Funny story to tell you guys. So I was reminded of when Ariadne's birthday was (October 14) because of a recent review I received and while looking at SnK pictures on Deviantart, I actually found out that Erwin's birthday is also October 14. I even looked at his wiki to see if it was true. (Go look it up if you don't believe me!)

I totally had no idea that was his birthday. I just picked a random date for her. *shrugs* So now they share a birthday because of my ignorance. Not quite sure if that adds or takes away from their relationship, but whatever, right?

Also since this is fanfiction, I am taking liberties in how this chapter goes; however, it will be as much as possible by the original situation!

And WARNING you now, this chapter gets pretty freaking graphic. You'll see why as you read on.

I looked to Espyon and quickly got out of bed. "How long do I have to get dressed?" I asked, rushing towards my dresser.

"5 or 10 minutes. Just hurry. We're leaving soon." Espyon left as quickly as she came.

I got my uniform on and the straps around my body. It still took me a while to put them on but it got easier each time. I would get my 3D maneuver gear when I went downstairs. As I pulled my boots on, I looked to my nightstand and saw a plain gold ring sitting there. I picked it up and stared at it for a moment. When had Erwin left it there? I did not hear him come in to leave it. And another thing, when did he have time to get it?

After slipping the ring onto my left ring finger (coincidentally a perfect fit), I left quickly and went downstairs to where people were gathering. It was largely organized chaos. Our numbers had decreased significantly from yesterday. As we all got our gear together, Espyon filled me and Mary Kat as to what we were going to do. The Interior was calling for the (confirmed) Titan Shifter, Eren Jaeger, because of some recent events. Erwin was also called for questioning in the Interior. I was unsure of what events Espyon was referring to, but I supposed it happened when we were at training. Our job was to capture another Titan Shifter by the name of Annie Leonhardt and get her contained. We also had to evacuate the population to get as few civilian casualties as possible if Annie happened to change into her titan form. That was the gist of the whole mission.

I would describe the journey to the Interior, but it largely consisted of being reminded of our jobs once we actually got there. We arrived to the wall and instead of going through the gate, we scaled the wall all the way to the top then over to the other side. (As far as I knew, it was because we had to be secretive, but I was unsure of how well it worked or why we could not have just gone through the gate.) I watched as Military Police escorted the carriages carrying Erwin, Corporal Levi, and Eren through the gates and onto the streets of the city. Our little group of soldiers followed behind the carriages and the escorts.

It was not long until a shot of lightning seemed to burst out of no where with a loud boom, echoing across the rooftops. It was not far from where I stood on a roof, but I could see a female Titan standing among the buildings. She was not suppose to be there. I found my feet would not move. I was terrified. She could crush me at any given moment. I watched people rushing on their gear towards her, blades drawn. It took her little effort to squash them against buildings. This person was a real Titan Shifter.

Another burst of lightning and another Titan appeared. That must have been the other Titan Shifter, Eren. As soon as he materialized, his fist went into Annie's jaw, making her sail up and then back down onto several buildings. Eren gave out a loud roar.

Mary Kat landed beside me on the roof. "Ariadne, get your shit together and get your ass down there to help! There are civilians dying! We've got to get them to safety!"

I could suddenly hear their screams over the fighting. Smoke stacks rose here and there throughout the city. Eren and Annie's brawl continued. They did not care about the buildings and people they crushed mercilessly beneath their bodies or feet.

Mary Kat punched me in the face. "Come on!" she yelled. "Let's GO!"

Her punch forced me out of the stupor I stood in. "Sorry," I muttered, running across the roof and then shooting a wire rope out of the gear. Mary Kat followed behind me.

"Save your gas," she yelled to me. "Run on the roofs as much as you can!"

I did not want to run. I did not want to go anywhere near the fighting. In fact, I did not want to be here in the first place, but I had no choice. As I ran from rooftop to rooftop, I looked down to the street below. A little girl was walking alone among the debris. Her blue dress was torn and her blond, curly hair was a mess. Blood and tears fell down her cheeks. Her fair skin had been cut into by shards of glass on her arms and legs. She was silently making her way towards a flattened structure, limping every other step. From where I had stopped, I could see mangled and bloody bodies sticking out underneath stone bricks and other wooden supports.

I grit my teeth and shot out the wire, sweeping down and picking up the girl as I went across the street and landed on the opposite roof. "You're alright now," I assured her. "You're gonna be safe."

"LOOK OUT!" Mary Kat cried.

Eren had fallen far too close for comfort next to the girl and myself, suddenly crushing the building we had once stood on. Mary Kat took the still silent girl into her arms and used her gear to swing between the buildings. I followed close behind. Once we had again landed on another roof, we took a quick breather. I felt as if we had abandoned our group, but since the Titans appeared, we had been separated. I prayed Erwin and Espyon were still alive somewhere.

I turned my head to Mary Kat and the girl. The girl was screaming and crying, trying to push herself out of Mary Kat's arms. "I WANT MY MAMA!" she cried. "YOU'RE NOT MY MAMA!" Tears streamed heavily down her cheeks.

"Please, sit still!" Mary Kat pleaded helplessly. "We'll find your mom soon! Let's get this glass out of your arms first, okay?"

It was no use. The girl continued to cry out, begging for her mother. Mary Kat looked desperate, trying to get her to calm down. I had never seen her look this way in any situation. It was so out of character for her. As Mary Kat tried holding the girl still, I tried pulling some of the glass out. The girl was thrashing too much for me to even find any to pull out without hurting her more. Suddenly, she leapt out of Mary Kat's arms and began to run away from us.

"Don't-!" I cried, reaching for her arm to pull her back, but it was too late. The girl had fallen off the roof. A sickening thud and splatter was heard from down below. I turned away and put my head to the roof's shingles. I did not want to look at the ground.

Mary Kat sat with her hands covering her mouth, still looking at the edge. Tears streamed down her face and over her fingers. "I didn't think… I didn't think she was going to do that… I didn't think that would happen…" she said quietly.

The girl's screams still echoed in my ears. I knew I would hear them over and over again in my nightmares. I was unsure of how long we sat there on the rooftop. Neither of us dared to move or look at the sidewalk below.

I sat up, wiping specks of sand from the shingles off my forehead. "Come on," I mustered, shaking Mary Kat's shoulder. "We have to go find the others." My voice trembled terribly.

Slowly, she nodded and took my hand to stand her up. Her knees were visibly shaking. "Where would they be?" she asked.

I surveyed the area. I could not see Annie or Eren anywhere. They must have stopped sometime ago. I pointed in the direction of large pillars of smoke. "I believe that's where they are. They must have gotten Annie taken down."

"Let's go then."

Together we used our gear to pull ourselves towards the rest of the group. The wind dried my tears off my face. As we neared, we could see the wall had gigantic holes in the side. My eyes widened. I could see the face of a Titan within the wall.

"Mary Kat, do you see that?" I yelled, pointing to the hole.

She nodded. "Why the hell is it in there?"

"I don't know!"

Finally, we arrived with the rest of our group. Whether or not we succeeded today was unclear. We landed beside Espyon. "What's going on?" I asked her.

"Annie tried climbing up the side of the wall but another cadet stopped her before she could. Somehow she turned herself into some sort of crystal before we could question her." We watched as a soldier hit his blade repeatedly on the crystal, breaking nothing but the sword itself. I could just barely make out the outline of a person within it. Espyon sighed. "Where were you guys?"

It sounded like she was angry, but she also sounded concerned. "We got caught up," I replied after a while. Mary Kat was quiet, staring down at her feet. I looked around. Where was Erwin?

"What happened to your cheek?" Esypon asked me.

"Mary Kat's fist," I replied, covering the mark with my hand. Espyon nodded.

Hanji called Espyon towards the crystal. I continued to stand beside Mary Kat. I saw tears were still falling down her face. I watched as they put a large tarp over the hole in the wall where the Titan's face was exposed. Just as I was about to put my arm around Mary Kat, I heard my own name being called.

I searched for the source of the voice until I looked towards the buildings. "Cadet Sloan!" Corporal Levi stood with his arms crossed, staring in my direction.

I was reluctant to leave Mary Kat alone, but she waved me to go. I walked over to him. "Yes, sir?" I responded.

"Come with me," he ordered, turning and heading towards a shadowed alley way.

I blinked and followed him. "What is it?" I asked when we had entered the alley.

"What is it, sir," Levi corrected. "First off, I want to know why you were not with your group."

"We were separated, sir," I replied. "Instead we focused on trying to get civilians out of the way of the Titans." My gut clenched at the thought of the girl. I swallowed back bile that had risen in my throat. We had not saved any of them like we had intended.

Levi huffed. "Secondly, do you know that Commander Erwin has been sent back to the Interior in order to get this whole thing straightened out?"

I blinked again. "What do you mean?" I asked. "I thought he was only coming here to…" To what? Did Erwin start all of this? "So does that mean… Erwin planned this from the start?"

"More or less," Levi replied. "The plan was to draw Annie out to see if she was the Female Titan who had attacked us. Our plan worked in finding her true identity, but as of now, it is obviously useless to try and question her."

I could feel my heart rate quicken. "Levi, they aren't going to do anything to Erwin, are they?" I questioned worriedly. "They… They can't, can they?"

He crossed his arms and leaned against the brick wall. "I don't know," he replied bluntly. "Since the situation went from bad to worse, it's uncertain if anything will happen to him."

I turned away from Levi and looked back to where Mary Kat was. She was now sitting on her knees, her head in her lap. Soldiers milled about, avoiding her altogether. My heart pounded in my chest and my breaths came shorter. I could feel my hands and knees shaking. I hated this feeling. I felt panicked. "No… They can't do anything to him…" I turned back to Levi. "Can you make sure something doesn't happen?" I asked hopefully.

He tched. "That's the same thing he told me to do for you. Unfortunately for you, he's got a higher rank. I follow his orders."

Memories of being in the dungeon flashed in my mind. I tried not to imagine Erwin going through that sort of pain. "Please," I begged. "You don't know…"

"You're right, I don't." He turned to walked out of the alley. "Come on. We're going to put Annie underground until she breaks out of that crystal."

I did not follow him out right away, but I soon found myself pulling up Mary Kat and then tying ropes around Annie's crystal. I could make out a distorted face and blonde hair, but that was about it. We ended up rolling it on a large cart all the way towards an underground safe area. I still felt panicked and being underground did not help. Espyon had to escort me back above ground so I could calm down. Today was rough and it was barely even the afternoon.

GAAAHHH somebody take my keyboard away from me!

This chapter wasn't supposed to be angsty but it ended up being that way. It was suppose to be action packed and all that fun stuff but that obviously didn't happen.

Anyway, I got a lot going on these next couple of weeks (including my birthday this Sunday) so I probably won't update for a while.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! You know what to write down below! Thanks for reading!