Chapter 26
Erwin and the other troops manage to bring the Titans in front of Hannes' group and the Armored Titan. Hannes yells, "You guys! Jump and get outta there!"
Then the scouts are leaving Reiner as they get back to their horses, while the Armored Titan is trying to run past the Titans, just as one Titan is about to grab Historia, Ymir manages to dodge the way.
"What was that?" "Is that hell?"
Erwin says, "No... but it will be! All soldiers, charge! The fate of humanity will be determined at this very moment! There's no future where humanity can inhabit these lands without Eren and Aya!"
"We recover Eren and Aya and immediately retreat! Give your hearts!"
Then everyone starts to charge at them, the MP are also surprised at the scouts trying to charge at the Titans.
Meanwhile, Eren and Aya are still trapped in Reiner and Aya asks, "What the hell..."
Reiner is trapped by the Titans, and he decides to open his hands, forcing Bertolt, Eren, and Aya out in the open. "Now's our chance!" Mikasa says.
"Wait, Mikasa! Can't you see all those Titans?! How do you plan on getting through that mess?" Jean asks.
Odom says, "I can do it!" Then he flies towards Eren and Aya, Bertolt is surprised as he tries to dodge, but Odom manages to get Aya into his beak.
"Odom!" Aya is delighted, and Erwin yells, "Advance!" But much to their horror, Erwin loses his arm to the Titan. Everyone is gasping in surprise, but Erwin's command to advance causes more soldiers to be eaten and hurt. Mikasa is about to get Eren, but she is grabbed by the Titan.
"You bastard!" Jean manages to save Mikasa by killing the Titan.
"We've come this far already. We're taking Eren home with us. We're getting back home!" Bertolt says.
"Bertolt!" Just then, Armin and Katrina manage to stand in front of them.
Katrina says, "Bertolt... are you two okay with this? Leaving behind Annie and returning home?"
Bertolt and Reiner gasp in surprise. "You're abandoning Annie?" Armin asks. "You know where she's at?"
"Far north, deep underground in the Utopia District... and being tortured." Katrina says. "It was her screams that taught us something. That even with her body's healing, you can never get rid of the pain."
"And you know what? We've already taken away Annie's Titan powers, she's no longer the Female Titan. We could kill her anytime we want, but maybe torturing her is the best way to force her to speak, you know..." Armin says.
"You spawn of the devil! I'll pulverize you!" Bertolt yells as he wants to fight, but at the same time, Erwin comes and frees Eren from the bindings as he's about to fall, Odom manages to open the beak with Aya grabbing his hand.
"Aya! You're safe!" Eren smiles.
"All soldiers, retreat!" Erwin yells as they are leaving, seeing Ymir was about to be eaten, Historia decides to kill some Titans to help her. Historia wants to approach Ymir, but Connie manages to grab her.
"Christa, what the hell are you doing? We're leaving!" Connie says.
"Let's hurry home and chow down!" Sasha adds.
"Connie! Sasha! Leave me be!" Historia yells. "Lemme go! Ymir said if I don't go with her, Reiner and Bertolt are going to kill her! If she hands me in, they'll let her go free! We were gonna go with them!"
"Ymir is also chasing them and Connie asks, "What the heck? Ymir said that?"
"Yes, so let me down!" Historia yells.
"It's a lie! Of course, that's a lie! She's lying to you!" Sasha says.
"You think the one who fought like a maniac to save you would do something like that?" Connie asks. "The only time Ymir ever shows some effort is when you're in trouble. I don't know about her getting killed, but... For now, just calm down."
"That's right! If you two stay here any longer, there's a huge chance that you'll die and it'll only get worse!" Sasha says.
"You know, even an idiot could figure that out." Connie says.
A Titan was thrown, and the debris caused a lot of people to be hit. Jean yells, "Damn Reiner! He's tossing Titans like a madman!"
Odom and Mikasa are hit by the Titans as they fall to the ground. Mikasa syas, "Eren...Aya... Odom..."
They struggle to get back up as they see something approach them. Eren gasps as they see the smiling Titan approaching.
"It's her!" Eren says with tears in his eyes. "My stepmother..."
"Stepmother? What are you talking about?" Mikasa asks. "She's the one who killed your mother!"
"No, she's not..." Aya mutters.
At the same time, a titan is running over to Erwin, and Ymir is also charging. "This is all your fault! It's you who screwed up my entire plan, you damn commander!" Ymir is angry as she manages to push the Titan behind Erwin away.
Erwin falls from the horse as a soldier approaches him. "Commander!"
"I can always be replaced. More importantly, find Eren and Aya and escape!" But as he looks at the soldier, he's already being eaten.
"Odom, what are you two doing, transform!" Mikasa yells, but Odom can't seem to do it.
"Where is Katrina? We need the serum!" Eren says.
"It's no use, we use the last serum on Connie's mother..." Odom says.
Just as the smiling Titan tries to attack, Hannes blocks and starts to fight the Titan. "What are the odds of this?! Check it out, you four! You just watch! I'm about to avenge your mother and butcher the shit out of this!"
Hannes tries to fight the Titan on his own, and at the same time, Katrina, Peter, Armin, and Jean are also arriving, Katrina notices the Titan and says, "We need that Titan alive!"
"What are you talking about?" Jean asks.
Then Reiner continues to throw Titans at them, so Katrina, Peter, Armin, and Jean are forced to attack the Titans. Katrina and Peter transform to attack the other Titans, but they make sure that they are not going to the Smiling Titan.
And while Eren, Aya, Mikasa, and Odom are watching Hannes fighting the Titan, Mikasa tries to fight, Eren says, "No, Mikasa! You're still injured! Untie my hands now!"
Aya realizes that is still tied and she helps him. Aya asks, "What are you going to do, Eren?"
"I need to transform into a Titan, if I come in contact with her, everything can be changed!" Eren yells.
"Wait, Eren! We're trying to get you out of here!" Mikasa says.
"But I need to come in contact with the Titan!" Eren says as he wants to run, but he's too weak. "Eren!" Aya yells.
"No, I can't give up! I need to reach that Titan!" Eren says as he continues to crawl, Peter and Katrina notice Jean being hit as they quickly kill the Titans that are approaching while Armin checks the wounds on Jean.
"Almost there..." Eren is about to get close to the Titan, but he watches in horror as the Titan grabs Hannes and she eats him, killing him.
"No! Hannes!" The four of them, including Peter and Katrina, look in horror to see Hannes killed. Not long after Eren has a breakdown and began crying but also with painful laughter.
"Eren..." Aya also sheds a tear as she uses all her strength to rush toward Eren.
"Nothing changed...it was just the same!" Eren yells. "Why didn't I touch her before it happened? I could've saved Hannes! I'm still useless..."
"Eren...How many times must I tell you? You're not useless. None of this is your fault, in fact, the time we've had together wasn't useless either." Aya says.
Mikasa says, "Aya is right... Listen, I need to tell you guys something. You've always been... by our side... Thank you."
Odom says, "You showed us how to live with purposes as well."
Aya says with tears, "And you've made this world so wonderful for me. I want to have a future with you... I love you Eren. I love you so much."
Eren mutters, "I love you too..." Then he slowly stands up, and as the Titan is about to grab him, he throws a fist at the Titan with a loud scream.
Just then, Katrina, Peter, Reiner, Bertolt, and Ymir feel electricity shooting at them, as the pure Titans start to go after Reiner and Bertolt.
"Eren!" Aya yells as she hugs Eren from behind, but as the Smiling Titan touches Aya, suddenly, it starts to glow and the Smiling Titan is falling to the ground, revealing a woman who is unconscious.
"What...happened?" Mikasa asks in horror.
Aya says, "The Female Titan in me... it transfers to her..."
"That means..." Eren is delighted. "She's the new Female Titan..."
At the same time, all the pure Titans are fighting Reiner and Bertolt, Mikasa asks, "Why... are they...? They're approaching Reiner and Bertolt?"
"Now it's our chance! Let's hurry and run!" Historia yells as everyone manages to rush back to their horses, Eren also changes into a Titan and carries both Aya and the woman on his back.
"So that's how it is... that's why Reiner was so desperate for Eren..." Ymir gasps. "Which means, even inside the walls...there's a future."
Reiner and Bertolt are running after Eren, but the Pure Titans are chasing after them. "This is the worst... Why did the Coordinate have to fall into the hands of the worst person imaginable? We've gotta get it back... I can say...without a doubt... the one person in the world I wouldn't want to have it... Eren... is you!"
Eren roars he yells, "As the Founder, I command you to stop the Armored Titan from approaching us!"
Then the pure Titans start to go quicker as they prevent Reiner and Bertolt from escaping.
"I can't protect Bertolt like this!" Reiner gasps.
"Don't let this chance escape! Full retreat!" Erwin yells, as for Ymir, she decides to help Reiner and Bertolt, much to Historia's surprise. She can't understand why Ymir does it, but the Armored Titan didn't pursue them. Eren also changes back into human form and he has the woman on the same horse as him.
"Eren, who is that woman?" Armin asks.
Eren says, "This is my stepmother... Dina Yeager, or Dina Fritz. She was the Titan that almost ate my mother."
"What?" Everyone is surprised at the revelation.
"Right now, we need to bring her to medication. She might have some secrets that we need to know." Erwin says.
To a lot of scouts, they start to wonder how many secrets Eren and his group have, and what are they actually hiding.
Ymir, Reiner, and Bertolt are then safely up on a wall further away from the Scouts as they took a quick breather, they are still confused about why Ymir stays behind to help but never the less appreciates it.
"So why do you really need Aya with you guys? What's so special about her?" Ymir asks.
"Aya has the power to take away our Titan powers and give them to other people. If she was there, you wouldn't need to be eaten while you give up your Titan powers." Reiner frowns.
"But it can only happen when she comes into contact with the Founder and one of the other 11 Titans..." Bertolt says. "Now that I think about it, they try to take our Titan powers..."
"And that might be the reason why Annie was just like Katrina and Armin said..." Reiner grits his teeth. "Not only the "transfer", whether she touches one of the 12 Titans, she would also gain the power them. Judging by her hair color of Aya, she already has the power of 9 Titans in her. Once she gets 12 Titans, she can be the one to save all of us."
"From who?" Ymir asks.
"From... the Rumbling..." Reiner mutters.
Back at the Trost District, Levi is at Erwin's side. Hange walks in with Connie.
"Pardon the interruption, Commander. I'm glad we came while you were here, Commander Pyxis. Good timing. This is..."
"A scout from the 104th. Connie Springer." Connie says.
"Connie comes from Ragako Village." Hange says.
"The village the recent Titan invasion originated from?" Pyxis asks.
"Yes. With the talk from his mother and the searching from Ragako Village, this only brings further credibility to that hypothesis."
Eren and his group, along with Jean, are at Dina's bed. Dina is still unconscious, and Eren asks, "We were taken away... and because of that, the Scouts lost more than half their veteran soldiers... just to rescue us..."
"Still, there were no casualties on our way back." Armin says. "The Titans completely ignored us and ran off to chase Reiner and the others."
"Yeah... Eren has the Founding Titan in him, that's why he wants to contact a Titan with the Royal Blood so the Titans can listen to his command." Aya says. "But we're still late... Hannes was killed because of us..."
"It's a tough spot to be in, Eren. Whether or not all those people died for nothing... all depends on you. If you're worth the price they paid, you better show it."
"I know..." Eren says. "You're absolutely right."
He turns to Dina and says, "I guess maybe we need to reveal everything our parents told us to the Scouts."
"You're right." Peter says.
"The Titans responsible for this incident... were the citizens of Ragako?" Pyxis asks.
"In other words, the true identity of the Titans...is humans?" Erwin asks.
"We don't... have proof yet." Hange says.
"So... you're telling me... I've spent all this time and energy running around killing people?" Levi asks. "Is that right?"
"I said we don't have proof yet..." Hange says. "But we think the woman that Eren saved might be able to tell us something after she wakes up."
After Connie leaves, Levi turns to Erwin, who was smiling. "Erwin. Tell me. The hell you smiling for?"
"It's nothing." Erwin says. "It's just... with this, we've taken one more step toward the truth."
"Just one step, huh? We'll run out of people before we learn the truth." Levi mutters. "It's not worth the cost."
"But it is a step towards the truth." Erwin says. "One day, we'll break it down. The wall hiding the truth will fall."
"Maybe we should do it today, should we?" Just then, the door opens as Eren's group walks in. Levi asks, "Aya? You guys?"
"Dad. I guess it is time for us to explain the truth." Aya says. "About the secrets of the world and the walls."
Here is a new chapter, and as you can see, Dina is going to be an important character in this fic. I hope you like this chapter.