Attack on Titan: A New Path

by The Court of Talons

Ozma and Salem have been at war for millennia. The fight has taken many lives and taken many years. The champion of the Brother of Light has failed countless times to complete his task. Now, more than ever, Remnant needs a new protector. It needs a man who knows the cruelty of life. A man who doesn't falter in doing the unthinkable. A dark guardian. Remnant needs... Eren Yeager.

28. Chapter 28

"The key to change… is to let go of fear."

Roseanne Cash

Chapter 28: Inquisition

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Of course."

Silence was broken by a sarcastic remark by Mercury, who had just made an unbelievable discovery with his friends.

Minutes ago, Eren and everyone else were fighting for their lives from a group of Grimm Titans that looked just like his own. Confusion and paranoia spread across the camp quickly, but necessary action had been taken when the truth revealed itself. When the Titans were killed, they all discovered that some kind of device had been made to control the monsters. And now, everyone discovered who was responsible for its creation.

"The Schnee Dust Company?" Emerald asked as she read the brand on the machinery. "No way!"

"Not again!" Nora groaned.

"This... doesn't seem possible," said Ren. "How could they-?"

"Perfect!" Cinder yelled at the top of her lungs. "This is just fucking perfect!" The sarcasm and exhaustion in her voice was evident, and similar sentiments were shared by everyone else.

Especially Eren, who was completely silent.

The only one who noticed this was Mercury, who was still feeling guilty about his misplaced beliefs about Eren. Every instinct in him wanted to scream and hit himself for being so stupid, but he knew that Eren's idea of retaliation would be much worse. So Mercury hoped the question he planned to ask would show Eren that he was back on track.

"Wh... What do we do now, Eren?"

Eren looked over to Mercury before he looked back to the contraption. He couldn't find himself to answer the question not because of any hate or distrust he harbored for Mercury, but because it was a genuinely good question.

Many options were laid before Eren. The first was to find Jacques Schnee, or whoever was in charge of making these devices, and kill him while destroying each and every one of the devices. But that would only make matters worse, as it would definitely expose his nature as a Titan.

The second would be to finally take the fight back to Salem, and make sure she couldn't make any more Titans like this. This would also be difficult, given that Salem may now have more than just an abnormal Grimm as security. And if there were this many Titans in the woods tonight, Eren could only imagine how many there would be at her castle.

But now, it seemed that his war had reached two fronts; one with Salem and another with the SDC. Something had to be done, and it had to be done now.

"Mercury... I need you to look at this thing deeper," said Eren. "Break it down to scrap if you have to, but we need to know everything we can about this thing."

Mercury was glad to have some kind of plan set in motion, but he was still unsure about his current relationship with Eren. Which was why he planned to do this task without question. "You got it," he said as he moved towards the Dark Wing. "Anything in particular you wanna look for?"

"Start with a self destruct. Whoever built this definitely wouldn't want it to be found. And try to find out how it receives orders, if it can."

"Sure thing. Lemme get my stuff." Mercury moved back into the car to grab his tools, leaving Eren to address the group.

"I know this isn't the safest place right now," he began. "But I want to stay out here again, in case there are more."

"There might be a way to find out for sure," said Ren. "But we may have to go to the city instead."

"What are you thinking?"

"We may not be only ones to have found these things. They could be Kingdom-wide, maybe even world-wide."

"How can going to Vale help?"

Ren took out his Scroll and looked to see that it had a very weak signal. "If I were to go get a stronger signal, I can see if there's any news about giant Grimm being discovered."

"That's right!" Emerald said as she joined Ren. "We may not have the CCT, but our Scrolls can find any news articles or videos reported from any Kingdom!"

Eren's eyes widened as he heard the idea. "That's perfect!" he said. "How far are we from the city?"

"Far on foot, I would have to say," said Ren. "But not for my Titan or the car."

"Merc's busy with the... thing," said Emerald. "How about I go with you? I'll mask your Titan when we get close to the city."

"You all should go," said Eren. "I'll stay here in-"

"Nope, uh-uh, no," said Cinder, who had finally begun to calm down. "After that little stunt you pulled with the hungry Titan? I wouldn't trust you to tie your own shoes on your own after that." She was obviously joking, but Cinder would rest easier knowing that Eren wasn't a Titan's next meal.

While Eren was sure he could handle more Titans on his own, he had to resign to Cinder's wish when she presented that point. "Fair enough," he reluctantly decided. "Okay, Cinder and I will stay out here you all-"

"I can stay too," said Mercury, who had just come back outside with a large bag. "I got everything I need to dismantle this thing, and I can back you up if-"

"Absolutely not!"

Everyone turned to see Cinder angrily glaring at Mercury. "You're not staying in the same room as Eren, you got it?!" she shouted.

Mercury sighed as he put his tools down. "Look, I know I messed up," he began. "I'm really sorry, I-"

"Messed up?! Losing your keys is what people do when they mess up! Missing your flight is messing up! You didn't mess up, Mercury, you tried to commit murder!"

"I just thought that-!"

"What about all the things Eren did for you?! What about how he killed your dad and insisted you come back home with us?!"

"Hey, don't mention that son a bitch!"

Emerald got in the way of Cinder and Mercury, but her sights were on the young mechanic. "It wouldn't be the first time you did something like this," she said. "Look what happened to Hazel."

"Hazel?" Mercury asked in disbelief. "Oh, God, don't you tell me he didn't get what he deserved!"

"What he deserved was a bullet between the eyes. Not having his face caved in by a fucking rock! Something you didn't seem to have a problem doing fifty times over!"

"..."

Emerald quickly looked at everyone around her. "You all saw it too, right?!"

"..."

Silence reached the girl's ears, but the looks everyone was giving her showed that they were still haunted by the experience. Save for Eren and Cinder, they all recounted the experience.

---

Yesterday

"My turn, asshole," Mercury internally declared as he charged towards Hazel.

*WHOOSH*

*BAM*

"Gah!" Hazel cried out as he was slammed by something and sent flying back through a tree. Although he could block out pain with his Semblance, he still felt the wind getting knocked out of him.

Quickly getting back up, Hazel looked over at what just hit him, only to now see the Titan now standing where he once was.

"You again?!" Hazel asked, surprise being evident on his face. "And you've gotten even faster, too."

"I bet you're surprised aren't you, you damn prick."

Mercury glared at Hazel both with his Titan and human eyes. "Last time, you were up against a brand new Titan. Like a wild animal." Mercury shifted his stance, almost like a runner's starting position. "Now..."

*WHOOSH*

*BAM*

"Ugh!" Hazel grunted as he was struck again, flying backwards before he managed to realign himself and land back on his feet.

"Now I get to kick your ass twice as better."

Mercury stopped moving as the bone plating on his knuckles gleamed in a red light. "Looks like I can send my fists just as fast too." He then smiled as he looked at a recovering Hazel. "I am so gonna enjoy this."

Unfortunately for Mercury, Hazel had come prepared.

As he growled and stood back up, the large man reached for new Dust crystals in his pockets. Three of them were brown in color, which would make the earth bend to his will. However, a fourth crystal shined a bright golden color. This type of Dust was very rare, but very powerful.

And Hazel was ready to show the Flashstep Titan just how powerful it was.

With a roar, Hazel stabbed the Dust into his arms and watched them bulge slightly as his veins began to glow. He then slammed his arms down to create a barrage of earthen spikes from the ground, which were racing towards Mercury.

But to Mercury, everything suddenly began to slow down dramatically.

The earthen spikes rising out of the ground were moving at a snail's pace, leaving Mercury to draw a singular conclusion. "I can react just as fast," he realized as he jumped over the spikes and towards Hazel. "Who's gonna stop me now, asshole?!"

Hazel answered this question with a fast strike to the face of the Flashstep Titan.

*BAM*

Mercury flew backwards and landed on the multiple earth spikes, which either broke into dirt or stabbed his body in various places.

"Wha-Wha-What the fuck?!"

The fourth Dust crystal Hazel had injected himself with had finally kicked in. It was a rare kind normally known as "Gold Dust," a substance that could be used specifically on humans and Faunus without any damage to the body. Its properties granted the user enhanced speed along with drastic reaction time.

In short, Hazel now possessed the same kind of power as the Flashstep Titan.

With his newfound speed and strength, Hazel leapt towards Mercury's Titan and landed on its chest. Since he was unfamiliar with the biology of a Titan, the large man began to beat on Mercury's chest. With hardened stone on his knuckles, Hazel watched as darkened blood and flesh broke from the body with each punch he delivered.

Rather than giving up, Mercury swatted Hazel away so he could get himself off the spikes. Once he did, the young man was able to see that Hazel had made a considerable hole in his chest.

"Oh, shit," Mercury thought as he freed himself from the last piece of rock. "Shit, how did he do that?!" Mercury looked at the hole in his chest again before he made a decision. "No, it's cool. Just gotta get my head in the-"

*CRASH*

Mercury fell forwards when something hit the back of his head. He wasn't knocked unconscious, but he was forced to the ground. And now, one of his hands was being crushed a she attempted to get back up.

Hazel had reduced the right hand of the Flashstep Titan to a clump of bleeding flesh with one finger and his thumb remaining normal. With a yell, he then moved the hand with his strength in an attempt to break its wrist.

He succeeded.

Mercury soon began to feel the effects of the action, which made him angry enough to lift his other hand and use his speed in an attempt to crush Hazel. But when he did, Hazel sent his hands in the way and prevented the fist from touching the ground. As he pushed the hand with all of his strength, Hazel grit his teeth around another piece of Dust he had in his mouth; a Fire Dust crystal.

*BOOM*

Mercury's hand was flung away from Hazel when an explosion erupted after Hazel bit his crystal. And now that he had the chance, Hazel quickly jumped in Mercury's face to send his fist into one of the Titan's eyes. When he saw the effect it had, Hazel wasn't afraid to do the same to the other eye.

Now that Mercury was blinded, by something other than his earlier arrogance, he couldn't help but swing his fists in a panic. His goal was to get Hazel off his face, but he didn't know that his movements had already made Hazel land on the ground.

While Gold Dust provided a tremendous power, it also ran out of energy very quickly. Hazel knew this well, and he also knew that his crystal was waning fast. And so, with the last ounce of energy he had, Hazel launched himself at the Titan's chin to perform a devastating uppercut punch.

Mercury was helpless as he fell to the ground again. And once again, Hazel began to punch the flesh off his body. He no longer had the power of Gold Dust, but he still had the power of the earth and his own untamed strength. With these two factors, Hazel punched his way through the Titan until he saw bone.

Which also revealed a broken and exhausted boy attached to the flesh.

"There you are," Hazel said between breaths as he calmed down. He reached for Mercury's leg, which was just above the chest, and pulled until he saw the rest of Mercury's body. Some of the flesh was attached to his back, but Hazel didn't seem to care at the moment.

"So... this is how it works," Hazel said as he observed the Titan and the boy in his grasp. "You were piloting that... thing from the inside."

"..."

Mercury remained silent as he tried to regain some of his strength. But all he could do was watch Hazel piece everything together.

"Salem was wondering how you managed to accomplish such a feat," Hazel continued. "But your leader was made by Salem herself. Tell me how he can transform and I'll grant you a quick death."

Mercury now knew that survival of this encounter was very slim, and his only hope laid with his friends coming to their senses and helping him fight. Since he was confident this could happen, he spit some of his blood in Hazel's face.

In turn, this made Hazel decide to make Mercury's death long and painful.

"Wrong choice, boy,"Hazel replied without wiping the blood off his face. Instead, he sent his fist into Mercury's face.

*BAM*

He then used the same fist to hit Mercury in the other cheek.

*BAM*

This pattern repeated for a few more times.

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*CRACK*

Hazel then tossed Mercury's body away from the Titan. He was still alive and coughing up blood, which meant that Hazel wasn't done yet. So he simply raised his foot and sent it crashing down on Mercury's leg.

"AAAAUUGGGHH!" Mercury screamed as pain traveled up his body. And to make matters worse, this was a very familiar pain; one he was unfortunate enough to receive as a child.

"You've had your chance," Hazel said as he stepped on Mercury's other leg and heard the same scream. "And you didn't take it. You only have yourself to blame, boy."

Despite the pain he was in, Mercury was able to open his eyes and look upon Hazel. But whether it was the pain from his legs or a blow to the head he didn't remember receiving, Mercury didn't see the enemy he had just been fighting.

He was seeing his father instead.

And with each shot of pain he received, Mercury's mind returned to one of the worst beatings he was given.

"You had a single!"

*BAM*

"Simple!"

*BAM*

"Task!"

*BAM*

"And you couldn't!"

*BAM*

"Even do that!"

As the memory returned to him and the image of his father was clear as day for Mercury, he felt a rage burning inside of him. It was strong enough to block out the pain in his legs and send his fists towards Hazel.

"Shut up," he mumbled. "Shut up!"

Unbeknownst to the both of them, the piece of flesh attached to Mercury's back allowed him some control over the Flashstep Titan. And while Mercury was swinging his fists at Hazel, the Titan was also moving its own arms. And when one of them came close to Hazel, the large man moved away and inadvertently freed Mercury.

Mercury's legs were healing, but they didn't have the strength to make the boy stand up yet. But he still moved closer and continued to swing his fists at Hazel. The large man saw that four arms moving towards him would be a problem, so he decided to make all of them stop moving.

Hazel moved back towards Mercury and grabbed him by the neck. When he began to pull him away from the Titan, the last pieces of flesh had finally broken away from Mercury. With two arms out of the way, Hazel used a unique method to make sure the other arms wouldn't bother him anymore. He wrapped his arms around Mercury's back, which also trapped the boy's arms. For the finishing touch, Hazel began to squeeze his arms in order to crush Mercury's body.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Mercury grunted and began to scream more as he felt his arms and torso being crushed. However, his anger only intensified and began to blur any sense within him. Rather than wait in the hope of a rescue, Mercury took matters in his own hands with a very... unorthodox kind of fighting.

And the first step was using the only thing he had available: his mouth.

*CHOMP*

"AAAAARRRRGGHH!"

Hazel screamed as he felt a sharp pain in his throat. He couldn't look down to see it, but he could feel that the boy he was attempting to crush with his bare hands had bit into his neck. While his Semblance blocked out the pain with ease and he was squeezing even tighter, Hazel felt part of his flesh begin to give way from the bite.

And warm blood pour down the side of his neck.

Rather than risk losing blood from what could possibly be an important vein, Hazel reluctantly let go of Mercury and grasped the side of his neck. The bite was right on top of his neck-bone, and the idea of a severed vein became more possible by the second. So Hazel activated his Aura again to heal the wound.

But he was distracted by Mercury jumping on his back and wrapping his healing legs around his neck.

With even more pain to his neck to worry about, Hazel grabbed the boy's legs and tried to pull them off. But Mercury held his legs with his own hands and bit down on Hazel's ear this time.

"Get! Off! Me!" Hazel angrily screamed as he finally broke the chokehold he was in. He effortlessly threw Mercury to the ground and held his ear to feel more blood begin to pour down his face. Hazel used his Semblance to block out the pain on his neck and ear, but was starting to feel dizzy from the amount of blood he lost from the first bite. Yet he approached even closer to finish off his opponent.

Only to meet a large rock to his face.

*CRACK*

Mercury had managed to pick up a rock when he was thrown to the ground, and he used it against Hazel without a second thought. With all rational thought and restraint lost by the boy who had apparently gone savage, Mercury moved towards Hazel again to hit him with the rock a second time.

While Hazel was able to block out the pain and send a fist at Mercury, he soon realized that it was becoming hard to see. The rock had made contact with Hazel's orbital socket, and seemed to have done some damage to his sight. There was no pain due to his Semblance, but pain seemed to be the least of his worries at the moment.

He sent more punches towards Mercury, but the majority of them missed completely. When Mercury felt a hard punch to his arm, he simply grabbed the rock in his other hand and sent it at Hazel's face again.

*CRACK*

The rock had hit Hazel's blind side again, which made it even more difficult for him to see. And Mercury, who was still on the verge of fully healing from his legs, continued to attack Hazel in a crazed manner.

The barrage of strikes to his face and neck were enough to make Hazel walk backwards and trip on another rock, which made him fall to the ground. He was doing his best to defend himself from Mercury, but his arms were starting to feel heavy with every strike he felt to his face.

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

And for the first time in a long time, Hazel's Aura shattered in a fight. The attempts to block out pain and heal his wounds at the same time were enough to weaken it until it broke, and now Hazel began to remember what it was like to feel this kind of pain in a fight. Mercury was in pain too, but the surge of adrenaline he had was blocking it out and making him faster than he ever was.

Hazel continued to grab and punch in Mercury's direction, but the attacks were having no effect. And the crazed boy continued to send the rock at Hazel's face.

"Free... Free to... go..." Hazel weakly replied as he grabbed Mercury's arm and felt a moment of relief.

But Mercury had other plans for Hazel. "Not better than me," he said with sheer anger. "You've never been better than me!" With that, he raised the rock and beat Hazel's face again.

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

Hazel spoke again, even though he could feel the rock hit his face.

"I... surrender!" he said in vain.

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

"Stop! Stop!"

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

With the next strikes, Hazel's vision finally became dark as he lost consciousness. And yet, Mercury hadn't regained the sanity to realize that he had won.

He did, however, finally stop when he needed to breathe.

"..."

As he took heavy and rapid breaths, Mercury looked at the damage he had inflicted on the man who was practically a war machine. He didn't know how he did it, but he had made Salem's strongest servant bleed all over the place and suffer from multiple broken bones in his face.

Mercury could feel the warmth of Hazel's blood on his face, but he did nothing to clean it off. He continued to stare at Hazel and feel the same anger as before; not even victory could make him let go of the hate he was feeling.

He did, however, finally look up to see faces of surprise and disgust when he heard two words.

"My... God..."

---

Present

All eyes fell onto Mercury as he began to talk once again.

"What are you guys saying?" he asked. "That I screwed up killing Hazel too? That's bullshit!"

"What we're saying is you went too far!" Nora protested. "Just because we're trying to save the world doesn't mean we can go overboard!"

"Nora's right," Ren agreed. "Most of us have done things we wish we hadn't, but they're still bad things. We can never lose sight of that."

"Oh, gimme a fucking break!" Mercury yelled. "So we have to go soft now, is that what it is?! Eren didn't go soft when he killed Tyrian! Or when he and Cinder took down the White Fang!" Mercury shifted his focus towards Eren at the moment. "Are you forgetting that you trampled an entire world for your home?! And you wanna tell me we're supposed to go soft?! What the fuck is wrong with you?! We need to hit our enemies hard, and we need to hit them now!"

"..."

Eren let out a heavy sigh as he recounted everything he did on Paradis. He indeed recalled the fight he needed to end, but he never forgot what it cost him. Because of his choices and actions, Eren lost every friend he made back home.

Despite the loss Eren felt in his heart, his actions inspired him to make a decision with Mercury here and now.

"I warned you, Mercury," he said calmly. "I warned about having a Titan of your own. I guess I was right."

"Huh?" Mercury asked. "The hell are you talking about?"

"I told you that a Titan needs to be used responsibly. But all you've done is think with your fists and legs. And not just as your Titan, but yourself." Eren began to list a series of events that Mercury had been involved with that only got into trouble. "When Ren tried to warn us about Rod Reiss, you exposed yourself and all of us."

"Well... yeah, but I thought-"

"Then you ran all across lower Mistral and let yourself get hurt over and over again. Ren and Nora kept their calm to get answers, but you just burst into places to get your ass kicked."

"I was just-!"

"And then you lost all signs of control when you killed Hazel. I may have killed Tyrian, but it was quick. Cinder and I attacked the White Fang, but we had a plan and kept our Titans as a last resort. I used mine against their leader when I knew I couldn't stop him. But you just wanted to show that you were stronger."

"Eren, come on-!"

"And now, you tried to kill me. What would you have done if you actually did it? Right when the Titan was about to reveal itself?"

"..."

Though he believed the other examples could be justified, Mercury knew his attempt to kill Eren was indeed a mistake. And so, he stayed silent as Eren delivered an ultimatum.

"Whatever happened to you after you gained your Titan has done nothing but impair your judgement," Eren declared. "So don't even think about transforming again unless I say so. Don't even think about the word 'Titan' while you're at it."

"Eren-!"

"I mean it, Mercury." He looked back to the rest of his friends. "We're all going to keep an eye on him too. Think you guys are up for that?"

"For sure," Cinder quickly said.

"Agreed," Ren said with a nod.

"Same," Emerald said immediately after Ren.

"...Sorry, Merc," Nora replied timidly.

Midori was the one one who didn't say anything, but she nodded in agreement.

"...Alright, then," Eren said as he gratefully accepted the help. "You all better get to Vale. Cinder and I will hold the fort here."

"Good luck, you guys," Emerald said as she moved towards the car.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Ren asked. "It's still dangerous out here."

Cinder looked at her Scroll before she answered Ren. "We got a couple of hours of darkness left," she said. "We'll keep watch until dawn and regroup with you in Vale."

Ren accepted the idea as he also walked towards the car. "I'll let you know where we are when we get to Vale. The signal may be bad, but you should see my message when you get close enough."

"Sounds good to me," said Eren.

"Try not to die out here," said Nora, who was doing her best to remain positive about the current situation.

Midori looked back to Cinder. "I know I can't fight out here," she said. "But you might need someone to heal you if you get hurt."

"Thanks, Midori," Cinder said with a smile. "But we got it covered." She then cut her own hand to show her healing abilities to Midori.

"Whoa!" Midori moved closer to Cinder's hand as she replayed the event in her head. "How'd you do that?"

"I'll let you know in the morning. It's actually pretty cool."

"Sounds good. Just don't get any ideas about replacing me, okay?"

Cinder laughed at the idea. "Last thing on my mind, Midori."

"Mine too," Eren said with a smile. "Take care."

"You too," Midori said as she took her leave into the Dark Wing, leaving Eren and Cinder with Mercury.

"So..." Mercury began. "Does the babysitting shit start now, or-?"

"Get outta here," Cinder said as she turned her back on Mercury. Eren, however, stayed where he was and looked at Mercury.

"Eren, look," Mercury pleaded. "I know I screwed up, man. But I'm not a monster." Mercury then spread his arms. "I mean, do I look like one? What do I look like to you?"

Eren took a good long look at his friend. "...Myself," he declared.

Mercury lowered his arms slowly as the surprise of the answer overtook him. "Then why are you doing this?"

"Because... I see too much of myself."

"..."

---

In a rare stroke of luck, the rest of the night turned out to be more or less uneventful for Eren and Cinder. The only kinds of Grimm they found in the woods were a pack of Beowolves and three Ursai. When they were certain that no other Titans remained in close proximity of the city, the duo decided to make their way to Vale just before dawn.

"So, I guess the Titans really are all gone," Cinder said as she trekked through the woods towards the city.

"For now," Eren admitted as he took the lead. He had walked through the woods to Vale before, so he knew where he was going. "There's no way Salem wouldn't make more of them while she has the chance."

"True." Cinder moved closer to Eren so she wasn't behind him. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well... I don't exactly know." Eren looked to Cinder. "I mean, I know what we can do from here. I'm just not sure which is a better idea."

Cinder easily understood the predicament, and was eager as always to help Eren. "Well, let's hear them," she offered with a smile.

"Okay," Eren agreed. "The way I see it, we have two options. The first's actually easier, but it might take us longer to stop Salem."

"What is it?"

"We go to Atlas, find Jacques Schnee, or whoever is making those things... and stop them."

"After everything he did to those villages and tried to do to Kuroryuri?" Cinder smiled wider. "Now you're talking."

Eren chuckled after hearing that. "I was hoping you say that." He immediately stopped smiling. "Only problem is, Jacques knows who we are. If he even sees either of us, he'll throw everything he has at us. Whether it's exposing us or killing us, he'll make himself harder to kill."

"True. I'm surprised he's stayed quiet all this time about us. I thought for sure he was gonna squeal."

"It's probably a blessing in disguise. He wouldn't keep his mouth shut for long if he sees us."

"Yeah, I get it. So, what's option B?"

"We finish this here and now. Take the Dark Wing to Salem's castle, and finish this fight."

Cinder pondered the idea longer than she did with the one about killing Jacques Schnee. Despite the time it took, she found the idea to be more logical than risking exposure.

"That could work," she said. "I mean, you can still freeze her in crystal, right?"

"Yeah, that's not going to change," Eren admitted. "I wanted to go this route, but if Salem sent out this many Titans in one night? Imagine how protected her castle is by those things. She could be making a whole army of them for all we know."

"..."

Cinder couldn't help but agree with Eren once again. Even if they killed however many Titans were protecting her castle, they would still have to contend with an immortal woman with powers unlike any Semblance. There was no way it would be easy.

And needless to say... not everyone would be making it back.

"You're right," Cinder finally admitted. "There's no way we could win against something like that."

"I know," Eren reluctantly admitted as well. "Like I said, those are the only things we can do right now. I guess we just have to pick our poison."

Cinder suddenly stopped walking. "You know... there might be a third option."

Eren stopped walking as well. "Like what?"

Cinder began to pace around the immediate area as she thought out loud. "Well, think of it like an extension to the first one. Like you said, going after Schnee is easier than going after Salem. But maybe we don't have to get involved."

Eren nodded and began to smile. "We could hang back if we need to. Maybe grab some dinner, catch a movie?"

The idea brought a laugh from Cinder. "Pretty tempting idea, Eren. But I was talking about all of us. You, me, Ren, Nora and the rest. This might be easier than we thought."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we have concrete proof that the Schnee Dust Company is working with Grimm of all things. Experimenting with them and testing them in the wild. But we have something else." Cinder quickly took out her Scroll and showed Eren a certain phone number. "And I have the Mistral Council on speed dial."

Eren quickly understood what Cinder was thinking. "That's right!" he said as he remembered the conversation Cinder was lucky to have with Councilwoman Redwood. "She listened to you once before, she'll definitely listen to you again!"

Cinder was easily able to share Eren's enthusiasm. "And when I show her what we found, she'll have to do something about it! Atlas can't bullshit their way outta letting the police investigate!"

"Maybe he'll be caught red-handed!" Eren immediately raised his palm towards Cinder, who in turn raised her own palm and shared a high-five with Eren. "This is perfect!"

The happiness and hope Cinder felt was strong enough to drive off any Grimm that was still in the forest. Eren shared these feelings, but felt something stronger. Whether it was from last night or right now, Eren felt incredibly closer to Cinder. It was almost as if the bond they had couldn't be broken by anything or anyone on Remnant. And whenever she was with him, Eren felt invincible and stronger than he had ever before in his life.

But the smile on her face always seemed to make Eren feel happy to be alive. Which was why it devastated him to make it go away so quickly.

"Wait..." Eren said as he began to calm down. "No, we can't do that."

Just as he predicted, Cinder stopped smiling. "What's wrong?" she asked. "That sounds like a great plan."

"It is. Except for one thing." Eren decided to walk again as he explained himself. "Whoever is helping Salem make those collars, they know what a Titan is. And from what we saw in the woods, they have to know who I am too. If the Council sends people to investigate this, they might-"

"Find out who you are too," Cinder concluded. "And then they could find out about the rest of us." She immediately became angry enough to kick a rock down the dirt path. "Dammit! Back to square one again!" She immediately stopped walking after that. "Hold on; maybe we should go to Atlas regardless. Whoever the Council sends to investigate the SDC, maybe I can convince them to let us help. Or at the very least, we could follow them to Atlas."

"That could work," Eren realized. "Emerald and Ren could hide themselves easily, maybe us too. If we're fast and careful, we might beat them to the prize." Eren smiled again. "Yeah, let's do it."

With every word Eren just spoke, Cinder could feel her confidence rising. "There might not be any sneaking around. I'm sure I can convince Councilwoman Redwood to let us help."

"I'm sure too, but what about the rest of the Council? You might have to convince them too." Eren looked down at the dirt path as he thought out loud again. "We'd need a strong case to present to them, maybe someone who can persuade them."

"Emerald could use her Semblance to disguise herself as someone important. I know it sounds dirty, but we can't let our secret out."

"Definitely not. And Emerald could do that... but she'll have a hard time with more than just one person." Eren stopped walking as he had an idea. "I got it." Eren took a breath before he dropped a bomb on Cinder. "We can use Ymir."

"Ymir?" Cinder asked in disbelief. Eren was expecting this reaction, but it didn't dissuade him from his plan.

"She's still in Winter's body, remember? And Winter's a member of the Atlesian military, as well as Jacques' daughter. She could make our argument stronger, and maybe convince the Council to let us go alone. Under her 'supervision.'"

Cinder found no flaw in Eren's logic, but there was one thing stopping her from going on board with the plan. "She could help... but I don't think she'll want to help."

"Don't worry. I'm going to make her an offer she can't refuse."

Cinder couldn't help but laugh again at the declaration, and Eren laughed as well. After it died down, Cinder regained her focus. "Okay, so we get Ymir to help us," she said. "The car might be a little cramped, but it'll be fine if she can get us to Atlas. Maybe she can keep an eye on that shithead Mercury too."

Eren stopped smiling when he remembered what happened to Mercury. Despite the fact that he was almost killed by Mercury, Eren couldn't help but feel that his friend didn't deserve to be further ostracized. "Cinder... don't you think you're being a little too hard on him?" he asked.

Cinder quickly turned back to Eren. She was surprised by the question, but she had her own point to offer. "No offense, Eren, but I don't think you're being hard enough on him."

"I don't-"

"I mean, you laid down the law with him, that's good. But that doesn't change the fact that he almost killed you! That he's become more dangerous ever since he got his Titan! Doesn't that bother you?"

"Of course it bothers me! But if we keep pushing him down, it'll only be a matter of time before he snaps again! He won't just come after me, but he'll go after you too!" Eren began to calm down. "I don't want that, Cinder."

"..."

"Look, I totally agree that Mercury's changed. But he even admitted that he made a mistake. We just have to take his word for it."

After what felt like an eternity, Cinder decided to agree with Eren. "...Yeah, you're right," she said. "I mean, Ren was going through some stuff too. Maybe he can help?"

"We can ask him, sure. And don't worry, I'll still be watching Mercury."

"Thanks. I'll be watching-" Cinder let a yawn before she spoke again. "Ah, sorry. Guess I didn't get much sleep last night."

"It's fine," Eren assured her. "You can rest if you need to."

"Nope, I'm good." Cinder began to walk again. "What about you? You need to rest up?"

Eren soon followed Cinder. "Nah, I'm not tired."

"Really? I think you got less sleep than I did."

"Yeah, but I..."

The sight of Cinder and the recollection of his dream made Eren feel rather hot and uncomfortable, and he was sure his face was red from it. Not only that, but he still had yet to figure out what it all meant for him.

"You okay?" Cinder asked. "You look a little-"

"I'm fine," Eren quickly said. "Sorry, I think I had a... uh... What's that thing called? When you're saying something, but it's like your brain just stops dead?"

"Ah." Cinder smiled. "You mean a brain fart."

"..."

The look on Eren's face was enough to make Cinder laugh once again.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," he said as he began to walk again.

"Hey, you asked!" Cinder said. "Don't kill the messenger!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Despite the foolishness of it, Eren couldn't help but smile again.

---

While the night was quiet for Eren and Cinder, things in Vale were rather exciting for everyone else. Nobody could sleep easily while knowing that there were more crazed Titans running amok, so they did their best to find out where they were and what they were doing.

Nora and Midori had done the majority of the work by looking at pictures, videos, and articles on their Scrolls while Emerald and Ren kept an eye out for anything extraordinary around them. Mercury simply laid in his bunk but refused to sleep.

"Nope," Nora said as she swiped past an article detailing recent Grimm attacks. "Nope. Uh-uh. Kid in a costume."

The last phrase caught Midori's attention, which caused her to look over Nora's shoulder at the new website she was looking at. "What are you looking at?" she asked.

"Conspiracy website," Nora said as she continued to swipe her screen.

"Conspiracy-? Why are you looking there? I thought we were looking for news articles."

"Yeah, but those harnesses were made by the SDC. How do we know the Atlas government wasn't involved?" Nora looked up at Midori. "What if we're not the only ones thinking about it? What if they wanted us to find the brand?"

Midori couldn't help but see how odd that sounded. "But that doesn't make sense," she insisted.

"Exactly," Nora said while slowly nodding her head.

Before Midori could explain herself further, the door to the Dark Wing opened. Nora and Midori soon saw Emerald and Ren walk inside with bags of food.

"Anyone hungry?" Emerald asked as she put her bags down.

"Always!" Nora said as she tossed her Scroll away and ran towards the bags. "Wait a sec; why did you guys go shopping at night?"

"Night?" Ren asked. "Nora, it's seven in the morning. It's breakfast time."

Nora looked out the window to see that there was daylight coming to the city. The light hurt her eyes, since she was looking at a screen in the dark, so she quickly turned away. "I knew that!" she lied as she looked back to the bags.

"Yeah, right," Emerald said with a smirk. "We got something for everyone."

"Are Eren and Cinder back yet?" Ren asked.

"Not yet," Midori said as she took some food out. "But they should be here soon. Hopefully faster than you can say-"

"Pancakes!"

Everyone turned to see Nora excitedly tip a stack of packaged pancakes out of a bag and began to eat them excitedly. After she took a big bite, she looked back to everyone else. "Ren, you should have told me," she said. "I could've helped."

"You looked busy with the news articles and all, I didn't want to disturb you," Ren said as he took out some food for himself. "But Emerald was able to help, it's fine."

Nora took a look at Emerald before she looked back to Ren. "But we always go shopping together."

"Don't worry, I got the pancakes exactly as you like them. We can go shopping together another time." Ren looked over to Emerald. "Did your food come out like you asked?"

"Yep, looks good," Emerald said with a smile. "I think we actually got the same thing."

"Oh, that's right." Ren softly laughed at the coincidence. "It would seem we both have good taste in food."

"Got that right." Emerald moved towards her bunk to eat her own packaged food. "Come on, let's eat."

Midori and Nora watched as Ren and Emerald sat down to eat together. "Huh," Midori said as she observed the natural attitude shared between them. "I didn't know they were that close."

"...Neither did I," Nora concurred as she watched them laugh and eat together.

"..."

The sound of something moving behind her caused Midori to turn around and see Mercury looking at some of the broken weapons, specifically his own. "Um... Hi, Mercury," she said politely.

"..."

The silence that followed made Midori unsure about what to say next, given the... awkward atmosphere that everyone shared with Mercury. Nevertheless, she approached the situation carefully.

"Do you... want some breakfast?" Midori asked.

"No," Mercury said as he grabbed his weapons and went outside.

"..."

When everyone heard Mercury finally speak and leave, they all couldn't help but run to the window to see what he was doing. After all, the idea of Mercury with a weapon was putting them on edge.

"Oh, that's good," Emerald said with a sigh of relief. "Looks like he's just fixing it."

Nora and Midori watched Mercury tinker around with his tools and the weapon and also sighed in relief. But Nora was the first to try and bring up some empathy. "Come on, guys," she said. "Aren't we being a little unfair right now?"

"Well... Eren did want us to keep an eye on him," Emerald reminded her.

"Yeah, but not watch him like a hawk." Nora moved away from the window. "He's not hurting anyone."

"You're right," Midori agreed as she moved away from the window. Emerald soon followed, but Ren stayed where he was. "Ren, come back."

"Just a second," Ren said without breaking his gaze. "I just want to see how he's feeling."

"Oh, are you using your Semblance?" Nora asked.

"I am." Ren spent about five seconds looking at Mercury before he moved away from the window. "Well, he's definitely angry."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that," said Emerald. "But I'm more worried for the person who he's angry at. I hope it's not Cinder."

"Or Eren," Midori included.

"I think I can say it's neither," said Ren. "I actually saw something else under the anger. I'm still trying to figure out everything my Semblance allows me to see, but I think I saw some kind of... loathing."

"...What?" Nora asked. "What do you mean?"

"It's... hard to explain, but it was almost as if... Mercury hates what happened in the woods."

"..."

Everyone gave Ren their undivided attention as he explained himself further.

"More specifically... he hates himself for-"

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

A series of crashes, specifically metal hitting metal, reached everyone's ears and caused them to look outside once more. There, they saw Mercury repeatedly hitting his boots with a wrench. Nora was about to run outside and stop him, but he stopped himself just as quickly as he started it. He then tossed the wrench aside before he simply stared at the weapons.

"...He's definitely frustrated," Emerald said to prove Ren's point.

"...What should we do?" Nora asked.

Surprisingly, it was Midori who moved away from the window and walked towards the door. "I think I have an idea," she said.

Ren was the first to express the rest of the group mentality. "Midori, I'm not sure if he's ready to talk," he said.

"I know. But I think I can help. This is kind of like someone I saw after I left Kuroyuri."

"Are you sure?"

"I don't know. But I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't try. Don't worry, I'll be careful." With that, Midori left the Dark Wing to see Mercury.

And to nobody's surprise, the young man wasn't happy to see that he had company.

"Oh, so the window wasn't giving you a good view?" Mercury asked sarcastically.

"...Sorry," Midori began. "I couldn't help but hear you hit... I mean, working on your weapons."

Mercury looked away from Midori without a care in the world. "Whatever."

Midori expected a reaction like this, and she made sure to approach Mercury with caution. She also told herself not to mention Eren or his mistake in the woods, so she had another idea.

"What's wrong with it?" she asked.

Mercury looked back to Midori. "Huh?" he asked. "What, I'm an 'it' now?"

"No, no." Midori pointed at the broken gear. "What's wrong with your boot?"

"...Oh." Mercury slowly looked back to the boot he was hitting. "I dunno. Damn thing got jammed last night."

"Oh." Midori moved closer. "Can it be fixed?"

"What's the point?" Mercury stood up and picked up his boots. "It's not like Eren will want me having these anyway."

"That's not true. He never said anything about your boots. And they're great weapons to have."

"Still." Mercury began to walk back towards the Dark Wing without retrieving his wrench. "Besides, this is like the millionth time I fixed them. I don't wanna make it a million and one times."

Midori quickly walked over to Mercury. "I don't blame you. Maybe I can help."

Mercury couldn't help but scuff. "I doubt it. Never seen you with a socket-wrench before."

Midori didn't know about specific kinds of wrenches or any tools, for that matter. But she had something else in mind.

"Mercury, my uncle once told me what he would do when he was stuck in a rut," she began. "He would always seek something new out, something to keep him captivated. You know, so he would love what he did."

Mercury looked back to Midori. "Okay," he neutrally said. "What was he, a taxi driver or something?"

"Uh... no. He's a mechanic in Maykr. Like you."

Mercury shifted away from the Dark Wing. "Maykr, huh?" He then pointed at the car. "That's where we got this thing. I guess I must've seen him; a few people helped me renovate this."

"I wouldn't be surprised. He's worked on a few cars."

"Right." Mercury suddenly became intrigued by Midori's idea. "What did you say he did again?"

"If he found himself in a rut, he'd do something new and exciting." Midori pointed to the boots. "You think you're in a rut with those boots?"

Mercury looked at his weapons. "Eh... I guess."

Midori reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "If you're up to it, I think I have something new for you." She then extended her hand to Mercury.

"...What is it?"

"Just something I drew up myself. If you're interested."

Mercury took the paper from Midori and unfolded it, revealing a drawing of what appeared to be a weapon. The weapon didn't have too many details, but it seemed to be a pair of gauntlets that one could wear on their arms. On those gauntlets appeared to be a pair of blades where the wrists were supposed to be. It wasn't much, but it was certainly new to Mercury.

"So... what do you think?" Midori asked after Mercury spent a few seconds looking at the drawing.

"Well... I think I'm gonna need more than this," Mercury replied as he turned the drawing to Midori. "I'll need blueprints. You know, to see how you want it to work."

"Oh, okay. Did you... still want to build it?"

Mercury looked at the drawing again. "I... don't see why not."

Midori smiled. Her plan to give Mercury a healthy distraction, in order to make him possess the right thinking, seemed to be going well. While she prided herself in her ability to help, she was excited at the prospect of finally getting a weapon of her own.

"Thank you," she said politely. "Any chance we could work on it today? Maybe you can help me with the drawing?"

"I'll see if I have any spare blueprints left," said Mercury. "If not, we can just use-"

"Hey, guys!"

A distant but familiar voice made its way to Mercury and Midori's ears. They both turned to see Eren and Cinder heading their way with smiles and waves. While Midori was eager to smile and wave back, Mercury couldn't help but retreat back inside the Dark Wing. Even though the prospect of building a new weapon excited him, the young man wasn't quite ready to face Eren and Cinder again.

"Hey, good morning," Midori greeted her friends while being oblivious to Mercury's disappearance. "How'd it go out there?"

"Fine," Eren replied casually. "I think we got the majority of Grimm last night. How're things here?"

"Pretty good. Quiet, mostly. We spent the night trying to find more Titans online."

Eren stopped smiling. "What'd you find?" he asked.

"Nothing," Midori replied. "Well, nothing on my end. You can ask Nora when you go inside."

Cinder couldn't help but focus on Mercury rather than Nora. "I saw Mercury go inside," she said as she pointed to the car. "He wasn't causing you trouble, was he?"

"Trouble?" Midori asked as she turned around. When she saw that Mercury was gone, as well as his reason for leaving. "Oh, no! No trouble!" Midori looked back to Cinder. "I think he's just starting on my weapon."

"Weapon?"

"Yeah, I finally got an idea for what I should have the next time we get in a fight."

"No way, that's awesome!" Cinder moved closer to Midori. "I was wondering what you'd like! Is it a bow like mine?"

"Not exactly. Come on in, I'll show you." Midori began to walk back into the car. "You wanna see it, Eren?"

"Another time, perhaps," Eren said as he moved towards the car as well. "Right now, we gotta get going."

"You mean we have a plan?"

"Yeah. And we have to go to Mistral to put it in action."

---

The trip in the Dark Wing was long, but not dull. After everyone shared a much-appreciated breakfast, Eren decided to get behind the wheel again and explain his plan. He also learned more about driving and flying, since the Dark Wing could do both. In the meantime, Cinder joined Eren at the front while everyone did their own thing.

Surprisingly, Nora was more of the passive observer of the group. When she wasn't watching Mercury and Midori make the plans for her weapon, she was silently watching Ren and Emerald once again enjoy themselves with casual conversation.

And the more she watched, the harder it was for her to recall a time when Ren seemed to enjoy himself in her company.

"..."

These observations, however, stopped as soon as the Dark Wing parked in upper Mistral.

"Okay, I just got a text from Ymir," said Eren, who put down his Scroll. "She's willing to meet again."

"Is Raven with her?" Cinder asked.

"She didn't say. But I'm sure she's not far from Ymir." Eren turned to his left. "Emerald, I need you to come with me. You're the best hope we have to get Ymir on our side."

"Got it," Emerald said with a surprising amount of confidence. "It'll be a piece of cake."

Eren nodded and looked over to Ren and Nora. "I'll need you to come with us, just in case we need backup."

"Oh, yeah!" Nora shouted with a fist in the air.

Before Eren could say anything else, Mercury spoke up and offered his assistance. "...What about me, Eren?" he asked slowly. "I mean, I still got everything I know about the harness. Maybe I can help."

While the majority of the group was still on edge about Mercury, Eren acknowledged his willingness to help. "Merc, I need you to drive Cinder and Midori to the Mistral Council," he said. "Cinder has the address and you have to show the harness as proof of what the SDC's doing. We'll meet you there when we're done."

"Sure. You need a ride to the cafe first?"

"We're in good walking distance of it. Emerald, Ren, and Nora will keep their own distance while I talk to Ymir."

"Okay, sounds good." Mercury moved to the driver's seat of the car and opened the car door. "You better get to it, then."

Eren moved towards the door while he was followed by everyone else. "One more thing," Eren called over to Mercury. "Cinder's in charge while I'm gone. When she tells you to do something, you do it." Mercury didn't reply, but he gave Eren a thumbs up instead. With that, Eren watched as Ren, Nora, and Emerald left the car before him.

He would have gone as well, but Cinder immediately ran out ahead of him.

"Huh?" Eren asked himself. Cinder leaving was definitely not part of the plan, yet Eren didn't need to know that to see that something was wrong. "Cinder, you okay?"

"Fine, fine," Cinder quickly responded as she took deep breaths. "Just need a little air before we go."

"..."

The quick reply and the look on Cinder's face was telling Eren that something was wrong. Fortunately, he had a good idea that the cause of this distress was simply nerves. And he was confident he could help Cinder calm down.

"Hey, guys," Eren said as he looked at everyone who was outside the car. "You go on ahead, I'll catch up."

"Okay, see you in a bit!" Nora said as she led Ren and Emerald down the street.

When Cinder realized that she was alone with Eren, she gave the same excuse she did earlier. "I'm fine," she began with a forced smile. "I just needed some air, really."

"...Cinder," Eren said calmly, though with an undertone that demanded that she speak the truth.

Cinder let her smile fade as she confessed what was obvious. "Okay, okay. Maybe I'm a little nervous."

"..."

Eren patiently listened as Cinder continued explaining herself.

"I mean, I'm sure Councilwoman Redwood thinks I want to share my other ideas about the Huntsmen Academies, how much reforming they need to do if we want to accept them as a part of our society. And I know that's the best way to buy you some time while you recruit Ymir. But I didn't think I'd be speaking with the whole Council like you said. There's no way they'll hear me out!"

"Of course they will!" Eren insisted positively. "Cinder, isn't it their job to fix problems like this?"

"I mean, yeah. But I don't know anything about them or if they got something up their sleeve like Lionheart or Charles!"

"..."

Eren had to admit that the point was valid, so he decided to stay silent until a chance to calm Cinder down presented itself.

"I know we got Councilwoman Redwood on our side, but I don't think that's enough," Cinder continued. "I mean, could I have done more? Or am I doing too much? Should I just call the whole thing off?"

Eren firmly grasped Cinder's shoulders and got her attention once again. "Absolutely not," he said. "Cinder, you're not doing too much or too little; you're doing what's right. And you're doing a damn fine job of it."

"..."

Eren loosened his grip on Cinder. "You're wrong, by the way. It's not 'we' right now. 'We' didn't get Councilwoman Redwood to listen, you did. You got everyone in the police station to support us, you a chance to talk to Redwood, and now you got a chance to talk to all of them."

"..."

"I know it sucks trying to focus on Salem when there's more you want to deal with, but I haven't seen that stop any kind of resolve you have." Eren began to smile as he humbled himself before Cinder. "Do you have any idea how inspiring that is? Not just to take on the Huntsmen Academies, but to put everything you want to do on hold just to help me?"

"..."

"I got to know that, just like Ren, Nora, and everyone else did. Now it's the Council's turn to let them know who you really are. You go meet Councilwoman Redwood, you tell her and everyone else your great ideas, and however this all ends... never give up."

Once again, Eren's words had done nothing but make Cinder feel confident and self-assured. However, there was still one thing that she was feeling that wasn't going away with kind and inspiring words.

"It won't be the same as before, though," she said.

"What do you mean?" Eren asked.

"...You won't be there."

"..."

Eren recalled a conversation he had with Cinder before they left Mistrial, how she had invited him to come meet Councilwoman Redwood. He was unsure how he could be of any assistance, but he also remembered how Cinder did nothing but hold his hand as she delivered her speech at the police station.

For better or worse, Eren had become an important person in Cinder's life; far more important than he previously believed.

"I'll tell you what," Eren said as he took out his Scroll. "Lemme send you a text. If you're feeling nervous or alone in there, just read it." Eren typed something on his Scroll and put it away after he heard a familiar sound.

Cinder looked at her pocket to see that she indeed received Eren's message, but she didn't think about reading it now. It wouldn't be the same as being with Eren in the same room.

"Eren... I-"

"Eren!"

Cinder and Eren turned to see Nora waving towards him. "Ymir's at the cafe!" she said. "Come on, let's go!"

"On it!" Eren said as he followed Nora.

"Eren, wait a second!" Cinder cried as she held his arm. "Let me just-"

"It's okay, Cinder," Eren said as he broke the grasp and followed Nora. "You'll be fine, just read the text!"

"..."

Rather than giving chase, Cinder relented and made her way back to the Dark Wing. As she did, Nora led Eren down the street and towards the spot where she saw Ymir.

"Everything okay back there?" Nora asked as she remembered the look on Cinder's face.

"Yeah, it's okay," Eren replied. "Cinder was just worried about the meeting. I mean, can you blame her?"

"With the Council?" Nora let out a small chuckle. "Definitely not. But what's this about a text? What did you say?"

"Nothing really." Eren looked back to where he last saw Cinder. "Just something I should have said a while ago."

---

"Across the street. Don't be long."

"Ugh. God."

Ymir slumped at a table as she threw a piece of paper with instructions on it in the garbage. She had seen something like it before, and they had come from the same person as before: Raven Branwen.

For weeks now, ever since she was unfortunate enough to cross paths with the disgraced Huntress, Ymir had been forced to do nothing but answer to Raven's every whim. Requests had ranged from meets to settle old debts to meetings like the one she was about to have with Eren Yeager. It was truly her darkest hour.

But through it all, Ymir was able to pull through knowing that Raven was at her weakest as well. She had been scouring through the city of Mistral all in an attempt to gather everything she could to survive. And Ymir swore that she would take the chance when Raven had her guard lowered to do anything to make things like they were before. Even though she wasn't looking to sacrifice anything, Ymir was planning to take any opportunity that presented itself to her.

"There you are."

The sound of a familiar voice and a person sitting in front of her made Ymir return to reality. When she made eye contact with Eren Yeager, her worries and concerns were hidden well under her sarcastic and snarky attitude.

"Oh, it's just you again?" Ymir asked as she laid back in her chair. "What, you couldn't bring your girlfriend too?"

Eren didn't want to waste any time, but he did have a good comeback planned for this kind of attitude from Ymir. Fortunately, it was relevant to the conversation. "Better me than Raven Branwen, wouldn't you say?"

Ymir rolled her eyes at the notion. "Don't worry, she's not far behind."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that."

Ymir decided to get down to business as she moved closer to the table. "So... you found your friend?" she asked.

"We did," Eren confessed. "I'm grateful for the help, but some warning about the White Fang would've been nice."

"The who?"

"The White Fang."

"..."

Eren moved closer himself. "You know, the Faunus activists turned terrorists? The ones who attack humans who treat them like shit?"

"...Never heard of 'em. I assumed Midori was kidnapped by those people working for Salem."

"She was. But they were working with the White Fang." Eren began to realize what this meant. "Raven didn't tell you, did she?"

"Nope. She says I'm on a 'need to know' basis." Ymir furrowed her brow at the idea and looked down at her clenched fist. "I'm gonna get her someday, I swear to God."

Eren took the chance he saw very quickly. "What if I told you that 'someday' is today?" he whispered.

Ymir stopped looking at her fist and back towards Eren, who appeared to be confident about his declaration. Ymir was definitely intrigued, but she was smart enough to know that Eren wasn't helping her out of the kindness of his heart.

"I would say you're looking for something from me," she said. "Just spill it."

Eren did as he was told after he took a drink of his coffee. "Listen, I need a favor," he began. "Salem's decided to fight fire with fire, she's made her own Titans to fight ours. She's making an army out of them, and someone in Atlas is helping her. Someone you might know."

"Yeah? Who?"

"Jacques Schnee."

"..."

"..."

Ymir's silence wasn't out of the same confusion she had with the White Fang; she knew Jacques Schnee well, unfortunately. And so, she responded in the only manner she deemed fit whenever someone talked about the man who Winter was forced to call "Father" every time they met.

With sheer, unbridled laughter.

"My God, you're still as dumb as I remember!" Ymir said as she continued to laugh.

Eren was forced to hide his face when the patrons stared at Ymir laughing like a child. "Will you keep your voice down?!" he whispered. "What are you talking about?"

Ymir wiped her eyes after her entertainment had ended. "You think someone like Winter's father has the balls to pull off something like that?! Eren, I watched the man behind Winter's eyes for years. He can do a lotta things behind a desk, but not work with Grimm of all things! He's as cowardly as they come."

"Okay, okay!" Eren wiped sweat off his head as his embarrassment died down. "At the very least, we think it's someone within the Schnee Dust Company. We have proof."

"So what do you want from me?"

"We're trying to get to Atlas, to find who's helping Salem and stop them. But the only problem is that the officials of Mistral, maybe even other Kingdoms, will want to do the same if they find her Titans. We need to beat them to it."

"Wow. You just did everything except answer my question. You know that, right?"

Eren mentally sighed at Ymir's remark. "We're going to meet Mistral's ruling Council today, to try and convince them to let us investigate the Titans before anyone else does. But it would help if we had some method of persuasion on our side. Maybe, you know, an Atlesian soldier who knows their way around the SDC?"

"Okay, you're still not answering my question," Ymir growled impatiently. "Do you honestly expect me to get off my ass and help you find a soldier with ties to-?" Ymir stopped talking as soon as she remembered the situation she was in. "...Oh."

"Yeah," Eren said as he took a sip of his coffee. "So, if I were to get Raven Branwen off your back, here and now, would you be willing to have 'Winter' convince the Council to let us go to Atlas alone?"

Ymir chose to focus on the first part of what Eren said. "Here and now?" she repeated.

"That's right," Eren confirmed.

"...What's the catch?"

"No catch. Just pretend to be Winter and tell the Council to let us go."

Ymir leaned back in her chair again as she thought about the proposition. And the more she thought about it, the more pros and cons she could see.

While Ymir was willing to get as far as she could from Raven, it seemed unlikely that she could be killed easily. And if Eren's plan was to kill her, there was a chance that Ymir could get caught in the crossfire. Or worse, she could be killed herself.

But if she didn't take the deal, Ymir believed that she could be stuck in Raven's grasp forever. And if that was the case... death would be better than imprisonment.

"Well... what exactly did you have in mind?" Ymir asked.

"I have my friend Emerald with me," said Eren. "You met her before. The girl with the green hair."

"Yeah, I remember her. But if she's here, there's no way Raven doesn't know."

"I figured that. But she has a great Semblance, one that makes people see things that aren't real."

Ymir instantly realized the possibilities that Semblance could provide. "...Go on," she insisted.

"You're supposed to meet Raven after this, right?" Eren asked. Ymir simply nodded. "When you run from her, Emerald's going to use her Semblance on Raven. She can make you look like everyone else or make you look invisible. Either way, Raven won't be able to find you."

"Hmm..." Ymir took a drink of her own coffee before she spoke again. "Not bad, Yeager."

While it was funny to receive a compliment from Ymir of all people, Eren focused on her side of the deal. "Like I said, we can this here and now. But only if you agree to talk to the Council for us. You can pull that off, can't you?"

Ymir scuffed at the question. "Oh, please. I saw how professional Winter pretended to be when she was enlisted. It won't be hard to imitate something like that. And I'll do it... on one condition."

Eren's confidence began to waver. "Isn't getting rid of Raven enough for you?"

"Not really." Ymir quickly rebounded the offer when she saw the look on Eren's face. "Come on, it'll be easy. And after I talk to the Council."

"...What is it?"

"I need you to get me out of this place. Take me back to Paradis if you can, but I can't stay here anymore."

Eren had to admit that this was the last thing he was expecting to hear. "Wait a sec, you wanna leave?" he asked in disbelief. "But the last time we talked, you said you liked it here."

"I do, but so does Raven. Even if I broke away from her, I don't think she'll be leaving any time soon."

"Hmm, good point. So you just wanna leave Mistral?"

"That's right. I just need to get out of here."

"Where would you go?"

"Let's worry about that later." Ymir extended a hand towards Eren. "After we talk to the Council."

"...Done."

Eren shook Ymir's hand and stood up from the table. "So, you remember the plan?" he asked. "Give Raven the slip with Emerald's Semblance?"

"Actually..." Ymir began as she stood up and threw her cup behind her. "I think I have a better idea."

---

By the time Eren had proposed his plan to Ymir, Mercury had arrived at the office of the Mistral Council. It was an exquisite building, one made of red bricks, white marble mainly used for columns, and a bronze statue of what appeared to be an angel at the very top. While the trio of Mercury, Midori, and Cinder would have liked to explore the outside and maybe take a picture or two in front of the building, everyone knew that there were more pressing matters at hand.

For Mercury, it seemed that the hardest part of the mission had already begun. One of the secretaries at the front door was hesitant to let them in, given that Cinder's original appointment with Councilwoman Redwood wasn't for another few days. However, they continued to press the issue, emphasizing the seriousness of the appointment, along with some exaggeration of a national emergency. Finally, the secretary decided that the only way to make the young group leave was if she called the Councilwoman herself so that she could tell them to come back later.

Surprisingly, Cinder was granted entry as soon as Councilwoman Redwood heard that she was in the building. Mercury and Midori were allowed to enter as well, if only because Cinder insisted that they do so. The only catch was that they had to wait while the Councilwoman cleared a few matters of her own.

Mercury and Midori decided to spend the time waiting by going over the details of her new weapons. Mercury didn't have any blueprint paper, so he used his Scroll to keep notes instead.

"So from what I saw, you want a pair of gauntlets with blades at the wrists," he said calmly.

"Yeah, that's right," Midori said with a smile.

"We should be careful about the blades." Mercury began to type in his Scroll. "If they're too close to the skin, they could cut you pretty bad."

Midori had seen what cuts on the wrists could do to people, and she immediately felt stupid for not thinking about that. "So you don't think the blades could work?" she asked.

"Oh, they can work," Mercury assured his friend. "We just gotta be careful, that's all. Ya know, be precise in the measurements." He looked up from his Scroll. "Got anything else in mind?"

"I kinda have to protect my arms. Do you think I could get them connected to my shoulders?"

"Let's go up to the elbows instead. I don't think you need that much protection." Mercury typed on his Scroll.

"Okay. So, do you think I need a button or something to arm them? Like how Ren and Nora have buttons on their weapons"

"Maybe. But you know... maybe a flick of the wrist would be easier. My boots fire when I move my feet a certain way." Mercury typed into his Scroll again. "Got any other ideas?"

"Just the name." Midori cleared her throat before she spoke. "Scalpel."

Mercury looked back towards Midori as he thought of the name. "Hmm..." he hummed. "Not bad. You get that from Nora?"

"No, just something on my own." Midori smiled as she gained Mercury's approval. "Why do you ask?"

"Nora's got a knack for naming things. She actually named her weapon. And my Titan."

"Wait a second, you name your Titans?" Midori began to laugh. "What, is your Titan named 'Fred' or something?"

Mercury couldn't help but laugh as well. "No, no, not like that! We name them based on what they can do. I got speed, so I'm the Flashstep Titan. Nora's got control of lightning, so she's the Electro Titan. Get it?"

"Oh, okay!" Midori suddenly stopped wondering about Titans and focused back on her weapon. "So, do you think you have everything you need from me?"

"Just about." Mercury looked back at his Scroll. "You know, maybe we can find a way to use Dust with these things." He then looked back up. "If I were to-Oh, for fuck's sake! Will you cut that out?!"

Midori jumped back when she heard Mercury yell and felt somewhat insulted, given that she had no idea what he was talking about. But when she saw that he was looking at Cinder, who was in the middle of pacing the hallway, things started to make sense.

Cinder stopped walking and turned to an irate Mercury. But rather than apologize, she offered some anger of her own. "Excuse me?" she asked in disbelief.

"You've been pacing around ever since we got here!" Mercury said as he stood up. "I can't hear myself think with your big feet crashing from one end of the hall to the next!"

"How'd you like to see these 'big feet' kick your smart-ass?"

"I'd like to see you try."

Cinder immediately clenched her fists and prepared to attack Mercury. "Done," she said without hesitation.

Before either of them did anything, Midori rushed in between Mercury and Cinder to push them away from each other. "Stop it!" she said courageously. "Don't you remember where we are?! Stop acting like children!"

"..."

Both Cinder and Mercury were surprised to see and hear something come from Midori of all people, but they were too stunned to do anything else but listen.

"So what if Cinder's pacing around?" Midori asked Mercury. "She's not bothering anyone else! What would you do if you were gonna meet the Council of all people? Or someone else you thought was important?"

"..."

Mercury began to realize that he may have overreacted. And when Midori saw him realize this, she turned to Cinder next. "And you!" she began. "Mercury wasn't hurting me or anyone else! So you can't just attack him whenever you want, and not here of all places! What would the Council think if they saw you like this?"

"..."

Cinder realized her mistake just as quickly as Mercury did. Midori's words and Eren's words from the forest played in her head as she saw what she was doing.

And how it repulsed her.

"I... I'm sorry," Cinder sincerely apologized, but not to Midori.

"...Forget it," Mercury said as he moved back to where he was sitting. Cinder, on the other hand, leaned against a wall and did nothing but tap her fingers against said wall.

Midori knew she had to knock some sense into her friends, but she remembered how nervous Cinder was about going into a meeting alone. And so, after seeing that Mercury appeared to be content where he was, she decided to check in with Cinder.

"Rough time, huh?" Midori began as she joined Cinder against the wall.

Cinder sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "You don't know what rough is, Midori," she dishearteningly replied.

"Not with this, I don't."

"..."

Midori easily saw that Cinder needed help now. "There's no need to be nervous, Cinder," she said in an attempt to boost her confidence. "I mean, I know I wasn't at your first speech, but I heard a lot of good things about it. And even more good things you brought up."

"I know," Cinder confirmed. "But still, I can't believe I'm doing it again. And to the Council, no less."

"Well, look on the bright side; you won't have as many people to talk to as you did before."

Cinder let a small laugh escape her throat. "Yeah, I guess so." But as soon as the laugh faded away, Cinder frowned and looked at the ground. "Still... I wish Eren was here."

"..."

Midori was also well aware of how much time Cinder and Eren had spent together, before and after she left Kuroyuri. Having him here would indeed be a bonus for Cinder, but Midori was sure she could handle herself alone.

And apparently, so did Eren.

"Did what he say help?" Midori asked.

Cinder looked up from the ground. "What do you mean?" she asked in return.

"You two were talking before we came here, right? Did he say anything that would help you?"

Cinder instantly remembered the conversation. "He did. It was more or less the same thing you said."

"..."

"Oh, wait a minute." Cinder reached into her pocket and took out her Scroll. "Eren sent me a text before he left. He said it would help."

Midori smiled at the notion. "Aw, that's sweet. What's it say?"

"I didn't read it yet. He said I should read it if I felt scared or alone."

"How do you feel right now?"

Cinder slowly looked down at the ground as she examined her feelings. "Scared... alone," she answered.

"Give it a read," Midori said. "I'll give you some space." She then began to walk away.

"Hey, Midori?"

The young girl turned around at the sound of her name to see Cinder giving a soft smile. "Thanks," she said. "For helping me get my head on straight earlier."

Midori smiled back. "Don't mention it," she said.

"I'm serious. You know..." Cinder laughed again. "You're a little scary when you're mad."

Midori gasped when she remembered how she came across to Cinder and Mercury. "Oh, no! I'm sorry!"

"And the feeling's gone."

---

A pair of dark red eyes were currently watching a pair of people with great interest. For just across the street, the owner of the eyes knew that nothing mattered more than to know what news a young man had just given an older woman.

Raven Branwen had been watching Ymir ever since she entered a small cafe across the street. She had done this once before, when she had heard that an acquaintance of Ymir's, Eren Yeager, was searching for one of his friends. Strangely, it was Raven herself who decided to find this friend, when she was certain that Salem was involved with her kidnapping. And once she found her by searching for Tyrian Callows' partner, Raven allowed Ymir to inform Eren.

Of course, Raven wasn't helping Eren out of the goodness in her heart. She still held the young man a grudge for the destruction of the Branwen Tribe, the very reason she was scrounging through Mistral like a common rat. But on the other hand, she had seen first hand what powers his... abilities granted him.

And how he was planning to use them to stop Salem.

Oddly enough, this was the only interest she had that was aligned with Eren's others interests. She could simply sit and watch Eren and Salem fight each other and act accordingly when the winner presented themselves.

Today, Raven was ready to see if this contest would be held sooner or later. It was the very reason she had sent Ymir to speak with Eren; to see if he was going after Salem once again.

And if he was going to be taking the friends who Raven could also see across the street.

"They really think I don't see them," Raven thought to herself as she watched two girls and a boy doing their best to act casual. "Idiots."

Raven stopped watching Eren's friends when she saw Ymir finally leave the cafe. As she made her way across the street, Eren took his leave as well. But not before he took a lingering glance at the direction she was walking in.

"Strange," Raven thought as she watched Eren leave. "He didn't seem to care where she went last time." Raven put this thought aside when she saw Ymir begin to cross the street.

And then she saw Ymir run back towards the cafe.

"What the-?!" Raven sprung out of her seat as she watched Ymir run. "Where does she think she's going?!"

"Good riddance, you rotten bitch!" Ymir called back as she continued to run.

Raven, while surprised at Ymir's boldness, remained calm and collected as she recalled a time when they first met. Ymir tried to run away that day, but Raven caught her with ease. And now, Raven was confident that today would not be different.

To prove this, Raven ran across the street with ease. She jumped over people and vehicles alike while ignoring more insults and landed on the other side in three seconds flat.

Even though Ymir had a good head start, Raven continued to run after her at an alarming speed. Despite her unfavorable qualities that made people fear her, Raven was a warrior who rarely gave up; especially when there was something or someone too valuable at play.

Ymir suddenly went down an alley, one that Raven quickly followed. The alley was somewhat deep, but Raven was certain that it would lead to a dead end. She was right, and she met Ymir at a brick wall. However, she was sitting down with a blanket wrapped around her instead of trying to climb the wall.

Ymir looked up at Raven and held up her right hand. "Spare any Lien?" she asked.

Raven looked down at Ymir with a face that was the literal definition of "unamused." It seemed she knew she was caught and was trying to disguise herself as a homeless person. But the fact that she ran down this alley and refused to hide her face made the attempt pitiful.

Raven easily decided that making Ymir pay for her betrayal would change how amused she would be.

"Get up," Raven said as she grabbed Ymir by the shirt. "I'll give you something you need, alright."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Ymir yelled as she was being dragged along. "The hell do you think you're doing, ya crazy bitch?! Lemme go!"

"Quit whining. It's your fault you ran from me."

"Say what?! I ain't ever seen you before in my life!"

Raven was losing her patience by the second and decided that she needed to know what Eren told Ymir right her and right now. And so, she threw the person she was dragging against the wall and prepared for what she hoped to be a short interrogation.

But she didn't ask a single question when she realized something was wrong.

Up against the wall wasn't the person she was dragging. It wasn't a woman with average clothes and messy brown hair. The person Raven had just thrown on the wall was a man. And judging by the condition of his clothes and the dirt on his face, the man appeared to homeless. This wasn't Ymir; it was a random nobody.

"You deaf, lady?" the man asked, confirming that this wasn't Ymir. "Let go of me, dammit!"

"What-?" Raven whispered before her surprise disappeared. When it did, she pushed the man against the wall harder and begun her interrogation. "Where's Ymir?!"

"Who?!"

Raven was about to ask again, but then she saw something out of the corner of her eye. When she looked to her right, she saw Ymir running once again, but out of the alley. Rather than question how Ymir managed to slip past her, Raven let go of the homeless man and ran out of the alley. She looked back and forth down the sidewalk and found Ymir running at a slower pace.

And Raven wasted no time in chasing her down and tackling her to the ground.

"Hey!" Ymir yelled as she fell to the sidewalk. She couldn't turn her head, but she knew that someone was forcing her to the ground. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"What I warned you if you decided to run!" Raven yelled as she ignored the multiple eyes staring at her. She then began to push Ymir so she could see her face. "How did you do that in the-?"

Raven stopped talking when she was met with the face of another stranger instead of Ymir. The woman was indeed a brunette, but she had long hair tied in a ponytail. And based on her clothes, she appeared to be a simple jogger.

"Get off her, lady!" a bystander ordered as he grabbed Raven off the ground. When she was off the ground, Raven watched as two more bystanders helped the woman off the ground. "Ma'am, are you alright?"

"I... I think so," the jogger said as she rubbed her forehead.

The bystander who was holding Raven suddenly let go of one of her arms so he could talk to her. "Lady, what the hell's the matter with-?!"

*BAM*

Raven sent her free fist into the man's face, knocking him unconscious in an instant. The group of bystanders were too surprised to stop her from escaping while looking for Ymir again.

But rather than see the woman she was looking for, Raven saw a group of people whose faces did not match Ymir's. Fortunately, this gave her time to think about how she had made the same mistake twice. It seemed unlikely that she was letting her emotions get the better of her, since she was calm and collected when she saw "Ymir" in the alleyway.

A more likely conclusion seemed to be... that someone was playing games with her.

---

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Look at her face!"

"Oh, she is so screwed now!"

"See?! I told you this was better!"

Ymir and Eren were currently watching Raven make a fool of herself as she grabbed random people on the street and let them go just as quickly. They were enjoying themselves and thinking how clever this plan really was.

And it was all thanks to Emerald.

Before he left the cafe, Eren texted Emerald that they would be doing something different, something that Ymir thought of herself. Rather than giving Raven the slip once, Ymir suggested that Emerald use her Semblance to make the citizens of Mistral appear as Ymir to Raven. And when Raven grabbed who she believed was Ymir, Emerald would stop using her Semblance and show Raven that she was talking to a stranger.

While Ymir knew this would be the perfect revenge on her captor, there was a hint of logic to her plan. A simple disappearance would be effective, but it would make Raven more determined to search the city for Ymir. However, if she was tricked to believe that Ymir was everywhere she looked, it may wash away her resolve to continue searching and distrust her senses.

Rather than staying on the streets, Ymir was on a rooftop with Eren and his other friends. Nora and Emerald were also enjoying the sight of Raven making one mistake after another, but Ren was the first to suggest they put a stop to it.

"Guys, we should wrap this up," he said calmly. "Cinder's probably waiting for us with the Council."

"Oh, yeah," Eren remembered as he moved away from the edge of the roof. "Emerald, do the big one you were talking about."

"No, wait!" Ymir said before Emerald complied. "We can't do that one yet. Not until Raven uses her Semblance."

Eren walked closer to Ymir. "About that..."

Ymir moved away from the edge with a puzzled look on her face. "What?"

"You said her Semblance was making portals when she... connects with people." Eren looked around to see that everyone seemed to recall Ymir explaining Raven's Semblance to them. "Is that right?"

"Yeah, that's it," Ymir confirmed. "She used it the first time I tried to run." Despite her confirmation, Ymir was still confused as to what Eren didn't understand. "Why do you ask?"

Ren joined Eren as he answered the question. "We have reason to believe that her Semblance is something... else," he explained.

Ymir started to grow impatient with the two boys. "So you're calling me a liar?"

Ren immediately raised his hands in defense. "No, of course not. When we met Raven, she used some kind... power to fight us." He then began to move his hands as he recounted the experience. "It was like she was using nature itself to defend her camp. We never saw her use a portal."

Ymir listened carefully to the explanation, but stubbornly stood her ground. "I never saw anything like that. One minute I was running for my life, the next I saw this-"

*WHOOSH*

An unfamiliar sound reached everyone's ears. When they all looked towards the rest of the rooftop, they saw a swirling red oval about ten feet away from them. While Eren was taken aback by the miracle, Ymir recognized it in an instant.

"That's it!" she yelled as she pointed. "That's the portal!"

Ren quickly turned back to Emerald, who was also looking at the portal. "Emerald, hide us!" he ordered.

Nobody could see it, but Emerald concentrated on a mind that she could sense coming through the portal. And when she saw Raven Branwen come out the other side, Emerald put a finger to her mouth to make sure nobody made a sound.

Because while everyone could see themselves and each other, Raven saw nothing but an empty rooftop in front of her.

"Nothing?!" Raven believed in anger. She was sure that her portal had led her to the right place, since it never failed her before. But when she saw nothing in front of her, Raven rushed to each edge and looked down at the people down below. She couldn't see Ymir, so she tried to use her Semblance again.

But when she saw herself return to the same roof, Raven stopped and thought of an explanation.

"She's invisible," she believed. "She must have unlocked her Semblance. But how did she make those people-?" Raven decided to solve one mystery before she did anything else.

"Ymir!" Raven called on the empty rooftop. "I know you're here!"

"..."

Invisibly, Eren and everyone else looked at each other. They silently asked themselves and each other what they were going to do, since they hoped that Raven would leave if she realized she was in the wrong place. But Emerald kept her finger on her mouth to keep everyone quiet.

"My portals never lie, Ymir," Raven continued. "I know you're here with me."

"..."

"So, you unlocked your Semblance without me realizing it. Impressive, how you hid it from me. But invisibility? You never struck me as someone who hid from a fight."

"..."

"Or is it something else? Maybe you're not using your Semblance to make yourself invisible. But maybe... you're using it to affect my senses?"

"..."

"That's why I saw those people wearing your face."

"..."

Emerald began to sweat when she realized her Semblance had been discovered. Raven was wrong about it belonging to Ymir, but right about everything else.

But Raven wasn't finished here.

"Although..." she continued. "I think I recall one of Eren's allies saying they could use their Semblance to fool Lionheart." Raven had been spying on Eren for a while before she met Ymir, she had been practically doing it from right under his nose. It was how she was able to deduce that this was Emerald's Semblance, not Ymir's.

Now Emerald was growing even more nervous.

"So, Eren went out of his way to help you," Raven said. "Interesting. Perhaps he... needs you for something?"

"..."

Raven looked over the edge one more time, but she didn't see random people this time. Instead, she saw that every person on the street looked like Ymir, face and all. This was originally meant to be Emerald's last illusion, to make Raven believe that she was going crazy. But now that wasn't helping.

"You're too late, whoever you are," Raven said as she looked away from the edge. "I'm not going to run down there after Ymir."

"..."

"But I will tell you what I'll do now." Raven began to walk around the roof. "I'll leave you alone. You'll never see me again." Raven immediately lifted one finger. "If... you tell me what Eren told you about her."

"..."

Everyone began to look around at each other before all eyes landed on Ymir. They all knew that taking this deal would expose their cover. They would lose their chance to go to Atlas.

Or worse... Raven would take her revenge for losing her camp and tribe here and now.

"Or perhaps... Eren," Raven confidently assumed while looking in one direction. "You can tell me yourself." She then reached for the sword resting on her side. "Before I hurt you or someone else."

This time, everyone looked at Eren. Now they all knew they were in trouble. If they stayed on the roof, they would be in danger. And if they left, Raven could hear and follow them across Mistral.

But Eren thought of a plan, and he thought of it fast.

"Very well," Raven said as she pulled out an incredibly long sword, one that was as red as blood. "You had your chance." She then raised the sword over her head and prepared to swing it.

"Here's your chance!"

Raven stopped her sword when she heard another voice. She turned around fast and saw Eren Yeager himself, unarmed and extremely close to one of the roof's sides.

And then she saw him fall backwards towards the ground.

"No!" Raven yelled as she rushed forward in an attempt to stop his fall. While she still harbored a grudge against him for killing her tribe, the power and information he had was too great to simply let go.

But it seemed that Eren realized this as well. Given the fact that he had caught himself on a fire escape on the side of the building.

*BAM*

Invisibly, Raven was hit on the back of her head by a very heavy object. She was unprepared and powerless to stop it, and it caused her to fall down just like Eren did. But instead of grabbing the fire escape, Raven's body hit the metal and plummeted downwards into a dumpster full of garbage in the alley.

*CRASH*

"...Phew," Eren sighed in relief as he realized that Raven wasn't going to be getting up any time soon. So he simply looked to his left and smiled. "Good hit, Nora."

Without an active mind to manipulate, Emerald finally stopped using her Semblance and lifted the invisibility she cast on everyone. When she did, Nora was revealed to be holding Magnhild in its hammer form. She was currently looking down and offering Eren a hand. He took it and felt Nora pull him back on the roof.

"Did I get her?" Nora asked as she looked into the alley.

"Looks like it," Eren said as everyone gathered around him. "She fell in a dumpster down there."

"The perfect spot for her," Emerald said as she finally began to relax.

"That was some quick thinking, Eren," Ren complimented his friend. "I think you just saved our lives."

"Don't thank me," Eren said as he looked at Nora. "Magnhild definitely did a number on her."

"Yeah..." Nora said without her usual enthusiasm. Instead, she found herself unable to turn away from the alley. "Um... Is she... dead?"

Everyone looked down to where Raven fell. Before anyone could offer their perspective, Ymir broke the silence as she moved to the fire escape. "I'd rather not stay and find out," she said. "Come on, we got a Council to talk to."

"She's right," Eren said as he followed Ymir's lead. "We gotta go."

Emerald followed Eren downwards, and then she was followed by Ren. But before he moved down the next level, Ren noticed that Nora was remaining as still as a statue.

"Nora!" Ren called to get her attention. "Come on, we have to leave."

"..."

"Nora?" Ren reached out and shook her arm. "Hey, Nora!"

The red-haired girl seemed to break out of her trance when she felt Ren shaking her arm. "Oh, sorry!" she said as she began to join her friend.

"...Wait a minute," Ren requested as he looked down the alley before he turned back to Nora. "Nora... are you okay?"

"..."

Ren quickly realized that Nora was shaken by the events. The same thing happened when she first used her Titan, when she killed a large number of Raven's fellow bandits. While he wasn't sure if Raven survived or not, he knew that Nora didn't like to be considered a murderer.

Fortunately, just like last time, Ren was willingly to help Nora see the light.

"Nora, listen to me," Ren softly requested. Nora gave him her undivided attention, which allowed him to continue. "Raven was going to kill us. She was a threat to us and everyone else she robbed outside the city." He then moved to grasp her hand. "You did nothing wrong. You know you just saved all our lives, right?"

"..."

When the reality of Raven's dangerous nature and the safety of her friends became clear, Nora began to feel better. And the grateful smile Ren was giving her showed that his words were sincere. She decided to return it with a smile of her own and movement down the fire escape.

"Yeah," she finally replied. "Yeah, I know." Despite the fact that she was with Ren, she refused to let go of his hand. "Thanks, Ren."

Ren continued to smile as he led Nora to the steps. "You're welcome. But we'd better get going."

"Right behind you!"

---

"You knocked Raven off a building?! Holy crap, that's awesome! Can't believe I missed it!"

"It wasn't much to see. Trust me."

"Man, I could've gotten a good pic of it! So, did you guys tie her up or something? Check her pulse to see if she was dead?"

"We didn't have the time. But Eren made a couple of Grimm to watch her in case she isn't dead."

"That mean you're gonna be here soon?"

"We should be. We got a cab, but it looks like there's a buildup of other cars and people. It might be a little while, maybe ten minutes?"

"Got it. I'll let Cinder know."

*BEEP*

Mercury ended a call he received from Nora so he could share the news with Cinder. They were still in the office of the Mistral Council, and Cinder was still resting against a wall. She seemed to be looking at her Scroll, but she wasn't swiping or typing on the screen.

"Hey, Cinder," Mercury said as he began to walk over. "Nora told me they got Ymir on board, they'll be here soon."

"..."

"Cinder?" Mercury tapped Cinder on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Huh?" Cinder asked as if she got out of a trance. "Did you say something?"

"Just that Ymir will be here soon. Say about... ten minutes."

"Oh... good." Cinder looked back to her Scroll. "Thanks."

Mercury also looked at Cinder's Scroll. "Hey... you good?"

"Fine."

"...Your Scroll's off."

Cinder looked back to Mercury. "I'm fine, really."

Despite the fact that Cinder didn't look and sound fine at all, Mercury decided to take his leave. After all, he was still unsure about being in Cinder's company. "Okay," he said casually. "I can wait out front for them if you want. I might need some help to bring in the harness."

"Oh, sure," Cinder agreed. "I might actually have to show them that thing outside, anyways. That secretary might think it's a weapon or something if you try to bring it in."

"Good point. I'll be outside if you need me."

"See you soon."

After Cinder watched Mercury take his leave, she looked back to the empty screen of her Scroll. She didn't care how she came across to other people by doing this, since she had a reason for doing so.

Ever since she remembered the text Eren sent to help ease her mind, Cinder became conflicted about reading it. Not because she didn't appreciate the kind gesture, but because she was having mixed feelings about finding out what Eren had said.

It was true that she was nervous about meeting at least one of the Council members, and the key to calming herself seemed to lie in Eren's message. On one hand, it could be a short and corny message that simply said that Eren believed in her. It could be exactly what Midori said to help. On the other hand, the message wasn't the same as having Eren with her right now.

Reading the message may not have any meaning.

Suddenly, Cinder began to feel disappointed in herself. If Eren was really here, he would have no hesitation about walking inside with the Council and laying down the law with them. He would have the courage and motivation necessary to create change within the government, yet he still believed in Cinder.

Standing here while overthinking a simple text wasn't something Eren would do.

"No, he wouldn't," Cinder realized. "I'm just gonna read it. There's no way it won't be-"

"Ms. Fritz!"

The sound of her name caught the young girl's attention and caused her to turn and see an older woman walking towards her. She had red chestnut hair, soft blue eyes along with a few freckles on her face, and a wide smile. She was wearing casual business attire, mainly a black suit with a black skirt and white undershirt. One could mistake her for a secretary or lawyer, but Cinder knew exactly who the woman was.

"Councilwoman Redwood!" Cinder addressed the woman after she stopped leaning on the wall. After she eagerly shook the woman's hand, Cinder spoke again. "I'm sorry I came here early, I-"

"Not at all!" the woman kindly responded. "I'm actually glad you're here. I was planning on asking you to move our initial meeting to be sooner rather than later."

"You were?" Cinder suddenly didn't feel worried about the untimely manner of her arrival, but she was curious about the reason for the Councilwoman's decision. "Is something wrong?"

"Not entirely. Let me show you." Lila Redwood began to lead Cinder down the hall.

"Oh, I actually brought some others with me." Cinder pointed towards Midori. "Could we-?"

"I'd like to speak to you first. I'm afraid I have a tight schedule today."

Cinder silently understood and followed Councilwoman Redwood into an empty meeting room, but not before she waved to Midori. Once the two women found themselves around a circular table, Councilwoman Redwood closed the door and moved to a file cabinet.

"Have a seat," she requested as she opened a metal drawer.

"Thank you," Cinder said as she found an empty seat. "Um, once again, I'd like to apologize for being here on short notice. I would have waited for our appointment, if this wasn't of upmost-"

"Never mind that," the Councilwoman said as she moved to the table with a handful of folders. "I think you may be the only one who can help me today."

*THUD*

Redwood dropped the folders onto the desk and moved them closer to Cinder. "Specifically, with all of these."

Cinder leaned off her chair as she examined the closed folder on the top. "Wh-What's this?" she asked as she took the folder.

"These are reports," Lila explained. "Reports filed from dozens of people all across the Kingdom, inside and outside of the capital."

"Reports? Of what?"

"Negligence, abuse, and accusations of poor conduct of the Kingdom's Huntsmen and Huntresses."

Cinder was about to open the folder, but stopped in her tracks when she heard its contents. "Wait, what?" She then stood up and looked at the considerable pile of reports. "All of them?"

"All of them. The rest of the Council believed you were an isolated incident the night you gave your speech." Cinder opened the folder to examine its contents. "But the next morning, reports and accusations were made that shared similarities to what you brought to the police. It seems you've been an inspiration for these people, Ms. Fritz."

Cinder looked up at the Councilwoman when she heard the last part of what she said. "I... I had no idea," she said with a small smile. That smile disappeared when she looked back to the rest of the folders. "How did you get these? The reports all came to you?"

"The calls and letters were sent to Haven Academy," Councilwoman Redwood explained. "The staff said they had their hands full with finding a new Headmaster after Lionheart's arrest, so they transferred the reports over to me."

"Just you? Not the rest of the Council?"

"I'm the only one who can take care of it at the time."

"What?" Cinder looked around the rest of the room. "Aren't the other members coming?"

"No, of course not. They can't-" Lila stopped speaking when she saw the look on Cinder's face. "Wait a minute. Ms. Fritz, you... don't know?"

Cinder instinctively put down her folder. "Know... what?" she asked.

Councilwoman Redwood took a seat of her own as she explained the situation. "The Council is actually under investigation at the moment," she began. "I believe you're familiar with the officer leading the investigation. Detective Montoya."

Cinder's surprise returned tenfold when she heard this. "Investigation? Of what?"

"Anything and everything now." Councilwoman Redwood straightened her shirt as she continued to talk. "You see, Leonardo was a member of the Mistral Council as well. He actually used to sit over there when we had meetings like this."

Cinder turned to the spot that the Councilwoman was pointing to. "Yes, I know," she said. "But what's that got to do with the Council?"

"After Charles was arrested, some red flags were raised. But after Lionheart... both the police and a vast majority of citizens started to ask questions about us. Some of them were even protesting for two of us to resign." With each word she spoke, Councilwoman Redwood saw that she was making sense to Cinder. "We had no choice but to allow the investigation to commence and cooperate with the police."

Despite the sense this investigation made, there was still one thing Cinder couldn't understand. "Oh... I see," she began. "But why are you here? Are the police not looking into you?"

"Actually, they already did. I was the first to be investigated, and they allowed me to return to my duties."

"Oh, that's good." Cinder then had a bad thought. "But you must be stressed; handling the responsibilities of the Council on your own?"

"Somewhat, but not entirely. I've had to hold off further duties that require a full vote. The powers of Prime Minister are limited, of course."

"Prime what?"

"Prime Minister. In times of an emergency or unprecedented events, the Council chooses to appoint one member to have powers that are not normally bestowed on one person. As of right now, the Prime Minister has powers over multiple departments in the government. In a sense, I'm the final voice in disagreements and I supervise everything."

Cinder was starting to understand. "So, it's like the powers of a Queen," she said. "Before the Great War."

"Again, not entirely," Councilwoman Redwood said. "The Kings and Queens had absolute power over the entire Kingdoms. The Prime Minister may be the head of the government, but their power is in accordance with the constitution that was created after the war. Besides, my power is only temporary. And I received it after I was cleared from investigation."

Cinder began to understand how hard the investigation must have been for Councilwoman Redwood. "I'm sorry you had to go through that," she said. "It must have been hard to go along with it."

"Hard? Yes. But necessary? Also yes." Lila looked towards the door. "I'm not supposed to say this but..." She began to whisper. "One of the members was involved in bribery."

"They were?"

The Councilwoman nodded. "And we never would have found out if the investigation didn't happen. But enough of that." She then tapped the folders. "Have a look. Tell me what you think of these reports."

Cinder complied willingly and opened the folder in her hands. And one look was enough for her to see that something wasn't right.

"Why is it written on notebook paper?" Cinder asked as she took out a piece of paper that had all the details one citizen reported. And as she said, it was piece of notebook paper.

"That was all the staff used," Councilwoman Redwood replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Sorry, I was just expecting something a little more... official."

"So was I." The Councilwoman smiled at Cinder. "I can see we're already thinking alike."

Cinder smiled back when she realized that she impressed the Councilwoman of all people. And since it was just the two of them, the pressure she was feeling prior to the meeting began to disappear. So, even though that the document and notes were far from official, Cinder looked over every detail of the report with care.

"So, what do you think?" Councilwoman Redwood asked as Cinder put down the folder. "Is this something you'd expect to see outside the capital?"

"Absolutely," Cinder replied honestly. "Huntsmen visiting on occasion instead of a schedule was something Kuroyuri had to endure. And the fee they charged for killing a herd of Grimm is out of this world." Cinder looked at the Councilwoman. "What do you think?"

"Well, I do agree that occasional visits are unacceptable. But it says that the herd was killed completely. The fee could be argued as reasonable considering the size of the herd."

"Perhaps." Cinder looked at the file again. "But I don't see how many Grimm were killed. I mean, is there an expected number of how many Grimm make a herd? There's no number in this report."

"Hmm..."

The Councilwoman looked at the piece of paper and indeed saw that there was no number of Grimm reported killed in this matter. It could have been small enough to handle or large enough for a whole team. But there was no sign of confirmation.

"Then it seems this will be the first report to have a proper investigation," the Councilwoman said as she picked up another file. "Now this is one I was skeptical about. Something about-"

"Wait a minute," Cinder requested as she looked at the previous file. "Shouldn't we look into this more? Maybe tell the staff at Haven that something's wrong? I mean, we already know that complaints aren't handled properly."

"All in due time, Ms. Fritz. But first, we need to see if these reports are valid or not."

"...Valid?"

"Yes, valid." Councilwoman Redwood sat down. "Ms. Fritz, I was deeply impressed with the ideas you shared with me earlier this week. But you also possess the experience of poor Huntsmen work, something that can distinguish truth from fantasy."

"I... don't understand."

Councilwoman Redwood took one of the files from the stack. "As I was saying, this is one I'm more skeptical of. From my point of view, it sounds like someone is trying to seek some kind of settlement rather than address the problems of our Kingdom. For personal gain, to be exact."

"..."

"See, if we were to accept all of these cases, the whole thing could spiral out of control. It would be a witch hunt amongst the Huntsmen. And if that were to happen, we would have no protection amongst the Grimm." The Councilwoman tapped on the stack again. "This was brought up before the Council went under investigation, and I agreed. We need to separate truth from fantasy."

"...That's why you wanted to see me," Cinder realized. "But... I thought you believed in what I said."

"I do," Lila restated. "But before we even consider about doing anything, we need to see what problems actually exist. You understand, don't you?"

Cinder took a moment to process what was happening before she answered again.

"I-"

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

Both women turned towards the door. "Come in," the Councilwoman invited. The door opened to reveal the same secretary that greeted Cinder at the front hall.

"Pardon the interruption, ma'am," the secretary said politely. "But I have an ambassador from Vale on hold. He says it's urgent that he speaks with you."

"I see." Councilwoman Redwood stood up from the table and looked back to Cinder. "If you'll excuse me, Ms. Fritz. Duty calls, as they say." She then moved to the door. "But don't wait for me. Look through as many folders as you'd like. I'll be back soon."

"..."

As soon as the door closed, Cinder buried her face in her hands. As her dreams and aspirations began to vanish without the trace, Cinder started to cry. All this time, after being called an inspiration and a creator of great ideas, the young girl had been greeted with a wake-up call to reality.

The Huntsmen Academies wouldn't change, not any time soon. And Huntsmen would continue to get away with treating people like a waste of time. All that anyone cared about was who was telling the truth and who was lying. Cinder would believe this to be a credible question, if it wasn't at the cost of her dream for a better tomorrow.

Cinder had just been placed in a political game, and she lost before she even started playing.

"Oh, Gods," Cinder thought as she continued to cry. "Gods, I am such an idiot! I'm not gonna make change! I'm not gonna be like the Council! I'm just..." Cinder lifted her head and dried some of her tears. "I'm just the second class citizen."

"..."

While Cinder may have believed that this was true, she knew that one thing was also true: she was all alone in this. No friends, no family, nobody to tell her otherwise or make her feel better.

"Eren... Eren, I really wish you were here."

"..."

In what could be described as a miracle, Cinder stopped crying. Once again, she remembered that Eren had left her something that he believed would help her. It wasn't much, but Cinder realized that now was as good a time as any to see what it exactly was.

So without hesitation, Cinder reached into her pocket and took out her Scroll. And after taking a deep breath, she opened her messages to see what Eren had sent her.

"Hey, Cinder. I know you wanted me to meet the Council with you, and I think I know how that would've went. With me being me, I'd keep moving forward with whatever idea they have with the Huntsmen, as long as places like Kuroyuri get better. If not, I'd probably fight hard enough until they change their minds or I leave an impression.

That's why I'm happy you're in there. You and I are the same, after all. So I know you'll do what I'd do in there. Especially not give up, no matter what they throw at you. You're Cinder Fritz, after all.

Good luck."

"..."

Cinder read the text one more time before she turned off her Scroll. When she did, she became impressed and amazed by two things.

The first was how fast of a typer Eren was. He never had Scrolls back on Paradis after all.

And the second was how much Eren's words had touched her.

Cinder remembered the day she first told Eren how much she believed they were the same. While she seemed to have forgotten it recently, the text Eren generously sent only helped reinforce the idea Cinder had. They were both seeking freedom, they were willing to do whatever needed to be done to achieve it for themselves and others, and they would do it together.

But somehow, Cinder had forgotten the qualities that made her love having Eren in her life. His unfathomable strength, his undying willpower, and the amount of faith and love he had in his heart, despite it being hard to discover at first.

And if Eren had all of this, then so did Cinder. So with a single wipe of her eyes, Cinder decided to show that she was indeed the same as the boy... as the man of her dreams.

So after she searched the office for a pen or pencil, Cinder sat back down and examined the first file once again. But rather than just read it, Cinder moved to an empty spot on the paper and began to write. When she was done, she moved to the next file and read it over. Again, she wrote in an empty spot on the paper.

She then repeated the activity on the next file on the table.

And the next file.

And the next file.

And the next file.

And the next file.

And the next file.

And the next file.

*CLICK*

Cinder eventually heard the door open behind her, but she refused to look up until she was done with the current file she was looking at.

"Sorry about that," said Councilwoman Redwood. "And I'm sorry to say that we-"

*PLOP*

The temporary Prime Minister stopped talking when she saw the new stack of folders that Cinder had made. The size of it was considerable, and somewhat impressive. More specifically, Councilwoman Redwood was impressed that Cinder was willing to see this objective through.

But she was also confused as to why Cinder was holding a black pen and writing in the folder.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Councilwoman Redwood asked as she watched Cinder write.

"You were right," Cinder replied without answering the question. "That file you had was a little suspicious." She then tapped the new stack of folders she made. "It's somewhere in here, with a few notes."

"Notes?" Councilwoman Redwood took the first file on the stack and opened it. Along with the report, which was written in blue pen, there was a new set of writing in black. The writing was detailing what Cinder deemed to be "necessary actions" to investigate and prevent the nature of the report from happening again.

Along with the notes, which appeared to be unbiased and logical at a first glance, Councilwoman Redwood saw that Cinder had written down her phone number with three underlines. It seemed that Cinder wanted to be kept in the loop.

"Well... she's certainly resilient," Councilwoman Redwood thought to herself as she looked back to Cinder. "Some of these sound like the ideas she shared on our first call. But the rest..." She then looked down the rest of the list. "Hmm... maybe these could help."

*PLOP*

When the Councilwoman saw that Cinder had finished another file, she decided to finally speak again. "Um, Ms. Fritz," she began. "I believe I said you could look over the files, not write in them."

"I'm aware," Cinder calmly replied. "But I don't like to leave a job half-finished. I was raised to see my work through and through."

The Councilwoman looked at the files again. "I wasn't going to leave these files when we finished talking. Is that what you're assuming?"

"Of course not. I believed I could do more than determine the validity of them. And I wouldn't have written down what I did if I didn't believe it would help."

"Well, I..." The Councilwoman tried to look at the file and see if there was something in there to restore order to the situation. "These ideas, I understand. But your phone number? I'm sorry, but I don't feel comfortable involving citizens in the Council's work."

"Fair enough," Cinder replied. "But I didn't write down all of my ideas in each folder. Some of them aren't very drastic either. They might even save the Academies some Lien."

"..."

Councilwoman Redwood looked at the file again, and noticed that the lines of ideas weren't very long. Whether Cinder was bluffing or not, she was certainly confident in her ability to resolve these issues. And the Council's golden rule was to use the Kingdom's money wisely.

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

The Councilwoman's train of thought screeched to a halt when she heard a Scroll ringing. Cinder reached into her pocket and took out her own Scroll; she saw that she was getting a call from Eren.

"Um, would you excuse me for a moment?" Cinder politely asked the Councilwoman.

"...Certainly," Councilwoman Redwood replied. "I'll just... look over these files." The Councilwoman lowered her head and studied the specific folder she was holding while Cinder stepped outside the room.

"Hi, Eren," she began after she answered the call.

"Hi," Eren replied on the other end. "Sorry it took so long to get here, we were caught in traffic. Are you still with the Council?"

"Yeah, I'm here." Cinder turned back to the door before she talked more. "I'm actually with Councilwoman Redwood right now. We've been going over some reports of bad Huntsmen work, it's going great!" Cinder smiled as she talked. "And thanks for that text, it was really sweet."

"Oh, yeah. I was hoping you'd read it. Are you doing okay inside?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. And I think we made some progress today. You know, with the Huntsmen."

"That's great! Sorry to cut it short, but we need your help. I'm outside with Mercury and Ymir."

"Ymir? Why are you with-?" Cinder suddenly remembered why she was at the office in the first place. "Oh, right! The harness!"

"Wait, you didn't tell Redwood?"

"I didn't have the chance, she's really giving the Huntsmen issue her all right now. And she has the rest of the Council's work to do by herself."

"What do you mean?"

Cinder also remembered that time was of the essence, so she changed the subject. "Forget it," she requested. "Is Ymir ready to talk?"

"Yeah, she's ready," Eren confirmed. "She has Winter's license, but she had to log into it on one of our Scrolls. And with Atlesian credentials too. We should be quick about this before someone there notices."

"Okay. Send her in, I'll meet her inside. But we may have to show the harness outside."

"I'll help get it ready. See you in a bit."

"Bye."

*BEEP*

Cinder put her Scroll back in her pocket and opened the room's door. "Excuse me, ma'am," she said to Councilwoman Redwood to get her attention. "But can I show you something before we continue with this?"

"I... don't see why not," Lila replied. She was being honest, but she wasn't sure what Cinder had to show her when the work they were doing was in the room. "Did you bring someone else with accusations here?"

"Not exactly." Cinder began to retrace her steps as she walked through the halls. "I actually didn't come here today to discuss the Huntsmen issue, Councilwoman Redwood. I came to warn you about an issue that could be Kingdom-wide, maybe even world-wide. It's an emergency."

The Councilwoman began to grow upset yet skeptical by the news. "What kind of... emergency?"

"A Grimm kind." Cinder stopped walking when she saw a familiar person coming towards her. "One that I think you should hear from someone else." The person came close enough to hear the conversation. "Councilwoman Redwood, this is-"

"Specialist Winter Schnee," Ymir falsely introduced herself as she showed the Huntress identification she finally managed to find. "Of the Atlesian military." Ymir moved her arm down when she believed that the woman in front of her read its content. "I'm sorry to meet you under these circumstances, but I believe Cinder here has informed you of our predicament. And the help we require from you."

The shock Lila Redwood received felt like a punch in the face for her. Nevertheless, she continued the conversation as a member of the Mistral Council, let alone the Prime Minister, should. "How can I help you, Specialist Schnee?" she asked.

"I've been outside Atlas on a classified mission, where I encountered Cinder and more of her friends," Ymir lied once again. "Together, we encountered and fought a rare yet powerful Grimm. And we believe new... advancements have been made in Atlas to control it. More specifically, to attack the citizens of the other Kingdoms."

The Councilwoman's face showed the two women that she was willing to believe this threat, but was still skeptical. "This... is a very serious accusation. Do you have any evidence?"

"We do, ma'am. Please, follow me." Ymir led her present company outside the building, and gestured for Councilwoman Redwood to approach the Dark Wing. As she did, Ymir stopped Cinder and finally broke her act. "Hello again, beautiful," she said with a sly smile.

"Oh, it is you," Cinder said as she played off the dirty compliment. "You almost had me believe that you were actually Winter."

"I knew her longer than I wanted to. Impersonating her isn't as hard as you'd think."

"So I've noticed. Eren filled you in?"

"Yep. And I'm here to help... for now."

Cinder rolled her eyes as she began to follow Councilwoman Redwood. "Why am I not surprised?" she said.

Ymir began to follow. "I mean, I'll be leaving as soon as we're done here," she explained. "But if you wanna try to convince me to stay a while, I'm all ears." She then let out a laugh.

"Let's see how this goes first." Cinder stopped talking when she found herself with Eren and the others. Since Ymir was with her, she pretended to be Winter again.

"Councilwoman Redwood," Eren said as he extended a hand. "I'm Eren Yeager. I'd like to thank you for helping me earlier this week."

"Oh, yes," Councilwoman Redwood said as she shook Eren's hand. "Think nothing of it. It seems the whole of Mistral owes you and your friends a great debt. Are you involved with this... emergency as well?"

"We all are, ma'am," Ymir said as she looked towards Mercury. "Mr. Black here is quite adept at mechanics. Please, share your findings with the Councilwoman, sir."

The next minutes were spent with Eren and his friends showing the Councilwoman the harness they found in Vale, as well as explaining the rare Grimm. While they weaved their story with care, the success of this mission mainly rested with hope; hope that they could convince the Councilwoman that the threat was real and needed to be stopped.

"When we extracted the mechanism, we soon discovered it was made by the Schnee Dust Company," Ymir said as she pointed to the brand on the control panel. "Given my... relationship with the company and my ignorance of this invention, I chose to stay with Mr. Yeager and his friends."

"And in turn, we came to show this to you," Eren said as he took over for Ymir. "To warn you that things outside the capital have gotten worse."

"..."

Eren wanted to say more, but Cinder stopped him so the Councilwoman could process everything they said. It was close to impossible and sounded like it would take the dumbest minds on Remnant to come up with something like this.

But they were hoping Councilwoman Redwood would believe the opposite.

"...What kind of Grimm did you take this from?" Councilwoman Redwood finally asked.

"We... call it a Titan," Cinder replied. "Imagine a giant person, the strongest person you know. It's skin is just as black as a Grimm, and it has the mind of a wild animal."

"..."

"Councilwoman Redwood, I know all of this sounds crazy. I know we don't have proof besides this... thing. But believe me, we're telling you the truth."

After what felt like an eternity, the Councilwoman spoke again. "...Is this all your evidence?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Cinder confirmed.

"And you killed this Grimm?" Councilwoman Redwood looked around the group of people around her. "All of you?"

"I was the one who finished it off," Eren stated. "But yes, we all fought it together."

"In that case..." Councilwoman Redwood began to walk back towards the Council's office. "Specialist Schnee, Ms. Fritz, Mr. Yeager... please follow me."

"..."

Eren, Cinder, and Ymir all looked at each other as they wondered what was going to happen. They all looked back at their friends, who all shrugged to show that they didn't have any better ideas. So the trio complied with the Councilwoman's request and followed her inside the building. They were then led into another meeting room, one with a computer and a projector on the ceiling.

"Before we begin, I'd like to thank you for bringing this to my attention," Councilwoman Redwood began as she looked towards Cinder. "Though I wish I was told earlier."

Cinder gulped. "My apologies," she humbly replied. "It's just that you had everything ready when I came in, and-"

"Never mind that." The Councilwoman began to type on the computer as she continued to talk. "Once again, I think you can all consider yourselves very lucky. Especially you, Mr. Yeager."

"Why's that?" Eren asked.

"Because if you came any earlier, I wouldn't have believed you."

The trio looked at each other once again as they shared the same thoughts. That, while they were glad to know they had the Councilwoman's support, they were also unsure as to why she believed them today of all days.

*CLICK*

The projector overhead activated to show a paused video of what appeared to be a group of people with signs. They also appeared to be in some kind of mountain range.

"While I was speaking with Ms. Fritz about our issues with the Huntsmen," the Councilwoman began again. "I received an abrupt invitation to meet with an ambassador from Vale and representatives of the other Kingdoms via the CCT computers we have here." She then looked up to the screen. "This is a video taken from a young woman's Scroll in Vale. She was joining a protest of other men and women regarding the drilling of Dust mines in the mountains."

"What were they protesting?" Eren asked.

"The mountain was also the site of a battle during the Great War, one of which was considered a massive turning point by historians. Said historians wished to preserve the mountain instead of turning it into a Dust mine."

"So, what happened?" Cinder asked.

The Councilwoman said nothing, she simply played the video on the screen. There, everyone saw the protestors moving their signs up and down as they either chanted or yelled at the people drilling the mountain. The apparent owner of the Scroll was currently looking into the camera with an apparent friend of hers and smiling. Eren recognized the action, one that Nora had performed several times. It was called "taking a selfie," as she put it. It could be compared to the photograph Eren found of his father in the basement of his house, if everyone only took one picture instead of one million of themselves.

*BOOM*

The chanting and yelling stopped when the sound of an explosion reached everyone's ears. The protestors, including the two women, turned to see what appeared to be smoke coming from the mountain. Along with that, pieces of stone seemed to be falling from the sky. From small pebbles to large boulders, everyone began to run from the mountain and escape the rocks. The video abruptly ended after the Scroll was dropped.

"My Gods..." Cinder whispered after she and Eren shared a glance.

Oddly enough, Ymir was interested in the video the most. "Don't see that every day," she whispered. But when she realized that nobody else was talking and could most likely hear her, she turned back to the Councilwoman. "I believe I've seen something like this before," she said while pretending to be Winter again. "An agitated Dust vein, maybe?"

"That was the initial belief, yes," Lila Redwood replied. "Some of the protestors escaped, but the drilling team sadly perished. However, the ambassador shared something else I believe you should all see." The Councilwoman rewinded the video, but played it at a slower speed. When she did, a new sound could be heard. It was faint, and could possibly have been covered by the explosion.

But now, the trio could hear a very familiar sound.

*ROAR*

Ymir gasped at the sound while Eren and Cinder looked at each other once again. Eren broke the silence the shock had brought them by turning around and asking another question. "Is there... anything else?" he asked.

"Only one thing," the Councilwoman said as she made the video fast-forward. A few seconds later, the video stopped at the mountain once again.

Only now, something was visible in the smoke and debris; it was a large, humanoid shape. It's arm and an extended leg were visible, but the image was undeniable. The mountain didn't explode.

It was kicked.

Kicked by a Titan.

"That's it!" Eren shouted as he pointed to the screen. "That's a Titan!"

The Councilwoman sighed as she finally turned the projector off. "I was afraid you'd say that," she said as she walked back to the trio. "The ambassador said that his superiors saw this video and instantly thought of a Grimm. They ordered a group of Huntsmen to chase a trail it had left behind."

"What happened then?" Cinder asked.

"He doesn't know. The Huntsmen failed to report in when they approached a large forest, far outside the capital."

"..."

When she was sure that everyone understood the situation, Councilwoman Redwood turned back to Ymir. "Specialist Schnee. Are you certain that your Kingdom is responsible for this... this thing?"

"I am," Ymir replied. "As we previously discovered, the Schnee Dust Company was responsible for the collar's creation. As to why they would do such a thing, I intend to discover for myself."

"You mean you weren't aware of... all this?"

"No, ma'am. I cut my ties with the company when I joined the Atlas military." Ymir pointed to the screen. "And if this is involved with said military, I intend to cut all ties with them as well."

The Prime Minister understood this well. "And how may I be of assistance in this?" she asked as she recalled the fact that everyone came here for help.

"I would like to launch an investigation into this," Ymir answered. "On behalf of the Kingdom of Mistral, not Atlas. Due to our uncertainty regarding who is involved and why, of course."

The Councilwoman took only a moment to consider the idea. "Very well. But when this investigation is over, I expect you to meet back with me to report the results."

Ymir nodded. "Consider it done. I'll depart for Atlas-"

"Ahem."

Ymir looked over to Eren when he pretended to clear his throat, and then nudged his head in the Councilwoman's direction. She silently understood and then spoke again.

"Ma'am, does this mean I can choose others to join me?" she asked.

"...Within reason," the Councilwoman decided.

"I'm only asking because Eren Yeager, Cinder Fritz, and everyone else you just met all played a very pivotal role in the demise of the Titan we encountered."

Despite the fact that she believed everything she had seen and heard, the Councilwoman couldn't see the logic of sending Eren and his friends to Atlas. "With all due respect, Specialist, I don't find it very advisable to send citizens on a mission such as this," she declared as she took out her Scroll. "Would it not be more reasonable to ask for aid from Mistral Academy?" She then turned to Cinder. "Those who haven't been reported for poor conduct, of course."

Ymir didn't need to be told that she couldn't take "no" for an answer. "Out of the question," she declared. "The less people know about the Titan, the better. We were fortunate to be a select few, but word could spread. With word comes panic. And with panic comes the Grimm. Besides, I recall you saying that no Huntsmen were found after they chased the Titan we saw."

Eren and Cinder, who could see that it may be hard for just one person to convince Councilwoman Redwood, decided to help Ymir and present their own cases.

"Councilwoman Redwood, I know that my choices to confront Lionheart were... odd," Eren began. "But I promise I won't act outside any rules necessary for an investigation like this." This was a hard promise to make, given the nature of the Titans. But Eren knew he had to get to Atlas.

"I promise too," Cinder followed. "We'll follow Ym-I mean, Specialist Schnee's advice and rules. We'll act only when she says so." Fortunately, nobody paid attention to Cinder's mistake and focused more on the matter at hand.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Fritz," said Councilwoman Redwood. "I know you mean well, all of you. But I cannot, in good conscience, let this many citizens conduct this kind of business on behalf of our Kingdom."

Cinder's resilience met no bounds at the moment, and it also gave her an idea. "Then don't make us citizens anymore! You're the Prime Minister of Mistral, maybe you can deputize us!"

"Hey, yeah!" Eren agreed, despite not knowing what a Prime Minister was. "You can make us agents of the Kingdom. We may not look it, but we're all capable of protecting others and getting results."

Lila Redwood was about to argue even further, but she suddenly found the idea intriguing. Eren did have a point, how they were indeed capable of achieving results nobody expected. And Cinder wasn't too far off about deputizing them.

And with the events that happened to her recently, she had an idea.

"Call your friends in here," she ordered.

---

About ten minutes later, Eren and Cinder had gathered everyone inside the office building at the Councilwoman's request. As they waited for her to return, everyone casually talked amongst themselves. Cinder thanked Eren in person for sending such a heartfelt message, Midori and Mercury discussed the creation of Scalpel further, and Ren found himself hypothesizing the Councilwoman's plan with Emerald.

Nora simply leaned against the wall and watched Ren enjoy his time with Emerald once again.

Ymir noticed Nora's line of sight and easily guessed what made her seem upset.

"Yeah... love stinks," Ymir said as she walked by and patted Nora's shoulder. Nora simply stared at Ymir in confusion before she looked back to Ren.

*CLICK*

The door to the room opened once again to reveal Councilwoman Redwood followed by the secretary from the door. She was carrying a single folder, one that she placed on the desk in front of them.

"Thank you, Janet," the Councilwoman said before she dismissed her assistant. When they were all alone, she turned to Eren and his friends. "Thank you all for waiting. And thank you all for bringing this issue to my attention. Specialist Schnee here informed me of your desire to join her on this investigation, so I've come with a proposition."

"Does it involve us going to Atlas?" Mercury boldly asked.

"And investigating the SDC?" Nora followed.

"It does," the Councilwoman promised.

"We're listening," Eren said calmly with a hint of optimism.

Councilwoman Redwood opened her folder and passed a sheet a paper to everyone. At first glance, it appeared to be an official document of the Kingdom of Mistral. Cinder noticed that seemed to be some kind of license, given the words she saw.

"As you may be aware, the Council recently employed an outdated tradition while the investigation is underway," Councilwoman Redwood began. "The tradition of Prime Minister, to be exact. However, that isn't the only tradition that was abandoned. And given all you've done for your Kingdom, I'd like to revive another."

"And that would be?" Ren asked.

"The Hunt Inquisitorius."

"..."

Everyone silently looked at each other as they all wondered the same thing; what exactly is the "Hunt Inquisitorius?"

Fortunately, Councilwoman Redwood decided to share some light on the subject. "The Hunt Inquisitorius was a group of agents in Mistral," she explained. "They acted as a secret police, to be exact. When given the proper intelligence, they investigated certain dilemmas in the Kingdom with very little restriction. It was rare for them to take their business outside Mistral, but there have been occasions when the safety of the people of Remnant were at stake."

"Cool," said Mercury, who was taking a liking to the idea.

"Intriguing," said Ren.

"This could totally work out!" Nora said with her usual enthusiasm.

"Hold on," Eren said as he moved closer to the table. "You'd like to reinstate this 'Hunt Inquisitorius?' With us?"

"Ms. Fritz did suggest that I not make you ordinary citizens," Councilwoman Redwood replied. "And given the severity of the situation, I believe this to be the most logical course of action."

"Desperate times, desperate measures," Cinder thought to herself before she spoke again. "We would be honored to help you in this manner, ma'am."

"Not so fast." Councilwoman Redwood waited until all eyes were on her. "I'm pleased to hear that, Ms. Fritz. However, I must inform you that this is to be a temporary position. Once Specialist Schnee finishes her investigation, the Hunt Inquisitorius will be put to a halt again."

Cinder nodded in acknowledgement. "Understood."

But the Councilwoman wasn't finished just yet. "And when you return to Mistral, we will conduct a hearing as well."

The idea immediately raised some red flags, which Mercury wasn't afraid to share. "Wait a second," he said. "You mean you'll be putting us on trial for this?"

"No, no, no," Lila said to restore order. "It's not a trial, it'll be a hearing. You and everyone else here will share all your methods and actions in Atlas with me and the rest of the Council. Well, whoever else is cleared from the investigation as well."

"...For what purpose?" Eren asked.

"To determine if the Hunt Inquisitorius should be fully reinstated or not. Your actions, individual and collective, will determine this."

After everyone shared another glance at each other, Eren spoke again. "Could we have a few minutes to make a decision?" he asked politely.

"Of course," Councilwoman Redwood replied. "I'll be right outside."

*CLICK*

Eren initiated the decision process when the door closed behind him. "What do you think?" he asked.

"I like this!" said Nora. "I got a really good feeling about it! No corrupt Huntsmen, and no tight leashes in Atlas! This could work!"

"I must admit that I'm intrigued," Ren repeated. "However, I can't help but feel the lack of restraint here may be... excessive." Ren had taken some time to look over the unsigned license Councilwoman Redwood had given him.

"Ren's right," said Emerald. "Cinder's spent a lot of time fighting corrupt Huntsmen and Huntresses. What if we gotta deal with corrupt... Inquisitors now?"

"I was thinking about that," said Cinder. "And you're definitely right. It's like Detective Montoya said; nobody's above the law."

"Well, why not give it a try?" Midori voiced up. "We could set a good example with something like this. See how people should act when given free reign."

"Yeah, that's true," said Mercury. "And I dunno about the rest of you, but I tend to work better with my own devices."

"Let's just not forget we'll be going under 'Winter's' supervision," Ren pointed out. "And if the Council decides to reinstate this program, there may be other people who want to take up the mantle. Whatever their intentions."

"Well, we still have to do the hearing afterwards," Nora pointed out. "Maybe we can talk about what worked and what didn't work."

"Like an experiment," said Midori.

"And make sure the program doesn't result in corruption," Cinder concluded. "It won't be easy, but it doesn't sound impossible."

"Is anyone else nervous about this whole 'hearing' thing?" Mercury asked. "If this thing goes up in flames, the Council's gonna need someone to take the fall. Who better than the supposed Inquisitors?"

"It's a big risk," Emerald whispered. "And I hope they don't do background checks."

"Councilwoman Redwood said that the Inquisitors acted as a secret police force," Ren pointed out. "All we can do is act as police should. But without revealing who we are."

Mercury looked over to Ren. "Yeah? And how the hell are we supposed to do that?"

"I don't know. Act casual, I suppose."

Before anyone said anything else, Cinder looked over to Eren. "You're awfully quiet, Eren," she said. "Don't you wanna share your opinion?"

"I think I'm sharing the same things everyone else is saying," Eren finally said. "But I have to point out one thing." All eyes fell on Eren as he shared his point. "This is our best way to get to Atlas and find out what's going on."

"..."

Silence and slow nods followed Eren's point as everyone agreed with him. It was either the Council's way or the highway at this point.

"Then we should make our decision now," said Cinder. "Eren?"

"I think we should do it," he replied.

Cinder looked over to Ren next. "I agree," he said.

Cinder then turned to Nora. "Let's do it!" she said enthusiastically.

She then looked over to Midori. "I'm not that much of a fighter," she said. "So maybe being an Inquisitor is out of the question right now. But you'll still need a medic."

Cinder understood this well as she turned to Emerald. "I'll probably need to be the most careful of all," she said as she remembered her life of thievery back in Vale. "But I'm all in."

"I guess I am too," Mercury said quickly.

All eyes fell onto Cinder when she realized that it was her turn to voice her decision. And she made it with a big smile. "I'm not going anywhere," she confidently declared.

Eren joined Cinder in smiling as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Next stop: Atlas."

---

Author's notes: Happy New Year, everyone! Sorry it took us so long to write this chapter, we had a lot to cover. Don't forget to leave a review before you go, hope you enjoyed it!

But before you do, AT and I have a few things to say:

Hey Guys, The Avenging Titan here. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year to you all. Thank you all for your continued support with the story.

Unfortunately 2022 still left one last kick in the gut before it was over. We lost some people near the latter half of the year, like Queen Elizabeth, MCU's William Hurt, and the legendary Batman himself Kevin Conroy. But in November there was one death that really took me and probably many others by surprise as well: Power Ranger alumni, Jason David Frank, who tragically committed suicide.

I'm sure everyone has fond childhood memories about the Power Rangers, and JDF's Tommy Oliver was hands down the most popular character out of them all. I didn't even get into Power Rangers until only a few years ago and he was easily one of my favorites, so the announcement of his death really made do a double/triple take. I just hope wherever he's gone to after passing on, he is OK and happy.

Jason David Frank

September 4, 1973 – November 19, 2022

Once A Ranger, Always A Ranger.

I too share these sentiments, RIP Mr. Frank. And before I go, I'd like to share something with you. If you'd like more material right now, and you're in a mood to laugh, my good friend Servos New Head wrote a funny RWBY x SpongeBob one-shot I think you'll all enjoy. It's called "The Aura's Always Greener." Check it out when you get the chance!

Other than that, we'll just see you next time!