"Hey, Eren" Armin asked his friend as they were reading the book "what is the most interesting thing about the outside world to you?"
Said boy sat back and thought for a bit.
"Hard to decide" he finally answered "I never really thought about it…"
"Well," Armin continued "if it were for me, I would love to go to the ocean."
"Why the ocean?" Eren asked him.
"I just like the idea" the blonde boy answered, looking towards the sky "you could have the freedom to sail wherever you want…"
"Yeah" Eren admitted lying back "I guess anyone who can go to those lands beyond the sea, must be the freest person in the world…"
Armin landed right on the attack titan. Eren still seemed to be knocked out, however the blonde boy knew just what to do to bring him out of his stupor. He fired his gear and lodged the anchors into the body of the titan.
'If this plan works' Armin thought as he raised his sword up 'I guess I'll never get a chance to see the ocean.'
"Why is it?" The blonde boy exclaimed "when I think about the outside world, I feel courage welling up inside me…"
Having said that, he stuck his sword into the titan's neck, just as Dina had done once before.
"Eren!" Armin cried out "Wake up! You're going to see the ocean!"
The attack titan opened his eyes. Eren saw that Armin was there. He looked to the distance. Bertholdt was getting closer to them with each second.
'What happened' the boy thought as he looked at his blonde friend.
"Listen!" Armin started "I have a plan to deal with Bertholdt…"
As Eren listened, he thought about Historia. Maybe she was still asleep, or maybe, she was waiting for him right at Trost.
"That's it" Armin said as he wrapped the plan up "all that's left now is to carry it out. If we can just trick Bertholdt, this battle will be won…"
It sounded risky even to Eren. This plan didn't feel like one of Armin's usual ideas. It seemed way more like Erwin Smith's.
"I came up with this plan" the blonde boy explained, as Eren prepared himself "but, whether it'll work depends on how much I can take…"
What he said, didn't sit quite right with the young titan shifter.
'Armin' the boy thought 'you can't be possibly thinking about…'
"Don't worry Eren" his blonde friend exclaimed "I still haven't seen the ocean, so… I'm going to stop before things get really bad."
"I've never been a hero…"
'That's not true' Eren thought 'the Armin I know…'
"Didn't we promise we'd go to the ocean together? Have I ever lied to you?"
The young shifter didn't know what to say. Armin's words reassured him in some way, but he was still reserved about all of that.
"No matter what happens, stick to the plan!" The blonde boy exclaimed before turning to face the colossal titan.
'I hope he believes that' Armin thought as he steeled himself for what was about to happen next.
Suddenly, Eren slipped and fell from the top of the wall.
"Eren!" Armin cried out with surprise in his voice.
Bertholdt used this moment to strike. His titan form took a huge swing at the blonde boy. It wasn't hard to evade his slow hand, but Armin had a different goal in mind. The boy jumped down and launched himself to fly right at Bertholdt.
As expected, the colossal titan started emitting steam like once before.
The current was pretty intensive, but Armin managed to lodge his anchors right at the titan's teeth.
'I knew it!' The blonde boy thought as he tried to cover his face from the hot steam 'his bones aren't being consumed! My anchors will stay connected as long as they're not inside his flesh!'
'And most importantly, he can't move his body when he's emitting that blast of heat!'
It was something Armin had picked up when looking at the titan, way back during the time Reiner and Bertholdt tried to kidnap Eren. Its destructive power was strictly limited to Bertholdt's ability to conserve energy. With that in mind, he made up this plan, in hopes that Eren would be able to finish the enemy shifter off.
'Can't breathe' the blonde boy thought as he felt immense pain from severe burns 'no, not yet! This won't be enough! I have to buy more time!'
To his unfortune, Bertholdt began blasting the steam even more intensely. Armin was unable to protect his face anymore, as the pain forced his muscles to retract.
'I must not let go…' the boy thought as he desperately tried to keep his fingers on the triggers, keeping the anchors lodged in the colossus's teeth 'I leave it all to Eren…'
'My dreams… my life… everything…'
'I know Eren can make it to the ocean…'
Having thought that, he finally released the triggers along with the swords.
'He'll just have to see it for me…'
The scorched body of Armin was blown away by the hot current of steam.
Seeing that his problem had gone away, Bertholdt stopped emitting the heatwave.
'It's over' the tall shifter thought, as he felt fatigue wash all over him 'next, are the Eren and horses…'
Bertholdt looked down, but to his surprise, instead of what he thought was the young shifter, healing from a concussion, stood a crystalized form of the attack titan.
'What?' The tall warrior looked with surprise 'a hardened titan…?'
'Huh…?'
This was the only thing he managed to think before Eren cut him out of the titan flesh.
"Got you!" The young shifter shouted as he pulled Bertholdt out.
Armin's plan had worked. The warrior was captured, and the colossal body of his titan was slowly dissipating.
'But at what cost?' Eren thought with sorrow as he landed near the gate. On a nearby rooftop, he could see what appeared to be severely burnt remains of his friend.
"Damn it!" The boy cried out "you were always the bravest of us all!"
