THUD!
Dina heard heavy footsteps behind her. She wanted to stand up and run but she couldn't. Her body was crushed under a roof, that fell on her moments ago. Dina tried to wiggle out, but she couldn't feel her legs.
Suddenly a man landed in front of her.
"Hannes…" Dina said weakly.
"Don't worry Carla, I'll get you out as soon as I finish off these two" the man said.
Dina could see resolve on the man's face when he was looking at her. It almost reminded her of her husband. She's going to be fine. He'll save her and she will be able to see her son again.
That lasted until the man looked at what he was facing.
The moment he laid his eyes on the monsters, all his resolve was gone. The only thing that was left on his face was fear. A few moments passed before he looked down on her again. His eyes spoke an apology, wide open with tears in the corners.
"I'm sorry…" That was the only thing he managed to say before he started running for his life.
Dina tried to scream, but her lungs collapsed under immense pressure of the roof. She only managed to whimper.
"Please don't leave me here…"
As she felt the footsteps thud right behind her, she steeled herself for the fate she was facing. Large hands grabbed her, and the monster lifted her to its mouth. That has been the first time Dina saw a titan. Horrifying giant with its mouth wide open, locked eyes on the prey. Dina tried punching the monster's fingers, but she was way too weak.
The beast's jaw closed in on her.
Dina heard the bells ringing.
She momentarily jolted upright.
It was only a dream. She was fine.
"Ouch!"
Dina looked down and saw that a little boy fell out from her grasp.
"That hurt miss…" Eren said trying to get up.
Dina leaned over to Eren and helped him up, dusting some dirt off him in the process.
"I'm sorry Eren" she said, "I had a bad dream."
"It's okay uhm…" Eren looked at her and tried to recollect something, "actually I never got your name."
Dina smiled at the boy and introduced herself properly this time "my name is Dina Fritz."
She looked at him and noticed he had a key hanging on his neck like a charm. She decided not to bother the boy about it for the time being.
"Eren" Dina heard Mikasa say, "you were crying in your sleep…"
"It feels like I met up with father…" Eren said.
"It must've been a dream" Mikasa said dismissively. "Let's go, they're giving out food."
Dina nodded and walked along. They were staying at a refugee internment zone behind wall Rose. It was only a temporary solution, but some people already started feeling the unease, and a looming social unrest. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes in a matter of days. The interior didn't have enough housing space nor food to help them all.
"Eren! Mikasa!" Dina heard someone shout at them.
A blonde boy about Eren's age was running towards them with a few loaves of bread in his hands.
"Armin?" Eren said.
"Look! Grandpa got them for us!" Armin began handing the bread out "I have one for you too, miss uhm…"
"My name is Dina Fritz." Dina said to the boy.
"Oh… Okay" he said "Armin Arlert!" He reached out and Dina shook his hand politely.
A few military policemen walked past them.
"…too bad the titans didn't devour more of them" Dina heard one of the guards say.
Eren gritted his teeth and tightened his fists. He wanted to walk right up to the guard and kick him in the shins, however Dina saw his intentions and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Eren" Dina whispered "you shouldn't make a scene. Everyone's on edge already. You could start a fight."
Eren stopped and looked her in the eyes.
"If you do this, a riot could possibly spurt out because of you" Dina continued, "think about Mikasa and Armin. What would happen to them?"
Eren pondered the thought for a moment but nodded at her.
"Miss Dina's right Eren" Armin said, "the townspeople have the right to feel uneasy with so many outsiders at their doors."
They sat down under some shade and started eating. Eren threw his loaf to the ground.
"This is useless!" He said in anger "I'll retake wall Maria and destroy all titans!"
Dina flicked Eren's ear and looked at him disappointed.
"Don't throw your food to the ground Eren!" she said firmly "you won't be able to do anything if you don't calm down and eat."
Eren took the loaf and looked at her in shame. In that instance Dina reminded him of his mother, who certainly wouldn't be proud of him right now.
"Sorry…" Eren said humbly.
"That's okay." Dina said smiling at him. He put on a small smile for her.
"Are you serious Eren?" Armin asked, "do you really want to go outside?"
"Absolutely serious!" Eren said "I'm not one of those hypocrites hiding behind walls!"
"What's the point! You'll be eaten by titans the moment you step out!" Armin retorted.
"I'll get strong enough to defeat the titans!"
"And how do you plan on that?"
"I'll join the military!" Eren exclaimed "I'll join the survey corps and retake wall Maria!
"Miss Dina, please say to Eren that it's a bad idea!" Armin said.
Dina thought for a moment.
"Actually Armin, I think he's right." Armin stared at her with wide eyes "We can't just sit here and wait till the titans break the walls again."
"You hear that Armin!?" Eren smirked.
"Eren…" whispered Mikasa.
"However," Dina continued "you'll be needing the support of your friends to achieve that. You can't do everything all by yourself."
"I'll join if Eren joins…" Mikasa muttered.
"You should join too miss Dina!" Eren said towards her "you should join along with us!"
Dina thought for a moment. "Maybe I will" she said. That might actually be good for her. As far as she knew, the closest she could get to the interior, the greater the chance of her getting to the king. Military police had a duty of keeping the internal peace and that must come with some insight about the ruler of the walls.
Dina was on Paradis, so this meant the plan of the restorationists worked. She was of the royal blood, so she should be able to use the coordinate. If she joined the military police, she would have a lot of time and opportunity to investigate the whereabouts of the king.
'Your sacrifice was not in vain' Dina thought as she was eating bread. 'Grisha, dear comrades, I'll take the power of the founding titan and end the suffering of our people.'
"Aren't you a little too old for that miss Dina?" Armin said, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"Oh, believe me" Dina said flexing her arm "I have a lot of strength!"
She was sure of it. There could be no other way for her to awaken from the kind of slumber she was in. The slumber of a pure titan. Dina knew she has been sent to paradise by Marley. This was the only way to get here, so she must've been turned into a titan before. And the only way to wake up from being a pure titan was to devour one of the nine.
"There's a lot of work ahead of us" Dina said looking at the sky "so until then, let's keep moving forward!"
