The air above Trost was foul. Though the battle had ended several days ago, the clean up was still ongoing, and it would be quite some time before Trost was fit for human habitation again.
Most of the surviving members of the 104th were exhausted, drained, looking older and darker after the horrors they'd seen firsthand.
Only three of them had managed to remain relatively calm.
After finding a place well away from prying eyes and unwelcome ears, Annie, Bertolt, and Reiner discussed their next move.
"So what do we do now?" Bertolt murmured, eyeing Reiner.
Reiner folded his arms, his expression grim. "Well, we finally have a solid lead. I don't know if Eren has the Founding Titan or not, but he's definitely got the power of a Titan. Our goal therefore should be to capture him. Between capturing his Titan, and all of the intel we've gathered these past five years, that should be enough to make up for losing the Jaw Titan."
"But what if Eren isn't the Founding Titan?" Annie asked, not looking at Reiner.
Reiner shook his head. "Then we'll have to return to the Walls and finish our mission. But we can worry about that later. Let's just focus on one problem at a time."
He looked at them seriously. "Guys, we're almost there. We're going home."
Bertolt smiled feebly.
Annie sighed. "So what's the plan?"
Armin felt rather sore after several hours of riding on horseback, but he hardly noticed this, his gaze fixed on the Female Titan ahead of him.
To his left he saw Jean and Reiner. The three of them had spread out and were now pursuing the Female Titan, their goal being to keep it occupied long enough to give the rest of the platoon time to retreat.
Armin watched her movements carefully.
She's slowed a bit since she first came at us. Tired maybe? Let's hope. If she speeds up, we lose her. We have to do this now, before she gets her wind back. She's aware of her weak spot, so she'll defend it. No run of the mill nightmare this one. Killing her is out of the question. Well, it would be for normal people anyway, so let's just focus on keeping her distracted.
His thoughts turned toward Mikasa and Captain Levi.
When the time comes, maybe they could take her down.
The Female Titan turned its head and spotted Armin. It abruptly turned around remarkably quickly for a Titan, and went for him.
Before Armin could react, she lunged toward him and swiped his horse out from under him, sending the horse flying while causing him to sprawl to the ground, sustaining several injuries and losing his gear in the process.
He lay collapsed on the ground, his head spinning and his body aching, but he forced himself to open his eyes.
The Female Titan was peering down at him once more, much as she had done earlier.
Taking in her features, Armin's eyes widened.
Is she…
"ARMIN!"
In an attempt to save him, Jean had fired his ODM gear into the Female Titan to get her attention, but this proved to be a grave mistake, as she was far more maneuverable than the average Titan, and he was unable to find an opening.
"JEAN!" Reiner cried.
As Armin followed Jean's progress through the air, he realized that the Female Titan would kill the long faced teen before he could get away.
In desperation, he yelled, hoping his suspicion was wrong.
"JEAN! DON'T LET THAT SUICIDAL MANIAC DIE IN VAIN!"
The Female Titan froze.
"SHE DID IT! SHE'S THE ONE WHO KILLED HIM! I TOLD HIM THE RIGHT WING WAS SUICIDE BUT HE WENT ALONG ANYWAY, AND NOW HE'S DEAD THANKS TO HER!"
The Female Titan remained unmoving, but Armin's distraction had given Jean the time he needed to get away. However, Armin found himself unable to celebrate, as the Female Titan's reaction to his words confirmed his suspicions.
It has to be Annie. Or, at the very least, a member of the 104th. But that means…
Before Armin could speculate further, he was distracted by Reiner charging toward the Female Titan.
The next second, Reiner had leaped off of his horse and used his ODM gear to go straight for the Female Titan's nape.
Armin's brief hope that Reiner would be able to take her down was quickly extinguished when she casually caught him in her hand.
Reiner struggled, but was unable to break loose, and the Female Titan tossed him into her mouth, swallowing him whole, her jaws closing with a grisly snap.
Armin felt as though he'd been walloped in the stomach. It had been one thing watching the other Scouts die, but seeing another friend getting eaten...
No…
"REINER!" Jean screamed.
The Female Titan bowed its head for a moment, showing no reaction to Jean's cry. Then, it abruptly stood up and began to run once more.
Armin froze as he realized she had changed directions.
Wait...she's headed for the center rank...she's going for Eren...but how?
Levi tapped his foot impatiently against the Female Titan's scalp. All around them countless wires had pinned the Female Titan in place, rendering it immobile.
The death toll had been higher than they had anticipated, but their plan had worked. The trap had succeeded, and they had caught the enemy shifter. The only thing left to do was to extract them from the nape of their Titan, something that was proving to be easier said than done.
Levi tapped his foot again. "Knock knock. We know you're in there. Why don't you make this easy and come on out, stop wasting our time."
He scowled. "Seriously, what can you hope to gain by stalling? If you're thinking we'll let you go, we won't. If you're thinking about trying to escape, don't. All you should be thinking about are the good men you killed today."
He chuckled bitterly. "Heh, not that you would. That's not your style, is it? Remorse. Nah, you enjoy killing. Which means we have something in common. Course, I enjoy killing Titans, but it's a start. I'm sure we can still find some middle ground."
He stepped forward and looked down at the Female Titan's face, though from his angle he couldn't see her expression clearly.
"Oh that's right, while we're on that subject let me ask. You're okay with me cutting your limbs off at the joints, right? I mean they'll grow back. I'm talking about your actual body. Don't want you dead just yet."
The corners of the Female Titan's lips twitched, and then she opened her mouth.
Time seemed to slow down as Levi saw a hooded figure begin to descend from the open cavity.
Realizing what was about to happen, Levi used his ODM gear to fly high into the trees above a split second before all hell broke loose.
A spark emanated from the hooded figure, and all at once a large explosion materialized in front of the Female Titan. The explosion sent a blinding light in all directions, and caused all of the wires that were too close to snap, the loosed cables recoiling violently.
Between the explosion and the broken wires the traps were destroyed, and the resulting debris smashed into many of the Scouts before they could react.
Erwin was able to take shelter behind a tree, but as he looked down he saw the splayed body of Mike on the forest floor below. He was dead, a shocked expression on his now lifeless face.
Near the edge of the forest, the members of the 104th spotted the light in the distance.
Mikasa's eyes widened.
That light! Is that Eren? Or is it…
Without a second thought, she began to soar deeper into the forest.
"Mikasa, what are you doing?!" Sasha cried, but Mikasa ignored her.
Back within the forest, the newly transformed Armored Titan used its strength to pull the remaining wires out of the Female Titan, her blood splattering on the ground below and steam rising from her numerous puncture wounds.
As soon as she was free, the Female Titan began to run deeper into the forest, heading in the direction the Levi squad had gone, while the Armored Titan started to kill the injured Scouts on the ground before they could escape.
Levi descended down and tried to slice through the Armored Titan's nape, but his blades shattered like glass.
Shit!
Levi retreated to the branch Erwin had settled on, who was looking on the unfolding situation with alarm.
"What now Erwin?!"
Erwin tried to remain calm. "We underestimated them. They anticipated this and were prepared for it."
"I can see that." Levi snarled.
Erwin ignored Levi's outburst. "Our number one priority now is to ensure that they do not capture Eren. Even if we've failed in our mission, we can still prevent them from succeeding in theirs."
Levi glared down at the Armored Titan. "And how do we do that when we can't even scratch him?"
"Our horses are faster than the Titans. We'll just have to outmaneuver them and make a run for it. Levi, you link back up with your squad, I'll rally the rest."
After seeing that all of the nearby Scouts were either dead or out of his reach, the Armored Titan began to crash through the trees after the Female Titan.
The signals to retreat were fired into the air.
Petra peered through the trees nervously. She didn't know what that light had been, but she suspected it wasn't anything good.
A moment later she saw the smoke signals to retreat flying high in the air, and she felt her fear subside slightly. Perhaps it had been nothing.
As the Levi squad got ready to move out, another signal was fired into the air, closer than the others had been.
Eld looked up sharply. "Hey, that must be the captain. Let's go."
They readied their gear, and Eren and the Levi squad took to the air, soaring through the trees toward the signal.
But as they got closer, they heard the sound of thunderous footsteps getting nearer and nearer.
"Wait…" Gunther breathed.
"Shit, it's her!" Eld yelled.
The squad barely dodged out of the way as the Female Titan barreled toward them, and they abruptly began to retreat.
Petra gazed at the Female Titan in alarm.
What's going on? I thought we captured her!
But before she could contemplate this any further, she noticed Eren about to bite his hand.
"Eren, no!" Eld shouted.
"Our top priority is to keep you safe!" Gunther agreed. "Get out of here!"
Oluo brandished his blades. "The four of us can handle her!"
Eren hesitated, his hand still only an inch from his mouth.
"Please trust us!" Petra cried.
Eren hesitated for a few more seconds, then relented.
"Okay!" He began to flee in the direction of the other smoke signals. "You guys better not die!"
Eld nodded grimly. "Right."
Satisfied that Eren was following orders, the Levi squad refocused their attention on the approaching Female Titan.
They glanced at each other, communicating nonverbally what they planned to do.
At first the attack went well. They'd managed to distract her, then blind her, forcing her to retreat and press her back against a nearby tree, with her arms held protectively over her nape.
Then, before she could recover, they'd sliced through the muscles in her arms, forcing them to fall, exposing her neck.
But when Eld went in to attack the neck, one of her eyes unexpectedly opened, and she clamped her jaws around him, biting him in half and killing him instantly.
The rest of the squad was stunned by the sudden death of their teammate, and didn't seem to fully comprehend what had just happened until the Female Titan spit out the other half of his body.
"ELD!" Petra cried.
Eren, who was horrified by this sudden turn of events, immediately turned around to try to help the others before it was too late.
Petra clumsily retreated with her gear, her voice thick with grief and disbelief.
"That's impossible, it hasn't even been thirty seconds!"
The Female Titan began to rush toward Petra. In an attempt to save her, Gunther swung near the Female Titan's legs and managed to put a shallow cut through its left knee, forcing it to stop.
"Petra, pull yourself together!" Gunther yelled.
With his attention divided, the Female Titan quickly stamped on his wire. The sudden movement jerked him through the air and sent his body smashing into the unforgiving ground below.
At seeing another member of her squad die, Petra lost what little composure she had left.
"AAAH!"
"Now you bitch, DIE!"
Desperate to avenge his comrades and save Petra, Oluo had tried to slice through the Female Titan's nape. However, her skin had hardened, and his blades broke. Before he could recover, the Female Titan kicked him, sending his body flying into a nearby tree.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Eren's enraged scream was quickly followed by an explosion of light and the appearance of his Titan, which roared in rage.
The force of the explosion sent Petra tumbling to the ground, and she came to rest right next to the trunk of a tree.
Slightly dazed, she looked up to see Eren's Titan rushing forward and proceeding to beat the living shit out of the Female Titan, pummeling every inch of her he could reach. Between the injuries she'd sustained from the trap, and the fight with the Levi squad, she was in less than ideal shape, and so was unable to properly defend herself from Eren's wrath.
Petra stared dumbly at this display, torn between horror at watching her team slaughtered before her eyes, and a kind of giddy relief at watching their killer being thrashed so thoroughly.
But then she spotted something moving through the trees, and her eyes widened in terror.
"EREN, LOOK OUT!"
But it was too late. His attention thoroughly focused on avenging his squad, Eren was taken by surprise when the Armored Titan hooked its arms under his armpits and held him in place.
Realizing he was in the grasp of another Titan, Eren violently thrashed around in an attempt to free himself, but the Armored Titan's grip was too strong.
With Eren pinned, the Female Titan took a moment to recover before hardening her right foot. Then, in one fluid motion, she swung her leg out and with a single powerful kick decapitated Eren's Titan.
As the head fell to the forest floor with a weighty thud, Petra snapped out of her daze.
"NO!"
She tried to reach Eren to help, but discovered that her triggers were malfunctioning.
Tears of frustration leaked out of her eyes. "Damn it, why now?!"
Unable to help, all she could do was watch helplessly as the Armored Titan ripped the skin off of the nape of Eren's Titan, exposing the young Scout's real body. The Armored Titan then clamped its mouth down and ate him.
"EREN!" Petra screamed.
After letting Eren's now limp Titan body fall, the Armored Titan briefly glanced at her. Either because of pity, or because he could see that her gear was damaged, it ignored her, and the Armored and Female Titans began to flee toward the edge of the forest.
Petra's knees gave out from under her and she collapsed to the ground.
I failed…
The sound of ODM gear soaring through the air reached her ears, and the next second Mikasa landed in front of Petra.
The black haired young woman looked down at her coldly.
"What happened?"
Petra found herself unable to look Mikasa in the eye, instead addressing her right shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I…"
"Where's Eren?" Mikasa interrupted curtly.
Petra flinched before raising a shaking finger. "Th-the Armored and F-female Titans took him."
After seeing where Petra was pointing, Mikasa readied her gear.
"Hold on, you can't go after them by yourself, that's suicide!" Petra protested.
But Mikasa ignored her and began to soar through the trees without a single glance back, and before long was out of sight.
Petra lowered her hand, her feelings of guilt, shame, and horror only further amplified. If Mikasa got herself killed, that would be one more death on her hands.
Get up, damn it. You can't afford to fall to pieces just yet.
Doing her best to shove her broiling emotions into a back corner of her mind and focus on more immediate concerns, she slowly walked over to Gunther's body, and gingerly replaced the damaged parts of her gear with his.
It wasn't like he would be needing it anymore, and she couldn't stay on the forest floor with Titans around.
She heard another set of ODM gear flying through the air, and as she looked up she felt her heart sink down into her toes.
"Captain...I…"
Levi held up a hand, his face remarkably impassive despite the fact that he had just seen the bodies of Eld, Gunther, and Oluo.
"Petra. Just stay calm. Tell me what happened."
Mikasa soared through the trees, the wind whipping her hair as she used her gear to go as fast as she could.
It hadn't been long since Eren had been taken, and she soon heard the telltale signs of two Titans jogging, their footsteps making loud thudding sounds that easily permeated the air.
A moment later, she sighted her prey through the trees, neither one moving very fast.
Her eyes narrowed. There they are. The Female Titan looks tired, injured. She probably won't be as much of a threat.
She shifted her gaze toward the hated destroyer of Wall Maria. The Armored Titan is my priority.
She readied her blades.
Had they been ordinary Titans she would have hooked her wire directly into the nape. But she knew that these were not ordinary Titans, and displayed at least some semblance of intelligence. Consequently she wanted to maintain the element of surprise for as long as possible.
Instead of hooking her wires directly onto the Armored Titan, she timed it carefully so her hooks sank into a tree near its neck.
She swooped down and slashed her blades.
They broke against his armored skin, and both Titans were instantly alerted to her presence. Both stopped in their tracks and focused their attention on her.
Mikasa retreated and quickly replaced her blades with a scowl.
Damn it. I figured that would happen, but I had to try.
She eyed the Female Titan, and saw that it was bent double as if it was out of breath. Dismissing it as not a threat, she returned her gaze to the Armored Titan, which was watching her warily.
The nape is no good, but what about-
She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the sound of ODM gear flying through the air.
She looked to the side and froze in shock.
Annie? What th-
Before Mikasa could fully register her surprise, Annie flew right next to her and hit the young Asian woman hard on the head with her elbow, knocking her out instantly.
Catching Mikasa before she plummeted to her death, Annie landed gracefully on the Armored Titan's shoulder with her now unconscious former classmate in her arms.
Annie glanced at the Armored Titan, her face expressionless. "Hey Reiner, maybe we should take her too. She could be useful."
A short while later Erwin learned through Levi and Petra that Eren had been captured by the Armored and Female Titans, and he gathered all the Scouts on their horses to go after them.
Most of the Scouts were confused as to what was going on, but the years of military training and discipline held strong, and the more experienced soldiers trusted Erwin's judgment.
Before long the Scouts had reached the edge of the forest, on the opposite side from where they had entered it, and the legion of horse riding Scouts were surprised by what they saw.
The Armored Titan was standing in the middle of an open plain not too far away from the forest, staring them down.
"What the hell?" Levi exclaimed. "Why is it just standing there?"
Erwin eyed the Titan carefully. "It must know that it can't outrun our horses, so it intends to deal with us here and now. That works just fine for me, it gives us a chance to get Eren back."
Levi glanced at him with a scowl. "And how are we supposed to do that? Our weapons are useless against it."
Erwin shook his head. "Not entirely. I think we have to accept that we won't be able to kill it, its vitals are too heavily protected. But its joints are most likely weak points, as it wouldn't be able to move at all if it's whole body was armored."
Levi rolled his eyes. "Most likely. That's not exactly reassuring."
Erwin sighed. "No, but it's the best we can hope for at this point."
He raised his voice. "SOLDIERS! THERE IS NO FUTURE FOR HUMANITY WITHOUT EREN! WE MUST RETRIEVE HIM NO MATTER THE COST! CHARGE!"
As one, the Scouts began to charge toward the Armored Titan, their voices and blades rising toward the sky as they headed for their mortal enemy.
As Annie watched the Scouts charging toward them, she felt an unexpected lump in her throat.
"It's over." She murmured.
As Erwin looked at the Armored Titan and noticed the person standing on its right shoulder, he realized with an icy thrill of horror that he had overlooked one crucial detail.
The Colossal.
As the line of horses exited the forest, Erwin looked back just in time to see a hooded figure leaping down from the trees above.
Bertolt's eyes were full of tears as he slashed the blade across his palm.
"I'm sorry."
A massive explosion ripped through the air, destroying everything directly in its path, and sending anything else that was too close flying. Most of the Scouts were instantly vaporized, while the rest were thrown off their horses and sent sprawling to the ground.
All at once everything became still. The half formed body of the Colossal Titan lay face down in the midst of the field, steam rising from its carcass as it towered over what was left of its victims.
Jean looked up groggily, his head ringing.
"Armin." He rasped. "Are you okay?"
"Not really." Armin said weakly.
Jean let out a cough, and slowly moved over to help support Armin, but before he could both of them were distracted by the sound of thudding footsteps.
They looked up and froze in terror as they saw the Armored Titan approaching. But it paid no attention to them, instead heading for the Colossal Titan's head.
As soon as it got near, someone emerged from the Colossal Titan's nape, and latched onto the shoulder of the Armored Titan, pulling themselves on board.
As the Armored Titan turned around, Jean and Armin's eyes widened in shock as they got a good look at the people on the Armored Titan's shoulders.
Standing there, on the shoulders of mankind's worst enemy, were Annie and Bertolt.
"No way." Jean whispered.
And as he looked at the Armored Titan's face, he realized that the general build of its body did look an awful lot like Reiner, the missing member of the trio.
You've got to be fucking kidding me…
Armin, meanwhile, had noticed something more alarming.
"MIKASA!"
Ignoring his cry, the Armored Titan began to retreat, leaving the surviving Scouts behind.
As Jean supported Armin, he found himself staring numbly at the Armored Titan's fleeing form.
Why…
Annie rested against the Armored Titan's face. "Well, looks like we won."
Bertolt winced. "Doesn't feel much like a victory though."
Annie shook her head. "No, it doesn't."
They headed south in silence, the only sound that could be heard being the Armored Titan's heavy footsteps.
Erwin's eyes shot open, a surprised gasp escaping his lips.
"Hey, you're awake. Finally."
Even without turning his head Erwin could tell that the speaker was Levi.
He looked around, and saw that they were perched high up on a branch of one of the giant trees. He also noticed a few other Scouts in some trees nearby, all of them looking extremely downcast.
Erwin sat back down and closed his eyes. "What happened?"
Levi glanced at him. "What's the last thing you remember?"
Erwin rubbed his forehead with an aggravated sigh. "The Colossal Titan transforming."
Levi's mouth tightened. "Right. Well, that little trick of theirs killed almost all of the Scouts, and allowed them to get away scot free."
Levi turned his gaze toward the now vacant field just outside of the forest. The grass that had the misfortune of being just underneath the Colossal Titan's transformation had been scorched black, and the bodies of dead Scouts and horses were littered throughout the area just outside of the blast radius.
"How many of us are left?" Erwin asked.
Levi tilted his head as he ran through the handful of people who were still alive.
"At the moment it's just the two of us, Hange, Moblit, Petra, Nifa, Nanaba, Keiji, Gelgar, and six of the newest recruits. We couldn't find any other survivors, and even if there were any, the regular Titans would have taken care of them by now."
Levi's eyes darkened. "We were able to figure out the identities of the shifters. Two of the recruits, Jean and Armin, got a good look at them before they fled. The Female Titan is Annie Leonhart, and the Colossal Titan is Bertolt Hoover. And since he allegedly came from the same village as them, we're pretty sure that the Armored Titan is Reiner Braun."
Erwin smiled bitterly. "So we managed to expose the enemies hidden among us, but between the massive casualties we suffered and the loss of Eren it hardly matters."
"Silver lining, at least we don't have to worry about the MPs stringing Eren up when we get back."
"Maybe not, but I doubt the enemy's plans for him are any more pleasant."
Erwin slowly stood up and looked at Levi seriously. "Do we have any horses left?"
Levi grunted. "We managed to retrieve four. All the rest are dead or scattered."
"Well, that's something at least." Erwin sighed.
Seeing that the others were starting to look over at him, Erwin used his gear to move toward a more central spot so that they all could hear what he had to say.
Looking over them, Erwin could see that the remaining Scouts were watching him with a mixture of exhaustion, despair, and anger.
He could hardly blame them, as this was one fine mess he had landed them all in.
He did his best to keep his face expressionless. It wouldn't do to show any weakness or uncertainty now, even if in truth he felt as lost as the others looked.
"By now you all will have realized that the true purpose of this expedition was not to establish a route to Shiganshina, but to find and capture the enemy Titans among us. I purposely kept everyone in the dark who joined the military after Wall Maria fell, as I felt that was the only way to ensure the trap we had planned was kept secret. I knew that many soldiers would die, but I believed this was a necessary sacrifice to achieve our goal."
Erwin frowned. "However, I badly underestimated the enemy, and while we did manage to unearth their identities, the losses we incurred in the process were catastrophic. I can offer no excuse or apology that would even begin to be adequate. All I can say is that I did what I thought was best."
Erwin bowed his head slightly. "If you are angry with me, you are more than justified. But I would ask you to postpone expressing that anger for a little while. At the moment, our top priority is to make it back to the walls alive, so that at the very least the information we paid so dearly to obtain won't be lost. To that end, once the sun has gone down Captain Levi will take charge of the four horses, and he along with Armin, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Ymir, Krista, and Petra will ride back to the walls. Meanwhile, the rest of us will run on foot towards the walls. Once those of you on horseback have reached the walls, Captain Levi and Petra will turn around and come back for us with spare horses. If we hurry, all of us should be able to make it back to the walls alive with relatively little difficulty. Are there any questions?"
Jean stepped forward. "Commander...I'm not going to lie, part of me is fucking furious with you. This isn't what we signed up for. But…"
Jean rested his hand against the nearby tree trunk to steady himself, his eyes wide.
"Those three. For three years we knew those three. They slept in the same room as us, ate the same food as us, trained and talked and joked the same as us. And all this time...they were really…"
The rest of the 104th also looked miserable, with Armin appearing to be on the verge of tears.
"Why?" Jean breathed. "Why? That's all I want to know! Why damn it?! WHY?!"
Eren let out a soft moan, his head groggy and his body feeling heavy and lethargic.
As his consciousness slowly returned to him, he felt like he would rather just stay where he was, lie down and go back to sleep.
But the surface he was lying on seemed unusually hard, and wasn't very comfortable at all. Realizing that he would have to get up soon, and mildly curious about where he was, he opened his eyes.
Mikasa's face filled his vision. She was looking down at him, her expression tense and worried.
Her unease cracked slightly with a small amount of relief as she saw that he was awake.
"Eren." She said softly.
"Mikasa?" Eren asked.
He realized that there was no ceiling above her head, just the open blue sky.
"What...where are we?"
Mikasa glanced away. "We're on top of Wall Maria."
Eren sat up, and looking from side to side he could see that she was telling the truth. They were on the surface of the wall, with the sides of the wall stretching down into the grassy lands below them.
"Huh?" Eren muttered, feeling thoroughly bewildered by now. "How the hell did we…"
He froze as his most recent memories came rushing back.
"The Female Titan! What happened?!"
Mikasa gently laid her hand on Eren's shoulder to try to calm him. "Take it easy."
Eren was about to protest when he noticed that they weren't alone. Three people were standing a short distance away, their gaze fixed on Eren and Mikasa.
Eren relaxed. "Oh, hey Reiner, Bertolt, glad to see you guys are okay."
Eren frowned. "Annie? What are you doing here?"
"Eren, they're the enemy." Mikasa said grimly.
Eren looked at her in annoyance. "What are you talking about?"
Mikasa looked at him seriously, her grip on his shoulder tightening. "Annie is the Female Titan. Reiner is the Armored Titan. Bertolt is the Colossal Titan."
Eren scoffed. "Are you nuts? That's impossible, they can't be-"
"It's the truth Eren."
Reiner's voice cut through the air like a knife. Eren looked up at him, and he noticed that Reiner and Annie both had strange markings around their eyes, very similar to the ones he himself had after transforming.
Eren's eyes widened in shock.
I can't believe this. This has to be a nightmare. Maybe I'll wake up soon. But...if it's not...if it's actually real...there's only one thing I can do.
Eren abruptly raised his hand to his mouth.
Mikasa grabbed his wrist before he could bite. "Eren, stop."
Eren looked at her in outrage. "What?! Why?!"
Mikasa let out an aggravated sigh. "Believe me Eren, I want to attack them too. But we can't be rash. As hard as it is, we have to stay calm."
"She's right." Reiner said.
Eren glared at him. If this was indeed real, if this wasn't just an elaborate nightmare, then that meant that Reiner was…
Reiner folded his arms as he looked down at Eren. "There's nothing to be gained by acting impulsively. In case you haven't noticed, the three of us have ODM gear, while you two don't. You can turn into a Titan, but so can we, and we have far more experience in our Titan forms than you do."
Reiner cocked his head toward Wall Maria's interior. "And even if you managed to get away, the Female Titan can call pure Titans to her. All Annie would have to do is scream, and every Titan for miles would come running in an instant. Your Titan would be devoured before you got far. So if you're thinking about escaping, forget it."
Reiner's eyes narrowed. "Besides, we do need you alive, Eren, but Mikasa is expendable, so if you give us too much trouble, we'll just toss her off of the wall. If you don't want that on your conscience, behave yourself."
Eren glared at him for a few more seconds, but then looked down at the base of the wall, and noticed several pure Titans pawing at the wall, having been drawn by the presence of humans in the area.
Eren glanced at Mikasa, and an understanding passed between them.
Mikasa looked up at Reiner with a disgusted sneer. "So, what are you planning to do with us? You said you would tell us once Eren woke up."
Reiner looked away. "We'll take you to our hometown. That's all you need to know for now. Before that, though, we'll stop at Shiganshina. You guys wanted to know what was in your old basement, right? And I have to admit, we're curious too. So why don't we just keep things civil for now. As long as we have a common goal in reaching that basement, there's no need for us to fight."
He motioned with his hand for them to get up. "Let's get moving."
Recognizing that they didn't really have any other choice, Eren and Mikasa slowly stood up, and began to walk along the wall, with Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie just behind them.
They walked and walked and walked. Most of the day passed in silence, as neither group wanted to speak and give away any more information than they had to.
Mikasa was surprised at how calm Eren seemed, but given his general demeanor she had a feeling that the true weight of the betrayal had not yet sunk in. He had the look of someone who accepted what was happening around him because he expected to wake up at any moment.
If only it were that simple. As shocking as it was, as much as it turned many things she thought she had known on their head, Mikasa knew that they had no choice but to accept what they were seeing. It all felt too vivid and real for it to be a dream, and wishing it away wouldn't change the unpleasant situation they were in.
Eventually Reiner and the others began to lag slightly behind them so that they could discuss something clearly not meant for their ears, and Mikasa quickly took advantage of this.
"Listen, Eren, I have a plan." She whispered.
Eren looked at her sharply. "What is it?"
Mikasa glanced behind them. "When we get a chance, I'll rush at them and kill Annie with my bare hands. That way she won't be able to summon the Titans. The second I begin to move, you leap over the edge, transform and make a run for it."
"But that's too risky!" Eren protested. "Even if you managed to kill Annie, Reiner and Bertolt will kill you."
Mikasa dismissed his concern. "You're more important to humanity's survival than I am, it's crucial that you get away. If it costs me my life, that's a price I'm willing to pay."
Eren was silent for a moment before jerking his head away.
"Well I'm not. I won't leave you like I left mom. We'll figure out a way to escape, but in a way that lets us both get away. Got it?"
Eren glared at her, as if daring her to challenge his decision.
"Okay." She said softly, deeply touched that he refused to leave her behind.
They talked for a little more, but couldn't think of any other ideas, and before long the others came back within hearing range, forcing them to discontinue their discussion.
The rest of the day passed in a tense silence, with the sun slowly descending down to the horizon as they made their way along the wall at a decent pace.
When the sun had gone down, Reiner finally told them all to stop for the night. They had next to no supplies, so the best they could do was use their jackets as a pillow and lie down on the flat hard surface of the wall in the most comfortable position they could find.
Annie and Reiner settled down on one side of the wall, while Eren and Mikasa settled down on the other side. Bertolt remained standing, as he was the first one on watch, his main job being to keep a close eye on Eren and Mikasa.
Reiner and Eren fell asleep fairly quickly, with the former trusting his friends to keep things under control, while the latter secretly hoped that this was all a bad dream that he would soon wake up from.
Annie and Mikasa remained awake for a while longer, staring at each other suspiciously, sizing each other up. Eventually, though, exhaustion claimed Annie, and she fell asleep.
Now it was just Mikasa and Bertolt still awake. As tempted as she was to rush forward and attack Bertolt, Mikasa knew this was a bad idea for several reasons, so forced herself to remain calm.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry."
Bertolt's whispered confession startled Mikasa out of her thoughts of escape.
Her eyes narrowed. "Sorry. You honestly think that sorry begins to cover what you've done?"
Bertolt looked away, unable to maintain eye contact with her. "No. But if you think we did what we did because we wanted to, or because we liked it, you're wrong."
Bertolt didn't look back at her, though she knew he could see her through his periphery.
Her anger cooled slightly, and as she felt sleep begin to overtake her, a new thought occurred to her.
Why did they break down the wall?
The following morning began as stiffly and silently as the previous day, and with no food available to the five teens they were forced to begin their walk along the wall on empty and growling stomachs, which did nothing to reduce the tension.
Around noon they began to see the faint protrusion of Shiganshina jutting out from Wall Maria in the distance, and were relieved that their journey was nearly at an end.
Or at least, the first part of it was.
Mikasa had her suspicions about what exactly Reiner had meant about his hometown, but the only logical conclusion was that he was referring to some unspecified location beyond the walls.
This, however, raised many questions. The most important of which being that it threw into doubt the idea that the walls were the last bastion of humanity. After all, if that were the case, where would Reiner and the others have come from, and what could they possibly have gained from destroying the walls?
Bertolt's words from the previous night came back to her, adding fuel to her suspicions while simultaneously raising further questions.
I wish Armin was here. He would know what to make of all this.
She glanced at Eren. He had not said a single word so far that day. He still had the look of one expecting (or perhaps praying) to wake up any moment. But a kind of creeping dread and resignation was in his face now as well, and Mikasa could tell that the reality of their situation was slowly but surely sinking in.
And knowing Eren, it would only be a matter of time before his emotions flared up and he exploded at Reiner and the others.
She just hoped she would be able to prevent him from doing anything too rash. Much as she loathed the three traitors, as much as she longed to lash out at them, she knew they had to bide their time and only strike at the right moment when they had an actual plan. Anything less would almost certainly end in failure.
"Is that who I think it is?"
Bertolt's voice shook Mikasa out of her thoughts, and she looked ahead.
She froze, and so did Eren.
On top of the wall was a Titan. It was crouched near the corner where Shiganshina and Maria connected, and it was looking out into the lands of Maria, its eyes surveying the landscape like a hawk looking for its prey.
Its face was extremely long, and proportionally it appeared to be quadrupedal in nature rather than bipedal as was typical for a Titan.
Mikasa felt her mouth falling open at the sight of a Titan on top of the wall. For over a century the wall had served as an effective barrier against the Titans, and here one was just casually climbing and perching on the wall.
Except was it just a Titan? As she looked more closely, she realized that it was wearing an enormous saddle with many crates strapped to its back, including what looked like a perch near its neck for a rider.
She glanced behind her, and could see that Eren was also shocked by the Titan.
Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie, on the other hand, didn't appear shocked at all. Surprised, certainly, but not overwhelmingly so, and in fact there was recognition on their faces.
Reiner raised his hand and his voice. "Hey!"
The Titan sharply turned its head, and upon spotting the group of five began to run toward them on all fours.
Mikasa reflexively pulled Eren closer to her, ready to dive out of the way, but fortunately for them the Titan stopped just a few yards short of the group.
"Reiner? Annie? Bertolt? Is that you?"
Mikasa's eyes widened in utter disbelief. Maybe she was dreaming, because there was no way in hell that this Titan had just…
"Yeah, it's us." Bertolt cried.
The Titan looked down at the three of them affectionately. "Wow, you've grown a lot since I last saw you all. It's good to see you all again. But where's Marcel?"
Still trying to process the unbelievable event of a Titan talking to them, all Mikasa and Eren could do was stare up at it dumbly.
Who the fuck is Marcel? Mikasa wondered in bewilderment.
Bertolt and Annie glanced pointedly at Reiner, who shifted uncomfortably.
"Marcel...he...he didn't make it." Reiner said quietly.
"Ah. I see." The Titans eyes dimmed slightly. "That's too bad."
The Titan turned its gaze toward the two unfamiliar faces. "And who are they?"
"They're prisoners." Reiner said. "Eren and Mikasa. We think Eren might have the coordinate, but we're not sure."
Eren looked at him sharply. "The coordinate?"
His voice was slightly hoarse from the lack of use, but Mikasa could detect an undercurrent of anger.
The Titan eyed Eren with interest. "Well, let's scale down the wall, I'm sure Warchief Zeke will be thrilled to see you all."
Using its hand to lift them up, the Titan set the five of them on its back. Reiner, Annie, and Bertolt were at ease, while Eren and Mikasa remained extremely tense, only cooperating because they knew they still didn't have any other choice but to comply.
The Titan slowly but carefully descended back down the wall, and once it made it to the ground it began to run toward the inner gate, jostling its passengers slightly.
"Warchief!"
Near the inner gate a man with a thick beard and glasses looked up.
As Mikasa looked at him, she was struck with an uncanny sense of familiarity.
Have I seen him somewhere before?
Zeke looked up, and his eyes widened when he saw the passengers on the Titan's back.
"Whoa, is that who I think it is?"
Before long the five were lowered to the ground, and a happy reunion began.
Zeke smiled. "This is a pleasant surprise. You know it's rather rude to keep us waiting for five years."
Bertolt smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, but we've been very busy."
"I can imagine." Zeke chuckled. "I assume you've made good progress?"
He looked over at Eren and Mikasa, both of whom were now stone faced.
Reiner nodded. "Yes, we have."
Annie stepped forward eagerly. "How's my dad doing?"
"Oh, he's doing well, though he has been worried sick about you. I expect he'll be thrilled when you finally come home."
"It'll be nice to see everyone again." Bertolt sighed. "I wonder how they've changed."
"Some of them haven't changed much over the past five years, but some have. Gabi's grown quite a lot."
Reiner rubbed the back of his head. "I hope she's not as much of a troublemaker as she was when she was little."
"Well, you know her, she's still quite an energetic child, though you can't fault her for her enthusiasm."
"What about Zofia? How's she doing?"
"Oh that's right Annie, she's your step cousin isn't she? Well, she's made quite a few friends at the academy, and along with Gabi she's on track to being a Warrior candidate."
"That's...good."
"Though the next candidate in line after Porco is a young man named Colt."
"Oh I remember him, he was nice. Do you think-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
The pleasant atmosphere evaporated, and everyone immediately turned toward Eren, who was glaring at them all, his face absolutely livid.
"How dare you…" He whispered harshly. "How dare you make pleasant small talk while standing in the midst of your greatest crime, the site where you destroyed my home!"
He gestured around them wildly. A few yards away the gaping hole that had been the inner gate lay bare for all to see, while the nearby houses all showed clear signs of neglect and decay, the many weeds and wild plants dotted throughout the roads and adorning the houses a testament to the lack of human life the town had suffered after the Titan incursion.
Eren clenched his fists, his teeth barred. "From what you've said, I'm guessing there are other humans out there somewhere. So, it looks like the claim that all of humanity outside of the walls had died out was wrong. But even so, what could possibly justify this? We have been caged in by these walls and by the Titans for a century! We have done nothing to you at all! We didn't even know you existed! And yet you came here and smashed down our wall and slaughtered thousands upon thousands of our people, including many of my friends and comrades! Why?! What reason could you possibly have for the mass murder of people who did you no harm?!"
He jabbed his finger near Zeke's face. "You're their leader, right?! Well here's what I think of you!"
Eren pulled back his fist, and before anyone could stop him he decked Zeke as hard as he could in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him out.
At that exact moment, several things happened.
The first was that all of the people present except for Mikasa instantly felt like a massive surge of electricity was running through their bodies.
The second was that a loud series of cracking sounds began to emanate from the walls.
Mikasa looked up, and could see that the wall was literally cracking apart, with one particularly large piece of debris coming loose and falling straight toward them.
Without thinking, Mikasa grabbed Eren and dove into a nearby alleyway, while the quadrupedal Titan hastily scooped up Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, and Zeke, and dove in the other direction, just barely avoiding being crushed by the chunk of wall.
"No…" Annie whispered in horror as she looked up at the crumbling wall.
As the wall came down, the Titans that had been hidden beneath were exposed to the daylight for the first time in a century.
"Eren is the coordinate." Bertolt said in despair.
"Guys! Get on! We need to get out of here!"
"But Eren-" Reiner protested.
"It's too late!" She snapped. "We have to warn the others."
With Zeke unconscious, they reluctantly deferred to her command, and the five warriors were soon on their way out of Shiganshina, having slipped between the now marching Colossal Titans and heading south as fast as they could.
Reiner looked back in terror at the line of Titans slowly but surely following them.
Eren...of all the people in the world who could have had this power...you are by far the worst.
Meanwhile, Eren and Mikasa had found a relatively safe location within Shiganshina that was well away from where the walls used to be, and were watching in disbelief as the Wall Titans circled around Shiganshina and started marching south after their enemies.
"There were Titans inside the walls?" Mikasa asked faintly.
Eren looked down at his hands, which were trembling. "No way...did...did I do this?"
Mikasa said nothing, honestly not sure. She'd been hoping for some means of escape, but this wasn't at all what she'd had in mind.
For a while they simply watched the line of receding Titans in stunned silence, but after all of the Titans from the Shiganshina wall were gone, Eren noticed that Wall Maria was slowly but surely crumbling as one by one more Titans were exposed and began to march after their fellows.
He looked at the wall nervously "This is bad. If all of Wall Maria goes…"
He held up his hands and willed it to stop, somehow. As if in response to his thoughts, the Titans still attached to Wall Maria on both ends instantly hardened, and the wall suddenly looked almost as good as new, though now appearing very peculiar with the gap left behind by Shiganshina's disappearance.
The Titans that had been awoken continued to march south, their footsteps growing fainter and fainter until they faded into silence.
This silence remained unbroken for several moments as the two childhood friends stood stock still, utterly taken aback by the day's events.
"Um, Eren?"
Eren looked at her, slightly dazed. "Yeah?"
"Well...while we're here, we might as well head for the basement."
"Oh...yeah, right, that's a good idea."
They slowly made their way down the ruined streets toward their old home, hoping to find some answers.
Erwin dug through several files and laid them out on his desk. He scanned through them with a frown.
The fifteen surviving Scouts had managed to make it back to Wall Rose without any further casualties, but there were repercussions for the disastrous expedition.
The biggest one was the suspension of any further expeditions until further notice. Erwin was unsurprised by this, as he expected the central government to take such actions, and even if they hadn't the massive losses the Scouts had suffered would have delayed any more excursions beyond the walls for quite some time until they got more people to replace the ones they'd lost.
Of course getting anyone else to sign up after the death toll was made known to the public and the other military branches seemed dubious at best.
The only saving grace was that the government seemed to believe their report of exactly how and why the expedition had gone wrong, and had not disbanded the Scouts.
Not yet anyway.
Levi walked into the office unannounced, his eyes on Erwin's messy desk.
"So, find anything interesting?"
Erwin sighed. "Not really. Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie all claimed to be the sole survivors of a village in one of the southern regions of Wall Maria. A believable enough story, but of course one with no way to verify it one way or the other."
Levi leaned against the desk. "So it was just those three?"
"Yes, it does appear to have just been the three of them."
Erwin opened another file. "However, just to be safe I've been looking into everyone's background to see if there's anyone else who seems at all suspicious."
Levi raised an eyebrow. "Seems like overkill if you ask me. With Eren captured and the Scouts devastated, there's really nothing more for them to gain by keeping a spy within the walls."
Erwin grimaced. "Perhaps, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I won't underestimate the enemy again. And as it happens, there are two individuals whose backgrounds are incredibly suspicious."
"Really? Who?"
"Ymir? You alright?"
Ymir jumped slightly when she realized that Krista had caught her staring absently out of a nearby window, a look of concern on her face.
Ymir rested her hands on the table. "Uh...well, not really."
"Sorry." Krista murmured.
"Whatever." Ymir muttered.
She looked around the eating area, and saw the other remaining members of the 104th picking absently at their lunches, none of them looking like they had much of an appetite.
Armin in particular looked hollow and numb, and seemed completely unaware of the plate of food in front of him, his eyes empty and lost. Jean sat next to him, and looked as though he was trying to think of something, anything to say to cheer Armin up. However, nothing seemed to come to mind, so he remained silent and returned his gaze to his own plate.
Ymir looked out of the window again, a trickle of dread running through her stomach.
What happens now?
Mikasa and Eren closed the last book. They had spent the past few hours reading in silence, absorbing the notes and entries left behind by Eren's father.
Mikasa looked at him. "Eren."
He walked away absently.
"Are you...okay?" She asked timidly.
She jumped as Eren punched straight through a nearby cabinet, breaking the glass and sending shards flying everywhere.
"What do you think?" He whispered, his bloody hand clenched into a fist. "Everything I thought I knew...was a lie. We're not the last of humanity. Titans aren't evil monsters, but lost souls waiting to be put out of their misery. And…"
He whirled around and looked at her wildly.
"My dad gave me this power, but I don't understand how it works or what I'm supposed to do with it! And on top of that…"
He trailed off, but Mikasa could tell what he was thinking about.
The knowledge that he had less than a decade left to live was weighing heavily on them both.
Despite how shaken she was, she tried to push her own feelings aside for the moment and offer Eren what comfort she could.
Mikasa placed her hands on his shoulders. "Look...this...this was a lot to take in. A lot's happened the past few days, and it's going to take time for us to process it. But...no matter what happens...I'll always be here for you."
A sad smile lit up Eren's face. "Thanks. Though honestly, I don't know why you put up with me."
Mikasa fiddled with her scarf, concealing her own smile. "You know why."
That night, after getting some food from one of the local orchards that had helpfully continued to bear fruit even in the absence of human care, the two of them had set up camp near the remains of their old house.
Their surroundings seemed to reflect how lost they both felt. Not only was Shiganshina in a state of ruin, a ghostly shell of its former self, but it seemed almost naked now without the protective walls surrounding it. Much as he had hated the walls, seeing them as a cage, they had served as a barrier against the dangers of the outside.
But now they were gone, and combined with the knowledge of the world beyond the walls that his father had left behind Eren felt more vulnerable and uncertain than ever before.
While Mikasa was able to put on a brave face for Eren's sake, internally she was no more confident or assured than he was.
What on earth are we supposed to do now?
She pushed the matter aside. They would figure something out in the morning.
That night both of the young Scouts drifted into an uneasy sleep, but before long this was interrupted.
Eren shot straight up, his eyes wide and his face drenched in sweat.
"Eren?" Mikasa asked, having been woken up by his sudden movement. "Are you alright?"
Eren's breathing slowed, and he tried to smile reassuringly. "I'm fine. Just a nightmare."
She looked unconvinced, and a few seconds later Eren's smile slid off his face.
He rubbed his forehead. "No...no, it was too vivid...I see...so everything in that book was true."
Mikasa scooted closer to him. "Did you see your father's memories?"
"Some of them." Eren admitted reluctantly.
"What did you see?"
Eren flinched. "I...I'd rather not talk about it. Not yet."
"...okay."
They both settled back down, and were on the verge of sleep once more when Eren abruptly sat back up.
"What is it?" Mikasa asked.
Eren's eyes were wide. "The Titan...the Titan that killed...mom...it had once been Dina Fritz."
Mikasa blinked. "What?"
"My old man's first wife...they had a son named Zeke…"
Eren turned sharply toward Mikasa. "Reiner and the others called their leader Warchief Zeke!"
"You think they're the same person?" Mikasa gasped.
"Yeah!" Eren nodded. "It's not that common of a name, is it? And Zeke presumably has the power of a Titan."
Eren looked down at his hands. "And it was after I punched him that I accidentally awoke the Founding Titan's power. Normally only members of the royal family can use the Founding Titan's power. But I was able to use it after touching Zeke...after touching a Titan with royal blood."
He clenched his hands into fists, a look of determination coming onto his face. "And if that's the case...if we can find Dina's Titan, I should be able to use the Founding Titan's power again!"
Mikasa frowned. "But how are we going to find her?"
Eren pointed north. "I know the Scouts have a number of safe houses and supply depots in the lost territory of Wall Maria. I remember that one of them was located not too far north from here. So if we can find it, we can get stocked up on ODM gear and food. Then, we can head for one of the forests of giant trees, and wait. We can lure Titans toward us during the day, see if we can spot Dina's Titan. If we don't, then when night falls we can kill the Titans while they're inactive, then try again."
"But it could take weeks if not months to track down Dina's Titan. Shouldn't we head back to Wall Rose?"
Eren shook his head. "The way things are, if we go back the central government will probably find some excuse to have me executed. I very much doubt the royal family wants the information my dad left behind to reach the general public, so going back without the power of the Founding Titan on our side would be a bad idea."
Mikasa tilted her head, weighing their options. "Perhaps. But staying out here in Titan territory would also be risky. I'll agree to your plan, but only if we're able to locate the supply depots. If we're not, then we'll head back for Wall Rose and reunite with the Scouts. Deal?"
Eren smiled. "Deal."
The day after they reached the basement Eren transformed into his Titan form, and he and Mikasa made their way to one of the Scouts supply depots, dodging a few Titans along the way. Thanks to an old but still accurate map of Wall Maria that they'd taken from the basement they were able to successfully locate the supply depot, an old abandoned tavern, and got stocked up on the various supplies they needed, from basics like food to the more specialized equipment like ODM gear.
With this venture successful, they then made their way to the nearest forest of giant trees, and set up camp high in the branches, well away from where any of the Titans could reach them.
And so their task of finding the Smiling Titan began. It didn't take long for their presence to attract the attention of the local Titans, who would gather at the base of the tree they were staying at. Some of them even attempted to climb up, though none of them got very far before they fell back down again.
Eren and Mikasa would observe the Titans one by one, and look for their target. As the smiling Titan was embedded in both their own memories and Grisha's, they had no doubt that they would instantly recognize it if they saw it again. For the first few weeks, though, the smiling Titan was nowhere to be found, and so once the sun went down and the Titans became inactive Eren and Mikasa would descend down and kill them all, Eren with his Titan and Mikasa with her ODM gear.
Before this excursion Eren and Mikasa would have taken some kind of pleasure or satisfaction from cutting down the Titans, but now all they felt was a grim sadness, knowing the horrifying truth about what the Titans were.
The world had always been cruel, but the true nature of the outside world had only made it seem even more cruel than before.
With all the Titans killed off each night, new ones would come to take their place the following day, and they knew that if they repeated this process enough times they should (hopefully) find their target.
During the day while they were waiting for the Titans to arrive or for the sun to go down Eren and Mikasa would pass the time by talking, rereading the books Grisha had left behind, or playing simple games. It was tiring and often tedious, but strangely they felt free and relaxed in a way that neither of them had been able to since joining the cadet corps and the military, when they had been under the command and strict rules of someone else.
About a month after they came to the forest of giant trees their planning finally paid off, as one of the Titans that arrived below them was the smiling Titan.
It looked up at them, its face locked in a permanent, almost painful looking grin. Mikasa stared down at it without much of an expression, while Eren just looked sad.
"You poor thing." Eren whispered.
When night fell, Eren descended down and placed his hand on its head.
Electricity shot through his arm, and suddenly everything was gone.
Eren looked around in bewilderment. All around him, stretching in every direction as far as the eye could see, was an endless landscape of sand. Above them the stars shone brightly, and in the distance he could see a massive pillar of light jutting up from the ground and reaching high into the sky.
He turned around, and spotted a young woman wearing a modest dress, who also looked rather bewildered.
She spotted him, and her eyes widened in fear.
"Who...who are you?"
Eren stepped forward, trying to smile reassuringly. "My name's Eren. You must be Dina."
She took a step backward. "How did you know my name? Where are we?"
Eren glanced at the pillar of light. "I'm not sure, but if I had to guess, this looks like the paths. As for how I knew your name, well, that's a bit of a long story."
He then went on to explain to her what was going on, what had happened to Grisha, who he was, and how he was trying to access the power of the Founding Titan.
The only thing he left out was that Dina had killed his mother. Given that she had been a mindless Titan at the time he couldn't hold it against her, and he didn't want her to tear herself apart with guilt over it.
Dina looked at the ground sadly. "I see. So all this time, I've been a Titan. I'd hoped to be able to see Grisha again, but…"
Eren stiffened. "Who's that?"
Dina looked over, and saw a figure emerging from the pillar of light and slowly walking towards them.
She frowned. "That must be the Founder Ymir?"
Eren looked at her sharply. "How do you know?"
"Who else could it be?"
Eren didn't have an answer to that.
Eren and Dina walked over to Ymir. After trying to talk to her for a few minutes, they both tentatively touched the young girl's shoulders, and all at once they were filled with Ymir's memories.
They saw her life, both in the real world, and in the paths, trapped by her slave mentality.
Dina wrapped her arms around Ymir, tears filling her eyes.
"You poor thing. You've suffered so much. But don't worry. If you want, I can take this burden from you. I'll take your place in these paths, and you can finally be free."
Eren looked at her suspiciously. "What are you doing?"
Dina looked up at Eren, while Ymir had begun to tremble.
"The life I had with Grisha is now gone, so there's nothing left for me in the real world. But I still want to help free Eldia. I'll take her place here in the paths, and I'll unlock the Founder's power for you to use in the real world."
She looked at him seriously. "I know your first priority will be to protect the Eldians on the island, and that's fine. But promise me that you'll also try to free the Eldians on the continent from the internment zones."
Eren nodded solemnly. "I will."
Finally given the chance to be free, Ymir disappeared, leaving for whatever lay in the next world.
With Ymir gone, Dina took her place, the power of the coordinate now flowing through her.
Eren looked at her uncertainly. "How long are you going to stay here?"
Dina tilted her head thoughtfully. "I think I'll remain here for, say, fifty years. After that, you can choose a successor, and then take my place here, and so on until the power of the Titans isn't needed to protect Eldia any more. Sound good?"
Eren slowly nodded. "Yeah, that works. It's definitely better than the eight years I thought I had left before."
Eren began to walk toward the pillar of light.
As he passed her by Dina spoke again.
"Before you go, there's something I think you should know."
"What?"
Dina smiled softly. "Mikasa loves you. And I don't just mean in a familial sense, but in a romantic sense."
Eren gaped at her in shock. "Really?"
"You honestly had no idea? Pathetic."
"Hey." Eren protested weakly.
Dina shook her head. "Well, it's up to you what you want to do with this information. But if you feel the same way, don't hesitate. Live your life to the fullest."
Eren smiled. "I'll keep that in mind. Goodbye."
Dina bowed. "Farewell. I'll be watching over you."
In the end Erwin decided to keep his suspicions about Ymir and Krista between himself and Levi, though he was determined to keep an eye on the two young Scouts, and to act on his suspicions if something happened.
And it seemed that something major had finally happened.
Erwin frowned. "You said that something urgent has come up?"
Pixis grimaced. "Well, it's not exactly urgent, but it's...well, you'll see in a minute."
Erwin, Levi, and Pixis stepped off of the elevator and onto the top of the wall of Trost.
As soon as they looked out over the lands beyond Wall Rose they were instantly struck by what they were seeing. Or rather, by what they weren't seeing.
"What the hell?" Levi exclaimed.
"Where are the Titans?" Erwin asked.
Pixis shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Last night there was the usual cluster of Titans gathered around the city wall, plus various smaller groups scattered all throughout the lands of Maria. But since our patrols began this morning we haven't seen a single one. All of them appear to have vanished."
Erwin rubbed his chin. "How peculiar."
Levi scowled. "Titans don't just disappear."
A week later there was still no sign of any Titans. Perplexed by the situation, the Scouts were given permission for an expedition to Shiganshina to try to figure out what was going on.
The Scouts, along with a few squads of elite Garrison soldiers, left Trost and headed south.
As they headed further and further south, they continued to see no Titans at all, which if anything only made them more nervous.
Then, when they rode down the last stretch toward Shiganshina, the regiment was struck by a series of bizarre sights.
The first was that an entire chunk of Wall Maria, which included where Shiganshina had been, was gone.
The second was the smoke from a campfire just outside of the abandoned town.
As they got close, they were stunned by what they found.
"You've got to be kidding." Nanaba exclaimed.
Gathered around the campfire were several boxes of supplies, with two people casually sitting by the fire as if they didn't have a care in the world.
As soon as he saw who they were, Armin leaped off of his horse.
"Eren! Mikasa!"
"Armin!" Mikasa cried.
Armin launched himself at them, and the three old friends found themselves entangled in a group hug.
Eren smiled affectionately at his best friend. "Glad to see you're okay."
"Same!" Armin said, his voice trembling. "I thought...I thought…"
Levi marched over to the group of three, his expression impatient.
"What the hell is going on?"
Eren sighed. "It's kind of a long story."
Author's Note: So this is another idea that I've had floating around in my head for a few years now, and I finally put it down into writing. I hope you enjoyed it.
Now I have a somewhat important announcement to make: I'm going to be taking an extended hiatus, both from fanfiction and Attack on Titan. There are several reasons. Part of it is that there are some other projects I've been working on that I want to spend more time on, both for personal creative reasons and for financial reasons. While fanfiction is fun to read and write, it has precisely zero chance of helping you pay the bills down the line. (Well, I suppose that isn't technically true, but the fanfictions that do get turned into profitable original works are rare, and tend to be either mediocre or complete shit. And I'm not desperate enough to stoop that low, not yet anyway.)
But the biggest reason I'm leaving is that my enthusiasm for Attack on Titan just isn't there anymore. And it all comes down to the godawful canon ending. The story as a whole is still amazing, and the terrible ending wasn't enough to kill my love for Attack on Titan, but it did dump a large bucket of icey water onto it. Where Attack on Titan used to fill me with joy and excitement, now it just leaves me feeling empty. I had other plans, other stories I wanted to write for AoT, but...I don't know, I'm just not feeling it anymore.
I did want to finish A Second Chance, and I wanted to get this story out there, since it was one of my longer oneshot ideas, but now that these two things are out of the way, for the immediate future I'm done. I'm out. I'm pretty sure I will return at some point with more stories, but it's going to be a while. Don't know how long exactly, but I probably won't return until at least 2022.
(Slight tangent, what's especially frustrating about the canon ending is that the people who hate it the most are the people who were really pushing for the ANR thing to happen. And for numerous reasons I really don't like the ANR theory, and strongly disagree with those who advocate for it. But I have to grudgingly concede that it would have been a better ending than what we got, and that's really fucking depressing.)
Anyways, be sure to leave a review letting me know what you thought, it really is appreciated.