The Levi squad rode hard, driving their horses to go as fast as they could. They'd only made one brief stop after passing through Orvud to give themselves and the horses a chance to rest, but after that they'd resumed the ride, determined to make it to the Reiss estate as soon as they could.

While Levi was at the head of the group leading the way, the other members of the squad were uncharacteristically quiet, and Petra found her mind wandering. The past few days had been among the most stressful she'd endured in her entire life.

Her first time going beyond the walls and seeing the Titans with her own eyes had been a terrifying experience, one that no amount of training had truly prepared her for. Watching her own comrades being eaten and knowing she could be next constantly plagued her thoughts while she was awake, and invaded her dreams at night.

Hearing about the attack on Trost and knowing that Wall Rose was in danger had also filled her with dread. Even beyond the fact that her own life was in danger, she knew the consequences for humanity if the Titans broke through would be dire, far worse than when Wall Maria had fallen.

Still, all of that she had been expecting and had mentally prepared for. It was bad, terrible even, but not a surprise. While things seemed bleak, she was ready to do whatever it took to defend humanity to the last, even if it meant giving up her own life for the sake of others.

But then things stopped making sense as soon as the rider arrived from the capital, announcing that the Titans had attacked Mitras.

Initially Petra had been half convinced that this was some kind of prank or bad joke put together by the stuffy nobles in the capital. Perhaps they had already written off Wall Rose as a lost cause, and had decided to abandon the territory and wanted to preserve as many of their military forces as possible to defend Wall Sina. It was a cowardly move, but one she could at least sort of understand.

But when the Scouts arrived at Mitras, they had found it in ruins and plagued by Titans, proving that the messenger had been telling the truth.

While she hadn't shown it, Oluo had been more upfront in expressing his confusion, and she couldn't help but sympathize. The attack on Trost was one thing, that made perfect sense. But how on earth did the Titans make it all the way to capital without being noticed?

It got even more confusing after Levi briefed them on what they had dubbed the "special Titans" had done during the attack. Namely, they'd killed the King, who wasn't actually the King, and scared the Mitras nobles into telling them where the actual King was, which was Rod Reiss.

Which led to them now, trying to reach the Reiss estate before the Titans could.

Petra didn't know what to think. On the one hand, knowing that the King had been a fake was slightly disconcerting, but it did make some kind of sense. It would be safer for the royal family if they had a figurehead to keep the public's attention, while remaining in the background themselves and working behind the scenes.

No, what really bothered Petra was how the special Titans seemed to know this. How did they know about the fake King? And how did they know where the Reiss estate was? Had they been lurking somewhere within the walls ever since Wall Maria fell?

It was an uncomfortable thought. The Titans were dangerous enough as they were without having any intelligence. Now, knowing that they were up against Titans that did possess this quality…

"That must be it."

Levi's words interrupted her thoughts, and she redirected her gaze ahead of them.

In the distance they could see a small chapel which matched the description of the Reiss chapel they'd been given.

She ran her fingers against her ODM gear, mentally preparing herself for battle.

After riding hard for almost a full day, the sun was approaching the horizon, and it wouldn't be long before it set.

Petra sincerely hoped they wouldn't be forced to try to fight the Titans after the sun had gone down.

From a distance the chapel looked pristine and untouched. But as they drew close, and were able to see the front entrance…

The horses came to a stop a short ways away from the entrance, which had been completely destroyed, as if a man had kicked in part of a young girl's dollhouse while leaving the rest intact. Just outside of the entrance there were several scorch marks as well as the bloody remains of what had presumably once been humans, though if it weren't for the remnants of their clothes they would have been unrecognizable.

"Shit." Levi hissed.

Eld grimaced. "Looks like we arrived too late."

"There could still be survivors." Gunther remarked.

After dismounting from their horses the five of them entered the seemingly abandoned chapel. Inside they could see that several pews had been destroyed and knocked aside.

Suddenly, Levi tensed up, and reached for his blades.

Petra looked at him in concern. "Captain?"

Levi glanced around, his eyes narrowing. "Someone's here."

"Well doesn't this beat all. An unexpected trip down memory lane."

Levi and the others looked up in shock as a series of footsteps echoed through the chapel.

A tall figure emerged from the shadows with a wide grin on his face.

"I figured someone would come along to investigate, but I never expected it to be you, Levi."

"Kenny." Levi breathed.

The others stiffened, noting with concern that Levi looked more tense than they'd ever seen him before.

His eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you doing here? Did you do this?"

Kenny casually rolled his head. "Nah, that ain't my style. I know it might be hard to believe, but it was a Titan."

Levi frowned. "I see."

Kenny blinked. "You believe me?"

"I do. We were sent to look for some Titans that have infiltrated the walls."

Kenny smirked. "Really? Huh. How'd you find out about them?"

Levi gestured toward the broken entrance. "Why don't you start by explaining what happened here."

Kenny sighed. "Very well."


Kenny leaned against the chapel door, feeling bored. Several royal guards were stationed just outside, but their presence was merely a formality, as Kenny was more than enough to protect Rod from harm.

But some days he wondered why he even bothered. And today was one of those days.

Kenny's eyes were fixed on the altar near the front of the chapel, where Rod was currently on his knees, weeping.

Ever since the chapel had been rebuilt it was something Rod did fairly often, coming to the place where his family had been killed and mourning them.

Well, technically the place where they'd actually been killed was beneath their feet, but the chapel had still been destroyed in the attack.

Kenny wasn't sure how to feel about Rod's open display of grief. It wasn't like he hadn't had people in his life he'd cared about, and he had felt somewhat sad when they had passed on. At the same time, death was just a part of life, something he was very much aware of. Crying and wailing wouldn't bring them back, so what was the point?

He sighed, trying to be patient. He would give Rod ten more minutes, maybe fifteen if he was feeling generous. Then he would start fucking with him, and hopefully goad Rod into letting him leave.

"Excuse me, sorry to intrude, but is Rod Reiss inside?"

He heard the voice muffled through the door. He didn't recognize it, but figured it was probably one of Rod's noble buddies, or perhaps a merchant wanting to ask Rod for a favor.

"Yes."

Barely a second after one of the royal guards spoke a burst of light shone through the windows and an explosion shook the whole building. The door rattled from the impact but remained in place.

Everything seemed to slow down, and Kenny remembered the last time he had seen a light like that.

His eyes widened in realization.

He bolted toward the back of the chapel for one of the hidden doors.

"Kenny! What's happening?!"

He didn't even bother responding. He was strong, but he wasn't paid enough to deal with a Titan shifter, and if they wanted Rod he wasn't going to stop them.

He dove through the door and slammed it shut just as the front entrance was violently torn down.

Kenny peered through a crack in the door to see a five meter Titan with a sharp jaw and wild looking black hair crawl into the chapel.

Rod remained frozen at the altar, but when the Titan picked him up with one hand he began to scream.

"NO! PLEASE, I BEG YOU!"

Rod's face was white as a sheet, and his clothes were already soaked through with sweat.

A column of steam emanated from the Titan's nape, and the same voice that had questioned the royal guards spoke.

"You are Rod Reiss?"

Rod nodded shakily. "Y-yes."

"Do you have the Founding Titan?"

Kenny raised an eyebrow. So he and this shifter were after the same thing. Interesting.

"N-no."

The voice grew cold. "If you lie to me, there will be grave consequences. We know the Reiss family is the true royal family, now tell me where the Founding Titan is."

"I swear to you I don't have it! Yes, it is true that the Founding Titan was in our family, but it was stolen from us!"

There was a brief pause.

The voice resumed speaking, sounding more thoughtful. "I remember reading the reports. Your family was killed by a group of bandits, correct? Were they the ones who stole the Founding Titan?"

Rod swallowed. "N-not exactly. The bandits were just what I put in the report, because I didn't want anyone else to know what had really happened. In truth it was just one man, but he had the power of a Titan. He murdered my eldest daughter, Frieda, and took her power. Not content with this, he proceeded to murder my wife and the rest of our children. And the only reason I survived was because I ran like a damned coward."

He looked at the ground in shame.

"I see. This man must have held the Attack Titan."

Rod looked confused. "What?"

"Nothing. Have you found any leads on who he was?"

Rod shook his head miserably. "No. I tried my best, pulled on every resource, but I'm afraid we have no idea who he was or where he is."

"Are you sure? You're not holding out on me?"

"I swear it is the truth! Why would I lie?"

There was another brief pause.

Kenny grinned as he watched through the crack. This was getting interesting.

"Tell me...is it true that the power of the Founding Titan can only be used by a member of the royal family?"

Rod nodded. "Yes."

"So the thief, he will never be able to use it?"

"No, never."

The grin faded from Kenny's face.

"I see. Well then, there's been a change of plan."

"W-what do you mean?"

"We were sent to the walls to retrieve the power of the Founding Titan. But since that doesn't seem possible at the moment, the next best thing would be to capture all those who are capable of using the Founding Titan. As long as you cooperate and come with us quietly, I will personally guarantee your safety."

Rod's eyes were wide, but he shakily nodded. "O-okay."

"Since your family is dead, are you the last member of the royal family? Or is there anyone else?"

Rod frowned nervously. "T-there is one other. My illegitimate daughter, Historia. She was sent to the southern military cadet corp to avoid a scandal."

"I see. Then we will need to take her too."

"Please don't hurt her!" Rod protested.

"As long as she cooperates I will guarantee her safety as well. Now then, let's go. We have a long journey ahead of us."

The Titan crawled back toward the now ruined entrance, Rod still clutched in its hand. A moment later it was gone.

Kenny leaned back, intrigued by what he had just witnessed.


Gunther grimaced. "Shit. So the reason the enemy Titans were after the royal family…"

"...was because they had the Founding Titan." Petra finished grimly.

Levi frowned. "What is the Founding Titan?"

Kenny looked at him seriously. "I don't know exactly. All I know for certain is that whoever has it becomes, for all intents and purposes, a god. That's why I was working with the royal family in the first place. I was hoping to obtain that power someday, but of course after Rod's little confession yesterday I now know that wouldn't have worked."

"What have the royal family been using the Founding Titan for?" Levi asked.

Kenny shrugged. "Lately? Not much. But 100 years ago they used it to build the three walls, and to erase everybody's memories so they wouldn't know anything about the outside world."

Everyone froze.

"What?!" Oluo exclaimed.

"No wonder the enemy Titans are after this power." Eld remarked.

Levi was silent for a few moments while he thought everything through.

Levi turned around and faced his squad. "Okay new plan. We'll give the horses a little more time to rest, but then we need to move out. Petra, you and Eld will ride south to Trost to tell Erwin what we have found out. Meanwhile, Gunther, Oluo, and I will head for the southern cadet corp training grounds."

"Mind if I tag along?"

The five Scouts looked at Kenny in shock.

"What?" Levi asked incredulously.

Kenny smirked. "After all, I'm out of a job, and I'm intrigued by what's going on."

His smirk faded. "Plus I get the feeling there's some stuff you want to talk about."

Levi was silent, his shared history with Kenny coming back to him.

Levi sighed. "Fine. But no tricks."

Kenny waved his hand dismissively. "I'll behave myself. Of course, you do realize there's no way we'll get to the training grounds before the Titans, right?"

"Probably not." Levi admitted. "But there are a few factors in our favor. Our horses can move faster than the Titans. And they would be forced to travel through the wilder and more desolate regions of the walls in order to avoid drawing too much attention to themselves, while we can just take the most direct route. We'll probably arrive too late, but we have to try. If nothing else, with a little luck Petra and Eld should be able to warn Erwin before the Titans can leave the walls."

Kenny grinned. "Still, it'll be interesting to see how the big wigs in Mitras react to all of this."

Levi grimaced. "Yeah, about that…"


It was noon at the southern training ground, and all the cadets were having an outdoor lunch at a series of tables a short distance away from the forest. They had begun using their ODM gear more extensively a few weeks ago, and were using the forest as a way to hone their skills and get a feel for moving through the air. Most of the cadets were still wearing their gear while they ate lunch, as removing it would take a while, and they would only have to put it back on as soon as lunch was over.

At one table Historia sat along with several of the other cadets she had gotten to know over the past six months, including Armin, Eren, Mikasa, Jean, Marco, Connie, Sasha, Thomas, and Mina.

The group was discussing the news they'd received the previous day, namely that the freak attack on the capital had been brought under control by the Scouts, and wondering whether they should still be worried or not.

For Historia, though, all she could think about was how, for the first time in as long as she could remember, she was happy.

Sure, the training was intense, stressful, and often painful. The cabins weren't the most comfortable places to sleep, the food was rather bland, and ever since the news about Trost had broken two weeks ago she had been rather worried about humanity's future.

But for the first time in her life she'd actually found people she cared about, and who in turn cared about her. True, she still hid behind the Krista persona she'd created, but despite this she could tell that the others were genuine in their acts of kindness and solidarity. It was a relief to know that good people really existed, and that they weren't just relegated to the books she'd read growing up.

And at the center of it all was Armin. He'd been the first to approach her, the first to reach out his hand, and it was thanks to him that she'd gotten to know many of the others. He had been her first real friend.

What made it even better was that he was smart, almost frighteningly so. Even though she did her best to hide it, he'd somehow managed to figure out almost immediately that she wasn't being entirely honest about her past, or about who she really was. But what was so wonderful was that he didn't hold it against her or turn away from her. Instead, he was incredibly patient and understanding, letting her know that he accepted her, the real her, and that when she was ready she could tell him the truth without worrying about him rejecting her.

It was such a profoundly nice feeling, to know that someone accepted her for her, and for the first time she began to wonder if perhaps her life hadn't been a mistake after all.

As they spent more time together, Historia quickly found herself falling in love with Armin, and she soon realized that he was also falling in love with her. It was a wonderful feeling, to love and be loved, even more wonderful than how she'd heard love described in her books, and she couldn't get enough of it.

Before long the two of them had become practically inseparable, and a lot of gossip soon spread throughout the cadets. Fortunately nobody bothered them or teased them, as the few who tried were immediately faced with a death glare from Mikasa and quickly backed off.

And now here they were, sitting next to each other, her hand on his, enjoying a meal together with their friends, and she thought that the grounds had never looked more beautiful.

He glanced at her shyly, and she gave him a soft smile.

"You really need to stop messing around!" Eren snapped. "We have to be ready for the Titans!"

"Lighten up, will you?" Jean scoffed. "I already admitted that I was wrong about the Scouts being useless. But the fact that they brought the situation under control rather quickly is proof that we don't need to worry too much about the Titans."

"I don't understand why you aren't taking this seriously!" Eren glared at his rival. "It was your hometown of Trost that was initially attacked, remember?"

"Yeah, and there were zero civilian casualties and very few military ones, and the Titans couldn't break through Wall Rose. They caught us off guard when they attacked Wall Maria, but that won't happen again."

"Then what about the attack on the capital, huh?! How do you explain that?!"

Armin sighed, and Historia gave his hand a comforting squeeze. It was common for Eren and Jean to argue, and while they were used to it it was still rather tiring.

Connie raised his hands. "Guys, guys, calm down. Look, it's all a bit worrying, but there's no sense getting all worked up. I'm sure the military will get everything under control. Besides, we're pretty far away from both of the locations that were attacked."

Connie smiled. "I mean, it's not like the Titans are going to show up here, right?"

At that moment, a burst of light exploded a short distance away from the tables, sending a violent gust of wind that ruffled the cadets' hair and caused a lot of the food and utensils to fly off of the tables.

As everyone turned around to see what had caused the explosion, they witnessed a five meter Titan materialize seemingly out of thin air, starting with the skeleton before muscles and skin quickly wrapped around it and completed the Titan body. The newly formed Titan rushed toward the cadets with a fearsome roar.

The cadets panicked and immediately scattered like rats noticing a cat about to pounce, screaming in terror.

Mikasa tackled Eren and pulled him out of the way of the charging Titan, while Armin tried his best to shield Historia.

The Titan reached out its clawed hand, and then immediately began to run back toward the forest.

The fleeing cadets stopped, confused to see the Titan running away.

"Is everyone okay?" Marco asked, looking around.

Sasha shrieked and pointed at the Titan. "It grabbed Armin and Krista!"

Sure enough, they could see that the Titan was using three of its limbs to run, while Armin and Krista were being firmly held by the fourth one.

"What the hell…" Mina whispered.

Then, a series of violent thuds shook the ground, and several flocks of birds flew away from the nearby tree tops. A few seconds later, the Armored Titan emerged from the forest, and knelt down.

The Jaw Titan reached the Armored Titan and climbed onto its left shoulder, depositing its prisoners onto the right shoulder.

Historia's jaw dropped. "Dad?! What's going on?!"

Rod smiled nervously. "It's a long story."

Bertolt glanced down at the ground, also looking nervous.

Annie eyed Armin suspiciously. "Why did you grab him too?"

Marcel partially emerged from the nape. "He got in the way. Besides, he could be useful."

Marcel looked down sternly at Armin and Historia. "Do as we say, and we won't hurt you. Now strip off your gear, both of you."

Frightened and confused, the two young cadets reluctantly obeyed.

As soon as their gear was tossed to the ground, and they were secured to the Armored Titan's shoulder with some ropes used as makeshift lifelines, the Armored Titan stood up and began to run south, heading for Wall Rose.

While most of the cadets stood frozen, utterly terrified and confused by what was happening, as soon as the Armored Titan began to run away Eren snapped.

He bared his teeth. "You took my mom. You took my home. You're not taking him too!"

He sprinted toward the stables, got onto a horse, and began to chase after the Armored Titan, with Mikasa not far behind him.

As the Titans with their prisoners and the two angry cadets on horseback fled the training grounds, the rest of the cadet corps remained where they were, still completely astonished.

After a moment of silence, Jean said what they were all thinking.

"What the fuck just happened?!"


Author's Note: And the award for the most tragically ironic statement goes to Connie Springer!

Between this and Darkest Before the Dawn I seem to be drawn to the ArminXHistoria ship for some reason. I mean here it's mainly for plot reasons, though maybe subconsciously it's because Armin is the character I'm most similar to, and it would nice to have a cute blonde waifu. But anyway, with Ymir, Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie missing from the 104th cadet corp, the group dynamic would be a bit different, so I think Armin and Historia falling for each other is quite plausible despite it not happening in canon, especially with Annie and Ymir gone.

On a more serious note, real life has been rather busy lately, and I'm currently in the process of trying to quit my job and make a better one, with blackjack, and hookers. So while I'm about 80% certain I'll be able to maintain my schedule of uploading a new chapter once a month, there is a chance the next chapter could be delayed. Hopefully it won't be, but I thought you should know.

Anyways, be sure to let me know what you thought of this chapter, hopefully I surprised you in a good way.