They had completed half of their journey. The cadets hadn't talked much, just Reiner asking Ymir directions and much more, and Eren, he had grabbed his heart in pain.
The group's formation hadn't changed since they started their journey, Reiner being first, second Ymir, third Annie, fourth Historia, fifth Connie, sixth Sasha, seventh Jean, and at last was Eren.
"So… We're not allowed to rush?" Reiner asked. Though he knew the answer to it is yes, he had to confirm it.
"R-Right," Ymir answered while looking behind, checking on Historia.
"We'd also be stupid if we did.", of course, it was Jean. If Eren remembered correctly, last time it was Jean who said it. Due to Eren having pain, he had kept quiet.
From this moment, their group started talking, not everyone. Eren hadn't spoken since they began their exercise. Eren had still grabbed his heart with his right hand, trying not at all to show anyone.
He could've sworn he was going to vomit blood from his moth. He didn't care to talk to anyone, not only because of the pain he's been having but also because this titan shifter was thinking about the dream of The Warhammer Titan he had.
What the hell? What was she doing in my dream? I haven't even made contact with her in this life yet, have I?
"My family and I used to eat them." "They taste like chicken." Eren's thoughts were interrupted by Sasha. He looked at her, then at the lizard which had joined their route.
"You can cook," Jean asked Sasha, which Sasha nodded in a yes. "All right, then!" Jean exclaimed, kicking his horse and breaking the formation.
"H-Hey," Reiner tried to stop him but couldn't. "If hunting for food is part of the exercise, then what's better than getting that lizard," Jean said while looking back at Reiner.
"Don't do that!" Historia shouted, though her 'shout' wasn't what we call a shout.
Jean was behind the lizard. He took out his swords from his ODM Gear. He speeded up and killed the lizard.
The lizard froze for a moment looking at him, and then passed away. Jean backed.
The others came to check on Jean. Eren had guilt in his heart, as he had save that lizard in his previous life when he was human at some point. But he quickly went off his horse. Not telling anyone anything, he quickly rushed to where there were large stones. He emitted a great deal of blood behind them. At first, he thought it was all because of him smoking cigarettes, but then he was unsure, can cigarettes do this? And on top of that, he is a Titan Shifter.
Relieved that no one saw him, he continued with their exercise. Jean had carried the dead lizard in a bag.
It was nighttime, and like last time they had bread and water. But this time, the group had a lizard enough for all eight of them. They had a piece of lizard and a pair of bread.
Eren was waiting for when they will start drinking their water. He had mixed sleeping pills on everyone's bottles, except Ymir, Historia, and his own. It was the job he was doing the last night.
Their place was the same as the last time. Reiner was sitting on a rock; next to him was Bert. Ymir was sitting on a rock next to Historia, babysitting her or whatever you call it. Sasha and Connie and Sasha were seated next to each other. Jean was taking bottles from everyone's bag. Eren was next to Annie during dinner time, which freaked him out. He could've sworn that she was already suspicious of him in the morning because of the ring he was wearing on his right hand.
What should I do? Start a conversation? Nah, I won't. I don't want myself to get into trouble. I wish Armin and Mikasa were here. Nah, that idea is stupid. I am here on a mission, to destr- No, what am I saying?
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Jean yelled. He looked around him. He saw people pointing their rifles at them, their faces covered with polythenes.
What the hell? Should I beat them down? Nah, then my plan won't work?
"If you do anything, this girl here will pay the price," one of their men announced. Eren slowly moved his eyes to see the boy they are talking about, only to one of them pointing their rifle at Historia.
"Take me ins-" Ymir was about to say something, but the thief cut her.
"You say any other word…." He loaded his rifle.
After that, the trainees kept quiet, even Ymir. Eren was celebrating that his plan got accomplished.
They took our food and our equipment. These filthy people also took the water in which I had mixed sleeping pills. They took the horses and other things.
"If any one of you come after us, we'll take her life," Another one of them said to them.
The whole session, they were being robbed. Eren had remained quiet. Annie was expecting some plan from Eren as he was looking around the place.
They kept quiet for a moment until Ymir broke the silence.
"We should go and rescue her."
No one stepped.
"Are we abandoning Krista?" Ymir asked with tears coming out of her eyes.
"That's not it.", Reiner said. "But with just us, we can't do anything." "That's why we ask the instructor…."
"What if we don't make it?" Ymir's voice was filled with rage and anger, not to mention she had tears in her eyes.
Reiner let out a sigh.
"I am going to rescue Krista for sure! I'll go alone!" With this, Ymir walked away, tears falling from her eyes. It was the moment Eren saw that same determination in Ymir's eyes that he had. When he went to save Historia, he was so determined to rescue her. You could say it was his nature. But now, he couldn't even help himself.
Without any other thought, Eren rushed to Ymir. He found her at the same place where Jean had seen him when he would save Historia. He grabbed her from behind, but she slapped his hand.
"This is none of your business," Ymir said. She stopped and looked back at him.
"This is, I can't let her die," Eren said. For her, it was some shock. Whenever she saw Eren, he had a bored expression. It was like the world around him didn't exist.
"And why do you care?" Ymir asked him, completely turning around.
"It's beca-
He was about to say something, but he stooped when he heard footsteps of his group approaching them.
"You guys…" Ymir was shocked to see them.
"We've made our mind. We are going to rescue Krista", It was Reiner who said. Sometimes for Eren, it was hard to believe Reiner was the one who helped in destroying the walls.
"In any case, how are we going to find those guys?" Annie asked. Eren almost got a stroke when he heard Annie saying this.
Annie! She is going to help. Woah! I never thought she would be willing to help someone. Well, she did help me.
"We might not make it if we split up."
"In that case, we'll climb to a higher place!" Sasha said.
It had been two hours since they had started the plan to rescue Historia and had found her. Little did they there was a surprise ready for them.
It's been half an hour since Jean was watching those thieves from a hand telescope.
"What do we do?" Jean asked his teammates.
"We wait for the right moment!" Reiner said.
At first, Ymir didn't agree to wait, but Eren convinced her.
Historia was sitting at the, handcuffed with a long tree.
"We have to do something, or else Krista will get hurt," Sasha said, breaking their silence.
"And how do you think we should rescue her?" Jean asked.
"I have an idea, but it would be too risky," Eren said. He had covered his face with his right hand and released a sigh.
The thieves heard a loud thud. They all moved around to see and saw someone in the bush. Their leader ordered one of their members to see who it is. One of the thieves alone went to see who the intruder is.
He went to see it was and he saw a teenage boy with dark brown hair fell there with blood coming from his head. He took the boy to their leader.
"Sir, here is the intruder."
"If I remember, this boy is with her," Their leader said, pointing towards Historia. The leader grabbed the head of that boy. He was half-awake. Tie him with the girl.
Historia was very sleepy, but given her situation, sleep was the last thing she could do. She heard footsteps approaching her. She opened her eyes only to see one of the thieves with Eren.
The thief tied Eren next to Historia. Historia looked back to see how badly Eren was injured. The thief was still there observing them.
"Eren! Eren! Are you fine?" Historia asked with concern. She tried various ways to awake him. But no reason came. She let out a sigh. The thief left them because he had already given up on Eren waking up.
The moment the thief left, Eren let out a sigh. Historia looked back at him with a surprised face.
"Eren!"
"Sheesh," Eren whispered. Eren started cutting his rope with the knife Ymir gave him. He exactly knew where she kept her knife. It was awkward to ask her at first, but still, he did.
Well, he forgot about his rotten luck. He didn't know someone was walking towards them. Eren started cutting Historia's rope.
"Eren, what are you doing?"
"I don't have time to explain."
"Oi, brat, what are you doing?" one of them was walking to Eren and Historia. Eren put the knife in his pocket. Eren closed his eyes, knowing what's to come.
The thief took them both to their leader and tied their hands again. But internally, Eren was happy, as it was part of his plan. The thief dropped them both in front of their leader. Eren opened his eyes, only to see two thieves had pointed their rifles at him.
"So, kid, what should we do with you?" their leader asked, facing closer towards them with a pistol in his hand.
"Whatever you want, please leave him alone." Historia closed and yelled at their leader.
"Krista…"
"You came to rescue me. That is enough for me."
This took Eren by surprise; he felt ashamed for what he had done to her. Suddenly, lightning ran through his body. He smirked.
"Oh! So kid, what do you have to say?." their leader asked.
Eren looked at their leader and started laughing. "Mhmm-me-heh-Mhmm- Mh- Hehehehehehe-Hei-Hehehe-Hea-Hae-Hae-Hae-Hae-Hahahahahaha-Hae-Ahh-hahahahahahahahahahahahaha-Haik-Aae-Hahahaha", he stopped and stood up.
His laugh freaked everyone there, the thieves, their leader, Historia, and the Cadets hiding.
"You are a very kind girl. You think of others first, but remember, not everyone is like you... at least, not me" Eren looked at Historia with a grin, and then he looked at the leader.
"I will be straight, I would like to make a deal with you, but in return, you have to guarantee my safety and drop me out of this forest safely" Eren looked at their leader.
The leader looked at him and smirked, "What is it that you are gonna trade for your life."
Eren looked at him and smirked, "Lives of seven people, including this girl.", pointing towards Historia.
Historia looked at Eren, losing all the hope she had in him.
"So, where are they?" their leader asked.
The cadets were listening to this. They all felt betrayed. Ymir had vowed the moment she gets a chance. She will kill Eren. Jean gritted his teeth. How can he do this?
"If you all don't come, she is gonna get killed, you know.", Eren shouted with an evil tone.
They had no choice but to reveal themselves. Ymir was the first to announce herself, followed by others. The thieves went to them and dragged them all.
The thieves untied Eren. Eren started to crack his knuckles. The cadets which he betrayed were tied. Ymir looked at him with an angry face, "Was it all a lie when you said you also want to save Krista?"
Eren didn't answer. He ignored her. Everyone looked at him with a disgusting face.
"So, if someone asks you about them, what will you answer?" the leader asked Eren.
Eren looked at him and said, "It depends on how you kill them.", he said it coldly, like he didn't give a damn about all this.
The leader looked at him with a grin, "You really are the best." "What's your name?" Eren didn't respond.
After a moment, Eren asked, "How much time do you think it has been since you kidnapped her?", it was an unusual question to ask, given their situation.
"I guess it's been around 2 hours", one of the thieves answered.
"It's about time," Eren said. They all were confused until Ymir broke the silence.
"How many of you drank the water you stole from us?"
"Without our boss, everyone drank it," another one answered
"What are you gonna do with us?"
No response came. Ymir looked back to see every thief there was falling unconscious.
"What is happening? Why are they-?" he stopped as he saw Eren pulling out a knife and walking towards him with the knife.
"You asked my name, huh?" Eren walked towards him, the leader backed and fell, but his pistol was still in his hand.
"Eren Yeager," Eren said. "Eren Yeager, remember this name for forever of your life if I let you live," "I am not asking. I am telling you because even in the afterlife, this name is going to hunt you".
Eren pointed the knife to the leader and started to stab him in the eye. He was so close, but Historia stopped him.
"I know, what he did was wrong. But he shouldn't die at this.".
Eren didn't like what Historia said. Eren had some fire to kill him like he would take very important from Eren.
Eren backed and walked towards the other Cadets. They were somehow happy that Eren didn't betray them. But their happiness... The leader of the thieves loaded his pistol and aimed at Historia, and pulled the trigger.
Eren saw this and rushed himself to cover Historia. He got shot on his lower right back. Blood came running from his mouth. His vision started fading out. The last thing he saw was Floch running to him, with a baby, probably a girl, she had blonde hair, Eren smiles, but suddenly his smile gets turned into a crying face, as Floch says something to him. Steam starts coming from behind him. He doesn't look, what's behind him. Eren holds the baby girl, her chin resting on his shoulder. Then, he starts walking straight to where once the walls were. He sees Reiner and Annie. He doesn't meet their gazes. They both are in horror that had happened right in front of their eyes. Eren walks to the tree, where he usually took a nap as a kid. The baby girl still had her chin resting on Eren's shoulder, and then Eren says to her, "You are free."
A/n: Here is another chapter. This one was hard to write and took me more time than I expected. Btw, I changed some of the dialogues from the chapters before this one.
I want to make this clear (again) this story does focus on a particular ship, ErenxMikasa or ErenxHisu. Tbh, I haven't decided who Eren will end up with(if he lives, most probably he will, I don't want to spoil you anything). Eren will end up with the one that makes sense to the story.
I've changed the story's title from 'A Second Chance' to 'Back to the Past,' now to 'Future Memories'. I promise this will be the last time I am changing the titles, and also I changed the summary of my story. I may change the rating from 'T' to 'M'.
I read all the leaks about the additional pages and they made the story much worse, I mean AoT became a shit after ch 139, and these additional pages just made it much worse.
Well, it is Isayama we are talking about. He can do whatever he wants with his story. Just curious, what are your thoughts about the ending?
Hope, you enjoyed it.