Chapter 59 Blood Cost

Important announcement, please see Authors Note

The stare down between Frieda and Gohan was brief. The two of them had shared enough words, tried in vain to win their argument through means other than violence, but both had failed. With Gohan's sudden and quick rising power, Frieda couldn't waste any time with hesitation.

As Gohan dropped himself into a fighting stance, his Ki flared bright and invitingly. He held up a hand and gestured for her to come in taunt. Frieda indulged him. She soared straight at Gohan, fists flying as he dodged and weaved. The few hits she managed to force him to block felt substantially different. There was no budging in his defence, no signs of pain on his face as her fist struck his arm.

Gohan slipped through her guard and hit her hard in the chest. She gasped, feeling her body raise from the floor as the breath was driven from her lungs. It was a powerful punch, and not his only one. His right cross sent her flying backwards across the dirt, coming to a halt at the foot of one of her Titans.

As she choked back air, she saw him strolling towards her. There was a new air of arrogance around him, as if he had finally decided to stop playing around with her. That he was no longer held back.

"Kill him."

She snarled the words and her Titans obeyed. The creatures charged forwards, ground shaking with their thunderous steps. Gohan soared into action as they came close, weaving between the creatures as they struck at him. He blocked their strikes and returned with his own, smashing apart fists that exploded against his own.

Beams blasted out as he blew apart necks and their napes too. One Titan raised its foot, seeking to stomp Gohan into the ground as they had done so previously. He pressed back against the foot with both hands, holding the creature back before he shifted his form just slightly.

He let the foot slip past as he moved, before grabbing the oversized creature's ankle. With a great deal of Ki control, he pushed outwards to begin twisting the limb. The Titan fought back against Gohan's push, but as it moved little by little, it eventually lost balance and began to topple over.

The creature crashed into the ground, ripping up the earth in a fifty-metre-long crater. With its ankle still firmly in hand, Gohan began to pivot. The gargantuan creature shifted along the ground, sliding as Gohan spun it around in a circle. He swiped out the legs of another Titan before he hurled the creature skyward, straight for Frieda.

Her eyes went wide, hands reflexively flying out to stop the massive creature as it soared towards her. The Titan hit her hands, coming to a halt in the sky even as its body fractured under the immense strain of its sudden halt. With only flesh in front of her, and mind too addled to focus on her Ki sensing, Frieda had no warning as Gohan suddenly burst through the Titan's body in front of her and punched her directly in the face.

Ki exploded out from his fist, a sphere of energy appearing around them that disintegrated every part of Titan flesh it touched. The creature's nape was included, and it fell apart from the sky in dead and steaming pieces.

Frieda caught Gohan's leg as he tried to kick her, delivering a punch back of her own that proved she wasn't done from the fight just yet. With her full attention on Gohan, and his on hers, neither noticed as the Titan flesh came crashing down near another wandering Titan behemoth.

Ymir was doing her best to keep out of reach of Historia as she moved across the plains, each swipe from her love getting closer and closer. Historia's Titan form was a mess, crawling its way across the ground on an underdeveloped lower body. But its size was so immense that every time it moved it covered tremendous amounts of distance.

Ymir herself was unable to focus at all, mind still racing as she felt such torment in her heart. Her mind was on a loop, racing between denial and horror as her heart pounded away in her chest. She couldn't believe it. Historia had been transformed into a nightmare of a creature, one of incredible danger.

She had seen the battle racing overhead as Gohan and Frieda fought each other. It was a tremendous display of power, one inconceivable despite knowing some of what Gohan was capable of. But their battle was contained, to themselves at least. In spite of the incredible destruction they were wreaking, neither of them seemed to see a world outside of each other.

The wall was broken, colossal Titans walked free from inside of it and fought against Gohan. If the fight between the two of them didn't kill everyone first, then other Titans were going to swarm inside of Wall Rose and kill everyone anyway. She had seen the flares as well, alerts from Garrison soldiers on the wall as they too spotted the breach.

How could they not with everything that was happening?

Ymir's heart began to freeze up as she saw riders approaching.

'Those stupid idiots! Two super powered people are blowing up everything around them, the wall is broken through, and there's a massive Titan roaming the land inside. Why the hell wouldn't they just stay away!?'

Of course, her cursed luck had put her in the presence of some of the only brave wall Garrison soldiers in the land. It was a team of five that rode towards them, fearful expressions on their faces yet still firmly resolute as they rode closer.

"Men! Draw your swords! Buy time for the evacuation!"

Damn fools meant to either lead them away or kill them. They wouldn't succeed at either, not that she could really tell them. Except, she might be able to.

She pulled away from Historia, angling off in a way that brought her initially closer, but allowed her the chance to have Historia lose her momentum. Historia's Titan swiped at her she came briefly within reach, and Ymir's leap over the giant hand that swatted towards her felt far too perilously close.

She escaped by the finest of margins and raced off to try and lure the Garrison riders away. They came towards her first, deeming her the obviously lesser threat. They moved to match pace, surrounding her as they shouted orders to one another.

"What the hell is that thing!? Why isn't it attacking us?"

"No time to ask questions soldier, you get one chance to kill it before it kills us!"

"Y-yes sir!"

The young soldier's swords were raised and ready, preparing himself to strike before he saw something he'd never imagined as possible. The nape of the Titan's neck opened up and a woman leaned up out of it.

Ymir kept her limbs fully connected as she maintained her sprint. She'd never had to do such a thing under these conditions before, but she didn't have the luxury of screwing up and tripping or slowing down.

"Hey, dumb fucks! Don't attack me alright!?"

"Y-you're a woman! Inside of a Titan!"

"I'm fucking aware!" Ymir couldn't help the snap in her voice and words. She was not a terribly social person at the best of times, in her currently devastated emotional state she had no patience left for these idiots. "If any of you live I'll explain it all later, but you need to get away from Historia- I mean the Titan!"

Historia was not a murderer of innocent people. Despite what Marti had tried, Ymir would die before she let her love be truly turned into the monster that she now looked. Except… even as she risked a glance back at Historia's Titan in pursuit, the smile she saw still looked like the smile of the one she loved.

"Who the hell are you to give orders to us!? You're a damn Titan!"

"Shut up and do as I fucking- WATCH OUT!"

Shadows were her first warning, followed by the sight of massive chunks of Titan flesh falling from the sky. The first arm crashed down into the ground and kicked up dirt everywhere, knocking people off their horses and stumbling Ymir's Titan form. Ymir slid to a halt as she lost control, slowing just in time to avoid another slab of meat that crashed down in front of her.

A rain of flesh and bones crashed around them, scattered by the battle that had destroyed the Titan. Through some astonishing levels of luck, none were caught by the attack, and only superficial wounds were suffered from those who fell from their horses.

Ymir looked around at the carnage. One of the soldiers was shaking off the dirt as they rose to their feet. The man was dazed and confused, entirely oblivious to the massive hand that reached out and grabbed him.

He snapped into focus in an instant, screaming in terrifying panic as he was unable to move. Historia's Titan didn't crush him despite her overwhelming strength, instead she moved as all Titans did and readied herself to eat him. Her mouth opened wide, his screaming and crying form came closer to her teeth, and suddenly Ymir was there.

Her own mighty jaws bit down into Historia's Titan hand, shredding at the flesh and cracking the bones beneath enough for the man to begin slipping from her grasp. Ymir caught the man with one of her hands and flung him away roughly, landing at the feet of his comrades who raced to pull him away. It seemed that they had finally got the message to run away.

Ymir jumped from Historia's hand, hitting the ground and beginning her stride before Historia's other giant hand crashed down in front of her. Ymir froze, waiting in terror for the hand to grasp around her. And yet… nothing happened.

Slowly, Ymir turned around to see Historia's Titan towering over her. The ruined hand was reaching out towards her, and yet it had stopped completely still. Her fixed and twisted smile remained rigid, as did her whole body. Not an inch of movement, no blinking of the eyes, nothing. Historia remained entirely still.

"Historia?"

Like a snapping rope, Historia began to twitch. Her face twisted, the smile pulling downwards into a saddened and depressed frown. Her eyes softened, and tears began to form at the edges of her eyes. Ymir didn't think such a thing was possible, but whatever Historia had been turned into was clearly not a normal Titan. Perhaps because of her royal blood, but she continued to frown as massive tears began to roll down her cheek.

She was in there, the real Historia.

Historia pulled back, hands reaching up to grasp at her head in reluctance. She shook violently, willing herself to refuse what the Titan called for her to do. As she pulled away from Ymir, she saw the fleeing Garrison soldiers. A new wave of impulse came over Historia, one too much to fight as she began to move.

Ymir recognised it in an instant, the impulse to devour as all Titans held. As she too had once held.

"HISTORIA! NO!"

She was moving quickly, clambering to get in front of Historia's vision as the Titan moved in pursuit of its targets. It was of little use, but Ymir was resolute in trying to stop her. She couldn't let Historia go through with something so terrible. She knew the mental scar that it would leave on her.

'If I can even turn her back.'

She knew what was required. The only way a Titan could be turned back into a human was by consuming a Titan shifter. Her mind was quickly formulating any such possibility. Could she lead Historia away and out towards the remaining warriors of Marley? Or perhaps she could bring Frieda into Historia's path?

The evil thoughts in the back of her mind probed another suggestion, that of surrendering Eren to Historia.

But she knew she could not do that. Mikasa or Gohan would hunt her down for what she did, and Historia would likely never forgive her regardless. And alas, there was always a final option… Selfishly, she cast that thought aside and focused on her first two plans.

She didn't know where the other Marleyan warriors were now. They had survived, last she had heard, and retreated past Wall Rose. However, that meant little for her to act on. If the Marleyans intended to stop Eldian progress, they could either reinforce Shiganshina to prevent any sealing of the wall, or they could attempt another breach. But after being witness to Gohan's power, and especially if any of them had seen the battle happening over her head, then they may have fled back to Marley entirely.

She cast her eyes to the fight above.

Frieda and Gohan were still furiously fighting one another, punching creating sonic booms as they fought. There was no chance she could do anything about Frieda. But her time was running out, Historia was catching up quickly to the Garrison soldiers as they tried to flee.

"HISTORIA!"

She flung herself in the path between them, screaming out her name as she came to a halt. The Garrison soldiers paid no mind, continuing to flee, but Historia came to a halt once more. Ymir saw the twitching, the way she seemed to wrestle for control over herself, and knew that her mind had been made up.

She pulled herself completely out of her Titan, standing upright on the body fully in the open air. She braced herself, swearing that she wouldn't cry or show any fear.

"Historia…" The words were soft as they left her mouth, knowing that what she was about to do was going to hurt Historia for the rest of her life. "I know you can hear me, and I know what you have to do. It's-… it's okay…"

There was a sharp rise in her breathing before Ymir forced herself to calm it down. She would not allow herself to show hesitation here.

"This is the only way Historia."

The Titans hand began to reach out towards her, jerking as part of her fought to pull back. Her crying face reflected Ymir's own inside, but she would not let it show.

'I was really looking forward to a life with you Historia.'

The mighty hand softly wrapped around her. It was gentle, still hesitant as it picked her up. Ymir broke eye contact, burying her head towards her chest as she could no longer look at Historia. All she could think of was the life that she had wanted to have with her. The late nights, the soft kisses, the times spent wrapped in each other's arms, hell even the arguments, she had wanted it all.

A soft whine escaped her lips as she fought back the cry. She would not make this moment harder for Historia than it already would be, she needed to be strong for her. This was her last chance, the last impression she would ever give her love.

"I love you Historia! More than anything!"

It was a desperate scream that tore from her lips, her last cry of her life as she was lifted upwards. Historia's Titan mouth began to jerk open, stuttering as her maw opened wider. She was twitching, fighting against the action, but Ymir could see already it was a lost cause.

It would be quick, Ymir knew it to be so. As the hot moisture from her mouth hit Ymir's face, she closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting for the inevitable final moment.

Sparks flew from blade to blade as Mikasa and Levi traded blows against Kenny. Despite their attempts at flanking, or overwhelming him, he hadn't given a single inch of ground in their fight. Sword swipes came near, and he'd lost more than a few strands of hair in the duel. But they were no closer to gutting him.

He slipped past one of Mikasa's swipes, throwing out a hook that punched through the metal and shattered it apart. She still had a spare, but the brief open window was where he struck. The speed of his attacks sharply increased, the man seemingly trying to batter his way through her defence. Levi rushed in to try and distract him with attacks of his own. Through a blur of motion, Mikasa managed to catch the slightest glimpse of a smile on Kenny's face.

A kick pressed against Mikasa, rocketing her away and into the side of a building. The wall broke against her back, dirt crumbling around her as she was embedded inside. She began wrenching herself free immediately, but it took long enough for her to see the fight between Kenny and Levi truly develop.

Levi was fast, bounding around everywhere and spinning repeatedly. She could also see the telltale red glow in his eyes as he struck. Levi was throwing everything he had at Kenny, but nothing would stick. Kenny wasn't moving around nearly as much, but his eyes were pure focus, never losing track of Levi or his weapons. And for a brief moment she saw it, that same red glow in his eyes.

"You're fast Levi, I can safely say that I'm god damn proud right now."

Kenny's sneer only served to aggravate Levi more, his swings hitting harder with every strike.

"I don't give a damn what you think Kenny. You can be the proudest corpse in the world for all I care."

"Hahaha. Such bravado, yet so little to back it up." Kenny let slip the swords from his hand as he embraced Levi in a surprise bear hug. "Especially when you never learnt the lesson about never relying on others."

Kenny suddenly pivoted, swinging Kenny around and hurling him into the path of Mikasa as she raced towards them. She screeched to a halt, feet tearing up the concrete as she tried to stop. Levi's body slammed into her. It was fortunate she had managed to move her blades out of the way lest he be penetrated against her body.

"AGH! Levi you need to- MOVE!"

The two flung themselves apart as Kenny struck towards them. Mikasa's hands flew out and batted away the sword that had been flung towards her, whilst Levi threw his hands up in preparation for a solar flare. Kenny didn't give him the chance. He was slashing with one hand while throwing out a Ki blast with the other. Levi dodged the best he could, but as he raised one blade to block another, it wasn't a sword that struck down.

The knife had flashed into Kenny's hand unseen, and Levi had pulled too far back in expectation of a longer blade. It cut him deep. A vicious slash carved him from collar to hip, from his left to his right. A gasp of surprise escaped his lips as the knife left his body, followed by a sharp cry of pain as Kenny's foot raised up and stomped down onto his knee.

The crack was loud and sickening, heard even over Levi's pained shouts. Kenny smiled widely before he quickly turned away and blocked the desperate thrust from Mikasa. She had gone straight for the kill, but he had seen it coming from a mile away. He could respect the attempt anyway.

"Last man standing eh Mikasa?"

There was no true venom in his words as he looked her in the eyes. Instead, there was only pure and unadulterated joy. Kenny, loved this fight. This was everything he had been waiting for since he had first discovered his passion for the craft of murder. The desperation in Mikasa's eyes, the widening of fear, the pounding in his chest as adrenaline flooded through his veins.

Kenny couldn't get enough of it.

"You don't really think you're going to survive this do you girl?"

She didn't answer, backing up and dropping one blade to fire a Ki blast at him. He batted it away where it exploded in the distance. He pressed on against her, meeting her face to face once more as he stared deep into those scared eyes. It was intoxicating.

"Tell me, do you think he'll see it when it happens?"

Her momentary confusion didn't stop her from attacking, and he blocked and weaved with sword and knife in hand. She didn't ask what he meant, but he waited as he saw the paranoid fear drawing in.

"He's coming you know. Can't you sense him? Took him a while, but he's almost here, probably sensed you were in trouble."

There was a sliver of realisation coming in now. From his words, and from her senses too. She couldn't help it, a reflexive touch outwards to feel what was there. He saw the instant she realised, the spike of terror in her eyes as the moment drew near.

"Let's give Eren one hell of a memory."

Eren had come running after he had gotten his parents to safety. The riot in the underground had been successful, and he'd come following after Mikasa when things were settled enough to leave them. His senses weren't as sharp as the others, but they were enough to follow what was going on.

Numerous signatures dead. Levi was weak, Mikasa was fighting on his own, many of their comrades were lying wounded and bloodied. Eren came sprinting around the corner just in time to see Mikasa and Kenny locked blades.

Mikasa saw him over Kenny's shoulder, his panicked relief that he wasn't too late. But Kenny saw her reaction, her hesitant dread as he came into view. That was when he struck.

His knife reeled back and plunged forwards, shattering through the sword that Mikasa tried to block with. Shards of metal showered the air, following by crimson as the knife sunk into her stomach.

She didn't cry out, didn't scream in pain. Only a shocked gasp escaping her lips as it happened. When she fell backwards and hit the floor, she saw the way Eren's face had transformed, the terror that gripped him.

"MIKASA!"

His horrified screech rang out across the street. Kenny stepped away with a satisfied smile. A cry rose from a group of nearby soldiers, their rifles raised as they fired in a futile attempt to gun him down.

Kenny leapt away from the gunfire, cackling at their failure, but Eren saw none of it. He sprinted towards Mikasa, reaching her prone body as fast as he could.

"Mikasa!"

He pulled her up and towards him, a weak whimper escaping from her lips as she was moved. His hand hovered over the knife still stuck in her gut with hesitation. He knew he shouldn't pull the knife out, but he didn't know what to do as he saw the blood continue to pour from underneath. Her white shirt tinting red in a pool around her wound.

"Mikasa…"

"Eren…" Her words were weak and soft. "Hurts…"

"It's okay Mikasa, it'll be okay. Don't try to speak." His hands were shaking, but he tried to keep as still as he could for her sake. She was already in so much pain.

From atop the nearby rooftop, Kenny watched it all with a satisfied smile on his face. There was the pain, there was the hurt that he indulged in so much. He glanced over his shoulder to see the rest of the fight. The MP's were nearly all finished now. Some had surrendered, most were dead or dying alongside their former Garrison brothers, but it had been an undeniable loss for the MP's. A few were returning to the safety of the palace, but they were so few in number that they had no hope to hold it.

Without a care in the world, Kenny returned his focus to Eren. His mouth opened to speak, when he suddenly froze.

A creeping sensation ran up his spine, a sudden chill of… fear? His eyes widened as he turned to look towards the walls, towards where he was sensing something that seemed impossibly wrong.

On the ground, Eren didn't even notice when the first of the medical staff arrived. With the battle clear enough, they took their chance to try and rescue who they could. Jean and his team were pulled aside, their injuries checked over quickly. But it was Levi who grabbed the most immediate attention from them, three medics swarming around him with first aid tools in hand as they desperately tried to save him.

"Sir? Sir!"

Eren's eyes snapped with a white-hot rage towards the medic knelt beside him.

"Give her to us, we'll do what we can."

His anger was near uncontrollable, but he let Mikasa slip into the medics' arms. As she winced under the movement, his anger broke and his eyes flashed up towards her attacker.

"Kenny…"

He did not speak but growled the words. Like a wild animal with naught but venom lacing his tongue. Kenny spared him a glance, as for a brief moment his bravado seemed to return. The man took off at a sprint, heading back towards the palace doors.

Eren raced after him, heart pounding and with fire burning through his body.

"KENNY!"

Lighting bloomed through the sky, all eyes upwards as they beheld an impossible scene. But Eren saw nothing, nothing but the red haze that focused on Kenny. He charged after him, intent filled no matter what it took.

Eren would murder Kenny.

AN: Hello all, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I would love to hear your thoughts with a review. Exciting news for me is that there won't be a chapter next week, as my daughter is due to be born this week. So there will be a two week gap, while I focus on my little girl. I want to thank you all for the support you have given me, it really has been wonderful to hear your thoughts and read reviews, and I hope you have all enjoyed the story I have given you in return.

If you like my work and want to read the next chapter a week early, why not consider supporting me on P at reon and get access to chapter 60 - Evolution.

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Next chapter due: 28/08/23