"Eren! Eren, wake up! Can you hear me!? Eren!"

Mikasa and Jean slammed their blades into the nape of Eren's Titan form, now a brilliant crystal structure, over and over, begging for him to get up.

Lorraine stood below, holding her left arm. The pain that coursed through her shoulder came in waves, but for the most part, it was surprisingly dull, though she attributed the lack of pain to the adrenaline no doubt still coursing through her veins. She wondered if her injuries had finally healed themselves.

Historia stood by, worriedly watching and looking around at the sheer destruction her father had caused around them. The entire chapel was nothing more than piles of rubble. The crystal structures that had once held the chapel open laid in piles around them, though they still had a bright bluish-white glow to them, and new, more jagged and careless structures had formed, creating a kind of scaffolding to hold the cavern up around them.

Levi put his hand on Lorraine's shoulder. She looked up at him, then smiled. He nodded.

"You're okay."

She said softly, "I know. Thanks…dad."

He smiled. His heart swelled with a sense of pride and happiness over such a simple word.

With a loud crashing sound, Eren was finally pulled free of the crystalline Titan and thrown over Mikasa's shoulder as she lowered herself to the ground. Lorraine and Historia ran to his aid.

"Eren," Lorraine said, reaching out and putting her hand on his cheek, "Eren, are you okay? Wake up!" Mikasa held his shoulders up while Lorraine looked over his body for injuries. The youngest Ackerman sighed in relief.

"He's gonna be fine."

She stood up and continued, "His injuries have all healed themselves, with the exception of the ones on his face, but those usually disappear quickly enough." Eren stirred gently and sat up, holding his head in his hands and groaning tiredly.

"Wh-where are we?"

Historia said, "We're safe now, thanks to you."

He looked around. Levi said, "Not too shabby, Eren. Even after we cut you out of it, your Titan hasn't disappeared. This could be a game-changer."

Eren said weakly, "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. Listen. Before I transformed, I drank some liquid from a bottle that said 'Armour'."

Levi stepped forward and said, "I see. Guess that's all you needed to pull it off, 'cause this time you did it easily."

"Eren," Lorraine said softly, "Not only did you protect me when we were in that cage back there, but you saved all of our lives just now."

Levi said, "You came up with and created everything we see here in the blink of an eye. Not exactly pretty, but I can see its potential. I bet this is how the walls were made, too." He knelt down and held out his hand.

"Guess what," he said, "This means we finally have a real shot at plugging the hole in Wall Maria." Eren, Mikasa, and Lorraine gasped. Levi continued, "We had a hell of a time getting here, took long detours, watched friends die…but as long as it's been, look at the position we're in now."

Lorraine said, "We can finally…go home?" Mikasa nodded and grabbed her hand.

"If we can pull it off," Eren thought, "and retake Wall Maria, I can finally get to the basement. But, knowing what my dad did…"

His thoughts trailed off, and he was jolted back out of his head by Sasha, who dropped down from the giant hole in the ceiling and called out, "Captain! All clear, Sir!"

Connie dropped down beside her and announced, "Hange's fine, Sir! Armin and Moblit, too!"

Lorraine sighed, "Thank God."

Levi said, "I'm glad to hear it."

Connie and Sasha ran to Eren's side. Sasha collapsed to her knees before Eren and let out a massive sigh.

"We're all safe, thanks to you, Eren! But, to be completely honest with you, when I saw you run off into the light, stumbling like a drunk and crying like a baby, I thought for sure we were screwed!"

Lorraine chuckled, squeezing Mikasa's hand, and Sasha continued, "You looked like an idiot and my life was in your hands! It was awful! 'Quit your bawlin'!' 'Have some dignity!'" She took a sharp breath in.

"That's what I was thinking, anyway," she said.

Connie sighed and said, "Geez. Relax."

Levi looked up to the crystal ceiling and said softly, "Let's go."

He looked back to Eren and said, "We have a big-ass Titan to catch."

"Right."

Eren took a few shaking steps before getting his footing again. Lorraine and Mikasa ran to either side of him, supporting him over their shoulders. Eren looked down at Lorraine as the group walked towards the exit hole.

"Hey. Thanks."

She looked up at him questioningly.

He said, "You came back." She smiled.

"Yeah. I mean, you did what you could to protect me," she said, "I should be thanking you."

He said, smiling back, "Well, we both got out safe. That's what matters." She nodded and adjusted her grip on his arm. They watched as everyone went up the rope one by one, meeting Armin and Moblit at the top.

Armin reached out and hoisted Eren up to the surface while Levi helped Lorraine. As she stood up and dusted herself off, Jean helped Mikasa climb up.

Levi furrowed his brow, causing the rest of the group to look out at the destruction left in the wake of Rod Reiss, who had been transformed into a massive, slug-like Titan with tiny arms and legs that slowly propelled him forward. Steam erupted from every part of his body and he threw clouds of dust into the cool night air. The heat from his body set trees and grass alight, leaving a burnt trail behind him. Lorraine gasped, bringing her fingertips to her mouth in shock.

"Where's he going," she asked under her breath.

Levi said, "He's going to Orvud District. Let's get there before he does. Quickly. Everyone, move out!"

As they all boarded their horses and the carriage, Levi handed Eren a black shirt.

"Here."

"Thanks."

Eren put it on and sat next to Historia as Armin hopped into the front of the carriage, adjusting the reins of the horses in his hands. Lorraine knelt down next to Hange, who was already laying in the carriage, blood soaking her once-white shirt.

"Section Commander?"

She chuckled softly, "I'm fine, Lorraine. Especially now that you're here." Lorraine smiled.

"You know," Hange said, "Levi was really worried for you back there."

Lorraine nodded, pulling a med pack out from one of the bags on the carriage.

"I know," she said, starting to clean Hange's shoulder, "and I'm sorry." Hange smiled and let Lorraine do her job.

"Captain Levi!"

Commander Erwin rode up to the group. He asked, "Anyone hurt?"

Levi said, "Yeah. Hange took a hit. Lorraine'll take care of her, though. Don't worry."

Erwin nodded and said, "Alright. Looks to me like you've got it under control. You've done excellent work. All of you."

Levi said, "I've got a whole slew of things I need to report, but first–"

Erwin cut him off, "Anything on that Abnormal?"

Levi nodded.

"It's Rod Reiss. Long story short, the guy went nuts and turned himself into that freak of nature. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this, Commander."

Erwin paused, then said, "Time's running out. We can't afford to stand here and chat. Head back to the wall."

Levi asked, "You're gonna let that thing drag its fat ass all the way to Sina?"

Erwin said, "Yes. More specifically, I'm letting it continue its path to Orvud District. I'll explain when we arrive. Move out."

The Scout Regiment made their way back to Orvud, riding alongside the Titan for a good while. It was huge. Rod Reiss' Titan grossly stretched and squashed, inching along the ground like a massive maggot with tiny limbs, its body making creaking noises and wet, squishy sounds as it crawled.

Hange cleared her throat as Lorraine finished tying off the sling over her shoulder and said, "Alright, time to think. We know Lord Reiss was after the Founding Titan's power and that power currently resides within Eren, right? The thing is, the power of the Founding Titan can only be used at its full potential by someone with Royal blood." Eren sighed.

Hange continued, "But, based on what you two have told us, when a person of Royal blood does obtain this power, they suddenly take on the First King's ideology, which means they'll refuse to do anything to stop the Titans." She grumbled under her breath and Lorraine packed up the med kit.

"So," Hange asked softly, "The First King thinks this is true peace?" she chuckled, "I'm gonna have to disagree with him there."

Jean said, "Hey, Eren, can't you control Titans, now, or something? Why don't you try that?"

Eren said, "I mean, I haven't exactly gotten the chance to try it out since–"

Lorraine said excitedly, "It's worth a shot, right?"

Eren sighed and stood up. He thought to himself, "How exactly should I go about this? What did I do last time?" He looked down at his hand and balled up his fist.

He snarled, punching his fists into the air towards the massive Titan, "Stop moving! Now!" He did the same with his other fist.

"I said, stop! Stop, damn it!"

He frowned and screamed, his vocal cords sounding rough and gravelly, "Hey! I'm talking to you, asshole! Stop moving! Why won't you stop, you stupid, old bastard?!" The Titan just kept moving on its course without so much as a glance in their direction.

"Nothing," he sighed, sitting back down in the carriage.

Lorraine said softly, "Sorry, Eren. I thought…maybe…."

Eren said, "Don't worry about it, Lo. It was worth a shot."

Levi said under his breath, "Damn. Would've been a fucking miracle if it worked."

Eren sighed, "You know, we still have the option to go back." Lorraine and Historia shared a confused glance and looked back at Eren.

"We just need that Titan to eat me," he said, "then Reiss will become human again." He closed his eyes and let out another sigh.

"We could still have a true Founding Titan."

Mikasa, riding next to the carriage, said, "Wait, you don't mean–"

Levi said, cutting her off, "It's worth considering. Once Reiss turns back, we could capture him and undo the First King's brainwashing. That is assuming it can even be undone. It could very well open a path to save humanity." Lorraine exhaled through her nose, unconsciously reaching up to rub her aching shoulder.

Levi said, "Tell me, Eren, if that turns out to be our best option, are you really willing to do it?" Eren looked back at the Captain and nodded.

"No," Mikasa snapped, "I can't let you do that–"

Historia said sternly, "Let's not forget the other option." They all looked at her and she explained.

"First off, the plan you're discussing is full of flaws. For one thing, it may not even be possible to free my father from the First King's ideology. And no matter how you restrain him, if he alters everyone's memories, we're finished. Additionally, there's a lot that we still don't know about the Founding Titan. It's not worth the risk."

Armin said, "She's right." He turned back to them.

"There's not a 100% guarantee that Reiss would turn back into a human if he ate Eren. That's just a hypothesis. None of us have actually seen it happen before."

Historia nodded in agreement and said, "So far, we've only been ruled over by destructive pacifists and if they kept the Founding Titan's powers, that's how it would stay. This is humanity's first chance to escape from them."

She said, putting her hand gently on Eren's forearm, "Eren, your father wasn't evil. He was trying to save humanity from the First King." Eren huffed audibly.

She continued, "He stole the Founding Titan from my sister and then murdered my father's wife and children, but that was because he didn't have any other choice." He reached up and pressed his palm into his forehead, his eyes wide as his father's last words to him echoed through his thoughts.

"Mikasa's life. Armin's life. Lorraine's life."

Armin turned and said, "Yeah, that's right. The Doctor Jeager I knew wouldn't have done something like that unless he felt like he absolutely had to."

Lorraine said, "Yeah."

Mikasa said, "Agreed. He must have known another way to save humanity. One without Reiss blood."

Lorraine said, "Yeah. That's gotta be the reason he left you the key to the cellar." Mikasa nodded.

"Exactly."

Sasha asked, "The cellar? Oh, right. I almost forgot about all that."

Connie said, "Not gonna lie, me too."

Jean said, "What matters most to me is that we have a way to plug Wall Maria. The way I see it, that makes our choice pretty clear."

Levi said, "You know, that's actually a pretty convincing argument."

Hange sat up and said, "For whatever it's worth, I think we should stick with Eren, too, but Historia, are you sure about this? That Titan is a massive threat. It's not like we can just let it wander around freely inside the walls and capturing it is out of the question. It's far too big." She pointed out at the creature still crawling alongside them.

"That means the only option we have is to kill your father."

Historia looked out at the Titan. She looked thoughtfully over the side of the carriage, then said, scrunching her brows, "Eren. I should apologize. Under the Reiss chapel, I really considered turning into a Titan and killing you." Mikasa and Lorraine gasped. Armin glanced bowed her head.

"And honestly, it wasn't to save humanity. I just wanted to believe my father was right. Even more than that, I-I wanted him to like me."

She clenched her fists in her lap.

"But, it's time for me and him to part ways," she said, looking back at Eren, "so…yes, I'm sure about this."

Over the horizon, the walls of Orvud District came into view as the massive Titan began to trail behind the Scouts.