Ymir nursed me to health after I saved her from Marcel. Because of my exhaustion, my entire face ended up fused to my Titan which in turn tore up all of my skin and muscle when Ymir pulled me out of there.

She hasn't given me a bad time since I woke up. And even when my speech returned, she didn't fight me on every order I gave. She silently obeyed. It might've been the shock from seeing me so close to death but I don't think this peace will last between us. In the least, her sarcasm would return.

I don't know what came over me. I could've died from overworking my Titan or being exposed to Marcel. I want to say that I was protecting my interests but maybe there was something else. It felt like something took over my body at that moment.

I stared at Ymir for a while as she pilfered through the room. I didn't feel anything for her so that removed attachment for now.

She still hasn't apologised to my face for ignoring me and fighting Marcel, I realised as I fought the bit of resentment that was trying to take root. It doesn't matter, her apology when I was slipping out of consciousness was heard crystal clear and was very much appreciated.

"Take everything you can find. These people won't need their valuables anymore," I ordered as I took a very expensive necklace with polished obsidian crystals.

"How do you know they don't need any jewellery in the afterlife? Women would rather be caught dead than go anywhere special without them." There she was. I was glad that Ymir hadn't lost her sharp tongue when she mellowed to me. If she started being more soft spoken it would've become eerie.

"I found a sack for our loot," Ymir tossed a brown bag into the middle of the room.

The sack was filled to the brim by the time we were finished raiding the house that had given us shelter for a day. This was one of the homes closer to the wall opposite to where Bertolt and the others broke through. This area was in respectable condition. I guess the richest people from shiganshina lived in this area.

"Do you want me to carry it?" I offered to Ymir.

She shook her head and slung the bag onto her back. "I'm not as weak as you think." Then she muttered under her breath. "The only reason why I was beat is because I'm new at this."

We were ready now to follow after the refugees. My body was still aching and I felt sick but I need to transform. We need to catch up to the refugees as quickly as we can. We've already wasted 2 days being here and I still didn't want to risk having Ymir lose control or else she'd end up killing us both.

Electricity zapped the air around me as I cut my thumb. Krakoom! The earth shook as my body began forming and expelling heat from the exposed muscle. The wall was still towering over me like an ant looking at a house. This wall was the last thing Flora saw as I devoured her.

In a way, it was her guardian protecting her from all the bad in the world. Even as she died it provided her with a sense of love as it stayed by her side.

No one knew this about her. I doubt any survivors would even remember her. An unjust tragedy that I wanted to fix in order to make up for the sin I committed on her.

"What are you doing?" Ymir questioned as returned to a crouching position.

"Righting a wrong." My fingers dug into the earth pushing past the tough crust. Light refracted on the ground as I formed a statue made of Hardened Titan flesh in her likeness.

Her memories that lived in me helped dictate how I sculpted her face and clothes. She stood there in front of the gate frozen in a happy run as she chased after something no one would ever see. One day, when the Shiganshina Refugees returned to their home, she would stand there to greet them. She would try to run towards her people even though she could never reach them from where she was.

"You're a monster with a soft heart, y'know," Ymir commented softly.

"I didn't choose to be born into this world. But I have to survive. Still, it doesn't mean I have to beheartless to do it." My heart skipped a beat as the words escaped me. I don't know if I could really keepthis up.

"How noble," Ymir sighed. "I wonder how far your heart is going to take you. Because this life we're going to start living isn't a path for saints. It's a path that only devils take."

The distance to Trost is shorter than what I had to walk from the shore to Shiganshina. But it was still very tiring for me to trek in Titan form. Most titans weren't interested in us so at least there weren't many fights that would drain my energy further. And those that did think Ymir would make a good snack were easy to destroy. No crazy structures though.

I was partially sticking out of my nape by the time Trost was fairly close. "I don't think this bodywill last far enough." My steps were slower and parts of my titan were steaming off.

"How are we going to avoid the Titans?" Ymir protested as I set her down.

"We're going to have to manage on our own." I fully emerged from my collapsed Titan. "You need to train your powers before you use your titan near other humans."

I jumped onto the ground and looked up. I couldn't help but sigh as I noted the distance between us and the walls.

"Yeah. That's what I wanted to hear. We're just gonna serve ourselves to the titans on a silver platter. Why don't we do it literally, melt our jewellery down and make a real silver platter." She scoffed. "It's better than your idea."

"Once, we get inside those walls, you're going to have to start calling me Eliza instead. The other Titan holders can't suspect that I'm still alive," I said ignoring her comments.

Ymir just groaned.

"Open the gate!" Came the order as Ymir and I came walking up to the iron gate. A chuckle escaped me. That pitiful piece of iron wasn't gonna to do shit when Bertolt and the others decided to wreck their shit again.

An officer with blond cropped hair and a thin moustache came out to meet us and bring us in. "Thank you so much, officer," I blubbered between the tears streaming down my face. "You don't

know how hard it was for us to get to Trost."

"You're safe now. Both of you," He knelt to my level and tried to comfort me. "Where are your parents?" He looked between us though Ymir possessed a serious face so he wouldn't get any reaction from her.

"We lost them to the titans. They were able to keep us safe by hiding us in the basement. But we were too scared to come out until yesterday morning."

"You girls managed to get here all by yourselves?" He cried in astonishment.

"We ran all the way," I sniffed and showed him my bruised and cut feet. I had a feeling we were going to have to explain how a couple of girls made it all the way here. So I stopped myself from healing and removed my shoes. Hopefully the guard's pity would overweigh his want for answers.

"Come on. You're going to have to join the rest of the refugees but I'll make sure you'll both be safe. The King will decide what to do with us all soon but in the meantime the Garrison and the Scouts will do what we can to make sure…"

We tuned him out as we started walking. Ymir was behind me but she was keeping close.

"Jeez. You're laying it on thick aren't you?" She whispered.

"Don't want him asking questions. Adults will always feel bad for a crying kid." I turned off the waterworks and wiped my face.

"How Humiliating," Ymir scoffed.

Eh, if it works it works. I doubt we were going to be questioned heavily like possible enemies. But I think it would be easier if I didn't have to answer a bunch of questions. I wasn't in the right mindset for that.

The guard led us to a large building like the Lincoln Memorial. But the inside was a vast open courtyard where the refugees were camping out in.

"Thank you so much, uhm…"

"Call me Hannes." He smiled. "Hopefully we'll be seeing each other again. Now if you'll excuse me. I have to go back to the Brigade of Trost. We're in delicate matters." He gave us a sad smile before walking off.

I was left standing there frozen like a statue. I can't believe I hadn't recognised him. I guess it's because he's still not as buff as he'll become. Instead he was thin and gaunt with sunken eyes and a very sad moustache.

Ymir looked like she wanted to say something when someone interrupted.

"Hello? Are you girls alright?"

A kid our age cautiously approached us. His blond hair, blue eyes, and innocent expression was a dead give away as to who he was. That and the tenderly worried look.

"Armin?" Instead of my memories, the memories of Flora surfaced to my mind.

The bullies would always be talking about how easy it was to pick on people like him. They would boast about their deeds thinking that it would impress Flora about who could better protect her. Until the day Mikasa beat them up.

Flora also had an encounter herself with Armin. She was starving after running away from home because of a sibling argument. He offered her food and helped talk her into going back to her parents.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Uh, yeah. I don't know if you remember but you calmed me down when I tried to run away from home. I never had a chance to thank you for that," I don't know who was talking to Armin, me or Flora's memories. But I'll take the advantage where I can.

Try and establish trust with Armin. If I can get him to 'remember' me then I'd have an alibi for my origins which in turn would help me speak up for Ymir.

"I think I remember you," his face scrunched up. "But you look different. Especially your eyes."

Shit.

"Uhm."

"I guess you want to rest huh. I heard Hannes talking about how you both made it all the way here by yourselves. It must've been difficult. I came with my parents and I couldn't even take the feeling of being chased by Titans."

"Yeah. Resting sounds good." I interrupted.

"Oh. Hint taken." Armin sheepishly walked off leaving me in peace. I hadn't realised that my breathing was slowing down during the conversation until I found myself out of breath.

"Are you sure you're going to be able to pull the strings on everyone if you're going to be running the marathon every time you talk to someone?"

"I don't need your nagging."

"I'm only saying because I care."

"Since when?" I asked, shutting her up.

We found a place to sit down next to a column. We were going to be in for one hell of a life for thenext 5 years I thought as I looked over the crowd of refugees. It stank like dirt and sweat here. The moansof the injured and starving were also a little haunting.

"I'm going for a walk," Ymir said.

I watched her leave and I was suddenly for the first time since feeding Ido to her, I felt alone.

My thoughts were a whirl and I tried sorting them out. I couldn't come up with any goals to focus on at the moment and my thoughts were becoming a tempest.

I was saved from the tempest I created when Armin returned with 2 bowls of broth.

"Where's your friend?" He glanced around looking for Ymir.

"She wanted to go out for a walk. I don't think she likes being in places where there's a bunch of people." This place must remind her of the followers of Ymir I realised. I bet the next 5 years were going to be even worse for her.

I might've subscribed her to even more torment when I decided to intrude on her life. Sure in the original timeline she was fending for herself roaming the streets but at least she was able to be about on her own without having to report to someone. I'm going to need to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't try to run away. And if she doesn't come back I can always hunt her down by making a deal with Kenny.

"I brought these for you both. There weren't many rations left so I couldn't get you bread and water." I accepted the bowl he handed to me and the other one he set on the ground.

"I think this'll be enough. Thank you." The sad expression Armin saw on my face wasn't fabricated, I was actually feeling very lonely.

The reality of not being able to see Willy, Nan, or the other candidates was crashing on me now.

"You lost your family in the titan attack too, huh." I nodded noncommittally.

"My friends know how you feel. They're not too good at showing their feelings, but I know they're hurting inside. Behind all that rage is someone like you. Mourning the life that was ripped away from them."

"You're very intelligent, you know that, Armin?"

"Yeah, I get that a lot." He silently took the now empty bowl from my hands and in doing so our fingers brushed together. A spark of Titan electricity emanated from that touch passing on a memory to me.

'That's why no one likes you. You're a freak that buries his nose in books living in a world offantasy.'

"Oh my god." I covered my mouth. I hadn't realised that I'd repeated the words I was seeing in my head out loud.

"I've heard of people like you. Empaths I think they're called. You can see the most emotional memories someone has. I think it's a beautiful way to have people understand each other. Whatever you saw was right though. But one day it'll be useful. I'll be useful to my friends." Armin offered me his hand.

I took it.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Eliza. I don't think I need a last name anymore."

"Well, then nice to meet you." He smiled.

We kind of slipped into a moment where we just sat in a comfortable silence staring at each other. "Your eyes. They're beautiful, I've never seen anything like them." I raised an eyebrow at his

statement.

"Really? But there's so many people that have brown eyes."

"Brown? No, your eyes aren't brown. They're golden." Armin dug out a piece of scrap metal from his pocket and handed it to me.

I looked at my reflection and sure enough, I saw a pair of golden eyes staring back at me. Just like Adaleigh's eyes. Just like the ones on my decaying Titan. Did this have something to do with the Hidden Titan? I was pretty sure I picked brown eyes when I changed my appearance.

"That's weird," I whispered to myself.

"Why is he back?" I looked up to see Ymir standing with her arms crossed.

"Oh, hi! I brought you guys something to eat. I guessed you guys might be hungry. I'm Armin Arlert." I laughed at the boy's cute optimism making him blush. It really clashed against Ymir's brooding appearance.

Ymir's eyes darted between us and I swear if looks could kill, her gaze would've detonated a nuclear bomb in this centre.

"Ymir," she brushed past him coldly to sit next to me barring Armin away from me. She didn't even spare a glance at the bowl Armin brought.

"Uhm. Okay, I need to go meet up with my friends. I'll see you later?" He looked at me. "Definitely." I waved goodbye. "There was no need to be rude, you know." Ymir met my gaze with an eye roll.

"He's a scrawny kid. What use is he to you?"

Ymir moved away from me to lean against the column but I could see her glaring at Armin's back. I don't know what her deal was but I hope she wouldn't fuck with my plans.

I felt something wet start dripping from my nose. Puzzled, I touched my fingers to my upper lip where the liquid was flooding over and brought it up to my eyes to see.

My fingers were covered in red. I had a nosebleed going on. I tried to cover it up with my sleeve but all I did was end up smearing it over my mouth and getting Ymir's attention.

"Whoa, what's going on? Are you bleeding!?"

"Yeah," I gasped as I tilted my head back to interrupt the flow.

"Fucking jeez." I sat still as she came over to my side and took my head into her arms.

"Hey, Eliza. I was wondering if you'd like to come with us to get something to eat." Armin's offer startled me and I quickly zipped my bag shut.

I was going through the things wondering how I'd be able to trade them in for money so that they could make themselves useful. I don't know why I panicked but I did and when I turned to Armin he was giving me a curious look.

"Just some stuff I managed to save from my home," I sheepishly opened the bag to show him what was inside.

"That's a lot of gold." I chuckled at his disbelief.

"Yeah. It is, and I was wondering how I could sell this all."

"You're not going to keep it? This belonged to your family," he asked in a small voice. His eyes looked down as he clutched his arm close to his chest. I could feel his sadness for me.

"I don't have a home to put these in anymore. They'd be more helpful to me as money rather than having to lug them around everywhere I go. Besides, if we can sell these things we can have a better breakfast than the broth and bread loaves they give us."

"Wha… what? You don't have to," Armin took a step back. A drop of sweat ran down the side of his face. He stretched his collar out uncomfortably as he stared back at his friends.

Mikasa and Eren were busy arguing over something so they weren't aware of what was going on. "You would be spending too much if you buy food for you and your friend and then for us."

"It would be the least I could do if you help me search for a place to sell these wastes of space. Come on. I'll wake Ymir up and then we can leave."

I left before he could answer. I was a few feet away from where Ymir and I had gone to sleep and there were a bunch of people huddled in groups on the ground so I had to step over everyone carefully.

I had to shake Ymir a few times before I could get her to wake up.

"What's wrong?" She yawned. Her arms stretched up as she bent backward to pop the stiff bones in her back. She was smacking her lips when she looked up and spotted Armin. She stared at me with a grave expression. "What's he doing back here?" She sighed.

Ymir scratched her head looking a little irritated breaking the illusion of her steel face.

"He's inviting us to go eat breakfast with his friends. It's also a great time to go sell the stuff we, uh, scavenged," my eyes instinctively avoided her gaze out of embarrassment.

"Lemme guess, you told him they were like family heirlooms or something." "Maybe?" I felt like a mouse in a spotlight.

"You're hopeless." She stood up pinching the bridge of her nose and breathed in. "Let's go then." Armin got me formally acquainted with Eren and Mikasa. Ymir like always, stayed next to me

refusing to talk to anyone but at least she wasn't going off on her own.

"Did you guys watch the Big one when it broke the wall?" Eren asked with a hard voice. His hands were curled into fists at the side of his body and you could tell that his jaw was clenched hard.

"No. When chaos broke out our parents threw us in the basement to keep us safe. We came out the next day when the titans had overrun the district and all of you left." I thought of Ido as I spoke. It made my throat tighten and eyes burn.

I found myself standing still when I finished telling them my lies. Ymir was at my side with her head turned away. I could feel the others staring at me from behind.

"Hey, at least you were brave for your sister," Armin came up and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Oh, no! We're not sisters!"

"We're not related!"

Ymir and I both protested.

I reared back. "Our parents just — we. My parents took her in a few years ago. But we're not blood related." I scratched my arm. My stomach was turning as I hoped they wouldn't press the issue further.

"Yeah. I can't even imagine being related to her."

Indignation flared in my chest. I looked at Ymir. Her face was red, I guess that's how much she hated me. Well then the feeling's mutual. "And I'm glad we're not," I crossed my arms.

"Eh," Armin chuckled nervously.

"Are you planning on joining the scouts?" I blinked. Eren restarted our walk. "It sounds like you both lost a lot that day. Don't you want payback!?" He roared when he saw a lack of reaction in us.

"Maybe?"

"What do you mean maybe? Are you so ready to waste your life being their cattle?! We're just being raised so that we can be fed to those things. That damned thing is going to return one day and repeat what they did to our home until there's no more walls left!" Eren smashed his foot into a pebble and launched it over the roofs.

"And you're going to make the world a safer place for everyone?" Ymir laughed. "You're a runt who's only going to get himself killed. Maybe you were the hotshot in your neighbourhood but you don't know just how powerful a Titan is."

"She's right, Eren." Mikasa and Ymir locked eyes.

"Then I'll die trying to be free."

Sorry for updating late but I was having some computer issues and when I try uploading a document on mobile it ends up mixed with a bunch of code.

Like always thank you for reading and waiting for me.

Cdog: aww thanks. You're too kind XD you make it difficult to eat my fruity pebbles while checking my inbox.

BiggestDouchebag: I don't know who you're talking about but I think America in AoT is like America in FMA(2003) where they don't show because they're not important like you said. And for the Warhammer Tether, I think it was explained why Elizabeth doesn't use it in chapter 2, because she likes being up close and personal to the action. Unless I deleted that hit during editing.