2:34 PM

The footsteps rumble the streets which shake down dust over Louise's head as she curls up against the wall with her knees tucked against her chest, doing her best to drown out their sounds and the weeping of those huddled around her. For the first time in her life, the girl feels entirely spent from the grief of her mother's untimely passing. The only consolation she has left was the promise made to her by that redheaded soldier whose name she's already forgotten amid all of her anguish and turmoil, puffy eyes trace their path to the weapon that he gave her before rolling upwards towards the entrance of the basement. She finds herself rather intrigued when she lays eyes on the group of adults gathered behind a staircase.

Her childish curiosity gets the best of her as she carefully makes her way toward them, to not disturb those sitting around her. She sneaks behind the staircase and pokes her head from the side to spy on their conversation in which they spoke in hushed tones.

"You've heard and felt what's happening outside! They're destroying all the buildings! It's already been close to three hours the boy is not coming back, for all we know they're all dead out there!" A woman hisses at the four males around her.

Another woman who had saved Louise when her mother was devoured spoke. "We can't lose hope just yet! Kurt, please talk some sense into this madwoman!"

The man in question scrunched his face in discomfort. "I... I don't know..." He whispered.

"He told you it would be two hours at most did he not? It's already passed that, there's nothing but titans out there now." The brunette said.

The old man backs her. "This situation is rather grim I am afraid, we are far too deep inside the town to be able to safely reach the gate, and with children at that. I fear that the girl's right, we truly have no other choice."

The blonde woman spoke up again in defiance. "There is always a choice! What harm would it do to wait a day or two?! What you're suggesting... It is extreme!" She hissed back.

"That soldier said their headquarters were overrun, it would be next to impossible for them to recapture it, especially if the comrades he spoke of were cadets like him..." Kurt spoke defeatedly.

"If not them then the rest of the army! They could send in the Survey corps!"

"Oh please!" The other woman scoffed in ridicule.

Another man spoke up, seemingly convinced by them. "If we wait here which is all we can do, only two things are waiting for us, titans or starvation. It's over, the military will not be coming back just like how they abandoned Shiganshina and all of the other districts in wall Maria."

"I will not be complicit in killing children!" She replied in a tone of finality.

The brunette stares her dead in the eyes, before pulling violet flowers from her sachel with everyone's eyes widening upon recognizing what she held, Louise tries her best to see to no avail.

"Wolfsbane, odorless, tasteless and works quick on children. I keep it around me for this exact reason, we can sneak upstairs and cook it with some soup and pass it around, this quantity will be potent enough to kill us all quickly even the fat man Kurt." She said.

"That's..." The blonde woman falters before her voice dies down.

"We will vote on it, Those in favor of the madwoman?" Kurt spoke.

All hands raise except for one, Louise's eyes widen in horror before quietly slipping away. She makes it back to where she was and lays on the floor rigidly with a racing pulse, blankly staring ahead of her as the situation dawns on her feeble mind. Her breathing turns erratic as panic begins to set in, tears stream down her face once more as an aching desire to be held by her mother festers in her heart.


3:24 PM

A warm summer day engulfed the plains of outer wall Rose where three children sat on a hill after a morning's worth of play, Floch Forster relaxed himself as he laid down on the grassy hill with Sandra and Gordon flanking his sides.

"I think I know what I want to be when I'm older," Gordon said.

"What is it?" Sandra replied.

"I wanna be a part of the Garrison like my uncle! Then they'll finally let me go up to the top of the wall!" He spoke excitedly.

Floch laughed. "Don't worry Gordon, you'll grow so tall you wouldn't even have to join the Garrison to see what's on the other side."

Sandra giggled as Gordon sent him an affronted look. "Hey!"

"Relax! I wanna go there too." Floch chuckled, his eyes roamed up towards the skies and observed the clouds.

"Really?"

"Yeah, joining the Garrison to protect the walls and the people behind them? That's the greatest thing anyone could ask for!"

Gordon scratched the back of his head and looked off to the side in uncertainty. "Well, I didn't think about it like that..."

Sandra studied them both from the side. "Then I guess I'll join too!" She smiled.

The two boys looked over to her side incredulously. "Huh?!" They said in unison.

Her face contorted in rage. "Why are you both so surprised?!"

Floch laughed nervously. "Nothing at all, we just thought you wanted to work at your parents' shop."

Sandra huffed and looked away heatedly. "As if I'd want to make shoes for the rest of my life! Stupid boys."

"Then... That means we'll all be together!" Gordon said excitedly prompting both children to look his way.

"Yeah!" Sandra grinned.

Floch hummed before rolling his eyes upwards to the sky in thought.

"Yeah that is true, all of us together like a family."

Floch looked down to his sides to find that Gordon and Sandra weren't there anymore though he wasn't fazed, he sat up and placed his arms behind his back to support himself. The boy nonchalantly scanned the field around him to find all the greenery drenched in crimson, the clear blue skies now shifting into a dull grey like an infusion. His indifferent gaze was anchored on the sea of red dotted with corpses and debris as if it were as normal as sunrise. Before long a lanky humanoid shape emerges from the blood before him, an ape-like figure celebrates the harvest of blood and bone as it locks its gaze on him, it takes a fistful of dirt and rock from the tainted earth and wastes no time in hurling it at him. Floch doesn't move an inch off the grass as he watches the projectile speed towards him, it isn't before long that he is reduced to nothing but a splatter.

Eyes the color of amber fluttered open calmly in a momentary fit of confusion over his whereabouts neither screaming nor thrashing from the nightmare he awoke from, he sits up and tries to make sense of his bearings before a jolt of pain shoots through his head. He grimaces as he presses his palm against his forehead as if trying to hold his split head together. Floch peeks through the gaps between his fingers to find himself in a makeshift bed alongside a couple of injured cadets, four to be precise with one of them being Sandra.

"Hey, you're finally awake." A voice greets him.

Floch looks to his side to find one of the cadets he rescued earlier, lying on a mattress on the floor next to him with his foot wrapped in bandages.

"You've been out for a couple of hours, everyone's been holding this castle down waiting for you to wake up." He informed him.

Floch releases a shaky breath, still affected by the pain. "Where are they?"

"Majority is on watch outside for titans, though last I heard Jean, Marco, and a few others are in one of the offices upstairs."

His eyes lingered on Sandra's unconscious form. "Have we been attacked in the time I was out?"

The boy shakes his head. "No, the titans kept away from the castle so far."

The redhead stood up with some effort, the dull pain in his thigh suddenly stabbing at him. "HNNngh"

"Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine." Floch replies before fully standing up on his feet against the cadet's protests, he limps away from the room without another word.


Jean, Marco, Armin, Mikasa, Annie, Reiner, Bertholdt, Connie, and Sasha were gathered in an office at the top of the castle with the windows opened in case of an emergency. Armin was nervously pacing around the room like an anxious parent with the rest idly sitting around observing him, including Sasha who had been dangling her feet from the windowsill. Fed up with his pacing, Annie decided to voice her concerns.

"What the hell are we sitting around here waiting for? We should be leaving for the wall before the titans swarm us." She irritably spoke, Reiner and Bertholdt sent her knowing glances but remained silent.

"You know we can't do that, remember what Floch said, there are still people who need us out there!" Marco replied.

"In that case shouldn't we get help from the military stationed at wall Rose?" Reiner interjected.

Marco faltered. "That's a... Good point..." He trailed.

"The military might not agree to help, back in Shiganshina they left behind a lot of the people who were caught up in the stampedes," Armin argued somberly.

"I can agree that we signed up to protect these people, but doesn't it seem like this kind of mission is well above our capabilities?" Connie spoke with uncertainty.

Jean grits his teeth, seemingly in conflict with himself. "Even so, we have to hear what Floch has to say first."

Annie narrowed her eyes. "Why should we? He's not our commanding officer."

"But he is the one who took charge when we were all panicking on those roofs, it's thanks to him that we're here now with supplies and shelter," Marco said.

"Shelter that will not last long against titans, this castle is a glorified tombstone. It wouldn't be long before they overwhelm us, it'll be like fish in a barrel." Bertholdt added his correction.

Mikasa furrowed her brows. "I can buy us a lot of time until Floch recovers, I am strong, stronger than everyone here. If you're so cowardly that you choose to run away then do it, wouldn't make any difference to me."

Annie challenges her gaze. "Don't you high road me, you're only here because you can't cope with Eren's death aren't you?"

The air grew thick with tension as the two girls were locked in a standoff, everyone in the room grew noticeably worried that the two would have a go at each other, especially at such a bad time. Armin moved behind Mikasa and clutched her arm to prevent her from lashing out at the girl, Mikasa barely showed any reaction to this as she continued to dig holes into her forehead. The doors to the office were pushed open before anything regrettable could be done as a familiar redhead walked in, all eyes were on Floch as he limped his way inside.

"Floch!" Jean calls out as he rushes to his aid.

The boy in question limps his way to the center of the room with the help of Jean and sits at a table, everyone's eyes now focused on him. He glances around and notes the state of the town outside through the windows before he looks back at them. His eyes roam around from face to face, he doesn't single out the warriors as he does so, as all the hatred and malice he feels towards them at this point is concealed behind his weary gaze.

"Did I interrupt something?" He spoke.

"Fortunately, yes." Jean replied

"Then finish it later, Connie gather everyone outside on the roof, it's urgent." He says before ordering the boy.

"Alright, I'm on it!" He replies before bolting out of the room.

"Before we continue, I need to make sure we're all on the same page here. I can understand that some of you can be fearful for your lives but I must ask that you refrain from fighting amongst yourselves, we can't afford that right now." Floch began.

Annie scoffs. "Only because this mission of yours is borderline suicide."

Floch studies her from behind the bandages on his face, somewhat unsettling her with his steely gaze.

"I understand, and I can't lie to you with a straight face and tell you that this mission will be easy. Nobody here stays against their wishes, you're free to leave at any time, the rest of us are simply bound by duty. I gave my word to those people that I'll come and save them and I'm not ready to go back on it. If you cannot commit to your one core purpose as a soldier then, by all means, retreat to the walls."

Guilt eats at Bertholdt as he recalls the redheaded girl who had saved him the day before, he averts his eyes and looks down to the floor with a troubled expression as Annie sharpens her glare. She backs down as the remaining occupants of the room regard him with intrigue.

Jean was the first to ask from his side. "So, what do you have planned hot shot?"

"Fetch me a map and I'll tell you horsey."


"Get A Hold Of Yourself! You're Not The Only One! We're All Struggling With Our Fear..." - Marco Bodt 850 AD, to Daz during the struggle for Trost.


4:26 PM

"People up ahead!" One Survey corps soldier called out.

A brigade of Survey corps soldiers raced along the earthen path to Trost with one Erwin Smith in the lead, the horses were pushed to their absolute limit to reach the town as quickly as possible with the carriages carrying the cargo lagging not too far behind the rest. Soon enough, they were met with the first group of casualties being transported to Ehrmich, they slowed down their pace as the two parties crossed paths.

"Commander Erwin!" A Garrison officer calls out for him from between the crowds of injured soldiers and civilians walking past the scouts.

"Officer," Erwin replied, now walking at a slow pace.

"You're all late to the party, Trost's already gone." The officer says as he walks back with them.

"Next time we'll make sure we get properly invited, might tip the scales a little bit." Levi fires back sarcastically.

The officer looks slightly uncomfortable. "I wouldn't know anything about that, as far as I'm concerned we should have had you there with us."

"We will deal with this discrepancy later, what is the current situation?" Erwin interjects.

"The town's in shambles, it's been completely overrun about three hours ago! As of now the Garrison and MP have set up a joint task force to deal with the situation, we're quickly evacuating as many people as possible while they prepare to defend wall Rose's gate against the armored titan!"

"Has it made an appearance yet?" Erwin asked.

"Not as far as I know, the colossal showed up and disappeared as usual but no word of the other guy yet."

"And how are they planning to defend against the armored exactly?" Mike Zacharias said.

The officer shrugged. "Beats me! There's barely any defenses set up aside from the multiple canons stationed along the walls and the surrounding buildings, high command is scratching their heads trying to figure out a counter-strategy."

"Very well, we'll be on our way," Erwin said.

"Goodluck! Once you get there meet up with commander Pixis and Nile Dok, they've commandeered a fishing company's outpost by the river to use as headquarters!" He shouted at the men as he stopped walking along with them.

"So, the town's pretty much gone now but that's expected. What's our next move, Erwin?" Levi asked.

"Can't say, for now, our greatest concern is the second attack from the armored. We will need to meet with the commanders at the scene and gather more information before proceeding."

"There's bound to be some internal clashes between us and the MP's stationed there. Are we still even able to save Trost now?" Hange asked somberly.

"We don't know for certain, that doesn't mean we'll sit back and not try. Our primary concern should be to repel the next phase of their attack, we'll worry about sealing the breach later."

Erwin looks back toward all the officers behind him as he tugged on the reins of his steed. "Time to pick up speed again, let's move out!" He calls out as everyone follows behind.

Erwin sets his eyes on the path before him with a look of determination, the cost no longer mattered to him as they rode into the battlefield. Trost must be retaken by any means necessary.


Louise's heart raced as she watched the people line up to receive their share of the poisoned soup, she stayed curled up against the wall far from the rest as she frantically watched them drink the tainted water. She froze as her eyes met those of that madwoman, fear gripped her heart even more as the blonde woman from before approached her with two cups in hand, she knelt by the girl and offered her the cup.

"Here you go, sweetheart." She told her kindly.

Louise looked up at her with tears beginning to prick her eyes and shook her head, the woman's eyes widened as she realized that the girl knew about the poison. Her eyes softened as she smiled at her warmly, she set down her cup and reached her smaller hand, and reassuringly squeezed it.

"I know you're scared, please have faith in me. I'll never hurt you, child." She smiled.

Louise couldn't stop her tremors, however, she had enough trust in the woman to accept the cup even against all rationale. She reluctantly pressed the cup against her lips and drank the liquid before her eyes went wide.


3:37 PM

Everyone was on high alert scanning the surrounding area as some of the cadets helped the supply team setup more defenses around the castle, just behind them at the center of the roof a group of trainees under Floch's leadership gathered in a circle to discuss their next mission with the boy sat in the middle with a map spread on the floor. Bertholdt, Annie, and Reiner stood a good distance away from them to discuss on their own.

"I don't like this, we can't stay at this castle playing hero when we have more important things to do, it's an unnecessary risk," Annie speaks with narrowed eyes.

"I'm not a fan of this either, but we have no choice but to follow along with this charade. We'll slip away when they bite off more than they can chew and carry on the mission, nobody will fault us for deserting them." Reiner tries to appease.

She glares back at him pointedly. "Just say you want to watch your dear friends get ripped to shreds."

His face sours at her words. "They aren't my friends."

"Still, I think there's something more important the two of you aren't considering," Bertholdt interjects.

"What's that?" Reiner asks.

"Forster's been nothing but a thorn in our sides for months now. If we go along with this, we need to find a way to remove him from the picture."

Reiner contemplates for a moment. "I figured he'd die after I pushed him down and left him surrounded by titans here, but he managed. As Marco said, it's only thanks to him they've all reached this far, someone like him could prove to be a danger to the mission."

"Taking him out with so many people around won't be easy," Annie says.

"Well, Nothing is ever easy but we have options." Reiner muses.

"Hey, what are you all standing there for? You'll miss the debrief." A voice calls out from behind them.

Their blood freezes as they turn to see noneother than Franz and Hannah walking up behind them, to their relief it didn't seem like they overheard them. The couple walked past them as the trio share a look before they follow after them to join the rest.

"Alright, we'll go through it one more time since some of you weren't here," Floch says as his eyes roll up towards the sheepish-looking Hannah and Franz.

He takes a long stick and points at their position on the map. "HQ's here, our target location will be a residential building behind the Townsquare area just shy of six hundred meters away from where we are. With our vertical maneuvering gear, this distance is pretty much nothing, but we have to account for seventeen civilians that need to be rescued so we can't exactly just carry them all back."

"I assume we'll be using the carriages in the back to transport them, if so how can we provide safe passage?" Armin asks.

He nods. "Precisely, Cutting west through the government offices will be the fastest route to the Townsquare, All the roads on this path are wider and it will lessen the chances of any ambushes around corners. Still, we will need two people to man the carriages while the rest of us protect from above. Is anyone up for the task? I'd volunteer but I'm more useful in combat."

"Even with a bad leg?" Gordon asks skeptically, disliking the idea of his friend pushing himself to such limits.

Floch stares him down stoically. "It's nothing I can't handle, Gordon."

Everyone looks between each other in uncertainty, Armin was about to raise his hand before Sasha steeled herself and stepped forward.

"I'll do it! I've been driving carriages since I was a small child!" She shouts with a straightened posture.

Floch smiles at her briefly. "Good, anyone else?"

Marco thinks for a moment before he steps forward as well. "Me too."

"Good, we have our drivers. The next part is easy enough, This will be a twenty-two-man mission, and while It would be best for us to stick together I have to account for ambushes on our way back. We'll be leaving behind three people at each major intersection to guard the areas, Mikasa and I will lead the charge as usual. That said, squad seven is disbanded, Franz, Hannah, and Gordon will be filling the vacant spots in the other squads. Squads six and five will stay behind and help the supply team defend the castle."

"And after that?" Jean asks.

Floch stood up with a wince, discarding the stick. "Once they're rescued we will bring them back here and send word to the soldiers stationed at the wall Rose to open the gate upon our arrival, we move them to safety if they give us confirmation otherwise we'll resort to carrying them up the wall ourselves one by one."

Jean sighs and nods his head. "I'm fine with that..."

Floch looks back at everyone around him. "Is everything understood?!" He barks.

"Yes!"

"Then get ready! We move out in five!" He yells out.

All the cadets scatter to prepare as Floch walks with Sasha and Marco to the carriages down the stairs. He barely suppresses a grin as the girl goes on about her childhood out in the wild and her various adventures with her father. It wasn't long before her chatter devolves into food and rural delicacies, at which point Floch is grateful for Franz's arrival.

"Floch!" The boy calls out as the redhead pauses.

Marco and Sasha stop in their tracks and turn around but Floch quickly dismisses them, Franz is nearly out of breath when he's caught up with him.

"Something wrong?" Floch asks with a hint of concern.

"N-not ahhh... necessarily, I just uh..." Franz trails before pulling out a necklace from his neck with two polished wooden rings attached to them.

"I'm flattered Franz, but what will Hannah think?" Floch speaks dryly.

Franz's cheeks tinged in red as he waved his hands up defensively. "N-No not like that! Don't get the wrong idea, you're a good-looking guy but that's not what this is about!"

Floch chuckled at him before turning serious. "I'm just pulling your leg, but seriously, what is this about?"

"Listen, I just... I just need you to hold onto these for me while we're out there. I've been meaning to ask Hannah for a while now, but I can't help but think it's too soon, besides this is not the time nor place." Franz says scratching the back of his head.

"Franz, you're not dying out there, keep them."

"Please, Floch! You never know what could happen out there, While I'll do my best to protect Hannah my life isn't guaranteed!" He nearly shouts at him.

"And mine is?"

"You're strong, you have a good head on your shoulders and you're effortlessly taking charge of this situation! Of course you are! Between us two, you're way more valuable than I could ever be and you're far less likely to be taken out by those titans."

"Franz, you'll keep those on you and pop the question to your childhood sweetheart when this is over, enough of this."

"I'm begging you to take these! These rings mean a lot to me, I'm asking you to do me a favor as a friend, please," Franz begs him.

Floch mulls it over and studies him closely, the two boys gaze into each other for a few seconds before Floch gives in with a sigh. He snatches the necklace from his hands and turns on his heels to join Sasha and Marco without uttering a word.

"Thank you!" Franz shouts at him before running back up the stairs to rejoin the rest.

Floch paused in the middle of the corridor by himself, his face fell as he stared at the rings in his palm. His mask slips for a few precious seconds as his confident and strong demeanor shifts into anguished melancholy. He looks over his shoulder to check for anyone around him before quickly wiping his eyes and continuing forward to rejoin Sasha and Marco.


"We need soldiers who are able to sacrifice themselves to spare the others.." - Floch Forster 850 AD, to Marlowe Freundenberg on the day of the Shiganshina massacre.


3:48 PM

Rico Brzenska stood atop of wall Rose, somberly watching over the destroyed town through her telescope. She frowned at seeing the fires and smoke rising around the town, soon enough this will be nothing more than another Shiganshina, more settlements lost to the titans and in turn more human life. All the lives that died defending this place would go unrewarded, as Trost breathed her last.

"What the..."

A peculiar sight catches her eye, she spots a titan suddenly collapsing to the floor before she traced a smoke trail towards the previous headquarters. Her eyes widen in shock as she manages to spot a group of people and two carriages exit out of the castle. She lowers the telescope in disbelief before she turns on her heels and runs to inform her superiors.

"We're nearing the first checkpoint, first group detach!" Floch calls to the cadets a trio behind him slows down and sets up on the first intersection.

The remaining nineteen cadets pressed forward, with Marco and Sasha racing underneath through the streets. It wasn't long before they encountered their first titan, Mikasa tightens her grip on her swords before she launches forward and takes out one of them with ease. The other one makes a futile attempt at reaching at her before Reiner cuts it down. Floch watches over with keen eyes as he scans the surrounding area, if they keep up this pace they'll make it back without trouble.

"Second group detach!" He calls out again as another trio leaves the formation.

"Titan on the left flank!" A cadet calls out.

Marco and Sasha keep up their pace as they speed past the intersection before the titan even has time to react, the second group quickly descends on the distracted titan and puts it down without complications as they wait for their return. Mikasa dives to the ground between two titans in the middle of the street before attaching her hooks to one of them to swing back upwards, she slices off the first one's fingers then takes down the other one with Jean following close behind to take the last one out.

"Third group detach!" Floch says keeping a close eye on the warriors.

Reiner, Bertholdt, and Samuel stayed back and watch the rest continue forward, the two warriors send one last look towards Annie before briefly glancing towards each other. Samuel walks up behind them, somewhat afraid of standing by his lonesome.

With the target location only a few blocks away, it was now Jean and his group's turn to guard the final intersection. Connie and Daz landed a few feet away from him and watched the carriages speed off across the street, Jean sighed and turned towards his teammates to find Daz shaking like a cold kitten. He furrowed his brows and decided to address the boy directly.

"Get yourself together Daz!" He said.

The boy flinched as he met his gaze. "We shouldn't be here at all! I- I can't stop the- the jitters..."

Connie smirked and smacked him in the back. "Relax you scaredy cat! Everything will be fine! We're here with you."

"If you say so..." Daz spoke through gritted teeth.

Jean rolled his eyes before advising them to pay attention, he turned around and scouted the area, inwardly wishing for the day to be over already.

The main group finally arrived at Townsquare only to find it emptier than expected, though none had been complaining about the lack of titans. Marco and Sasha's carriages come to a halt just in front of the target building as the remaining trainees watched over them. Floch, Gordon, and Franz descended next to the carriages and made their way inside.

Floch guided the two boys through the rooms until they made it past the kitchen and near the entrance of the basement, Floch's nose picked up on the scent of soup and frowned as he did so. Risking their safety over food was foolish, didn't he tell them not to leave? He furrowed his brows as he gently pushed the door and walked down the stairs with the other boys closely behind, Floch knocked on the door three times without an answer.

"Why are they not opening?" Franz asked in confusion.

"Scared maybe? Or do you think they're all taking a nap?" Gordon joked.

"Gordon, shut up and break the lock," Floch ordered before stepping back.

The taller boy complied and walked over, he placed his foot near the handle and eyeballed it before kicking at it. It took three more tries before the door was finally open, Gordon froze and gasped upon seeing the inside of the room. Intrigued by his reaction Floch pushed past the boy and walked inside, only to stop dead in his tracks. His eyes went wide as saucers as he stared at the multiple bodies laying around the basement, some obscured in the shadows and some lit by the light coming from the tiny windows.

Floch's throat dried as he stepped down the additional stairs, he briefly noted the empty pot which reeked of soup as he made his way deeper inside with the other two close behind. His heart raced as he tried to search for Louise, he walked over to the body of a child obscured by the dark and turned it over, feeling a morbid sense of relief over not discovering her corpse.

"Louise! Where are you?!" He called out in denial.

He suddenly heard a gasp coming from the shadows in front of him, after some whispers two figures walked out from behind a box, Floch was met with the sight of Louise and a middle-aged blonde woman. Relief washed over him as his face contorted into a frown, his gaze met that of the woman's.

"Why did this happen?!" He demanded.

The woman didn't fair much better as she came closer, squeezing Louise's hand tighter. "They got too desperate when you ran late, I told them to wait but they were too stubborn, they found this a better alternative than being devoured by the titans." She agonizingly spoke before covering Louise's eyes, though by that point it was already too late.

Gordon ran over to a corner of the room and emptied his stomach, no longer able to keep himself together.

"Dammit." Franz cursed with clenched fists before he tore his eyes away from the scene.

Floch stilled for a couple of seconds as he processed his thoughts and emotions, he stood up a moment later with a hardened expression and spoke.

"Come with us, we'll get you to safety now."

The woman nodded as the group made their way upstairs, Marco and Sasha were shocked to find out what happened to the rest as they loaded them both on Sasha's carriage. With nothing keeping them around, the group turned around to leave as Marco abandoned his carriage in favor of ODM travel.

"Mikasa, there was supposed to be more than this, They're all gone aren't they?" Armin asked somberly.

"We just keep fighting Armin, there's nothing we can do about it now," Mikasa replies as she speeds away to take the lead.

Annie looks down at the carriage, she could only assume that the pang she felt in her chest was that of guilt as she sped away with the rest.

Floch barely pays any attention to the road ahead of him as they race back to the castle, all sounds drowned out as his mind flashes back to the corpses scattered in that basement. He failed those people when they needed him the most, and Louise would have to grow up with scars she didn't have in her original life. He frowned, barely having the will to press forward yet forcing himself to against all odds for everyone's sake.

'What is this feeling? I knew it would be like this when I came back, I knew that not everyone could be saved... I just can't seem to accept that this is the way it turned out. All of those things I told myself back then, building this empire on blood and bone, making those sacrifices, now that I've reached this point I know that it was much easier said than done. These people didn't deserve any of this, I could have prevented so many deaths, but I still failed...' Floch thought to himself agonizingly.

He felt a dull pain in his chest as he sailed across the air with the other cadets, the same feeling that flooded his chest when he survived the suicide charge in Shiganshina. Who would have known that being the chosen one would entail so much suffering and misery?

"Titans behind!" A cadet called out.

Floch was ripped out of his musings as he turned back with the rest to see several titans running after them, his eyes widened in shock as he screamed for them to pick up the pace. Mikasa shot her Hooks in the opposite direction and killed her momentum, allowing most of the cadets to pass by her as she chose to guard the rear with Floch.

"Mikasa, whatever happens I need you to prioritize that carriage!" He told her.

She nodded her head and they carried on forward, with Floch nearly praying for whatever deity out there to allow them a safe return to HQ.


"D-do you think they're okay?" Daz asked.

"Probably, Mikasa and Floch are there, what could go wrong?" Connie replied nonchalantly.

"T-True..." Daz muttered.

Jean furrowed his brows as he kept scanning the neighboring streets, he began to grow worried as time went on. From his position he could see a lot of titans concentrating near where the Townsquare was, at any moment now they should be returning with the civilians. Jean's ears perked up as he picked up on a sudden sound, he turned around to see a titan climbing up on all fours on a nearby building, it jumped at them before they had time to react.

Jean's eyes widened in shock. "MOVE AWAY!"

The titan crashed at their building completely demolishing it in the process, Daz and Connie were fortunate enough to be able to jump away while Jean was unfortunate enough to get knocked down to the street below. Jean managed to hook himself and swing down at the last second, somewhat softening the blow as he landed on the ground with a thud. Jean groaned as he tried to stand back up on his feet, gasping in shock once he realized the titan was now standing behind him.

He looked up behind him and was rooted in his spot in horror seeing the titan smile down at him, Jean backed away in terror as he tried his best to detach his hook from the side of the building to no avail. His heart threatened to pop out of his chest as it began to move forward towards him slowly, each step shaking him down to the core. He looked around him to check for his comrades, freezing upon seeing Connie's silhouette looking down on him.

"Connie! Help!" He shouted at the boy.

Connie stood on the rooftop unresponsively, he looked down at Jean with mixed emotions. A morbid thought entered his mind, he could simply allow Jean to die and secure his spot on the top ten to never have to face anything like this ever again. With Floch joining the survey corps and Eren and Jean dead, it would secure him a position as the top 10th graduate. He'd never have to fight again, all he has to do is sit and cower in fear for his life as Jean died. Tears streamed down his face as the guilt ate at him, and yet he made no effort to help when the titan grabbed hold of him.

"CONNIE!" Jean screamed at him as tears began to stream down his face.

Jean violently thrashed against the titan's grip as it brought him near its jaw, desperately kicking and punching at it to prevent the inevitable. However, by some miracle, its hands were sliced to bits freeing Jean in the process. In awe at the turn of events, the boy jumped away and managed to unhook his line before landing somewhere safer. He looked back to see Mikasa dispatching the titan, his puffy eyes widened in admiration at seeing his savior take down the giant.

"Jean!" Marco called out as he landed next to him.

"M-Marco.." He replied to him in a daze.

Marco rushed to him worriedly. "Come on! We have no time to waste, more of them are coming!"

Jean nodded dumbly before they both jumped away, Connie stood around for a couple of seconds in shock seeing Jean flying away until everything dawned on him. He felt guilt stabbing his chest like a serrated knife before he hunched over and emptied the contents of his stomach, Daz walked up behind him and frantically tapped his back.

"C-Come on Connie! We have to go!" Daz told him in a frenzy but the boy didn't reply.

"I... I'm a terrible person."

"Huh?!"

Connie looked up with tears in his eyes. "I'm an awful fucking person." He spoke before jumping away.

Daz was taken aback for a couple of seconds before he jumped after him in a hurry. "H-hey! Wait, don't leave me behind!"


Floch's mind raced with a million thoughts as he kept track of the titans behind them, while Mikasa could undoubtedly go back and deal with all of them it would leave the carriage exposed to more attacks which they couldn't afford now. The only good part was that they would eventually have more people to deal with the situation as it went on, though it did nothing to ease his concerns about the growing number of titans gunning after them.

'Shit, He's gone isn't he? This is bad, there are so many of them here all of a sudden. If he was with us he'd be dealing with them right now, I can only depend on Mikasa for so long until she drops dead from exhaustion.' Floch thought to himself in a fit of panic.

"Floch! We're about to be surrounded by titans!" Gordon calls him out from the front.

"We'll outpace them! Just keep moving and cover the carria-"

Time slowed to a crawl when he neared a corner, he glanced in shock from the corner of his eyes to find a titan on all fours in the motion of pouncing him. His eyes widened to epic proportions watching it lunge at him, without any warning someone pushed him out of the way and sent him rolling to the concrete in pain. All sounds were drowned out as Floch's head was in a swirl, he faintly heard a shrill scream behind him as a thudding grew stronger and stronger. He opened his eyes with difficulty as the headaches flared again, barely able to get a good look at the titan that towered over him before it collapsed.

Gordon rushed by his side and picked him up over his shoulders as Mikasa provided cover, Floch weakly watched the titan that came close to killing him chew on the person who saved him, even now he had no idea who the poor bastard was. It hadn't been until Gordon neared the rest of the group that he could make out the spine-chilling howls of Hannah as Reiner forcefully carried her away with them.

"You're strong, you have a good head on your shoulders and you're effortlessly taking charge of this situation! Of course you are! Between us two, you're way more valuable than I could ever be..."

"There's nothing we can do for him... Franz, not you too... shit..." Gordon's face scrunched in sorrow as Floch stared at the titan with lifeless eyes.

Sasha rigidly looked back for a brief moment, registering the recent loss of life before she set her eyes back on the road. Her face turned grim as she focused on returning the carriage to the castle safely, she'd make sure that death wasn't in vain even if she had to pay the ultimate price herself. Her eyes widened as she spotted a titan peeking its head from around a corner before she swerved the carriage to the opposite direction, a team of cadets jumped the titan and took care of it allowing him to slip through without trouble.

Louise's heart thundered in her chest as the woman wrapped her arms around her to prevent her from watching the unfolding battle, though the girl could still see from a gap out of the corner of her eye. She watched the girl in the scarf effortlessly take out one titan after the other with stars in her eyes, fully admiring her skills and strength as she gave her a minuscule amount of hope and comfort during this awful time.

"We're close to HQ! Keep moving, the supply team will be able to help soon!" Marco called out.

Sasha felt relief wash over her looking up at Marco as they neared the castle, if all went well they'd manage to slip out of Trost with minimal losses. It wasn't until she encountered a few bumps in the road that she grew worried, the carriage was caught in a small crater due to her lapse in concentration, crashing as it sent them all flying forward from the momentum. Sasha's eyes widened as she tumbled forward to the ground, she groaned in pain, suffering a few bruises and road rash before she shakily stood up with the help of a cadet who ran to her aid.

Mikasa frowned as she unintentionally raced past the broken down carriage, she tried to turn back for them only for a Titan to ambush her out of nowhere. With no other choice, the Ackerman had been forced to deal with her own situation first before providing cover for them.

"Are you okay?!" The cadet next to Sasha asks.

"Y-Yeah..." She mutters weakly.

She suddenly froze, her gaze traveling with unnerving dread towards the passengers who had been with her. She gasped in horror seeing the woman and child on the floor unmoving before rushing to their side, she knelt beside them and shook them both, getting a response out of Louise as the girl stood up in a daze. The other cadet checked on the woman, only to find out that she stopped breathing as blood pooled around her head.

"She's... She's dead, She took the brunt of it to protect the girl..." The cadet notes as they stand over the woman's body.

Sasha took hold of Louise's hand and picked her up before running the remaining distance towards the castle, she was about to jump with her ODM gear when she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks at seeing a titan standing around the corner next to them. Sasha stared up at it in horror with Louise's head buried in her neck as it began to reach for them, she fell back on her ass in shock as the hand drew closer and closer.

"Shit! The titan's gonna get Sasha!" Gordon screamed at the top of his lungs as he landed on the rooftop, dropping Floch to the side gently.

Floch watched on in despair as he looked around him, everyone now either running for the castle or engaging with the titans in complete disarray. The supply team attempted to cover Braus by showering the Titan in cannonballs, but none could land an accurate shot. In her fear, Sasha began to profusely apologize to the titan as it neared her. Floch turned around to see that Mikasa was preoccupied fending off the titans that had been chasing them, unable to help at the moment.

He suddenly felt goosebumps on his skin as everyone acknowledged a distant thudding, Floch's heart raced as he searched from left to right the source of the incoming titan. Fear gripped his heart as he assumed the worst, in a matter of seconds the titan that had been reaching for Sasha had been punched to oblivion as a new titan arrived out of sight. Floch sat on the rooftop gaping from shock as the attack titan made its presence known by releasing a guttural warcry.

"What the hell is that titan doing?" Gordon muttered in awe.

He stood up with the help of Gordon as they two watched the titan in awe, he was alive, he couldn't believe it! Soon enough he heard someone land behind him.

"Floch, Gordon!"

Their eyes widened at the familiar voice, both boys turned around to see a battered Ruth approach them hurriedly. She briefly hugged the two of them before separating, He gazed at her deeply, noting her short stature, her auburn red hair and her forest-green eyes, it was all there. This wasn't some hallucination, they were here, both of them alive and well for the most part.

"R-Ruth, They told me you died. I thought you were gone!" A stunned Floch spoke.

"I thought so too... Maybe it was luck or a miracle but I only managed to get this far thanks to Eren." She replied with a weak smile.

"Eren? Where is he?" Gordon asked.

"He's right there!" She said pointing towards the titan in the middle of the street, confusing Gordon.

"What?!" Gordon let out in shock.

"I don't know why or how but Eren can turn into one of them! Eren's that titan!" She replied in an upbeat manner.

"Eren is a titan... And he's saving us?" Gordon breathed out as everyone around the castle watched him engage with the other giants.

"I was scared of him when I found out, but then he turned on them. It took me by surprise, turns out they hate him as much as they hate us and he's nowhere near as hungry for human flesh as the rest of them!"

Floch's spirits lifted at the sight of him, and the corners of his mouth turned upwards as he watched his brawl with the other giants. His hope in humanity's survival reignited as he looked on, All those deaths won't be in vain now. He looked on proudly as Eren took on the titans one after the other in wild and violent motions, knowing full well that their chances of survival had just skyrocketed.

Humanity had a chance still, their devil returned.

His devil.


Hello, welcome again how are you? Fine? This was by far my longest chapter, I contemplated splitting it like last time but didn't, I still feel like I need to kink it out some more but I'll worry about that later.

I just wanted to give a heads up, I do reply to some of your reviews from time to time whenever I check, maybe they don't go through? Because I get no replies haha

Now here are some questions answered(From FFN):

Patjeeson:"So if Floch make Eren touch someone with royal blood we will see the return of S4 Eren in the first season or he will be different?" : Since it's obvious by now that events will change, Eren won't see the same future so a mix of both kind of.

FlochWasRight(Based):"...Especially because this fic ending soon? I don't want that!" : This Fic is nowhere near close to ending, there's still at least a minimum of 30 chapters left for this story likely even more.

Apulls:"Do you ever watch/analyze the episode of aot you're writing about? or do you do most of it from memory?" : If it's near a major event I'll check the Manga/Anime for important details, but most of the time I remember the core events by heart.

MisterFerris:"Will this follow the AOT Requiem ending, the (infamous) 139 ending, or will this fic have its original ending?" : How about all three combined? The Floch ending baby.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words, especially for the familiar names I've been seeing since this fic started (Apulls, Hope, bigmack, Born, etc..) It's always a pleasure to read your comments!

Bye now.