"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

Anonymous

Chapter 24: Yeager und Beute Part II

"..."

"-m!"

"Hmm..."

"Em!"

"Ugh..."

"Hey, Em! Wake up!"

A pair of blood red eyes fully opened to see a head of black hair to the right. The owner of the eyes, Emerald Sustrai, looked to the right to see Cinder hovering over her.

"Oh... Hey, Cinder," she said as she began to move upwards. This movement led to the realization that she was in some kind of white bedroom. Emerald wasn't feeling very tired, so she decided to get out of the bed. But when she tried, an intense pain swept across both her legs.

"Whoa, hold on!" Cinder cried as she moved Emerald back to the bed. "You're not ready to walk yet!"

Emerald looked down at her lower body to see massive heavy bandages and stitches spread across her legs and part of her torso. The memories of how she received such wounds came naturally. Emerald remembered that she was with the rest of her friends in the police station, where Cinder had finished a passionate speech. What followed next was darkness and extreme pain while trying to fight through chaos.

Given that she was in what appeared to be a hospital room, Emerald assumed that everyone else was hurt too. But Cinder appeared to be an exception.

"How do you feel?" Cinder asked. "Your Aura took care of some of the wounds, but the rest-"

"I'm fine," Emerald insisted, despite the fact that the pain had reawakened along with the rest of her body. But in her mind, the scars and scratches were minimal compared to Cinder's potential state. "How are you? Are you hurt? You look a little pale."

Cinder almost didn't believe how Emerald could care so little about herself at the present moment. But when she remembered who she was talking to, Cinder understood why Emerald was asking. "I'm okay," she said as she stood up. "My Titan powers needed to work overtime against Tyrian's poison, but I'm better now."

"Tyrian's here?" Emerald asked. "He did this?" When her fear for Cinder's life passed, Emerald looked around to see that she and Cinder were alone. "Where is everyone?"

"Ren and Nora are outside," Cinder said as she pointed to the door. "I was just about to let them in to see how you were doing, but then you started to stir."

"Oh, okay." Emerald noticed that two more people were missing. "What about Eren?"

"He and Mercury found Tyrian. They chased him out of the police station."

"He's as good as gone, then." Emerald laid back down on her somewhat comfortable bed. "Mercury couldn't catch a baseball, let alone a psycho Faunus."

"Em, come on," Cinder protested with a sigh. A part of her knew Emerald was joking, but she wasn't in a mood to be entertained. "They've been gone for a long time, okay?"

The young girl immediately picked up on Cinder's anxiety, which made her feel bad for what she felt was practically an insult. "Sorry. How long has it been?"

"We got here about a half hour ago. Eren and Mercury left right before we did." Cinder pointed overhead to a TV, which showed a recording of Mistral's police station. "Everyone's still too shocked about Tyrian's attack. Nobody's talking about where he is now."

"So nobody knows?"

"All we know is that the police are chasing him. I think Eren took the lead." Cinder turned off the TV and sighed. "I mean, after what Tyrian did, I don't know if..."

"Don't worry," Emerald said as she moved closer to Cinder. "He's still a Titan, isn't he? Eren's going to be fine."

Before Cinder could think of anything else to say, a new voice entered the room.

"Someone say my name?"

While Emerald looked to the door slowly and calmly, Cinder practically snapped her neck as she turned to see Eren Yeager standing in the doorway. His clothes were torn, his gear looked like it needed some repairs, and he looked exhausted.

But a surge of rejuvenating energy seemed to create itself for Eren when he was met by a hug from Cinder.

After the hug relieved Cinder of any fear for Eren's life, she immediately looked under his tattered clothes for any wounds or any missing body parts. But when she saw that he appeared to be okay, she sighed in relief and caressed his cheek.

"You okay?" she asked with a soft smile.

Eren had grown accustomed and welcoming to Cinder hugging him, but the caressing of his cheek was something new. He wasn't sure what to make of it, given the fact that it was new and somewhat soothing. Nevertheless, a red heat formed on his face as he assured Cinder that he was fine.

"My powers just finished healing me," Eren said as Cinder removed her hand. "Tyrian didn't go down easy."

"Wait, you got him?" Emerald asked as she looked at Eren.

"Yeah. I have some good news about Tyrian." Eren stopped smiling and rubbed the back of his head. "And some... bad news."

Emerald looked back to the door for a second before looking at Eren. "Wait... where's Mercury?" she asked.

"..."


One hour ago

"Kill... me... never find... Maiden!"

"..."

This was the last thing Mercury heard before his vision started to turn black. Despite losing his sense of sight, the young man could feel everything that was happening to him. His chest was tightening by the second and his neck felt that it was about to explode. Not only that, but Tyrian's grip was beginning to crush his bones. The slightest movement would break his neck.

Even though his main focus was on the intense pain, Mercury had a split-second realization that this was how it was going to end. Of all the fights that he got into, this was his final one.

And he lost.

*SNAP*

"GUUUUHHH!"

Mercury gasped for air as Tyrian's hands loosened their grip. Along with that, his body had fallen limply onto the young man's chest. When Mercury was finally able to catch his breath after a few heavy coughs, he instinctively pushed Tyrian away from him.

"Mercury!" a voice called to him. "Say something!"

Mercury's sight began to return to him, which allowed him to see another person around his age in front of him. And just behind that person was the unmoving body of a Faunus.

A Faunus with a broken neck.


Present

Mercury was currently supposed to be resting after his ordeal with Tyrian. Instead, he was up and about in a hospital room he would soon be leaving. His neck was of no concern; his Titan powers had just finished healing the aggressive bruising he received from Tyrian. He could leave any time he wanted to, but he wasn't ready yet.

Mercury wasn't ready to show how deathly pale he was to his friends.

When he was left alone in the hospital room, Mercury was unfortunately able to fully comprehend what had just happened to him. This was the second time he faced Tyrian, and it was the second time he was within the grasp of death. And it was this fact that scared him beyond belief.

Mercury was currently washing his face with cold water in a vain attempt to wash the nervous sweat on his face. When he saw his face in the mirror, Mercury became afraid and angry at the same time.

"Get it together, Mercury," he whispered to himself. "He can't hurt you, you moron. He's dead. Get over it."

Mercury began to take deep breaths and wash his face even further, albeit a little more furiously. When he saw the sweat was gone, but his face was still pale, Mercury responded in the only way that seemed sensible at the time.

He punched the mirror.

"Fucking idiot," he cursed himself as he walked away and ignored the pain in his hand. He ignored it even further by hiding it when he heard a knock at the door. "Uh, come in."

The door to his room opened to reveal Eren, Cinder, Ren, and Nora. Emerald was still getting used to the injury she sustained at the press conference, so she decided to check in on Mercury later.

Given that he didn't want anyone to know what he just did, Mercury flashed a cocky grin and moved to everyone with confidence. "Hey, losers!" he said in a comedic way. "What's happening?"

"He's alive!" Nora shouted in glee, despite hearing the news a few moments ago.

"You okay, Merc?" Cinder asked, looking at his neck.

"Yeah, fine," Mercury insisted as he moved his head to expose his neck. "Nothing my Titan stuff couldn't fix." He then lunged towards Eren and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "And nothing this tough bastard couldn't handle." He then extended a fist to his friend. "I owe ya one, bro."

Eren, slightly entertained by Mercury's carefree attitude, bumped the fist with his own and formed a small smile. "No problem... dude," he said, repeating what Mercury said when he helped with Tyrian.

Mercury let go of Eren and looked back to the group. "Aw, man, you guys should've seen it. One minute, we were wresting on the ground. Next minute, snap! Crazy prick gets put the fuck down!"

"Yes, we heard," said Ren. "And that's not all we heard."

"I had a talk with Montoya on our way here," Eren began. "This wasn't Tyrian's first time in Mistral."

"Oh, yeah?" Mercury asked as he sat down and listened.

Eren took out his Scroll and showed Mercury what appeared to be a newspaper article, one that dated over five years ago. "Tyrian killed almost fifty people in Anima before he was arrested. Some kind of a joint-effort by the police and Huntsmen."

"Lemme guess; he broke out and met Salem?"

"Pretty much. Apparently, his transport was attacked by Grimm on his way to prison. Everyone thought he was dead until now." Eren put away his Scroll.

"Damn," Mercury said as he sat up. "How much you wanna bet everyone would've blamed us if you hadn't killed him?" A group of deadpans from everyone except Nora told Mercury that now wasn't the time for jokes. "Point is, we're much better off without him."

"Not exactly," Ren sadly disagreed.

Mercury quickly sat up. "Uh, come again?" he asked sarcastically as he put a hand to his ear.

"Ren's right," said Eren. "Tyrian was the only one who knew where Midori is. And whoever's keeping her."

The realization knocked some sense into Mercury. "Oh, damn." He immediately stood up from his seat. "I almost forgot about Midori. No sign of her?"

"None so far," Cinder replied. "And Tyrian wasn't found with anything that could lead us to her. She could be anywhere."

Mercury began to spring into action and leave the hospital room. "What are we waiting for?" he asked. "Let's go find her!"

"Mercury, we can't," said Ren. "We have no idea where to look."

"We can start in lower Mistral! That's where Tyrian was going, it's the perfect place to hide someone."

"He's right," said Eren. "Tyrian was jumping on rooftops to get to lower Mistral. And we all saw how bad it was down there."

"Right, and I know the city! And a lotta good... let's just say 'hiding places.'" Mercury began to move to the door again. "So let's go!"

"Right now?" Ren asked. "Are you feeling up to it? We all took a heavy blow from Tyrian."

"I think I still have some healing to do," said Nora.

"Guys, come on!" Mercury protested. "I'm fine, and we're wasting time!" He decided not to wait for any more arguments, so Mercury stormed out of the room.

"...You know what?" Nora asked. "Merc's right! We should go!" She turned to Ren. "You in, Ren?"

Ren turned around to see Eren nodding at him. "Perhaps waiting will only make things worse," Ren concluded. "I'm right behind you, Nora." The duo began to follow Mercury, but Ren stopped when he heard footsteps behind him. "Um, Eren, I'm not sure if you and Cinder should come with us."

"How come?" Eren asked. "I can handle myself without my gear."

"Yeah, and I don't really have anywhere to be," said Cinder. "I can tell Emerald we'll be stepping out for a while."

"You could, but your faces were all over the news tonight," Ren pointed out. "And I don't think lower Mistral is the place for people who support the police."

"Oh... right."

When she realized that Ren had a point, Cinder decided to stay at the hospital after all. So she took Eren's hand and began to walk down the hall. "Come on, Eren! We can get something to eat while they're gone!"

Eren didn't fight Cinder's grasp or her moving him away from Ren. He did, however, call out to him one last time.

"Let us know if you find anything!"


Searching for Midori was easier said than done. Despite Mercury knowing the place like the back of his hand, he could find no trace of his newest friend in lower Mistral. At first, he retraced his steps and looked in the places he visited with Vernal. This ranged from rundown buildings that usually housed smuggled goods or bars that housed common thieves. When he found nothing there, he decided to ask around places that he normally avoided; the ones that were known to be homes to notorious criminals and hardened warriors that were easy to anger.

Ren and Nora, who were strangers in a strange land, decided to stay behind Mercury and let him take the lead. This not only gave them a chance to look in certain directions Mercury wasn't looking, but also the chance to have a talk.

"So... one down, two to go," said Nora, who decided not to say anything else other than Midori's name.

Ren looked over to Nora. "I'm sorry?" he asked.

"Salem had three goons working for her. Eren took down one of them, and now we have two to go before we can fight her again."

The mild confusion from Ren's face disappeared in an instant. "Oh, right. I forgot about that."

"It's no big deal," said Nora. "I'm just trying to remember the good things tonight. Seems kinda hard with the bodies that monster left behind after he took Midori."

"Indeed." Ren smiled at Nora. "But you're right. We could definitely see tonight as a step in the right direction." He then wrapped an arm around Nora's shoulder. "We need to stay positive, right?"

Nora smiled as a red heat rose to her cheeks. "Yeah, we do. It might help clear our heads too."

Ren let go of Nora but continued to smile. "Meditation can help with that too," he reminded her. "I was planning to do some before bed if you'd like to join me."

"Oh, yeah!" Nora exclaimed in excitement. "I'd really like that!"

"I noticed." Ren stopped smiling and looked at Nora in a way that seemed like he was studying her. "How come you were interested earlier? You're not normally one for sitting still."

Nora awkwardly chuckled at the fact. "I mean, maybe not too much. But, uh..." Nora briefly looked over to Mercury, who had just entered another rundown building. "Do you remember what I said in the woods? How I wanna find out more about myself?"

"Of course," Ren admitted. "Meditation can definitely help with that. Clearing your mind of any distraction can lead to new insights about your environment. As well as yourself."

Nora rubbed her arm before she made a confession. "Actually, I don't think I need meditation for that. I've been thinking a lot lately, and I found out a little about myself."

"Really?" Ren immediately felt proud of Nora for taking such a huge step. "Good job, Nora. May I ask what you found?"

Nora kept rubbing her arm while looking at the ground. "Well, I remembered what you said about me," Nora began. "You know, hammer swings and heart of gold?" The duo shared a soft laugh as Nora continued to explain. "And I was thinking, I want everyone to see that heart of gold. I want them to know that I do what I do so I can help them. But all they see when I'm done fighting is destruction from my weapon. I mean, what if I have to use Magnhild in someone's house? I don't wanna destroy their home to kill Grimm or one of Salem's goons."

With every word Nora uttered, Ren understood what she was seeking from meditation. "You want to be more controlled when you fight," he easily concluded.

"Yeah, I do. It's either that or get rid of Magnhild."

"Oh, you don't want to do that." Ren gently moved Nora's chin to make her look at him. "First off, we both know how much you love that thing. You practically begged Mercury to make it for you."

"...A little."

Ren rolled his eyes in amusement as he continued to guide Nora in the right direction. "Nora, you just admitted that you lack discipline. Getting rid of Magnhild won't solve the problem, it'll just avoid you controlling yourself." Ren moved his hands as if he was carrying a small, invisible box. "Imagine discipline as a spectrum. If you stay on your current path..." Ren moved his left hand further away. "Then you'll be stuck on one end. And if you get rid of Magnhild..." Ren moved his right hand further while placing his left one back to its original spot. "You'll be on the end of another spectrum." Ren moved his hands to their original spots. "Discipline is in the middle, right where you want to be. Because you have the best of both worlds, and you can control how you act." Ren dropped his hands and smiled. "And that's where people see what you're really made of."

Nora smiled as she understood Ren's analogy. "Oh, I get it," she said honestly. "When everyone sees how I can control what I smash, they'll see I'm trying to protect them."

"Exactly. With some meditation and a little practice with Magnhild, we'll all see what a heart of gold looks like on the outside."

Nora smiled wider when she imagined the possibility. "I'd like that." She then looked deep into Ren's eyes. "Thank you, Ren."

"You're welcome," Ren said as he repeated the gesture. "But you don't have to thank me."

"Yeah, I do. I gotta thank you for listening, for setting me straight, for... for just being you."

As she finished this declaration, Nora decided that she didn't want to thank Ren with just words. So she quickly stood on her toes and pulled Ren's head down in order to give him a special reward; a prolonged kiss on his cheek.

Ren's mind immediately transformed into an empty space as he felt the warmth of Nora's kiss. Happiness was the only response he could think to express at the moment. He couldn't even form a complete word because of it. Nora didn't mind, fortunately. She found it slightly entertaining, which was why she was giggling.

*BAM*

The good feeling the duo shared suddenly disappeared when they heard something crash through the door of the rundown building that Mercury went into. And that something was Mercury.

"And stay out!" an older man shouted from the other side, which was followed by laughter.

Ren and Nora quickly ran over to Mercury and helped him off the ground. "Mercury!" Nora screamed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Mercury grumbled as he got up and pushed his friends away. Before they could say anything else, Mercury immediately charged at the man who threw him out. A kick to his face earned the ire of everyone else in the building, who immediately charged after Mercury.

"Well... that's a 'no,'" Nora said as she watched the brawl. She couldn't take her eyes off the sight while she talked to Ren. "You, uh, have any good ideas?"

"...I have a bad one," Ren replied as he moved his arms upward. His weapons emerged from his sleeves and Ren immediately pointed it at the people Mercury was fighting. "We call it a night when we get Mercury out of here."

Nora didn't have Magnhild on her, so she cracked her knuckles instead. "Works for me."


"Okay, it's official; hospital food is still the worst."

"I won't say I told you so, but I will say this; I told you so."

Cinder couldn't help but laugh at Eren's remark. They were currently eating in the hospital's cafeteria while Emerald was resting in her room. They had meals like this before, when they visited Mercury whenever they could. Since the boy needed to recover and relearn how to walk, all they could do was stay in the hospital and eat whatever was being served.

When he lived in Paradis, Eren learned the hard way to never let any food that came his way go to waste. It was a valuable lesson, but his time on Remnant had made the young man more accustomed to separating the good food from the bad food. And whatever he was eating right now was definitely falling in the bad category.

"What even is this?" Eren asked as he pushed his food, a sort of rubbery meat with what appeared to be gravy, away from him. "It lost all of its taste."

"You think you got it tough?" Cinder asked. "My food tastes like a fried boot."

Eren laughed at the idea. "Okay, now I lost my appetite."

Cinder joined Eren with laughter. "You'd think a hospital would take better care of what they're feeding people. If I had to eat this every day, I'd probably keel over and die."

"No arguments there. I'm surprised Mercury lasted as long as he did when he was here."

"Oh, yeah." Cinder thought about how Mercury could have lasted so long with such an atrocious excuse for food here. "I'm sure Vernal snuck him some food."

"Probably." Eren considered taking another bite of food, but decided against it and did something else instead. "How about this? Next time you make a great speech about Huntsmen and Huntresses, you throw hospital food in the mix."

"Deal. God knows this crap needs to change too." Cinder immediately thought about what she just said. "Although... does Darkness eat at all? You know, with the whole 'no mouth thing' he has going for him?"

Eren stopped looking at his plate of food and showed Cinder his puzzled face. "Yeah... I don't know," he confessed. "I'm not sure what he would eat if he could."

"Well, I'll tell you what I'd like him to eat," Cinder remarked. "You know, with everything he put us through."

Eren began to think about what Cinder was about to say, and it didn't take him long to come to a conclusion. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked.

The pair didn't wait for their respective partner to answer each other; they instead said the first thing on their minds.

"Darkness can eat shit."

When Eren and Cinder realized they were thinking the exact same thing, they immediately burst out laughing at the coincidence. As he laughed, Eren began to realize that he hadn't laughed like this since he left Kuroyuri. In fact, he didn't have anything to be happy about since he left. His days were filled with killing Grimm, talking about serious issues, and informal strategy meetings.

And now, everything changed because of Cinder.

"I missed this," Eren confessed. "I really did."

Cinder poked her food and looked at Eren. "Missed what?" she asked. "Eating this stuff?"

"No, not that." Eren pushed his food further away until it was out of his sight. "Cinder, I... I missed this. You know, just... taking a load off. Hanging out with you. We haven't been able to do that for a while."

When Cinder realized what Eren meant, her heart skipped a beat. Her lighthearted banter immediately became special when Eren told her that they were sharing it together, which meant the world to the young girl. All she could think of doing was smiling and returning the gesture.

"I missed this too," she said. "It feels like I haven't laughed in forever."

"I know. I needed this."

"Me too." Cinder decided to take a risk and slide her hand across the table. Once she conjoined it with Eren's hand. "It just... feels right. You and me. Exactly what I needed."

"It really does."

Cinder decided to take another risk when she realized that there wouldn't be anything stopping her right now. "Eren... what do you think you're gonna do?" she asked. "You know, when all of this is over? When Salem's just a rock?"

"...I don't know," Eren said as he leaned back and let go of Cinder's hand. Cinder began to feel upset from this, and upset that she may have done something to Eren to make him question himself.

But that changed when Eren gave an honest answer.

"It was always just one thing after another in Paradis," Eren began. "I do one thing with the Survey Corps, and then we're called into action just as the first adventure was over. I sort of got into the rhythm, and it was really hard to break." Eren chuckled. "I guess dying has its perks." Cinder laughed as well before Eren finished his thoughts. "I think... I could give the easy life in Kuroyuri a try. I'll still work on the farm. After that... I'm not so sure. Guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens."

"Nothing wrong with that," said Cinder.

"What about you?"

"Probably the same thing. Something tells me Mom's gonna need some help at the farm."

Eren had to admit, he was a little skeptical of this idea; what given Cinder's excitement about going to Vale, her willingness to leave home with him, and her passionate speech about the problems with Huntsmen and Huntresses. It seemed to him that there was more to his friend than living a simple life.

"No way," Eren said confidently with a chuckle. "Come on, there's no way you wanna work on a farm your whole life after what you did today."

A soft red appeared on Cinder's cheeks. "What, you mean the speech?" she asked. "Come on, that was nothing."

"I don't think a quiet room turning into applause counts as 'nothing.' I think you got the next Headmaster scared, whoever they are."

"You really think so?" When Cinder saw Eren nod, she decided to open up a little more. "I mean, I guess I could pick up where I left off. I actually have a few ideas I wanna share with other people."

"Oh, yeah? Like what?"

"Well, remember that mention about the mission boards being ignored? I was thinking that easy missions are always chosen first. Maybe missions could start to be assigned instead of chosen. Huntsmen won't have a lotta leeway to ignore the places they're needed."

"That's true. Simple, but effective."

"I mean, you didn't choose any missions when you were in the Survey Corps, did you?"

"No, we didn't. So you're definitely on to something."

"Thanks. I also did a little research about the Huntsmen Academies before tonight. Mainly how they choose students."

Eren's curiosity rose instantly. "What'd you find?" he asked.

"A few different things," Cinder explained. "But what stood out was the fact that students need to complete four years of combat school before applying."

"Sort of like basic training."

"Yeah. But I don't think 'basic' is the right word." Cinder reached into her pocket and pulled out her Scroll. She showed Eren an article about one of Mistral's combat academies, Sanctum. "They teach you how to fight people and Grimm. I mean, they go over the basics of Grimm, but they still teach you how to fight them. And how to unlock your Aura and build your weapons."

Eren moved his finger on the screen to see that each word Cinder spoke was true. "They can make their own weapons at these places?" he asked in disbelief. "That's impressive."

"And underutilized, in my opinion," Cinder said. "A majority of graduates go to Huntsmen Academies, but the rest go home. I thought they did this to better protect their homes, so I was thinking combat schools could be better advertised outside the capital. Maybe give a scholarship or something to people who want to defend the villages."

Eren knew that Cinder had his curiosity at first, with the ideas she wanted to share. But after hearing only two that sounded like they could do a lot of good, all she had now was Eren's attention and commendation.

"That's incredible!" Eren proudly declared. "Do you think it's possible?"

"I don't know, but Montoya told me that Councilwoman Redwood wants to meet me," Cinder revealed. "Fortunately, she came to the press conference a few minutes late; I think it might have saved her life."

"And she wants to meet you? Why didn't you say anything? Do you not wanna do it?"

"I do, but we have to find Midori first."

"We will, we will. And after that, we'll meet the Councilwoman." Eren quickly took Cinder's hands with a smile. "And you wanted to trade all that for a simple life?"

Cinder laughed again. "I mean, when you say all of it out loud..." She tightened the embrace and looked at Eren. "But you know, there would be one perk about me living a simple life."

"What's that?"

"...I could live it with you."

"..."

Both Eren and Cinder couldn't believe that she had said that. Cinder knew she wanted to say it, and she knew that she meant it. She also knew that Eren was right about the great things she did recently. With this kind of track record, the sky was the limit for the young girl.

But to Cinder, the sky wasn't as nice as spending more time with Eren. Whether this time was spent exploring more of Remnant or living a simple life, Cinder felt at her best whenever she was with Eren. And she hoped making her remark would make Eren see this.

She was wrong.

Eren immediately felt a sense of dread when Cinder said what she said. After everything she did tonight and before then, he too knew the sky was the limit for his friend. When she put her mind to it, Cinder could accomplish just about anything she wanted to. She could do so much for the people around her, and even grow past whatever mistakes she might make.

And now she wanted to trade it away to live under his thumb?

"Am I... holding her back?" Eren inevitably asked himself. The thought and the seemingly obvious answer both disturbed Eren, which caused him to stand up quickly. "I, uh... I think I'm done eating right now." He immediately walked to the end of the table to put some distance between him and Cinder. "Wanna head upstairs?"

"..."

Cinder, despite being caught off guard by Eren's actions, slowly stood up and followed him while putting in some effort to catch up to him. Before she could say anything else, Eren had one last thing to say under a forced smile.

"Yeah, the simple life doesn't have that many perks compared to what's going on with you. I wish I had what you have going for you right now, Cinder."

"..."

The honest remark had only succeeded in confusing Cinder. Eren was the first one to admit that he missed spending time with her, but now he wasn't willing to live a simple life with her? What did that mean?

Cinder quickly realized that she didn't have time to find an answer to that question right now, since her three other friends had returned to Emerald's room.

"Oh, hey!" Cinder said in surprise. "How'd it go down there?"

Ren and Nora shared a brief glance at each other and an even shorter look at a bruised Mercury before they answered Cinder's question.

"I think we need to restrategize," said Ren.


Eren and the rest of his team woke up bright and early the next morning. Before anyone did anything, they immediately used their Scrolls to look at the news.

"Man, I hope this works," Eren said to everyone.

"It will, Eren," Cinder reassured him. "It has to."

"I dunno, guys," said Mercury. "This seems like a long shot."

"We have no choice," said Ren. "This is our only hope."

Everyone became silent when Nora showed her Scroll to everyone. "Guys, listen!" she said as a woman came on her screen.

"In other news, the Mistral police force is continuing to rebuild after a brazen attack in their own headquarters," a news anchor began to report. "Multiple officers were injured and several civilians were killed by the homicidal Faunus Tyrian Callows when a press conference was given. Multiple Huntsmen and Huntresses have volunteered to aid the police uphold the law."

"Oh, great," Cinder said. "Just what we need."

"Shh!" Mercury whispered. "Let's listen."

"This announcement was met with a surprising mixed response from many people," the woman continued. "The families of the affected citizens have voiced their dissent towards the police for not seeing Callows before his attack, while others fear that Mistral is not the only place in Anima in need of assistance. This idea was brought to light by one Cinder Fritz, a passionate individual who spoke last night about valid concerns outside the capital."

Eren began to chuckle. "Looks like you're famous, Cinder," he said with a smile.

"Who would've thought?" Cinder asked sarcastically while laughing with Eren.

"We know, we know," Mercury said as he looked at the screen. "Get on with it, already!"

"She can't hear you, Mercury," Emerald said as she put her palm to her face.

"On that matter, the police announced that Tyrian Callows was not only involved with assault and murder, but also in kidnapping," the anchor continued. "Police and Huntsmen are currently looking for one Midori Kusuri, who can be seen here." The image changed from the news anchor to a sketch drawing of Midori. "Citizens are urged to call the toll free hotline below if they know anything. They are also encouraged to call the second number below. This number belongs to Eren Yeager, a friend of Midori's and also a person who spoke at last night's conference. In other news-"

*CLICK*

Nora turned off her Scroll and looked to Eren. "Looks like the word's out," she said. "Better take your Scroll out, Eren."

"Right," Eren agreed as he took out his Scroll. He then placed it in the center of the room, and the waiting game had officially begun.

This was the best plan anyone could think of last night. Eren and his friends needed some way to find Midori, or either one of Salem's followers. Multiple ideas were brainstormed, but one idea was eventually decided on; Eren would have to present himself as bait for Salem.

So when they heard that the police were still looking for Midori, Eren asked Detective Montoya if they could include his phone number along with their hotline. Montoya agreed, and now the easy part was over.

Now they had to see if Midori's kidnapper would reveal themselves.

"Any second now," Nora said as she stared at the silent device.

"..."

"Any minute now..."

"..."

"Three... two... one!"

"..."

"...One!"

"..."

"One!"

"..."

Nora was just about to speak again, but Ren quickly covered her mouth. "You're not psychic, Nora," he said calmly. He then removed his hand and Nora remained silent.

"Dude, this is bullshit!" Mercury said as he moved away from the Scroll and towards the wall. "How can this possibly work?"

"We already tried asking for help and shaking down lower Mistral!" said Cinder. "Unless you wanna risk getting beat up again, this is our best option."

"Come on, what are they even gonna say? What are we gonna say?"

"Whatever it takes to get Midori back," Eren said. "I'll surrender myself, if I have to. And then turn into a Titan to break whoever did it."

"And we'll follow Eren if we have to," said Cinder. "Maybe Emerald can mask us if she feels up to it."

"I can do that," said Emerald. "I'll do my best if it's more than one person."

"Just be careful. You shouldn't hurt yourself while you're still healing."

"I'll be fine, trust me."

"Sure, you will."

All eyes fell on Mercury when he made his sarcastic remark. "You'll be fine because you'll have nothing to do," he said. "I'm telling you, there's no way we'll find Midori like this. If Salem's people were smart, they'd take her back to her castle, right where we found her!"

"Calm down, Mercury," Ren said as he stood up and looked to Eren. "Eren, we were talking about this last night. Salem's followers may have taken Midori to her. If we want to find her, we'll have to go back there."

"Ren's right," Nora agreed. "Only question is, are we up for that? I mean, it's been a while since we each used our Titans."

Eren began to sit back and think. "We... may not have a choice," he said. "But that's not all; if Salem was ready for Titans last time we showed up, she'll be ready again."

"Exactly!" Mercury shouted. "So instead of sitting here waiting for a stupid phone call, we should be-!"

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

Silence filled the room as all eyes fell onto Eren's vibrating Scroll.

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

The first person to approach the Scroll was its owner; Eren slowly reached for the device and picked it up. "It's an unknown number," he said as he looked to the screen.

Everyone slowly nodded as they heard the news. Their plan seemed to be going well so far; all they had to do was execute the next part.

"Answer it," Mercury said impatiently. This attitude would normally earn a shoulder nudge from Emerald, but she too was eager to start the next step.

Eren briefly glanced at everyone once again to see them nodding. And so, he slid his finger across the screen and put the Scroll to his ear. "...Hello?" he asked calmly.

"Hey, Eren," a surprising familiar voice replied. "Heard you lost something."

The determined and ready expression on Eren's face vanished as he recognized the voice. It was a voice that raised more questions than answers, and it was a voice that Eren definitely didn't expect to hear again.

"Ymir?"

The confusion and surprise in his voice spread like a virus across the room, as everyone began to say different things.

"Wait, Ymir?" Cinder asked.

"The Atlesian?" Mercury recalled.

"Why is she calling?" Nora joined in.

"This makes no sense," said Ren.

Eren quickly shot his palm towards his friends to suppress the noise. As the room fell quiet, Eren heard Ymir's voice once again, followed by a dry chuckle. "Yeah, I know. Guess I wasn't the only one who never thought I'd talk to you again. Maybe your girlfriend, but not you." A louder laugh rang through Eren's ear.

"Cinder's not my... Ymir, what are you doing?" Eren asked. "Why did you call me?"

"You said you needed help looking for your friend. Midori's the girl we found with Salem, right?"

Each word Eren heard only left more questions for him. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, that's her. Wait, do you know anything about this?"

"Yeah, I do. Meet me at the cafe on Civil Road. Bring your friends if you want, but we need to talk. See you soon."

"No, wait! Ymir!"

*CLICK*


When Eren became insistent on following the potential, albeit unexpected, lead, everyone became insistent on going with him in case it was a trap. The young man agreed without much argument, so they all set out to find this cafe. It wasn't hard, but the cafe was small; too small for seven people to find a table.

Eren decided to go in alone while everyone else kept a close, and almost discrete, eye on him. Since he couldn't see any sign of Ymir, Eren sat at a table and ordered a coffee for himself. This was one of the beverages that he had been introduced to in Remnant, and he quickly became interested. Not that there wasn't such a thing as coffee or tea on Paradis; but they never had such things as "lattes" or "espressos." They were truly superior to what Paradis offered, and Eren made sure to enjoy one when he had the chance.

It was always the little things that made Eren think back on Paradis. However, it became harder for him to feel sadness or loneliness when he did so. Eren knew that Paradis would always be his home, but Remnant was truly superior. Not just in its advances in technology or society, but also how Eren felt happy to be alive again. Remnant wasn't without faults, but Eren was still happy to live here.

And the more he thought about it, it was hard to think of times on Paradis when he was truly happy to be alive.

"You got here fast."

Eren snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a voice and saw someone sit down in front of him. "Um, I'm sorry, ma'am," Eren said as he looked at the unfamiliar woman. "That seat's taken."

"I know," the woman said as she looked up. "I'm the one who's taking it."

Eren was about to insist that he was waiting for someone, but then he got a good look at the woman. She was wearing a plain brown shirt with jeans, and her hair was short and brown. Her face, save for her eyes, looked exactly like Winter Schnee, the current host of...

"Ymir?"

Eren's jaw dropped after saying his present company's name. She had gone through a big makeover, to say the least. In fact, she was starting to look like... herself.

"Yep," Ymir replied with a relaxed smile while popping the "P" at the end. "Surprised?"

"I... um..." Eren needed a second to find his voice. "I wasn't expecting to see you... like this. Or ever, actually."

"That makes two of us," Ymir replied without a care in the world. "As soon as I left your little freak show, I was determined to pick up where I left off."

"Left off?"

"When I first came to Paradis." Ymir took a sip of a coffee she ordered. "As soon as I got to this city, it was the perfect place to start fresh. Especially the lower half. Anything goes down there, apparently."

"I'm sure you felt right at home there," Eren said with a hint of sarcasm. "You certainly look the part."

Ymir moved a piece of hair on her forehead. "Oh, yeah. Getting the clothes and what people call 'hair-dye' were easy. Figuring out how to use it was a bit tough. I guess you're right; I was feeling at home here. I see why you like it here so much."

Eren knew Ymir's reasons for liking Remnant were different from his, but he didn't bother making a big deal out of it. "I'm glad we can agree on something," he said. "And I'm glad you're... happy here, but why did you call me?" Eren leaned closer to Ymir. "I thought you made it perfectly clear you didn't want to help us fight what we're fighting."

"Oh, I did," Ymir confirmed. "And I'm still not in the greatest of moods of having to see you again." Ymir let out a heavy sigh. "But it's not my choice, unfortunately."

"Not your-?" Eren quickly realized that something was wrong. "Did Winter come back?" he assumed.

"No, no, no," Ymir quickly denied. "You think she'd let me cut her hair like this?" She chuckled as she remembered the process of becoming herself again. "White was never my color. Besides, the Schnee hasn't been seen or heard ever since you put her in her place. Which I had nothing to do with, remember."

"...Right," Eren remembered. "So what's going on?"

Ymir took a heavy drink of her coffee before she replied. "Turns out I wasn't too careful when I left you," Ymir said. "You weren't careful either, actually."

"Huh?"

Ymir leaned closer herself. "You were being watched, Eren. All of us were, when I was with you."

Eren nodded slowly. "I kind of got that idea," he said. "How else could've the crazy Faunus find us? He had help too." Eren began to take another drink of his coffee.

"I'm not talking about them," Ymir corrected her acquaintance. "Do you know someone named Raven Branwen?"

Eren choked on his drink when he heard the name "Raven Branwen." He was forced to spit some of it out and cough, which gave Ymir an answer. "I'll take that as a 'yes,'" she said.

Eren got control of himself for a brief moment before he had to cough two more times. "Her?!" he asked. "You found Raven Branwen?!"

"She found me, actually," Ymir admitted. "I got a few days to myself when I came to Mistral, like I said. One day, I was attacked and taken to a spot where nobody would interrupt us. According to her, at least."

"She kidnapped you? Why?"

Ymir put down her drink and looked to Eren. "Raven said she saw you all together, even before I came into the mix," she said. "She was even there when we left the mainland. You know, when we went to the island?"

"Yeah, I remember," Eren said before an idea came to mind. As soon as he heard the name, he wanted to know what Raven wanted with them. But when he remembered what she said about Salem, how she thought they were working for her, the truth was evident. "She wasn't expecting us to come back. She wanted to know what happened, didn't she?"

Ymir chuckled for a moment. "I guess you got a lot smarter too, since you've been here."

"..."

Ymir easily brushed off whatever feelings Eren had to the small insult. "But you're right," Ymir confessed. "Raven wanted to know how we took on Salem and lived. I told her, but I was done after that."

Eren thought back on his first meeting, and battle, with Raven once again. If she was just as he remembered, there was no way the greed of a bandit could easily be appealed. "So... what happened next?" he asked.

"Raven wanted more," Ymir replied. "She even wanted me to get in touch with you again." Ymir winced in anger at the memory. "I said no."

"But you're here. You just called me."

"Yeah, I know."

Ymir suddenly stood up and pulled at the bottom of her shirt. Eren was surprised at the gesture and was just about to ask what she was doing. But when he saw a deep scar dangerously close to her stomach, Eren remained silent and looked at the wound.

"She doesn't take 'no' for an answer," Ymir said as she sat down again.

Eren knew Raven had no problems with attacking people and stealing what was rightfully theirs. This fact, however, didn't stop him from being appalled at the aftermath of physical torture.

"She gave me a few more before I changed my mind," Ymir said, breaking the silence in the process. "We were actually gonna find you when the Kingdom put that bounty on you. But when the real story came to light, she wanted me to meet you here."

Eren's hands turned into fists when Ymir finished her story. He knew Raven was dangerous before, but now she seemed to be even more so if she was willing to torture people just to get her way. If Ymir was just the start, Eren could only imagine what would happen if she got one of his friends.

"I'm gonna kill her," Eren said as he stood up. "Look, I don't care how involved you are, Ymir. Just tell me where Raven and Midori are and we'll go our separate ways again."

It didn't take a genius to see that the situation had gotten out of hand, so Ymir began to apply less pressure on Eren. "Whoa, wait a minute," she requested, almost begging in a way. "Raven knows who took her and where. And I'm gonna tell you, don't worry."

Eren leaned closer. "Who took her?" he repeated. "What, you mean it wasn't you two?"

"What? No!" Ymir rubbed her forehead in slight annoyance. "Why would we be trying to help you if we took her?"

"Help?" Eren moved back. "Ymir, did Raven tell you how she and I met?"

"Eh, more or less. It went along the lines of you two attacking each others' homes."

Eren began to relax. "Yeah, well... I didn't just attack her camp. We burned it to the ground."

"I heard," Ymir confirmed. "You know she wanted to go after you again after that? And after I told her what I had to go through with you?" She began to laugh. "It took a lotta time to make her see what you and I are doing is better. Don't you think?"

"What I do think is Raven's lying through her teeth. Why would she wanna help us?"

"Eh, you know. The enemy of my enemy, blah, blah, blah."

Eren thought about the idea for a moment, but came back to the same conclusion. His reasoning, however, was different this time.

"We may be up to par with Salem with our Titans," Eren said. "But wouldn't it make more sense to team up with an immortal witch with power over the Grimm?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ymir asked as she leaned closer to Eren. She then gestured for him to move closer to her. When he reluctantly complied, Ymir whispered into his ear. "The thing about Raven is that while she may be scared of you... she's terrified of Salem." Ymir moved back and spoke regularly. "Get the picture?"

Eren moved back as well. "So we both want the same thing," he said hypothetically.

"Seems that way. So once you get your friend back, do what you need to do with that bitch. No more hanging around going after small prey."

"I wouldn't exactly call a corrupt Headmaster and a homicidal lunatic 'small prey,' Ymir."

"Raven's words, not mine. But I've said too much." Ymir leaned closer again. "She's taking a big risk by coming to you first, instead of the other way around. So... you in?"

Eren leaned closer again. "Where is she?" he asked callously.

Ymir took that as a yes, and decided to explain herself further. "Don't ask me how, but Raven managed to see your friend get out on an airship out of Mistral," she explained. "She expected it to go directly to Salem, but it went somewhere else instead. A place called... the Forever Fall."


Author's notes: hey everyone! Thanks for waiting for a new chapter, and thanks for all the comments you left us. Before we go, the Avenging Titan and I wanna welcome all our new favorites and followers, as well as apologize for a lack of action this time. We kinda figured we should have more moments like this, and the same thing happened in the AOT manga. But don't worry, you'll get a thrill out of the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for being a great audience. See you next time!