A/N: And I'm back to finish Clash of the Titans before we finally move onto the next Arc, the Civil War arc!
Gaujay7: Here it is!
Brandonmunoz499: Unfortunately not.
Clash of the Titans Part V: Shinzo Wo Sasageyo
'Damn it! Another flash? Does that mean we're really too late?' Mina wondered,
"Commander! There's been another lightning flash!"
"We're really out of time then." Erwin nodded, "Formation! Spread out! Enemy has assumed at least three titan forms! Our goal is to locate, recover, and then retreat!"
Right as he finished, an MP was snatched off his horse and brutally devoured alive.
"Damn! Another MP!" Jean swore,
"Jean!" Mina stood on her horse, "Let's go!" She burst off, taking off into the trees.
"We need to pinpoint the enemy!" Hannes ordered, "They're fleeing through the woods so stay sharp!"
Suddenly, a terrible scream and the sounds of gunshots could be heard.
Ymir's Jaw titan leapt from tree to tree. Weaving through gunfire and hardened arrows that Evangelica sent her way, all the while keeping pace, and slowing down their progress.
'Damn, we're locked in a stalemate this way, and if they escape the forest then we're through.'
She tried to leap on top of Pieck, but Reiner swatted her aside, forcing her to retreat back to the trees.
"Hey wait! Isn't that...Ymir!" Connie accelerated his ODM.
"Ymir!" Mina landed beside her, "Where is everyone?!"
"Small...titan...took...them." Ymir said slowly, "Catch...before...escape...forest."
Mina looked towards a running Cart Titan, and gritted her teeth. She activated her ODM once again, and pursued the Cart.
"Mina!" Armin yelled, Mikasa followed behind her, "You guys wait!" He shouted,
Ymir looked back, and followed after her,
"Well?! What are you waiting for?! We need to get them!" Jean yelled.
Alexander pulled back the trigger of his machine gun, gunning down a Scout mid-flight.
"We're almost there!" One of the panzer unit said shouted, then suddenly, the same man gurgled before going silent.
"What the…?" Alexander whirled around, "Tiguel?" He called, no response. "Tiguel!" He shouted,
"It's no use, Captain…" Another soldier said in horror, "He's dead."
"At this range?! The Island Devils managed to kill him?! Even with a rifle there's no way!"
Before the soldier could respond, the Cart Titan made a sudden turn, barely dodging the blur of a Scout.
Mina rolled over as the Cart Titan dodged her next attack and turned to face her. She snarled,
Suddenly, the Armored Titan slammed it's fist down on where Mina was, but she dodged it, sticking her hook some meters to her right and reeling it in rapidly, sending her out of harms way.
She shot herself at the Cart Titan once again,
"Let." She shot around the bunkers, dodging the bullets,
"Him." She sliced out a piece of the Cart Titan's side.
"Go!" She shot straight at the Cart Titan, preparing for a fatal blow to the nape…
In those few seconds, time seemed to slow down for Alexander.
The enemy, a raven-haired girl, dived with her flight gear at Pieck's nape for a fatal blow.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Armored Titan and War Hammer reach for her as the Jaw prepared to slash down on both of them.
Alexander wasn't even sure of what he was doing. Drawing a side-arm, he just acted. Aiming out of the bunker, he took a shot with his revolver.
For Mina, it was like all the breath had been knocked out of her.
Her momentum was suddenly countered by something small but deadly striking her in the abdomen. In surprise, she lost control of her ODM, and flipped before landing in the dust.
The first thing she did was try to stand, Alto screamed through his bindings, Mina smiled, touching her hand to her abdomen, she saw it was bloody.
"What…did they hit me with?" She asked quietly of herself.
The Cart Titan looked at her for a moment, as if pondering whether to finish her off. She staggered towards it before falling again, "Shit…" She was vaguely aware that she was losing blood, and fast.
Alto screamed as Mina smiled distantly at him.
'No! No! Please, no!' He wanted to scream. He wasn't even aware of his own tears. It was like five years ago, except this time, there would be no communication through paths. She'd be gone,
Forever.
'No.'
'I refuse'
'Ĭ̷͇ ̴̖́w̵̹̒ŏ̶̗n̷̘̓'̶͇̈́t̷͒͜ ̷̺̆l̴͉̂ǒ̷̻ó̶͍s̶̞̈́ẹ̵̍.̴͇̉.̸̎ͅ.̶͙̃ḁ̵̐n̶̺̂y̷̰͊o̵̟͑n̷̔͜ȇ̵̺ ̴̥́ĕ̴̬ľ̸̡s̶̲͘ȅ̸̢!̴͕̂'
Something inside him snapped as he grabbed Eren's hand and loosed a howl of primordial rage.
Ymir Fritz looked up, not hearing any words, but understanding what was happening anyway.
"Already. Things have begun to change, and two lives have been spared," She muttered, "Perhaps…there is a better way."
"Perhaps…this time. I can be free."
A shock coursed through Pieck's body, 'What the…? The one they call Eren…is he the Founding?!'
"Holy shit…" Bertholdt said, as Eren and Alto looked on in wonder at what they had done.
Every Titan within the vicinity came running towards the Warriors.
"Oh fuc-" Evangelica was tackled by a 14 meter, but quickly materialized a sword and stabbed it through the nape.
Now healed and taking their distraction as an opportunity, Alto burned through his bonds and kicked Bertholdt against one of the bunkers. Grabbing Eren, the two of them jumped off the Cart Titan while she was running.
Rolling to the side, the Titans ignored the two as they single-mindedly pursued the fleeing warriors…
"Warchief! Do something!" Evangelica cried
"I can't!" Zeke shouted, "They won't listen to me!" He gritted his teeth, 'There's no doubt about it. My half-brother and that boy managed to utilize the Founding Titan's power together. Perhaps the Eastern-looking boy is the possessor of the Flare Titan Mr. Ksaver told me about…'
Reiner swatted a 13 meter Titan aside, only to be mobbed by a 12 and 15 meter respectively. Evangelica brought out her signature Warhammer, and swung it, knocking both off him simultaneously.
Alto stood up, and ran over to Mina.
"Mina!" He slid down next to her,
"You…idiot." She gasped out.
He hushed her before hardening his left hand, and then he cut his right hand lightly.
"What are you…?" Eren wondered as Alto brought the cut up to Mina's lips,
Mina wasn't entirely sure what was going on, as the blood traveled down Mina's mouth, she instinctively swallowed. To her surprise, it tasted…sweet.
"Shit." A man with a hat dropped down to Alto, "Nothing person-"
"That's enough Kenny."
"I trusted you!"
"You've become a liability."
'Are these…his memories?' Mina wasn't quite sure how she knew that, but she did. She saw everything through his eyes.
She locked eyes with a young Historia. 'What's she doing here…?' Mina wondered. Suddenly, everything faded to black…
"She'll be fine now…" Alto said, a small tear of relief rolling down his cheek.
"Who are you?!" Eren demanded, "And why is Mina healing all of a sudden?"
Alto didn't answer.
"I'll be disappearing. For a while." He told Eren.
"Hold on, you can't just leave!" Eren grabbed him by the collar, "You have answers that could be beneficial to humanity damn it!"
"You want an answer Eren?" Alto looked dead into his eyes, "The real answer is that the enemy was never the Titans. The enemy was human." Eren dropped him, reeling in surprise.
"You heard Ymir. There are people beyond the walls. People who, for whatever reason, want us dead. But even worse, there are equally dangerous enemies inside the walls." Alto looked to the side, his face darkening, "Enemies who will stop at nothing to see me and everyone near me dead."
"Still-!" Eren began,
"No Eren. I'm sorry. But this is something you can't be involved in. At least not yet. This is a whole new kind of battlefield. But it's one I've been navigating for the past five years." Alto kneeled down, wiping a bit of dried blood from Mina's face.
"What about her!" Eren asked, "You're just going to leave her behind?!"
"I don't have a choice!" Alto yelled back, his face softened, "Believe me, I wouldn't. I wouldn't choose to lie to you all, to leave you all behind. But that's what's been forced upon me, and until it's safe for us to proceed to Wall Maria and even beyond…" Alto began, "This is goodbye. For now at least."
Alto bit down on his thumb, and lightning struck down.
"Take care of her." Alto muttered to Eren in his Titan form.
Eren wanted to scream. To yell at him to come back and try to figure it out with them. But some part of him understood Alto as well.
Connie rode up to him, "Hey hey!" Connie yelled, "Where are you going you bastard?! You haven't told us shit!"
"Let him go." Ymir emerged partially from her Jaw Titan, "Believe me, if he was going to talk, he would've done so."
"Ymir!" Jean rode up to her, "Did you know about this? Any of this?!"
"Even if I did horseface." Ymir began, "It's not my story to tell. Nonetheless, the guys shut up like a clam. Sorry, but I got nothing. Hell, I didn't even know he was a Titan until some hours ago."
"Hey brats!" Hannes yelled at them, "We need to move! How long is it going to be before those Titans get tired of biting at the Armored?!"
"He's right." Mikasa grabbed Mina, and placed her on her back. "We need to go. The distraction isn't going to last forever."
Eren hopped on Jean's horse. Ymir sunk back into her Jaw Titan, and they began to head back towards Wall Rose.
(An Excerpt from the c.900 Historical Book "The Second Great Titan War: The Origin" By Caterina Jaeger.)
Following the Invasion of Wall Rose, Battle of Utgard Castle, and 1st Joint Branch Expedition, it became abundantly clear that the Titans - a long-standing scourge upon humanity within the walls - were not only of Human origin, but were weapons of war utilized by a then enigmatic nation simply known as the Empire of Marley.
To prevent public panic, the discovery of the Human Titan shifters within even the famous Levi Squad was suppressed by the Military, and - officially - the Shifters were simply listed as KIA.
However, this would also signify a turning point in the Paradis Operation. With their power threatened, Rod Reiss and his associates would take actions to consolidate their power, and suppress knowledge of Marley and the outside world.
The events that would later transpire would become known as the Eldian Civil War.
Fandom link: the-official-flare-titan .fandom. com