Eren and I turned around, gasping in the shared shock of my fellow cadets as we stared eye to eye with the terror that just appeared. Horror replayed in my eyes of five years past, freezing me with fear. I'm sure the same words replayed in Eren's head as they did in mine. No, this cannot be happening. Not again.

The Colossal Titan. Nearly fifty meters tall, his fleshy head stares almost level at us with his exposed scowl, just as a powerful vortex of steam escapes its body. The force of it is enough to push us off, but the heat of the steam causes us to react. We are sent flying off the Wall, lucky to be equipped with ODM gear. We grapple on the Wall's side and hang vertically on it.

"Samuel!" I turn to see Connie cry out the boy's name, and Sasha makes a desperate rescue attempt that has one of her hooks grip Samuel's foot as the other hangs on the Wall.

"Samuel! Try not to move!" As Sasha brings Samuel up, I look back at the others, seeing the fear in everyone's eyes, especially Thomas and Mina's.

"You guys okay?"

"Yeah... Is this, really happening?"

"...It is." I turn to Eren. "That was way too close."

"Too damn close." He looks down to the lower part of the Wall, my eyes following. I knew I heard an explosion below us, but now that we see it, the two of us could only hang our jaws. "Oh god, no. Not again! They're going to get in. They're going to get in. They're going to get in!" Eren pushes himself off the Wall, I trail right behind. We land on the road leading to the Wall, getting a closer look at the hole in the Wall.

"The Wall… It's been destroyed!" I grit my teeth in anger as the first Titan begins to walk in. I look up to the others still hanging on the Wall, their fear overcoming their readiness to fight. Given the surprise, I understand it, but now we can do what we couldn't five years ago, and I will not let this opportunity be wasted. "Hey! This is what we've been training for! We must defend the city until the others can get here!" I draw my blades behind a ready Eren, and we take charge at the incoming Titan.

Eren gets there first, distracting it as he zips past the Titan's head. It makes the mistake of turning its head, exposing the nape. Taking aim with my hooks, I fire them towards the nape, then project myself forward with my swords ready to cut it open. Like swinging a knife through butter, my blades cut deep through the Titan's neck, killing it instantly. My first Titan kill...before any one of us. I can't help but feel a little bit of pride from it.

However, there was little time for celebration. Another large Titan enters through the wall, just as Connie and Sasha come down from their perch. Connie lands beside me. "You okay? I'm joining the fight too!"

I nod, giving him a grateful smile as I do. "Good to see!"

Sasha comes down to the other side of me. "I'll go too! We can win if we all fight together!"

Eren turns to us. "Elijah is the best with blades between the four of us. We'll distract them! Then you take the chance to strike them down, Elijah!"

"Then let's get to work!" I watch as the three of them ascend towards the Titan. As Sasha and Eren gained the monster's attention, Conny flew low and cut the back of the Titan's knees, making it fall towards the ground. Seeing my opportunity, I take to the air and descend upon the Titan's nape, cutting through it expertly as I have trained. Another kill counted for me, I joined Eren and the others upon one of the rooftops.

"We've pulled through! We can do this… Humanity can beat the Titans!"

Conny walks up to Eren's side, pointing at the hole in the Wall. "Eren, this is too much! If more Titans come, we're done for!"

Sasha turns to me. "Are you okay?" I wave her off, now that the adrenaline of killing two Titans is wearing off...for now. It is good enough for her. "Come on, we should retreat."

"No, there's still one more." Eren fires his hooks towards the top of the Wall.

Oh no, he isn't doing this. "Eren!" I reach forward, but it is too late as Eren takes off for the top of the Wall.

We can only watch in awe as Jaeger cries out "The target is at the front of the outer Wall...The Colossal Titan!"

"You can't be serious."

I sigh. "He is, Connie. Seriously brave, and stupid."

"Ah… Look!" Conny and I follow Sasha's finger, back to Maria's opening. "Another Titan made it in." Not just one, but two can be seen coming in. Sighing, I redraw my blades, much to the alarm of the redhead villager. "What? No!"

"Sasha," I state calmly, "we do not have a choice at this moment. Or at any moment. We must kill them."

Conny clicks his tongue as he draws his blades too. "Dammit, we have to kill that thing." He leaps first towards the Titans, me following afterward, then Sasha. As we approach, I look up to the Wall, seeing Thomas and Mina coming down.

"Sorry, I know I'm late...but I wanna help, too!"

"Yeah, we're joining the battle, too!" As they come down, they propel towards the larger of the two Titans, each taking an arm off it. I swing around to the back, effortlessly cutting the nape of the defenseless Titan. As it falls to the ground, I plant myself on the side of the Wall, I see the smaller Titan fall to Conny. He lands nearby, pointing up.

"Now, let's go help Eren!"

"Wait," Sasha cries out. "A Titan's coming this way." We see another Large Titan enter the Wall, though it hasn't spotted me or Conny who are on the Wall.

"Damn it," I sigh. "Conny, Sasha, Mina, we'll distract it. Thomas, you kill." From my view, I can see Thomas' surprise. Oh, I think I killed him. Yet I have faith he can make the cut, literally and figuratively. I push myself off the Wall, gathering the attention of the large monster. "Hey! Over here you ugly son of a bitch! Come and get me!"

Keeping its eyes on me, I nod to the girls, who quickly zip in and maim the Titan of its arms. Conny and I descend, taking the legs, and then I watch Thomas take flight. "Thomas, now!"

"Yah!" Thomas flies over the grounded Titan, slicing the nape in two halves. He lands beside me, completely starstruck by what he did. "We managed to beat it…"

I pat him on the shoulder. "No, you did." I look to Conny, who glances at the top of the Wall. "Thomas, Conny, to Eren!" Us three boys skim up the side of the Wall, landing on top to see the presence of the Colossal Titan vacated. Thomas runs for the Wall's Edge in search of Eren while Conny and I stay in place. I want to believe Eren got him, but a nonreassuring pit in my belly tells me otherwise. This… This is just like five years ago, yet as I look at my hands and uniform, caked with the blood of three Titans, I remember that no, it is not the same. I cannot let that happen.

"Eren! Where'd he go? Did he get away or did you take him out?"

"He's gone! Exactly like five years ago." I curse under my breath. The damn thing has a huge amount of hot steam to generate. If Eren did get close, the Titan used the steam as a defense. "He's here one moment and gone the next….just like that." As he joins us on the Wall, Eren steps forward dejected. He looks to me, knowing we share the same feeling, but apologizes to the three of us. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't apologize," Thomas says. "Look at us. We were too scared to move."

Conny wasn't having it as he turned to Eren to yell at him. "Hey, wallow on your own time. In case you hadn't noticed, there's a breach. We have to act now! We've taken a few out, but that's just the beginning. If they start pouring in, that's it!"

"Besides, Eren," I say as I walk to my friend, "there is no way I would expect you could have beaten him on your own, at least not today, We'll have another chance, eventually."

"Look alive!" We turn to the sound of an older fifth male, a member of the Garrison Regiment. Fashionably late, as always. We salute as the soldier approaches us. "Operation Colossal Titan Response is in effect. I expect you to take part! Report to HQ! If you got close to the damn thing, we need details!" As if it'll make a difference, the Colossal Titan is gone.

"Sir! We pray the Advance Team will be victorious!" As the soldiers pass us, I take a breath. I do not know what it is for, why I am taking it, or even why I held it in, to begin with. Am I afraid? Am I unsettled? Whatever it is, I'll have time to beat it out of me as we head to the Garrison HQ.

Myself and my fellow cadets all have been assembled at the Garrison HQ. We'll soon be given orders by the captain of the regiment, Kitz Woermann. Sadies may be a pain in the ass, but Kitz is a different kind of pain, I swear the man looks as frail as a fawn. I can at least admire his foresight in planning ahead for the presence of the Colossal Titan.

As we assemble, the captain shouts his orders. "I want everyone split into four squadrons, as we practiced. All squadrons are responsible for supply-running, message relay, and enemy combat under the command of the Garrison Regiment! The Intercept Squadron will take the vanguard. Cadets will take the middle ground, led by the support squad. Rearguard will go to the elites. I expect you all to man your posts knowing the Advance team has been wiped out." I gasped, surprised that the work I, Eren, and the other cadets with us started ended in failure. That could have been us if the Advance Team had arrived a moment later.

"That's right, the outer gate is history. The Titans are in. This means the Armored Titan is likely to reappear. If and when he doesn't, the inner gate will also be history." Flashbacks to five years ago replay in my head. The Armored Titan wrecking the inner gate of Shiganshina...crushing my parents underneath a boulder...My fists tighten as Woermann continues his speech, but it falls on deaf ears as the sound of my racing heartbeat is all I hear.

Let him come, let the son of a bitch show up. I'll break through his armor and send the bastard straight back to hell. As everyone divided up, I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Mina?"

"Hey" The girl is also accompanied by Thomas, and their faces are filled with sadness, though I'm not sure where it's coming from.

"We just... Good luck out there, Elijah."

I nod, giving Thomas a determined grin. "You too, Thomas. You two keep each other, Eren, and Armin safe out there."

"We will."

"HUUUUAAAAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!"

The three of us turn our heads toward of the sound of someone vomiting. No surprise that the source was none other than Daz. Christa is trying to comfort him, but the only thing Daz can even manage to do is just vomit once more. I turn back to the others. "Don't mind him guys. We're different, the three of us have come a long way in the last few years."

They both smile at me, and Thomas gives me a pat on my back. "All thanks to you, Elijah."

I punch his arm as I laugh. "Oh don't start that shit again, we all share credit with our growth. Now enough of this mushy talk, let's get out there and give it our all."

Thomas nods and then walks away, but Mina remains at my side. "Mina?"

The girl practically throws herself onto me, hugging me tightly. "Whatever happens today, please Elijah, just stay alive."

"I will, no matter where I go, and no matter what happens, you're with me Mina, always."

Mina pulls away from me, pulling off her usual smile. "You still have it, don't you?"

I pat my upper chest. "Always. See you on the other side, Mina."

"Hey! What did you just say?"

Connie, always the hot-head. After checking my gas and my still dirty uniform, I look up to see Connie confronting an older girl by the name of Ymir. She barely moves her eyes to him, keeping her leaning posture on the wall. "I said it sucks to be stuck with an idiot."

"What?!"

Before I can intervene, Christa takes it upon herself to do so. "This is no time for bickering! Agh… I've had enough of this!" The blonde turns to me, hoping I'll be willing to resolve this. "Ymir, Connie, you two are always fi-"

"Okay, okay, we get it!" Ymir pushes herself off the wall, stepping towards the younger woman. "Just for you, Christa, we'll make nice with each other… Okay?"

Connie sighs. "Well… There's not much point arguing at a time like this, I guess."

"Anyway, let's try to work together, alright?"

Ymir rolls her eyes. "I wish you guys would stop getting in Christa's and my way all the time."

I click my tongue and roll my eyes. "Oh, don't you start flattering yourself Ymir, No one wants to be around you anyway."

Connie sighs as he follows, agreeing with me. "Ugh. You just can't keep your mouth shut, can you? Let's go already!" He leaps off the building we're on, leading the way to our position in the city. "Our job is to support the middle guard. Let's put what we learned to good use!"

I catch up with Connie, smirking challengingly. "Count your kills, and if Sasha's meat is still around, the winner gets a bigger slice."

For a moment he seems to accept, and then he groans somewhat defeated. "You are going to win anyway."

"Ha! We'll see."

"Are you two done comparing dicks?" Ymir joins us, followed by Christa. She points ahead, where we can see a Titan's shoulders and head towering over a building, his back to us. "We got one coming up." Ymir, Connie, and I push ourselves forward to be the first to get to and cut the Titan's nape. Unfortunately for us boys, Ymir gets ahead pretty rapidly, thus allowing her to get the first kill of our mission.

I hear Connie mutter "Bitch" as the three of us join her on a rooftop nearby the fallen Titan. Ymir points to a herd of Titans to the east of our position. "I count five or six over there."

I take out my telescope, confirming that there are indeed six Titans. Three are large class, two are medium, and the last is barely visible due to its small size. "Okay guys, we need to work as a team. Three of us will distract and attack the extremities of the Titans, one will get the kill."

Ymir makes noise before patting me on the shoulder. "You kill, oh so fearless leader. We'll distract them for you. Is that okay with you, Christa?"

She nods. "Works for me. Don't do anything stupid, everyone."

I look to Connie, who silently relents to our plans. "Good. Now, let's go!"

The six targets are down, I look like I bathed in blood, but we managed to regroup with minimal losses. Connie almost messed up, but Ymir saved him by removing the Titan's arm before it grasped him.

I land first, then Connie beside me. "Look at Elijah go!"

Ymir and Christa come over, the older lady shoving Connie aside. "You'll be 100 times more useful than that idiot over there."

"And who the hell are you talking about?" I look to Christa, sighing at the lost cause of cooperation between Ymir and Connie. Before one of use can reprimand them, Connie points behind me. "That smoke… It's a distress call. I'm gonna go help!"

Ymir scoffs. "Leave them be. That's not our job."

"I'm going. There's no good reason to ignore their call for help!"

As she and Connie head off, I turn to Ymir. I laugh with a smile as I follow after them. "You know you're going now."

"Shut it." It takes us a minute to get over from one side of the city to the other, but we move as quickly as possible without spending too much gas until we finally reach our destination. We discover a Large Titan in the area, its target is a cadet. As it reaches down for the cadet, I come down, amputating the limb and watching it fall a little too close to the cadet. She'll live, but her attacker is cut down a second later by Christa.

Regrouping once more, I wave to the cadet as Ymir spots another smoke signal. "Red signal. It is an urgent one."

"Let's get going." Our path to the red signal is uneventful as we come across no Titans, but as we arrive, we see a church surrounded by the monsters. I also spot Armin, Thomas, Eren and Mina defending the church. I swing in close to Eren, saluting him.

He spots me. "You're alright! Thank goodness!"

Armin, still tense as he was when we were preparing for battle, points to the attacking Titans. "Save the small talk for later! We got a Titan coming our way!" My group directs itself to the back of the church where Armin pointed out the approaching Titan. Taking the lead, I take out my flare gun, and I fire it into the air. It flashes, blinding and confusing the Titan, only for Conny and Christa to take out its legs and Ymir to slice its nape. I loop around to the Titan Eren's group is having trouble with, using their distraction to take another Titan's life with my blades.

Regrouping, Armin waves as he points in another direction. "That's all the Titans around here. Let's go, Eren. We're heading that way."

I nod. "We'll head to the north then. Stay safe, all of you."

Eren salutes me with two fingers. "See you later!" As Eren's group flies away, I turn to mine to see Connie checking his gas stores.

"Are you low, Connie?"

"Yeah."

I check my own. It seems we're all getting low on gas. "Alright. Conserve as much as you can. We're heading back to headquarters."

After getting back to headquarters and helping eliminate nearby Titans, my group makes a quick resupply and rejoins the battle. After a few minutes of slaying Titans, we hear a scream. It could have been anyone in the world, but for some reason, it sounds like...Armin?

"What the?" Connie and the rest of us pause in our movements as he points to the west. "That came from the direction Eren and the others went! Hurry!" We zip as fast as we can to Eren, Armin, Thomas, and Mina's location, only to see three of the four looking off to the distance, and for some reason, Daz is there with them as well. Guess the coward got separated from his squad. I land beside Mina, turning in the direction they are looking...just to see a Titan hugging the steeple of a church. It moves its head slightly to the right, showing a human caught between its teeth. Upon closer inspection, I believe I recognize the hairstyle. Holding my breath, I hold my telescope to my eyes to see that it's...Thomas caught between those teeth.

"Thomas!" The Titan holds his head back, making us watch in horror as the monster slurps down my friend like a noodle. A switch flips inside me, burning me with rage as I step forward.

"Hey! Elijah!"

I turn to see an eager Thomas running over to me, holding something in his hand. "Yeah, Thomas?"

"Here, I want you to have this." My friend hands me a brand new journal with a leather cover. I take it from him, but I don't really know why he's giving me this.

"What's this?"

"I thought you might like it, I know we'll be graduating soon and you're still going for the Scouts. I just thought you'd like to write down all the adventures you'll have out there amongst them, hell who knows? Maybe your journal will be the story for generations to come."

"Thomas..."

"You don't have to say anything Elijah, just be sure to remember me and Mina when you're out there yeah?"

I put the journal away inside my jacket pocket. I then embrace Thomas like I've never done before, hugging him. "Trust me. no matter where I go, you guys are always with me. You're my brother Thomas."

Thomas seems taken aback by my words, but he returns my hug. "Thanks, Elijah."

"GET BACK HERE!"

Mina tries to reach out to me. "Elijah, No!" I ignore her plea, bursting off the roof. I heard Eren right behind me, cursing the Titan aloud as I did so in my head. I'm going to kill you. I'm going to gouge your eyes out with my blades. I'll rip open your stomach to get my friend back. How dare you take Thomas away from us! As I come close, I hear a cry from behind. "I can't take it!" Daz...he's running away. Fuck 'em, I'll deal with it later.

I continued my pursuit, but I heard someone else cry out. I turn to see Eren fall and slide on several rooftops. I abandon my crusade to look for my comrade.

I spot his fallen form hanging dangerously off a roof. "Eren!" He's unconscious, bleeding from his head and his left leg is severed. Below, I spot the Titan that might have gotten to him, chewing happily. I look back down the street, seeing Armin, Mina, and a Garrison soldier after us. I wanted to continue my chase, but then a greater horror happened. The soldier collides with a giant head. Mina has one of her ropes snatched. Another soldier is captured. Armin, stunned in shock, falls to his knees as he looks at Eren's body. I shake myself. Where's Ymir, Conny, and Christa? Were they...No. I cannot lose anyone else.

I head back down the street, ignoring Eren and Armin, heading to the Titan that now grasps Mina in its hands. "MINA!" I have my blades ready, but just as I prepare to make my rescue, I spot another Titan just underneath me in the road, the one that got Eren. It tries to bite me from below, but I react quickly enough to dodge, but not fast enough to avoid crashing through a window. Landing on my sides, I roll until I hit a wall with my head. My vision blurs, but through the haziness, I watch as Mina is swallowed.

"It's just here." I step aside, allowing Mina to view the valley outside the campgrounds. She gasps with awe, amazed as I once was that such a beautiful place in the world is just meters away from the hell of the training camp.

"Wow. It's so beautiful."

"Yeah. Reiner and Bertholdt brought me, Eren, and Armin here our second night. Some nights I come here to escape, but tonight I want to share it with someone else." I step beside her, our arms brushing each other. I gaze forward as she turns to me, her white face turning a little red. "Wait, you...chose me?"

I nod. "Of course." I look at her, her eyes swelling a bit with tears. "What's wrong? Matter of fact, you said you wanted to give me something earlier today."

"Oh, right." She reaches into her pocket, pulling out a string with a wood carving linked to it. The carving is that of the Scout's logo, the Wings of Freedom. "I made you this since you want to go to the Scouts when we graduate next week. I...want to give you something to remember me by, to know that I am always with you."

I smile and carefully untie the logo from its string. "W-What are you doing?" I pull out my mother's necklace, and I put her gift on it so that it hangs behind the sapphire gem.

"I love it, Mina. Thank you."

"You're welcome. But isn't that your mother's necklace?"

"It is, now I have something else to cherish close to my heart."

Mina's face is as red as a tomato, and her smile couldn't have been more brighter than it already was. "Thank you, Elijah."

I turn back to the valley, letting my left hand fondle the carving. My right hand is filled by one of Mina, her head resting on the upper part of the limb. We stand together for who knows how long, but for some reason, I want to stay in this spot forever.

Adrenaline spiking, I leap out the window and yell as I stab the twin blades in each eye of Mina's killer. "GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK YOU SON OF A BITCH!" With the hooks firmly attached to the Titan's head, I repeat the motions until I grow tired of it, swing around, and cut the Titan's nape. It falls on its back, its mouth hanging open. Not caring about my surroundings or my own safety, I move to the monster's stomach and start to gut him like a fish. Letting it's blood soak my uniform. Please, just somehow be alive, Mina. With the Titan's entrails spilled out onto the street, with the bodily fluids and limbs of other fallen soldiers, I desperately try and search for my friend. There's no way she's dead too. "Mina! Come on where are you?!"

I search for what feels like hours on end, I hear a small, weak, but familiar voice. "Mo...ther..." I turn and find...

After carrying her on my back and getting ourselves out of reach from the Titans on the rooftops, I only now realized that both of her legs were gone. She's losing too much blood. "Mina! Please stay awake! I'll get you back behind the walls! I'll get you a doctor! Please! Just stay awake!"

Mina says nothing, but she manages to somehow reach her hand up to my cheek. "Eli...jah..." She says with a weak voice...and somehow a smile. With her hand still on my face, she tries to wipe away my tears with her thumb. "Elijah...I..."

Mina's lifeless hand falls from my cheek, and back down to her side.

"Mina? MINA!"

Mina is gone, and I had to watch her die in my arms. I don't remember who I hear screaming, whether it is mine or someone else's down the street. All I feel inside is three large holes in my heart. One for Thomas. One for Mina.

A third, at this current moment, I cannot explain.