Chapter 8: Hearing the Heartbeat

Sorry if I haven't updated, it's because of my vacation in my province ad the rest of the stupid schedules :I I'm really happy that a guest reviewer loved my story and motivated me to continue! I will give a shout out: Thank's a lot! It helps! Also, want to share a fact with you: Did you know I was obsessed with Tom Moore movies, like Secret if Kells and Song of the Sea?

I was watching Song of the Sea when I needed a unique name for my SNK OC. I named my OC Saoirse after the girl from Song of the Sea, because it meant "freedom" and I feel like it's a good name for an Irish-German character. I'll fill you guys in with more facts later


"There," Armin said as he tested out the gas mechanism on Mikasa's gear after he switched gas tanks with Saoirse and Connie watching. "Got it."

"The ODM Gear's functional and I restocked your blades," he told her. He picked his last blade up and stared at it. "Just...just leave me this one, okay? It's just that...would rather this be my end than to not being eaten alive."

Mikasa walked over to the boy, grabbed the blade from his hands and threw it away for it to fall below. "W-Why'd you..." Armin stammered.

"Mikasa, what are you-" Saoirse got cut off when her friend kneeled next to Armin.

She placed her hand on his. "Armin," she said.

The blonde boy faced her. "I will not leave you behind." she said clearly.

"We won't," Saoirse said as well, bending down next to him. "We're your friends, Armin. I promised to protect both of you for Eren."

He stared at them and stood up. "But...I mean-titans are everywhere," he said. "You can't jump and carry me on your back-"

Connie raised his face towards him. "Come on, let's move," he said bluntly, grabbing Armin's wrist.

Armin watched as his friends ran ahead of him. He paused for a minute, as if he had froze. He still couldn't forgive himself for letting Eren die, and now his friends were doing the favor of rescuing turned around to see the Rogue Titan roar. He figured that titan could be the easy way of making it to HQ instead of letting others die on his account. He got an idea.

He let his wrist go. "No!" he cried out.

Connie, Mikasa and Saoirse watched in complete dismay. "Hold on, I've got an idea," he told them.

"What is it then?" Connie asked.

Saoirse nervously looked around. "You better come up with one, real quick before titans surround us," she said.

"Only you three are capable of pulling this off so it's really your choice," he said. "This may sound crazy, but I think he might be useful."

Armin's glance at the Rogue Titan made the three kids jump. "Woah, you mean the titan?" Connie asked.

"He only attacks his own kind," Armin continued. "He seems to have no interest in us. And what if-we can somehow stir him to HQ and let him loose on the other titans? Look, we know he's taken at least one whole out already, we can use him as a weapon."

Connie stared at him as if he was a talking leperchaun. "You've got to be kidding...!" he replied. "How the hell you think we're supposed to stir that thing?"

Armin turned around. "Something tells me he's fighting on instinct," he told them. "I'm also sure if you take down the titan he's dangling with now he'll go look for others. That will lead him straight to HQ. We're not stirring him that much as luring him. I think it'll work I really do!"

"Think?! You're asking to risk our knacks on a stupid gut feeling?!" Connie yelled.

"Oh give him a break, Connie!" Saoirse defended, raising her arm.

Armin turned to face him. "If I'm right about this, we can put down the secured headquarters in one swoop," he said.

Connie stared at his friend. He didn't know what he was getting into. "It's worth a shot," Mikasa said.

He faced her. "Seriously?!" he shrieked. He turned to Saoirse for defense. "Saoirse, you realize it's a life and death situation here, right?!"

"I'm with them, we have to trust our friend's gut feeling," she said.

"Better to take a gamble on Armin's gut feeling than wait around waiting to be slaughtered," Mikasa said. "If there's a decent shot than we'll take it.

"Oh come on!" Connie complained.

"Like Mikasa said Connie, it's worth a shot!" Saoirse said. "It's a 99% chance we'll make it using that bastard over there!"

Armin smiled at his friends. He knew this was a better way than depending on them.

"So basically we're gonna recruit a titan," Connie pieced it.

"Yes, exactly." Mikasa said.

Connie stared at them. He had no one to defend him, so he smirked at Armin. "We'll look like morons if we screw this up," he said.

Armin beamed. "Yeah, but.." he said. "If we don't, how many lives standing will be saved?"

Mikasa and Saoirse glanced at each other. "When there's a will, there's a way." Mikasa said, jumping and gliding.

"Let's not screw this up, guys!" Saoirse called out, following her friend.

Armin followed them, leaving Connie to stare in dismay. "It's still nuts, but what the hell," he muttered, running to join them.


Janessa and her friends stared in horror as they watched their comrades eaten before their eyes. She gripped on her hand grip.

Why are we standing here in the first place? We should have saved their asses before they got chomped on. And also, there's no way we're gonna make it, those titans-waitwaitwait! What? They...we can glide away while these assholes are busy finishing their victim off. This is the perfect bet I guess. We just have to use our gas wisely while getting their to HQ.

"Let's go!" Jean suddenly called out, earning glances from him.

Janessa faced him. It was like he knew what she was thinking. "Make a break for HQ while they're distracted!" he instructed.

He jumped off the roof and started running on the next one. The others stared at Jean, before realizing this was their chance to get there before they get slaughtered. They followed him.

Keira walked beside Janessa. "I think he just read my mind," Janessa mumbled.

Her friend winked. "You bet he did." she said.

They both jumped into the next roof below and caught up with Jean and Marco, who were in front of them. They continued running until they reached the edge of the roof. "Give it everything you've got!" Jean cried out.

He leaped onto the next roof, followed by Marco, Janessa, Keira and the others. Meanwhile, Mikasa, Saoirse, Connie and Armin glided their way to HQ whilst luring the Rogue Titan. Mikasa sliced a nape of the titan. Connie was having a hard time carrying Armin, but he knew that one mess up, and they're dead. The Rogue Titan eventually saw the titans they passed and he started to beat them up. Everyone is making their way to HQ, with effort.

The Rogue Titan looked up and saw the titans swarming HQ. Back at the other side, Jean and his teammates glided throughout the district, praying their gas wouldn't go out. Jean and two other teammates passed by three titans. Suddenly, a titan grabbed his leg, but he sliced the fingers off, allowing him to escape. They glanced ahead of them, they were getting close.

Jean landed on a roof and started running, with Marco landing by his side, with Janessa and Keira landing beside them. "Jean!" Marco called out.

He faced his friend. "You really came through for us there man, we owe you big time!" he congratulated.

"He's right, ya'know," Janessa called out from the back. "All three of us will be the ones to serve you food when this crap's over!"

Keira giggled. "Don't shrug it off, I'm serious," Marco continued. "We're all proud because of you. Like I said, you make a great leader!"

Jean smirked and he faced forward. "Easy with that crap, we're not out of this yet!" he said.

Jean shot his grappling hooks and started flying in the air. Titans tried to grab him, but due to his attentiveness, they were unsuccessful in doing so.

"We can do this Janessa, I know we can!" Keira said to her. "You just gotta believe!"

"Great motivation there!" Janessa replied.

A teammate glided forward when a titan grabbed him suddenly. He screamed for help. Jean looked back, but instead he faced forward and went faster than ever, not wanting to die trying. "Dammit!" he shouted.

"We've got to save him!" Keira said.

"But we've got no time!" Janessa replied.

"Fine." Keira pouted, a little sad.

Jean jumped, and he crashed into the windows of HQ, rolling on his back from the impact. He had made it. He looked up to see if anyone made it. Marco and the others crashed in as well, falling from the impact. They made it.

Marco walked to Jean to talk to him when they heard a whooshing sound from outside the windows which weren't broken yet. "INCOMING!" they heard before they realized Janessa and Keira crashed into the windows and landing on their feet, stumbling a bit.

Jean and Marco faced them. "You girls okay?" Jean asked.

Janessa rubbed dirt off her sleeve. "Still in one piece, I guess," she replied.

"We...we made it!" Keira cheered.

"Hell yeah!" Janessa raised her fist in the air. "We showed those good for nothing assholes we look stronger than we actually look!"

The girls high five, which made Marco and Jean smirk at them. They looked around. "How...how many of us made it..?" Jean asked nervously.

The girls looked around. "I guess many of us weren't able to make it," Janessa said sadly, with Keira nodding sadly as well.

Jean suddenly spotted two cadets sobbing under a table. He stared at them, and it all dawned on him. "Hold on a sec..." he said. "You guys were the supply team?"

He walked over to the guy under the table, grabbed his collar and punched him cold. The girl sitting under the table ran over her friend. Janessa and Keira's eyes widened at this sudden movement. Marco grabbed his friend by the arms. Janessa and Keira ran over to help Marco restrain Jean.

"Jean! Stop!" Marco demanded.

"You cowards! You left us out there on our own!" Jean screeched in anger. "People are dying cause you didn't have the guts to do your job!"

"Jean! Understand them and consideration, please!" Janessa pleaded.

"The titans were gonna get us from every angle!" The supply team girl explained whilst sobbing. "They all raided the supply room, okay?!"

"It's your job to deal with it and back us up anyway!" Jean replied, not caring.

Suddenly, Reiner heard a violent whoosh sound from outside. "Shit!" Janessa cursed, realizing it.

"Hit the deck!" one warned.

Keira gasped. "Oh God no...!" she said.

Before they realized it, the walls at the end of the room was crashed open, sending boulders everywhere. Two titans had their faces peeking into the hole. They have been found.

Keira jumped back from the impact, since she was near that area, falling on her back, shivering, hyperventilating and whimpering in fear. "Keira!" Marco cried out, helping her up.

"Son of a-" Jean mumbled.

"We've been found!" Janessa cried out.

"There's too many people-they can smell us!" Jean said.

The cadets screamed and ran outside the room, not wanting to be eaten alive. "Run!" one cried out.

"Mikasa and Saoirse! Have you seen them?!" another one asked.

"They ran out of gas! Forget about them, they're dead!" his friend answered.

Jean and Janessa stared in horror at the sight before them. Janessa heard sniffles and turned to see Keira, crying in fear and burying her head into Marco's chest whilst hugging her tightly and rubbing her hair. "M-Marco...I-I'm scared..." she sobbed. "I don't want to die..."

Janessa stared again at the titans' faces in the hole. I could have wished it was a dream but-but this is real. We were condemned to die in the first place anyways. Of course we were. It's all normal, I should have known you think about it, it's only simple once in a lifetime. It's the end of the line for us, and there's no way out of this now. I never even got to finish my confession to Jean. We are nothing but meaningless parasites living in hell we called our home.

She suddenly gasped. As if the whole world had slowed down in general, she saw a large fist push against the titan's faces in slow motion. Jean also gasped and watched the scene unfold before them. Everything was slow and hazy at the moment, before realizing what was happening.

"WHAT?!" Jean and Janessa shrieked in unison upon realizing the fist had belonged to another titan and seeing that it punched the others. The Rogue Titan had made it's way to HQ. He roared at the two titans.

"Hey Jean..." Janessa said hazily. "Are you...seeing this? Or am I hallucinating from all the shit going around here?!"

"Y-You're not the only one," Jean replied.

"Hey...is that...?" Keira walked beside them along with Marco, watching the titan beat the other titans.

"That titan...i-it's finishing off it's own kind! How is that possible?!" Janessa screeched.

"Whatever it is, we better not jump to conclusions yet," Marco said.

"What the...my god.." Jean whispered.

All four couldn't believe what they were seeing for themselves. Just when they lost hope, perhaps hope in an unlikely form came to save their lives. Suddenly, they saw a shadow approach an unbroken window and crash through it, followed by three other shadows. Mikasa, Saoirse, Connie and Armin made it.

Jean gasped at them. "Mikasa, you're...!" he gasped.

"Mikasa...Saoirse!" Janessa cried out. "You guys are okay!"

Saoirse wiped off the dirt from her sleeve. "Glad we are," she sighed. "You guys okay?"

"Sorta," Keira replied.

Connie happily knocked his gas tank. "W-Woah, close one...!" he cheered. "I was running out of fumes. We made it here though, crazy, but but we did!"

Mikasa stood up, Jean watching in awe. He didn't notice Janessa groaning in jealously, even at a time like this. "You..I-Am I dreaming this or what?" he asked.

Connie happily patted Armin on his back. "You're a certified genius!" he cheered again. "From now on, as far as I'm concerned, your word is law."

He faced the others. "Check it out!" he stood up. "We found an Abnormal that's got a bone to pick with it's own kind!"

He pointed at the Rogue Titan. "And the best part; he could care less about us!" he said excitedly.

"So, you're saying that titan's on our side?" Keira asked.

"If you put it that way, that's approximately correct," Saoirse replied.

"Holy shit," Janessa mumbled.

"That's right, you heard me!" Connie continued. "This big beautiful titan is our ticket out of here!"

Saoirse faced him. "Connie, save your glory tone for later," she replied. "But what matters now is that titan may have the audacity to finish all titans in the district off, and at that rate, we'll be able to make it over the wall."

"You mean like fighting fire with fire?" a cadet asked.

"I hate to say it-but this one's actually gonna be my first favorite titan, despite my hatred for them, but this is an exception!" Janessa said.

"Listen to yourself-a titan's not gonna help us!" Jean reprimanded.

"They have a point you know," Janessa tried to convince him. "That titan could be our only hope!"

"No one asked you to reprimand Janessa," Jean faced her and back to the others. "You're out of your mind if you think this could work-"

"It is working," Mikasa murmured.

Jean faced her in awe. "For whatever reason he's rampaging against them," she continued. "Stand back and let him do it. Trust us. Either way; what choice do we have? Right now that thing is our best chance of survival."

"She's right you guys," Saoirse said. "Remember; we cannot use that titan for granted."


The Rogue Titan felt a titan approach him before he turned around and flipped it over his shoulder, letting it skid on his head. The cadets noticed the Rogue Titan's hand was regenerating.

"Look at him go," Connie said.

"Three quarters say that titan's gonna win!" Janessa cheered.

"This kind makes the others simply total weaklings." Connie said. The Rogue Titan punched another titan and kicked two five meter titans approaching him. Meanwhile, the lift was pulling up inside the storage room. "They're not gonna get in, nowt with him on a rampage back there."

"That's all really good," Reiner said. "But it's keeping him from turning from us when's done?"

"Guess we'll worry about that one when we're safe," Connie said.

"All we could do now is figure out a way to finish those titans downstairs swarming around the storage room," Janessa murmured.

"Armin's in charge of it," Connie replied.

"What a genius."

"Yeah, you're right," Reiner replied. "At least buying us a little time."

"Good news!" they heard Jean's voice call out as he and two others carried large crates. "Courtesy of the Military Police, and covered with a layer of dust."

Jean opened a crate and pulled out a rifle, and tested it out. Janessa shook her hands. "Woah woah woah! Be careful with that, you might shoot someone without knowing it," she warned.

"I know that," Jean replied. "Are you absolutely sure buck shot is the way to go? Seems like we might as well go stick pods. I mean come on guys. Are our guns even effective?"

"Might as well give it a shot," Janessa replied.

"I don't know, but they're bound to be better than nothing," Armin said.

He raised his head up. "We're looking at seven titans in the supply room of the four meters tall variety," he told them. "If we time this perfectly, this much ammo ought to to be enough to do the trick."

"Step 1: We lower a group into the area by a lift to get the titans' attention," Armin continued. "Step 2: When the titans come within range, the group fires in all four directions simultaneously, blinding them."

He paused and stared for a minute, showing hesitation of what he was gonna say. "Then the hard part; the moment of truth as it were," he said hesitantly. "Before the titans have time to recover, eight of us will swoop down from the ceiling and strike their vital regions. That's it."

"That's the plan. Puts all our lives on the line, we screw up, we're dead," Armin continued. "It's hell of a risk for one attack, but it's our only chance."

The eight people in charge of slicing the vital regions; Mikasa, Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, Jean, Connie, Sasha and Saoirse stared at their friend.

"Eight people will have to slay eight titans in one blow, at the same time," Armin looked down. "We're gonna need the best of you. The eight soldiers most physically gifted in the depth of their pairing blades, you'll be the difference between life and death for the rest of us. I'm sorry, that's how it is."

"Seems like a sound plan," Reiner assured.

"When you get right down to it, the rest is the same for everyone," Annie said. "Doesn't really matter who goes."

"All of us are sure we won't die, it's a fullproof plan," Saoirse said.

"L-Look I'm willing to be tucked out of this, but one half big strategy can be our only option, right?" Armin asked.

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself, come on with what we're looking at, cause for our only option, it's pretty well thought out," Marco assured. "If we give it our all, we might as well pull it off!"

Keira nodded. "Don't worry Armin, we've got your back!" she assured as well. "Out of all ideas, yours seems to be the perfect one, since we're all tapped out."

"Don't doubt yourself dude, you were born to be a strategist," Janessa said.

"It'll be fine, you just have to be confident," Mikasa said. "You're a better strategist then give yourself credit for it."

Armin's eyes widened. "Besides, this is the only option we have," Saoirse assured. "It's worth a shot. It may be a 99% chance we'll pull this off."

"We're serious," Mikasa said. "That mind saved Eren more than once."

Hearing his name made Saoirse look down, but Mikasa placed her hand on her shoulder to assure her. "When did I ever save you two?" Armin asked. "That's not-"

The lift had arrived, interrupting Armin. "Alright, the lift's ready to go!" one cadet said. "Guns are loaded to the stocks. Let's go kill some titans."

Mikasa and Saoirse helped Armin up. "You didn't realize it at that time," Mikasa said. "We can talk about it later."

She walked away, and Saoirse winked. "Good luck." she whispered, with Armin smirking when she walked away.


The eight cadets in charge of the slashing made their way to the ceiling. "Okay, I'm gonna ask the obvious question: Can we do this without ODM gear?" Connie asked.

"It's worth a shot," Saoirse replied.

"No problem, these guys are only four meters tall, their weak spots are not too far above eye level, at least," Reiner said.

"You're right, size won't be an issue," Jean said. "The spot's still only one meter high and ten centimeters across."

"Back of the head to the nape of the neck!" Sasha reminded herself.

"Worse comes to worse you can always shove one of these up their ass," Reiner said. "That's the other weak spot."

"Are you serious?" Connie asked. "It's news to me."

"Did I miss a day of training or something?" Sasha asked.

"I've never read that in a book or something that provides the current information about them," Saoirse said.

"Come on, knock it off Reiner," Jean said. "You want your final words to be an ass joke?"

"Be careful what you say Reiner, any word could be your last." Saoirse said.


Eight titans swarmed around the HQ, looking for humans to devour. The lift filled with the cadets slowly made their way down, shaking with nervousness. They had to do this right, or they'll be titan chow.

"Good," Marco whispered. "We're still at eight."

They all loaded their rifles to make the titans notice the sound and approach them, according to plan. Janessa and Keira were part as well.

"Okay, now nice and easy," Marco whispered, aiming his rifle.

"I hope this works," Janessa said under her breath.

They saw a titan come across them, before turning it's head towards them. A cadet silently screamed and Keira immediately started hyperventilating loudly. "Don't lose your cool! Fire only when they're all within range!" Marco said.

Keira silenced her hyperventilation and she did the latter quietly. The titan slowly began to walk towards them. "Steady..." Marco instructed.

The eight cadets were on the ceiling, ready to slice some napes. They adjusted theirselves in a staggered position whilst holding their swords, like a starting position when swimming. Their hearts beat at a rapid pace and sweat ran down their faces, showing signs of great nervousness.

This is it, no screw ups, our lives our depending on this. Saoirse said in her mind.

The eight titans slowly surrounded the cadets in the lift. "Steady..." Marco whispered nervously. Now their faces were closer. One of the cadets began to whimper loudly. "Almost..." Marco placed his finger around the trigger, ready to fire anytime, with the other cadets placing their finger on the trigger as well. Janessa was sweating heavily, and Keira's hyperventilation grew intense. The cadets' prayed inside theirselves. Their hands shook. The titan's eyes were now close to the rifles. "...fire!"

The cadets immediately pulled the trigger and shot the eyes of the titans quickly, succeeding the first step. As planned, the titans got blinded from the shot and covered their eyes in pain. Seeing the signal, the eight soldiers got up from their staggering position, ran forward and jumped in the air behind the titans. Mikasa successfully sliced the nape of a titan. Saoirse raised her blades and efficaciously sliced the nape and landed on her feet. "I've got it!" she said.

"How are you guys?" Mikasa asked.

Reiner, Bertolt, Jean and Annie landed on their feet safely and moved out of the way when the titan's body fell to the ground dead. They had cut the nape too. Unfortunately, Connie and Sasha missed the napes of their respective titans.

The two titans turned to see the two teens staring in horror, as they realized they failed to slice the nape. Sasha walked backwards in fear. "H-H-Hi...sorry...I didn't..." she tried to apologize, her voice breathless in fear.

"Oh crap!" Connie cried out.

"I didn't mean to sneak up on you..!" Sasha tried again.

"Sasha and Connie missed!" Bertolt screeched.

"Lead up the hell back!" Jean barked.

Sasha was crying already, knowing this was the end of her life. "Sasha look out!" Keira shrieked.

"I...I..." The titan leaped towards her, but Sasha barely dodged in time. "I'm sorry!" she pleaded.

She turned around to see Saoirse slice the titan's legs and Mikasa slice the nape, whilst Annie finished the titan after Connie. Their lives had been saved before they even got lost.

"Mikasa! Saoirse!" Sasha yelled up to them in relief as they walked over to her. "You two have saved my life!"

"Are you okay?" Mikasa asked.

"Hurt or anything?" Saoirse questioned.

Sasha was sobbing hysterically. "Mikasa and Saoirse because of you I am.."

"Then get up." Mikasa said bluntly.

"Pull yourself together." Saoirse said, helping her friend up.

They did it. They finished the titans and their plan was a success. Now's the perfect chance to refuel their gear and make their way over the wall.

"I owe you one," Connie thanked Annie.

"No worries." Annie replied.

"Wow, by the skin of your teeth, damn lucky you didn't end up soft," Reiner said, only in her walking away.

"They're all dead!" Jean said. "Start loading up supplies!"

They all beamed in excitement, only for Marco to fall, out of relief and shock.

"Marco!" Keira cried in concern.


The cadets happily refueled their gas tanks. "We're gonna make it! We're gonna live!" a cadet cried in happiness.

"Oh thank heavens," Keira said happily.

"Jean!" Janessa called out to him.

The horsefaced boy turned to see her running towards him and tackling him into a hug. "You did it! We did it!" she said excitedly.

Jean laughed lightly and smiled, hugging her back. "I guess we did," he said.

Janessa, realizing what she was doing, she blushed and she pulled away quickly, brushing her red-orange hair locks out of her face. "J-Jean, I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hug you," she apologized sincerely.

"Hey, my best friend shouldn't be ashamed to hug out of joy," Jean flirted. "Just so happens we did it."

Saoirse, seeing her friend hug Jean reminded her of Eren again, since she won't be hugging him again. Keira placed her hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry Saoirse," she said. "He'll always be here. In your heart."

Sasha finished refueling her gas tank and still sobbed over the fact that she almost got killed. "I caved...in front of the whole gang..." she said breathlessly. "I'm never gonna able gonna to face any of them again!"

"Dammit! Feel sorry for yourself later, and focus on escape!" Connie shouted, trying to get her senses together.

Jean and Marco were fueling gas tanks together whith Janessa and Keira.

"Listen man, what you said about me being a leader and all, don't talk to me like that again, alright?" Jean said.

"Come on, you'd make a great one, don't doubt yourself," Janessa tried.

"Promise me you're not taking this the wrong way," Marco said, fueling up more gas tanks. "But I don't think you're a good leader cause you're strong. I think you're a good leader cause you know what it is to be weak."

Jean faced his buddy. "You're one of us," the freckled boy continued. "You're scared out of your mind, just like we all are. It makes you alert, sympathetic."

Jean's eyes widened at his friend. Marco faced him. "You made a damn good call out there, cut me running from my life," he continued. "You're why I can say this."

Jean stared in shock at his friend, who was smiling brightly. Jean turned to the girls and nodded. Janessa faced Keira. "Did you hear that Keira?" she said. "Your little freckled pretty boy had just convinced my horseface boy about bravery. Cool, huh?"

Keira fanned herself, believing it would reduce the redness in her face. "Oh stop it," she said, realizing her friend was teasing her of Marco.

"But you two should like, kiss already!" Janessa suggested.

Keira only smirked and hit the top of Janessa's head with her fist. "Ow!" she cried out, reaching for her head, with Keira laughing.

Keira leaned closer to Janessa with a look of tease. "But what about horse-face~?" she asked. "Surely chances tell me that you'll get to smooch his horse face soon, right?"

Janessa blushed and playfully nudged Keira.

"Come on," she muttered.


The cadets finally refueled their gas tanks and they glided away again to reach the wall and get to safety. "Ready people? Let's do this!" one said, and all the cadets triggered their gear and flew in the air to reach the wall.

Armin ran outside to see the cadets fly away. "Mikasa!" he called out, noticing she landed on the roof. He shot his grappling hook and glided to the roof, with Saoirse following. They both landed and tried to get her into her senses.

"What are you doing?" Armin asked. "We have to leave, now!"

"Look down there," Mikasa answered in fear.

Armin and Saoirse turned to where she was facing and gasped at the sight of it. "Oh...god..." Saoirse mumbled.

The titans were devouring the Rogue Titan, all different sizes. It couldn't move, and all he could do is twitch his head. Armin stared in shock.

"Can he not regenerate like the others...?" he asked.

"At this rate..." Saoirse mumbled. "He'll be finished off quickly!"

"This may sound stupid, but I was hoping he'd be the key for us, that he'd help mankind break the cycle, devour them to get us time for a little ray of hope..." Mikasa said.

"She's right." Reiner's voice called out to them. Bertolt, Annie, Jean and Janessa were with him as well.

"It's too valuable to just let it die, there's too much we can learn from it," Reiner continued. "I think it's perfectly clear that priority should be worth the scavengers' often. He's no good to us to picked apart."

"Should we help it?" Janessa asked.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Jean cried out. "We've got a path out of this nightmare and you wanna stay?!"

"Think about it," Annie replied. "Having an Abnormal as an ally would be an incredible advantage, right? The cannon's got nothing on a titan who likes to rip apart his own kind."

Jean widened his eyes. "Do yourself?" he asked. "He's not like a new friend!"

Armin heard stomping and a familiar sight greeted him. "Oh no...it's the one that ate Thomas!" he recalled.

Suddenly, the Rogue Titan lifted himself up and started charging forward, trying to shake off the titans on him. He did, but it resulted in removing his arms, because it was getting eaten by the other titans.

"Look at it, go!" Saoirse said.

The Rogue Titan charged towards the titan that ate Thomas and he bit it's nape like how a vampire bites his victim. Saoirse, Mikasa, Armin, Janessa, Jean, Reiner, Annie and Bertolt stared in shock. It raised the titan in the air with his mouth and flipped it on it's legs. Another titan approached it, only for the Rogue Titan to throw the abnormal at the other one.

"Woah," Jean mumbled.

The Rogue Titan roared again. His arms and half of his torso was ripped apart. "Is that what we're seeing?" Jean asked.

Suddenly, the Rogue Titan fell to the ground. Armin gasped at this impact. It must have finished the job.

"W-What...?" Janessa muttered under her breath.

"Cause I think it's a mute point now," Jean continued, moving back to his question. He turned around. "Alright, enough of this, let's leave while we can."

No response. "We're lucky the ugly bastard didn't get bored," he murmured. "We've been next on the menu."

"Jean! Look over here!" Janessa called out.

His eyes widened and headed over to them. All cadets were staring at it's body. "Look, a titan's a titan," Jean tried to point out.

Steam was coming everywhere from where the Rogue Titan was injured. A hole was spotted on the nape of the titan. From inside, they could see a person. Suddenly, the person was released from the skin of the titan's body and he raised himself up, allowing the cadets to see who it was. Mikasa gasped at the sight. Saoirse turned pale upon seeing who it was, gasping. Her heart beat at a rapid pace again and her body went numb. She was panting heavily, realizing the person was someone whom no one ever expected to come back to life.

"Eren?" Saoirse said breathlessly. "Is that you..?"

Mikasa leaped off the roof, realizing who it was also. "Mikasa!" Armin cried out.

Saoirse stepped forward. "Saoirse, what are you-" Janessa's sentence was cut off when she leaped off the roof and started following Mikasa.

The brunette stopped in her tracks, seeing her friend hold her brother tightly. She saw Mikasa place her head on Eren's chest. Thump, thump. Mikasa then began to sob loudly, as she was relieved to see her brother alive and showing she isn't just a protective sister.

Saoirse fell to her knees, with eyes larger than saucers and she was trembling, as tears slowly made her way to her face. It spilled down, and the rest aboce could hear Saoirse and Mikasa's sobs over Eren. Armin made his way down and started running to Mikasa when he saw Saoirse, looking terrified and relieved at the same time. He walked over to her and helped her up, before the two walked over to Mikasa and Eren.


On top of HQ, Mikasa continued to sob over her brother, while a sobbing Saoirse watched the whole scene. She walked over, tears spilling uncontrollably out of her eyes and grabbed Eren's right hand. She placed her head on it, and she heard multiple thumps. He was alright. She buried her face into his hands and cried loudly than ever, louder than Mikasa. Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, Jean and Janessa realized Saoirse's sobbings were louder because she has loved Eren more than anyone else in the whole world.

Janessa raised her hand up, but Jean grabbed it, telling Janessa that Saoirse needed time. She watched her best friend sadly.

It's him..Armin stared in shock at his friend. But...his arm...his leg...I don't understand...! I watched him get eaten...I watched him die..I saw...

Armin began to sob as well, tears spilling down from his eyes uncontrollably like a waterfall. He grabbed Eren's left hand and gripped on it tightly.

"H-How is this...possible...?" Armin choked through tears.

Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, Jean and Janessa watched as the three friends sobbed over to the friend they thought they had lost forever. "No way..." Janessa mumbled.

Jean faced the town's direction, and the others noticed, excluding Saoirse, Mikasa and Armin, who were having a bittersweet reunion with an unconscious Eren.

"So it means..." Janessa murmured.

"...Eren...did all this..?" Jean finished her sentence, staring at the disintegrated titans below.


*sniff* what a sad ending to this chapter, I know...let's all be happy Saoirse reunited with her one true love...now excuse me I'll go share name facts tomorrow and work on the next chapter while sobbing...uwu