Chapter 16
"So where did we leave... oh right. After the Battle of Trost, I was in the custody of the Military Police. It was also the first time I met Commander Erwin and Captain Levi for the first time." Eren says. "I have to go through a trial so which regiment can take me."
"If you want to know, Captain Levi is the short one here." Petra says while pointing at the person in the picture.
"Yeah, he's definitely short. Even Connie was able to become taller than him." Sasha says.
"Maybe that's because we've done a lot of extra work during these years, like building the railway or a port." Eren says.
"Railway? Port?" Marco asks.
"It's a long story. But back into the story... There was also Commander Hange and Squad leader Mike. Actually, both of them terrified me a little." Eren says. "Hange is the one with the eye band."
"How was she terrifying?" Frieda asks.
"Her enthusiasm with Titans." Petra says. "And Mike was good with his noses."
Eren says, "As for the trial, it was not very pleasant. I still don't get why Mikasa was dragged into this by the Military Police. Since it was supposed to be the trial of where I should be taken to..."
"The Royal government wanted to get rid of you, that's why they have been trying to get you no matter what excuse they have." Erwin says. "Though I was surprised that you would just trying to yell at them until Captain Levi was forced to stop you."
"Thank you for reminding me that day..." Eren mutters. "To show that the other regiments don't have the nerve to handle me, Captain Levi decided to give me a brutal beating on the spot..."
"That must be really harsh..." Marco says.
"You can't underestimate Captain Levi after all." Petra says. "But we did get you in the end and you joined our squad."
"And I still remember how a clean freak he is..." Eren mutters. "And all this time Hange has been experimenting with me as well...I think the experiment was better when she tried to tell me everything she know about Titans that night."
"We warned you back then." Petra says. "That's why we're not going to stay and hear her talking."
"And thanks to that, leaving me alone with her the whole night..." Eren slightly glares.
"Wait, she told you about Titans the whole night?" Colt asks. "How did she have so much energy?"
"Who knows?" Eren says. "She was about to continue if it wasn't for Annie killing the two Titans that we captured..."
"You mean Sony and Bean." Petra says. "So it was confirmed that the Female Titan killed them?"
"But all of us have the gear inspection... how did she pass that?" Sasha asks.
"Armin said that Annie used Marco's gear for the inspection." Eren says. "I guess after leaving you to die, she keeps your gear as some sort of memento..."
"That doesn't mean I can forgive her about that..." Marco says. "But then again, Reiner's the one who forced Annie to take my gear. Annie seemed reluctant back then..."
"We know. And after that day, we have been doing all sorts of experiments with what my Titan could do." Eren says. "I still remember I couldn't heal with the power of the Titans, and I couldn't even transform no matter how I self-injured myself."
"And you decided to transform just to pick a spoon that you accidentally dropped to the ground." Petra says.
"I was still scared at all of you giving me the looks that you're going to kill me, and the fact that you kept bombarding questions on me without having me answer that...If it wasn't for Commander Hange and Captain Levi, I would've been more trouble."
"We don't know how it feels until we did it for the first time this morning." Sasha says. "But Frieda, you seemed to be skilled with your Titan power..."
"Maybe because I've been a Titan before." Frieda says. "Though I was never the War Hammer Titan."
"Commander Erwin is also doing a good job, as well as you, Sasha, Colt." Eren says.
"We did a lot of training in Marley so we could inherit the Titan." Colt says. "I got some experience with it."
Fay says, "I really hope I can master the Titan ability..."
"I'm sure you can, Fay. Just believe in yourself." Eren says, which Fay smiles back.
"And after that, it was our 57th expedition..." Eren says. "The whole expedition was to find the spy who killed the two Titans we captured and the Female Titan. I heard from Armin that Annie showed up as a Titan and she had killed some of the members in the right flank."
"But still, I wonder how that Female Titan managed to find us if she was at the right flank this whole time?" Petra asks.
"It was because of Reiner. Armin accidentally revealed our location to Reiner and Reiner had told Annie about it." Eren says. "He pretended to be crushed by her so he could use the knife to leave the message to her. That way both Jean and Armin wouldn't suspect a thing."
"How dare he..." Fay mutters with slight anger.
"When the Female Titan appeared behind us, we could only watch the scouts going for their deaths. At that moment, I was thinking about trying to transform back then." Eren says.
"The truth is that we didn't want you to transform because we're already set a trap in advance." Erwin says.
"Yeah. I know it, that's why I decided to believe you guys." Eren says, "However, Annie escaped the trap back then, right? That's why the rest of the Levi Squad were killed including Petra..."
"We couldn't open her nape because of the Titan Hardening." Erwin says. "And she uses the scream to summon Pure Titans so she could escape."
"Gunther was killed in her human form, and then she transformed into the Female Titan and then killed Eld, Petra, and then Oluo." Eren says, "During that time, I was really angry, and I decided to transform and fight her."
"From what I've heard of Annie, she was really strong with martial arts. Are you sure you could beat her?" Colt asks.
"I couldn't beat her." Eren says, "Instead, I let myself be captured by her. It was thanks to Mikasa and Captain Levi working together that I was saved...but I felt powerless..."
"Can I ask a question? Levi and Mikasa, who is stronger?" Fay asks.
This causes everyone to be silent, as they are not sure how to answer the question. Eren says, "Commander Erwin... what do you think about this?"
"I've never seen both of them fighting before, I am not sure how to judge that." Erwin says.
Sasha says, "I would prefer Mikasa to win if you ask me. But then again, Captain Levi has been through a lot and he might be stronger..."
"Considering I have taken their beatings before, I say that Captain Levi's beating was harsher than Mikasa's. Maybe it was because Mikasa didn't want to overdo it." Eren says.
"This conversation is quite weird if you ask me..." Frieda remarks.
"I know, it is really hard to compare those two since they're a family." Eren says. "Anyway, Captain Levi hurt his leg while trying to save me with Mikasa, and it was why he wasn't with us in the upcoming expeditions..."
Sasha says, "I remember that when we were retreating, some of the new squad members didn't want to leave behind a body, and that's why the Titans were about to chase after us... we're sorry, but we tossed all the dead bodies outside so that we could accelerate and get away from the Titans..."
"Meaning my father didn't have a body to bury..." Petra frowns. "Maybe it would be better this way..."
"I don't know about that. But it was thanks to Armin that we managed to know Annie's the Female Titan." Eren says. "Though for me, it was hard to believe that she was the Female Titan and she killed all those people... I still remembered all her talks about her father."
"So how were you planning to capture Annie?" Colt asks Erwin.
"The Military Police wanted to hand Eren over, which was why we decided to use body doubles for the quest." Erwin says.
"But I still think having Jean disguised as me is a bad choice... considering I don't have a horse face." Eren mutters.
"But I really want to see how it looks..." Marco says with a slight chuckle.
Sasha says, "Trust me, I was fooled when I saw it for the first time. Now, this is what I want to hear about. I mean, Connie, Historia, and we others were with the Mike Squad, so we didn't know the full details."
"We were trying to bait Annie by going underground so that she couldn't transform, but she saw through our plan and she just transformed in the spot... she transformed in Stohess District, which was where the Military Police headquarters were. At first, I couldn't transform because I refused to believe that Annie was the Female Titan. It was thanks to Jean giving me a wake up call that I managed to transform."
"But that was reckless... what about the people there?" Frieda asks, "What will they think if they see two Titans appearing on the street?"
"It is true that a lot of civilians were killed during the attack." Erwin says. "I was only able to resume command because Nile couldn't do it on his own. And this time, Eren gained the upper hand and caused Annie to try to flee..."
"Yeah, I didn't know what happened to me, but all I could feel is rage at that time. Mikasa told me that I managed to defeat Annie by ripping off her nape and I was about to eat her..."
"Seriously? I mean, since it is a Female Titan, did Marley have any male Female Titan before?" Petra asks Colt.
"I don't think so, it is called the Female Titan after all..." Colt says. "The authorities of the Marley Military would've just given the Titan to female Warrior candidates."
"But I wonder if you get the power, will it just change your gender?" Fay asks.
"I don't think we'll be able to try it out, we're comrades and we're not going to eat each other." Eren says. "Founder Ymir is not in the paths anymore, meaning that if we eat the shifter, we just lose one Titan in the world."
"All 8 Titans right now are precious, and we can't afford to lose them." Erwin says.
"I have to agree." Colt says.
"And in the end... Annie decided to harden herself... trapping herself inside the crystal so that the secrets wouldn't be able to find out." Eren says, "It was really frustrating back then, we were so close to learning the truth, and Annie just decided to do such a thing..."
Sasha says, "And she trapped herself until the Rumbling happened. That means four years, she spent four years sleeping in such a crystal made of Titan hardening."
"That sounds rough... is she even awake to begin with?" Petra asks.
"We don't know..." Eren says. "All she wanted was to go back to her father alive. That's what I knew about her."
This is the second part of the past talking. It basically wraps up the 57th expedition and the battle in Stohess. I hope you like this chapter and the next chapter will be the Reiner and Bertolt reveal.