Freida stood there watching as Ragnar finished off the remaining soldiers, crushing them in his hand and tossing the remains into the sea.

'He squeezed the soldiers lives out as if he was juicing fruit, and then he cashed the scraps into the sea. I suppose I ought to explain what the sea is; it's an enormous body of saltwater that covers 70 per cent of our world's surface.'

Ragnar then removed himself from his Titan and made his way back to the wall. He then used his knife to cut through the ropes tying her hands together.

"Hold on," said Freida looking at him bewildered. "You said that you were the Dragon."

Ragnar pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the blood off his nose. "Yes, my name is Ragnar Haddock. As you just observed, I have the power of one of the Nine Titans, which proves that I am subject of Ymir, just like you."

"You got into Public Security by pretending to be a Marleyan?" Freida stared, confused. "But what about the blood tests?"

"With the help of a doctor, they were quite easy to pass. Doctors make good spies; in all honesty, you're a fine example of that, but considering your results, I see why Garg remitted as he did."

Freida looked at the ground, ashamed. "I have no excuses. I was a bad wife, a worthless mother and an imbecilic woman. So explained to me why am I the only one left standing as a human? My husband… Zek… was something special, a subject of Ymir with royal blood. He could have made for use of the power of the Titans, and if you hadn't shut me up, he'd still be…"

Seriously she then immediately grasped his collar with what remained of her fingers. "Tell me why! Why did you say only me?"

Ragnar looked down and saw blood leaking out of her bandages. "Let go; you're just making your hands worse."

"I'm grateful for your concern, but I didn't notice much before when you are cutting off my fingers! So why did you transform into a Titan earlier? If you have made your move sooner, they'd be fine right now! What was the point of waiting for them to be turned into monsters?"

Ragnar then suddenly fell to his knees, looking utterly exhausted, and his nose began to bleed again.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Why do you look so pale."

"It wasn't only your comrades," he said with a heavy heart. "I have severed thousands of fingers from fellow-subjects of Ymir. I have created countless Titans from men, women and children. All the while telling myself it was for Vikan. I am truly sorry, Freida, but time is short. I'm interesting you with this last task; there's no one else I can trust to see it through."

Freida just looked at him in silence.

They then sat down on the edge of the wall looking out towards the horizon as Ragnar told his story.

"That day, when I first met you outside, you may wish that you are taking it back, but it not for what happened; you wouldn't hate Marley nearly enough to come this far."

"So, is that the reason why you chose me?" Freida asked.

"It's part of it," he admitted. "The country… your father… yourself… You board such hatred that look in your eyes could have burnt the world to ash. I felt that same rage for a time. Tell me what you know of House Haddock?"

Freida looked at him. "Only from what Zek told me. He said that your family were very close, advises the King, the great strategists. However, they disagree with the King's decision to retreat along with the Huntsman Clan."

"That's partially true, but while the Huntsman Clan wanted to preserve the Vikian Empire, my clan wanted to change the Empire to become more peaceful and less aggressive. However, the King at the time dismissed their ideas and hid away behind his Walls. While my family disagreed with his decisions, they respected his wishes, though they did fell from grace.

Half of the family stayed here on the constant while the other half joined the King and the rest of his people, hoping to change his mind. I do not know what became of that half of the family, but as for my branch, they try to perform several civil rights movements to end segregation of us Vikians. They failed; not only did they accomplish nothing, all of them were burnt alive. I was still young; I couldn't help, I just peaked with the closet door and watched.

"After that day, I swore that I would take revenge and restore the Vikian Empire, but all I've managed is cut the fingers off from my fellow patriots, kick them off this wall and wash the humanity leave them. I have to do these heinous deeds, or else I would have been found out as the Dragon. I'm not sure that I changed since that day; perhaps I'm still a child looking for the world in a cracked closet door."

"So go on and tell me this task," said Freida looking at him. "What exactly is it you're asking me to do?"

"I want you to make your way into the Walls and take the Founding Titan by force after you inherited my Titan, that is," he said.

Freida stared at him, shocked. "You want me to what? But I—"

"You'll have to eat me alive as a Titan," Ragnar continued. "That is also how you'll steal Founding Titan from the Royal family."

"But why don't you do it?" Freida asked.

Ragnar sighed. "Anyone who inherits the power of one of the Nine will perish 13 years later, and that's how long it has been for me."

Back in the present, Ragnar was reliving these memories and telling the others as Fishlegs jotted them down.

"He said that is the role, called it the Curse of Ymir," said Ragnar. "The first Titan, Ymir, died that long after getting her powers, and since none can surpass her, we have to do the same."

"So I have 13 years to live," said Hiccup solemnly and then looked up at Ragnar. "And you…"

"I've only got eight left," said Ragnar.

"Surely there's something we can do," said Fishlegs looking at the two of them. "I mean, we don't know for sure."

"It makes perfect sense to me," said Astrid as she leaned against the wall of her cell. "There has to be some kind of price to obtain the power of the two of you have."

"So what happens to the power of the Titan if you're not able to pass it along?" Fishlegs asked.

"If someone with the power of one of the Nine should dies without passing it on to a successor, the power will be inherited by a baby born after that death," Ragnar explained. "A subject of Ymir, of course. For that to be the case, it would seem as if all of us Vikians must be connected by something we can't see. There was one successor who said that they were paths… paths that the naked eye can't observe. Through which Titan flesh can move, along with memories and the will to act. These pass up countless, they reach far and in many directions, but they all meet at one quarter… the Founding Titan."

Ragnar had just finished explaining all of this to Freida, who sat there and listened carefully.

"There is not a subject of Ymir alive; who is it connected to the coordinate," Ragnar finished.

"Speaking of Ymir, who do you think she really was?" Freida asked curiously.

"To the Marleyan state, she's the devil's pawn, but to the Vikian Empire, she was a miracle of the gods. There are those who believe that she touched the source of all life, and who am I to say they're wrong. The sole truth of this world that I have found is that there is no truth. Any one of us can become a god or a devil; all it takes is for people to believe it."

"You're the one who sent us Zek, claiming that he was of a royal bloodline," said Freida suspiciously. "Was that a truth of your creation?"

"Unfortunately, Zek's royal heritage was objectively real."

"Then why did you let them turn him?"

"That would be because he had royal blood," he said simply. "Couldn't risk the Marleyans get him. He had to go before Zara could tell Marley more."

"Even so…"

"Even so?" said Ragnar raising an eyebrow. "The enemy would have forced him to impregnate poor unexpected women for the rest of his miserable life. Would that have been better?"

Freida just remained quiet, clearly not happy with this explanation.

"I couldn't save our comrades because they couldn't reach the Walls alive," Ragnar explained. "Only one of the Nine can make it past all those mindless Titans. I've done my duty, now do yours."

"To be perfectly honest, I don't become fit for the job," she said, looking depressed.

"You're going to do it," said Ragnar forcibly.

Freida looked down at the remains of Gravel. "Look at the sergeant; he was eaten alive by a Titan, and afterwards, you asked me if watching that was interesting? Well, that's not the word I would have used. Each moment I spent listening to his screams was unbearable."

She then looked down at her hands. "I didn't know what I was doing; if I had realised that this was the price of freedom, I wouldn't have paid."

Ragnar sighed and rose to his feet. "Stand! Fight! If you want to restore freedom and dignity to Vikan, then stand."

"I just… can't," she said, looking as if she was about to cry.

Ragnar then reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph. "I brought this from your home; look at it."

Freida's eyes widened when she realised what he was holding and couldn't bear to look at it. "No, I can't."

"So you can't fight or stand or even look?" said Ragnar sounding disappointed. "What's wrong with you?"

"There's no point in trying to make me remember my old hatred; everything is gone now," she said as she began to cry. "Except my sins."

"Those are all you need," said Ragnar. "The main reason I chose you was because of that day because you went beyond the walls. If you hadn't taken your brother's hand and ran past the gate that day, you would have ended up running your father's clinic, and your brother might be married by now. He might have even her children, but you never know what he would become. Ever since you tread on forbidden ground and took him with you, ever since the day I first kicked a patriot off this wall, we've known that we had to keep fighting to pay for our sins. Even in death, even after."

Freida then turned and looked at the photo, which contained her and her family and began to cry.

"That's right, you chose to start this story," said Ragnar as she took the photo.

Freida then rose to her feet and looked at him, and that one look told him that she was ready to carry out the mission.

"Each of the Nine Titans has a name to describe it, and that includes the one that you are about to inherit from me. Throughout history, this Titan marched in the vanguard; it has ever pushed forward seeking freedom and the freedom's sake it fights. Therefore…

"…it's called the attack Titan," said Ragnar.

"What's that all about?" Valka asked.

Ragnar realised he was back in the present, and standing at his cell door were Valka and Eret. He just stood there looking at them blankly.

"'It's called the attack Titan,'" said Valka mimicking Ragnar's gesture. "That's what you just did, remember?"

"No," said Ragnar as Eret unlocked his cell.

"Am I the only one who saw him?" Valka asked, looking at the others.

Hiccup rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "No, but… I think he was just…"

"Just what?" Valka asked and looked at Ragnar. "Who the hell were you talking to?"

"No one, it's nothing," said Ragnar.

"You said the name of your Titan, right?" said Valka looking a little exasperated. "Are you practising ways to introduce him or…"

"Let it go, Valka," said Eret. "He's 15 years old; we all go through a phase like this."

"A phase where we mutter weird crap while posing?" said Valka rolling her eyes.

"Mum, I'll explain it to you later," Hiccup promised.

"This, so why are you here anyway?" Ragnar asked, folding his arms. "I doubt you came all the way down here to check on my mental state."

Eret then opened the cell door. "Get out."

Ragnar looked at him, confused. "What? But I'm not done; I still have 10 full days left."

"I'm satisfied that," said Eret. "Valka just gave you 10 days worth of pain."

"We talk it all over with Premier Zachary, so don't worry," said Valka as Fishlegs opened Astrid's cell. "If we keep the brave heroes, who toppled the Armoured and Colossal Titans jailed, it kinda sends a bad message, you know. Plus, you are only defying the morons who Heather Beast and Armoured Titans at their mercy, but let them get away."

"That isn't true," said Ragnar.

"Let's go," said Eret. "Get dressed already."

"Wait, where are we going to, Captain?" Ragnar asked.

"A state meeting, her Majesty has come to Trost," said Eret.

At the barracks, Historia was in the conference room with Snotlout and Valka. They had just given her the letter that Ymir wrote.

To my dear Historia

As I write this, Dogsbreath is standing at my side. He knows that this is a love letter, but he still sneaking peeks. Honestly, it's no wonder that the creeper is still single. That said, he did give me his word that he will deliver this letter to you. He says he owes me for the time that I doubled back to save him.

I'm sorry about then; I never would have imagined myself choosing those two over you. I'm going to die soon, but I'll die without regrets or that's what I would like to say. Truth is, I do have one. It's that I never got to marry you.

With love

Ymir

Historia finished reading the letter and placed her hand over the text. Then suddenly, she saw flashes of images of Ymir's memories. Along with an image of Ymir on a platform similar to the one that her father had Ragnar strapped to.

"Wait, what was that?" she said as she examined the letter.

"Something wrong?" Valka asked.

"No," she said quickly. "I take it that this is all she wrote."

"Yes, she wouldn't be permitted to write anything that might be beneficial to our cause."

"Could there be a secret message that no one can see except you?" Snotlout asked who's left arm was in a sling. "Some kind of code?"

"I don't know, but frankly, that doesn't sound like her," she said honestly. "That idiot, what's with her? So ridiculous, planing off whenever she got embarrassed. I could never tell with her."

They then heard a knock at the door.

"It's us," said Eret's voice.

"Come in," said an MP opening the door.

Historia turned as Eret, and the others entered, and she quickly wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"Your Grace," said Hiccup as he and the others bowed.

"Your Grace," said Astrid, Ragnar and Fishlegs.

"Oh, stop it, please," she said dismissively. "I'm not actually ruling yet." She then looked at the four of them. "But wow, you've been through so much. Meanwhile, I've done nothing but watch the south sky."

"It's an important duty of yours," said Hiccup. "Just keep safe and well."

"Yeah, he's right," said Ragnar.

"A Queen's job is only supposed to happen before and after a battle," said Fishlegs.

"Yeah," Astrid agreed.

"It's good to see that you're still acting like yourselves," said Historia.

Everyone then immediately looked at Ragnar.

"Well, that… might just be hasn't sunk in for us yet," Ragnar admitted.

"Why do we get the ball rolling," said Valka as she cleaned up the table.

All the remaining Scouts, apart from Ruffnut, Dagur and Mala, gathered in the conference room with the Historia, Premier Zachary and the other heads of the military from all the regiments.

"The early life of Freida Keatson, the extent of our knowledge of Titans and their history and information about the world beyond the Walls," said Premier Zachary looking down at the three books and photograph they acquired. "The only people who know these books exist are those who are in this room now. These texts were obtained through the efforts of the 13 Scouts before us and the 199 others who were lost. On this day, and in the Queen's presence, I would like for all of us to assess the situation and come to an agreement about our next course of action. Scout Regiment Commanded Valka Haddock."

Valka then rose to her feet. "The Scouts have suffered a brutal staggering blow, in exchange for the lives of many heroes, including my husband Stoick; we have retaken Wall Maria and have seized control of the Colossal Titan with all of its fearsome strength. That said, we humans living inside the Walls have just learned how precarious our situation is. I would be relieved if Titans were the only monsters we had four enemies. Unfortunately, the true nature of the foe we face is human. It is a whole civilisation; one could say that it's us against the world.

According to these books, we are of a special race that can turn into Titans call the subjects of Vikian. We rule the world once, and some fear that we will again, so, despite our past sensual pacifism, most in this world would like to wipe us out."

"If Marley takes hold of the Founding Titan, the Vikian race will be finished," said Ragnar.

"But if they try, the King in the Walls will stop them," said Freida. "The King in the Walls won't fight. 'If Vikian is driven to sin once again, it shall perish as is meant to be. I have made a vow renouncing wars through the Founding Titan.' He said that the Royal family still on the continent, and then he closed his gates."

"But what about the Titans he threatened to send out from the Wall? It was the last warning he gave."

"Those words were merely meant to deter an attack; they afforded him a brief time of peace. The King of the walls stole his people's memories and told them that humanity was gone beyond the Walls. Surrounded by fools of his making, he tells them that they are in paradise. My family told him that a King protects his own, but he didn't heed our warnings. You must find that coward and strip of the Founding Titan's power. That is the mission I am entrusting to you."

"Doctor Freida did manage to achieve this mission as she passed the Founding Titan onto her son Ragnar," said Valka. "The Founding Titan's full might can only be only brought to bear when the power is possessed by someone of royal blood.

However, when a royal comes to possess the Founding Titan, they are overpowered by their ancestor's will, and they continue down the path he set before them. Such is the power of his vow renouncing war. However, Ragnar has commanded pure Titans once in the past to escape a dire situation. So despite his lack of royal blood, it is at least conditional possible for Ragnar to wield that power too."

'That's right,' said Ragnar though he wasn't sure how he was able to wield the power in the first place. 'If only for an instant. It felt like everything connected. Why? Why only then?'

His eyes slowly widened when he realised that it happened the moment it made contact with the Titan that ate Astrid's mother. He also remembered that Titan was his mother's husband, a member of the Royal family.

"There's no way!" he yelled, rising from his seat, much to everyone's shock.

"You scared me," said Valka back at him. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Oh, I just…" he said, looking at Historia.

"If you have something to say, we would be glad to hear it," said Zachary.

"Actually, it's nothing," said Ragnar, and he sat back down. "Sorry for interrupting, Commander."

Valka looked at him suspiciously. "Oh, I get it now, that's right," she said. "It would appear that Ragnar hears going through an awkward phase. He speaks out of turn, and often it's a nuisance of himself."

"Ah, I see," said Zachary. "That is rather unfortunate, but he is at that age."

"Ragnar?" said Hiccup.

Ragnar designed incitement and looked at Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs. 'I haven't told those three about it yet either. About how the Titan who killed Astrid's mother and uncle was actually someone my mother was married to. The thing is, I can't talk about it here. If someone of royal blood is turned into a Titan, then it might be possible for me to use the Founding Titan's powers while touching them. Who knows, it might not work at all, but if the militarily knew that it was a possibility, what would they do to Historia?'

Hiccup just looked at him suspiciously.

Ragnar was now injecting a syringe with Titan fluid to transform Freida into a pureblood Titan.

"Build a family," he said.

"Huh?" Freida blinked.

"After you entered the Walls, you should start a family," he explained.

"What are you talking about? I'm still married to Zek," Freida reminded him. "And you're about to transform me, right? So what, I just forget everything that you're telling me now anyway?"

"That's not always the case, and it's possible that someone else will see it," said Ragnar.

"Huh?" said Freida looking even more confused.

"Be it your husband, your child or even a stranger, love someone in those Walls. If you can't do that, it will only repeat itself, this cruel history, these foolish mistakes they will repeat. You have to see this through, complete your mission and save Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs."

Freida stared at him. "Hiccup? Astrid? Fishlegs? Who are they?"

"I-I don't know," said Ragnar looking just as confused. "They aren't from my memories."