Laure's head felt as heavy as a horse. Before, blood was dripping down her neck, but now the flow was suddenly... reversed? The barely conscious scout looked down to see the sky. She was hanging upside-down, a single one of her ODM's hooks holding all of her weight. Looking up, she couldn't see much- steam was taking over the area as the Colossal Titan's remains evaporated. Even though Armin's plan almost went wrong, both him and Laure managed to distract Bertholdt enough for Eren to strike him down. It finally felt like something was actually accomplished. The taste of this achievement was nonetheless bittersweet, as her dizzy head remembered the images of the dead.
"And in the end... it's just like that day... all over again..." she thought to herself, picturing together both her crushed comrades and the last time she saw her parents. Being born and raised in Shiganshina, she was there when humanity was attacked by the invading titans. Both her father and mother were crushed by the same piece of debris when the Armoured Titan broke Shiganshina's inner gate. Laure tried to lift herself up, but her hook began to dettach from the wall.
"SHIT!" she yelled as she started falling from a height of almost 40 meters. Luckily enough, a fast acting Armin grabbed her as they managed to safely land on ground level. Armin's face was that of pain, both physical and psychological, but he still carried a smile towards his friend.
"You're safe now" he said as her mind flashed back to cadet training. During an ODM gear training session, Laure got a bit carried away and nearly suffered an accident, being saved by Reiner and Bertholdt.
"You did it, Armin" was muttered by the wounded girl. "You saved everyone."
"I can't say if i saved everyone... at this point, i don't even know who is still alive. But i know that you saved me, Laure. Once more you have done me a huge favor. It's fitting that i did the same for you".
"I appreciate the thought, Armin" she replied as she sat down for a second. Both of them stared at the Colossal's lifeless face, a face that carried an expression of shock and fear.
"So... is Bertholdt dead?", Laure asked with conflict in her voice. Half of her wanted the young Hoover to rot in hell; however, her other half couldn't help but cry at the thought of her once friend dying. Laure and Bertholdt shared quite the history together. Having helped him with his low self-esteem and confidence issues in the past, she often wondered if that was a death sentence in disguise.
"The plan was for me to distract Bertholdt long enough for Eren to cut him out of the titan, not to kill him", Armin said. "For as desperate as our situation was, our objective remained the same: to capture both him and Reiner. We need to-"
Armin was interrupted by a loud noise followed by shouting. It was Eren. They could barely see a titan standing on a roof not very far from them, being on four legs like some kind of animal. The titan appeared to be carrying a blonde, bearded man on top of it, who was tied to several crates and barrels the titan was also carrying. They couldn't hear what the man was saying, but he appeared to be talking to Eren, who had his sword glued to Bertholdt's throat. The blonde man had no arms and no legs.
"That... that titan... AND THAT MUST BE THE BEAST TITAN ON HIS BACK!", Laure said as she failed to stand up.
"Wait! Laure! We are in no shape to fight! Specially you!". Armin was worried about both of his friends. He'd seen someone act just like her in the past... but he also knew Eren was in danger and they'd need to act fast if they wanted to protect him.
A small steaming dot appeared in the horizon atop the wall and the Cart Titan ran away as soon as the figure leaped, leaving Eren & Bertholdt behind.
"Hold on tight" Armin said as he readied his ODM gear. He quickly zipped towards Eren while Laure held to him.
As they reached the rooftop, they saw a dismembered Bertholdt laying unconscious. His neck had a small cut that was bleeding. Both him and Eren had their faces scarred by the markings a titan shifter had after leaving a titan, but Bertholdt's was thinner than usual and lacked skin. Eren's face had an expression of anger and surprise. Laure was completely shocked at the sight.
"What was that, Eren?!", Armin asked his childhood friend. He felt anxious and nervous, having never seen that titan before.
"That man... i think he was the Beast Titan." Eren said, grinding his teeth. "He knew who i was... but he also knew my father! He knew my damn father!"
"W-what?!" Armin replied, now even more anxious than before.
"He said... he said that we are both victims of my father and that some day he was going to save me". Eren clenched his fist.
Captain Levi suddenly landed on the rooftop.
"Quick! Give me your blades and your gas! I'm going after them!" he yelled looking at everyone around. Eren started to untie his gas canisters while Armin gave Levi all of his blades. "I haven't used them at all, Captain!".
Levi equipped them without saying a word. After struggling for a bit, Eren finally managed to give him his gas canisters. Levi quickly rearmed and was about to leave when Laure intervened. "Captain! Are you sure?!" she asked him with anxiety in her voice. "We can't let the Beast Titan get away, kid! I won't let him get away!".
Levi was filled with rage. After all, he had just witnessed the Beast Titan murder the entirety of the scout recruits alongside Commander Erwin.
He left as soon as he finished his sentence. Laure was filled with dread as she imagined the exhausted Levi going after the Cart Titan who, as far as she knew, wasn't wounded or tired. She glanced over a still angry Eren and a sweating Armin and had a feeling they thought the same thing.
"Armin", Laure said, "you need to treat your burns".
Armin finally snapped and took a moment to look at himself. His hands had blisters and he could feel his face stinging non-stop. His skin was extremely reddish in color, but he didn't appear to have had a third-degree burn at all. An infection was the worst thing that could happen to him when over a hundred kilometers away from humanity, after all.
"Not yet... where is the Armored Titan? Where's Mikasa and the others?" he replied, having far more important things in mind.
"Mikasa... MIKASA!" Eren screamed as the dread of something having happened to her quickly crossed his mind. The Cart Titan flew towards her direction. They could only hope Levi was going to be fast enough.
"It's a letter..."
A wounded, blinded Reiner could barely speak after what he went through. Hange had questioned him about the contents of a small metal box he desperately tried to reach.
"Deliver it... to Christa... Ymir wants her to read this letter... please..."
"We're going to have to check its contents", Hange said. Her eyes seemed to carry some kind of pity. "Well, we have a sea of questions to ask you, but..."
Hange pulled out her sword.
"... your mouth seems as hard as armor. Are you going to tell us what we want to know?"
"No."
His voice was as defeated as his body. Half of his head had been blown up not long ago and none of the scouts knew how he survived. All they knew is that it was still in the process of regenerating.
"Thanks. That helps me with my decision."
Hange smiled as she put her blade on Reiner's throat. She pushed it enough to cut him and his blood splattered all around. A panicked Jean interrupted.
"WAIT! Are you sure? Couldn't we steal his powers?". His eyes met with Hange's and they shared from the same nervous stare. They both remember what Commander Erwin had said days ago during the mission's briefing. Captain Levi is the one carrying the syringe that could turn someone into a titan.
"We don't know about Levi's current situation at the moment. I don't think the conditions have been met. We also don't have the time to wait for an answer."
Hange's sword went deeper. No one could remember ever seeing the Section Commander that angry before.
"We also have no clue about the enemy's strength at this moment. I couldn't feel safe even if i cut his head off right now."
Her words reminded Jean of Laure.
Months ago, the Beast Titan led an attack on Wall Rose as an attempt to rescue the crystallized Annie Leonhart and, if possible, capture Eren Yeager. The attack was a failure, but still led to a very high amount of human casualties. 104th Scout Regiment soldier Laure Garnier was thought to be one of those casualties.
As humanity retrieved Annie and Eren from the enemy, their cart was too heavy to be able to outrun the abnormals that pursued them. Laure left her journal with Mikasa and jumped off to hold back as many titans as she could. As the cart distanced itself from her and the sunset's orange light engulfed her and the titans she was attacking, Mikasa whispered goodbye as her eyes began to tear. That was when Laure was presumed dead.
By dawn, however, news about Laure's stay at a hospital had reached her colleagues. From what was told, a wounded Laure was spotted limping towards the wall by patrols on the lookout for a possible titan counter-attack about 5 hours later.
Jean Kirstein was one of the first to visit her as soon as the news arrived.
"Hey, Laure." Jean said to his friend. She was awake, staring at the window, although it seemed she could barely hold her eyes open. "I wrote to my mother again. I didn't even expect to write to her for the first time, but you really helped me see that... it's important. Very, very important."
Laure smiled.
"My grandfather was MP, just like his father was. Because of that, he was always in Mitras and only came to visit every once in a while. My mother would ask me if i wanted to help her write a letter to him at the end of every week. I was very young, about 5 or 6 years old, but it didn't matter to mom. 'We write to speak with those that are far away from us, little caramel, but also to speak with ourselves. Words have weight and meaning for all of those that can hear them, and i want you to be able to understand this while you're young', she told me once. That was when i got my first diary. I didn't really write much besides dumb children stuff, you know... but it was what got me to keep writing even after grandpa passed away. I'm really glad you decided to keep writing to her, Jean. I'd do anything to write to my mother."
"I'm sorry, Laure", Jean said as he sighed. He couldn't help but feel guilt for how he treated his mother when talking to her. Even though he was surrounded by orphans, it was the pain in Laure's dark brown eyes that most filled him with regret. She was always a friendly helping hand for everyone, even going as far as risking herself for Ymir's scams multiple times and babysitting Daz for a week, but unlike the others, she never really demonstrated any kind of pain through her behavior. Her eyes, on the other hand, never lied.
"For the third time, Jean,", she said as her voice cracked, "the Armored Titan has nearly killed me. For the third time, i have seen him kill those close to me. For the third time... it has brought me pain. And it hurts so, so damn much to know that he is... he was... my friend. To remember all that he said to me in the past. This hurts so much more than any physical pain ever could"
Jean didn't know what to say. He knew what she was feeling, but he was aware he couldn't fully grasp the friendship her and Reiner had. They had trained together off-duty dozens of times over the past three years. She tried to aid Reiner into talking to Historia, giving him tips on how to approach her and even gift ideas. Jean thought back to all the times she and Reiner randomly went arm wrestling during lunch and dinner. He also thought back to his own interactions with Laure, and how they too shared a deep bond. He imagined he'd know the feeling if the roles were switched.
"The only reason i'm alive, Jean... the only reason i survived... is because of what i learned from you and Reiner. I wouldn't have come back if not for you two."
Jean smiled.
"The monster that i stared at... he didn't seem to feel anything. He seemed like a completely different person from my friend."
Jean's smile faded away, being replaced by a look of sadness.
"If that thing is not my friend... i don't want him to be able to hurt anyone ever again. We can't let it happen once more, Jean."
Jean knew that even though he didn't want to see Reiner die, they were risking a lot every second he was alive.
"I don't want you to kill him, Section Commander. Part of me can't handle the thought. But part of me also believes the power of the Armored is too strong to be wasted."
Hange stared silently at Reiner, her sword still fixated on his throat. She replied to Jean.
"... we only have one syringe, Jean. We don't know about Levi, Erwin or even Eren and Armin. We know that the Colossal has fallen, but we don't know if Bertholdt's dead or alive. If he is alive... we can only steal the power of one of them. And humanity would benefit much, much more from the power of the Colossal Titan when compared the Armored Titan. Annie is stuck inside a crystal that, as far as we are aware, she may never leave. But how are we supposed to confine Reiner? If we do something wrong, Jean, he either dies or escapes while leaving a body trail behind. I don't think we can bargain for something like that right now."
A loud thumping noise quickly approached their location. Connie, who was acting as a lookout, shouted.
"JEAN, HANGE! TO YOUR RIGHT!"
The Cart Titan lunged towards them. Jean jumped at Hange and grabbed the Section Commander. Mikasa, who was listening closely to everything, dodged backwards and landed on a defensive stance, but having no more blades and barely any gas meant she couldn't do much. The Cart Titan slid across the ground and stared back at them. Reiner was now on its mouth.
The distinct sound of ODM gear could be heard approaching. It was Levi. He attempted to strike the Cart Titan, screaming with anger, but it managed to dodge the exhausted Captain who flew right through the window of a house. The Titan didn't waste much time and ran away as quickly as it appeared. Connie wanted to chase after the fleeing trio, but Hange quickly shut him down.
"Connie!" she yelled, aware that it would be suicide for the scout. Connie looked at her and his eyes acknowledged it would've been a mistake. "Mikasa, check Levi!"
Hange looked at a fallen Jean and checked on him. Connie landed by Mikasa and rushed with her to aid Levi. Before they could even reach the Captain, Levi jumped out from the same spot he crashed, his forehead bleeding, his mouth wide open, his clothes filthy and bloodied and his eyes with a stare that could send shivers down the Devil's spine.
"I won't let the Beast Titan escape" he muttered as he turned towards the fleeing titan. Before anyone could react, Levi was already running and aiming his hooks at the titan's legs. Hange panicked. "Levi! Don't do it! You're tired and wounded!"
Levi didn't stop running. All he could picture was Erwin's face as he told him to give up on his dream and die. He made the Commander a promise that he was going to kill the Beast Titan. He couldn't break that promise. He didn't go far as Mikasa tackled him soon after. A still panicking Hange soon reached both of them.
"Levi, please, don't make the mistake of going after them at your current state" she said to the captain as he struggled to escape Mikasa's grip. He was too weak.
"... shit" was all Levi could mutter. He knew he wasn't going to survive a fight against the Cart Titan in his current state, let alone one on top of the walls. It would be certain death as the Cart was agile and had a lot of stamina, and he couldn't even move as Mikasa held him down.
The thump of someone landing echoed across the almost empty street. It was Armin, sweating and out of breath. "Captain Levi!", Armin shouted with all the energy he had left. "It's Commander Erwin! He is still alive!"