Author's Notes: Sorry for taking a bit of a while, and yes, this chapter IS shorter than the last, but I can assure you this one's more condense with important events than the previous one. Now, without further ado, let's get to this chapter.

Crypts of the Wasted Lands

Eren walked with the four in tow behind him. He had steeled himself for the days to come, knowing that anything and everything might be waiting for them all beyond the safety of the Wall surrounding Valhalla, beyond the unreachability of the Mountain of the Titans. Six Primordials had assaulted Valhalla and caught them off-guard, but only five had been slain when Eren and Ymir had risen from the debris. From there, Valhalla had been freed from the fear of being turned into mindless husks, tools for the giant beasts to use against their will. If it were based on sightings and experiences alone, they should have nothing to fear, as there was only one known Primordial remaining. But there was a reason as to why Eren's face was marred with a grimace, one that spoke of nothing short of the fear of the unknown, remembering the last of his father's notes on the nightmarish monsters.

[…furthermore, there is no way these beings should have been born naturally, though perhaps they were formed as a result of an entirely different era before the concepts of Walls reigned every safe haven in this world. Regardless, though no more than four or five have been caught by surviving Warrior patrols, there is the possibility that there are far more that we simply are not seeing. This either means that there may yet be more civilizations out there being terrorized by the Primordials, or we are the last remaining strongholds. However, guessing from how freely and 'adventurous' the ones we've encountered behave, there may be more, perhaps by the dozens, perhaps even by the hundreds. More than this amount is unlikely. One of their primary and most defining powers is the capacity to control and command the mindless Titans with ease. The only power of command that probably surpasses theirs that we know of is probably the Coordinate itself, and having hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Colossal Types at their disposal within the Walls, then the Primordials cannot have the strength in numbers to take them on, even if they are smart at making and following through with tactics. Regardless, the Primordials should not be taken lightly, especially under the scenario that the Warriors gain the Coordinate themselves.]

Eren felt shivers running down his spine. He would be lying if he said that he didn't feel the slightest amount of fear against the elder fathers of the monstrosities that had attempted to eat them for well over a century. It was strange. His wrath against the Titans had blinded him so much that he had never felt fear. The closest had come in the form of the Shifters, which, after learning their identities, became an even greater anger than that which he held towards the average mindless beast. But the Primordials… they were intelligent. They were the cause of all this. They were manipulative and astute. For all intents and purposes, he should have been the most enraged at them. And yet, the knowing smiles, the understanding of the world that the rest of Humanity and the Warriors lacked… they were the last opponent they should ever underestimate, regardless of their newfound immunity.

Out of the Wall, Captain Sandor Rayne led them to their branch of troops. Eren was a Commander now, though not the head. Still, he preferred it that way. He would rather handle a fair amount, but not a too great number of troops. It was the was most familiar system he could recognize. It had been a full month since Ymir had received her augmentations, the cause of the wait being that the High Commanders had been waiting for all the rest of the Vanguard members to return in order to reestablish the operations into the unknown world. Eren, Reiner, Ymir, Bertholdt and Annie had gone to High Commander Audrey Schafer to receive her orders and plan out their next mission, though there was no official 'head' to the Vanguard branch. Receiving a map of 'the Known World', they were able to highlight abandoned cities and landmarks of interest once away from the Tepui. Finding several borders closed off by the ocean surrounding the known lands was a somewhat sad and happy idea for Eren, thinking of no one else but his first friend at the idea of the endless body of water.

Getting hit by the topside cool breeze, Eren found himself refreshed more than shaken by the winds. He had to give it to the warriors, they knew about their armor and their bodysuits. He wasn't sweating underneath, but he was just warm enough to not be affected by the outside world's temperatures. Taking a deep breath and letting it go, he found the ninety-five warriors under their command on the ready. All of them without exception saluted them proudly, a gesture the five returned. Thanking Captain Sandor and letting him return to his post, Eren spoke a few words and they were on the way to the hole to the side of the mountain. Underneath, along with all the posts unto which they could latch their Maneuver Gears' hooks to, they made it to the bottom of the cave, taking a few moments to swim out to the other side. Once there, they reorganized inside of the forest at the foot of the mountain. Eren looked at the four with him, still standing loyally by his side before addressing the 'fresh grass' before them.

"Alright, I imagine some of you wanted to be here to be under our command because we fared well against the Primordials when they came to Valhalla. I imagine some of you wanted to live up to the status quo by choosing this military branch over the rest. And lastly, I imagine some of you chose this task, here and now, because you long for the truth of this world. Let me be clear on one thing. If this is your motivation, the reason you get up in the morning and continue to fight, keep it alive in your hearts. Otherwise, dispose of it, as it has no other use for us where we will be going. Yes, like many of you, this is our first mission regarding this objective specifically, but we are not new to the battlefield. Love doesn't prevail against evil, and the necessity for revenge can only get you so far before you get yourself killed. Regardless, you chose the Vanguard, and you chose to be a part of this mission, for that I salute you."

While the rooks' expressions varied in several ways, all of them stayed pensive at his words, more attentive at listening to the rest of them. He looked at Annie, who on her bag she had carried with them, took out the only content it had. Eren taking the paper, he rolled it out before them all, allowing them to see. "This will be our formation. If none of you were lying when you filled out your Titan types and your functionalities, then there should be enough for this formation. It's triangular in shape, perfect for alerting us for Primordials. We'll be at the front, myself in my Titan form, and two squads will be behind us at a hundred-meter's distance from us with a Titan each and a hundred meters from each other. The next line will have three more at the same distance from the second line and from each other, and so forth until the fifth and the sixth line, both of which will have five. By the entirety of its formation, we should have half a kilometer covered from me to the last line, and the last line in width should cover another five hundred meters. This way we can be well aware of Primordial movement while still acting in a spear formation.

"Now, I know plenty of you have been in fear of these monsters, some of you may want to run away from them and some of you may want revenge. You will not, and I repeat, not engage them in combat. They may have lost their greatest weapon, which was to force us to serve them, but they are still formidable in combat, and our priority lies in looking and exploring through the Lost Cities in order to uncover mankind's origins as well as a definite solution to the danger the Primordials pose. Twenty of you who are part of a squad that are not the carrier Titans, you will have flare signals should there be any signs of danger so the rest of us may know and alert the others from there. Through this way, we will be able to rearrange our course in order to avoid conflict. Remember, red for Primordials, black for anything we haven't encountered previously that may be a threat, and green should any one of you find the ruins of a non-recorded city from afar. This will be a month-long mission, but it won't be too long as it will be our first, a preparation for the ones we have due, if anything. Is everything clear?"

A salute and a 'yes sir' later and they were off. They took off through the trees with their 3DMG, reaching the end of it and the plains before them. All of them looked anxious, more out of excitement than fear, a feeling Eren didn't want to stump with cynic words, but one he'd have to keep in check so they do not lose a grasp of reality. Biting his hand, thunder struck him, his Titan rising in his more normal, fleshier form. It wouldn't do for him to be a constant pillar of smoke as their leader, though he likely would concentrate his energy unto his legs. Hearing the sounds of bursts of steam and feeling four pairs of feat land on his shoulder, he got into a runner's stance before setting off at a fast pace. Farther away from the forest, he heard twin thunders strike and the faint sounds of deep thuds right on his trail, an ironically comforting sound. He barely just heard the three consequent lightnings that followed, and the only indicative that the rest had been transformed had been the color the sky took per every green bolt crashed onto a warrior.

And thus, they ran, the steady pace they put allowing them to be well away from Valhalla come the end of the day. At the sun setting, Eren halted, bringing the others to do the same once they were all together. With the lack of proper lighting during the moon's reign over the night, signals could not be spread. The designated troops with packs set up camp while Eren ordered ten-men teams to be formed in order for hourly watches to be established. He offered for first watch, the other four naturally agreeing to it as well. A couple more joined them, which Eren half-mindedly nodded to while the rest worked out on figuring out their groups and the hours they'd be taking. Before long, they were out cold, and the gang looked out over the horizon. It was a beautiful night. There were plains drier than the ones he was used to. Tiny, yellowy particles immediately taking flight at the slightest lick of the wind, 'sand', he remembered the warriors calling it.

According to them, there were lands filled with the particles, great acres of land were filled with sand, a detrimental thing to go through given their aridness, their great heat, and even endlessness from a certain perspective. Fortunately, they had their Titans to rely on, a fast way to bypass them. Currently, their city of destination was an ancient one. According to them, it was beyond several of these 'dunes', a week's worth of constant traveling and healthy rationing of foods and water, lest they find wildlife to hunt and a 'sweet body of water' to refill from. It was a term strange to Eren until he was told that the vast majority of known bodies of water were salty, and therefor undrinkable. And so, they went back at it again on the hours of the dawn, going through and guiding themselves with the map that the warriors had crafted after sufficient expeditions.

They were nearing the place come the twilight of the thirteenth day, they were met with the sight of a crumbling city. Even in the arms of death, the metropolis was grander than any of the places he had seen within the Walls, maybe even greater than all of Valhalla. The only familiarity about the grand, ashen city was the great river running through it, somewhat reminiscent to that which he had grown up with in Shiganshina. And so, by the time the sun was set, the small platoon made it to the edge of the city. Coming to a full stop and signaling the other Shifters to come close, he tapped his nape twice and knelt down, allowing the four to touch the ground. Steaming rapidly, Eren was free from the muscled binds that had kept him attached to his Titan. Using his Maneuver Gear on his disposed body, the young man made it down to the other leaders of the hundred, turning around to find the others coming up behind them.

Eren looked at their wondrous expressions, their surprises at a land-city as grand as the one before them, holding a variation of buildings, most bearing the sizes little taller than that of fifteen-meter Titans, some that could even easily dwarf a Colossal Titan. Those that were still standing, anyways. Plenty of the grandest of them could be seen smothering the ground, decades after the Titans had invaded their grounds. It was a magnificent and terrifying testament to the strength of the great, mindless beasts, on which no doubt humbled all those who viewed it. Looking behind him one last time, Eren set the pace, a firm march as Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie and Ymir followed closely behind him while the rest kept some distance from them and the others, following the leaders in their squadrons of five. Gray roads made up the majority of the ground. It was a strange thing to many of those looking at it, having been used to paved stones and bricks of the sort making up the floors of Valhalla. In a way, it reminded him of the Titans' stones in the way it perfectly covered the road, only less resilient. That much he could tell from where the cracks and schisms left the ground uneven, sometimes even bleeding grass at certain spots.

It looked like a feral city. What the Titans hadn't destroyed, nature itself seemed to have consumed. More than once they had hunted stray animals that could very well be considered food, while at others the Commander had resorted to Shifting in order to scare them all off. Grass and trees had started growing in unexpected places, giving it the look of the bastardization of a city and an arid jungle. Eventually, they made it to a bridge that crossed the magnificent river, though he stopped at Bertholdt's cry. It was not out of distress, but obviously marked something of interest to bring a halt to their excursion. Eren's brows raised at the building the raven-haired Shifter was pointing at.

Out of all of the buildings they had come across, this was the only one that had words they could read. From what he had been informed, most of the places around them were going to be in languages and dialects they would not understand, which resulted in the difficulty of understanding the outer world. The few times buildings that bore the same language as the ones they had been raised with were found, they were considered gold mines of information. Eren didn't think twice before running to the mostly broken place, finding that unlike most others, it bore a title with letters imprinted into the stones above the entrance. Embassy of the United States of America. "Okay, first off, what the hell is an 'embassy', and secondly, what the hell are the 'United States of America'?"

"According to previous Vanguard squadrons that made it back with information on the places they had been, there had been 'nations' before we ever came to know of the Titans. We've crossed several on our way here, one called 'Saudi Arabia' being the one just before here. The one with the deserts of sand." Annie's cool analysis irked more questions amongst the subordinates, but Eren simply entered the place. Everything there was essentially destroyed and eroded. Piles of dust being in places where couches may have once been, there was hardly anything left of value in the place. There was, however, a message in now rusty metal left at the halls, almost a warning to those who entered. Two in fact. One in the language of the city, the second in the one they could understand. All those in Cairo, head to the evacuation transports effective immediately before the Titans reach the area. We are to be relocated into a safer place until further notice.

"Cairo… is that the name of this country?" Reiner's muttering brought something in Eren to click, losing his breath for a second. Before he knew it, he was almost at the ground, barely just keeping himself from collapsing onto it with the help of Reiner and Bertholdt keeping him up. His pupils widened immeasurably, almost swallowing all of the green that surrounded them. For the briefest of moments, he was taken into memories he was not aware of. Memories of a map far greater than the one they had come across, of handheld weapons of fire and thunder, of metal beasts taking flight against great hordes of naked giants all flashed into his mind. He was not able to retain the brunt of it, but there was something in him that suddenly understood what this place was, why he was so afraid all of the sudden. "No, this place is called Egypt. This was the birthplace of the first civilization mankind ever built, thousands of years before Titans were even a threat."

"Wait, what? And how the hell do you know of this?!" Dirk's brash questions earned him a withering glare from the Leonhardt, and milder but equally persistent ones from the other three. Eren remained unfazed, gathering himself up and getting up with the strength that he got back. Calmly, he looked at the ninety-five with questioning glances coming at his direction. "The Coordinate doesn't just imply the ability to control the Titans, it gives the bearer the 'memories of the world'. I can't say I know everything, in great part because this was the ability that the Fritz and Reiss bloodlines were meant to have, but there are times that coming across certain places or objects trigger certain 'memory banks', or so to say… Keep your guard up. This place may be derelict, but it's got every bit of potential to be dangerous."

Perhaps upon saying those words before leaving the building was why Eren was immediately far more aware of the reasons why so many buildings had suffered immeasurably besides against the measures of time. Pointing at certain of the empty husks, he let them all see what he saw. There were scars amongst the steadiest standing buildings, ones that denoted firm grip marks. Titanic grip marks. While none had shifted yet, he wondered closer to where the bridge was, where the river was meant to be crossed. Looking to the sides, he found many others that had once been standing to be missing of the middle part. When they made it to the other side, they found far fewer buildings to be around. Most of them looked completely obliterated, some only bearing mountains of debris as testaments of the fact that they once stood. It was a disconcerting sight, one that made Eren that much more uneasy.

Upon walking more, they had come across a great hole in the ground. No, great hole was putting it mildly. It looked like one could put a mountain inside and it still wouldn't fill it, both in terms of area and depth. Looking at it he felt another memory intruding at the back of his mind. Only words echoed in the back of his mind, words of a previous inheritor of the power of the Coordinate. Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. For a second, he wondered if the abyss had a hundred eyes within it, none of them visible. Being tackled from the side, it was a miracle that none of the group got hit by the stones raining down on them. Almost immediately, Eren got up, swords in hand, as he got up, he felt his heart stop in his mouth.

Looking across from them, at the other end three kilometers away from their border of the hole, he saw the Primordial that got away from them at Valhalla standing at the only remaining building at the top of it. Below it, he saw hundreds if not thousands of shadows easily his size, some even greater, all of them bearing the primate, animalistic traits. Around the borders, everywhere, there were shadows of the gigantic creatures that had created the Titans that had terrorized mankind. All he could hear, for the briefest of moments, was his own heartbeat, loud enough to him to be mistaken for war drums. And then he roared. "EVERYONE, FALL BACK! ASSUME FORMATION THE SECOND WE'RE BACK INTO THE CITY!"

And with that, he abruptly shifted, grabbing the four in two immediate grasps and placing them on his shoulders before taking on a run. Behind him, he heard nineteen more lightnings thundering down onto the rest of the designated 'carrier' Titans. When they ran and made it back into the ancient city, he waited at the side of the bridge for everyone to cross through before savagely beating it with both hands until it too fell like the rest of its metallic brethren. Running and running some more, he could only barely just dodge as more stones nearly riddled his body with holes. Atop the few remaining husks for buildings that remained intact were more of the Primordials, all of them keeping their eyes trained on them, with either smiles or scowls adorning their faces. It was all they could do to keep going, sometimes even going as far as to have some of the squadrons atop the shoulders semi-shift, titanizing a single arm in order to better protect the running warriors.

It had been a rush until Eren and the others were well out of the city, still running until the early hours of the dawn. Maps still intact, Eren passed out by the time they confirmed they were on the right track after he was finally able to escape his outer shell's form. He woke up to find himself strapped with his gears to Reiner's neck, the great wall of crimson flesh exceedingly warm. While no sign of the great horde of Primordials was found, that did little to deter the group from running day and night from the deadly beasts. Only six days through were they able to get back into steady formation. It only took four more days to make it back to known grounds, the familiar greens of the grass and the tepui in the distance being an extremely welcome sight by the group.

Most of the platoon had been visibly shaken, and much as Eren was shocked, he had to put a straight face on for the High Commanders and give a full report on the matter. By the time they were back, they were made to wait in a private room to be picked up by the heads of the city they called home. Eren had not uttered a single word since he gave the command at Cairo, and the four were looking at him in silent solidarity. Without any indication, he spoke again. "That's where it all began. That's where the first Primordials came from. I can't say much for their strategies or what they may do or what they may know, but that pit… it all started when the ground sunk at that very position. Guess it doesn't matter much, though. War's coming."

"We know their point of origin, Eren. If you say that it is, I believe you. Regardless of how pointless or trivial it may seem, that is still information on an enemy we have known far too little of. Besides, we don't know if having that knowledge may prove useful in our favor. We can't discard anything that may even be the slightest bit beneficial, not anymore." When Annie spoke, there was more empathy than he had remembered hearing in the blonde in a long time. There was something about the words, an assurance that there would still be a tomorrow, even if he believed otherwise. Eren sighed. His emotions would gain him nothing, that he had learned long ago. With a hardened expression, he looked to the rest. "I said that was where it all started, not that it was the only place where Primordials may be found. Everything that's going to happen, everything that's coming to us… this is barely just the tip of the iceberg. Even immune as we are now, even with our numbers and our abilities, this is a war we can't fight by ourselves."

"Alright, let's say we can't. What do you suggest?" Reiner looked just as tired if the bags under his eyes said anything. Eren promised himself he would personally thank the bulky shifter one way or another for covering for him, but at the moment, there was little the group could do except discuss their current situation or their plans for the future. Eren had his mouth open when an envoy told them to follow her. A few minutes of walking flew by, the events at the ghastly city playing again and again in Eren's mind throughout. In a semi-circular oaken table, the High Commanders sat, looking at the group with darkened moods evident from their faces. No one spoke for a minute, all waiting for the elder Leonhardt to begin the conversation. He trained his eyes directly on Eren's, ice blue boring at fire green. "Commander Jaeger, can you look upon everyone in this room and say without a doubt that the place you located, this… Cairo, it is where the Primordials originated from?"

"Originated? I can't say that for sure, but it was the first place they had stricken upon their awakening. That was the place where the war on Titans had started over a century ago." The man of unmistakable will spoke, shock slowly but surely being replaced by determination. Leonhardt gazed at him for another scrutinizing few seconds before letting out the smallest breath in a weary sigh, nodding at his words in understanding. Audrey Schafer spoke up next. "The largest amount of Primordials to ever be sighted in one place at the same time had been the six that came to Valhalla. It seems almost ludicrous to believe that there are hundreds, maybe even a few thousand Primordials at the location you're referring to."

"It does, ma'am, but a hundred people can't say the same lie. If anything I would rather believe it's untrue and it was just a hallucination that I saw, but we'll gain nothing if we try to pretend that the situation is anything less than it is. Now is the time to prepare, if nothing else." Were it for Eren, he would damn near promote Bertholdt from the strength of his words and the kindred will to lead on. But, the group had only just recently been promoted, they weren't in any real position to make demands or even ask for something like that. Eren shook his mind from the intrusive, unnecessary thoughts. He looked at the five before him one more time before the woman that had led them to the room burst through the doors, red-faced and panting. The ten all turned to her, her ginger hair falling in front of her brown eyes, expression surprised and bewildered. "Commanders! The contact within the Walls, he's back, he's–"

A strong hand from behind her led her to freeze, immediately standing upright and snapping to attention. While the five High Commanders remained unaffected, the same could not be said for those who were a part from the Vanguard. It was strange to see him in military gear, having everything in place save for the insignias or, even more shocking, the lack of the green coat of the Wings of Freedom. In front of them stood Erwin Smith, tall and proud as he had always been.

Author's Notes: Yep, I've been hinting at this for a while and this has been the plan for a long time now, not just some last minute idea. As for the bulk of this chapter, we are finally getting to the rest of the world, along with references of real places. That being said some places are impossible or inexistent in the real world in terms that the landscapes would have to be modified, but otherwise, yes, this takes place on our Earth. There's plenty to be said, and plenty to come, so fret not, this is not the end, nowhere near if I have anything to say about it.

Now, I'm gonna have to part a bit from this story to give some attention to the others (I've updated four chapters straight on this one), but I will be back, and by the time I'm back, it's gonna be a far more evened-out schedule. That being said, please do review. It's something that's always welcome when putting the time and effort of writing these out. Anyways, I'll see you lot again soon enough.

The Almighty Afroduck,

All Hail