"We wait. It can't burn its body as fuel forever. Squad 3 and 4, wait behind the titan. I'll leave Raid and Raude in charge. Squad 1 and Lyla. Come with me. We're taking care of the Armor Titan."
"Yes, sir!"
Hange pulled Lyla aside.
"Now Lyla, I don't want to give you pressure but you're Levi's Second in Command, which means, with Levi not here now, you're the Captain. Take care of Eren as your top priority."
"Yes, sir!" Lyla saluted and then took off beside Hange. She saw Eren fly across the ground from Reiner's attack. She could also see Mikasa trying to cut through Reiner's nape but her blades won't cut through his hard armor. Lyla just hung from the wall as she watched helplessly. But soon Eren stood up with another ferocious roar, only to be punched towards the wall again.
"Man I should've taught Eren how to fight, not Armin," Lyla said to herself. "Well, at least Eren's closer to the wall now." Which meant that the soldiers could help him.
"Eren! Don't fight back!" Armin shouted but Eren didn't seem to hear.
"Did he lose his mind?" Hange murmured. But just before the titan's fist made contact Eren tilted his head and avoided it. And instead of punching Reiner, Eren wrapped his arms around his neck and his leg took hold of Reiner's. With a swift movement, he flipped the Armor Titan over and pinned him to the ground.
"That trick…" Lyla said in disbelief
"Yeah, it's Annie's."
After that it was rolling on the ground, the two titans trying to get the upper hand.
'Well, one wrong thing you did was that you taught me how to fight!' Eren roared as he ripped off Reiner's arm.
"We need to get him closer to the wall. Reiner would want to abduct Eren. Stopping that is the first step," Lyla said and with that, she saw Armin take off.
"Wait Armin!" Lyla shouted but he was gone. Lyla watched as he stood side by side with Eren and Mikasa. She went after them. When she got there, she heard Armin shout,
"Eren! Don't fight back! Retreat to the wall!"
Lyla called out to them, "We need to go to the walls! All of you!"
Lyla took off and Armin and Mikasa started to follow.
After some time staring at each other, Eren turned around and ran towards the wall. He almost smashed into it.
"Eren…!" Lyla said in relief.
"Good thinking you guys!" Hange flew down next to Eren. "To get you out of here, we need some time. Can you knock Reiner out by wrecking his joints? We'll do our best to come up with a plan."
Eren gave a short 'yes' which overwhelmed Hange. Reiner came charging towards Eren with surprising speed.
"How can he move so fast suddenly?" Lyla said with shock but then started thinking. "If he was really made of armor he wouldn't be able to move like that. So there must be some weak spots like…. Behind his knees!"
At that moment Eren wrapped around Reiner in a death grip. Lyla dived down with Mikasa tailing closely behind her.
"It's behind the knees Mikasa!"
Mikasa nodded at Lyla's words and sliced through one knee while Lyla did the other. Now his legs won't be able to function.
"Finish him off Eren!"
"You can do it Eren! Kill humanity's enemy!"
Everybody started shouting. Reiner started shoving Eren along the ground.
"It's no use!" a soldier shouted. Reiner stopped at one point and roared.
"Huh…?" Lyla looked around. He must've called a titan but not one was to be seen. "Wait, that spot is…!" She looked up and in no doubt, the Colossal Titan came crashing down.
"Everybody! Watch out!"
Lyla was wiped out by the impact. She barely saw Reiner tearing off Eren's nape. And after that, she blacked out.
Lyla woke up with a cough. Her whole body felt sore and she had burn marks all over her. Luckily, and surprisingly her fracture didn't seem to have received more damage as her ribs didn't ache that much. Armin was by her side in a second.
"Lyla! Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Lyla stood up and moved her body a bit. She felt beat up but other than that she felt fine.
"Really, are you made of stone or something? You're even stronger than Mikasa sometimes."
Lyla gave a small laugh then said darkly, "Guess we can't follow them until the horses are moved by the lift." She looked out toward the general way Reiner went. "Did they send for the Commander?"
"Yeah, one after the titans appeared and one after Eren was taken."
At that point, Mikasa woke up. She looked around and said, "Did somebody go after Eren!?"
Armin shook his head.
"WHY?" Mikasa demanded and Lyla put a hand on her shoulder, "Because we didn't finish moving the horses. We'll go after as soon as the jobs done."
"Eren…" Mikasa looked out towards the way the titans ran away. Hannes came by their side.
"I want my old life back but if one of you are not there. It won't be the same."
"Mr. Hannes!?" all three of them exclaimed in surprise.
"You guys always cleaned Eren's mess. He never gives up. Do you think Eren would easily compromise with the titans? No, he'll be fighting back, giving them a hell of a time."
...
...
Levi was waiting in a wagon with the MP's while Erwin had a small chat with Commander Pixis. The MP's were lingering around.
"They said it was an emergency."
"Hey, Levi! Where're the titans?"
Levi looked back from the wagon seat he was sitting in.
"You guys look really excited huh. Sorry I couldn't show you a titan but there's always a chance to join the expedition. We should help each other fight the titans at a time like this," He said with a bored face. The MPs said with an uneasy smile.
"Yeah right! We should help each other. We have our jobs to do inside the inner wall." An awkward laugh followed through the MPs.
After a short moment, two soldiers came running.
"Hurry! Tell this to Commander Smith and Pixis!"
All the soldiers huddled around them.
"There's no hole in the wall!"
A wave of murmurs went through the crowd. After taking several gulps of water the soldier said again, "And more importantly we met with the Survey Corps under Squad Leader Hange's command. It turned out that three of the 104ths are titans. Squad Leader Hange is severely injured and-"
Another shock of wave situated.
"Who are they?" Jean demanded to Sasha who was one of the soldiers to scout. She just squeaked nervously.
Levi bolted up from the wagon and walked to the soldier, "What about Lyla!?" He demanded. The soldier looked dumbfounded.
"My Second in Command you idiot! Where is she?" Levi almost looked like he could strangle the man in front of him. The soldier said with a quivering voice.
"I don't know sir, but it looked like most of them were unconscious at the moment."
Levi started for his horse when Erwin stopped him.
"Levi."
"What?" the Captain turned around with a dangerous glare.
"Calm down. She's your Second in Command, right? She has skill, I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Yes, she's my Second in Command who's recovering from a bone fracture!" Levi said in irritation. He should've never left her there. No matter how much she protested, he should've brought her with him.
"The diagnosis said it was good as healed. She'll be fine. Believe in her. You need to focus on your twisted ankle and devising a plan."
Levi gave a sigh and sat back in the wagon with a scowl. He should've never let her go with Eren and the others. No matter how persistent she was, he should've kept her by his side.
...
...
Soon Erwin arrived with the extra horses, gears, and soldiers. Levi made no waste of time in finding Lyla.
"Lyla!" He shouted. Lyla's head bolted up. "Captain!" she ran right by his side and gave a salute. Levi internally gave out a sigh of relief.
"Captain. The Colossal Titan and Armor Titan took Eren. Bertolt and Reiner are the shifters…Captain I…" Lyla faltered for a moment. "I wasn't able to stop them. My apologies sir."
Levi looked at her for a moment. "Nobody would've been able to stop them. It's not your fault. You're safe." His voice almost cracked at the end of the sentence.
"Thank you, sir," with that Lyla turned around and tried to get down the walls when a voice stopped her.
"Lyla, don't tell me you're going after them.
"I certainly am sir. Before Eren's a soldier he is my brother. I need to go after them."
"I WON'T ALLOW IT!" Levi said a bit louder than he intended. Lyla stared at him.
"Captain, seriously! You've been purposely trying to exclude me from every event, were you not?"
"…Yes…"
"Am I a soldier or not? Yes, I'm injured but still I think I'm in a better state than you sir," Lyla said boldly, "I am a bit battered up but I'm able to use the 3DMG. Please, let me go, sir. It would kill me if I don't. I promise I'll be fine. I'll come back alive and safe," Lyla added.
Levi looked at his Second in Command. Lyla didn't back down.
"Fine. Just don't get killed."
Lyla laughed at the last part then said, "I won't sir."
Once they were mounted on their horses outside, they headed for the Forest of Giant Trees. Since the shifters would be exhausted from the fight, they'll have to wait until it was night, where the titans aren't able to move.
...
...
Eren woke up and looked around, then freaked out.
"My arms…!"
"Are you awake? Sorry. I did that. In my hurry, I was careless a bit." Reiner looked at Eren's eyes which quickly turned into hatred.
"You…!"
"Now hurry up and tell us. You said you would when Eren wakes up. What are you going to do to us?" Eren turned his head and found Ymir. She also didn't look so well. Reiner said plainly.
"We want you to come with us to our hometown."
"Ha? You must be crazy." Ymir said. They started saying things that Eren couldn't quite catch up.
"I knew it would be you two, you guys looked too pleased when you saw that monkey at the castle," Ymir said.
"Monkey? What monkey?" Eren was totally confused.
They kept on without explaining much and Eren was shocked when Reiner went into a mental meltdown.
"Oi," Eren said but Reiner babbled on.
"You know, Krista was always special to me…"
"OI!" Eren shouted and everyone stared at him. "What bullshit are you saying?"
"Bertolt, do something," Ymir said. He said with resign, "Reiner, you're not a soldier, you're a warrior."
At this, something clicked as Reiner returned, "That's right…" Ymir seemed to realize something and started laughing maniacally,
"Breaking the walls but then saving Connie's life with your own life on the line. You were doing things that didn't make sense and you weren't even conscious of it! Perhaps your moral consciousness couldn't take it? Is that it? What a-"
"Shut up! You don't know what it is to be a murderer!" Reiner shouted in anger. Ymir stopped laughing and said, "Sorry, I was digging in too much."
"You know Ymir, you should want to cooperate with us." Bertolt started.
"Ha? And why is that?"
"You want to keep Krista safe right? Well, you know that the walls won't hold long. If you cooperate with us, we could at least save Krista. We'll guarantee it."
Ymir seemed to contemplate this. "You're sure?"
"Yes,"
"…Fine."
Just then Reiner came down from his lookout and said, "We have to go."
"What? I thought we were waiting till night?" Ymir said annoyed. Reiner was tackling Eren who decided to make it hard for him to tie him up. But eventually he was knocked out. Ymir climbed on Bertolt's back. Bertolt suddenly said,
"Do you remember who you ate before you came back to a human?"
"….No. Sorry for not being able to remember."
"No, it's okay."
They flew through the forest when Ymir spotted a green flare go up.
'The Survey Corps? Krista…!'
"Reiner! Krista is there! We have to take her!"
"Not now! Later!" Reiner shouted.
"IS THAT LATER WHEN I GET EATEN BY THE WARRIORS?" She didn't want that. Ymir wanted to see her Krista right now.
"We need Krista too. Believe in us." Berthold said,
"Really? Is it for Krista?" At Ymir's question, Berthold nodded.
"…Okay."
'Again… I'm lying to myself.' Ymir thought of their past. The day's she lived as Ymir, the days with Krista. She strangled Bertolt.
"In this place, my titan is the best. I can take Eren and go to the Survey Corps if I want to!"
...
...
The Survey Corps entered the forest. Mikasa, Armin, Lyla, Jean, Connie, and Sasha flew through the woods until they saw Ymir's titan.
"Ymir! Did you fight with Reiner and escape?" Jean asked.
"Where's Eren!?" Mikasa demanded. Ymir made no move. She just looked around as if checking everyone's face.
"Hurry up! We're losing time here." Connie jumped on her head.
"YMIR!" Krista appeared with tears in her eyes. She flew towards Ymir. Ymir jumped off the tree and just like that ate Krista.
"WHAT!?"
