No one said a word to each other. Everyone kept to themselves up on the wall as the night was drawing nearer. Jean sat next to Lana with his arm held in a sling from an injury he had received. Sasha was unconscious still after her fight down below. Armin kept to himself, he didn't even make eye contact with anyone. Connie and Floch were the only two who were fully able and maintained the area. Everyone was waiting for the others to return to hear what news that they would bring. The anticipation was exhausting and made time feel like it was ticking by slower and slower.
Lana looked out to the town and remembered her brief stay there. She remembered the cold night hiding from the titans among the wreckage of a house as the rain came down. Looking out, she saw the now covered hole that once was a passageway for titans. Five years it took them to reclaim Wall Maria. They finally succeeded in what was believed to be only a dream, and yet no one up on the wall could feel the victory.
Just as the sun was setting and things were getting dark, Connie caught a glimpse of Eren and the others. They helped them up onto the wall and greeted everyone waiting to hear what they had found out. As Levi was the last of them to join, he looked over and saw Lana sitting in between Jean and Armin. His jaw dropped slightly at the realization that she was in fact alive.
"Lana!" Hange shouted astounded by her presence. "You're alive," they continued.
"I'm just as surprised as you are," Lana said with a small smile. "What did you find?" Lana looked over to see Eren holding three books and a piece of paper on top of it.
"We found these books that my dad wrote. They tell everything about what life is like outside of the walls."
Lana got up from the ground using a makeshift crutch that Connie had put together. She wanted to get a closer look at the books and see for herself.
On top of the books was an image. Something she had recognize before but not in many years. Although she didn't recognize the image itself, she recognized the format that it was in. Calmly she picked the picture up and examined it closely. She flipped it over and read the contents on the back revealing that the image she held was a photograph.
"Of course…how can I be so foolish? I forgot all about these," she proclaimed flipping the picture back and forth.
"You recognize it?" Eren asked.
"I've never seen the people in the photograph before, but I do remember having my picture taken years ago. Back on Rhea we used a device called a camera. With the camera we posed in different ways to capture a point in time. It was a lot more efficient than having to sit there and wait for your portrait to be painted or drawn. Of course the only time I've ever been in a photograph was a few times at the circus and with the Noble. But, I still can't believe that I've forgotten all about these."
She looked back at Eren after her rambling who wore a shocked expression to her face. She turned to the others who bore similar looks. Out of concern Lana couldn't help but to feel that something was off.
"What, why are you all looking at me like that?"
"You really are from beyond the walls aren't you?" Hange asked.
"Yeah, I've said this many times before," she paused before continuing, "Oh, my god. You guys didn't believe. We've known each other for a few months now and you never once believed me!"
Jean looked down away from her as Hange showed an expression of uncertainty. Connie quickly averted his eyes as Levi was as straight faced as ever.
"Unbelievable," Lana proclaimed putting the picture back down on the book in frustration. "Whatever, let's get moving."
The ten remaining Survey Corps soldiers packed up what things were left and began to make their way back to Wall Rose. Armin and Floch picked up the stretcher and carried Sasha. With Lana unable to move on her own for very long due to the still healing broken leg, Connie carried her on his back. Eren and Mikasa carried the books and whatever supplies that they were able to grab to make the trip back.
There were still titans within Wall Maria and at any moment they could run into one of them. Their guards needed to be up in the off chance that one of the titans were Reiner or the Beast Titan. However, the walk back to Wall Rose was as blissful as ever. The feeling was almost nostalgic to them. The night air was crisp as they walked, their path illuminated by the stone crystal from the Reiss cavern. Lana looked up and gazed at the stars that were above them. They danced and twinkled, lighting up the sky in an almost calming sort of way. She found herself lost in their movements.
In a brief moment, she was reminded of the encounter she had faced under the pile of rocks. She wondered what the interaction indicated. Where the people really her parents, or were they just a figment of her imagination. A wanting that she had, had ever since she was a child. The family she never had. But then she was reminded of the family she does have. Although they were not related by blood she still cared for them as if they were. Keith and Lucas grew up alongside her. Out of all of them, she was the closest to them, her brothers. Those within the circus may not have been with her for very long, but she cares deeply for all of them. Then there were those who were walking besides her, the survivors. The thought of losing any more of them pained her. She wanted them to live happy and full lives. These people were not just fellow performers or comrades in arms. To her they were her family and she wanted nothing more than that. However, tears began to roll down her eyes. The thought of leaving them hurt her, but she believed it to be the best. She wasn't going to leave them for good, she was just going to be walking down her own path.
After the long walk, they had finally reached Wall Rose. Those up on the gate were relieved to see their return. Thankfully while on their journey they were able to make it back safely. It was a much needed trip after what they had gone through.
One of the Garrison had called for Captain Aberdeen of the Military Police Brigade who resided in the area until the safe return of the Survey Corps. The ten of them walked through the gate with a heavy heart. There were several soldiers who were eager to great them and hear of their mission. However, their questions were cut short when the captain approached them.
He walked up to them, his glasses glistening in the moment revealing his tired eyes. It was clear to everyone that he had been awake the entire time that the Survey Corps had been away. His anxiousness preventing him from getting any sleep. However, his stunning blue eyes were fixated on them with such intensity.
"Keith, it's been a while," Hange proclaimed stepping forward.
"It has, Hange. I'm glad to see that you're alright," Keith looked out at the others. His heart sank at the realization that this is all that returned. "What do you report?"
"Wall Maria has been reclaimed. Our mission was a success," Hange replied with a sorrowful look on their face.
"Whenever there are wins, there will be loses. It's a shame that you all had to take this much of a loss. Please, let me do what I can to help you. You all deserve it, I want to take care of you. I have doctors on standby to tend to any wounded. I even have a specialist for the titan shifters who will take care of them with the outmost care."
Hange looked back at everyone as they were showing signs of exhaustion and a bit of relief of the hospitality that the Military Police Brigade was showing.
"As the new Commander of the Survey Corps, I accept your offer. Thank you, Captain," Hange replied turning back to him.
"Titan shifters come with me!" Keith shouted. He turned behind him to the small medical team that were awaiting their orders. "I want you four to tend to everyone else. Bring them to the barracks."
Eren walked over to Connie and offered to continue carrying Lana to the medical facility where the shifters would be treated. He started walking towards Keith as the rest started to make their way to the barracks. Eren turned back to see Armin was still standing there. It was hard for him to comprehend what he was about to go through.
"Armin," Eren called out to him.
Armin snapped out of it, and rushed towards them.
Keith guided them to a small house which he was staying in for the time being. It was a house that was often occupied himself and the Tulp family. Inside was Doctor Isaac Tulp and his daughter Doctor Anna Tulp. They awaited for the shifters and were prepared for the examinations.
Eren slowly let Lana back down allowing her to lean up against the wall. During their travels, her leg had healed enough to allow her to walk with a limp. Anna guided her into a room where she would examine all of Lana's injuries as Isaac would look after the other two. Keith waited outside of the room and made sure that they were all going to be ok.
The examination was thorough for everyone but everyone seemed to check out ok. Lana was the only one out of the three of them that had received the most damage from the battle. In the end, she was healing and alive. Isaac was sure to come in and examine her for himself as a way to compare her records with the previous ones that he had taken before.
"My dear," he chimed as he walked into the room with Lana sitting on a table.
"It's been a while Doctor," Lana replied with a smile.
"I've taken a look at your measurements and it seemed that you've increased slightly in size, that's good to see. Your weight seems normal and you've gotten a little more muscle. Good for you."
Lana didn't respond and only smiled.
"After reviewing everything that Anna took down, you seemed to be healing just fine. The leg should be fully healed sometime tomorrow afternoon. There seems to be no internal bleeding and only a few scrapes which will be gone by tomorrow morning," he continued.
"That's good news," Lana replied as she got off of the table.
"Well, yes and no," Isaac stated with a bit of uncertainty in his voice.
"Yes and no? Is something wrong with me?" Lana questioned.
"It appears that your healing rate has decreased by about thirty percent. Judging by your last major set of injuries, your healing rate then was decreased down to eighty percent. That was with all of the internal bleeding and loss of blood. You could even say that you were down ninety percent. What concerns me is that when you left, your healing factor wasn't at its full capacity. I'd say it was down fifteen percent."
"So what are you trying to tell me?" Lana proclaimed with concern.
"What I'm trying to say is that instead of your healing rate being at what it should be, it has declined at an almost alarming rate over the last couple of months. At this point if your healing rate was at one hundred percent going into Wall Maria, you would only be coming back with a slightly injured leg and that's it."
Lana became very worried. She didn't exactly understand what was going on, but by what Isaac was telling her it was not good.
"So what does this mean, is there something wrong?"
"I don't have enough information to say that there is something wrong. In my honest opinion I do believe that the only reason why your healing rate is as it is, is due to stress and exhaustion."
Lana relaxed a little bit at the news. She was scared that there was something else going on with her but after hearing what Isaac had believed, she felt that he was right. Leaving the Survey Corps was going to be well needed for her. It was going to be better mentally, physically, and overall emotionally to. She was finally going to get a normal life, the type of life she had hoped for. However, there was still the little voice in the back of her head that wanted something else. It was the voice that she had suppressed or so she had thought. There was still a part of her that wanted to find out what happened to her people. The questions still remained. Where did all Pure Blooded titans go? Why are there titans here? Why are the people succumbed to living behind a barricade?
Lana was alone in the room as she was getting herself dressed. As part of the hospitality, Keith had arranged for new clean uniforms for everyone. She jumped back off of the table and started to pull her pants up. She struggled a little bit trying to get her pants buttoned. She knew that she had gained a little bit of weight, but she never figured it was this much. Her old uniform had been worn enough to stretch causing her to not feel it as much. She did feel it become slightly tighter but it hadn't bothered her at all. Keith walked into the room as she had gotten the button done up.
"Knock, Knock!" he called out.
"Don't you ever knock?" Lana yelled in frustration as she tried to grab her shirt to conceal herself.
"I did…verbally. Besides since when did you care?"
Lana made a face at him in annoyance.
Keith continued as he closed the door behind him, "So, how are things?"
"Fine," she replied putting her shirt on.
Keith paused for a minute and became serious. "How are things?" he asked again the smile disappearing.
Lana looked up at him partway through buttoning her shirt. She could feel her face getting warm as her eyes began to water.
"We did it, we reclaimed Wall Maria and yet…why does it hurt so much."
Keith didn't say any more words, he grabbed a hold of Lana and embraced her in the hug. He pulled away and walked out of the room to allow her to continue to get dressed. As Lana continued to button her shirt, there was something that caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. There was a case of samples on the counter with blood in a few viles. When Isaac had come in to see her, he had placed two viles, one for Eren and one for Armin. Anna, who had worked on Lana, had also taken a blood sample and placed it within the case. However, it wasn't the three samples that caught Lana's attention. It was the other three samples that were in it. Lana, Eren, and Armin's names were all on their samples, but the other three had different names. Lana picked one of the blood samples up and closely examined it. It had Keith's name on it. Quickly, Lana picked up the second vile which had Sebastian's name on it, Keith's son. Lana was alarmed by the two viles that Isaac had. But what was even more suspicious was the third vile.
A while back Lana had sent a letter to Isaac in regards to the serum. It was believed that the serum contained the spinal fluid of a titan enabling the subject injected with the serum to transform into a titan. The only way to revert back was for the subject as a titan to consume someone who had the titan shifting power. To their knowledge, no one within the wall had the type of technology to extract spinal fluid. However, Lana had asked in her letter to conduct research in regards to a method that may enable them to go through an extraction process. Within several trial that Lana had undergone with the Doctor, they never once were fully successful at getting a useful sample.
The third vile within the case was evidence that Isaac was successful in his methods of extraction at last. The label of the vile read "Keith Aberdeen Spinal Fluid Research". With fear in her eyes, Lana was unsure of what to do. Thoughts began racing in her head. She wanted to know why Keith was involved with the doctor in this matter. She began to fear the worse and the nausea began to return. She quickly put the vile down and grabbed her jacket. Lana wasn't wanting to stay within the area for much longer. Something was not right about everything. She quickly assumed the worse after the things she had been through. The spinal fluid sample set of red flags believing that Isaac and Keith were conspiring with one another.
Dawn was approaching as Lana was making her way out of the building. She called out for Eren and Armin who were waiting near the entrance.
"We need to get back to the others and quickly," she said her eyes lit up with fire from mixed emotions.
"But why, you just got here. You guys need to at least take a moments rest before you go," Anna replied.
Lana sharply turned to her with Keith standing right behind her. He was confused and worried for their safety and was wanting them to remain. Their eyes met for a brief moment as she was trying to figure out what was going on.
"We have work that we need to do."
"Not so fast," Keith called out.
The three of them abruptly turned just as they were heading out the door.
"Eren Yeager, you're under arrest for disobeying your superior officers."
"You can't be serious!" Eren cried out.
Lana looked back at Eren wondering what had happened.
"I have received a report from Commander Hange during your medical examination claiming that you threatened Captain Levi while in the line of duty. This threat involved you and Mikasa Ackerman using your weapons to potentially harm him. Is what I am saying true or not?"
Lana was irritated but knew that it could not be helped at this time. Keith gained custody of Eren to detain him in the disciplinary unit alongside Mikasa Ackerman. Lana and Armin returned to the others for the next plan of action. As they walked to the barracks, Lana informed Armin what she had seen but made sure to keep it between the two of them in case her accusations were incorrect.
"Why did we have to leave so soon? I thought you'd want to talk to your friend for a little bit longer," Armin stated.
"I found something. I still can't believe what I saw, but with our luck, things are about to get worse."
"What are you talking about? How could things get any worse?"
"There was a sample case in my room."
"Yeah, the Doctor took samples of our blood," Armin replied looking at his arm.
"That's not all that was in there. Do you remember the spinal extraction theory we discussed a while ago?"
Armin looked over to her with a questioning look already piecing together what she may had found.
"I found a vile of spinal fluid among the samples along with another set of blood samples. They're Keith's," she stated with anger in her voice.
"They're probably just samples, nothing more."
"That's the thing Armin, what if they aren't. What if Keith was hiding something just like the others? I don't want to be taking those risks anymore. I've learned my lesson once, I'm not going to go through this again."
"You don't think, they're against us do you?" Armin whispered.
Lana cringed, but kept her focus straight ahead of her.
Armin continued, "But Captain Aberdeen is your childhood friend, isn't he?"
"I don't exactly have a good track record with people from my past remember. Three of them tried to kill me despite being my friends."
"Sorry," Armin replied quietly.
During the battle, Levi was faced with the decision of who to give the serum to. He was conflicted between giving it to Erwin or Armin. After much arguing both Eren and Mikasa pulled their weapons on Levi wanting him to use the serum on Armin. Due to their actions they were detained for breaking the military law. In the end, the dying Erwin helped Levi make the decision by pulling his arm away from him. With Armin as the new Colossal Titan, they now had another titan in their grasps.
Lana had gone in to visit Hange to reinstate her discharge papers. Thankfully Hange was alone at the time allowing Lana to talk freely with them. They sat in the mess hall with their eye bandaged. Lana prominently sat at the table across from them and readied herself for the conversation that was going come forth from this.
She took in a deep breath before starting. Just as she was about to speak her first word, Hange had cut her off.
"If you came her to talk to me about your discharge, I already know."
Lana stammered.
"Erwin showed me everything before we left for Shiganshina. Are you sure that this what you want?"
Lana looked away in remorse, "Like I told Erwin, I want to be able to have a normal life for once."
"Normal? You…of all people want a normal life."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lana was off put by their response.
"I'm just saying that normal for you isn't exactly achievable. I mean look at you, you're a titan. But if this is what you want to do, then I won't stop you." They paused to take a sip of their drink. "What does Levi have to say about this?"
Lana's heart sank being reminded of the conversation that the two of them shared in the cart.
"He isn't overly fond of the idea. I asked for him to come with me, but you know him. He won't even budge."
"That sounds like him. So you're still going to leave no matter what then?"
"That's what I've decided, unfortunately. To be honest with you, I do want to stay and continue my journey to find the answers that I've been searching for. But after over thirty years of coming up with nothing and then all of a sudden having this many leads, I just don't know what to do."
"You don't know what you'd do when you get all of the answers you mean," Hange replied gazing into Lana's eyes. Their cold stare sent chills up her spine.
"I'm not too sure if I even want the answers anymore," Lana replied back, her doe green eyes staring back at Hange.
"Very well. But at least stay with us until after the consultation and ceremony with the Queen."
Lana nodded in response.
Word had spread like wildfire that Wall Maria had finally been reclaimed. The Survey Corps were finally deemed as the heroes that they are. They had become the talk of the people once more.
Meanwhile Armin was residing in the disciplinary facility outside of Eren and Mikasa's cells. He wanted to remain by their side no matter the circumstances. During their time there, Eren had undergone some strange experiences that had been triggered by their findings in the basement. Memories had begun to fill his mind, although they weren't his own. They were the memories of the previous shifter, his father.
One night, Lana had decided to visit them to see how they were doing after seeing Sasha in the medical room. Armin was sitting in front of Eren's cell writing things down on a piece of paper. It seemed that Eren was blatantly talking nonsense. She wanted to question what was going on but saw that Armin was trying to write down every word that Eren was saying. She asked Mikasa what was going on. She explained to her that what Eren was talking about were the memories of his father.
Eren snapped out of it and stared at Lana.
"When did you get here?" he asked.
"Just now, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. How are you?"
"I'm doing just well thanks," she peered over Armin's shoulder to see what he was writing down.
Armin was capable of writing down every single word that Eren was saying. She looked up and saw a desk inside of Eren's cell and knew that this would be a better opportunity for Armin. Thankfully, she wore her regular clothes which Lucas had graciously brought to her. In her down time, she altered all articles of clothing that would allow her to conceal various things such as a lock pick and the occasional switchblade. She reached into the sleeve of her shirt and pulled out the small lock picking tools. Once she had examined the lock, it was only a matter of second before the click of it opening was heard. The creaking of the door was quiet when she pushed it open. Eren and Armin both gazed at her with perplexed looks to their faces. They weren't too sure as to how to respond.
"Well go on, get in there. The chair is a much better place than the cold stone," she gesture to Armin.
He quickly got up from the ground and sat at the desk with the papers in his hand.
"Just don't stay in here for too long. I don't want to end up in here myself," she replied leaning up against the cell.
Lana closed her eyes to listen in to what Eren had to say.
Eren's father was just like her, a person who once lived beyond the walls. Grisha Yeager was an Eldian, people who were considered subjects of Ymir. Ymir was their saviour, the first to obtain the titan power and turned the land into a prosperous one. Once Ymir had passed, her power was distributed into nine parts otherwise known as the nine titans. As the years went on those of Elida began to try and eradicate those that were deemed inferior to them. Due to this, Marleyans retailiated and thus started the Great Titan War. They gained the seven out of the nine titans. King Fritz, of the Eldian Empire, retreated to the land of Paradis where he used the powers of the Founding Titan to build the walls. The walls where many Eldians escaped and lived within. With the powers of the Founding Titan, the memories of the people were changed and they had begun to believe that all life outside of the walls was gone.
With the seven titans in their grasp, the Marleyan government flourished. The Eldians that remained in the continent were thrown into internment zones and labeled. They were not allowed to venture outside of the zones without special documents. Without those documents, walking outside of the wall meant punishment.
Grisha Yeager was an Eldian boy who lived within this zone. After the death of his sister, he grew to hate the Marley government more and more as the years past. He became a member of an organization designed to retaliate against the government. With a hidden spy within the Marleyan ranks, they were able to gain insider information. Here he met his wife Dina Fritz, ancestor to King Fritz. As the resistance forces began to grow, the Marleyan military was as well. Seven children between the ages of five and seven were selected to be Warriors of Marley. One of those selected was the child of Grisha and Dina, Zeke.
The child they sent was going to be their hope of achieving their goals of gaining the Founding Titan and restoring Eldia to its former glory. However, the child turned against his parents and turned them in. All within the resistance force, were captured and tortured to reveal who the traitor within the ranks was. After the failed torture, all of the members were brought to the island of Paradis where they would be injected with the serum to turn to mindless titans.
However, Grisha was spared. The spy was present at the time and was revealed to hold one of the nine titans. He gave Grisha the gift of his titan and one final mission. The mission to start a new family and to retrieve the Founding Titan. When questioned as to why the spy was giving up his titan, it was revealed that shifters were given a limited lifespan. Once they had received the gift, they were also given thirteen years left to live.
Lana quickly opened her eyes in revelation. The word Marley slipped from her mouth quietly as her eyes widened. There was a piece of information she remembered long ago but never realized how relevant it was to her until now. Without any further notice she ran out and back up the stairs, leaving the others to question what was on her mind. She quickly ran to the barracks where her stuff was and grabbed a hold of her notebook. Inside were her notes that she had kept, the history that she had been tracing. The history of Rhea.
The words Eldia and Marley were sprawled on the top of a page with question marks next to it. Underneath she had written:
Eldia? I've heard of this place once before when I was little. The noble made me read a really old text that had information on Eldia and Rhea. Why can't I remember anything on it? I only remember that there once was an alliance between Eldia and Rhea until Eldia disappeared.
Marley is a nation nearby that much I know. I've never been but I have met people who have been there. For example Neal would travel to Marley for business. They have a strong military. I've heard that they have giant weapons. Rhea established a trading agreement for peace.
"Giant weapons, UGH! How can I be so dumb, they weren't giant weapons! They were titans!" she shouted.
"Lana are you ok?" came Jean's voice from behind her.
She quickly shoved her journal back into her bag and looked over to see him worried.
"I'm fine, I just got…excited," she paused as Jean was confused. "I was excited to…uh, be able to relax a little more," she lied.
"Right," replied Jean not buying anything that she had just said. He didn't want to question her anymore and just left it at that.
She looked back down at her journal and realized what she was doing. She was getting herself enthralled with the past once again. The memories that Eren shared triggered the memories of her own. However, this was the very thing she was trying to escape from. Her delusions of finding her past was what was keeping her from moving on.
She calmly pulled the journal back out and handed it over to Jean. He looked back at her puzzled.
"Take good care of this for me, would you Jean?" she asked with a bit of hurt behind her smile.
