A/N: Thank you everyone for the encouraging words and praise. I'm glad my writing is better than I think it is lol. Thank you all for the reviews, the follows and the favorites, it really motivates me to continue. I will apologize for my erratic uploads, I'm in my last semester and the work is piling on but I will try my best get the chapters out. I'll still take my time though, I want to make sure the chapters are as polished as they can be.

Anyway, onto the chapter!

He cautiously glanced around as the formation passed through the first town they had set up in all those months ago. So far, the expedition was going smoothly. Titan sightings were few and far in between as this route was steadily becoming more and more secure over time. He reached down and gently patted his trusty horse. They would need to push through to the next town over before they could take a moment to let their horses rest.

Despite the smooth operation though, there was still a feeling in his gut that rubbed him the wrong way. There was a pit of worry for Ilse as she was on the opposite end of the formation. He was glad for her promotion, she deserved it but he didn't like how she was separated from him. And then there was his own squad that he was in charge of now.

"Keep your head on a swivel!" He ordered as he saw some of his men had taken the time to chatter.

They jolted from their conversation before they gave him a quick nod. "Sir!"

He refrained from shaking his head, not wanting to overly show his disapproval of the lack of discipline in some of the newer soldiers. They were in titan territory after all, it paid to be diligent out here.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a red flare go up. 'That's where Ilse should be.' He let out a heavy breath. "Heads up everyone!"

A lone green flare shot up, indicating shift of the formation. He glanced over at Mike. Receiving a nod he began to move over in unison with everyone else. There was a part of him that wished they were the ones coming across the titans instead, then no one else would be in danger.

After all if it was him or someone like Ilse then surely it would be better for him to be the one to die.

But he didn't get his wish fulfilled. Instead he had to watch in steady silence as he saw the frequency of the red flares from the right flank steadily increase. He gripped the reins of his horse in a white knuckled grip as frustration began to build. He had his place here in the left wing with his squad, he sternly reminded himself.

Following orders had become second nature to him, so it frustrated him to no end when he felt like this. It felt like he was back to his younger self again, unable to control his emotions and it pissed him off more than he would like to admit because this frustration never seemed to go away during an expedition. It just grew and grew, always testing the limit of his patience.

He looked back at the scouts, forcing himself to remind himself of his responsibilities for the lives of these men. He looked up at the sky, another red flare flying up.

Yet he found his worry for Ilse overshadowing them all, even those in Mike's squad.

She was….a friend. The very first he had made here.

The memories of his first expedition surfaced its ugly head within his mind as he was painfully reminded of how nearly all of the right wing had been killed. Lives he could've saved.

He forcibly removed those memories as he focused on the task at hand. 'She's not weak, she can take care of herself. I have my men I need to worry about.' The reminder didn't help any though.

As the hours passed, as they rode through town after town, his mind kept wandering back to his friend.

His reprieve finally came when they reached their rendezvous point, their mission objective for the 34th expedition. This tiny little town of just a couple dozen houses was the farthest any human has reached since the fall of Wall Maria and it would also be the first time an expedition lasted more than one day.

It was a struggle to keep himself in check as he saw the wounded, some faces he recognized from the right flank. Thankfully he didn't see Ilse among them or the dead. He grabbed a scout who was hunched over one of their dead, silently sobbing. His heart went out to the young man but he had to know if she was okay. "I'm looking for Ilse Lagnar. Where is she?"

The scout wiped his tears away and looked fearfully at him.

His heart sank.

"She-she didn't make it. Her squad got wiped." He looked down and pounded his fist against the ground. "I'm sorry Chief Alphonse, there were just too many of them."

He clenched his eyes shut and took a deep breath. "It's alright." He opened his eyes and gently patted the scouts shoulder. "There was nothing you could've done."

Without another word he turned on his heels and walked away, hoping to hide the furious expression from anyone looking. He didn't say a word to anyone else and returned to the house his squad and Mike's squad was staying in. When he walked in, everyone was lounging around a large dinner table.

"Alphonse." Nanaba called out.

He gave her and the group a forced smile. "Yeah?"

"Did you find Ilse? Is she okay?"

He shook his head sadly. "No, it seems like her squad got wiped out earlier." He replied as stoically as he could, keeping his boiling anger in check.

Those in the group gave each other a look before they turned to him. Mike was the first to speak up. "Are you going to be ok Chief?"

He nodded. "Yeah…..yeah I'll be fine. It's not my first time I've lost a comrade and I'm sure everyone here has lost someone they knew." He sighed and jerked a thumb to the ceiling. "If you don't mind, I would like to take first watch tonight."

"Sure go ahead Chief, take all the time you need."

"Thank you Mike, I appreciate that." He graciously replied.

The soldier gave him a sympathetic smile. "Of course, you're one of us now."

With a nod he walked up the stairs and took his place on the balcony. He turned around and hooked onto the ledge of the roof and pulled himself up. His feet gave out from underneath him as he sat down on the cold tiles. 'I could've saved her today. I could've saved a lot of people today but all I did was sit still and follow orders like a good soldier again.' He bitterly thought to himself.

It seemed like, even across worlds, he was still the good little soldier they bred him to be. All of his fancy words and convictions meant nothing if he chose to sit on his ass when it mattered most. "I thought I was going to be free here but I guess I'm not." He let out a dark chuckle. "Even here, I'm chained down. For all my talk, when the time comes to act, I just never do, do I?"

He laid down on his back and stared up at the clear night sky. The clear air and lack of any pollution here ensured he could see everything in the sky at night. It amazed him time and again just how clean this world was. However, he knew it wouldn't last long.

How much longer would it be before his military made a move on this world? The more he thought about it, the more it made him uncomfortable. These people were just trying their best to survive. No he probably shouldn't be calling them "these people" anymore.

There was a rather high possibility these people were Eldians after all or maybe they were Marleyans but for whatever reason they didn't seem to know it. In fact, for all of his time here only Annie seemed uncomfortable whenever he mentioned the two countries. He needed to add Ymir to that list as well.

It was strange though, no one else seemed to know.

Eden Prime was a mystery through and through but one thing was certain. This was not just another world. No, it would probably be better to say this was an alternative world to his own. The revelation he received from the responses of Annie and Ymir a week ago made him rethink his position here. If these people were Eldian then they were technically, his countrymen. If his superiors knew, what would their response be?

'Knowing them, that'll just speed up whatever plans they have already. They would have the perfect excuse to do so.' He frowned as he imagined his military storming through the portal and taking over.

A good soldier would report his findings immediately and continue the mission.

Too bad he was tired of being a good soldier and there was a growing urge within him to take advantage of his freedom here. He was under no supervision from his superiors back home and he had the trust of the majority of the people here already. And after losing Ilse, the small portion in him that clung to being an all obeying soldier was slowly dying as well.

So he made a conscious decision to not tell any of his superiors. At least not until he figured out this mystery of this world and the people here.

He glanced around, catching movement from the corner of his eyes. The other squads were changing guards now but he chose to stay and continue. He wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. Through the rest of the night, he stayed on the roof while occasionally replacing any burnt out torches.

When morning came, he silently watched at the sun crest over the horizon. Underneath him, he heard dull thuds echo through the thin roof as his and Mike's squads were seemingly waking up. Standing up, he stretched his limbs out as he mentally prepared himself to get back within the walls. He turned around as he heard the telltale sounds of an ODM gear.

Mike climbed up onto the roof, not at all surprised at seeing him still up. He sighed at seeing him. "I figured you pulled an all-nighter. You better not fall out on us now, it's going to be a long ride back."

He nodded back at the veteran. "You don't have to worry about me Mike, I'm good to go."

"Well….come have some breakfast with us then. Let the other squads take care of security." Mike gruffly stated, leaving no room for argument.

There was a low grumble from his stomach, food sounded good right about now. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." He followed the veteran squad leader as he jumped down from the roof and onto the balcony. When he got to the first floor, he found Mike's squad already chowing down on their military rations. They were quietly talking amongst themselves, unaware of his presence. For a quick moment he took in the peaceful atmosphere.

Gelgar finally noticed him and waved him over. "Come on Al, eat with us." The older man tossed him one of his rations.

He deftly caught the bar of food as he walked over to the scouts. "Where're my guys?" He asked as he leaned on the back of Nanaba's chair, being careful not to drop any crumbs in her hair as he opened the dry bar of food.

"They're out securing our perimeter with some others." Gelgar mumbed through his full mouth.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "That's quite diligent of them."

Nanaba chuckled lightly from under him. "Well Mike told them to do so."

"Figures." He scoffed. As he stood among the veterans of Mike's squad, he found their presence comforting. The veterans here knew better than most what he was feeling right now and because of it, they respected his space. They didn't pry too much. They trusted one another to perform at their best when the time came, no matter how they were feeling and they placed the same kind of trust in him.

It was almost like he was back with Easy Company.

"You know…." He started off, not really thinking. "Ah, nevermind." He retracted after a thoughtful moment.

"Go ahead Alphonse, we're listening." Lynne urged gently. "You can say whatever is on your mind, we don't mind."

He stared at the young black haired girl. She along with everyone else were giving him a soft and understanding look. Something he rarely received back home. It felt nice. He idly brushed off some crumbs on his hand. "Well, it's nothing serious. It's just that it's been a long time since I was last treated like this, an equal."

"You were mistreated back home?" Nanaba asked with a concerned expression as she looked up at him.

"No." He shook his head. "But I was just treated like a subordinate, just another pawn in the great military industrial complex." When he saw their questioning look he waved them off. "Don't worry about it, it's just a problem within my country. The military has gotten too big is all." He sighed. "The last time I was treated like an actual human being was during the war….the captain of my company made sure I knew I was one of them."

"Sounds like a great captain." Mike remarked.

"He was."

"Was?" Gelgar mumbled with another mouthful.

Nanaba reached over and pinched the man, silently reprimanding the man.

He laughed at her antics. "It's fine Nanaba, I don't mind talking about it. After all….it's just an old war wound now." He munched the last bit of his bar and tossed the wrapper to the side. His face scrunched up as he actually had to put some effort into swallowing the dry cracker. "He died during the final hours of the war. Him and his company, Easy Company, the company I was once a part of, were helping me extract a VIP from behind enemy lines. And as all military operations go, things went sideways and we lost him and most of Easy Company."

"It must've been a very important person." Mike added.

"Yeah she sure was…." He trailed off as his eyes widened as he came to a frightening realization at the offhand comment. If this was a parallel world or some sort of alternative world to his own then could the same people he knew back home exist here?

Like her? That damned woman?! Was that recruit….no there was no way. The chances of it being her was near impossible. While the flow of time between his and this world were one to one, the timeline itself was most likely completely different.

Judging by the technology here, they were centuries behind his time. But what if…

He shook his head to stop the derailing thoughts. "Thanks for letting me eat with you guys but I need to head out. The squad leader meeting is about to start."

"Yeah, same here." Mike agreed as he tossed his own wrapper. "Let's hurry to Commander Erwin, we don't want to miss this briefing. Get ready to move out once we're back."

He and Mike quickly walked out of the house and made their way to the designated spot. The meeting was only a block away from where they were so it only took them a few minutes to get there.

Erwin was already there waiting for everyone.

When he took a look around, there were a handful of new faces, most likely freshly promoted scouts who took over for their dead predecessors. There was a pang of sadness as Ilse was nowhere to be found.

"Today is a momentous day, for the first time we have survived a full night in titan territory. We are less than a day's ride from returning back to the walls, to our home where we will spread news of this occasion. We, the Survey Corps and by extension humanity, are finally winning this fight against the titans. It took a long time to get here and it'll be even longer before we find our freedom, our answers of this damned world but I ask you all to give your hearts once more as we ride out!"

He felt goosebumps as he heard the man talk. It was easy to see why he was considered to be the best.

"Despite our losses from yesterday, the plan remains the same. We push forward men, any questions? Concerns?" When no one spoke up he dismissed them. "Good, that is all for right now. Return to your squads, we move out in 10 minutes."

He snapped to a salute in unison with the others. "Yes sir!" He led Mike back to the house where he found his squad and Mike's already readying their horses. To his pleasant surprise, he didn't have to babysit the relatively new scouts. While they weren't fresh recruits, when compared to him and Squad Mike, they were still inexperienced. So he found it odd that the talkative bunch were uncharacteristically quiet as they waited by their horses.

'Mike must've said something to them earlier.' He deduced, seeing as he also put them up to running security not too long ago.

After a few minutes they saw a singular green flare fire off into the distance. He let Squad Mike lead before he followed behind in the narrow streets. As soon as they got out of the tight town, they fanned out into their long range scouting formation with practiced ease.

There was a sense of monotonous boredom that quickly enveloped the group as the hours ticked by with nothing happening. It was a good thing that they weren't coming across any titans, it meant less deviations, which meant the expedition would be over faster. He just wanted to put Ilse out of his mind and get back to his cadets, something to focus on other than his failure to protect his friend.

It was about midday when he saw a small town in the distance. His sharp eyes could make out some of the more destroyed buildings. As he got closer, he could make out dark spots that dotted the buildings and landscape.

He quickly realized where they were. This was the aftermath of yesterday's fight. "Was this where you died Ilse? In the middle of nowhere surrounded by titans?" He bitterly asked himself, knowing damn well he didn't do a thing to stop it.

"Mike!" He called out, getting the older man's attention. "I'm going to check for any bodies in the town real quick, Go on ahead I'll catch up." He stared at the man for a moment, not giving in as the soldier gave him a disapproving yet understanding stare.

Ultimately, Mike was the one to give in. "Fine! At least take someone with you Chief! Nanaba, go with him! I'll take care of the rookies!"

He wasn't pleased at the order but he relented, there was no use wasting time by fighting it. "Smith! You're in command of the squad now but stick close with Mike!" He barked as he pulled his horse away from the formation.

"Yes sir!"

With a snap of his reins he veered off to the little town with the older female soldier in tow. He didn't have to see her face to know that she wasn't happy with the situation. At the entrance of the town he slowed to a halt. His stomach churned at the sight of the signs of battle. Limbs were strawn out, blood splatters covered the houses and streets and everything else in between.

He carefully scanned the area, trying to see or hear if there was a lurking titan.

"Alphonse, I see footprints! Come look at this!"

Without another thought he rushed over to Nanaba who was hunched over a trail of footprints that ran out of a small stream. He crouched down next to her and examined the prints on the grass. His eyes narrowed as he took a quick look around. Just a few meters away, there was a dead horse, its neck bent at an odd angle and body mangled. Near the stream was a discarded ODM gear. He looked over and then walked to where the footprints originated from and poked the muddy prints. Even the ones some feet away from the water were still damp.

"It's a fresh trail, less than a day old." He finally deduced.

"How can you tell?"

He pointed to the footprints at the embankment of the stream. "See here? The dirt is still wet in the footprints." He then pointed at the dead horse. "My best guess as to what happened here is that the scout was launched off of their horse and landed in the stream. See how those rocks are upturned? And the soil is pushed back like someone landed hard in it. They lost their horse and got sent flying into the stream where they chose to abandon their broken gear and run away on foot."

"You can tell all of that?" Nanaba asked with an impressed tone.

"It's just a guess." He shrugged. "I've had my fair share of hunts after all."

"I see." She trailed off before a sigh escaped her. "So what now Alphonse? Do you want to follow the trail?"

He nodded. "I will but you won't." He quickly raised a hand to stop her. "I need you to report back what we've found here to Mike. Let him know to continue as planned and I will catch up, either alone or with a body." When she wouldn't budge he gave her a tired sigh. "Please, just do this for me?"

After a moment of silence she finally relented. "Fine but next time you pull something like this you're going to have to order me to do it, I don't feel right leaving you behind."

"You're not leaving me behind, I'll be back before you all know it." He grunted as he stood up from his knee. With a loud whistle, he called his horse over. When the steed got closer he jumped on the back of the animal and gave the young woman one last look. "Stay safe Nanaba."

"You too Alphonse."

He lightly kicked the horse into gear alongside the trail of footprints. He slowly sped up as he got farther and farther away from the town, determined to find the culprit. Whoever it was had some legs on them. Within less than a day this person had managed to cover several dozen kilometers and then some. After a few hours of weaving through forests and large open grasslands he rode into another section of woods that harbored the gigantic trees these lands were known for.

As he got farther in the trees enclosed him and his horse. It got claustrophobic enough for his horse that he had to tie his animal to a nearby tree. There was a pit in his stomach as he instinctively felt himself getting closer to his target.

The sounds of nature he was so accustomed to were silent. There were no birds chirping, no frogs croaking and no sounds of various insects. They were all uncharactierically silent, something had to be ahead.

As he got closer, he quickly recognized a loud voice. A wave of relief washed over him.

"Why are you eating us?! You don't even need food to survive so why eat us?! I wish all of you would drop dead!"

Before his frustrations and rage overtook it. "Ilse!" He cried out as he got closer.

"A-Al?!" She exclaimed with shock and relief in her voice as she peaked around the large body of the titan.

The hunched over titan turned to face him with an agitated roar, something he matched as he charged at the beast. "RAAAAAHH!" Before the titan could make any sudden moves he lowered his shoulder and trucked the larger body, staggering it. He pulled his right hand back and threw everything he had. The punch landed square in the stomach and launched the monster straight into a tree several meters back hard enough to splatter the tree in blood. It slumped down against the tree as it began healing itself.

He broke out into a run before leaping onto the titan and landing on its chest. He began hammering away at its neck with his bare hands, intent on pummeling the titan into submission. The flesh quickly gave way to his hands as he ground the flesh into mush, not caring for the hot blood that quickly covered his entire body.

The sounds of the wails of the titan, the fearful calls of Ilse, his own beating heart, all disappeared in an outpour of rage.

He didn't stop, even as the flesh of his own hands were down to their bare bones. He didn't so much as flinch when the titan managed to trap his left arm within its jaw, he just punched the lower jaw from its face, leaving it only with the top of his jaw. He only stopped when he found the squishy flesh giving way to the hard bark of the tree. Slowly, he stepped back, silently admiring his work with heavy breaths. He spat out some steaming blood that got in his mouth with a grimace. When he turned to look at Ilse, she was looking at him with a fearful expression.

"Al?" She fearfully called out "A-Are you ok?"

"Yeah….I am." He sighed as he looked down at his blood soaked uniform. His poncho, jacket and even his undershirt were ruined. "Sorry you had to see that." He glanced at the decaying body of the titan. 'I shouldn't have lost control of myself like that.' He quietly admonished himself for his actions.

She shook her head. "No, it's fine Al. I was just surprised is all, although I shouldn't be surprised you just killed a titan with your bare hands. Come here." She walked up to him with a handkerchief and wiped the excess blood on his face. "You know, you probably should've just done it like the rest of us mortals and used your swords. Your uniform is ruined now." She lightly scolded him as she tucked the bloody piece of cloth away, his face now just marginally cleaner.

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah….sorry about that."

"Like I said, it's fine." She sighed and looked around. "How are we getting back? Do you have a horse?"

"Yeah I left my horse nearby." He looked her up and down, seeing the distinct lack of ODM gear. "I'm assuming that you dumped your gear back at that town?"

"Yeah I took a bad fall off of my horse."

He nodded and began taking off his gear. "Are you okay? Any injuries?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

"Good, take my gear then, you need it more than I do."

She looked uncomfortable at the idea and gently placed a hand on his hand. "Al, while I'm glad you'd go so far for me, you're more valuable than I am." She squeezed his hand. "I can't do that to you."

He noticed how sweaty her hands were and how it was shaking. Shaking his head he pried her hands off and continued taking his ODM gear off. "You're not doing anything to me, take the damn gear. We don't have time to sit around here any longer."

"B-But-"

Her protest fell short when he forcibly began putting on the gear for her. "No buts, we're both making out of this alive." He stated firmly, allowing no room for any arguments.

She gingerly held the handles and shook her head. "Fine then, lead the way."

He nodded in satisfaction at her acceptance and marched ahead. "Horse isn't too far from here. If we hurry then we might be able to make it to that town before night hits."

"Understood."

He kept himself on high alert as they walked through the dense woods. His internal map guided him right back to the horse with relative ease. He gently patted the steed. "Come on buddy, just a little bit more and then you can rest." He pulled himself up to the saddle before he offered a hand to Ilse.

With a gracious nod she grabbed it and pulled herself up.

While he was glad he was able to save Ilse from that titan, there was another worry that lingered on the back of mind while they trudged through the forest. It was well into the afternoon now, could they make it back to town before night fell? Without a proper map and timepiece it was hard for him to tell. He was no stranger to operating at night but he wasn't sure if his horse or Ilse could take it for much longer.

She was great at hiding it but she was exhausted from all of her running. Even now, it impressed him how she was able to run so far in such little time. Her stamina would impress those back in the Project, especially as a normal person without any augmentations.

Much like he did…..

His horse was also starting to run on fumes from running all day without rest.

Then there was the situation where if they had no moonlight tonight then any sort of navigation would be damn near impossible, even for him. He just had to hope that they could make it in time to find a place to hunker down for the night because they were nearly half a day behind the main group.

'Erwin and the others should be almost home by now. Given how long it took me to find Ilse it'll probably be around noon tomorrow if we manage to avoid any titans along the way.' He quickly took stock of their situation in his mind. 'Ilse still has all of her blades and most of her gas that I gave her but I have no real way of fighting back. Realistically if we come across any titans, it'll be up to Ilse to kill it or I need to distract it long enough for her to get away.'

Their progress was slower than he would've liked as the skies grew steadily darker. He was thankful that they hadn't come across any titans yet but it was only a matter of time out here.

"It's getting dark now, how much farther do you think we need to go?" Ilse asked as she tightened her grip around his waist.

It was a valid question as they had been retracing their steps for a while now. He glanced at the setting sun that was just hanging just above the horizon. They might have another hour or so of light. "I think less than an hour." He replied with as much confidence he could muster in his voice.

"Let's hope so, I would rather avoid wandering around in the dark." She muttered as her face settled on the back of his shoulder.

He quietly sighed and gently stroked his horse's mane. "Come on buddy, just a little longer. I promise you'll get some rest soon." It was a small miracle that the horse hadn't collapsed from exhaustion.

They must've rode for a few more minutes before he recognized where they were. The town was just ahead. "We're close Ilse." The lack of lighting made it harder for him to recognize where they were.

"Yeah I think I recognize where we are." She responded tiredly as she lifted her head from his shoulder. She pointed just ahead of them. "I think I ditched my horse and gear right up ahead."

He just nodded as they trotted along and sure enough Ilse's dead horse and gear came into view along with the small town. His eyes narrowed however when he found a singular titan leaning against a house. At this distance he could just barely make out the fact that the titan was acting sluggish as it swayed back and forth in its spot. "Ilse, titan ahead. Looks like it's about to fall asleep." He felt her stiffen as she stared over his shoulder.

"Should we wait until it's asleep?"

"No, I think it would be better if we made our move while we still have some light." He looked up at the clear sky. Only half of the moon was showing, their light at night would be minimal at best. "We won't have a full moon tonight." He said as he slowed the horse down. "Ilse, stay with the horse. I'm going to make sure that's the only titan waiting for us." He halted a couple hundred meters away from the town and leaped off the horse, entrusting it to his female companion. With his speed he covered the distance to the town and quickly ran around it's perimeter with near silent feet. In the dimming light he could still make out the dark blotches of dried blood and body parts that were around from the previous battle.

Less than ideal place to sleep but it would have to do. He came around onto the other side of town and looped around, ensuring no surprises were in store for them. When he got back to Ilse, she was standing next to the horse with her swords drawn. "That's the only one I saw, I think we're in the clear but there are some spots I might've missed, stay on your toes when you go in." He took the reins of his horse back and nodded at her. "Ready?"

She let out a shuddering breath. "Ready." She confirmed as she walked towards town.

He followed on foot with his horse in tow right behind her. For the briefest moment his eyes darted down to her form fitted behind and had to physically shake himself off from staring. 'What the hell is wrong with me?' He had to mentally reset his brain for the task at hand.

When they finally got close enough without alerting the titan, Ilse finally made her move. She attached onto the house the titan was leaning on and quickly zipped towards its nape. It was only then did it start to look around as it heard the distinctive sound of the ODM gear but it was already too late. Ilse was far too good to let herself get startled and finished it off with ease.

Seeing as she began looking around on the roof of the house, he quickly ran towards the stable to tie his trusty steed down. As soon as he tied the horse down he made one more run through the town, double checking to ensure they were really safe. "Clear on my end Ilse!" He called out as he rounded back towards his horse.

"Same here!" She replied as she descended down from the roof.

He nodded. "Good, can you set up shop in one of these houses?" He tugged at his blood covered uniform. "I'm going to wash my uniform while I still have some light."

"Sure. I'll be over in that house. Come see me when you're done."

"Alright." He nodded before he quickly walked towards the stream, eager to wash the rough fabric caked in dried blood. When he got to the clear stream he hastily stripped out of his poncho, jacket and undershirt and rigorously scrubbed them in the cold water. The clear water quickly got stained in red as the blood came off the cloth.

Unfortunately for him though, he wasn't able to get all the blood out. There were still numerous blotches on his uniform but most of it was out and most importantly it wouldn't be chafing his skin as much. He squeezed as much water from the wet clothes and began walking back. He threw the wet uniform over a tree branch, leaving him only in his trousers.

"I'm back Ilse." He called out as he entered the rundown house. Looking around, the place was in disarray with the old furniture turned over and broken down and the place smelled of mildew and a weird musky scent. Overall, not ideal but at least they had a roof over their heads for the night.

"Upstairs Al!"

He quickly made his way up the stars, not paying the creaks any mind. He wandered for a bit, seeing a few of the rooms before he found Ilse in the master bedroom. A good portion of the room was caved in, allowing some fresh air in. His partner was sitting by the bed with her poncho rolled up into a makeshift pillow. "Hey."

"Hey, did you…" She trailed off as she saw his body. "Did you…."

He withheld a sigh as he took a seat on a piece of rubble. "Yeah, I've got my uniform drying right now. In the meantime, I hope you don't mind this." He pointed at one of the scars that littered his body.

"Well I certainly don't mind but…." She scrutinized his body for a moment, where his burn was. "That burn mark? Is it from what happened in your hometown?"

"Yeah, sorry you have to see this." He softly apologized.

She got a guilty look on her face. "No…no you shouldn't be the one apologizing. That should be me."

He cocked his head to the side. "How so?"

"Well…I guess it never clicked in my head what your scars mean to you. I'm sure every one of them has some story about them and all this time I've been insensitive about how you must've felt talking about your past." She let out a small sigh, barely above her breath. "I forgot just how young you are to have to carry all of that."

"Think nothing of it. If I didn't want to tell you something or felt uncomfortable then you would've known. Now, Hange? She is something else entirely." He softly chuckled, remembering the all too curious woman and all of her eccentricities.

She laughed lightly along with his lame attempt at lightening the mood. "Very true." Her smile faded a moment afterwards, replaced by an expression of reflection. "Al why did you come save me? Not that I'm ungrateful but you could've returned with the others by now. How did you know I was alive?"

"Truthfully I didn't know you were alive. " He admitted as he looked outside. Night had fallen now, with only half a moon to light the darkness. "When I saw the trail back there by the stream, I thought maybe if I was lucky then I could be fast enough to save someone, even if it meant potentially disobeying and deserting my men. Am I selfish for thinking like that?"

She gave him a sad smile. "You are. In the grand scheme of things, I am much more expendable when compared to someone like Captain Levi or Commander Erwin…or even you. It would be the most pragmatic choice to leave me behind and return with the others….but you've been doing that for the past decade haven't you?"

He nodded. "Yeah….it's always been like that. Personal opinions don't matter, just do your job and complete the mission."

"But you're not held back anymore. This isn't your military, this is the Survey Corps and I think that now that you have the freedom to act on your own, you're starting to come into your own self."

"...I still have my mission here." He weakly protested.

She scoffed. "You and I both know you don't care about that. You said it yourself didn't you? You're here to save people, you're here to fulfill your duty. So why don't you? Why not do what you want for once Al?"

"Because it's never about the individual. It wasn't like that back home and it's certainly not here either."

"And did that stop you today? You were selfish in wanting to save someone at the expense of everyone else but you said it yourself, that you wanted to save people so it only makes sense." She shuffled forward and laid a hand on his knee. She squeezed his knee tightly, forcing him to stare into her eyes. "From what I know of you, you've been selfless your whole entire life so why not be a little selfish here and there?"

He felt a chill run down his spine. "I guess so…..thank you Ilse, I needed to hear that." He breathed out a deep sigh before he cracked Ilse a small smile. "You know when we get back, I'll have to tell Commander Erwin that you're out here encouraging my reckless behavior."

She reached up and slapped his arm. "Oh shut up." She tried to say something but got interrupted by a yawn.

"Go ahead and sleep Ilse, I'll take the first watch." He offered as he saw how tired she seemed to look.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I am, get some rest."

She relented as another yawn escaped her mouth. "Okay, I'll go to sleep then. Wake me up whenever you want to switch." She crawled over to her makeshift pillow, giving him an eyeful of her behind.

He quickly looked away. 'God damn it woman.' He internally cursed her for the little show. A part of him wondered if she did it on purpose but quickly trashed such thoughts. But it was all for nothing as he glanced over at the woman. She was on her side, back facing him, and his eyes traced the outline of her form fitting uniform. He took a deep breath and turned to face outside.

'This is going to be a long night.'

"Hey Al." She mumbled, already half asleep.

"Hmm?"

"It's about the titan you killed earlier. There was something off about it." She quietly confessed.

"An abnormal?"

She shook her head. "No…well yes but different than anything else. It spoke to me, saying nonsense about being Subject of Ymir and Lady Ymir."

His head snapped to her body. "Ymir?"

"Yeah…I don't know what to make of it, it's the first time something like that has happened." She sighed. "We know next to nothing about the titans and where they come from or why they do the things they do but this just opens up something else entirely. What if they're sentient? What if they're actually somehow humans? Or maybe there is something else going on here?"

He bit his lips, thankful she couldn't see his face. "Well, Hange will have a field day with this but for now, sleep. Get some rest Ilse, you need it."

"Yeah…" She yawned again. "Yeah you're right Al."

He looked at this bracelet, the metal glinting in the moonlight. 'Well fuck me, this is a parrallel universe then.' Shaking his head he shuffled over the hole in the wall and sat on the edge of the house. His legs idly kicked the air as he mulled over the new revelation.

'So, these people are Eldians. I think that's confirmed now. Interesting but I already suspected something like that. How does Ymir and Annie fit into this though? Everyone doesn't bat an eye at the fact that I'm Eldian but I mention that and those two give me weird looks, even more so when I mentioned Marley that one time. Clearly, these people don't know they are Eldians for whatever reason but Annie and Ymir do…why? And are they the only ones? Who else knows?'

"And where do the titans fit into this? Why do they exist here but not in my universe? Is it just the difference between us?" He softly whispered, making sure she couldn't hear him. "And for whatever reason, Ilse triggered something in that titan."

Again, he spared a quick glance at his bracelet. 'I can't let them know, at least for now. I need to know what's going on here.' He wasn't going to tell Erwin this either, at least until he knew where he was in this world and where everything else was.

And he also needed to find out if anyone else within his trainees knew. If two people somehow knew something then what was to say it was only those two? Chances were, more people knew. And if more of the cadets knew then were they also in cohorts with Annie and Ymir? Did that make them some sort of military group?

His mind rapidly went through the top cadets thus far.

Mikasa Ackermann

Reiner Braun

Bertholdt Hoover

Annie Leonhart

Eren Jaeger

Jean Kirschtein

Marco Bodt

Conny Springer

Sasha Braus

Christa Lenz

Ymir.

Armin Arlelt

They were either the most physically gifted, showed incredible mental aptitude or overall talent in one or more areas of training. Considering two of the twelve showed some response meant there was a high chance if someone else knew then they would too. Either way, if he wanted to figure out this mystery then he had a lot of work to do. "What was that saying again?" He mumbled out loud as he racked his brain. It took a while before it came back to him, a saying from one of the eggheads in the Project. An excited yet anxious smirk twitched on his face.

"Heh Multiverse Theory is a bitch."