Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin.

A/N: And, I'm back! This is the finale of the Trost District battle that you've all been waiting for. After this, things will be kicking off slightly differently than in the anime or manga. Think of it as an interlude before we move on with the plot towards the expedition. Anyway, thank you for the reviews and new favs! I really appreciate you guys :)

Act I

Chapter VII: When The Curtain Falls

It was like someone was hammering my head. Everything ached from my muscles to my bones. My vision was a blurry, hazy mess. Something was buzzing in my ears and it took me a moment to recognize the jarred, fractured waves as distant echoes from the crowd.

Shit, I feel like my head's on fire...

My eyelids twitched as I made a token effort to block the giant mass of yellow (or maybe it was flaring red) from my burning vision. The sun was directly in my eyes and even squinting didn't lessen the pain.

I attempted to drag my arm over my face, but it was just too much work and nothing moved according to my will.

A deep, raspy groan of resignation spilled from my cracked lips.

God, everything hurts...

"...Rose? Is that you?" A familiar voice called my name and I forced one of my eyes to crack open. The sunlight blinded me and I only coughed violently in response. My eyes shut tight, face contorting into one of pain and exhaustion.

A moment later, a shadow loomed over me, finally allowing my vision to work. My eyes flickered open and I was met with Jean's face filled with relief.

"J-Jean?" I managed to croak out. "W-Where am...I?"

"You're safe here. We've reached the designated area. Everyone's here," Jean quickly rambled, leaving out huge chunks of his explanation much to my chagrin. He reached his hand across the table and grabbed a glass of water. "Take a sip. It'll help calm down your fever and dry throat." He handed me the glass from his seat next to my lying feet.

My forehead was creasing as I stared up at him with confusion. Fever? What happened to me?

The voiceless question was hanging on my lips as I gratefully took the glass and chugged the whole lot down in one sitting. A wave of fresh air entered my lungs and all of a sudden, I felt like I could breathe normally again.

I sighed heavily, handing the glass back down him before I lifted my back off the bench with much struggling and slips of profanities on my part. With my back now straight, I cracked my neck to the side and turned to face him.

"Uh, what happened to me?" The question finally flew out of my mouth.

Jean frowned, his eyes darkening with worry again. "You don't remember? Not a single thing?"

I slid a hand across my face, wiping all remnants of post-sleep dizziness away as I tried to recall everything that occurred so far. "No, I'm not amnesiac. I just...I remember starting our plan to retake back the supply area. And then Sasha and Connie failed, so I had to help them." A quick flash of pain in my head made me visibly wince. "After that, I don't really remember the details..." I trailed off pathetically.

Jean was quiet. His mouth was moving, opening and closing, but whatever it was he was dying to ask about, he held it back. A strained and somewhat forced smile made its way up onto his features. "You fainted. Maybe it was from exhaustion. Anyway, we made it all out alive because of you."

"I did? So no one died?" I asked, eyes widening in disbelief. "I saved everyone?"

He nodded stiffly. "Yeah, you sure did. You have our thanks for that..." He paused for a moment. I watched as an unknown emotion flickered past his eyes. Then, he sighed loudly before he abruptly placed his hands onto his knees and bowed his head down a hefty ninety-degree angle.

I jolted, mouth gaping wide in panic. "W-What are you doing? Why are you bowing your head down towards me?"

"I'm so sorry!" He yelled out, catching the attention of a few onlookers nearby. "I know you don't remember much, but I did something really underhanded to you and I can't apologize enough for it!"

"H-Hold up, Jean! Shush!" I frantically glanced around, feeling the heavy stares from the crowd. "Don't make such a loud fuss! You're catching everyone's attention!"

He blinked twice before he lifted his head again and shot me a sheepish grin. "Oops. Sorry." He repeated the apology while rubbing the back of his head, ears shining red at the edges. "Didn't mean to be so loud."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, you sure as hell are. And what was that you said? Something underhanded? What did you do?" A ridiculous notion entered my head and I squawked, jaws dropping to the floor with my eyes bulging. "Y-You!" I pointed a shaking finger at him, face paling at the implications of my own thoughts. "Y-You...You didn't!"

Jean scrunched up his eyebrows, cocking his head to the side in confusion. "What? What did I do?" He asked, innocently.

"That's what I want to know!" I screeched, cheeks burning. "You said you did something underhanded and I was just knocked out, dead, unconscious! Did you...Did you touch me?!"

Jean sputtered, entering a coughing fit. His face turned red like mine as he glared at me with eyes filled with disbelief. "What the fuck are you even insinuating?! Have you gone mad?!"

"Oh, I don't know, have you?" I spatted back out with a shrug. "This whole situation's kind of wacked up. Who wouldn't go crazy from this?!" I circled my finger in the air to emphasize my point.

"That's not what I meant! Jesus Christ, Rose! Get a hold of yourself!" He scoffed, cheeks returning back to normal. "Why would I even make a move on you, my best friend?"

"Well, I don't know!" My mouth was flapping on auto-pilot as I threw my hands into the air in exasperation. "Maybe you just felt like it and your hormonal urges just took over because of life and death. Who knows? And—" I stilled, brain freezing mid rambling.

Jean narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "What now?"

My mind replayed his sentence from before and it sent a warm, fuzzy feeling down my spine. "Did you...did you just...call me your best friend?" My voice dropped a notch as I quietly muttered out the question.

Jean raised an eyebrow while giving me a pointed look. "Yes, I did. Your point being...?"

I immediately backed away, a look of disgust masking the initial joy that overwhelmed me. "Who are you and what have you done to the Jean Kirshstein that I know?"

He facepalmed loudly, hands smacking violently against his face. "Can you just shut up for once? Seriously, Rose. You're giving me a headache."

"So are you," I retorted back.

He rolled his eyes. "Touche. Anyway, I value our platonic camaraderie, friendship, whatever you want to call it." He sighed for the umpteenth time that day. "So get that stupid idea out of your head."

"Wow, someone's quite honest for once." I grinned and bit back a snarky comment after sensing his sincerity. "It's all good. You're my best bud too."

"Isn't that Eren instead? Or his two lackeys?" Jean lifted two fingers as he counted them off.

I hummed in thought for a second before I shook my head lightly. "Nah, I'd say they're more like family than anything. You're what I'd call a best friend. Eren's like an annoying little brother, Mikasa's the older sister, and Armin's the baby of the group."

Jean was expressionless as he stared blankly at me. "Why can I imagine that so accurately?"

"Because it's the truth."

"...Good point. Oh, and thanks."

"You're welcome, Mr. Horseface."

"SHUT UP."

"Yeah, yeah, okay." I lightly waved his annoyance off. "So, are you going to explain to me what's going on now?" Before he could reply, I lifted a finger and wagged it in front of his face as a caution. "And don't go leaving out the details like before. Give it all to me at once. Appetizer, main course, and dessert."

Jean gave me a wary look as he glanced off to the side. "You sure?"

Sensing his hesitance, I crept a tad closer to him and nodded with determination and resolution. "Tell me everything. I won't get mad."

He paused, taking in my demeanor. Then, with a resigned sigh, he told me everything that had happened since I fainted.

It was all just a bad dream. The blood bath, his crippled friends, that goddamn arm being snapped off his shoulder, the rotten stench of saliva, the ocean of red, the floating skeletons— yes, everything was just a dream.

How did he know? Because here he was, kneeling on the ground with Armin and Mikasa, very much alive and breathing with all limbs attached. There wasn't a single scratch on his body. No battle scars, no heroic wounds. Nothing. Nada. The only thing that came close to an injury was a numbing headache that felt like someone had blasted a cannon through his brains.

Of course, his head was also very much intact, which was why to Eren Jaeger, everything that had happened thus far must have been a fleeting dream. That is, until he found himself sitting like a duck underneath the death stares and scrutinizing gaze of fear from the soldiers around him.

All of a sudden, Eren wasn't so sure anymore. Which exactly was the dream?

Never in his wildest imagination would he imagine being targeted at gunpoint by those he considered to be his comrades.

The Titans were a nightmare, but this? This was much more painful; a different kind of pain. One that hurt all the way to the deepest corners of his soul. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. This wasn't the same as being ignored or laughed at for having the ambitious goal of eradicating all the Titans. He could deal with that. With Mikasa, Armin, and the others on his side, he didn't feel so lonely anymore.

But this time, he was being rejected as a human.

"WHAT ARE YOU?" A man's voice bellowed. "HUMAN OR TITAN?"

Eren had no idea how to respond. The idea that he was something monstrous — that he had become what he rued the most in the world — it was far too much for his exhausted mind to keep up with.

Of course, I'm a human.

Yet if he was, why would everyone be staring at him like that? Even Armin and Mikasa were overly cautious with their words and actions.

If this was another nightmare, then he prayed from the bottom of his heart for someone to wake him up.

Even inside that Titan's stomach was a better hell than this.

"...Holy flaming bison bells." My face was blank, a huge contrast to my colorful string of words. "Jean Kirshstein, I swear to motherfucking god, if you're pulling a prank on me, now is the time to take it all back because no way in hell am I going to forgive you for joking about something like this—"

"It's the truth," Jean repeated for the umpteenth time that day. "I'm not lying."

"...If you're kidding me—"

"I said it's the truth. Goddamn it, Rose. Get it in your head already—"

"Nu-uh, don't you dare take that tone with me, mister horse-face. Stop pulling my leg and tell me what really happened already—"

"As I said, it's the truth. I'm a hundred percent serious, Rose. I wouldn't joke around like that."

I stared right into his eyes and he returned the gaze. There was no flash of light, a nervous twitch, or anything that resembled a deceptive plan on his part. My heart was beating rapidly, golden orbs widening and watering at the same time. My breath was shaky with my voice a mere whisper but filled to the brim with inexplicable emotions.

"He's...really...alive..." I softly whispered to myself, eyes unfocused, staring into the air. "Eren...he's...alive..." A sudden wave of relief rushed over me, and everything that I had bottled up came flowing past the dam. There was no stopping myself as I burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably in front of Jean, who had no words of consolation.

Words were useless past a certain point. He only placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. "Yeah, he's alive." His voice also shook as much as mine, like he himself was still in disbelief. "It's nothing short of a miracle."

"B-But he came out of a Titan, you say?" I roughly wiped my tears off with the sleeves of my uniform. "W-What on earth could that—" I broke off into a violent coughing fit, the tears choking me. "F-Fuck...c-can't breathe..."

Jean had his hand rubbing my back in less than a second since I started coughing. He rolled his eyes as he smoothed circles on my back. "You had a high fever for a while and it's just starting to break. Don't get so worked up yet."

"Yeah, I know." I took a deep breath after replying. "I'm just...so confused. How the hell does that even happen? What on earth does it mean?" I lifted my head to meet Jean's confused gaze.

He sighed and shook his head. A frown plastered itself onto his tired features. "If only I knew the answer myself, Rose..."

*BOOM*

Our heads whipped off to the side, searching for the origin of the explosion. Smoke flew up into the air, the dust kicking itself up into a storm overhead us. Jean launched himself onto his feet immediately as I followed suit, the pain forgotten.

"W-What was that?" I stammered, a surge of fear rising within me. "Don't tell me something happened again...!"

"S-Shit...this might be bad..." Jean swore under his breath.

I spun my head around to face his discouraged look. "What do you mean?" As soon as the words flew out of my mouth, I audibly gasped as a thought hit me like a freight train on full speed. "Is this...no way..." My lips felt drier than ever as the realization hit me.

Jean nodded grimly. "It's...It's Eren."

"Retake Trost...?"

"What the hell are they thinking?!"

"That's insane! How are we going to block the hole?"

"We'll just be throwing away our lives going back in there!"

"Dammit, are the commanders that hungry for victory?!"

"Fuck this. I'm out of here!"

There was no calming the crowd down. Pandemonium struck when word got loose that the commanders were planning on retaking Trost district. All the soldiers were gathered in front of the Wall, buzzing with commotion and chaos. Cries, screams of horror, brawls, arguments, you could name them all and it'd be there right next to you.

A small group of men raised a fuss about leaving their posts. The higher-ups tried to threaten them with treason and execution, but the trauma was still wretched and fresh in their minds. All of a sudden, the notion of dying by the hands of their comrades instead of those beasts brought them great comfort.

"...What are you going to do?" Jean whispered from his spot next to me.

I spared him a glance before turning my attention back towards the top of the Wall, where Eren and Commander Pixis were casually strolling on. "What else is there to do? We signed up for this and it's not like we have anywhere to go even if we desert our posts here." I shrugged nonchalantly.

The corner of his lips tugged up into a wry smirk. "Yeah...I knew you'd say something like that."

"Sorry to break it to you guys, but everyone else is shitting their pants right now." Connie's low voice from behind us was like a growl. "Not everyone can keep themselves so calm and collected like you two freaks."

"Oh, trust me, baldie." Jean scoffed, clenching his fists harder. "We're not calm. We may look like we have our shit together but inside? It's a trainwreck, let me tell you." He gave a dry laugh, eyes empty.

I smiled at the mocking tone in his words. "A trainwreck, huh? For some reason, that doesn't sound so bad anymore."

Jean rolled his eyes, feigning disinterest, though his shoulders were still tensed up, betraying his true feelings. "Anything's better than this hell we're in right now."

"Hey, you think we can get like a potato or something before we go back into the warzone?" Sasha suddenly brought up, her gaze scattering across the crowd, looking for any source of food. "I'm getting kind of hungry."

"Are you serious?" Connie grimaced, disgust rolling in his dull eyes. "Of all the things you could be asking for now, you want a fucking potato?!"

"Geez, I don't know whether to laugh or cry at that statement..." I sighed in exasperation.

"Hold on, Rose. Is your wound okay now?" Reiner turned around from the front, leaning his head closer towards us. "You fainted in the underground storage room and we never got to ask if you were okay."

"Well, to be honest, my ribs aren't hurting that much anymore. I think it stopped bleeding, though it'll probably leave an ugly bruise." I poked my ribs to show them. "The only thing that's aching is my head. Maybe I still have a slight fever."

"That's probably from the wound itself. Hopefully, you didn't get infected with something," Reiner frowned.

I waved him off. "It's okay. I might not be in top form, but as long as I don't push it too much, it'll be fine."

Connie shot me a pointed look from behind. "And how exactly are you not going to push yourself? In case you've forgotten, we're about to re-enter that shithole."

I paused to collect my thoughts before I gave him a sheepish grin. "Well...if I die, I die."

Jean sweatdropped, shaking his head in disbelief. "I told her that she didn't have to fight and just rest in the medical tent area, but she insisted."

"I know you're joking but..." Connie's stern gaze softened. "Don't die. Please."

"...Thanks. I'll try not to." That was all I could muster up as a reply before a loud booming voice silence the raucous fray of chattering.

"ATTENTION!" All eyes flickered to Commander Pixis, who was standing on top of the Wall in all his glory. "I will now brief you about the operation for retaking Trost! The goal of this operation is to block the shattered gate!" Eren walked up next to Commander Pixis and offered his heart. "This here is Eren Jaeger. He's the product of the military's top-secret Titan transformation experiments. He can summon a Titan body and control it at will!"

"...WHAT THE FUCK? Is it just me, or I have no idea what the hell the commander is saying?!" Connie seemed like he was about to faint just from the sheer confusion and the ridiculous idea. "Am I just stupid? It's not just me, right?!"

Ymir clicked her tongue from beside him. "Just shut up, stupid."

"He will transform into a Titan, pick up that giant boulder near the front gate, carry it to the breach in the wall, and block of the hole with it!" Commander Pixis continued despite the uproar from below. "Your mission will be to protect him from the other Titans while he's carrying the boulder!"

It didn't take long for panic to strike the soldiers again. Like Deja Vu, the same soldiers were lashing out against their superiors below again, some even turning around to leave the premise. But this time, Commander Pixis halted them all with his words.

"HEED MY COMMAND!" He yelled again. "Anyone who leaves right now will not be punished! Once you've given in to your fears, you will never be able to fight again. Anyone who has succumbed to their fears should leave immediately! And anyone who wants that very same terror to reach the hearts of their brothers, parents, and loved ones may leave as well!"

I gritted my teeth, knowing well what the Commander was trying to do. He was using an extremely clever method of persuasion, bringing in loved ones. It was obviously the only thing that kept the morale of the soldiers high: the thought that their loved ones were safe behind the Walls. But if they deserted now, there would be no helping them. No one can protect your loved ones. Only you, yourself can.

And after facing countless deaths thus far, everyone knew that better than before. You are your most reliable ally. You can scream, beg, and cry, but no one can save you but yourself.

The deserted cadets spun right back on their heels and returned immediately to their post, conviction, and resolution shining through their previously sunken orbs.

Commander Pixis glanced at their determined faces and nodded in understanding. "Let's talk about the plan from four years ago: the plan to retake Wall Maria. I'm sure I don't need to remind you all. Calling it a recapture operation was sugarcoating it. The truth is clear as day. It was simply a plan devised by the government to dispose of the unemployed refugees they couldn't feed!"

He paused, taking a moment to rethink his words. "There was only one reason why they could swallow the idea. By sending those people out the Wall, we managed to survive inside its narrow confines. All humankind, including myself, bear that sin!"

He clenched his fists, biting back the bitterness inside of him. "Conflict didn't erupt then because the people of Wall Maria were a minority. But if we throw away Wall Rose, it would be the same as throwing away our future. Wall Sina can only host less than half of humanity!"

"If mankind itself falls, the Titans would not be the cause! We will perish because of humans killing each other!" Commander Pixis's speech resonated inside us all. His words were piercing, relentless, unforgiving, but it was nothing short of the undeniable truth. "We cannot die yet inside another Wall. Given this choice...please, die here!"

It was surreal, how fast the soldiers moved after that. Commander Pixis's words blew away all traces of fear. For once, it felt like everyone's hearts were one. Soon after, a green smoke flare was shot up into the skies, signaling humanity's final attack.

"...Well, wasn't that quite the speech?"

"Shh! Shut the hell up! Do you want us all to die?!"

"Sir, what are our orders?"

By this point, it had become the norm: Connie being the loud-mouth he was, Jean and his snarky comebacks, Annie and her unflappable attitude. From a bystander's point of view, it was probably the worst kind of team — one without any sense of cooperation. Heck, we couldn't even agree on a single strategy until one of our seniors decided to take charge.

But despite it all, there was nothing more reassuring than this messy group of buffoons.

"No matter what, don't let the Titans leave this corner." Our senior repeated his order for the umpteenth time over the raucous Connie and Jean were causing in the back of the alley. "Lure them in close enough and that's it. Don't go fighting them. Cadets will form groups of three and run on the ground. Once you're under the Wall, just climb it."

He shifted slightly, turning his head around to meet our steely gazes. "If by any minuscule chance a Titan strays away, we'll deal with it. You guys just focus on the job you've been given."

We gave a curt nod in understanding. Jean was the only one who wasn't aboard with the plan, glowering in the shadows of the alley. "Minuscule chance? I'd say it's much more likely than that..." Jean muttered under his breath.

I nudged my elbow into his sides, earning a glare from him. Shaking my head lightly, I returned his heated glare. "Stop complaining and just deal with the situation."

"Are we free to act as we wish in the case of an emergency?" Annie's calm and collected voice echoed from the front of the street.

Our senior sighed in exasperation but gave the nod anyway. "If you can sort it out that way, then sure, go ahead." He may seem brusque and rigid, but it was only an act of kindness on his part. He knew what the risks were and allowed us enough room to fight for survival as we pleased if it came down to it.

The roof in front of us suddenly exploded into bits. With a gasp, I lifted my arms above my face to cover myself from the hurtling pieces of debris.

"KIRSCHSTEIN SQUAD, MOVE OUT!"

There was no room for hesitation. With the determination of a thousand soldiers combined, we steeled our resolve and headed out into the battlefield, sprinting across the open ground. The town was a huge mess— no, that was too much of an understatement. Most of the buildings had already collapsed. There were vast, empty areas far too large and disadvantageous for Titan combat.

Even worse, we had underestimated the sheer number of Titans roaming around in the city. No less than a minute after our squad was released, there were already screams of horror coming from all directions. The only thing that kept us running was the reverberating footsteps from behind us.

"What should we do? Lead these stupid Titans to the Wall?" Connie's panic-stricken expression said it all when he spun his head around to peer at the monstrous stampede right after our trails. We weren't going to make it on foot.

"Well, we can only move on our own now!" Annie scowled from the front, noting that our squad leader had already perished underneath the grip of a roaming Titan nearby. "Just run as if your life was on the line!" Uncharacteristically, she was screaming out orders as she glided across the streets with terrifying speed.

"You talk as if our lives aren't on the line right now!" Connie squeaked as a gigantic arm came swinging towards him. With a giant leap into the air, the hand briefly brushed past the soles of his boots. He shot out his arrow towards a nearby building, only to have it rebound back with a resounding, metallic clink.

"Don't you panic now, Connie!" I yelled out as I took a sharp turn towards the left, dodging a foot that came crashing down onto the spot I was previously standing on.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar tuft of pink hair rushing backward in the wrong direction. My eyes widened as I whirled my head back, face completely ashen. "JEAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I screamed, my throat burning from dehydration, but it was nothing compared to the sheer panic inside my heart when I saw him shooting an arrow out towards the Titan's hand.

Connie scrambled out from underneath the Titan's looming body, hurriedly gathering his weapon back together as Jean escaped off in the other direction, taking the misled Titan with him.

Connie and Annie's disappearing figures were shooting up into the sky. The Titans around me were still chasing after our retreating figures. Jean was nowhere to be seen. My feet had stopped moving. There were drops of fresh blood dripping on the ground under my feet, trickling from my open wound.

I didn't know what registered first. All I knew was that I saw red the moment Jean disappeared past the corner. And I nearly lost it when my feet made its way over towards the alley and saw the way his face went pale as he rapidly clicked the buttons on his gear to no avail.

Eyes narrowed, breath sharp, I clamped down brutally on my fury, savagery that simmered barely one degree off boiling.

Not yet. It's not over yet. He's not dead. I can still make it. Keep your calm and save him. I'm not going to let another one of my friends die on my account! NEVER AGAIN!

"Where...Where are they?!" Connie dropped down onto his knees, eyes widened with nothing but worry. Sweat glistened against his forehead as he frantically swept his gaze across the town.

"I can't see them...what happened?" Annie chewed on her lips, eyes quivering as she quickly scanned the premise.

Sasha came running over as soon as she spotted the duo. "Guys! You're back!" She happily cheered in joy, but it soon dissipated into thin air after seeing their stony expressions. Sasha's smile contorted into a shaky frown. "G-Guys? What's wrong?"

"Jean and Rose disappeared, that's what!" Connie spatted out in bitterness and anger at mostly himself for being a weakling. "Fuck it all! I messed up, Jean saved me, and now he's gone?!" Connie slammed his fists onto the wall below him, wallowing in regret and guilt.

"Calm down, Connie Springer. They haven't died yet." Annie suddenly gasped as she pointed towards the center of the city.

All eyes turned towards the direction she was pointing in and sure enough, a familiar figure was leaping inside a building nearby, while another red-head zig-zagged her way towards the running man.

Connie blinked once, then twice, reassuring himself that it was not a mirage he was seeing. Then, with gritted teeth, he yelled out into a battle roar as he jumped back down into the battlefield. "GOD DAMN IT ALL!"

"Wha— Connie! You can't!" Sasha shot her arm out towards Connie to stop him in vain.

Annie stood still on top of the Wall, staring at the scene unfolding in front of her eyes. There was an unknown flash in her eyes, but for a split second, it appeared as if she was suffering from an inexplicable anguish. Her eyes were unfocused, staring into the open air as memories from the past found themselves being unburied from deep within her.

With a low growl, she bit back down the worries inside of her and leaped after Connie. Pride, dreams, their goals, logic, everything be damned. She would act on her emotions, right now, this instant.

Because she knew far too well how regrets can destroy someone entirely.

I spotted Jean scrambling with the maneuver gear on the dead man's body as a Titan crept up from behind him. A quick blur of gray whirled past me and Connie came flying over, kicking the Titan's head with his boots in an indecorous manner.

Jean gaped up towards him. "W-What the hell are you doing?!"

"That's what I want to ask you, idiot! Hurry up!" Connie screamed back, rolling across the roof as he dodged another one of the Titan's blow.

Spotting movement towards the left, I slid to a halt mid-run and dashed off towards the left. With my gear, I slammed an arrow onto a roof and hurled myself up on top. Just in time, another Titan stood in front of Jean's way as he flew up into the air, face filled with panic.

With no hesitation, I jumped off the ledge of the roof and slashed its neck open, making sure to push the Titan's head out of Jean's path. With a loud crash, I bounced off another roof, feeling the debris pricking my open wound. With a wince, I gathered myself back onto my feet and soared after Jean and the rest, heading back over the Wall. A few meters behind them, I landed safely onto the Wall, gasping frantically for air.

My heart thundered in my ears, ringing like no tomorrow. An overwhelming sense of relief flooded through my veins when my eyes met everyone's safe form. "T-Thank god, you guys are all okay..." I found myself muttering out loud.

Connie whipped his head around and glared hard at me. "Oh yeah, we were totally safe, unlike you two idiots!"

"H-Hey, my equipment got broken! It's not my fault!" Jean protested. His legs were still quivering from the haunting, fresh wound. No one would be able to stay sane after standing right in front of death's door like that.

"Wait, guys. Is that..." Annie's voice was like a gust of fresh air as she directed our attention towards the lone and sturdy figure, carrying the giant boulder on top of its head.

Time appeared to stop as I stared in awe at the Titan. Ironically, the familiar jet black hair and emerald green eyes on that monstrous face brought nothing short of comfort to me. His appearance was different (that was a huge understatement, but words failed me at this point). But it was clear as day that the brilliance of his soul was still there, standing majestic and tall, fighting against despair.

He was our final hope. If only I weren't standing in the middle of the battlefield, perhaps I would've shed a few tears of joy at the sight.

"Keep them all out of the way! We must support Eren!" Jean's words broke me out of a trance.

I followed behind everyone's back, swiftly making my way back into the battlefield again. There were, of course, no buildings left surrounding Eren. All we could do was struggle pitifully on the ground with the death reaper continually hanging over our heads.

Despite the high stakes, no one had any hesitation. There were cadets diving right into the fray of Titans, bulldozing their way through the open ground, catching as many of the Titans' attention as possible. The fear of succumbing to the Titans was rampant throughout our ranks, but nobody gave it any attention. For the first time, hope was given to us in tangible form, and there was nothing that could stop us from fighting to protect it.

Our comrades may all die here today. All our friends and family may perish. Our cities may fall. But there was only one thing that we would never allow to be destroyed: our hope.

Today was the day humanity would make its comeback against the beasts that have roamed through our lands, launching us into a neverending cycle of fear and death. That thought was more than enough to push everyone into action.

I lost sight of my friends a long time ago, but it didn't matter. Surely, no matter where they were, they were still fighting until the very end. I dodged the attacks that came curving around the twisted bodies of my comrades and superiors, clawing my way towards freedom. A Titan had leaped up in front of Eren's path and Mikasa adeptly dealt with it.

A large body came tumbling over in front of me. I leaped up high, metal cutting through the air as I landed a final blow on its neck. More Titans were headed my way, but that was all according to plan. I spun around, jumping off the Titan's head and darted back towards the inner city, bringing a line of Titans with me.

Fight. Fight! FIGHT!

Maybe I had gone mad, but for some reason, I felt as if I heard Eren's voice, beckoning us to fight for our freedom — the freedom that we were initially born with.

And so I fought, struggled, dodged, parried, flew, scrambled, struck, and—

*CRASH*

A resounding thud. A beacon of light. A sign for hope. A green flare of victory. A surge of relief.

The battle was over and humanity had performed spectacularly well. Victory was ours.

Against the warm rays of sunshine, the dawn broke. Scarlet, then gold, emblazoned the enormous blue skies. The fiery red orb of light shone vibrantly, cutting through the ashy smoke. The threads of light cast a halo over the ruined city, enveloping it in a heavenly sheen of orange, white, and blue.

It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

A lone tear of joy trickled down my cheeks, sparkling against the soothing light.

And the curtain falls over another critical chapter of our history.

"The remaining Titans are coming! We have to climb the Wall!" Rico commanded the rest of the soldiers on the ground, signaling their retreat.

Mikasa turned around, blades still raised up as a precaution. "I'll withdraw as soon as we've recovered Eren!" Mikasa shouted back a reply before she spun around to face Eren's Titan body. Steam was rising up from its scorched, burning skin. Armin was struggling on top, trying to yank Eren out of the Titan's open neck. "Armin! How's Eren?!" Mikasa yelled.

Armin stomped his feet onto the Titan's back, pulling Eren with all of his strength, only for his efforts to be fruitless. He swore under his breath before replying to Mikasa, voice shaking from anxiety. "He's feverish from the unbelievable heat in here! We need to get him over the Wall right away!"

Mikasa clicked her tongue in impatience before she made her way up the Titan's body with her maneuver gear.

Armin glanced up at her with frantic eyes. "Part of his body is still infused with the Titan. I can't pull him out!" He screamed as he continued to pull Eren out.

Mikasa narrowed her eyes at the strands of flesh that stuck itself onto Eren's frail and heated body. She lifted her swords up, the edges glinting against the light. "We have no choice but to cut him out...!" Mikasa hacked her blades at the strings of flesh, severing Eren from the Titan.

Armin yelped as he pulled Eren out. Unprepared for the sudden movement, he lurched backward from the force and tumbled down onto the ground with Eren on his lap. "Ouch..." Armin rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. It was then that a dark shadow suddenly loomed over him from behind. His eyes went wide, fear surging to new heights. With a gulp, he slowly turned his head around and was met with the face of a Titan.

Mikasa gasped in horror. "ARMIN! EREN!"

Her prayers were heard because, at that moment, a flash of green soared through the skies, the white wings of freedom on its back as it tore apart the two Titans that were threatening their safety.

Mikasa and Armin could only stare in silent amazement. Eren's eyes fluttered open for a moment as he registered the symbol upon the man's back — a large and weighty responsibility that he bore on his shoulders as Humanity's Greatest Soldier.

Levi Ackermann turned his head around dramatically and spoke to the young cadets. The clarity of his voice and sharp eyes cut through the tension and fear permeating the area, bringing relief to everyone that was nearby.

"Hey, you kids. What the hell is the situation here?"

A simple question that required an exhaustingly long answer. It just wasn't the time for it. Mikasa leaped down from the Titan's head as Armin gulped, his confidence wavering underneath this man's overwhelming charisma and presence. His lips were trembling as he spoke out meekly. "C-Captain Levi, it would be inappropriate to speak here. First, we need to get up on the Walls and—"

He trailed off as he turned around to look at Eren. This time, another Titan was stumbling over towards them from behind them. His eyes widened as Levi's narrowed. With one fluid motion, he raised his blades as if prepared to slaughter yet another one of humanity's foe—

A quick blur of red soared through the air, mingling in with the crimson blood that burst open from its neck.

"Alright, the retreat signal has been fired! Let's climb up the walls!" I heard Jean's voice from somewhere within the crowd of soldiers that were soaring back up onto the walls. After hearing his voice, it relieved me to know that he was safe and well. I spotted familiar faces trailing on top of the wall as well.

With a shaky sigh, the tension was released from my body and I felt myself relaxing for what seemed to be the first time in days. The battle had ended and now, all that was left was to rejoin everyone else on top of the wall.

I ran across the ground, heading towards the wall. My hand crept down towards my gear as I prepared to launch an arrow at the Wall. That was when I spotted a single Titan, around ten meters, storming over towards the edge of the wall. With a frown, I narrowed my eye in suspicion. The gray ashes were blown off by a gust of wind and my eyes immediately widened as I saw Armin and Eren, crouched onto the ground with another group of Titans coming at them.

With a snarl, I picked up my pace, heading towards their direction.

I don't know if I'll reach the two Titans on their left in time, but I can manage to get at least the right one dead.

The feeling of soaring through the air with my blades in my hands was now second-nature to me. After all, I had lived through one of the harshest battles in human history. It was, to no surprise, that I reached the Titan in time. I spun around twice in a circle as I slashed off its neck with machine-like precision, something that I had honed even further over the past few hours of battle.

Jumping off its tumbling form, I landed right next to Eren, Armin, and Mikasa with a worried look in my eyes. For some reason, Armin and Mikasa were gaping wide at me with their jaws dropped. I paid their strange reactions no attention and prioritized their safety. "Mikasa! Armin! How's Eren? Are you guys oka—" I came to a halt, my throat clamping up at the sight.

Standing right in front of me was the one and only Levi Ackermann in all his glory.

...Oh. Well, shit.

Backpedalling immediately, I awkwardly coughed and gave a sheepish look at my friends. "Uh...did I...interrupt something here...?"

Right. How to make a great first impression 101. I'm an idiot.

Armin blinked once before he broke out of his trance. "O-Oh, uh, nothing. You saved us again. Really, you seem to be doing that a lot these days, haha...ha...ha." His dry chuckle trailed off as his eyes flickered back and forth between Levi and me in anxiety.

Mikasa sighed, shaking her head in exasperation.

Levi stood perfectly still, his sharp eyes meeting mine. Even though the Trost battle had just ended a minute ago, I was undergoing, yet again, another nerve-wracking moment in my life. The lines on his forehead and tenseness in his shoulders showed a fraction of how on edge he was after my appearance. Something akin to recognition registered in his eyes.

What? Does he know me from somewhere? Or maybe it's just my imagination...

"Hey, you. Tell me what's going on right now." He asked— no, scratch that. He barked out a command.

My eyes twitched and I knew what I was about to do. It was probably the dumbest move in my entire life, but how could I have stopped myself? It was something like a habit now, because what does Rose Scarlet do when she's faced against animosity and a prideful, arrogant opponent?

Bite back hard.

"I hate to break it to you, but shit's about to hit the fan if we stay here any longer. Why don't you listen to me instead and head back up onto the Wall, so that none of us end up dying meaningless deaths here because a certain someone can't read the situation for shit?"

There it was. All fired up and BAM. Verbal diarrhea, my mouth filter at its best. Just like Eren and Jean, my mode of self-preservation was nothing other than bluster and bravado, and I wasn't in the mood to start mincing my words, even straight to that sinfully, infuriatingly handsome face.

My scathing, mocking words reverberated throughout the area as I waited impatiently for a reply. Armin groaned, slamming his head onto the ground in frustration. Mikasa closed her eyes and let loose a heavy sigh.

For a split second, something like surprise flashed across Levi's stoic expression. His eyebrows slowly arched in exasperation as his dark, pointed gaze met my defiant, golden orbs. The darkness roiling in his predator-like glare would have made be step back if I wasn't frozen stiff underneath his intimidating stare.

Okay, forget nerve-wracking. This tension and anxiety could wreck souls.

"I see," his reply was curt and short. Whatever he was truly feeling inside, his monotonic voice betrayed none of his annoyance.

Nevertheless, his powerful and charismatic voice made me jolt imperceptibly. His hawk-like vision caught onto even the most minuscule details and my subtle reaction did not go unnoticed. The corner of his lips lifted up for a brief second in amusement.

I scowled in response, feeling annoyed at how much his presence seemed to unnerve me. Without another word, he was off up onto the Walls.

"...We should get up there quickly too." Armin was my voice of reason as I snapped out of a daze.

"R-Right," I answered and made my way up the Wall alongside Armin and Mikasa, who was carrying Eren.

On top of the Wall, Levi was still standing there, waiting for us. I internally screamed in terror but kept on a poker face that would've made a brick wall jealous. Feigning indifference, I turned towards him and frowned. "What are you waiting for? If you want to know what happened, ask Commander Pixis or any of our higher-ups."

"Don't order me," Levi scoffed and rolled his eyes, no longer hiding his hostility towards me. "I'll do what I want to. Just a word of caution."

His eyes glinted dangerously as he suddenly took a step forward inside my comfort zone. I winced as he glared death at me, the air surrounding us crackling with Levi's ire, the mesmerizing menace almost a tangible entity coiling around us. "You like playing with fire, don't you?" He snarled, words filled with disdain. "I don't have the time nor patience to be wasting on immature brats, especially ones with an inferiority complex."

He took a step back and turned around, scoffing out loud. "You're dismissed. I have no need for a useless brat like you."

I was left mouth hanging, jaws dropped to the floor in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "W-What the fuck was that?!" I yelled out loud in response. Although I didn't mean to scream so loudly, the burning fury within me could not be contained.

From the way his head shifted, it was clear that he heard my words but chose not to spare me his attention.

Armin could only sigh in exasperation as he watched our interaction. "You brought that onto yourself, Rose."

"He's right about that," Mikasa chuckled to herself, clearly finding everything entertaining.

I gritted my teeth and growled in anger. "Well, I don't care who the hell he is. This definitely won't be the last time he'll see me. He better watch out, because I'll be dragging that red, pompous carpet right out from underneath his feet. Mark my words."

Little did I know that the words I had carelessly spit out from my emotional outburst would come to hold such a heavy meaning much later down the road.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The world is unforgiving and cruel,

and we must adapt to live.

But people grow and mature

as time passes.

Things start to change:

our situation, our battlefield, and relationships.

No one knows the outcome of such changes,

but there is one thing

that I will soon come to know.

I wandered on these desolate plains,

waiting all along for what I now know was

you.

[End of Act I]