Eren felt a strange aura coming out of Berthold. A green mist had surrounded him, and the bark under him started to grow spikes. The aura Eren was feeling…that's not Berthold.

It was something older. A power older than the walls, older than humanity. Eren began shaking in fear. He felt a hand grab his arm. Next to him, Ymir was just as wide eyed. Her entire body seemed to be sweating. Eren had never seen her this scared before.

"Get behind me Riener." Jason said calmly.

Reiner, with his dried face, complied. He must have noticed as well. That the entity lying on that bark was not his friend.

The cackling continued. Whatever was possessing Berthold finally sat up. It was pointing at Jason. It tilted Bertholds head.

"Well, well, well." Eren shivered when it spoke. It was Bertholds voice, but layered over it was an older, wispier voice. A woman's voice.

"If it isn't the obstreperous son of Jupiter." She said the words like they were poison.

Jason raised his blade at the creature. "You should be asleep."

"And you should be dead!" She retorted.

She looked at Berthold's hand. "Yet here we are. A world where the god's have no will, a world dominated by different rules." Bertholds eyes glazed over the three titan shifters. "I wonder… who gave you these strange abilities. No demigods I've encountered have such power." She then clenched and unclenched Bertholds hand. "This one especially…" She licked her lips. "I think I chose the right boy." She gave Reiner a cruel smile.

"How are you awake Gaia?!" Jason demanded.

Berthold gave an innocent expression. "I have no idea, child. After you and your disgusting allies defeated me, I certainly went to sleep. Then I felt death. The loss of so much human life, in two special little boys."

Reiners eyes widened. Jason focused all her attention on the entity. Ymir stayed silent. Eren didn't know what to do.

"It was so hard to choose who would become my vessel. Working with a weak mind would have certainly made things easier, but this one just had so much more blood on his hands." She hugged Bertholds body in satisfaction. "And the amount of power this one had, all to myself." She giggled at the thought.

"What did you do?" Jason seemed to be the only one able to speak.

"Oh nothing unusual. Just put the boy's mind in a trance. He's marrying the love of his life right now." She waved Bertholds hand in the air as if it were obvious. "I was never able to get through to him fully." She knocked on Bertholds head. "He has a strong mind, you see. But when he saw that puny mortal get eaten." She laughed in elation, "My takeover was only a matter of time." She looked at Reiner. "Thank you so much dear, for making this mine." She was genuinely thankful.

Both Jason and Eren switched their attention to Reiner. The traitor had bitten his lip so hard, blood was coming out of his mouth. What did he do? Eren wondered.

Eren couldn't see Jason's face. But he was no longer raising his blade at Berthold. He whispered something in Reiners ear, then turned around. Reiner's attention was now on Jason. His mouth was agape.

"Take me instead." Jason finally said. Berthold heads twitched. "Let him go, and take me instead."

The aura put Bertholds finger to his chin.

Eren, realizing what Jason was about to do, found the courage to speak.

"What are you doing? BERTHOLD KILLED MY MOM JASON! WHY ARE YOU SAVING HIM!" Ymir held him back from falling off the branch.

Jason kept his gaze on Berthold. He had a sad look in his eyes. "You have so much anger in you Eren. I understand why, but it's blinding you." Jason then turned to Eren and asked, "How old was Berthold when he broke the wall?"

Eren couldn't comprehend the question. Jason returned his attention to Berthold.

"So what's it going to be?" His voice became serious.

Berthold frowned. "Fool. Once I have you, you'll be dead, and I'll be revived. What's your game?"

Jason dropped his gold sword. It fell to the titans below.

"I have no cards to play. A life is in danger. That's all."

Berthold gave Jason a confused look. Then he slowly smiled. He began laughing cruelly. His arms extended, she yelled, "I GUESS YOU WERE BORN TO DIE A HERO JASON GRACE!" The voice kept laughing, raising Bertholds head to the sky.

"JASON! DON'T!" Ymir held Eren with both hands.

The green mist surrounding Berthold escaped from his mouth and entered Jasons. As if on queue, Reiner grabbed Berthold and used his ODM gear to land on Eren and Ymir's branch. All four stared at Jason.

The green mist raised the boy. Eren had met Jason only last night. But he saved Armin and Jean. He learned from Mikasa, he congratulated him on his first kill. He fought with Captain Levi, and he asked him to look out for his friends.

Eren realized that his friend was about to die. "NO!" He yelled into the air.

A flash of green light blinded the four titan shifters.

Laughter then echoed into the forest. The old woman's voice slowly disappeared into the leaves.

The light dimmed, Jason was nowhere to be found. All four looked for the hero. Even Berthold, who had woken up from his trance, began looking.

A drop of blood landed on Erens nose. He slowly looked up.

A branch that wasn't there previously had grown on top of them. It penetrated Jason's chest, and left him hanging on top of the four. A gush of blood flew out of the boy's mouth onto Eren's face.

Eren, unable to spit out the blood, proceeded to swallow it. He coughed from the intake. He saw the others' reaction. Ymir covered her mouth. Berthold narrowed his eyes. Reiner couldn't look away.

Eren yelled and charged at Reiner. Reiner, seeing him coming, dodged him and twisted his healing arm behind his back.

"HOW COULD YOU? HE SAVED BERTHOLD! HOW COULD YOU LET HIM DIE?"

Reiner slammed Erens body onto the thick tree branch. He put his other hand on his head to keep it down. Eren couldn't help the tears. "I'll kill you! I'll slaughter you!"

Ignoring Eren, Reiner asked Berthold. "What happened? Are you alright?" Unable to see his expression, Berthold answered quietly, "Yeah, I'm okay."

Suddenly, Berthold said, "We have to go. Is Ymir with us?"

Eren, still fighting, felt Reiner's knee on his back. The traitor put his elbow around his neck and began choking him out.

Reiner then said, "Yes, we made a deal to protect Christa. I guess you didn't hear that part."

Eren saw Berthold shake his head. Berthold approached Ymir, who was still looking at Jason's body. He shook her shoulder. "Do you remember who you ate?" Ymir returned his gaze and chuckled at him. A single tear left her eye. "You guys are heartless."

"Do you?" He repeated the question. Eren kept struggling against Reiner.

She wiped her face. "No, I don't remember."

Eren, trying desperately to bite one of his growing arms, didn't focus on the conversation. Losing air, and no longer strong enough to resist, he saw Berthold ask, "How long were you wondering outside the walls for?"

Looking down, Ymir replied, "About sixty years." Her voice was getting harder to hear. "It was like… I was stuck in a nightmare that would never end." Darkness enveloped Eren's eyes.

The last thing he felt was a drop of blood on his forehead.