Chapter 26: Battle for Utgard Castle
The Titan horde descended upon the castle though the majority of eyes were on the Beast Titan who continued its thunderous roar. Nanaba glared at the monster, this wasn't going to be a regular battle between Humans and Titans, no, it was clear to her that they may have lost their edge; their ability to outsmart their enemy, whoever it was, they must have organised the Titans to lay siege to the Castle.
That thing, its commanding the Titans… thought Armin as he tried to observe both the incoming Titans and the Beast Titan Its another shifter with the same ability as Annie, if we're going to beat them then we'll need to find a way to take out whoever's in that Titan
"All hands, split into teams of two!" ordered Nanaba "Do not engage a Titan on your own unless absolutely necessary!"
"Watch my back and I'll watch over yours" said Reiner, trying to make a light hearted comment
"Yeah, of course" replied Bertholdt, anxious about the impending battle
"Stand back, Armin" said Mikasa as she aimed her blades, the moonlight gleaming off its shiny surface
The Titans were now almost at the spikes protecting the castle walls; the larger ones lumbered into them, holding them in place just meters from the wall but the smaller ones, the nine meters and below, were slipping through and were now trying to climb and it was only a matter of time before the spikes gave way to the larger Titans.
"All hands, charge!" yelled Nanaba as she leapt off the wall
A loud cry rang through the air as the 104th and Nanaba's squad jumped off the wall and onto the Titan horde, Connie however couldn't move, it felt as though his feet was nailed onto the spot; he wanted to carry out his duty alongside his comrades as they engaged the Titans but the idea that these Titans were people from his village weighted down on his. He couldn't kill the people he grew up, the people he loved and cared about. Sasha had already jumped off, she spotted a three meter trying to claw at the wall and quickly swung from the side; she struck the Titan's nape killing it instantly, hot blood splattering across the side of wall and her uniform. She swung back onto the wall and saw a clearly distressed Connie looking at the Titans with teary eyes.
"Connie!" she called out
"I… I can't do it, Sasha" he choked out
Using his momentum Jean swung around an eight meter approaching the wall; his fired his cables onto the upper part of its back, reeled himself forward and slashed at its neck. As he descended onto the ground he was quickly made aware of the cries from his partner as he was tore apart by two seven meter Titans, Jean watched on horrified at the sight. "Damn it!" he yelled as he fell back to the battlements
Bertholdt slashed at the eyes of a nine meter Titan, blinding the monster, Reiner quickly took down the Titan during its distracted state.
"Great job" complemented Reiner as he wiped the blood from his face "C'mon, let's take out that big one over there!" he yelled pointing at a fifteen meter who was pushing itself deeper into the spikes trying to get to the wall "We've got a duty to do" Bertholdt stared at Reiner with a questioning look on his face for a few seconds.
"Alright then." Replied Bertholdt, he sounded unsure of himself, like he was wondering about something.
Ymir sliced off the finger of the nine meter Titan trying to grab her, she swung her blades at the Titan's wrist and almost severed its hand, using her gas Krista leapt onto its head, she jumped off, fired her cables into the top part of the Titan's neck, reeled herself towards it's nape and cut out a large gap into its neck. The Titan crashed into the battlements with Krista who hopped off its parted neck
My first kill... thought Krista
"Great moves, Krista" complemented Ymir playfully "Really living up to the top ten ranking." She looked at Krista with that carefree smile of hers.
"Now's not the time, Ymir" replied Krista, a little bit annoyed that Ymir wasn't taking the situation as deathly serious as her. "Thanks anyway."
Alphonse struck the neck of the seven meter, lifting itself onto the wall; it fell back onto the ground with a loud crash. He quickly spotted a fifteen meter Titan, who had broken through the spikes, approaching him; he fired his cables onto it and leapt from the wall, the Titan swung its hands hitting the cable and causing Alphonse to lose his balance in the air, the Titan then grabbed Alphonse by the waist. He was now caught in its quickly let go of the handles of his ODM gear, clapped his hands and placed them on the Titan's hand; blue sparks quickly formed around the Titans hand and suddenly its arm was blown apart from its body. Alphonse fell back onto the battlements, the large hand cushioning his fall, Mina veered round and swung her blades at the fifteen meter Titan's nape killing it instantly, the large Titan crashing its head into the wall. She landed back onto the battlements and ran up to Alphonse.
"Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling down.
Alphonse rubbed his head "Yeah, I'm fine" he replied
Mina sighed "You know Al, when I talked about saving your life I meant that as a joke" she said light-heartedly as she offered her hand to him "guess that makes us even."
Alphonse looked up at Mina, his eyes widen in shock, he clapped his hands together and slammed them onto the battlements, and Mina quickly looked behind her to see a thirteen meter Titan within less than a few feet from her; its arm reaching out to her and a spike in its neck. The Titan went limp and its hand crashed into the wall. Alphonse picked himself up from the dissolving Titan's palm.
"Guess that means we're back where we started" he joked, he turned his head towards the Titans, more of them were trying to slipping though, he picked up his handles and aimed it at them. "More of them heading our way."
"What's your kill count so far?." asked Mina as she took out new blades from her scarab
"Probably close to twenty" replied Alphonse
"Alchemy kills don't count" ribbed Mina
"Is that so? alright then five." snickered Alphonse
"Damn, two more than me." she caught sight of a smaller Titan, a 3 three meter slipping though "But I can catch in no time."
Mikasa whirled past a ten meter Titan, slicing its neck open she caught sight of another Titan, a five meter with a member of the 104th within its grasp, she fired her cables onto the nape of the Titan and shot herself towards the it, unlatching the hooks she twirled in the air with her blades out, striking it's nape with flawless efficiency. She landed onto the ground and approached the injured Scout
"Th- Thank you…" cried the Scout breathlessly, she picked him up and reeled themselves onto the battlements. She quickly spotted another Titan, a twelve meter who had broken through the spikes; she detached her old blades from the handles and took out a pair of new ones as she stared down the approaching Titan.
A skinny three meter Titan lifted itself up on the wall, peeking its head over the battlements he never saw Armin on the other side; Armin tightly clenched his teeth and using all of his strength he swung one of his blades at the neck of the three meter, the blade cut through the Titan's flesh like a cleaver chopping off a chunk of meat, separating its head from the rest of its body, the three meter titan fell from the wall and onto the ground. Armin peered down at the decapitated Titan to see a now carcass emitting a thick cloud of smoke. "I did it…" muttered Armin, his eyes widen and a wide smile began to form on his face "I killed a Titan!" he cheered, his celebration was cut short when the shadow of a fourteen meter covered him, he stared at the monster which loomed over him with a sickening grin on its face. Suddenly the Titan's expression turned into a pained one as it collapsed onto the ground, Jean then landed onto the battlement, next to Armin, wiping the blood from his face. Mikasa landed next to Armin after killing the fifteen meter Titan, she had caught sight of it just when she was about to kill the fifteen meter and rushed over to save Armin, lucky Jean was there just in time.
"Don't celebrate just yet, Armin" said Jean "We're still not out of the woods."
Armin turns his head towards the tree line; it looked as though only a few more Titans were emerging into the open "no, but it looks like they are." He replied
"We may end up surviving this after all" smiled Jean
Gelgar zoomed towards the eleven meter Titan, its arms out stretched reaching for him "You can't catch me!" yelled Gelgar "you dumb piece of shit!" he swung his blades and sliced off its large fingers, Nanaba veered round the large Titan, fired her cables onto its nape and reeled herself forward, she spun around as she struck the Titan's nape, it's body falling onto the ground. They both fired their cables onto the tower and surveyed the battlefield; all around them were the smoking carcasses of fallen Titans scattered around and on top of the walls, they watched as the veterans and 104th continued to fight and below them the wounded were being dragged or carried into the castle tower and interior. The air was filled with a cacophony of yelling, cries and the sound of wires being fired.
"I'm impressed, Nanaba" complemented Gelgar "A clean cut as usual"
"You shouldn't be doing moves like that" replied Nanaba disapprovingly "You'll waste your blades that way."
"It's just how I fight, I don't back down" Gelgar replied simply "By the way, that was an assist"
Nanaba laughed slightly "sure"
Lynne then fired her cables and reeled herself next to them, blood dripping from her blades
"Lynne, status report?" asked Nanaba
"Nineteen casualties" replied Lynne "eight dead, two of them veterans, and eleven wounded, we've got field medics Alia and Conrad doing what they can" she turned her head towards the battle and "looks like we're holding out so far, the enemy seem to have exhausted their forces attacking us."
"Heh, bastard went all in on this attack and hasn't got fuck all to show for it!" taunted Gelgar at the Beast Titan who sat watching the battle on top of Wall Rose.
The Beast Titan watched impatiently and disappointed at the progress, or lack of it, that his Titans were making in the assault of the castle; his fingers tapped on the edge of the wall as he contemplated his next move.
What a disappointment you've all turned out to be he thought still it seems I had underestimated the skill set of these devils; these strange devices are quite ingenious, a big handicap to my forces and those defences he thought back to when Alphonse had formed the spikes on the ground around the castle which now held back the larger Titans and made them into immobile targets.
He ceased his finger tapping and grabbed hold on the ledge, his hand breaking off a large chunk of the wall Its getting awfully boring to watch my side get slaughtered, let's make things a little bit more interesting he thought as he stood up from his kneeling position, pulled back his hand holding the large chunk of wall and with his other hand he aimed for the southern wall of the castle.
"Hey what's that sound?" asked Jean, it was a faint whistling at first but then its intensity grew more and more by the second, catching the attention of the soldiers in the castle.
"Incoming!" yelled one of the Scouts
Sasha grabbed Connie jumped off the wall, Alphonse and Mina both lunged into the into the sky and Mikasa grabbed Armin and Jean by their collars and leapt off the wall before the large chunk of collided with the spike and walls, creating a wide opening for the Titans to enter through. Bits of rock and people were flung into the air and onto the ground at the initial impact, sending the southern front of the castle is complete disarray.
Nanaba, Gelgar and Lynne watched the scene unfold before them with a look of shock on their faces; just mere moments ago it looked as though the tide was in their favour but now the enemy may have turned the tables on them as the Titans lumbered into the breach, the monsters began picking off the crumbled line of dazed Scouts.
"Well this ain't good" said Gelgar, a hint of fear in his voice
Nanaba growled in frustration "All hands focus on southern front!" ordered Nanaba, she pushed herself forward from the tower, leading the charge towards the breach "Retake the southern wall!"
Alphonse began to pick himself up on all fours from the ground, he looked up to see Mina doing the same "You alright?" he asked
"I'll be fine" she replied, she turned her head towards the breach she gasped when she saw the Titans beginning to pour in "they're getting in!"
I've got to seal that breach thought Alphonse as he picked up his blades, he pointed his handles towards one of the Titans and pulled the trigger and began to charge alongside the other Scouts
Jean, Armin and Mikasa quickly got up from the ground; Jean raised his head upwards in the direction of the Beast Titan that was a fucking cheap shot! Mikasa helped up Armin, they quickly came to the realisation that Titans were now entering the castle walls and the Scouts now charging at the incoming horde
"Son of a bitch" muttered Jean
"We have to push them back!" yelled Armin "We have to cover Alphonse and give him enough time to rebuild that wall" the three of them charged into the fray.
Sasha stuck her blade into the hand of the five meter trying to grab at her; she couldn't use her ODM against it at this range and was now doing what she could to keep the Titan away from her. She swung her other blade at the Titan, slashing at its face as it leaned in to eat her. Suddenly the Titan let out a pained cry as it collapsed onto the ground; she drew her blade from the dead Titan's hand and saw Connie standing beside it with tears in his eyes and blood evaporating from his blades.
"I'm so sorry" he mutters as he watched the Titan's dissolving carcass
Ymir slowly opened her eyes, everything was hazy; her vision and her hearing, it all just seemed blurry, she lazily lifted her head upwards to see a small figure with a yellow head swinging around a five meter Titan, as her vision cleared it soon became apparent it was Krista trying to find an opening to strike the Titan but it's erratic movements made killing it a harder challenge than usual. The Titan swung its hand and unintentionally hit her wire knocking her off balance and sending her onto the ground; it then began to approach Krista who was now trying to pick herself up. Ymir's eyes widened, she quickly moved her body slightly to get up but sudden sharp pain from her left side stopped her, she winced from the pain, she tried to move again through it but quickly realized her left arm was being held down by something, she turned to saw that a large chunk of wall had landed on her left arm completely crushing it. She turned back to Krista to see the Titan now looming over her, Ymir had never felt more terrified in years than seeing Krista about to be eaten, that when Ymir noticed she was still holding onto her blade in her right hand.
Krista looked up at the Titan before her; she was terrified by the monster in front of her as it reached down at her, tears fell from her closed eyes as she looked away from it, suddenly a loud crash caught her attention, she looked up to see the Titan had been slain and her hero kneeling down with their back turned to her. She quickly got up and looked over to see it was Ymir who was looking deathly pale and fatigued, that's when Krista noticed that Ymir's uniform on her left side was soaking in blood and her entire left arm was missing.
"You alright?" asked Ymir as she struggled to breathe
"Am I alright?" cried Krista "Ymir your entire left arm is gone!" Krista took off her cloak and began tearing it in half to wrap around Ymir's wound, Krista began to sob heavily as the idea that Ymir could very likely die.
"I'll be fine" said Ymir weakly, Suddenly Connie and Sasha ran up to them both looking at Ymir with a look of shock and fear.
"Oh my God!" panicked Connie "Ymir, your arm!"
"We gotta get you inside!" yelled Sasha, as Connie and Sasha tried to pick her up, Ymir slowly turned her head towards the breach, she saw the Titans pouring in and the Scouts trying desperately to push them back, she knew it was a matter of time before they got overwhelmed.
"Wait…" said Ymir as she slipped through their grasp, she knelt down and faced Krista once more "Krista… do you remember that promise we made? On the day of that snowy mountain training?" Krista nodded her head; she was at a complete loss for words "I…have no right to tell you how to live your life but please, just for me, take back your name…live your life with pride." Ymir picked up her blade with her right hand, stood up and began to charge into the Titan horde.
"Ymir, wait!" cried Krista
"What the hell are you doing?!" yelled Connie
Ymir ran past the carnage around her and, using all the strength she could summon, she leapt from the ground, pulled the trigger to her gas canisters and sent herself flying into a group of Titans coming through the breach
Krista, I was once like you; I had once thought it would be better if I'd never been born because it looked as though the world hated me because I dared exist in it. I thought it'd be better to have just died, but what I wanted, more than anything else, was the chance…
Yellow sparks suddenly began to dance around her as she zoomed towards the Titans
To be reborn, the chance to start again…
A bright ball of light seemed to engulf Ymir, catching everyone's attention
The chance…
There was a seemingly blinding bright flash of light, an intensive gust of wind and an unbearable heat
TO LIVE FOR MYSELF!
There was a high pitched and screechy roar as a five meter Titan with long hair, pointed ears, pitch black eyes and razor sharp teeth and claws collided into the group of Titans; the force of impact knocking them down onto the ground, she pounced onto the back of a nearby seven meter, sunk her claws into the back of its neck and tore its nape from the body, she then sprang onto another Titan, a nine meter, clawing its eyes out before veering her head around its neck and bit down on its nape.
"Ymir…" whispered Krista as she watched her friend mercilessly tear through the horde of Titans.
"What the hell…" whispered Jean as he, Mikasa and Armin stared at the scene unfolding before them, wide eyed and slack-jawed
"That's… that was Ymir." muttered Armin "She's a Titan shifter!"
"Someone tell me I'm dreaming" said Connie "this can't be real…"
"Was that Ymir?" muttered Mina as she and Alphonse watched the five meter Titan tearing apart its own kind
Both Reiner and Bertholdt watched the Ymir with a look of astonishment and disgust "That's… that's the Titan" stuttered Reiner "The Titan we saw that day…"
The Beast Titan continued to observe the battle before him, he watched with a mixture of both curiosity and sadness as the Jaws Titan tore through the Titan horde laying siege to the castle Oh Marcel… how am I going to tell Porco about this, about your passing? The Jaws Titan was now tearing apart the Titan trying to get into the castle, the assault was now crumbling. My Titans won't be making process anytime soon, Guess I'll have to do this myself. He grabbed onto the edge and swung his body around, climbing down the wall.
The fighting had now raged back outside of the castle walls as Ymir, backed up by a few Scouts, mopped up the remaining Titans. A trail of scattered smoking Titan carcasses lay in her wake as she ripped off the head of the last Titan, a two meter. When the battle was over, Ymir rushed back into the castle, the Scouts in the courtyard began surrounding her, a look of fear and angry on their faces, Alphonse quickly ran over to the breach and repaired their once devastated defenses. Suddenly Ymir burst out of the Titan's nape, the Scouts around her all flinch and gasp, she pushed herself out of the body, tearing off the bits of nerve connect to her cheeks, she flopped onto the ground and pushed herself up with both arms.
"Ymir!" yelled Krista as she ran towards her, she threw her arms around her in a tight hug; Ymir placed her arms around her smiling. Everyone began to huddle around her and Krista muttering to each other; the vast majority of them were from the 104th souther division, they've known Ymir for years and the reality of her being a Titan shifter who had been living among them left them all completely dumbfounded and shocked.
"Hey!" yelled Jean marching up to them and catching their attention "You've got a lot of explaining to do so you better start now!" he ordered, by the look on his face she could tell he was furious about this.
"Ymir… you're a Titan?" said Connie still in a state of confused shock "but how… and when…"
"Recruit!" came a voice from within the crowd; the Scouts began to split, allowing Nanaba to approach Ymir
"Going to interrogate me?" questioned Ymir as Krista let go of her, the tone of her voice suggested she was agitated for Nanaba intruding on their moment.
"You'll be questioned on everything in due time" replied Nanaba "right now there only one thing that's important; whose side are you on?"
I'm on her side…"Well considering I just saved your asses" commented Ymir
"This is not a joking matter, recruit" replied Nanaba in an almost threatening tone "If you were really on our side then why didn't you tell us you were a Titan shifter? You could have contributed to the Regiment like Eren and the Elrics, you realise hiding your abilities from us, until now, makes you look suspicious?"
Ymir sighed from exhaustion "Look, all you need to know is that I'm not a threat to humanity, I'll help you hold down the fort and if we get out this alive, then I'll tell you everything." Armin looked over to Reiner and Bertholdt, he noticed that the pair had both flinched and looked almost terribly uncomfortable when Ymir had said that.
Nanaba shut her eyes for a second and sighed, this whole ordeal was complete insanity; Titans showing up in Wall Rose, the Titans launching a coordinated assault on them and now a member of the 104th was a Titan shifter who came to their rescue. "Fine, hope you know you're going to have to explain all this to a military tribunal." She turned to face the crowd of Scouts "round up all the injured and get them into the castle interior, I want a lookout on the tower; if another wave is approaching then I want to know where."
It had only been a twenty minutes after the attack, a steady stream of wounded was taken into the tower where Alphonse worked alongside the field medics. He gently placed the head of a wounded recruit on a folded cloak, he looked down to see their entire leg had been bitten off, what was left was covered in blood soaked bandages. The whole lower floor of the tower was cramped with people; close to over a dozen of them.
"What's our status?" asked Nanaba sitting on the southern wall with Lynne and Gelgar
"We had in total about fifty six Scouts with us at the start, forty three from the 104th and thirteen from our squad; we're now down to about twenty four still being able to fight. Most of the causalities are wounded and they're currently being treated."
"If the defenses don't get breached again then we could probably hold out now that we've got a Titan on our side." Commented Gelgar, the sun slowly began to rise from the East "Looks like we survived the night." He said with a smile on his face "Bastard probably wasted all his Titans on a single attack, I think that calls for a celebration" he picked up the green bottle sitting on the battlement and raised it to his mouth.
Suddenly the sound of a flare being fired off captured their attention; a red column of smoke from the tower stretched across the sky and towards the south "Thee Enemy is approaching from the south!" yelled the lookout. The three of them turned around to see a large horde of Titans from the south.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" yelled Gelgar as he put down the bottle
"An all out attack from the south side" said Lynne "This one looks like a much larger wave"
"All hands form up on the southern wall!" ordered Nanaba
"It never ends, does it?" remarked Jean as he took his spot
"How much gas have you guys got left?" asked Armin
"Less than half in the can." Said Connie
"Same here" added Jean
"Bit more than that" replied Sasha
"More or less" said Mikasa
"Didn't even have enough time to replace my blades." said Mina frustrated as she looked down at her slightly dulled last pair
"Here Mina" said Alphonse, he pressed his hands together and then glided them across her blades, blue sparks flickered in the air, as the metal reformed and its sharpness was renewed
"Thanks Al" said Mina looking up at him
"We'll make do with what we've got" said Reiner "We'll all make it through this, I know we can."
Ymir walked onto the battlement, her left foot on the ledge and a small knife in her right hand. Krista stood by her "Krista, if you and the others want to run then now would be a good time."
"No" replied Krista with an angered look on her face "I'm staying here, we're seeing this through. Together."
The Titans were now at the spikes again, Ymir pounced from the wall and cut her hand with the knife, a large orb of light consumed her and out sprang her five meter Titan letting out his high-pitched roar, she began slashing away at the Titans; wounding them so that the Scouts could finish them off.
"Everyone, charge!" yelled Nanaba, the Scouts once more leapt from the walls and descended onto confused Titans.
Ymir continued the slash away at the Titans; she clawed at the cheek of a twelve meter and pinned it face first into the ground allowing Krista to go in for the kill.
"You ugly fucks!" yelled Gelgar as he cut into the neck of a nine meter "Can't you just quit?!"
Ymir tore off the nape of a thirteen meter Titan she had pinned to the ground, tossing the chunk of dissolving flesh aside, she then spotted it; the seventeen meter tall Titan covered in fur, the giant monkey like Titan, the one commanding the Titan army.
"STaY HeRe" growled Ymir at Krista
"Wait did she just talk?!" exclaimed Connie who had overheard her
Armin hacked at the ankle of the ten meter, Mikasa swerved round and slashed at its nape, as the Titan fell he landed upon the battlements with Mikasa and looked upon the battlefield to see the fur covered Titan approaching the castle It's here!
"Mikasa, that Titan is a shifter" he said, keeping his voice low enough so that only they could hear it "It has the same ability as Annie; if we could take it out then the Titan assault becomes leaderless." He looked back at the fur covered Titan attacking it won't be easy he thought but maybe he looked at Ymir who was staring down the same Titan maybe Ymir could challenge it.
Ymir charged the Beast Titan, she let a high-pitched roar as she sprang towards it with her sharp claws ready to strike, the Beast Titan reeled back its arm and swung it at the Jaws Titan, its fist striking the Jaws Titan's body and sending it flying to the side and crashing into the ground. Ymir quickly got up, the left side of her Titan's body had now caved in but she was still determined to take the Beast Titan down, she charged the Beast Titan once more, the Beast Titan swung its fist again but this time she dodged the attack and slashed at its body, her claws tearing into its flesh. She turned back around only to see the Beast Titan's other arm descending down upon her, it grabbed her by the head, picked her up and slammed her into the ground, it then grabbed her by the neck and raised her up so that they were eye level, Ymir clawed at his hand trying to escape but the Beast Titan's hand had harden with a crystal coating You're not worthy of the Jaws Titan, of Marcel's Titan. He slammed her into the ground once again and again, and again, and again and again.
"Ymir" cried Krista as she watched Beast Titan destroyed her.
The Beast Titan reeled back an unconscious Jaws Titan and flung her towards the wall
"Everybody, get back!" yelled Nanaba; most of the Scouts were able to fall back into the courtyard of the castle, however more than a few were caught in the collision. This time the entire southern wall had been destroyed. Ymir's body lay at the centre of the courtyard among the large chunks of rubble around her, the Titans then began to pour in, most of them were descending upon Ymir; tearing away at her to reach the person inside.
"Ymir" cried Krista as she ran towards her "Please I still have to tell you!"
"Krista wait!" yelled Mina
"Don't run off!" yelled Sasha
The Beast Titan watched on as what was left of his Titan army poured into the massive hole, he was about to approach the castle when suddenly he caught sight of a few green flares on the East Reinforcements… Looks like the battle is theirs he sighed in disappointment well… it can't be helped, the Beast Titan then sat down on the ground and a shifter emerged from its nape, he climbed down from the Titan and towards the nearby woods where a Titan on four legs was waiting for him.
"Damn it…" muttered Lynne as she painfully got off from the ground
"Looks like we've been beat…" said Gelgar, more angry than afraid
Nanaba looked around; there looked to be only fourteen Scouts still standing, she gripped the handles of her blade and stood up from the ground "No, this isn't over! As long as we keep putting up a fight we haven't been beaten yet!" she declared "All Scouts form up on me! Protect the wounded!" what was left of the 104th Southern division and the veterans formed up into a thin line.
"I signed up knowing I'd probably die someday, just never thought it'd be this soon" remarked Connie, he had the same look on his face the day Erwin asked them to dedicate their hearts.
At least I got to see my dad before I died... thought Sasha
Jean turned his head towards the tower and the castle interior which housed his wounded comrades If the Titans get through then they'll be slaughtered... he thought back to Marco death and how unceremoniously he died, Jean gritted his teeth and gripped the handles of his blades till his knuckles were white No... not again!
Bertholdt placed his blade on his hand; contemplating whether he should go through with shifting.
Krista ran up to Ymir, suddenly a seven meter Titan approached her, the look on her face was one of utter contempt for the monster as she aimed her handles at it; nothing was going to separate her from Ymir. Suddenly a blurry figure struck the Titan from behind, killing it instantly, the figure then landed; crouching on a piece of large rubble with his back turned towards them, he calmly stood up and turned his head back slightly to face the remaining Scouts.
"Captain Levi!" yelled Nanaba
"Nanaba, you and the 104th stay back" he asked, his authoritative tone did much to reassure them, he turned back to face the Titan horde "We'll handle it from here." As if on Que a cascade of Scouts rained down upon the Titans; their blades drawn ready to strike at them. The 104th and the rest of the veterans burst out into a loud cheer as the reinforcements cut down the remaining Titans.
"Rear guard, secure a perimeter" ordered Hange pointing her blade to the left, she suddenly caught sight of Eren, to her right, launching himself off his horse "Hey wait a mint-" the sound of more cables being fired off from her left caught her attention as she watched Ed leap from his horse too "Damn it you two, you're not part of the offensive!"
Ed zoomed towards an eleven meter and carved out a hole in its nape, using its shoulder as a stepping stone he landed onto the battlement, skidding slightly before coming to a complete stop, he frantically turned his head side to side looking for Alphonse in the ruins of the castle "Al!" he called out "Where are you!"
"Brother!" yelled Alphonse, waving his blade in an attempt to signal his location, once Ed had spotted him among the other Scouts he felt a wave of relief overcome him.
Eren fired his cables onto the upper back of a fifteen meter Titan, he reeled himself forward "Die!" he yelled as he struck the nape of the Titan "I did it! My first kill for the books!" his celebration was cut short when his cables got tangled together while he was still in the air; he tumbled onto the ground and landed painfully into a small pile of rubble
"Idiot!" yelled one of the Scouts "You were told to stay back!"
"Right, I'm sorry sir!" apologized Eren "ouch…"
"Hey Eren!" came a voice to his left, he turned to see it was Connie with Sasha, Reiner and Bertholdt
The once tense battle that hung from a knife's edge had now turned into a slaughter as the remaining Titans were quickly eliminated; the castle was now a mass graveyard of smoking Titan carcasses. A small crowd formed around the Jaws Titan as Hange, Levi and Krista worked to pull her out of her mangled Titan while Eren, Alphonse, Ed, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Reiner, Sasha, Mina, Connie, Bertholdt and other Scouts watched.
"Ymir's a Titan?" asked Eren dumfounded as he stared at Ymir, her right arm and left leg had been tore off and there was no telling what internal damages she had.
"Believe me; we were just as shocked as you are." Replied Jean
Ed began to look around at the group watching Ymir just how many Titan shifters are there?
Krista cradled Ymir's head gently in her hand "Ymir" she called out softly, Ymir open her eyes ever so slightly "My name, my real name, is Historia…" Ymir slowly shut her eyes as a small smile form on her lips
Once the dust had settled the first priority was to move the wounded into Wall Sina; The remaining Scout officers quickly decided to transport their surviving comrades to Hermina district. The Scouts began to load their wounded comrades onto wooden carriages, Ymir was placed in a small wagon by herself; a green blanket covering her and her Scout cloak folded into a pillow. The group of Hange, Levi, Nanaba, Eren, Ed, Alphonse, Mikasa and Armin met up on the top of the tower
"So you're saying there is no breach in Wall Rose?" asked Levi
"No, the whole thing is intact." Replied Nanaba
"Well then, this complicates things" said Hange "Reiner and Bertholdt are still the key suspects and it raises the question on how the Titans got in Wall Rose."
"During the battle we encountered this Titan, it was seventeen meters tall and covered in fur, it had controlled the Titans through its screams similar to the ability of Annie Leonhart." Said Nanaba "If I had to guess I'd say he's behind this whole attack."
"Squad Leader Hange, I think I know where the Titans came from" said Armin "Connie talked about how his village was destroyed by the Titans but yet they didn't find any bodies and he and Jean both heard a Titan speak, and that's not the worst part, the Titan was said to look like his mother.."
Hange, Nanaba, Ed, Eren and Alphonse were aghast by the revelation, even Levi's face twitched slightly.
"What you're saying is that the Titans are humans?" asked Hange
"Yes and the Titans inside Wall Rose are likely the ones from Connie's village." answered Armin
"This... actually this makes sense…" added Hange as she came to a sudden epiphany "A Titan's weak spot, no matter the size class, is always one meter down and ten centimeters across and those kinds of measurements are almost identical to the average human spine and brain."
"You've always cut open the necks of Titans we captured but you've never found anything similar to that." Said Levi
"True, but it could be a possibility that the spine and brain may have been absorbed into the Titan's body." Replied Hange
"So what you're saying is that for years the monsters I've sworn to eradicate were actually humans?" asked Levi as he stared at the floor
Ed and Alphonse both thought back to all the Titans they'd killed; Edward tried to shake off the feeling of disgust with himself; he thought back to when the Truth told him about the war on another world when they accepted the mission he struggled to make peace with the reality that if he was to fight he might have to end someone life but now that he discovered the Titans were humans it seemed as though he was struggling to come to terms with the pile of corpses, from the Titans he's slain, on which he now stood on. Alphonse, however, felt sick to his stomach; while he'd never say it a part of him was glad the enemy were Titans because it meant he'd wouldn't have to kill a person but instead monsters, all he could feel in the moment was shame as he thought back to that feeling of pride as he killed his first Titan, his first human being.
"Tell me, Elrics, are you willing to take a life in order to complete this goal?" asked the Truth
Neither Edward nor Alphonse looked at the Truth as he questioned them; instead they stood there staring into the door of Truth, into this other world they've now tactility agreed to get involved in.
"Or do you intent to stick to your principles?" questioned the Truth
"We'll work as we go." Said Edward, still not looking back at the Truth
The Truth placed its head on its hand and began to softly laugh "Oh boys, I've kept an eye on this world for more than a few of its centuries, if you think you can succeed in your mission without making compromises larger than the ones you've made in your world then you're going to find yourself at a very large disadvantage"
Armin looked at both Levi and the Elrics, he could tell that his theory had disgusted them and that they were uncomfortable with the idea that they've been killing people thee entire time "There's still no hard proof about the theory" said Armin "I could be wrong; in fact for now let's just assume that I am."
"We'll discuss this further another time then, with Commander Erwin" said Hange "Right now we need to decide what to do about Ymir and the situation with Reiner and Bertholdt."
"She agreed to cooperate with us after the battle." Said Nanaba
"When Ymir had said that she'd explain everything I noticed Reiner and Bertholdt both looked uneasy." Added Armin, Eren looked to the floor with a sombre expression; he had thought that both Reiner and Bertholdt were clear of the charges but now they looked to be key suspects once more and now there was further confirmation of it.
"How do we take them to Stohess without raising the alarm then?" asked Levi
"I imagine that both Reiner and Bertholdt won't let Ymir divulge any information" said Armin "No doubt they'll follow Ymir if we bring her to Stohess." Said Armin But so will Historia and the others...
"But Krista is going to follow her too and- and all the other guys!" exclaimed Eren "If the plan fails then they'll be caught in the middle!"
"Believe me I don't like this idea as much as you do..." said Armin saddened by what he was suggesting " but if we brought them along then I doubt Reiner and Bertholdt suspect a trap; having others who are just as in the dark about this as them would give us some cover."
"I don't like this..." said Edward "Putting those guys in the fray again after all this" he said gesturing towards the ruined castle below them
"There has to be a better way which places less people in danger." Added Alphonse
"They're Scouts" countered Levi "Putting their lives on the line at a moment's notice is what they've signed up to do, I say we go with Armin's plan." Though in truth he wasn't too fond of the idea either.
"We'll do everything in our power to make sure this goes off without a hitch." said Hange trying to reassure them "we just need to get them underground then we're in the clear, I'll send a runner to Stohess and inform the local authorities to begin evacuating the residents, we'll also take the long way to buy them more time."
"I thought only commander Erwin had those powers?" asked Edward
"Of course, the message 'came' from commander Erwin" said Hange, tapping on her nose with a sly smile on her face.
"Then it's settled." said Levi "Ymir will act as the bait and your friends as the cover."
"I'll take the rest of my squad and the 104th and escort the wounded" said Nanaba "Good luck with the rest of the mission." she saluted the group, placing her fist onto the left side of her chest, the rest of them saluted back.
As Reiner filled up some empty gas canisters he looked up at the tower where the Scout officers, the Elrics and his friends talked, he wondered about the conversation they had to warrant secrecy from everyone else and weirder still why Armin and Mikasa were in on it. He turned back to face the wagon Ymir was lying in, Krista sat with her. Bertholdt was sitting next to him, replacing his blades in his scarab "We should do it." Said Reiner in a slightly angered hush tone
"What?" asked Bertholdt confused
"Capture them; Eren, Ymir, Historia and the Elrics they're all here in one location... we can end this right here and now."
"No, wait..." said Bertholdt desperately, he looked around at all the wounded members of the 104th being loaded onto wagons "we can't... the Scout reinforcements have already arrived and Captain Levi is with them, everyone's already on high alert so we won't have the drop on them." Reiner looked at Bertholdt with an almost bitter expression, Bertholdt sighed "please just... not now, we'll try and talk to Ymir first." Reiner turned away from him and walked up to Historia carrying two scarabs full of blades with their gas canisters attached
"Here's the rest of your gear" said Reiner in an overtly friendly tone "You alright Krista?"
"I'm fine, just a little tired" replied Historia "and my name's not Krista, its Historia..."
"Oh right, sorry" replied Reiner "You know, Ymir's lucky to have someone like you close to her; you're a good person and an even better friend, you should probably get some sleep it's a long way to Stohess.
"Thank you, Reiner" said Historia weakly smiling at him "You really are our big brother." Reiner turned around to face Bertholdt; the bitter look on his face was replaced with a lighter expression
"Hey Bertholdt, what's wrong?" he asked confused by the baffled look on Bertholdt's face, he then noticed his friends walking up to him "So you guys are coming along also?"
"Yes, Ymir's our friend too" said Sasha
"If what Nanaba says is true, that Ymir will be put in front of a military tribunal, then we'll need to be there to support her." Said Mina
"Also I...just want to know what the hell is going on..." added Connie
"We don't even know if they'll let us go with her first" said Jean, they then caught squad leader Hange walking up to the wagon, and she placed her hand at the side and peered inside.
"Is she alright?" she asked Historia
"I.. I don't know" replied Historia
"You're coming along with us?" Hange asked
"Yes, Squad Leader"
"Squad Leader" said Reiner as he saluted her "If I may, we'd-"
"You guys want to come along too?" interrupted Hange, the group nodded at her, she gave them a sympathetic smile "Alright, get in the wagon over there; it's a long trip so get some sleep, we'll reach Stohess at around midnight.
"Hey Al" said Ed grabbing on the shoulder "You've had a rough night, why don't you go with them and get some rest; I'll take your horse with me."
"Thank you, brother" replied Alphonse; he walked up to the wagon.
Reiner folded his cloak and placed it at the side of the wagon, resting his back on it; he turned his head off to the side and spotted a lone Scout riding off to the east. Both Sasha and Connie were fast asleep, their heads resting on Jean's shoulders as he drifted off. Armin rested his head on Mikasa's shoulder. Bertholdt fell asleep cross legged with his head dangling off the side and his neck resting on his cloak which was covering the side of the wagon and Alphonse sat in the corner of the wagon, his arms crossed and his head turned slightly to the side and next to him was Mina, with her head resting on her knees, using her folded cloak as a pillow. Historia still sat next to Ymir, staring at her sleeping figure with worried eyes.
Night had already fallen over the small Scout convey; the raven sky was bathed in a blanket of small bright stars and little bright yellow flickering embers outlined the walls of Stohess.
"Hey!" yelled Levi as he banged his fist onto the side of the wagon "wake up, we're at Stohess" the small group opened their eyes from their slumber feeling groggy as they were abruptly woken "Get your gear on; the gates sealed until Wall Rose's interior has been deemed clear so we'll have to climb."
As they arrived at the outer wall of Stohess, convey dismounted, the small group placed their scarabs and ODM gear back onto themselves
"Being wedged between you two was the most uncomfortable I've ever been in my entire life" growled Jean to Sasha and Connie
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I slept fine" Joked Connie as Sasha laughed, just for a moment he had forgotten about the horrors he witnessed and the fate of his family.
Hange lifted up the cloak covering Ymir; most of her external injuries were almost fully; her right arm and left leg, which had been tore off, had returned with the exception of the top hand of her foot and fingers. "She's still unconscious" said Hange "Bring over the stretcher" Historia, Armin and Eren lowered her onto the stretcher and fasten belts around her to be lifted up.
"Alright, I'll see you guys up on the wall." Said Reiner as he fired his cables, the hooks from the crane on top of the walls were lowered down and attached to the stretcher carrying Ymir, she was then slowly lifted up.
"Hey" said Levi to one of the Scouts "find a place to tie up the horses, he then turned to the group "you guys, up the wall, c'mon get moving." They fired their cables onto the walls and reeled themselves upwards, Eren pulled himself onto the top of the large wall; he turned to see Reiner, standing next to Bertholdt, staring off into the distance of Stohess with a bewildered look on his face.
What's going on? Thought Reiner as he stared into the unusually dimly lit city where is everyone, this place should be packed with refugees and people... then it hit him; the secret meeting, the lone rider heading off in the same direction before them and now a seemingly almost empty Stohess... his eyes widen its a trap! But how did they... then he remembered the interview with Hange after the expedition about Annie.
They caught her; that's how Armin got in on it...
Ed took Alphonse's hand as he helped him up the wall, Historia and Mina carried the stretcher onto the middle of the wall, the whole group was now on the top of the wall of outer wall of Stohess.
"Eren" said Reiner in a deathly serious tone "did she tell you?"
Eren felt his stomach drop at the question "wha.. What do you mean 'she'?" he asked, trying to act confused
"Annie" Reiner stated clearly, allowing everyone to hear him; Mikasa, Armin, Ed, Alphonse, Hange, Levi and the other Scouts froze in place. Jean, Connie, Sasha, Mina and Historia could sense the tension in the air through the almost deathly silence around them.
"I don't know what you mean, Reiner" said Eren, breaking the silence, a bead of sweat ran down his forehead "what do you mean 'has Annie told me?"
Reiner sighed "I'm... I'm such a fucking idiot..." he said his voice sounded as if he was both frustrated and sadden about something "I've been here for too long... three years of living in this hell, surrounded by idiots." All eyes were on him, Bertholdt, who was standing next to him, looked distressed "We were just kids; we didn't know about anything, I've allowed my resolve to weaken... and it's all because I had to meet you bastards..." he attaches a blade onto his handle "To hell with this, I don't know what's right anymore but I will face up to what I've done." He places the blade's edge on the palm of his hand and slices it open, bright yellow sparks appear around him, Eren watches in complete abject shock, thee other members of the 104th, who weren't in on the plan, all felt their stomachs drop as they caught sight of the bright sparks around Reiner "As a warrior and I will fulfil my duty!"
"Reiner!" exclaims Bertholdt "Right here? Now? We're doing this?"
"Yes! Right here, Right now, we are settling this!" proclaims Reiner as he walks towards Eren, bright yellow sparks of light continued to appear around him, Eren watched in complete abject shock. Mikasa sneaks up from behind Eren, leaps around him and slashes at Reiner, he raises his arms to defend himself only to have his right arm cut off and the blade buried in his left.
Bertholdt panicked as he watched Reiner get attacked but that did not stop him from noticing the sound of running footsteps behind him; he turns his head to see Captain Levi, who had snuck up on him from behind during Reiner's speech, charging towards him. Levi swings his blade at Bertholdt's neck, aiming to behead the tall traitor, Bertholdt quickly steps back, ducks slightly to dodge thee attack and raises his hands up to protect himself. He barely avoids Levi's killing strike but he wasn't totally out of reach from the attack; Levi's blades severs both of Bertholdt's hands from his wrists and slashes at his eyes. Bertholdt falls to the floor crying in agony as blood begins to pour from his wrists and eye sockets.
Mikasa tries to swing her other blade, aiming for his neck, but misses completely, Reiner quickly side-steps and kicks Mikasa off the wall into Stohess, he turns his head to see Levi walk up to Bertholdt, who was desperately trying to crawl away from him. He stomps on Bertholdt's neck, pinning him to the spot, and raises his blade ready to pierce into his heart.
"For all the lives you've taken, you son of a bitch" Levi was ready to end Bertholdt life but Reiner charges in and knocks Levi off of the wall into Wall Rose's interior
"Bertholdt!" exclaims Reiner looking down at his wounded friend; he quickly places himself in front of his grievously wounded friend and stared down his former comrades who looked at the two of them with pained expression of shock and terror.
The 104th watch as the yellow sparks began to appear once more around the two of them, the bright flashes of light growing more and more intense with each second, Eren watched, frozen in place by his immense feeling of shock, sorrow and betrayal as more of the people he looked up to reveled themselves to be the monsters who ruined his life. Suddenly Edward grabs Eren by the back of his collar and quickly drags him further away from them before two large bolts of lightning struck the floor; sending them both flying and tumbling further down the wall.
An almost colossal gust of wind sends everyone flying back and Ymir carried off into the air, the torches which had lit up the wall were quickly blow out, yet the top of the wall seemed to be set ablaze by the mass explosion of bright light, the hellish heat and smoke had made the air almost unbearable. Eren clung onto the rail tracks of the wall, he moves his head upwards to see the Colossal Titan raise its skinless head from the thick cloud of smoke, letting out a roar which shook the very earth itself. It raised its hand up, its enormous arm leaving those under it in total darkness from its shadow under the moonlight for a good few seconds as it grabbed Ymir with its monstrously large hands.
"Ymir!" cried Historia as she saw her friend caught in the hand of the Colossal Titan.
Suddenly the smoke in front of them parts as the Armoured Titan begins to advance towards him, cracking the wall with every footstep. Ed, Alphonse and the Scouts all stare at the monster before them; its large muscular form was covered by cream colored plating with only thin lines of red muscle between them and it looked at them with its brilliant yellow eyes. It reaches out to grab Eren but is stopped when two spikes rapidly jut out of from the floor and pierce the Armour Titan plating; stopping him in his tracks, Eren turns his head to the side to see Ed with his hands placed down on the floor, glaring at the Armoured Titan with gritted teeth. Eren turned back to the Armoured and Colossal Titans, tears being blown from his eyes; he shut them and thought about those happier years in the Cadet Corps.
Bertholdt... Reiner...
He reopened his eyes, there was an insatiable fire behind them as he got up from the ground, placed his clenched fist into his mouth and bit down.
YOU DAMN TRAITORS!
There was a blindingly bright explosion of light, the scouts covered their eyes as Eren was engulfed in a large mass of muscle and skin. Ed lowered his hand to see a familiar fifteen meter tall muscular Titan with piercing green eyes, black oily hair and jagged teeth, it let out a vicious roar before charging towards the Armoured Titan, tackling him off the spikes and sending them both flying off the wall and into Stohess.
So I managed to find the time to write this chapter, still expect the other one to be somewhere between late January and early February