reply before he began to lead the way, "Then let's
move! Our mission is to evaluate the breach."

Everyone immediately set off to follow him, but your steps faltered when you realized Connie was still
staring at his house. You waited around as he took a deep breath before he fell into step with you. You
gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder in support.

"Everything'll be okay."
"I hope so." He murmured back.

By the time you got onto your horses and secured your torches, the group was a little further away. You
were just picking up the reigns when a raspy voice slithered its way out to you and Connie.

"Wuh ... Welcome home."

You looked at Connie first, just to find him already looking at you with a confused expression. You both
thought the other said it. Then you finally turned around to the upside-down Titan, it's large eyes eerily
trained on Connie.

Did it ... Did it just talk?

You gasped as you watched it try to form more words. It seemed to struggle moving its mouth.

You both were so caught up in watching it try to talk that you didn't even notice Reiner ride up beside
you two. You flinched hard when he suddenly yelled.

"Hey! Snap out of it, you two! We're falling behind!"

"Did you hear that? You had to." Connie exclaimed with a bewildered expression, "I swear that Titan—"

"It was only your imagination!" Reiner hastily replied.

You were baffled, "But Reiner, it—"

"I didn't hear a damn thing." He cut you off with a pointed look, making you close your mouth. "Focus
on the mission!"

"But — It sounded like ..." Connie gulped as he glanced back at the Titan, "I don't know how, but it
sounded like my mom—"

"Dammit, Connie! Do you even know how serious this situation is!" Reiner scolded, "If we don't see this
through, people are gonna die in the hundreds of thousands! Just cause your family escaped, doesn't mean
they're out of the woods yet! Now do you wanna be a soldier or not?"

And with that, Reiner galloped away, leaving you and Connie behind. You instantly went to look at the
latter, expecting him to be just as confused as you were, but he seemed to take Reiner's speech to heart.
He psyched himself up before gesturing for you to follow him.

"I'm a soldier!" He yelled, mostly to himself, before galloping away with you closely following suit.

Reiner is one helluva persuader.

━━━━━━

It's been a while since you left Connie's village now, and to say you were nervous was an understatement.

Besides the glow of your torches, your surroundings were pitch black as you all rode alongside Wall
Rose. The very same wall that was supposed to be breached. And so far not a single crack has been seen.
The air surrounding you was very timid, no one uttering a single word. You could only hear the sounds of
your heart thumping against your chest. Your torch trembled in your grip.

This was horrible. If there were any Titans lingering around, you wouldn't even be able to see them. They
could be walking right beside your group for all you knew. The thought made you gulp.

Finally, orbs of light could be seen in the distance, and it was like some of the heavy weight was pushed
off your chest. You could breathe a little easier.

Nanaba, Christa, Ymir and others rode up to your group with puzzled looks, matching the looks on your
own group's faces. There was a moment of silence as one group waited on the other to say something.

"So, I'm assuming you followed the wall too?" Gelgar finally asked.

"That's right." Nanaba replied, "I assume you all found the breach then?"

You all only stared back at her, even more confused than before.

"We didn't see any irregularities along the western route." Nanaba explained, "So surely you must've seen
something in the east?"

"No, we didn't see anything either." Gelgar answered, "The wall's perfectly intact."

Another beat of tense silence followed, everyone exchanging anxious glances at each other as it settled
in.

If there's no hole, not even a crack big enough for a Titan to slip through, how could there possibly be
Titans inside the wall? Did they learn how to climb like the ones in the forest? Actually, no. That wouldn't
make sense with how smooth the surface is, you'd need some type of grip to crawl up the wall.

"Maybe we just overlooked it?" Lynne suggested.

"No way. The damage would have to be large enough for a Titan to get through. We couldn't have missed
that." Someone from Nanaba's group replied.

"I guess we'll just have to take another look then." Gelgar suggested.

"I'd usually agree, but the horses are on the verge of collapse. And so are we." Nanaba sighed, "If only
we had more light out here."

And as if the universe heard her plea, the clouds pulled away from the moon, shining brightly like a
beacon of hope. Its light uncovered the castle sitting atop a hill in the nearby distance.

After a few exchanged looks, it went without saying that the old castle was your next stop.

You all rode up to its crumbling fixture. It looked like the castle was supposed to have some type of wall
around it, but one side of the wall was smashed away, making it easy for you all to ride into the open
space in the middle of it. It had an empty run down stable, and on top of the half-smashed wall, two tall
brick towers pierced into the night sky.

"Not an ideal place to sleep, but it'll do for the night." Gelgar announced, as everyone got off their horses.
You all led them to the stables to be tied up.

The inside of the tower didn't look bad at all. If anything, you would've thought someone was sticking
around to keep it touched up. A fire pit you all found in the circular first room, surrounded by a slew of
things like mugs and a pitcher, confirmed that to be true.
"Someone was here not that long ago." You deduced, feeling the warmth of the pitcher.

"Bandits must've been using it as their hideout." Christa thought aloud as she added more wood to the
fire.

"The sign outside said this is the ruins of Utgard Castle." Nanaba said, "I didn't know there was a
historical site around here."

It was almost like deja vu as you and the others sat around the fire's flickering flames. It reminded you of
a time so long ago.

Gelgar dug around in a old closet, pantry, whatever it was. "Hey, check this out." He came out of the
pantry, holding a glass bottle of what was obviously liquor. His eyes narrowed at the bottle's label,
"What's written on it? I can't tell..."

"You're not thinking about drinking that are you?" Lynne asked with a disgusted face.

"C'mon, what's the harm?" Gelgar said with a dismissive wave before he turned to the rest of you, "You
kids rest up. The sun has been down for a while now, so I doubt the Titans are moving. The rest of us are
going to take turns keeping watch. We'll leave four hours before sunrise."

"'Scuse me." Christa asked, catching Gelgar's attention, "So what would happen if we found out Wall
Rose isn't actually breached? Where else could they be coming from?"

"We're going to try and figure that out tomorrow." Gelgar answered as he climbed up the spiral staircase
along the wall, inching towards the top of the tower. "You guys rest up."

A beat of silence went by before Ymir seemed to have a thought. She suddenly turned to the boy sitting a
ball's throw away from her, "Connie, what happened to your village?"

"Totally destroyed." Connie answered.

Ymir sighed, "I'm sorry about that."

"Nobody got eaten though." He explained, "It seems like everyone got away in time, so there's a silver
lining at least."

Ymir perked up, "I thought you said it was destroyed?"

"Well, the houses and stuff were, but the people themselves must've escaped. We didn't see any blood
anywhere. Not a drop." Connie replied before heaving a heavy sigh, "But there's still something I can't
get out of my head... There was a Titan on top of my house. It was just lying there because it couldn't
move on its own. And well ... I have no idea why, but ... it reminded me of my mom."

It was silent enough to hear a pin drop as Connie took a slow look around the room to gauge your
reactions.

Reiner suddenly ducked towards him to whisper. "Connie, what did I say? It was just your imagina—"

"Are you for real!" Ymir blurted out, a loud cackle echoing throughout the tower, "You actually think
your mom might be a Titan? Oh, honey, as itty bitty as you are? Please! I mean, we knew you were as
dumb as a bag of rocks, but this? This takes it to a whole other level!"

"Ha. Ha. Yeah, have your fun." Connie mumbled, rubbing his head out of embarrassment as Ymir
laughed the most obnoxious laugh you've ever heard.
"Ymir, leave him alone." You defended him.

"Okay, okay, but wait! If mommy's a Titan, then it's only logical to assume that dear ole' daddy is a Titan
too." Ymir taunted, "It's basic biology. How else would they have made—"

"Okay, I get it! Shut up and go to sleep ugly!" Connie snapped, making you stifle back a laugh.

After a while, everyone began to make themselves comfortable on the floor, eventually lulling off to
slumber. You were just about to doze off yourself when you could hear the slow creak of a door being
opened, making you open your eyes and turn towards the noise.

You could see Reiner walk into the pantry, whispering rather loudly, "Ymir? What are you doing?"

"What're you doing? Here to ravage me?" Ymir taunted, and that was enough to make you get up and see
what was going on. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't think you were into girls."

"Really? Well since we're on the subject, I didn't think you were all that into guys." Reiner shot back.

You trudged towards the door before opening it wider, being met with Reiner's wide back. You slipped
past him to stand in the room, earning a smirk from Ymir.

"(Y/n) too? What're you doing up?" She asked.

"I wanted to see what you guys were up to." You yawned, rubbing at your eyes. "You're loud enough to
wake the whole tower up."

"Or were you just worried about little ole me?" Ymir teased, batting her eyes at you in a way that made
you scrunch up your nose. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were interested."

You scoffed, "Please. You wish."

Ymir's eyes dragged over your figure before shrugging, "I might." She instantly laughed at the face you
made before going back to digging around in a crate full of stuff. "But if you both must know, I'm
digging for food like a street urchin. I'd prefer not to meet my maker on a empty stomach."

"Stop over exaggerating." You waved her off dismissively as you leaned against the wall to watch her,
"We're not going to die."

"Pffft. With the way things have been going, I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't make it through the
night." Ymir scoffed before holding her candle holder out to you, "Would you give me a hand,
sweetheart?"

You gagged, "Don't ever call me that again." But you grabbed the candle for her anyways, holding it
above the crate as she moved things around.

"Look, Ymir, I came here to talk about the earlier thing with Connie." Reiner spoke in a lower tone,
closing the door behind him. "Were you teasing him to get his mind off of things? It'd be great if you
could keep that up. The less he worries about his family, the better."

"Well, isn't that nice of you?" You asked Reiner, plastering on a sickeningly sweet innocent smile. "Look
at you, looking out for your comrades."

Reiner's jaw visibly clenched as he looked down at the ground, rubbing the back of his neck as he
realized his hypocrisy.
"What're you even talking about, Reiner?" Ymir asked, obviously not paying attention. She suddenly
perked up, bringing a can to her line of sight. "Ooo. This might be good. Herring's not my favorite, but
whatever." You could see her body grow stiff as soon as the words left her mouth.

"Ew. You're gonna eat Herring straight out of the can?" You made a face. You couldn't just eat fish by
itself, you needed something to eat with it.

Reiner walked up to get a look himself, "Is there anymore in there? Let me take a look."

Ymir stared at the can in her hands for a beat before passing it back to Reiner, "Here. Help yourself."

Reiner read the label, "I can't believe there's canned food here." Then he suddenly stiffened as well, "Wait
... What the— What is this?"

You gave a quiet Ymir back her candle before going to Reiner with a chuckle, "Lemme see. You
probably just forgot how to read."

He gave you a pointed look as he passed the can over, raising his eyebrows. You furrowed yours before
looking at the can. What are they talking about? I'm reading it just fine. It took you a couple seconds to
register it before you grew stiff as well.

This label is in Marleyan.

Before your silence grew suspicious, you shrugged your soldiers. "Huh. I'm stumped. I can't read it
either." You turned to Ymir, who was still sitting at the crate, almost as if she was afraid to turn around.
"Ymir, how do you know this says 'Herring'? It looks like this label is in another language."

The air grew tense in that small pantry, almost as if it was a ticking time bomb in it, ready to explode.
You and Reiner stared down at Ymir's crouched figure before she slowly turned around, her brown eyes
piercing into you.

"How do you two know what Herring is?"

You and Reiner both stiffened.

Herring's a fish. From the ocean. The ocean that no one on Paradis has a damn clue about.

A cruel smile curled up on Ymir's face, as if to say,

Gotcha.
 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚

"Everyone, wake up! Get to the top of the tower immediately!"

You were snapped out of your intense stare down by a loud yell. You threw another look at Ymir before
running out of the pantry. After seeing everyone still sitting on the floor, awaking from their sleep, you
looked up to see a distressed Lynne on the spiral staircase along the wall.

"Come on! It's an emergency!" She yelled down before running up the stairs again. You all quickly
followed suit, running with all the urgency in the world up the tower.

When you made it to the top, you were quickly met with a horrid sight. Titans. Everywhere.

It was a whole horde of them walking up to the castle, crawling over its walls or even stepping over
them.

"How can they move? This shouldn't be happening!" Gelgar exclaimed worriedly, "The sun went down
hours ago!"

"Forget them! What the hell is that!" Connie yelled, beckoning you all to turn around to look at where he
was pointing, "It's gotta be a Titan, but have you ever seen one that big?!"

You swore your eyes could've fell out of your head right then and there.

Standing at seventeen meters, the furry Titan took up a monkey-like appearance, yet still had human
features like its long torso, lined with abs towards the top but then rounded off with a gut at the bottom.
It's torso, face, hands, and feet were the only body parts not covered in thick brown fur. Its long arms
were practically the length of its body, swinging side to side, as he sauntered for the wall, it's stomps
rumbling the ground.

The Beast Titan, better known to you as Zeke Jaeger.

We're so fucked.

"Look at it! It's more like some kind of beast!" Connie exclaimed, "How do we even—"

Connie turned to look at the rest of you, but was caught off guard to see Bertholdt, Reiner, and you all
stunned to silence, gawking at the Titan with the upmost fear etched into your features.

Just then you felt the tower rumble beneath your feet, slightly pushing you off balance.

"They're attacking the tower!" Lynne announced.

You all looked over the edge to see multiple Titans ramming their shoulders into the tower, some even
attempting to smash their way in through the door.

"Dontcha' have something better to do?!" Gelgar shouted down to the Titans, "I should be drinking right
now, damn it! You're standing between me and a bottle of ale! Ive earned the right to get trashed!" He
stood on top of the battlement surrounding the roof, his blades already drawn.

Who knew he felt so passionate about his liquor?

"Rookies, stand back!" Nanaba instructed as her and the others ran to join Gelgar. "We've got this!"

Nanaba called out the order to attack before they all jumped off at once, yelling out their war cries.

You turned to look at the Beast Titan once more, seeing him scale up Wall Rose easily. How and why is
Zeke here? You could distinctly remember Commander Magath saying that Zeke was supposed to stay
behind to deter enemy nations, so why is he strolling through Paradis like he's out on the town?

A shadow fell over you, from a cloud passing by, before the moonlight touched your skin again. You
looked up at the bright sphere in the night sky, and suddenly it all made sense.

It was a full moon.

"The Marleyan army will anchor here on the full moon, so remember that as you carry out the plan to
retake the Founder Titan."

It slipped your mind that the Marleyan army's been sending a ship to Paradis once a month, every full
moon, just in case you and the others finished the mission and needed a ride back to Marley.

They must've had Zeke come in to check on our progress ... Does he know we're in this castle?

You watched as the giant ape sat lazily on top of the wall, staring directly at the destruction happening.

I'm guessing he doesn't.

The Scouts seemed to have it under control though, slicing and cutting through the Titans with ease. At
least until Lynne suddenly perched on the battlement.

"Titans are in the castle! Get downstairs and make a barricade! Be careful! Retreat back up here only as a
last resort! The rest of us will keep any more from getting in as best we can." Lynne looked out to the
woods where more Titans roamed across the lands. "There's a lot ... so this might be it for us. But we'll
fight to the last breath for the cause! Now go!"

"Got it!" You all yelled back before you were scrambling down the stairs.

Reiner grabbed a torch from the wall as he climbed down, "I'll go see how far they've gotten in! The rest
of you gather up anything you can find to barricade the door! Boards, poles, whatever!"

"Reiner, wait!" Christa yelled to no avail.

"Hold on! We're coming!" Bertholdt pushed through the rest of you to chase after Reiner, but the blonde
was already gone through the door.

"Are you kidding me? Why's he always gotta be the first one to step up." Connie complained, "Give us a
break!"

"Yeah. It's a habit of his." Bertholdt acknowledged.

"Well while he does that, we can find something to barricade the door with." You suggested.

"Right!" Connie agreed, before you all scattered around the second level of the tower to look for
something.

Fortunately, you found a few options: a pitchfork, a couple dusty wooden logs laying around, and—

"Is that a cannon?" You asked, squinting your eyes at the random weapon sitting in the dark shadows of
the room. It seemed to sit on a wooden fixture that held it up with wheels.

"Well would you look at that." Ymir chuckled as she ran past you to get to it. She positioned herself
behind it before giving the rest of you a look, "Well? I could use some help here."

"Oh! Right. Sorry." Connie said as the rest of you joined in behind her, pushing the cannon forward.

"The Titans are in the castle!" Reiner suddenly yelled out from downstairs; his voice laced with pure
panic. "Get down here and help me!"

Bertholdt was the first to move, grabbing the pitchfork on his way out the door. Connie and Christa were
about to join them when you and Ymir pulled them back.

"Bertholdt will handle it. It's better for us to get this cannon down there than go empty handed." You
grunted, pushing with more urgency now.

You all pushed and pushed until you finally made it to the open door and the top of the staircase. By the
time you looked down to Reiner and Bertholdt, they were stabbing a pitchfork through a hole in the door
and into a Titan's eyes.

"Guys! Heads up! Incoming!" Ymir warned.

"Where'd you find—?" Reiner quickly changed his question, seeing as there was no time to be worried
about that, "Is there ammo?"

"Yeah, right. It was pure luck that we even found this thing!" Ymir yelled back before propping her foot
against it, "Get out of the way!"

You all gave it one more big push until the cannon was sliding down the grooves of the stairwell. Reiner
and Bertholdt both made a quick run for it before the cannon crashed into the door with a loud bang, a
cloud of dust erupting from the impact.

"Reiner! Bertholdt! Are you guys okay?" You asked, a tinge of actual worry in your voice.

Bertholdt quickly replied, "We're okay!"

You all slowly inched down the rest of the stairs to get a closer look at the aftermath after the dust settled.
The Titan was buried under a pile of debris, including the cannon, and it still had the pitchfork lodged in
its eyes.

"Yeah, it's not getting up from that." Reiner wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Good thing it was only a
little one."

"Now what? A knife's the only thing we got." Connie said, pulling a dagger out of his pants pocket.
"Should I cut the nape?"

"Don't risk it." Reiner warned, "Get grabbed, you'll get hurt."
"Then I think it would be best if we go back upstairs for now." Christa suggested, still standing on the
staircase with a torch in hand. "We have no way of knowing if that's the only one who got in ..."

The sound of a piece of wood snapping, made you instantly look towards the now open doorway. Just to
see a small Titan walk through, right behind an oblivious Connie.

"Connie! Run!" You yelled, but Connie was far too late to do anything as the Titan lunged for him.

Next thing you knew, you see Reiner pushing Connie out of the way, while holding the Titan back with
his arm. The Titan took a big bite into Reiner's arm, making him cry out in pain.

It's like life came into a full circle in that moment. The same way Marcel saved Reiner all those years
ago, is how Reiner saved Connie. Selflessly.

"Reiner!" Christa ran down the stairs, but Ymir quickly pushed her back.

You could actually hear the Titan sinking its teeth into Reiner's arm, biting down harder than before.

You never thought you'd feel this, but you were genuinely scared for him. You were about to grab the
dagger from the floor and finish the job yourself when Reiner suddenly squatted down and lifted the
Titan onto his back. You all were shell shocked to see him begin to climb the stairs.

Ymir and Christa quickly went up the rest of the stairs to make room for him as he inched closer to the
window residing in the middle of the staircase.

"Holy shit! What're you doing!" Connie exclaimed, "Are you gonna jump out of the window with it?"

"We've got no other choice!" He grunted. He was already sitting on the windowsill.

"No, wait!" Connie yelled as he dashed up the stairs, "I can slice his jaw open! Just give me a sec!" You
watched as Connie began to dig the dagger into the Titan's face before it eventually released its grip on
Reiner's arm.

Before it could do anything else, Ymir kicked it's back, sending the Titan falling to the ground.

"Okay, we should definitely go up now." You panted, tugging on Bertholdt's wrist to follow you.

After everyone was on the second level, Bertholdt, Ymir, and Connie barricaded the door with the logs of
wood you found earlier. Meanwhile you sat next to Reiner on the floor, watching Christa work her magic
on his arm.

"What're we gonna do if another one gets in?" Connie asked, "It's not like we have another cannon lying
around."

"Probably. Lightning won't strike twice." Bertholdt replied.

Christa popped the cork from another bottle of liquor laying around, making you question if a bunch of
alcoholics took refuge in the castle once, before she poured its contents over Reiner's wounds. He winced
loudly, squeezing his eyes shut in pain.

"I'm sorry!" Christa hurriedly apologized, "The bone's most likely fractured."

"Of course. That's about how my luck runs." He grunted.

"You're actually extremely lucky you just got off with a bite." You scolded, "I'm surprised it didn't snatch
your entire arm off. I'm surprised you even did that at all. You could've died."
Now that you got over your fear of the idiot possibly being seriously hurt, you were kind of mad at him.
He picked at you and Annie for saving Connie, yet here he is, letting a Titan use him as a midnight snack
to save the very same boy you saved.

But on the other hand, you were grateful that everything turned out okay for both him and Connie.

"You're right about that... I'm sorry." Reiner said, before turning to you with a smirk, "So, you actually do
care about me, huh?"

"Don't make me regret sitting over here."

Christa got to her feet, before noticing you and Reiner's confused stare, "We're going to need a splint and
a bandage." She explained as she bent over to tear the entire hem away from her skirt, making it shorter.

Reiner looked like a little kid walking into a candy store as he gawked at the newly revealed skin. And
you could actually feel the heat of Ymir's deadly glare at him.

Oblivious to all of this, Christa sat back down, "The fabric's filthy. I haven't been able to wash it in
forever." She wrapped the fabric around Reiner's wound with a sad face, "I'm sorry."

"No sweat. It does the job." Reiner replied, trying his hardest to look tough as Christa wrapped the fabric
across his chest to create a makeshift sling for his arm.

"So, you gonna be alright or what?" Connie asked.

"Think so." Reiner replied, "Probably."

You almost laughed at that. He could've healed himself up the moment the Titan let him go. You stood up
to join the others, dusting yourself off.

"Uh, Christa. I think I got scratched too." Ymir said, holding out her finger for inspection.

"Ugh. Just spit on it or something." Connie retorted, giving Ymir an eyeroll, before he turned to Reiner,
"Sorry about that man. Seems like you're always having to save my ass. You and everyone else. Even
Annie and (Y/n) put themselves on the line for me once." He said, giving you a shoulder pat. "I owe you
guys. A lot."

"You don't owe us anything." You replied, "Thats what friends are for, amiright?"

And you meant it. You genuinely saw Connie and the others as friends. Not just collateral.

"Yeah, it's fine." Reiner chimed in, "We have each other's back. That's what soldiers do."

"Yeah, well, I doubt I could ever be courageous enough to let a Titan bite me." Connie sighed before
turning to Bertholdt, "Has he always been like this? The self-sacrificing type?"

Hell no. The Reiner I know would've never saved a 'devil'. In fact, he'd probably think Connie deserved it
just for being from Paradis.

"No... He's just changed a bit." Bertholdt replied with a sigh, "In the old days, Reiner was more of a
Warrior."

Reiner cocked his head in confusion, "Warrior? I'm not quite sure I understand."

It grew awfully quiet as you furrowed your brows at him. Reiner seemed genuinely confused on what
Bertholdt was talking about. Almost like he didn't know what a Warrior is.
Is this his way of covering himself from Ymir? It's not like she can snitch on us without any real proof.
Plus, we know that she's definitely not from here either.

"Anyways," Ymir broke the silence, "let's go look for stuff we can use. If I have to die, I'd rather not do it
'cause we're being half assed." She climbed the stairs to look out one of the windows, perching herself
onto its windowsill, "Oh wow. Well, alright then. Say what you will, the Scouts get shit done."

Just then, a loud bang resounded from outside. It sounded like bombs were being thrown at the tower
from above. You almost believed it to be exactly that.

"What the hell is that?!" Connie exclaimed.

"I don't know!" Ymir answered, craning her neck to look out the window more. "It looks like a big ass
rock just came flying down on the stable! All of the horses are dead!"

Rocks? You and Bertholdt shared a panicked look before you were both racing for the stairs. Everyone
else took that as their cue to follow. There was another loud, ear ringing boom, but this time from the top
of the tower, shaking the fixture threateningly.

You all finally made it to the top, just to see a big chunk of the roof gone.

You frowned seeing Nanaba and Gelgar carrying Lynne and the other soldier's limp bodies in their arms,
laying them down on the rooftop.

"They're dead. Died instantly." Gelgar announced, inciting a chorus of gasps from the rest of you.

"I bet you that bastard did this! The one who went for the wall!" Connie yelled, running towards the other
side of the roof. "That hairy son of a bitch is—" He gasped as he took a look down. "Heads up! There's
even more Titans coming our way!"

"You're kidding!" Gelgar exclaimed out of shock.

"It's like they're timing these attacks as some part of a bigger strategy." Nanaba quickly deduced, "This
isn't random at all. We're being toyed with."

The Beast Titan's deep roar echoed out to the tower from his perch on Wall Rose. Almost immediately
after that, the new wave of Titans that surrounded the tower started shoving it again. He's trying to knock
us down.

"This tower isn't going to hold up if this keeps up. They're already super old!" You warned the others.

"Not if we can help it!" Nanaba and Gelgar quickly jumped back off the roof to ward off the Titans.

As if confirming your theory, the tower next to the one you all stood on collapsed from the impact of a
Titan falling into it. Nothing more than a pile of bricks as the Titan lazily laid on it.

"Yeah, we're fucked." Ymir nodded her head, accepting her fate.

You couldn't even say she was wrong, because from the look of things, she was totally right. Unless you
were willing to expose yourselves and transform, there was no getting out of this.

Especially since the only reinforcements you all had just ran out of gas. You watched Nanaba and Gelgar
perch on the side of the tower. Gelgar's blades were ran down to nubs, and he had a bleeding gash on his
head, making his movements more sluggish. Nanaba, on the other hand, still had blades but they were her
last pair. And they wouldn't do any good anyways without gas.
They put up a good fight, but they both eventually fell into the grimey hands of the Titans below.

A couple small rocks were thrown down, making you turn to see Christa with a handful of them, making
a futile attempt to hit the Titans with them. Ymir struggled to hold the girl from jumping.

"Stop! What're you doing! This tower's gonna give out any second, you'll fall!" She scolded.

"They're dying in our place!" Christa cried out, trying to climb onto the battlement.

Nanaba's screams and cries were all you could hear as the Titans tore her apart limb from limb. You had
to look away when they finally brought her closer to their drooling mouths, despite her begs to let her go.

And then all was quiet.

"Dammit! Now what?" Connie snapped, as he sunk to the floor. His hands clutched at his head as if it
were the last thread to his sanity, "Are we gonna sit around and wait for the tower to fall so we can get
eaten alive? There's nothing else we can do? This is bullshit!"

"No. This isn't over yet." Christa replied confidently, determination etched into her features, "If I could
find a weapon, I'd go down fighting. I'd at least try to avenge the people who died for us."

"Enough with that crap, okay?" Ymir demanded, "Don't use their deaths as an excuse. They didn't
sacrifice themselves so you could live out your fantasy about going down in a blaze of glory."

"You know that's not what I meant!" Christa protested, sounding like she was on the brink of tears. Her
confident posture melted right in front of your very eyes as soon as Ymir snapped at her.

"And you know damn well you're not like Connie and the others!" Ymir argued, "They're in this to give
humanity a fighting chance. Deep down, all you care about is having the word 'hero' on your gravestone."

Well damn. You were completely baffled as you watched them argue. You've never seen Ymir go at it
with Christa like that. But with death looming around, it could make anyone snap out of character.

Ymir stepped away from a stunned Christa to go to Connie instead, "You still have that knife?"

"Why?" Connie questioned.

"Just give it." Ymir retorted. Connie gave her the knife with a scowl before she patted, or more like
slapped, his head, "Thanks. You're very sweet."

He swatted her arm away, "What do you even need that for?"

"Just to give 'em a little hell." Ymir had a crazy gleam in her brown eyes, a quivering smile curling up on
her face as she gripped the dagger.

Bertholdt subtly pulled you closer to his side, making you look up at him. His green eyes were solely
trained on Ymir as she poked the dagger's edge to feel how sharp it is.

Reiner was the one to break the timid silence, "Okay then, so do you have a plan?"

"If I do, we'll learn what it is together."

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Ymir grabbed Christa by the shoulders, shaking the girl as if she could knock some sense into her,
"Christa. Listen to me. I realize you've probably forgotten—"
The tower rumbled again. It seems the Titans finished their meal and was back to the main goal. The rest
of you.

"Since we're facing the end, try to think back." Ymir urged a shaken Christa, "Remember the promise
that we made on the snowy mountain. I know I have no business telling you how to live your life, but
Christa, I want you to live a life you can be proud of."

Behind their figures, you watched the navy-blue sky melt into a blend of light blues and streaks of yellow
in the distance, a sphere of bright light peeking its head over the horizon.

A new day.

Ymir took a couple steps back away from the rest of you, staring at the dagger as if she was asking
herself if she really wanted to do this.

And then it all seemed to happen in slow motion.

You all gasped as Ymir sprinted for the battlement. One big jump and she was soaring through open air.

The dagger she held so tightly was suddenly digging through the flesh of her palm, sending shards of red
flying past her. The familiar sound of a lightning strike pounded through your ears as you watched
electricity dance around Ymir's body, lighting her up from the inside out as she fell.

"Somebody tell me I'm just dreaming." Connie gawked at the scene in utter disbelief.

You couldn't believe your shell-shocked eyes. You felt like you were going to throw up.

Ymir's Titan was five meters tall with scraggly brown hair and beady black eyes. Its long skinny fingers
were adorned with sharp black claws and sharp teeth to match, a difference from the blunt ones she had
years before.

All that time of wondering what ever happened, of wondering who the power of the Jaw Titan went to.
And the answer has been right in front of your faces all along.

Ymir is the Titan who ate Marcel.

"She's the one." Bertholdt gasped, his widened eyes never straying from Ymir's Titan.

Or should you say the Jaw Titan.

Its small figure was jumping from pure Titan to Titan, ripping out their napes with its sharp teeth or
scratching out their eyes with it's claws.

You didn't know how to feel. Every emotion you felt that day was all stirring back up as you watched her.
Sadness. Defeat. Shame. Anger. Ymir is all everyone had left of Marcel.

The tower shook significantly this time from the weight of more Titans slamming against it, making
Christa lurch forward over the battlement since she was already leaning over it to look down. She fell
with a squeal before Reiner quickly caught her by her leg, pulling her back up to the battlement.

"Thanks, Reiner. I—" A cry of pain suddenly left Christa's mouth, as she wriggled in Reiner's grip. He
still hadn't let go of her leg.

"Take it easy, man!" Connie exclaimed, grabbing Christa to pull her back up. "Reiner! Let go!"
His unfocused eyes were stuck in a daze as he stared out into nothing. It's like he left his body for a
minute and was on auto pilot as his grip grew increasingly tighter.

You swatted his arm, "Reiner! You're hurting Christa!"

And just like that, a switch was flicked. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" He quickly dropped Christa's leg.

Her legs buckled as she crouched on the floor, giving Reiner a sympathetic look, "It's okay."

"Tell me the truth. You had to have been in on this. Did you know Ymir was a Titan?" Reiner asked, an
edge to his voice.

"She never told me." Christa answered, standing up before taking another look over the battlement. "We
spent every minute together, and yet, I had no idea."

Ymir's demonic screeches rang in your ears as she continued her killing spree below.

"All this time she's been keeping it under wraps, and we never suspected a damn thing." Reiner shook his
head with disbelief, "She should've told us and contributed to the Corps like Eren."

You and Bertholdt gave the boy a baffled stare. Who is this man and where the hell did he put Reiner?

"Maybe she didn't because she couldn't?" Bertholdt said pointedly at Reiner, only to receive another
dismissive shake of the head from Reiner.

What is up with him?

"It's possible that she didn't know." Connie suggested, "Eren had no clue til he transformed. Then again,
Ymir did seem to have a plan."

"Oh, she definitely knew." You scowled, "Nobody goes jumping off a damn tower to a crowd of Titans
with no plan. Unless it was suicide."

"Wait a second. Are you guys trying to say that Ymir is a threat?" Christa questioned worriedly.

"That's a hell of a power to hide." Connie considered, "How she'll use it is anybody's guess."

"For all we know, she could've been on their side all along." Bertholdt hypothesized.

With that thought in mind, you all watched Ymir once more.

She was doing good until she was suddenly snatched down by a Titan and couldn't get out of its grip fast
enough. The other Titans immediately took advantage of the situation and grabbed onto her, huddling
around her small body.

"Ymir!" Christa cried out, being held back by Connie so she wouldn't fall over again.

Ymir seemed to hear Christa's call because she worked a little harder to claw her way out of the Titans'
grips. She attempted to climb up the tower, but a Titan grabbed her leg. She must be losing her energy,
you thought. With the power of the Jaw Titan, she should've been way faster and flexible.

She hung onto the bricks for dear life, slowly taking them out with her, as she stared up at the rest of you.
You watch the bricks she clung to slowly inch out of the tower's fixture before she suddenly let go, free
falling down to the mob of frenzied Titans.

"What is she doing?!" Connie exclaimed.

"She's worried about the tower falling down," You assumed before pointing down, "she almost took out
those bricks. She let go before they could."

"Exactly. She didn't have to do that. She didn't even have to stay, she could've escaped." Christa thought
aloud, "Nothing's keeping here, but she's still fighting... for us. She's risking her life for us!"

More like for you.

You watched Christa suddenly climb on the battlement, balling her fists as she yelled down to the
wrestling Titans below. "Don't you die on me, Ymir! Not like this, damn you!"

Connie immediately grabbed Christa's legs, but she wasn't budging. "You wanna be the hero all of a
sudden?! Don't make me laugh! Too late to think about heaven now! You're a selfish bitch, and you know
it! You'll die protecting this tower! Tear it to pieces! Live for yourself!"

"Is she really encouraging her to bring this tower down?" You exclaimed, earning a worried look from
Bertholdt.

"I think so." He gulped.

"Oh my god."

You watched as Ymir leaped for the tower before every brick she could get her claws on was being
thrown in a Titan's face. She moved fast around the perimeter of the tower, never faltering in her swift
movements.

You could instantly feel the tower tip over from the loss of the bricks, beginning its slow journey to the
ground. The roof was at a slant now, as you clung to the battlement to stay upright.

"Shit! Brace yourselves people! This is really happening!" Reiner yelled with a panicked tone.

While the rest of you were fearing for your lives, Christa seemed to be having the time of her life
cheering Ymir on. "Yeah! Atta girl!"

Suddenly Ymir's Titan was right in front of you, as ugly as ever, as it hopped on the battlement. You saw
Bertholdt's hand fly to his mouth before you quickly grabbed his wrist. If he even attempts to transform
right now, you're all done for sure. His Titan was far too big and deadly for this.

Ymir's raspy voice announced loud and clear, "Wanna live? Grab on tight."

Christa was the first to move, jumping up and grabbing onto a fistful of the Titan's hair with ease. You
and Connie quickly followed suit, before Reiner and Bertholdt grabbed on. You made sure to wrap the
locks of hair around your fist in an effort to not fall off. It was such an uncomfortable feeling being
engulfed in stinky hair, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

The tower was falling, speeding closer and closer to the group of Titans waiting eagerly on the ground.
Ymir crawled onto the opposite side, facing the sky, as the tower officially fell to its demise, crashing
into the ground with an earth-shaking boom. The world around you was covered in a cloud of dust.

While the others fell off on impact, you managed to stay on because of your wrapped fists. You climbed
down Ymir's back before stumbling over to the others as they got up from the ground.

The place was totally demolished. Besides a broken fixture or two, there was nothing more than piles of
bricks and debris laying around.

And one of those piles was ... moving?

"They're still not dead!" Christa yelled, just as a pure Titan stood up from a pile of debris, shaking off the
bricks like it was nothing but feathers.

"Hey, ugly! You got a job to finish!" Connie yelled, inciting Ymir to quickly scramble away on all fours
towards the tall creature.

As soon as she got that one out of the way, another made an appearance. It snatched Ymir up before
slamming her right into a big chunk of concrete.

And then another Titan reared its ugly head. Then another. And another. It was like watching a domino
effect take place as they all suddenly popped up from the piles of broken concrete. And the first thing
they set their sights on was Ymir. They practically pounced at her Titan with glee, itching to get their
hands on her and her power.

"They're eating her!" Connie exclaimed in horror.

Christa immediately ran for the huddle of Titans, who actively tore away at Ymir's Titan, ignoring
everyone's calls for her to stay back. You all chased after the hysterical blonde to stop her, but she was
stopped by something else instead.

A stray eight-meter Titan launched itself at the girl, merely inches away from grabbing her in its grip
before a sudden figure came flying through the sky, cutting into the Titan with their blades of steel.

You watched them land on one of the last fixtures standing, their raven black hair whipping with the
wind. Their Survey Corps cloak flapping proudly.

Mikasa looked over her shoulder, a fire brewing behind her grey eyes, "All of you, stay back. It's okay.
Let us take care of this."

You all were utterly surprised to see more soldiers cut across the sky, each one heading for a different
Titan. Within seconds, every Titan nearby was disintegrating, nothing but steamy carcasses. Just like
Ymir said, the Scouts get shit done.

But one figure in particular caught your eye.

You all watched as Eren fell out of the sky after tangling his wires, coming to a crash landing on his butt.
Despite this incident, he almost seemed proud of himself as he sat there with a big goofy grin.

Keiji, a squad leader, zipped over him in the sky, having watched the whole thing go down, "Idiot! I told
you to stay back!"

"Sorry, sir!" Eren yelled back apologetically before rubbing his pained bottom with a frown.

You were about to follow Connie, Bertholdt, and Reiner to see him when another voice stopped you in
your tracks.

"(Y/n)!"

"Armin?"

You quickly spun around to see him running up to you, concern written all over his face, "Are you
okay?" His eyes seemed to scan over your face and arms carefully, seeing if there was any injury.

"I'm okay. You guys made it here just in time. A second more and we all would've been done for." You
answered honestly, "How did you all know we were here?" You fell into step beside Armin as he walked,
following behind everyone else who seemed to gather around a particular pile of bricks.
"We knew that you guys were supposed to be looking for breaches in the wall, and when none of you
ever reported back, this tower was the next best thing." Armin explained before pointing out to the scene
happening ahead of you, "What happened to Ymir?"

Ymir partly laid in Historia's lap, unconscious, while everyone else stood back to give them space. You
winced when you saw her right leg and arm missing, the right side of her stomach looked like someone
took a big bite out of it. You could see the red Titan marks trailing down her tan cheeks, pieces of steamy
Titan flesh still clinging to parts of her face.

"To keep a very long story short, we found out that she's a Titan. She's the reason we held out this long."
You answered.

"She's a what?" Armin's face was dancing in surprise, his cerulean blue hues widening in shock as you
both rejoined the group.

"Shh!" Connie hissed before pointing out to Historia and Ymir. "Look! She's waking up!"

You were surprised she hadn't fell into some type of coma, considering her bad wounds, nevertheless
Ymir's eyes still gazed up into Christa's. Almost as if she was confirming that she was okay before she
officially dozed off.

"As promised... My real name is Historia." Christa said, unknowingly invoking a wave of confused stares
from the rest of you.

Ymir, on the other hand, seemed to appreciate this. A soft smile grew on her face before she slipped back
into unconsciousness.
 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬

BEFORE THE SCOUTS REACHED

THE RUINS OF UTGARD CASTLE !

With their signature green cloaks on, and their ODM gear strapped around their waists, the Scouts sat
around a room awaiting their next order.

After riding like a bat out of hell from the Stohess District, the Scouts were now in the headquarters
located in Ehrmich District. They had just been informed by Pastor Nick that Christa Lenz is somehow
involved with the divine order of the Walls, making their next stop in their hectic journey to be Utgard
Castle, where Christa was last reported to be.

Despite the crunch for time, Hange was casually leaned up against a wall, their brows furrowed in
thought as they scanned over the stack of papers in their hands, personally delivered by Sasha.

"Section commander," Eren called out, "is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh! I'm just looking over this report. I was finally able to get my hands on the background
information I requested for Annie Leonhart." Hange announced.

At that, everyone's ears perked up.

After a destructive battle between Annie and Eren's Titans in Stohess, Eren eventually took reign.
Unfortunate for the Scouts, Annie had other ways to get around that. She crystallized herself in a ball of
hardened Titan skin before the Scouts could get to her and interrogate her for information. They were
forced to resort to other means to figure out what Annie desperately tried to hide.

The Scouts gathered around Hange, eager to hear what they had to say about Annie and her mysterious
past.

"It took longer than I was hoping for." Hange sighed, "The paper trail's been a bit of a catastrophe at the
moment. Anyway, according to this, there are three other cadets in the 104th who hails from the same
region as Annie."

The room grew tensely quiet, building up the suspense in Hange's announcement, as everyone nearly
held their breaths to listen.

"Their names are Reiner Braun, (Y/n) (L/n), and Bertholdt Hoover."
A chorus of shocked gasps erupted around the room, everyone turning to the person next to them to
confirm if they heard correctly. Everyone but Eren, of course. It wasn't sitting right with him.

"Not much survived in the records, and thanks to all the chaos from the breach five years ago, our
information on them is unreliable." Hange explained, "However, we do know that during the long-range
Scouting formation, their unit was given false intel. Bertholdt and Reiner were among those intentionally
misled into thinking that Eren was in the right wing."

Armin sucked in a gasp, earning a crowd of stares.

"That's the section Annie attacked first." He quickly added.

"What does that mean?" Sasha sputtered nervously.

"Bertholdt and Reiner could've told Annie where they thought Eren was." Armin explained.

"Where are you going with this, Armin?" Eren jumped in defensively, "You can't just accuse—"

"I totally agree, Eren." Hange interjected, "Coincidence doesn't establish relationship. With that in mind,
I'm curious to know how the three interacted with Annie in the Cadet Corps. What can you all tell me?"

"I knew all three of them were from the same place as Annie, but I never saw Bertholdt and Reiner act
friendly with her. (Y/n) was the only one Annie would really talk to." Armin commented aloud in
thought, "And barely her."

"Same with me. I'd never catch all of them hanging out with her." Eren added, "And when they did talk,
it was pretty brief. But it's not like Annie was very social to begin with."

"Yeah, she'd always prefer eating by herself at meals." Sasha chimed in, "Oh! I think I've got something
that struck me as weird at the time! I heard she likes sweets!"

Everyone rolled their eyes at that, brushing off Sasha's random statement.

"I've got nothing." Mikasa spoke up with a shrug, casually leaning against the wall. "Well, except, maybe
—"

"Guys, what are we even doing? These are our comrades we're talking about." Eren argued, cutting
Mikasa off. "Yea, sure, Bertholdt never has a lot to say, but Reiner is like a big brother to everyone. And
(Y/n) has always been a good friend to all of us; she's always there when you need her." Sasha and Armin
nodded in agreement. "You guys really think they're capable of lying to us?"

Armin thought it over to himself. Through the few years he's known you, he could never pinpoint you as
the type to betray them. The type to willingly kill people. Your heart was too big, your personality too
kind. He thought you were a good person.

"Eren does have a point." Armin agreed, "Think about it. Reiner and (Y/n) both fought against the
Female Titan that day. They're the only reason we were able to get away. Reiner almost got himself
squeezed to death in the process-"

At his own words, Armin suddenly furrowed his brows, a look of horrified realization crossing over his
face.

"What? What's the matter?" Eren asked, worry crossing his own face.

"Reiner was able to burst free from Annie's grip at the last minute with (Y/n)'s help... But what struck me
as weird... was how the Female Titan didn't attempt to hit (Y/n) like she did with the rest of us... Almost
as if she knew her..." Armin recalled the memories in deep thought, "And, afterwards, Annie changed
course and went in a different direction. Eren's direction."

Everyone exchanged wary glances at Armin's statement, the big question lingering over their heads.

"I remember mentioning that Eren might be rear of the center rank. But there's no way Annie could've
heard me; she wasn't even in earshot at the time." Armin explained further, his voice almost breathless.

"You've gotta be kidding me..." Eren breathed out in a panic.

Hange seemed to think over what Armin said for a while before coming to their next question, "Armin,
do you recall if (Y/n) or Reiner seemed unusually interested in Eren's location?"

Armin tried to think back to that day, and immediately a cold chill shiver ran down his spine. He didn't
want to believe it, but the facts were sitting right in front of him. There was no denying this.

"I only brought up Eren's location in the first place... because Reiner was wondering where Eren might
be." Armin seemed to struggle with his words, his eyes growing increasingly bigger with horror. "But
there's something else... When Reiner broke free, the Female Titan stood there, staring at her hand. She
was possibly focused on something Reiner carved onto it with his blades."

Everyone took in a breath, quickly realizing where Armin was going with his thought. "Maybe Reiner..."

The intensity could be cut with a knife as it hung in the air between everyone. You could bet money that
everyone finished Armin's sentence in their heads.

"Well, if Reiner's in on it, then we can bet that Bertholdt and (Y/n) are too." Mikasa concluded, "Those
three are almost always together."

Armin immediately blurted out, "But (Y/n) would never try to hurt Eren. She wouldn't hurt any—"

"Armin, you can't let this little crush of yours keep you from seeing the bigger picture." Mikasa
demanded, "You even said it yourself that you thought it was weird how the Female Titan didn't stop
(Y/n) from saving Reiner."

Armin fought to keep his cheeks from growing hot but couldn't help the tint of cherry-red that bloomed
on the tip of his ears. "It's not just about a crush-"

"What is wrong with you, Mikasa?" Eren cut in, "They've been with us since the beginning. Reiner
would never-"

"Enough!" Hange yelled, ending the bickering, "Everyone, listen up. While we may not have enough
solid evidence to pin either one of them down as the enemy, don't give Bertholdt, Reiner, or (Y/n) any
indication of what we discussed here. And don't bring up Annie Leonhart. Before we can really
determine if they were co-conspirators, we must find, lure, and contain them underground. That's the
plan. Are we clear?"

"Yes, clear!" The Scouts replied in unison.

Armin could only hope they were wrong about you.

━━━━━━
Only the soft patter of the drizzling rain filled the quiet space around you, a cool wind whistling past your
body every now and then, sending shivers down your arms and neck.

Armin held you to his side tightly, but not enough to hurt you, as he used his ODM gear to guide you two
up Wall Rose. And you held onto him just as tight, all in a timid silence. The energy surrounding you two
had been ... weird, the moment everyone left the ruins of Utgard Castle.

It wasn't as comfortable or relaxed as it usually was, there was a sense of suspense in the air. Like you
were waiting for something to happen. You blamed it on the situation, you did just learn about Ymir
being the Jaw Titan. Maybe it was still processing through your head.

Eren waited patiently at the top of the wall, his outreached hand meeting yours as he helped you. Once
you were up, you both bent over to get Armin. He took both you and Eren's hands as you helped him
hoist himself up.

You just now put two and two together that Eren was still with the Survey Corps, "So I'm guessing the
Scouts got to keep custody of you?" You asked.

"Something like that." Eren sighed, giving away that there was much more to the story than he was
letting on. You decided to leave it at that.

You took a slow look around to get a bearing on your new surroundings atop Wall Rose. Historia was
voicing something passionately to Hange near Ymir's unconscious body; Connie was helping Mikasa up
the wall; Reiner sat crisscross, cradling his injured arm with a distraught expression; and Bertholdt stood
nearby, a worried expression characteristically dormant on his face.

"What's wrong with your arm, Reiner?" Eren asked.

"A Titan almost gnawed it off." Reiner sounded extremely tired as he sighed, letting his face rest in his
free hand. "It was pathetic. I felt like an idiot. All I could think was, 'Wow. So, this is how I die.'"

"Well, what else would you think in a time like that?" Eren replied with a shrug, "You're only human."

"And it wasn't pathetic. That was very brave of you to stand up for Connie like that." Armin reassured.

"But don't you guys get it? This was my second time almost dying!" Reiner exclaimed in frustration,
"Armin, (Y/n), tell 'em how the Female Titan nearly crushed me like a bug on the expedition!"

You and Bertholdt locked eyes for a beat, a flash of confusion being shown, before he quickly looked
away.

Reiner wasn't actually in any danger at all when he was in the Female Titan's fist. You wondered why he
was going to such a far extent to sell this soldier act. Why bring up the moment with Annie at all?

"Yeah... we remember." Armin sighed in reply, as if he wished he didn't.

"What are the chances I'll survive a third time anything happens?" Reiner huffed in irritation, "I guess
that's what it means to be a real soldier. The spirit breaks, and soon the body follows."

He sounded so .. genuine. Like he fully believed that he was a real soldier risking his life for the cause.
When really, he's a Warrior who stands against everything the Scouts are fighting for. And could literally
heal at any moment.

Only then did it hit you that maybe Reiner wasn't pretending. Maybe he actually did believe he was a
soldier of Paradis.
Any trace of a Warrior seemed to have completely diminished, not a thought passing by in his mind.
When Bertholdt said something about being a Warrior at the castle, you could recall Reiner's immediate
confusion. He truly didn't know what Bertholdt was talking about, or any other comment Bertholdt had
made about it.

At seeing everyone's concerned looks, Reiner quickly changed subjects, "Well it's no point in me whining
about it now. We still have important things to do, like sealing the breach."

"Right." Eren agreed as him and Armin walked past you, "The three of you have been driven away from
your hometown enough as it is. This is it. This is where we draw the line."

Your eyes shot up to meet with Eren's hardened ones, already boring into you and the others as he looked
over his shoulder. Yours soon shifted to Armin, who hastily went to look at the sky, finding it more
interesting than whatever was happening between your groups.

Why is he avoiding looking at me?

Frantic panting beckoned you to take another look down at Reiner. His mouth was gaped open, slack
jawed as if he just heard the most shocking news. His golden eyes once again going hazy and unfocused
as he stared out at nothing.

Something was seriously wrong with Reiner.

Eren and Armin seemed to catch onto something being wrong as well, because they both stopped their
walk to fully look back at the rest of you. At this, Bertholdt quickly stepped in front of Reiner,
dramatically throwing his arms out.

"Truer words have never been spoken!" He exclaimed, "Let's go home! We've been here long enough,
don't you think? Compared to everything else we've went through; the rest should be easy!"

Reiner slowly nodded his head in agreement, as if he was finally understanding the double meaning
Bertholdt was hinting at. A nervous laugh bubbled up in his throat as he struggled to regain his
composure.

"You're right." He agreed, a quivering smile growing on his face, "We don't have much further to go
before it's all done."

".. What're you guys talking about?" Eren finally asked, earning looks from Bertholdt and Reiner as if
they just now noticed he was still standing there. You internally face palmed.

A gathering towards the edge of the wall soon caught your attention. It seemed that everyone was
crowding around one person: a tall man with short spiky blonde hair, a thin mustache, and bright hazel
eyes.

"It's Hannes!" Armin exclaimed, already running for the group with Eren following close behind.

Instead of following after them, you went to look at Bertholdt and Reiner, concern and frustration on
your features. "You two need to be more careful. What was that scene all about?"

"We need to finish this mission and go home." Reiner suddenly declared with resolve, getting to his feet.
That hardened look was back on his face, a sign to you that whatever little phase he was just in had
passed. For now, at least.

"You're right, but we also need a plan." You whispered frantically, "You guys can't keep having outbursts
like this. One of these days, it'll cost us."
"Let's just take it easy for right now." Bertholdt suggested, still reeling from Reiner's sudden change of
attitude. "We'll talk later. We need to figure out what's up with Annie first. She still hasn't reached out to
us yet."

A pang of worry shot through you over Annie but was gone just as fast as it appeared when you,
Bertholdt, and Reiner rejoined the others.

Hange was just finishing up what they were saying, "Well, if there was no breach found, then I guess we
have to change course. We'll head back to Trost immediately." They ordered, already power walking for
the other soldiers further down the wall. "Hey, what if there's a Titan that can dig underground...?"

"They found no breach?" You asked, gaining the attention of everyone who still stood around.

"Nope, not even a crack." Sasha answered with a worried look, "How could there be nothing wrong with
the wall? How'd the Titans get in?"

"Excellent question." Armin replied as you fell into step beside them, "I'm thinking the same thing.
Nothing like this has happened in five years. Why now?"

Even you were a bit confused as to how the Titans got inside. You didn't know exactly how he did it, but
you knew for sure Zeke's name was written all over this situation. You had no idea where he crawled off
to last night.

It grew quiet between you again when Sasha sped up to walk with Connie. You took a peek over at
Armin, noticing his pursed lips and worried face.

"Are you okay?" You asked, finally earning some eye contact from the blonde. "You've just been really
quiet. Are you worried about the wall? Or did something else happen?"

Armin studied your concerned eyes, fiddling with his cloak as if he was debating on telling you
something. He eventually heaved a sigh as he faced forward again, shutting down the chance to tell you
anything. "Yeah.. Just worried about the wall."

"It'll be okay. I'm sure they'll find the problem soon enough." You consoled, giving him a small smile.

You had a feeling that wasn't the only thing he was thinking about, but you didn't push it out of him.

Another beat of silence passed as you two walked before Armin gently grabbed your hand to stop you.
"Can I .. ask you a question?" He asked.

"Of course. Anything." You encouraged, surprised that he even got close enough to touch you.

His cerulean eyes bore into yours, an unreadable look in them as he asked, "Would you ever lie to us?"
He looked like he was struggling to ask as he quickly added, "To me? Would you lie to me?"

Your brows instantly creased in confusion, but Armin looked completely serious. His eyes were almost
pleading for an answer as he stared back at you, his light grip on your hand slowly growing shaky from
the stress of having to wait.

You blinked a couple times before swallowing the lump in your throat. You didn't know what Armin was
getting at, but knowing him, he already had his answer. He just wanted to hear what you'd say.

You thought about Marco, and what happened to him the moment he found out the truth. You didn't want
that to be the same path for Armin, or for anyone else.
You thought over what to say next, enough to give him a real answer without blatantly giving everything
away. You didn't want to lie to him, but you knew he couldn't know the whole truth just yet.

"If I knew it would keep people safe ... yes." You sighed sadly, "I would lie to everyone. Including you."

In only a couple words, you just basically told Armin that everything he was thinking, had a chance of
being true. He almost seemed a little taken aback at your honest answer. Maybe he was expecting you to
keep up the act, full out lie, and say no. But you knew it was no use. Armin's a genius, he'd see right
through it.

You wondered if he saw through any of the other lies.

Nevertheless, he still held your hand.

A breeze whipped past, violently ripping a nearby flag pole from its position. It crashed down the wall
loudly, making everybody flinch from the sudden noise.

It grew tensely quiet. Nothing but the echoes of that flag pole falling to the ground could be heard in the
space around you.

You noticed how everyone in front of you wasn't moving from their spots, subtly taking peeks over their
shoulder to look at you and Armin, and maybe something past you. And that set off an alarm in your
head.

Were they listening to us this whole time? ... Something isn't right.

You turned around to get a look for yourself, and quickly noticed the tense stature of Mikasa. She was
stiff as a board, her hands wrapped around the handles of her blades to pull them out. She stood just
ahead of you, her back facing you, as she stared at the trio behind her; Eren, Reiner, and Bertholdt.

Worried looks were plastered on the faces of Eren and Bertholdt. They both were looking at Reiner's
back before he soon turned around to face the rest of you. You were baffled to see Reiner taking his arm
out of his arm sling. What is he doing?

"I don't know what's right anymore, but who cares. It is what it is." Reiner huffed, loud enough for
everyone to hear. You sucked in a rattled gasp when you saw the familiar trails of steam wafting from the
disappearing wound on his arm.

He's healing in front of everyone.

You expected more surprise or shock from everyone else, but they only stared Reiner down. Not a
surprised reaction in sight. This only confirmed your worst suspicion.

How long have they known?

"As a Warrior, there's no road left, but the one that leads to the end!" He yelled out, now holding up a
completely healed arm, as if to show evidence of his claims.

Bertholdt finally caught your eye, mirroring your expression with a look of panic. You both were
surprised at Reiner. This wasn't planned at all.

He chooses now of all times to play Warrior?

Your heart was hammering against your chest, and pounding in your ears. You could've passed out right
there, if you wanted to. You didn't know what to do. All you could do was watch in shock as Reiner
threw his makeshift arm sling down.
"Reiner! Are we really doing this?" Bertholdt panicked beside him, "Right here? Right now?"

"Right here! Right now!" Reiner confirmed.

Unbeknownst to them, Mikasa already pulled out her steel blades and started her advance towards them.
You knew if you stayed where you were now, Mikasa would slice them limb from limb. But if you took
these couple seconds to run after her, maybe, just maybe, you could stop her. Maybe you could stop the
ticking time bomb from exploding right in your faces.

You turned back to Armin, squeezing his hand as if it was the key to your confidence, your strength. One
look at your face, and he already knew your plans. He shook his head no, as if it could stop you.

Your eyes exchanges a thousand words, but you could only say the two you hated most, "I'm sorry." Your
voice cracked as you ripped your hand from Armin's warm hold.

"Wait!"

Reiner was already stomping forward for Eren, "We'll settle this once and for all!"

You hastily sprinted after Mikasa with a shout. You didn't want to fight her, you just wanted to diffuse the
situation before it got any worse.

You were quick enough to jump in front of her, holding your arms out defensively, "Mikasa, wait! Please
—!"

She wasn't having it. The shine of her steel blades flew past your eyes as you quickly dodged a swipe,
then another. But still an overwhelming surge of pain overcame you, making you cry out in pain.

"(Y/n)! No!" You could hear Armin yell.

You struggled to stay upright, as you stumbled backwards. A harsh throbbing pain was radiating from
your torso and spreading out to every inch of your body. You slowly looked down to see blood. So much
blood.

Mikasa's blade was buried in your chest.

You were in shock. Your hands covered in crimson liquid as you hurriedly pressed around the wound to
avoid bleeding out. Your breathing was growing more ragged, more labored, and you were still losing a
lot of blood. Your healing wasn't doing enough.

Mikasa was just about to finish you off with another when Reiner suddenly jumped in front of you,
holding his arms up to block the swipe of her blades.

He let out a loud grunt of pain as Mikasa dug her blades in his hands and arms. She left the blades buried
in Reiner's flesh as she sped over to Bertholdt with a pair of new ones. You could already see the faint
steam trails wafting from Reiner's body. He was working quickly to heal himself.

"Reiner. Bertholdt. I- I can't-" You could hardly speak over the taste of metallic iron filling your mouth,
your desperate gasps for air never quite making it to your punctured lungs. Your legs buckled under you
as you fell to your knees.

Hange held Armin back as he struggled to get out of their grip, panic throwing every logical thought he
had out the window when he saw you collapse.

Mikasa was moving so fast, it was hard for your sluggish eyes to keep up with her. One slice of her blade
and Bertholdt was the next to collapse, clutching at the gash on his neck with a loud choking noise. She
stood over his weeping body, just about to stab down into his chest, when Reiner ran over in time to push
her off the wall.

"Bertholdt! (Y/n)! Change! Now!" Reiner demanded harshly, scooping up your weak body.

Bolts of electricity soon danced over your bloody bodies, glowing brighter with each passing second.
You were burning from the inside out as a familiar surge of heat washed over you, pure energy radiating
from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. You were at the edge of transforming.

Armin couldn't believe what he was seeing. He denied it every time the suspicion would come along that
you were the enemy. That you would betray them. Betray him. He let his feelings for you tamper with his
intelligence, and now he was being blindsided.

He expected so much more from you. He wanted to believe so badly that you were innocent. That you
could never be apart of the bad in this world.

So to see it all play out in front of him as one big confirmation to all of the fearful thoughts he had about
you, the ones he tried so hard to push away. To know that you were lying to him this whole time; to know
you were apart of the downfall of his hometown, the death of his loved ones, and possibly many more.

It hurt him to his core.

Eren was in complete shock. He didn't move a muscle as he watched all of you change right before his
wide green eyes, his jaw slack as he gaped. His comrades, the people closest to him were the cause of his
biggest pain.

"Eren! Run away!" Armin shrieked, finally running with all his might towards the boy and your group.

And then all you saw was a blinding white.

A lightning strike touched down on the wall with a loud resounding boom, enveloping all of your bodies
into one big growing ball of energy. The combined steam from each of you quite literally blew the
Scouts, and anything else on the wall, away.

Amidst the billowing clouds of steam, there they stood in all of their powerful glory. The Colossal and
Armored Titans. A symphony of mighty roars could be heard from far and wide, giving the surface of the
wall a rumble.

Your unconscious body seemed to be glowing from the inside out with electricity in the Armored Titan's
grip, still battling the brush of death as your transformation struggled to win.

Eren's figure was seen flying away from the wall, and through open air, before the Armored Titan quickly
grabbed him in his fist.

The stretcher carrying Ymir was practically floating with the wind until the Colossal Titan's large hand of
muscle snatched her up, throwing the stretcher into it's gaping mouth before chomping it's teeth shut with
a loud slam.

Historia's screamed out for the girl, but if the Titans heard her, they didn't acknowledge it.

As the Armored Titan quickly hopped over the wall's edge, sliding down its surface with a shaken Eren in
one hand and you in the other, another bright flash of light distracted everyone, a strike of powerful
lightning soon following after it.

Eren's enraged voice could be heard by all when he yelled out, "Damn, you! You traitor!"
 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐯𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐫

The pop of a shotgun, the sun rising over a wall of barbed wire, arctic blue eyes of your very first friend,
the slam of your father's hands meeting the table, your mother's sickeningly sweet voice, your Titan
stomping through fiery battle fields, the laugh of the boy whose name rhymes with pork, your last hug
from Marcel, the bloody aftermath of Shiganshina, and light cerulean blue hues of the boy who reminded
you of the sea.

Moments of the little life you lived passed you by in flashes.

Your lazy eyes fluttered open to the night sky above, loitered with shining orbs that twinkled back at you.
It looked like someone took every star they could find in the universe and sprinkled them all in one place.
Iridescent trails of light streaked through the atmosphere, glowing from one color to the next.

Your hands brushed past grains of fine sand as you sat up. You were utterly surrounded by it. It covered
every acre of land, seemingly stretching on for miles and miles.

As soon as your curious eyes landed on the glowing pillar of light ahead of you, an overwhelming sense
of peace washed over you, easing the anxiety that threatened to take over your senses. The light almost
resembled a big glowing tree, rooted to the sand but still connected to the sky by it's many branches of
light. Each one trailed off in a different direction, besides one. One branch of light only went up.

And while you had no idea where you were, you were almost completely confident that you were safe
there. Unlike other places...

You gasped as you suddenly remembered the events beforehand. You were stabbed. You were dying .. or
should you say dead. Your fingers subconsciously flew to your chest, where your wounds should've been,
only to be met with smooth bare skin. Not even a scratch. It's like nothing ever even happened.

Only then did you notice the lone bucket of sand at your side, the owner nowhere in sight.

You gave in to the urge of touching it, letting your fingers comb through the powdery fine grains to scoop
it in your hand. You watched it all slide out of your palm, crossing between your fingers, to rejoin the rest
in the bucket, similar to an hour glass warning you of the time you have left. You couldn't help the giddy
laugh that escaped your smiling lips.

Time. You still had time.

Time to right your wrongs, time to live for yourself, time to redeem yourself.
And as if it called out to you, you stood up and walked to the glowing tree, shielding your eyes from it's
bright light. You nearly held your breath as your free hand slowly slid into the depths of the tree, and then
back out. No pain. You studied your hand cautiously for marks. Nothing.

This time you took a step forward, watching as the light engulfed you leg, before you took a deep breath
and fully stepped into the tree of light with more confidence, leaving that realm behind and onto the one
you were familiar with.

You didn't notice the little girl watching you leave from a distance, a new bucket in her hands.

━━━━━━

A curtain of grey clouds parted to reveal the sun, shining down on the chaotic events happening on Wall
Rose like the spotlight to a grand show.

Perched atop the wall was the Colossal Titan, only it's upper body developed, as it billowed out thick
clouds of steam. He might as well have been on fire from all of the scorching heat his muscle radiated. In
his mouth, sat the unconscious body of Ymir and a few other soldiers unlucky enough to have been
grabbed at random.

Below Wall Rose was the Armored and Attack Titans, battling each other in their fight for dominance,
Eren's Titan screeching out relentlessly in a fit of pure blinding rage as he attempted to punch Reiner off
his feet.

In the space between the Colossal Titan, and Reiner and Eren below, the Scouts were perched on the side
of Wall Rose, planning their next move as they eyed the Titans warily.

But it seemed as if time stood still when another loud blast of lightning touched down in the small forest
of trees beyond the wall, connecting with your unconscious figure, laying in the grass where Reiner
stowed you away. Your body convulsed, your eyes glowing a bright white as thick steam surrounded your
body. It seems your transformation had finally won.

"Stand back!" Hange warned the others, specifically Mikasa, "We don't have a lot of information on their
Titan. It could be too dangerous."

With wide blue eyes, Armin stared at the Spiked Titan in wonder and curiosity, watching the way the
sun's light bounced of off it's twinkling skin. Armin knew that he was supposed to feel anger towards the
Titan — well, you — but he couldn't help but be mesmerized by it. It was nothing like he's ever seen
before.

When the Titan got to their feet in a crouch, he could see your figure suddenly reveal itself from the nape.
Your hair blowing back from the jets of steam that shot out at you, new jagged lines of silver trailed
down your cheeks, as you took a slow look around your surroundings. When you finally took a look up,
your eyes immediately caught onto Armin's like glue, making him gasp from the sudden eye contact.

"Huh. Why is her Titan marks silver instead of red like Eren and Annie's?" Hange thought aloud, not
being able to contain the curiosity bubbling up within them at seeing a new possible experiment.

Armin was surprised to feel a sudden wave of relief wash over him at seeing that you were okay. You had
been laying unconscious for a good while now. The blade he saw buried in your chest was nowhere to be
found, nothing but a rip in your shirt was evident from Mikasa's assault. He almost wanted to fly down to
you, and talk. Really talk.

However, Mikasa was the opposite.

With gritted teeth, she stared daggers down at you, a fire brewing behind her grey eyes as she thought
over her next move. She felt ashamed from her last attack, not because she hurt you, but because she
obviously didn't get the job done. You were still alive and now they had yet another Titan to worry about.

"Red, green, silver, it doesn't matter." Mikasa growled as she watched your Titan straighten up, "She's
going down." And with that, Mikasa was off, ignoring Hange's commands to stop.

Armin was about to chase after her when Hange stopped him, "Let her go. We can't afford to chase after
her right now." Hange turned to the others, "Soldiers! Prepare to attack! The Colossal Titan doesn't walk
away from this! He's a threat to all of humanity!"

Armin was forced to obey, joining the Scouts as they flew back up the wall and to the Colossal,
swarming around him like an angry mob of wasps around a human twenty times their size. His balled fist
went flying through the air to no avail, missing every solder who flew around his body. He was much too
slow for their speed. The Scouts scaled over miles of steamy red muscle in seconds, nearing the
Colossal's nape in no time.

"Slice the nape!" Hange ordered, leading the crowd of soldiers flying at the Colossal's neck.

But Bertholdt had one more trick up his sleeve.

With a powerful roar, jets of hot steam erupted from his body, blasting the Scouts away from him. They
quickly retreated from the hot cloud of smoke to stand on the wall in front of him, watching the clouds of
grey soon morph into a dense black. The Colossal was burning from the inside out, nearly setting itself
on fire.

"He's vanishing!" Hange exclaimed in anger.

"I don't know... Something's different about this. The last time he disappeared, it was instantaneous. We
couldn't even find him afterwards..." Armin thought it over as he stared the burning Titan down, before
finally coming to a lightbulb moment, "He's maintaining this form to blast out heat! This is his way of
protecting himself."

To test out his theory, Armin shot a grappling hook out towards the Colossal, only for the hook to never
reach it's target, instantly pulling back from the heat. "As long as he keeps generating steam like this, our
ODM gear is useless! What do we do?"

Hange paced amongst the soldiers before finally coming to an answer, "For now? Nothing. Except wait.
He'll come out of there eventually, and when he does, we'll rush the big bastard." Hange turned to the
others, a deadly look sitting in their eyes, "I want everyone to forget about taking them alive.
Destroy all of them. No second thoughts."

Armin outwardly gasped, a look of horror etched into his face as Hange's harsh words settled in. He took
another look down at the Spiked Titan, stomping it's way towards Eren and Reiner's Titan. Does he even
have it in him to kill, or even less, hurt you?

You, on the other hand, had another problem to deal with.

You were conflicted on what to do. In a situation like this, there was no neutral side. Difficult as it may
be, a decision had to be made. You almost believed that's why you were given the chance to come back.
Were you sticking with the warriors to the end or making amends with the soldiers?

You looked back to the wall, your eyes once again finding Armin, who was running off to join Hange and
the others.

Would he ever forgive you? Would any of them ever want to hear you out?

You watched the Scouts' angry death glares directed up at Bertholdt's Titan, watching them part ways to
find a way to bring the Colossal down, and you got your answer. You seriously doubted any apology or
explanation would do anything.

Your Titan rumbled the ground with each step, watching Eren's Titan soar above the trees from Reiner's
punch, before it came to a violent crash landing in a totally different area.

You couldn't help but think about Armin and the way he looked at you when you first came out of your
Titan. You almost thought your eyes were playing a mean trick on you, but it actually looked like Armin
was .. happy to see you? That couldn't have been right. He should be absolutely furious with you. He
should hate the sight of you.

Yet, you couldn't help but get the feeling that, that wasn't the case.

Stop getting your hopes up by thinking about him. You've done enough damage. If there's no way to make
amends, you have no choice but to finish this mission. Get back to the plan.

Right. The plan.

Your new plan was to simply stop the fight, bite Eren out of his nape, run like hell and hope Reiner and
Bertholdt caught the hint to follow. You didn't have time to keep up a fight anymore. The jig was up, the
cover was blown. All you wanted to do was get everything over with. Fighting was useless, especially
since it was essential you take Eren to Marley alive. If the fight between Eren and Reiner keeps up,
someone was going to be seriously hurt or maybe even dead.

A flash of black suddenly whizzed past your vision before you felt a small sting of pain, almost like you
got a bad papercut. You lifted your arm to realize you were just cut. Mikasa.

A crystal-like covering quickly materialized on the Spiked Titan's nape, knuckles, and kneecaps as you
quickly searched your surroundings for the raven haired girl. She was too swift with her movements,
almost like an otherworldly being that was too hard to keep up with.

A loud grunt echoed out into the space around you before the shards to a broken steel blade flew into
view, evidence of Mikasa's attempt at slicing into your nape. Ah. So she's behind me.

Your Titan instantly spun around before snatching Mikasa's wire away from your body. But she was too
quick, already latching back into another part. You quickly blocked her blade with the back of your
hardened hand before she was speeding off to yet another body part. You could already feel the sensation
of more cuts around your body; she was slicing as she flew.

Damn! I can't keep up!

It was like swatting at a pesky fly as you attempted to block her cuts, you didn't want to hurt her. Just get
her the hell out of your way. You were growing more irritated as you felt a sharp sensation to the back of
one of your legs, instantly making you lose feeling in it. You leaned up against a tree for support, your
Titan's eyes beginning to grow a white glow as it let out a loud screeching cry. It was enough to throw
Mikasa off her game as one of your swipes finally connected with her body, sending the girl flying back
into a nearby tree.
Unfortunate for Reiner, your Titan's cry threw him off his game too. He immediately went to look at you,
just as Eren's Titan was lifting itself from the ground, it's eyes glowing a vivid bright green. He looked
like he's been through the thick of it, the skin around his mouth peeling back to reveal flesh, his teeth
nearly gone as his tongue swung wildly. With a loud roar, he threw a punch, finally budging the Armored
Titan a little.

Reiner threw a punch as well .. but missed.

Everybody was surprised when Eren swiftly dodged his hit before wrapping himself around the Armored
Titan, pushing Reiner onto the ground with a slam. A move you quickly realized to be from Annie. Looks
like Eren finally caught on; punches do nothing against Reiner's armor.

You were even more appalled to see Reiner's armor actually chipping away at Eren's tugs, his arm
eventually pulling off and being thrown away to the side like it was nothing. Eren quickly got back into a
fighting stance while Reiner was left wondering what the hell just happened.

Your leg finally healed up enough for you to stand correctly as you stomped for the Titans, but you were
quickly cut off by Mikasa. Again. You internally groaned.

You know what? I don't have to deal with this. Reiner started this, he can finish it.

Your Titan made a show of raising it's arms in surrender before stomping back towards the wall, as if to
say 'There. You happy?' Mikasa wasn't satisfied though. Her blades were digging through your leg again
before your patience finally wore thin.

Your Titan quickly snatched her up in it's grip. You brung her to your line of sight, not bothered at all by
her cold death glare. You were just about to pull a signature Zeke move when you heard someone call out
your name.

Your Titan quickly halted its movements, automatically turning to the source.

Armin?

He stood on the ground near the forest of trees beside you, alarm plastered on his face at the sight of
Mikasa in your Titan's grip. Realizing how bad that looked, you quickly let her go, just for her to already
attempt to cut into your Titan again.

"Mikasa, wait! Stop!" Armin yelled out to the girl, making her hesitate in her movements.

"Armin. Remember what I told you. You can't let your feelings stop you from being smart about this."
Mikasa voiced loudly as she came to a stop on the ground beside Armin. "(Y/n)'s a traitor. She's one of
them."

"You think I wanted to do any of this?" Your voice cut in harshly. They both looked up to see you sitting
out of your Titan's nape. This was your way of showing them that you meant no harm. "You don't know
the half nor the beginning about me or the things I was forced to go through just to live."

"And we didn't ask." Mikasa shot back coolly.

"Look, I'm not asking for pity. Or forgiveness, as much as I would like that." You pushed on, trying to
ignore Mikasa's comment, "I'm just asking for a chance to explain—"

"It's too late for any of that." Mikasa cut you off, a sharp edge to her usually monotone voice. "You've
lost any chance you had left for that."
As calm as you tried to play her comment off, you had to admit that it stung. Your gaze shifted to Armin,
almost pleading with your eyes for him to say something. Anything. But he didn't say a single word.

"Okay." You said finally. You barely even gave yourself a chance to be absorbed back into your Titan
before it was stomping for the wall. Armin stopped Mikasa from going after you, opting to head back to
the wall to watch over Eren instead.

That conversation was all the confirmation you needed. It was the big push you were looking for to make
your final decision.

Reiner's Titan immediately caught your attention as he scooted across the ground below the wall,
dragging Eren's Titan beneath him as they wrestled. You were confused until you saw where he stopped.
Right under the Colossal Titan on top of the wall.

Reiner suddenly lifted his head to let out a series of loud, ground shaking roars. You quickly realized it to
be a signal. A call for help. It was finally time for you to choose who to back up.

You took one final look at the Scouts perched on the side of the wall as they frantically searched for the
horde of Titans that'll never come from Reiner's cry for help. All but Armin and Mikasa. They stared
at you, waiting for your next move. Mikasa's icy cold eyes almost taunted you, daring you to do
something.

And so you did.

You were the one to break the staredown first, suddenly aiming your Titan's fist right at the cage of bones
holding the Colossal steady on top of the wall.

"Everybody, look out!" You could hear Mikasa yell.

You quickly launched a hardened spike of Titan skin at each of them, your aim never failing as the bones
snapped one by one from your precise hits.

It's about time you settled into the role Marley made for you.

You watched as the body of the Colossal Titan tipped over, nothing but a burning carcass at this point, as
it sped towards the ground. It landed with a final blast of heat, blowing anyone and anything around it
away.

When the winds finally died down, the cloud of steam cleared up enough for you to see Bertholdt latch
onto Reiner with ODM gear, an unconscious Ymir slumped in his arms.

You took one last look at the walls before joining Reiner's Titan in his rumbling sprint through the trees.
For once, the Warriors finally took a win.

You still couldn't help the sting of sadness when you heard Armin yell out Eren's name in the distance.
 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.

"Who's gear was this?" You asked, buckling a clasp.

"You don't wanna know." Bertholdt sighed as he helped tighten the leather straps around your waist.

You thought about it for a little while before giving the taller boy a simple head nod to say that he was
right. It was probably better if you didn't associate your new gear with a dead person.

After running in your Titans for what felt like hours, you all made a stop in the forest behind Wall Maria.
Its trees stretched towards the heavens, tall enough to avoid the Pure Titans crowding around the tree's
bases, and thick enough for more than a few people to stand on their branches without it breaking. You,
Reiner, and Bertholdt took advantage of the nature, hiding out in the tree branches.

The stop was a futile attempt at hopefully catching Zeke strolling around the Walls; he was your way
home, after all. You would also need him to figure something out for Annie. By now, it was becoming
clear that she was in danger. She would never go so long without reaching out and you couldn't leave
Paradis without her.

"So are we going to just sit around and stare at each other like idiots or are you three going to explain
what the hell is going on." Ymir's aggressive voice snapped you out of your thoughts, encouraging you to
roll your eyes. You almost yearned for the moments when she was unconscious and quiet.

In the tree behind yours, she casually sat on a branch, one leg hanging off the side of it. Her other leg,
and arm, were still nothing but nubs — but judging from the trails of steam that kept wafting from her
body, the limbs were both healing fine.

You scoffed, "Like you're any better. How about you tell us how you got that Titan?"

A flicker of surprise danced on Ymir 's face, her brown eyes widening in shock.

Suddenly, Eren sat up, making Ymir flinch as he was sitting right beside her. Eren's widened teal-green
eyes took in his new surroundings in silence. After a couple of seconds, his confused stare finally landed
on you, Bertholdt, and Reiner across from him; his eyes growing even bigger once he realized who he
was looking at.

"Wha - What's going on?!" Eren yelled before shuffling his arms out of his cloak — or what was left of
them at least. He looked down at his amputated limbs with a mixture of horror and anger on his face.
"What happened to my arms?!"
"Look, Eren." Ymir caught his attention by waving around her own arm nub, "I'm in the same situation as
you. I guess we're both having a bad day." She lightly joked.

Eren's appalled expression quickly morphed into one of irritation as he glared down at his nubs, "Ymir ...
Where are my arms."

"Sorry. I did that." Reiner chimed in, redirecting Eren's attention back to him. "I was in a hurry, so I bit
your nape to get you out and must've missed both of your arms in the process."

"Huh ... So, I lost the fight." Eren replied, his demeanor unusually calm.

"Sort of." You cut in hesitantly, not wanting to mention the fact that you were the reason he didn't win. If
you didn't shoot those spikes, who knows where Reiner's head would've ended up.

Eren stared the three of you down in a thick silence, all of you staring him down as well. The silence was
deafening, enough to make your ears ring as you watched him cautiously. It looked like the gears in his
head were turning.

Suddenly, Eren jammed one of his arm nubs in his mouth, immediately chomping down.

"No!" Everyone shouted in unison as Ymir quickly snatched Eren's nub out of his mouth.

"Now isn't the time for you to lose your temper." She warned, "This forest is inside Wall Maria, in other
words, we're a long way from Wall Rose. We're deep in the heart of Titan county. Just look." She
gestured down to the crowd of Titans swarming around the base of your trees. There were big ones, small
ones; Titans of all sizes and shapes.

Ymir pointed to one Titan in particular, a larger one that laid on the ground with its arms casually folded
behind its head. "He might look like he's just kicking back, but those eyes haven't left us this entire time."
She turned around to point out another big Titan, one that actually looked tall enough to grab you off
your branches. It partly hid behind another tree, but still kept its eye on all of you. "He's been watching us
too. I'm guessing he's the shy type, so he's not any coming closer. He's still a threat though."

Ymir finally turned to you, Bertholdt, and Reiner, resting her elbow on Eren's shoulder as she scowled.
"And then there's the three musketeers. They were smart enough to put on ODM gear beforehand. Reiner
took yours, of course, while Bertholdt and (Y/n) opted to steal from dead people."

You frowned at that. She made it sound like you were a complete psychopath.

"Anyways, my point is that changing into your Titan right now wouldn't be the best idea." Ymir
explained, "Not only can those three do the same, but they could also escape with the gear and leave us
behind. And even if they couldn't, we're surrounded by Titans. It'll be tricky as hell, even with Titan
powers, to get out of this one."

"She's right." Reiner added, "You wouldn't be able to change right now anyways. Your body is too
preoccupied with healing."

"Nice try." Eren snapped, "Who the hell would believe what you have to say?"

He's got a point, you thought to yourself. You could see how your suggestions could sound like a set up.
You all slipped into yet another staring contest, half expecting Eren to chomp down on his arm nub again.
But he only sat there angrily, a deep scowl sitting on his face.

After another beat of timid silence, Ymir spoke up again. "So what're you planning to do with us?"
"We're going to take you to our hometown." Reiner answered, "It's obvious that neither of you are going
to do as we ask, but like Ymir said, there's Titans everywhere. If you wanna fight again and beat each
other to death, we can — but I wouldn't suggest it. All of those Titans are hungry and won't hesitate to eat
us. We'll wait until tonight to leave."

"So, we're just gonna sit on our asses till the sun goes down." Ymir frowned, earning a nod from Reiner.
"But those Titans at Utgard Castle didn't have a problem moving at night. What's stopping these guys?"

"The Titans here can't move after dark." Reiner replied, "But you already know all about that, don't you?"

Ymir didn't say anything back to that, earning a confused look from Eren.

You decided to sit down on your branch sideways, so you could see both Eren & Ymir on your right, and
the grassy fields out in the distance on your left. The afternoon sun lazily hung low in the sky but was
still nowhere near the horizon yet.

"This is gonna be one awkward hour." You murmured to Bertholdt.

"Can't wait." Bertholdt mumbled back sarcastically. He sat down a little ahead of you on the same
branch, closer to the tree itself as he leaned against it. He pulled his knees up to his chest before he rested
his chin on them.

"Who would've thought he'd actually do this?" You lowered your voice to a whisper, glancing
downwards at Reiner where he sat on his own branch from the same tree. "He should've said something
to us first instead of randomly doing this. This was way too messy. What if we didn't get Eren? We'd have
exposed ourselves for nothing."

"I don't know what's gotten into him. One minute he's going on about being a 'soldier', the next he's ready
to tear the walls down." Bertholdt shook his head in disbelief.

"Hey." Ymir called out, earning all three of your stares. "Any of you got any water? It's hot as hell out
here. I feel like I'm gonna dry out any second."

"Sorry, lemme just run back to the walls and grab you some." You remarked sarcastically, earning a glare
from Ymir.

"No. Sorry. It is getting pretty hot out here." Reiner sighed apologetically. He started fanning himself
with his hand. "We've been working our asses off nonstop. No food, no sleep, nothing ever since those
Titans showed up. That was yesterday, right? Man. We're lucky they didn't tear the wall down."

Confused, you turned to Bertholdt. He stared down at Reiner with the most concerned look you've seen
him have yet.

"You'd think they'd give us a break after everything that happened." Reiner sighed, oblivious to
everyone's baffled stares. "And don't even get me started on promotion—"

"Reiner, what are you talking about?" You interrupted, earning a look from him.

"What? Oh c'mon, a break isn't too much to ask for, right? God knows we've done our heavy share of
lifting." Reiner continued, not understanding your question correctly. "I mean, I get it. We're soldiers, so
our duty comes first. But it's just nice to be acknowledged sometimes."

At this point, everyone was full out gawking at him.

"Did you bang your head too hard or something?" Ymir was the first to speak up in the timid silence that
followed. "Stop playing around, dumbass."

"Why are you guys acting like I'm suggesting something horrible? I'm not saying we should storm in and
demand to be captain or whatever. Just some recognition." Reiner waved Ymir off dismissively before
suddenly perking up, "Oh yeah! I didn't get to ask about it at the time, but I just remembered. Where did
you guys find that cannon? I really owe you one for saving my bacon. It was really nice of Christa to
patch me up afterwards — or should I say Historia." He chuckled before sighing dreamily to himself,
"I'm starting to think me and her might actually become a thing."

"Pffft." Ymir looked somewhat amused. "In your dreams, big guy."

"You don't think so?" Reiner asked, his eyebrows arching up his face in surprise, "She's always been
especially nice to me. She has to be into me, right?"

"That's just called being a good person, Reiner." You said with a heavy sigh. You didn't really know what
to do for him anymore. He was too far gone in his soldier fantasy to be pulled out.

Reiner laughed, "Yeah, right. She wants me."

"Is this some sort of a joke?" Eren snapped.

Eren stood up on his branch, practically fuming as he stared daggers at Reiner.

"Why are you so pissed all of a sudden?" Reiner asked, "Take it easy man. Was it something I said?" He
seemed to think over his last sentences before coming to his own conclusion with a little gasp, "Do you
like Christa too? Oh, man. I don't blame you—"

"If you want to die then just keep talking!" Eren shouted, looking like he was ready to start foaming at
the mouth with rage.

"Wait a minute, Eren." Ymir grabbed his arm to keep him back, but her eyes were solely trained on
Reiner, "This isn't normal... In fact, I would consider this crazy behavior." Her observant gaze shifted to
you and Bertholdt, "Looks like somebody's finally gone off the deep end. Isn't that right, guys?"

A heavy silence hung between the three of you. It was one thing to think those thoughts to yourself, it
was another to have someone outside of your group see it, too. Saying it out loud made it more real.

Reiner turned to you and Bertholdt with a confused expression, obviously not understanding what Ymir
was getting at.

"Reiner... You're not a soldier, okay?" Bertholdt sighed heavily, "You're a Warrior. We're Warriors."

As if a switch was flicked, that faraway look appeared on Reiner's face again; his eyes as big as saucers,
his breathing speeding up. All you could do was stare in shock as Reiner shook into a cry, holding his
face in his hands as he wept.

"Y'know, I knew something was off about you." Ymir said despite the gloomy feeling in the air, "I mean,
why would the man who destroyed the walls risk his life to save Connie? A regular boy from the Scouts?
You were doing things that contradicted with what you really stood for, without even realizing it. You
were pretending to be a soldier for so long, that you could no longer tell which one was the real you."

As Reiner stared down at his trembling hands, Ymir still continued, ignoring his breakdown. "Or maybe
you just couldn't handle the weight of your sins like your comrades could, so you had to pretend you
were a soldier protecting the walls. You've split your mind into two. And judging by the looks on
Bertholdt and (Y/n)'s faces, this isn't the first time something like this happened."

"What are you? A doctor?" You snapped, "Just shut up. We get it." You were tired of hearing her talk,
maybe because everything she was saying was accurate.

"Are you sure? He's looking pretty lost to me." Ymir laughed loudly, "This genuinely blows me away!
Someone as brutally honest as Reiner losing their grip—"

"Shut up!" Reiner yelled harshly, cutting Ymir's laugh short. "Not another word."

"Sorry." She smirked, stifling her laugh. "Must've really hit a nerve."

"Are you kidding me?" Eren shouted, his voice laced with anger. "How can you pretend to be a victim
when you're the whole reason everything's gone to shit in the first place! How dare you sit in my face,
listen to my story, and pretend to understand!"

None of you said a word as Eren seethed, shaking with rage. "Hello?! I'm talking to you! Bertholdt, you
sat there and looked me straight in the eye when I told you about my mom being eaten alive. Just so
happens the chunk of wall you kicked in landed on my house! It's what kept her from being able to run
away!"

You couldn't help the hand that flew to your mouth, your stomach sinking lower than ever as Eren's
words echoed in your mind. You never heard that part of Eren's story and judging by the sullen look on
Bertholdt's face when he glanced at you, you could tell that he kept it from you for a reason.

"What were you thinking the day I told you, Bertholdt? Answer me." Eren demanded coolly.

Bertholdt seemed to think it over to himself before finally coming to his answer, "At the moment ... I felt
sorry for you."

Eren almost looked stunned as he stared Bertholdt down, a cool chuckle riddled in utter disbelief
escaping his lips, "Sorry. He felt sorry for me." His cold gaze soon latched on you, "And you. You sat in
Armin's face like the liar you are, leading him on and making him believe that you really cared about
him. He talked to us nonstop about you, thinking that he really had a chance—"

"My feelings for Armin were never a lie." Your quivering voice cut him off sharply. You didn't care that
Bertholdt and Reiner were right there. You'd shout it from the treetops if you could. "I do care about
Armin. I wasn't—"

"You sure have a funny way of showing it." Eren scoffed harshly, "Did you know you're part of the
reason Armin has no family left? After these two idiots broke down the Walls, Armin's grandpa died after
being sent to reclaim Wall Maria."

Yet another reason you shouldn't have ever gotten yourself mixed up with Armin. It was becoming clear
to you that you brought nothing but pain and destruction into his life. You grew quiet, focused intensely
on picking away the tree's bark to stop yourself from crying.

"Don't blame that on her." Bertholdt chimed in defensively, "We're the ones who kicked the walls in, not
(Y/n)."

"Oh, cut the crap!" Eren shouted, "None of you are innocent! You're not soldiers or warriors! You're
psychotic mass murderers who killed countless of actual innocent people!"
"Don't you think we're aware of that!" Reiner shouted back, "We don't need you shoving it down our
goddamn throats!"

"Then stop acting like you've got any right to be sorry for yourself! We're living in a hell you two
created! Are you proud of yourselves?!" Eren's voice was laced with venom as he practically screamed,
"You're not one of us! You never were! You're not even human anymore!"

"So, what do you want us murderers to do?!" Reiner fumed as he stood up, "Do you want us to
apologize? Feel bad and take the blame? The people you thought you knew don't exist! They're dead!
But, hey, if crying about it works for you, then go ahead and scream your goddamn head off!"

His words pounded into your head like a hammer against a nail. The people you thought you knew don't
exist. They're dead. Did the same apply to you?

An eerie smile curled up on Eren's face, his fiery eyes never looking away from Reiner and Bertholdt as
he hissed, "I swear to you, one way or another, you're gonna pay." He chuckled as if he knew something
the rest of you didn't, his eyes going crazed, "And it's gonna hurt like hell."

It grew quiet again as the shouting finally stopped, nothing but the distant calls of cicadas in the distance.

The only one undisturbed was Ymir, who didn't hesitate to ask another question, "So what was with the
giant monkey last night?"

Reiner stiffened a little before quickly giving a reply,

masking confusion, "What're you talking about?"

"Huh. I thought for sure you'd know." Ymir shrugged, "From the way all of you were gawking at it, you
would've thought it was a living legend or something. Weird."

"What monkey?" Eren asked, clearly puzzled.

"Monkey, Ape, Beast Titan, whatever the hell you wanna call it. It's behind everything. It's the reason
Titans keep popping up out of nowhere. I get the feeling he's testing our strength." Ymir announced,
immediately earning a look of surprise from you. "And these three are trying to get wherever he is. He's
their way home."

You three were suspiciously quiet as you stared her down. How much does Ymir really know? You shared
an uneasy look with Bertholdt. Could she have gotten Marcel's memories?

"How do you know all of this?" Eren blurted, "Who are you really? What else are you not telling me!"

"Just wait a minute, okay?" Ymir hushed him, "I'm caught up in a situation of my own."

"What the hell does that mean?!"

"If you think killing these two is gonna solve all of the world's problems. You're sorely mistaken." Ymir
replied back, "There's a lot more where they came from."

Eren was finally catching onto what Ymir was saying, "Then who's the real enemy?"

Ymir seemed to debate on it to herself. She was just about to open her mouth when Reiner quickly cut in.

"Ymir, there's no future for this world and you know it. If you know that much about what's going on,
what do you think comes next? Joining us wouldn't be out of the question if you're smart."

"Ha! Join you guys? Neither of you trust me as far as you could throw me." Ymir scoffed.
"That's not true." Reiner protested, "You goal is to protect Christa, right? That's something we can both
agree on. Why fight when we both want what's best for her? Can you really trust the ticking time bomb
beside you to keep Christa safe?"

Ymir's face grew intensely serious at the mention of Christa's name. It was like shaking a treat in front of
a dog, or candy to a kid. She took a look over at Eren, as if debating for herself if Eren was fit to be put to
the test. It was obvious that Ymir took the bait and now all Reiner had to do was reel her in.

"I know that you're thinking about using Eren to escape, because you think you have no chance if you let
us take you." Reiner continued, "And I'm gonna be straight with you: you're exactly right. Even if you
cooperated with us, we won't be able to guarantee your safety."

Wow, Reiner. Such a nice touch to add her possible death in your speech. What a great way to persuade
her to come with us.

"But if we're talking about Christa's safety, we might just be able to make something work." Reiner
declared, Ymir hanging onto his every word. "So is it Christa's future or your own petty existence?"

Eren finally seemed to catch onto the bargain taking place, realizing that the only ally he had right now
was turning on him right before his eyes. He grew desperate as he got in Ymir's face, "Ymir, tell me!
Who's the real enemy!"

After a beat of timid silence, Ymir's face settled back into its laidback expression, as she finally turned to
face Eren again with a smirk.

"Couldn't say."

Ymir made her choice.

"Shit!" Bertholdt grumbled suddenly before frantically tapping you to get your attention.

The look on his face scared you, "What? What's wrong, Bertholdt?"

He didn't say a word as he pointed out to the fields.

Your heart dropped to your stomach to see four green trails of smoke in the near distance.
 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐧

The Scouts are here.

"They're already here?" Bertholdt gasped as he paced along the branch, clutching his head in worry.

"Dammit." Reiner grumbled with a frown. He seemed clueless on what to do. "I didn't think they'd be
able to act so fast. Commander Erwin must be with them."

You and Bertholdt jumped down from your branch to Reiner's before Bertholdt was shaking Reiner by
the shoulders. "Reiner! What are you right now?"

"A Warrior. Now calm down." Reiner shook the worried boy off of him.

"Reiner, were you serious about teaming up with Ymir?" You took a glance down at the nonchalant girl,
"Are you really going to trust one of the most selfish people in the Scouts? She wouldn't hesitate to throw
us under the bus for her own ass."

"And she's the one who ate Marcel!" Bertholdt exclaimed, his voice hushed to avoid the others
overhearing him. "That should be more than enough reason to not trust her! She could easily take us out
with the power of the Jaw Titan; she's way faster than us."

"That's exactly why her motives are clear." Reiner replied, "When she became human again, she most
likely wandered around aimlessly, only giving a damn about herself. But then Christa came into the
picture. Ymir found someone she values more than her own life. As long as Christa is involved, Ymir is
wrapped around our finger. Plus, we need Christa anyways, and not just because she's cute."

You remembered Annie telling you all about the two men she tailed one day. They were members of the
Church of the Walls, or what some people would call the Wall Cult. They were the only ones who knew
the truth about what was inside the walls, and they were there to watch over Christa and her progress. It
was a big hint to who Christa really was.

"Christa's an important member from a family within the church. So, in other words, if Eren doesn't have
the coordinate we're looking for, we'll have Christa." Reiner explained, "It'll make our search ten times
easier."

"And us having Ymir would make Christa want to join." You quickly realized, earning a nod from Reiner
to confirm your theory. "I'm surprised. You actually have a thought-out plan for once."
"Let's just be done with this." Bertholdt said anxiously, "The next time we come, we'll get all three. The
coordinate, Annie, and Christa. Then we won't have to come back anymore."

"We're leaving Annie?" You asked out of surprise.

The sounds of distant signal gunshots rang out, making all three of you turn around to get a look. This
time the trails of smoke were red and even closer.

We're running out of time.

An unspoken agreement was made as Reiner immediately swung himself over to Ymir and Eren's branch
with his gear, while you and Bertholdt followed closely behind.

"I thought we were waiting till dark?" Eren asked, standing up.

"Change of plans." Reiner replied, already walking over to him, "Now I'm gonna ask you nicely to not
put up a fight." His hand hovered over his blades.

Eren caught the motion and instantly put his hands, er nubs, up in surrender, "Easy there, big guy. There's
no need to resort to violence." He chuckled nervously, "It's not like I can do anything like this."

Reiner seemed to take Eren's words into consideration because he actually left his blades alone,
meanwhile Eren was slowly stepping away from Reiner.

You were absolutely appalled to see Eren launch himself at Reiner like a wild bird, quickly knocking the
big guy on his back.

"Die! Die! Die!" Eren yelled, repeatedly hitting Reiner in the face with his nubs.

You and Bertholdt didn't even think to help, it was just too baffling to watch. You know how you see a
bad accident and you know you should look away, but you just can't? It was like that.

"You bastard! I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!" Eren raged, still slapping Reiner with his nubs until
Reiner finally got the sense to kick him off. Eren slammed into the tree before Reiner hurriedly got to his
feet.

"So why are we leaving early?" Ymir asked casually, as if Eren wasn't biting Reiner like a rabid animal a
couple steps away. Her arm and leg were fully healed now.

Bertholdt ignored her question to ask his own, "Ymir, just before you turned into a Titan, do you
remember who you ate?"

That was enough to tear your attention away from Reiner struggling to put Eren in a headlock. You
immediately went to look at Ymir, as she sat in thought.

"Nope. Can't remember a thing. But I know it was around five years ago... So, I'm guessing it was one of
your friends?" Ymir took a look at the suspicious looks on you and Bertholdt's faces before heaving a
sigh, "I'm serious. I really don't remember. Sorry."

"Well, there's nothing we can do if you don't remember." Bertholdt sighed with disappointment, "It
happens to everyone. We couldn't remember what happened when we changed either."

It was true. It had been more than five years, and you still couldn't remember a thing about inheriting
your Titan. All you knew was that one day you were normal, the next, you had a Titan. You were relieved
to be spared the gory details though.
"I see. That explains why Eren didn't know he could change. Guess that's just how it works." Ymir
commented with a glance at Eren before settling her gaze on you, "Do you guys still hate me for it?"

You thought over it for a beat. You didn't really feel that strong of a disliking towards Ymir to call it hate.
If anything, you were just ... angry. But who wouldn't be if they saw their childhood friend's murderer in
the flesh?

"I don't hate you... but you're not exactly in my good graces, right now." You answered honestly, "I
understand that you didn't have any control over yourself at the time. It's just a lot to take in."

Ymir slowly nodded her head in agreement, understanding where you're coming from. She reached a
hand out to you, "Truce?"

You stared down at her hand, but didn't reach yours out to join it, "Sure. Truce." Her hand faltered before
she finally laid it back in her lap.

"So how long were you wandering outside the walls?" Bertholdt asked over the sounds of Eren and
Reiner calling each other a slur of profanities.

"About sixty years." Ymir sighed, "A living hell. It was like a nightmare that just wouldn't end."

"Damn ... You're old as hell." You thought aloud, before slapping a hand over your mouth, not even
realizing the words slipped out. Ymir immediately swatted your leg in response.

"Let's go." Reiner grunted, making all three of you turn to look at him. You don't know how he did it, but
Eren was knocked out and tied to Reiner's back with the fabric of his cloak. He even made a gag.

"You're really crafty." Ymir snorted as she got to her feet.

"Yeah, yeah. Save the compliments for later." Reiner said before getting his gear ready.

"So, who am I riding with?" Ymir smirked as she looked between you and Bertholdt.

Wanting to avoid being paired up with her, you promptly launched off with your ODM gear. Reiner
quickly followed you as you both watched Ymir climb onto Bertholdt's back. And with that all of you
were zipping through the forest, your surroundings nothing but a blur of green and brown.

"We need to find a place without Titans that's as far away as possible!" Reiner yelled out, "I haven't
recovered enough to outrun these guys, and I'm afraid if (Y/n) changes, they'll eventually catch up!"

You were glad he figured that out for himself, because you sure as hell weren't going to risk the chance of
getting eaten alive by a mob of Titans. They were way too close right now for anyone to change.

"Then why the hell didn't we just wait for the sun to go down?" Ymir yelled before taking a look back for
herself. She finally caught the real reason you all were fleeing, "Smoke signals?! Did the Scouts come to
save us?"

Yet another signal flare shot up into the air, way closer than the others. It was enough to be a threat.

"Damn! They're already that close?" Reiner exclaimed, "Eren cost us some time when he lost his cool."

You turned to get another look over your shoulder, but this time caught the wild look in Ymir's eyes.
They were glued to the smoke trails in the distance.

"We need to turn back!" She suddenly yelled.

"What?" The rest of you exclaimed in sync.

"Christa's here! We need to go back right now!"

"You're full of it. No way you can see that far." Reiner remarked with a scoff.

"Look, I just know, okay?" Ymir protested, "The idiot's a big softie; I know she'd come to rescue me.
This is our best chance to grab her!"

"Even if that's true, we can't afford to go back right now!" Reiner argued, "How are you gonna grab
Christa from a formation of soldiers ready to kill? We won't win! We'll go back when we get another
chance!"

"What chance?! You want me to wait until I've been gobbled up by one of your Warrior friends?" Ymir
snapped, "I don't think so!"

"Ymir, nobody's trying to trick you, I swear." Reiner attempted to calm the girl down.

"Prove it then! Get your big ass down there and grab her right now!" Ymir was practically begging at this
point, going crazy with desperation, "I need to see her! You all don't understand! With the way things are
going, I'll never see her again!"

You've never seen Ymir's tough facade crack to such a dramatic extent before. She looked heartbroken,
on the brink of tears. And you felt extremely sorry for her.

"Ymir, I'm so sorry, but we can't." You said gently, "Going back right now is practically suicide for all of
us. Hell, we don't even know if we'll survive this."

"You have my word!" Reiner added on, "I want her out of here as much as you do! Just bare with me!
Leaving her behind right now is what's best for Christa."

It finally grew quiet between you, nothing but the sounds of your gear working to keep up. You almost
thought Ymir finally accepted the situation, but you were quickly proven wrong.

Bertholdt let out a sound of sheer panic, as you and Reiner both turned to look at him. Ymir had her hand
covering one of Bertholdt's eyes, her nails digging into his face, as she messed up his sense of direction.

"Stop it! We'll fall!" He cried out.

"Then shut the hell up and use your head!" Ymir snapped back, just as Bertholdt shrieked at realizing he
was heading straight for a tree. He quickly unlatched one of his hooks, making him and Ymir swing
around wildly before he regained his balance.

"Do you think I give a damn about falling?" Ymir said, "Any other time, your Titans would out rank me,
but we're in the perfect terrain for mine. I could leap through trees, snatch Eren, and head back to the
Scouts before any of you even knew what happened. I promise you it wouldn't be that hard."

This is a threat, you realized, and you knew that she was completely right. You could all change into your
Titans to fight her, but it would only waste time; the Jaw Titan had the upper advantage in this situation,
and judging by the deadly intense look on Ymir's face, she wasn't afraid to prove it.

"Everybody, stop. Let's just talk this out." You called out before perching on a tree, quickly being
followed by Bertholdt and Reiner.

"Finally. I knew you'd come around." Ymir said to you before her sharp gaze settled on Reiner, "Either
you go back and get Christa right now, or so help me, I'll make sure you leave Paradis without a head!"
"Are you completely insane?!" Reiner yelled. He looked stressed the hell out, as he should be,
considering there was a horde of hungry Titans AND a formation of angry soldiers heading your way. "I
thought you wanted to help Christa! I thought that you genuinely cared!"

"I do care. In my way." Ymir replied calmly, "If this robs her of a future then oh well, life's a bitch. But I
promise you, I'll live to see her again! I've made my peace with what that says about me." Her
intimidating eyes soon melted into a pool of tears, "You don't know what it's like... She knows I'm a
shitty person, but yet she still smiles at me."

Her words seemed to have struck a nerve with Reiner because he looked utterly defeated as he grumbled
to himself. You knew he was going to give in to Ymir's plea.

"Do you even have a plan?" You chimed in, "You can't just take your ugly ass Titan back there and snatch
her up without some type of plan. Erwin is top tier. That man can get past anything."

"Don't worry, I have a plan." Ymir reassured, "And if anything happens, just think of it this way: If I stay
and fight, it'll be easier for the rest of you to get away. But if you don't like that," She snatched
Bertholdt's face closer to hers, practically smushing their cheeks together as she shouted, "We can always
tear each other to pieces like animals!"

Bertholdt looked like he wanted to cry as he gave you both a look that screamed 'Help me'. You sighed.
You were tired. So tired. You just wanted to get this all over with.

"Just let her do it, Reiner. If she doesn't come back within five minutes, we leave." You offered,
emphasizing the last part specifically to Ymir.

"Ten." She tried for more time.

"Three." You quipped back.

"Ugh. Fine." She scowled before suddenly jumping away from Bertholdt's back, her hand quickly being
shoved into her mouth as she bit down.

A strike of lightning touched down in the middle of the forest, followed by a loud boom that trembled the
trees around you. The light barely cleared before Ymir was already out of your sights. You could hear her
Titan's screech in the distance.

You were glad you made the smart decision to give into her demands. You all would've been completely
assed out if she decided to turn against you.

"Let's keep going." Reiner said before you all quickly followed suit.

While you three zipped away, Ymir was already sitting at her destination. Her Titan was perched on the
side of a tree, it's beady black eyes quickly scanning the forest, just as a few of the Scouts flew into view.
They quickly pulled out their blades before Connie jumped in front of them.

"No! Wait a second! This Titan is actually Ymir! She's one of the people they took!" Connie perched on
the tree beside her, "What the hell happened? Where's everybody else?"

Ymir didn't give a reply nor any reaction to show that she was listening. Her head was on a swivel as she
searched the ground, the trees, anywhere for a certain blonde.

"What about Bertholdt, Reiner, and (Y/n)?" Connie tried again, "Where are they?"
Jean, Armin, Mikasa, and Sasha perched onto nearby trees around Ymir, all watching her Titan with
extreme caution. Everyone was waiting for her to answer, but still, Ymir gave no reply.

"Did Ymir change to take on Reiner and escape?" Mikasa wondered aloud.

"Ymir! What's the deal?" Jean called out, "Did you manage to get away from them? What happened?"

"What direction did they go? Give us something to go on!" Sasha added, "Anything'll help!"

"Say something already!" Connie yelled, growing impatient. He flew up to stand on Ymir's shoulder,
kicking her head with every syllable. "C'mon ugly! We don't have time for this!"

"Is she keeping an eye out for Reiner?" Armin thought aloud, trying to look around himself before he
came to a realization. "Something isn't right... Why is she looking at us one by one?"

"Ymir!" Historia's voice cried out suddenly, "Thank goodness you're alright!"

Ymir's head instantly snapped in that direction before she leaped from her tree, her mouth gaped open as
she soared through open air. Historia didn't even have time to realize what was happening before she was
engulfed in Ymir's Titan mouth.

With that, Ymir was nothing but a blur in the trees. She was already a great distance away as the Scouts
sat back in complete shock.

"What the hell just happened?" Connie uttered.

Jean was the first to leap from his tree and fly after her, "Don't just sit there! Move your asses!"

The Scouts had enough speed to keep her in their sights but not enough to actually catch up to her. She
was just too fast for their gear to keep up.

"Why would she do that?" Mikasa asked aloud.

"What's wrong with you people! Am I seriously the only one who saw that coming?" Jean exclaimed in
frustration.

"Well, it's clear where her loyalties lie now." Armin replied, "She's on the same side as Reiner. We were
lured into a trap!"

You, Reiner, and Bertholdt finally caught sight of Ymir's Titan swinging herself from tree to tree. While
Ymir was gone, you all already decided to let Reiner be the one to run you across the fields. He gave a
still-unconscious Eren to Bertholdt, tying him up to his back instead.

"Heads up! She's back." Bertholdt announced as you all got to your feet.

"And she didn't take a minute more. She's good." You said, impressed by how fast she was. But then you
heard the signature sounds of wires cutting through air, and knew you all were about to be in deep shit.
You quickly turned to Reiner, practically pushing him off the branch you all stood on. "Reiner, change
now!"

He scrambled towards the edge of the branch, pulling out his blade from his slacks pockets before it was
slicing through the palm of his hand. He jumped off the tree, just as the signature lightning strike touched
down on his body.

When he landed on the ground, the Armored Titan was the one you stared down upon. You and Bertholdt
quickly latched on with your gear just as Reiner began his rumbling sprint into the fields, washed in a
warm glow from the sunset ahead. Ymir's Titan grabbed on not a second later.

We're in the end game now. We can finish this.

While keeping a good grip on Reiner's shoulder, you went to look over your own shoulder. The Scouts
were all watching from their spots in the trees, completely aghast. Their gear was useless for now.

The lines were finally drawn.

 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞

Nothing but the thunderous sounds of the Armored Titan's stomps could be heard as he ran through the
empty fields between the Walls. It was deafeningly silent between all of you as you anxiously awaited to
get to Wall Maria.

After five long years, you were so close to going home.

But this definitely wasn't the way you expected it to go. First of all, you died. You were dead. If it weren't
for your Titan powers, you'd be long gone. That should've been more than enough reason to let everyone
know this plan was doomed from the beginning.

Second of all, where the hell was Annie?

You couldn't believe the words even came out of Bertholdt's Annie-worshipping mouth to leave Annie
behind. He had to be scared shitless to even consider leaving his beloved on the island. And you were
worried sick. You couldn't think of anything but the worst of what happened to her. You tried to keep
good spirits, knowing that Annie is the best of the best, but everyone had their weak points. Maybe
someone finally figured out hers.

Lastly, you've all been basically winging it this entire time, and you knew between two people who
destroyed two entire cities, you who helped them do it, and a girl who ate a kid as a Titan, your luck was
on thin ice -- hell, not ice, your luck was gliding on water.

You'd just have to hope for the best and pray you made it out on the other end.

Historia's hacking coughs broke the silence, making you and Bertholdt turn around to get a look.

In the grip of the Jaw Titan's claws, Historia was covered in slimey saliva from head to toe. You
grimaced at the sight of the blonde coughing some of it up. Yuck. Ymir's human figure shortly appeared
from her Titan's nape, a short burst of steam signifying her arrival.

"Historia. I'm sorry for eating you." Ymir's voice was hoarse before she coughed. "I know you're
probably pissed, but it was the only way to get you."

"What's going on?" Historia asked, concerned more than mad, "Talk to me! We came to rescue you and
Eren—"

"Just shut up!" Ymir snapped, earning a shocked look from Historia. "I don't need rescuing! Things have
changed; I'm with them now. And like it or not... you're coming with us."
Ymir's voice took on a pleading tone as she continued, like she was trying with all her might to make
Historia understand. "Just hear me out, okay? There's no future inside the Walls! Life outside isn't as bad
as you think; for starters, there isn't anyone telling you how they wish you were never born—"

"Well, yeah, I don't think Titans would say much anyway if they're too busy trying to eat me!" Historia
argued.

"It's complicated! We've all got flaws! They're not so bad if you just give them a break." Ymir protested.

"Ymir! Nothing you're saying is making sense!" Historia countered, yelling down at the girl with visible
frustration, "What did they say to you? You're doing this against your will, aren't you? They must've
threatened you!"

The irony didn't pass over your heads at all as it grew silent for a beat. Bertholdt was the only one
bothered enough to speak up about it.

"It was the other way around actually..." He corrected, ready to tell his story of how he survived Ymir's
nails.

Historia ignored his comment to yell at Ymir again, "Ymir, just let me go! Whatever they've got on you
doesn't matter to me. We can fight them! No matter what happens, I'll always be on your side."

Their touching moment was quickly disrupted by the sounds of hooves galloping against ground. Your
stomach dropped as a group of horses showed themselves in the near distance behind the Armored Titan,
dashing across the fields towards you.

The Scouts were already closing in.

"Damn those horses are fast." You mumbled worriedly. You couldn't tell who was who on the horses yet,
but you'd know soon enough with how fast they were approaching.

"Look, Ymir. The Scouts are catching up to us now." Bertholdt pointed out, "If we hadn't stopped to get
Christa, we could've gotten away a little faster. You forced us to do this. Remember that." Bertholdt was
on the brink of tears as his voice grew more strained, "We waited and for what? Now you want to have a
sudden change of heart? That's not fair, Ymir. Do you want Christa to rot inside the walls? Don't be a
fool! Think!"

"Let go! Don't listen to him!" Historia argued, "Thats not true!"

"I can't!" Ymir snapped before she finally broke down. You could hear her voice crack as she talked, the
defeated tone in her voice lingering, "I'm sorry, I know you think I did this for you... but to be honest
with you ... I did it for me."

Ymir's statement was enough to make Historia fall silent; her eyebrows furrowing together with
confusion before Ymir continued, "A long time ago, I stole the power of the Titans from one of their
comrades. Sooner or later, I'll be screwed... But they said if I cooperate and hand you over, maybe I could
get a shot at getting pardoned ... You're important to the church because you know the truth about the
walls, so I thought it was good to have a bargaining chip up my sleeve and keep you close. If I have to
play dirty to stay alive, then I'll play dirty. Pathetic, I know, but it's what it takes for me to live ... I need
you to come. Please ... save me!"

You and Bertholdt shot each other a quick glance. Would Ymir's persuading work?

"Well..." Historia began tentatively; Ymir and the rest of you hanging onto her every word. "Like I said...
I'll always be your ally." She gave Ymir a beaming smile to which Ymir nervously gave one back.
Looks like Historia was on your side now, too. You almost felt like things were going a little too well.

Just as the thought left your mind, you turned back to Bertholdt to surprisingly be met with wide green
eyes, full of panic and confusion.

"Uh, hey?" You greeted a now fully awake Eren.

He immediately started yelling, but all you could hear was muffled gibberish from the gag in his mouth.
You shot him an apologetic look, when Bertholdt suddenly turned around to push you backwards.

"Watch out!" He yelled, attempting to cover you from the soldier flying at full speed towards you two.
Ymir's Titan quickly caught the soldier in her grip before throwing them back towards the ground.

It didn't stop there; all you could hear was the sound of metal clashing against Reiner's armor as more
soldiers attempted to latch onto his Titan with their ODM gear.

But only one figure caught your eye in particular.

As soon as the flash of black hair sped by, Ymir's Titan let out a loud screech of pain; it's left eye already
enveloped in a cloud of steam and blood from the blade that cut through it.

"Bertholdt, move. Now!" You demanded, already rushing around Reiner's Titan with your gear. You
didn't feel like testing the odds of being stabbed to death again.

"Reiner! Protect us!" Bertholdt cried out.

Mikasa was hot on your heels. Just as Reiner put his hand over you and Bertholdt, enclosing you in his
palm, you could hear Mikasa's blade clang against his armored skin. You were about to let out a breath of
relief until you caught the deadly look in Mikasa's grey eyes, peeking through the gap between Reiner's
fingers. They were vividly wild with rage and murder, just the same as when she dug her blade into you.
It gave you cold chills.

When she finally zipped away from the opening, you collapsed to your knees as you panted, regaining
your bearings, "That was too close."

"Mikasa scares me." Bertholdt admitted, wiping away the sheen of sweat that covered his forehead.

Eren, on the other hand, was going batshit crazy again. He violently kicked off Reiner's neck, pushing
Bertholdt up against Reiner's palm as he mumbled furiously behind his gag.

"Quit struggling! You're not making this any better!" Bertholdt huffed, his cheek squished against the
hard interior.

"Good luck talking sense into that one, Bertholdt." Someone interrupted, "Getting Eren to calm down is a
lost cause. Trust me, I've been on the receiving end of it for years. Whaddya say we try to teach him
patience together? Come on out and show yourself."

You instantly got to your feet again, at the sound of Jean's laidback voice. You and Bertholdt shared a
bewildered look before slowly inching towards the opening between Reiner's fingers.

"Give him back! Right now!" Mikasa demanded, skipping the friendly talk. Her blade clanged against
Reiner's armor again.

"Guys, this is some kinda joke, right?" Connie bewailed, not even bothering to hide the sadness in his
voice, "You've been lying to us this whole time? We were supposed to be comrades! Friends!"
"They still are! This is all just a misunderstanding, right?" Sasha chimed in nervously, as if she was afraid
of the answer.

You hadn't even noticed your eyes started to well with tears until they were falling over onto your cheeks.
This was the part you dreaded the most ever since you graduated from the Cadet Corps, leaving your
friends behind. Over the years, you've made genuine bonds and connections on the island, all for them to
be torn to bits in one day.

"Where do you guys think you're going? You can't just keep running forever. We won't let that happen."
Jean said before a heavy sigh fell from his lips, "For three years, we've slept under the same roof as
soldiers. Matter of fact, the positions you could sleep in were an art form, Bertholdt ... How'd you do it
that long? Must've not had a care in the world as you slept like a log under the same roof as your
victims."

"Was everything just an act to you guys?" Connie added, "What about the talks we had together? About
growing old and looking back over drinks? Remember? Was that all just bullshit? What was the point in
all of that? Answer me!"

Both you and Bertholdt were struggling to keep it together; the silence between you thickened with
emotion as you listened to the betrayal in your old comrades' voices. Neither of you had an apology good
enough to mend their pain, and you knew one could simply never be enough. All you could do was listen.

"That doesn't matter anymore." Mikasa interrupted, her voice as sharp as the blade she carried in her grip.
"Who cares what they pretended to be. They've already chosen their side. Our only focus should be
opening up this traitor's neck. Every second spent wasting our time talking to them, is us forfeiting Eren.
This is what they chose to be."

This is what they chose to be. The words echoed in your head like a broken record.

"You're wrong!" You cried out suddenly, the words falling out of your mouth before you could stop
yourself. Your hands were trembling at your sides, your heart pattering wildly against your chest. "Who
in their right mind would ever choose to live a life like this. We were only kids! Kids who didn't have any
other option but to destroy and kill. Kids who didn't know anything else but to obey orders or be dealt
with. We never had a choice, because if we did, we wouldn't have done any of this."

Silence greeted you back after you finished. You couldn't tell if you had said the right things or if they
even understood, but you hoped desperately that they could.

"You have every right to hate us." Bertholdt spoke up after you, his voice trembling with emotion. "We
did horrible things that we can never take back. We deserve to die for the things we've done." His voice
was thick with guilt as the tears he held back finally slipped over, "We're lost. We can live for a thousand
years and never know true peace. Just try to imagine that darkness. That loneliness. The only light in our
lives were the years we spent as soldiers with you. Those are the times we'll hold closest to us."

"The things we've talked about, the moments we shared were never a lie. We're not who we said we were,
but everything wasn't an act!" You added. "We genuinely thought of you as our friends, our comrades.
We know we have no right to ask for your forgiveness, and we know that we'll probably never get that."
You heaved a heavy sigh as you pushed yourself through your words, "But, please. If we were comrades,
your friends, then please try to understand."

It went silent again, nothing but the echoes of the Armored Titan's stomps being heard. Even Eren
stopped his kicking for a moment as you anxiously waited for someone to say something. You could only
hope they actually listened to you.

"Give him back." Mikasa uttered, sounding completely over it. "I won't ask again."
"I'm sorry, but we can't do that." Bertholdt said definitely, a look of resolve written on his face,
"Someone'll have to do it. One of you will have to stain your hands with my blood."

Bertholdt avoided your concerned gaze as he focused on his shoes instead, riddled with guilt.

Suddenly someone yelled out, "Get down from there! That lunatic Erwin is leading the Titans right to
us!"

You and Bertholdt peeked out through Reiner's fingers to see a horde of Titans running in your direction.
And Reiner was stomping full speed towards them, showing no signs of stopping.

What is this idiot doing?!

"Hold on!" Bertholdt yelled out, shoving you in between him and the hard interior of Reiner's palm. With
Eren still having his feet propped up against the opposite side, Bertholdt's body pushed into yours,
cushioning each other from the impact of Reiner finally charging into the mob of Titans.

You were still clinging to the petrified boy when Reiner suddenly moved his hand away, giving you a
front row view of the absolute chaos happening outside.

The Armored Titan was surrounded by Pure Titans of every variety; he worked to fight the savages off,
roaring loud enough to make your ears ring. Soldiers from the Survey Corps were flying around
everywhere, hastily cutting through Titans to make it to Reiner in the center.

You heard the telltale sounds of someone approaching with ODM gear and already could figure out who
it was. You snatched Bertholdt back, just in the nick of time as Mikasa's blade swiped at him, completely
missing her target. You both didn't give her a chance to try again as you quickly flew for Reiner's
shoulder. But judging by the cry of pain you heard Mikasa let out, you could tell her attempt didn't end
well.

You had to admit that things were looking pretty bleak, as far as getting out of there. You were beginning
to grow hopeless, a defeated look crossing over your features as you scanned the scene.

"What're we gonna do." You whined aloud, beginning a pace back and forth along Reiner's shoulder,
"This is just getting worse."

"We've come too far to lose now!" Bertholdt shouted, stopping you by shaking your shoulders. "We're
going home. We're finishing this."

You nodded your head to his encouragement, just to show him you were okay, but you still had a bad
feeling. Your lives, the mission, everything was being put on a line that only got thinner.

But you shouldn't go down without a fight at least.

You frantically dug into your pants pocket, wrapping your fingers around your pocketknife. It was just
about to make its journey across your palm when you heard a voice above you. You looked up to see the
person you least expected.

Armin.

The blonde used his ODM gear to latch onto the side of Reiner's head, staring down at you and Bertholdt
with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

An awkward feeling settled on your shoulders as you all stood there in silence. You were mostly
conflicted on what to do. Do you get him before he gets you? Did you even have it in you to lay a finger
on Armin? Is he angry enough to hurt you? You couldn't tell what was going through his head.

Bertholdt, on the other hand, was ready. His shaky hands hovered over his blades, itching to pull them
out if Armin made one wrong move.

The smile that curled up on Armin's face was one you had never seen before, unsettling and forced. It
didn't even reach his eyes, blue pools devoid of any emotion. And it weirded you the hell out. You took a
step backwards, towards Bertholdt, as you both watched Armin cautiously.

"So... you guys are really okay with leaving like this?" He asked, his voice laced with what you'd think
was concern... if you didn't know any better. "You're just going to leave your friend behind? I guess
Annie was weighing everyone down, huh?"

You and Bertholdt immediately stiffened up at Annie's name. Even Reiner's movements faltered, giving
away that he heard him too.

Armin even thinking to mention Annie as collateral only confirmed your worst thoughts: Annie was in
trouble.

"Where is she." You demanded cooly, no longer wanting to give into the friendly role he was trying to
play.

"Way up north in the Utopia District... being tortured." Armin emphasized the last part harshly, quickly
noting your tense stature. His demeanor grew more confident at that, "Yeah, the silent treatment can only
go so far until they start taking it to extreme measures. Her body may heal, but her screams are an object
lesson on endurance."

"Shut your mouth, you hell spawn!" Bertholdt warned.

You genuinely couldn't tell if Armin was lying or not. He looked completely off-putting as he talked, as if
he was letting you and Bertholdt in on a funny little secret, that creepy smile still curled up on his face.

Either way, you were very unamused.

The fire brewing behind your eyes only spurred Armin on though, "Oh, don't you worry, (Y/n). They're
taking special care that she doesn't die.. or get a moment's rest." He chuckled casually, "So many
methods, so little time, y'know? Can't waste a prize specimen like Annie. She's just too precious."

"I'll kill you!" Bertholdt raged as he whipped out his blades. But you were much faster.

You weren't even thinking when you pulled out a blade. It was practically muscle memory when you
found yourself holding the tip of the steel weapon right at Armin's bobbing adam's apple as he gulped.

When you blinked, you finally realized what the hell you were doing, staring right into those cerulean-
blue hues, not a hint of fear in them. Your blade didn't move, nonetheless.

"Go ahead. Do it." Armin encouraged, his arms up as if he was surrendering. He was giving you the
opportunity to end his life on a silver platter.

Your blade still didn't move though.

Now you were the one gulping, your blade growing shaky under Armin's chin. Something in you fought
against every muscle in your body, not allowing you to push any further and make the move that would
take Armin's last breath.

Why couldn't you kill him?

"You can't do it, can you?" He asked gently, his tone actually sounding more sincere than what you heard
earlier. Like the Armin you knew. Comforting.

You silently shook your head no. You couldn't do it. This almost felt like another test to prove yourself to
be a real Warrior, and unlike last time with Marco, you were failing horribly. No matter how angry you
were, your conscience wouldn't allow you to kill.

"Because you're not like them." Armin thought aloud, almost as if he was coming to the realization right
then and there. It was reassuring, giving you a subtle reminder of who you really are.

And so that's when you finally lowered your blade.

But it seems you lowered your guard too soon.

You heard Bertholdt let out a sharp cry of pain before you whipped around ... to see him gone?

Only then did you notice your comrade literally swinging limply by only one of his ODM gear wires
from Reiner's neck, a deep steaming gash slashed across his chest.

And no Eren strapped to his back.

Your heart was practically thumping out of your body as you turned back to the fields, your frantic eyes
searching every damn horse in the nearby radius until you finally found them. Armin was riding at full
speed on his own horse while Mikasa and Eren rode beside him.

You could hardly believe what was going on. It all happened so fast.

Did ... Did I just get tricked?

You should've known from the start of that whole crazy act, that Armin had something up his sleeve to
win. But what the Scouts should've realized was that they were in a fight with people who had nothing
left to lose, who'd do anything to bring something home, who were already at their limit.

Armin instantly knew they were in deep shit as soon as he saw the white lightning strike touch down in
your area, a loud boom following behind it to announce your transformation.

He knew he took it too far with the Annie situation as soon as he saw the look on your face, but he had to
follow through. He had to do it to save Eren. It was the only way to keep you distracted so you wouldn't
help Bertholdt like he knew you would.

One thing he's learned from Commander Erwin is that there'll always be something you have to give up
in order to come out on top. And this time he took the risky chance on his own life, laying it in your
hands. And as he hopefully predicted, you didn't push through with ending it.

It somehow only gave him more hope in you, that you were still a good person after all.

But those thoughts were quickly cut off as soon as his panicked blue eyes landed on the Titan soaring
ever so gracefully above his head, flying through the orange tinted sky as if it grew wings.

The large creature crash-landed in front of the whole Scout formation, making a cloud of dirt erupt from
the ground at its heavy impact. Only a person with good aim could've made a throw like that.

Your Titan's cry was heard loud and clear, echoing throughout the fields menancingy. It was almost as if
you were trying to make it clear to everyone that it was in fact you throwing the Titans, as another Titan
came crashing down in the fields around the formation, adding on to the fog of dirt building up around
the Scouts.
"Those fuckers are going beserk!" Jean exclaimed, "They're throwing Titans now?!"

The Armored Titan's roar joined yours as more Titans landed around the Scouts, only adding more dirt to
the thick fog that was enveloping them. You would've thought bombs were going off with the sounds of
the Titans making their crash landings.

As many as you and Reiner threw, it still seemed like the crowd of Titans wasn't lessening around you.
You wanted to stay and help Reiner fend them off, but you knew that if you kept this up, the Scouts
would eventually just get away. Someone had to actually go after them.

Bertholdt seemed to have the same idea as you as he latched onto a Titan in front of yours, quickly killing
it with a slice of his blade. "(Y/n)! Go ahead! We got this!"

You didn't have to be told twice. Your Titan's stomps rumbled the ground with your sprint, a hardened
spike launching from your fists every other second to pelt back the Titans that ran for you. But they were
still chasing you by the dozen, and your Titan's speed wasn't doing you enough justice.

Ymir's Titan suddenly perched on your Titan's shoulder with a loud piercing screech to catch your
attention. Her figure left her nape, just as yours did the same. Your Titan was still running as she talked.

"Hop on!" Ymir shouted.

"What!" You shouted back, confusion written all over your face.

"You need to get out of your Titan!" Ymir explained, "If you keep running in this thing, you're done for! I
can move faster!"

You looked back to the crowd of drooling Titans stomping after you, fighting each other to get closer.
Ymir was right. Her small Titan would be even better for snatching Eren up amongst the Scouts and
getting away all in a matter of seconds. Your big Titan would need a little more grace to pull off the same
stunt.

"Any day now!" Ymir called out, "Or you can keep running and get eaten alive for all I care!"

You quickly freed yourself from your Titan's nape, snatching your arms and legs out of the heated flesh
before you latched on to Ymir's Titan with your gear, perching onto her shoulder. As soon as you grabbed
onto a lock of it's hair, Ymir's Titan was leaping through open air.

You looked back to see the horde of Titans already on top of your degenerating Titan, ripping its steamy
body from limb to limb as they devoured it.

"Told ya." Ymir smirked at the stupefied look on your face.

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