Chapter 18

"You weren't able to slip away?" Reiner asked with a frown.

Annie shook her head, not bothering to elaborate. "And you too?"

Reiner glanced to Bertholdt who frowned in disappointment. "Ever since these judges showed up, they've been increasing security."

"Could they know about us?" Annie asked quietly.

"I don't think so," Reiner answered. "They're having a trial in Trost."

Annie frowned. "That sounds like bait."

"They're having it near the breach," Reiner clarified.

Annie paused at that, cupping her chin in consideration. "Bait, but perhaps not for us."

"That could be reinforcement for us though, right?" Bertholdt reminded, almost desperate to be hopeful.

"Like we're that lucky," Annie remarked, unconvinced.

Reiner held up his hand in thought. "Wait, he has a point. Remember, they said that it was a voice, calling for "Yeager.""

Annie blinked. That...was a possibility, but it sounded strange the more she thought about it. "You think Pieck thought the Warchief was in here?"

"We don't know the situation out there," Reiner answered with his arms crossed. "We know more than the devils, but we're in the same boat: we can't be certain what is out there."

"But we can agree that this trial is bait," Annie remarked. "We need a plan."

"What do you mean?" Bertholdt asked. "Shouldn't we just lie low, until they let their guard down?"

"Ideally," Annie answered. "But if things go south, or we see a chance, we need to have a plan to take it."

"If something, anything else shows up, we let it play out," Reiner stated. "If the unknown...thing outside the wall isn't with us, we can have Bertholdt transform on them at point-blank. Hopefully, that'll kill one of them, and make it easier for me and Annie to deal with anything else."

"But, that would mean blowing our cover," Bertholdt reminded uncertainly.

Annie massaged her temple. "We have to start considering the possibility that the Coordinates are compromised."

Reiner looked at her in bewilderment.

"Eren, the lack of reaction to Maria and Trost, everything. Maybe the royal family doesn't have the Founder anymore," Annie pointed out grimly. "Regardless, information about something like Eren is almost as valuable as the Coordinates. The knowledge that there might be more creatures to challenge Titans in this world."

Reiner nodded reluctantly. "We'll see how this plays out and plan from there. As it is, we're just worrying ourselves in circles. All else fails and we have to escape, we can probably capture Ymir."

End of Flashback

That was all pretty easy to say and think in private.

"Tail!"

Many soldiers instinctively ducked down or knelt as the giant end of a tail passed overhead. It wouldn't have hit any of them if they hadn't dodged, but better safe than sorry.

"Watch it, Scales!" You'll poke someone's eye out with those!" Reiner called after the golden behemoth in jest, getting a look from the leftmost head.

He swore that head of Eren's grinned at him.

Reiner chuckled before allowing a troubled frown to form over his face.

There was one upside to the prospect of fighting Eren in this form- everything he and the others had taught their fellow cadet wouldn't translate well to a body without arms. But that was a small mercy. There was no way of telling just how durable Eren's body would be against hardened strikes from him and Annie. Or how much damage Eren's fangs could do against them in turn.

"Come on, Reiner!"

The blonde warrior shook his head as he caught sight of a grinning Connie.

"You don't want to miss the show, do you?!"

The show…that was one thing to call it.

The soldiers gathered atop and around the most undamaged buildings across from the sealed breach. There, several were fashioning some kind of pole into the ground. It was a testament to recent events that they didn't pay much mind to the giant beast looming nearby, watching the bustling of activity with mild interest, but it was obvious he was glancing at the boulder every now and again.

Or, maybe, the cannons atop the walls.

They were all taking aim at the area where, to Reiner's understanding, Ymir would be restrained for her "trial." But he was sure a few up there was watching the scaled creature too.

"Jeeze, there having it all the way out here?" Connie mused with a confused look. "Isn't that a bit dangerous? You know, with the Shifter?"

"Probably just some symbolic bull, judging her before the boulder and all that," Reiner answered casually as he studied the area.

Connie was right though. It was an obvious point, why give the prisoner more of a chance to escape? Even if it was just to project an image, it didn't feel right. Was it just really obvious bait, like they had thought?

Regardless, there wasn't much to be concerned about. Their swords and cannons couldn't breach his armor. Bertholdt could get rid of most of them just by transforming. Annie was a bit of a concern, but if the situation got too dicey for her, she could just lay low without shifting, maybe act as a surprise attack.

Still, seeing Eren looking at the boulder, Reiner was sure of one thing: the story about a voice beyond the wall wasn't some elaborate lie. It was unlikely to begin with, but Eren seemed too genuine in his worry to be faking it.

His eyes scanned the area once more, picking out where every one of his fellow cadets was. Bertholdt and Armin were on buildings closer to where the trial would be, Annie was across the clearing, the other side of things with Marco. Jean was keeping an eye on Sasha off to the side, closer to the wall. Mikasa...

Where was Mikasa? He couldn't see her, and that scarf was usually a great way to pick her out. That gave him some worry. His only guess was that she was somewhere up on the wall.

Either that or...

Meanwhile

Ymir felt no shame in admitting it to herself.

Being escorted to her "trial" by Mikasa-damn-Ackerman was more than a little intimidating.

Oh, sure, she wasn't the only one along for the ride. The soldiers had loaded Ymir and Krista into the back of a cart, still chained together. And right across from them was Mikasa.

The silence only made it tenser.

Ymir knew that the girl was dangerous, and everyone did. But with Eren Yeager dead, Ymir wasn't sure what Mikasa was capable of.

All the same...

"You got a relative?" Ymir asked bluntly.

Krista blinked at the random question while Mikasa frowned. "My parents are dead."

"Not what I meant," Ymir retorted. "You kind of remind me of the Shrimp."

"The Shrimp? You mean Captain Levi?" Mikasa took a guess.

Did she almost smile? Ymir swore she almost smiled.

"Yeah. There's a bit in the face, but you're both scary bastards with swords, and you kind of talk the same. Sometimes. It's the tone," Ymir rambled.

"Not that I know of," Mikasa answered with a shrug.

"Right," Ymir acknowledged. "So, if they decide I'm not worth keeping, what happens? They shoot me, or does the big guy just eat me alive?"

"Hey. Keep it down back there!" one of the soldiers snapped, riding nearby on horseback.

The silence returned.

"Obviously, they don't want you talking about the trial before we get there," Krista said with a sigh. "You know, so you don't try to escape?"

Ymir grimaced. "Sorry, right. Just trying to make small talk."

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't think he cares about holding a grudge," Mikasa stated. "He's more concerned with whose side you're on."

"He...?" Ymir repeated before shaking her head. "Right, three-heads. I almost forgot that thing can understand us. I'm guessing you've all been trying to talk with him?"

Mikasa raised a single brow before glancing to Krista.

The blonde tilted her head neutrally. "They didn't want me telling Ymir everything."

Mikasa hummed. "Most around here believe him, I think."

Ymir snorted in amusement. "Irony. I look human, but everyone's ready to chop my head off. He's a giant monster, but it seems like a lot are on his bandwagon."

Mikasa glared ever so slightly.

Krista cleared her throat. "To be fair, they haven't seen a lot of reasons to trust you yet, Ymir."

Yet. An interesting and important choice of words.

Ymir said nothing to that. It was true after all. "So, you here to kill me if I act up?"

"Yes. Mainly if you kill Krista first," Mikasa answered with cold indifference.

It was Ymir's turn to glare.

"Can you both...stop talking like I'm not here please," Krista requested awkwardly.

"Sorry," Ymir said, glancing away. "So, Mikasa. What's everyone else been saying about me?"

"We haven't really talked about you much," Mikasa answered.

Ymir snorted. "Guess the Golden Bastard got priority," she mused.

The rest of the ride turned to silence as they road through Trost.

Ymir narrowed her eyes as they went. She couldn't hear anything or feel anything. The giant lizard should be impossible to hide, every step shaking the ground; which meant he was either far away or standing still…or both.

A faint, reptilian call filled the air…far away then.

"He's getting impatient," Krista murmured offhandedly.

Ymir raised an eyebrow as she glanced at Mikasa ag-

She definitely saw a small smile that time. Mikasa had set her face to neutral fast enough, but Ymir was sure of it.

It felt like hours, but Ymir was sure the ride took only ten, fifteen minutes at most to get to the other end of Trost. They came to the clear area just before the breach-

And there was the golden wonder in all his gilded glory. His green eyes fixed on them almost instantly. Ymir swallowed and tore her gaze away, knowing it would just unnerve her to watch the six eyes watching her.

There were soldiers all over the place; the ground, the roofs, and the walls. And the cannons were pointed this way. The commanders were here too, with some people she didn't recognize. And just beyond them was a pole driven into the stones, with restraints on it. Lovely.

[[[[This is our trial too.]]]]

That was something Eren realized as he awaited for the "defendant" to arrive. This whole trial was some sort of presentation; soldiers working calmly with him nearby, a threat to no one. No one save any prisoner trying to escape.

It was a good idea, he supposed. Ignoring that they knew who he was, there was no denying his intelligence at this point, and showing he could be trusted to act as a guard to deal with Ymir should be decent proof for any that were still skeptical of him.

[We just need to pretend the cannons aren't pointed at us too.]

[[[They're not going to shoot us.]]]

[How do you know?!]

[[[They could hit the Commanders and the others!]]]

[[Shut up, both of you. You're making the priest uneasy.]]

All three heads tried to be as casual and unobvious as possible when they all glanced toward the Pastor in question.

Of the group around Frieda, he found only Pastor Nick a bother. The other two were on edge, but the wall zealot looked ready to spit venom but was keeping his words to himself…for now.

Everything grew quiet, the soldiers becoming still while eyeing a nearby street.

[[[[She's here.]]]]

Zwei suppressed the urge to snarl as the cart came into view, the freckled cadet sitting in a wagon; a wagon that held also Krista and Mikasa. That made it all the harder for the middle head to keep his ire from showing.

On a purely practical level, he didn't care about Ymir attacking him. If it was a misunderstanding, it was a misunderstanding. What she might be able to tell them about Titans was fundamentally more important.

He knew that, he did. Logically. But emotionally?

[You want to take another bite out of her.]

[[You're not helping.]]

[Don't worry, I do too.]

[[[That's WHY you're not helping.]]]

[And you don't?]

[[[Of course I do! But there's a damn time and place!]]]

[[And it's not now.]]

Still, as Eren watched, he couldn't help feeling like something was off about all of this. Something didn't feel right, not since he laid eyes on Ymir.

There were no words spoken to Ymir as she was led to the pole by Levi of all people, along with Krista, still chained to her.

The shifter sighed as she knelt and allowed her arms to be bound to the iron. "Fine, there, can you unchain her now?" Ymir asked gruffly.

"Shut it," Levi answered, nodding to Krista.

Ymir tensed as she felt Krista kneeling behind her, so they were back to back with the rod between them. "W-what's going on?" Ymir stuttered in shock.

"They want me here for the whole trial," Krista answered under her breath.

"Dammit. None of you better get trigger-happy up there!" Ymir barked out.

"You're not exactly helping your case."

Ymir's eyes turned to meet the gaze of...

She froze. She was older, and her hair was black, but that face was...It was almost Krista's.

"I'm Frieda Reiss," she introduced. "And you are Cadet Ymir of the 104th, correct?"

"Assuming that is her real name," a sullen-looking man remarked beside her.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's my name," Ymir answered, swallowing thickly. "I'm guessing you're my judges then?"

"I suppose we are," Frieda remarked. "Before we start anything, I think we should give you a chance to state your intentions."

Ymir stared pointedly, the air tense.

Frieda glanced in the direction of Erwin and Pixis over her shoulder. "Regardless of everything else, the Commanders say they have convinced you to work in the interest of the people of the Walls."

Ymir narrowed her eyes…that wording, the People of the Walls. Not Humanity. Well, that dismissed most of her doubts.

"Is that true, Ymir?" Frieda questioned.

Ymir firmed her lip. "It is."

Frieda's smile widens minutely. "Excellent. Now-"

A low, ominous growl silenced them all.

Every eye turned to the golden beast, whose gaze was intensely focused on Ymir. But his eyes were wide and trembling.

"I thought you said he was under control!?" Pastor Nick hissed to the Commanders.

Pixis frowned and Erwin was unphased, but neither of them answered as they observed the heads. The middle was still fixated on Ymir, but the other two were looking back and forth, as if lost and unfocused.

Mikasa gripped the handle of her sword tightly, resisting the urge to run out and figure out what was wrong.

"Krista, the fuck is up with him?" Ymir asked quietly.

Krista could only watch Eren with her own bewildered concern. "I don't know. He's just mumbling: It can't be, there's no way. It's like he's in shock."

Ymir started and paled as eyed the creature, realizing that it was starting to panic. And that middle head was staring at her intently. She didn't know how, but...

"Fuck. He figured it out."

"What are you talking about?" Krista asked, but Ymir didn't answer as she watched the situation grimly.

"Trips! Calm down!" Armin called out, standing on the edge of the roof closest to Eren.

Drei's head darted up and Armin felt something freeze in his throat; that terrible, awful look in Eren's eyes. It was sad, it was confused, yet there was rage building behind it. Armin hadn't seen a look like that since the Fall of Wall Maria, the death of Eren's mother. Something had happened, something only Eren had noticed, and his friend looked ready to attack...whatever it was.

"It's okay," Armin said, even if it wasn't. He needed everyone to think it was. "Just...calm down, you're scaring everyone. No one here is your enemy."

"He's right, Scales!"

Everyone, absolutely everyone saw how the three-headed creature stiffened.

Everyone except the speaker.

"Just tone it down a bit!"

The three heads turned numb, disbelieving orbs to the speaker.

Reiner blinked as Eren's eyes converged on him, the slits narrowed and piercing. "Oh. Right. That's how it is," Reiner whispered absently to himself, his shoulders slumped.

Armin looked at him warily. "Reiner? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. Eren's a pain in the ass as usual," Reiner said with a fond sigh. "Always making things more complicated."

"Reiner," Armin said slowly, suspiciously. "We're supposed to call him Trips, remember?"

Even with his back turned, Armin was very aware of Eren's leftmost head looming protectively behind him.

"Right, right. Sorry, Armin. Guess I'm just...not cut out for this kind of stuff," Reiner remarked meaningfully.

"If...if there's a problem, we can talk about it," Armin offered, sweat forming on his brow.

Reiner sighed. "Sorry, Armin, but sometimes, there's nothing to talk about," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "Sometimes, we have to act. As soldiers..." he narrowed his gaze, glaring back at the reptilian head. "And, as warriors."

Before anyone could react, Reiner grabbed a knife from his belt and slashed his hand.

Thunder filled the sky.

"By the walls!" Pastor Nick cried out in alarm as the wind bellowed around them.

"Shit. So, they were here," Hange cursed with gritted teeth.

"Hey, Shrimpy?! Mind unchaining me?!" Ymir yelled from her spot.

Everyone watched with grimness or horror as, on the side of the building, a Titan formed. Not just any though.

The Armored Titan, his great, shielded from caving through the roof and wall.

[[[[It's him!]]]]

[[We were right.]]

[[[[But how?! WHY?!]]]]

[[[It's been them this whole time.]]]

[[[[All these years, everything...]]]]

[I can't believe it.]

[...]

[[...]]

[[[...]]]

[[[[...]]]]

[You damn...!]

[[vile...!]]

[[[lying...!]]]

[[[[TRAITORS!]]]]

Eins trembled with rage, mouth snarling. Zwei stared on with cold wrath and disbelief. Drei...Reiner swore that head looked ready to scream and cry.

The Armor Titan had waited for the trembling, wrathful lizard to make the first move. He wasn't disappointed.

With a roar of hate and rage, Eren lunged at the Armor Titan, mouth open and teeth ready to snare his foe.

Reiner punched the right-most head in the snout, but that barely stalled it as all three mouths latched onto him and slammed him through the building.

The nearest soldiers had cleared the area the moment the lighting fell and the enemy Titan began to appear, to avoid being caught in the fighting.

"W-w-what's going on!?" Pastor Nick cried out in panic.

"A battle, obviously," Caven remarked obviously. Sannes was tensed, ready to dodge or run, but didn't flee in terror.

"You all should evacuate behind the wall," Pixis said calmly, watching intently as their giant ally managed to keep the enemy Titan pinned.

"The rest of you go," Frieda said with a sigh, limping over to take a seat on a nearby crate. "I think I'll just rest here."

"Ma'am, this is serious, we need to move!" Anka said urgently.

Frieda just sat there with a tired smile as she watched the fight go on.

"If that is your decision," Erwin stated with a look at Frieda before turning to the others.

"I'll escort these two back to safety," Caven said, watching cautiously as she led Nick and Sannes away.

"The Scouts will secure Ymir," Erwin said to Pixis, who nodded as he used his maneuver gear to get to a less hazardous spot.

Erwin looked back to Frieda. "Did you have a plan?"

Frieda sighed heavily, as if two giant monsters weren't battling before her. "Yes, we did."

There was emptiness between the two, a silent agreement that there would be explanations later.

"Levi!" Erwin called.

"Already on it," Levi answered as he hurried to get Ymir unbound from the pole.

"About time, shrimp!" Ymir called, watching as the fight got way too close for her liking.

Levi's hand snapped to his weapon as another figure dropped down in front of them, but paused as he saw it was Armin.

A very slimy Armin.

"Ymir! Ymir!" he called desperately.

"You survived, that close to him?" Ymir asked in shock.

"Thanks to Eren, yeah," Armin said as he caught his breath.

Ymir blinked. "Eren?" she repeated before smirking. "Thought there was something familiar about the golden bastard."

"Look, there's no time for that! If Reiner is the Armored, then that means...the others have to be..." Armin looked at her imploringly, knowing the truth but needing confirmation.

"Yeah, yeah, it's Annie and Bertholdt," Ymir admitted quickly as her cuffs came loose.

"Now you talk?" Levi said with a scowl.

"Bertholdt? Annie? Bu-but how did Eren know?" Krista asked in shock as she dragged herself up.

"Who cares! We need to-Shit!" Ymir cursed as she looked to the battle.

Reiner's Titan managed to kick one of the heads off his side, giving him a chance to pull his way out of the building, Eren's teeth scrapping deep into his armor with a horrendous sound. The Armored Titan's path nearly led to the four of them getting stepped on. Ymir scooped Krista into her arms and started to run away as Levi and Armin escaped on their ODM gear.

Eren roared wrathfully as he tried to bite at Reiner again with one of his heads, but the Armored Titan jabbed him under the chin. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to knock the mouth closed. Reiner wasn't going to let him trap him so easily.

But he was acutely aware that the fangs had dug into his armor. Not all the way, but against Eren, he wasn't impenetrable. Another sustained attack like that and his golden foe might breach the hardening. The unique ability of his own Titan was reduced to a temporary defense now.

Reiner glanced past his foe and wondered where Annie was. Bertholdt was waiting for the right moment, obviously, but he thought Annie would have joined the fight by now.

He heard the hiss of gas as blades broke against his armor. Reiner looked in surprise, seeing Mikasa landing nearby.

The look on her face was almost as terrifying as Eren's.

Her attack did no damage, but Eren didn't let the distraction slip away. Eins burst forth and bit into the Titan's lower leg.

Reiner struggled to keep his balance, lest he be pulled off his feet again. He raised a fist to strike at the head, but Zwei trapped that arm in his maw as well.

"Dammit, Eren," Reiner growled as his free hand struck the middle head in the one vulnerable spot Reiner knew of.

The green eye went wide as an armored fist buried into it, black blood gushing forth.

Eren screamed in pain, all three heads, but Eins and Zwei only latched onto him harder. Drei did as well, before he brought his head down, head-butting the Armored Titan in the head.

A great crack filled the air, the armor on the head of the Titan beginning to fracture and flake off as the Armored Titan fell once more.

"Amazing. Amazing, Amazing!" Hange all but gushed as she watched the battle unfold, her cheeks flushed ever so slightly. "Oh, Eren. So this is what it's like, watching you fight..."

"Section Commander! Please move back! You're too close!" Moblit called urgently.

"How can I move back, Moblit, from such a perfect view?" Hange asked with a grin, eyes never leaving the scene. For just a second, she sobered up. "Besides…he might need our help if more of our enemies show up."

The distinct sound of gunshots rang through the air, causing Hange to look off across the open space in surprise.

Then, just as with the Armored Titan, a lightning bolt fell from the heavens.

And there formed another titan. A new one, with blonde hair and a rather distinctive form.

"Well, those are definitely breasts," Hange remarked with a narrowed gaze. "Looks like the Female Titan has arrived."

End of Chapter

Well, bet you all weren't expecting that to kick off like it did! Yep, this whole trial was always going to turn into a big battle. Now Eren is in pure rage mode, and blew the cover for our Marleyan Trio.

To anyone that didn't figure it out, I showed a bit ago that Erendorah can see "auras" around living things, and that the Warrior Trio had unique ones. Eren saw Ymir for the first time since Battle of Trost, and noticed hers was the same as theirs. Three plus one is four, and Eren realized his friends are Shifters.

Hope you all enjoyed this! And Merry Christmas!

Early viewing of chapters 19-20 avaliable on my pat-reon:

p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64