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.

4. Chapter 4 (Rewrite)

"Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves."

Abraham Lincoln

Chapter 4: Together, We're Everything

After the final preparations were made, Eren and Cinder were taken away from the farm in Mistral. The Madame who took them was leading them to a large metallic object resting not far from the farm. Eren quickly noted the similarities between the object and the flying boat he saw Mikasa and everyone else use to catch up to him. Cinder's books said it was called an "airship," and it flew just like the flying boat did.

Once the airship lifted from the ground, Eren couldn't help but stare out the window. Cinder joined him not only to be with her friend, but also because she was grateful to finally be leaving. The farm was the only home she ever knew, but she was always miserable before Eren came along. Leaving the wretched place was a blessing for her.

And she knew it was for real the moment the airship took off the ground.

"I... I can't believe it," Cinder said as she looked to Eren. "We're actually leaving!"

"And it's about time," Eren replied with a smile. "I thought we'd never leave." Ever since he made a deal with the farmer, Eren couldn't help but believe that the week was dragging on. But all of that changed the second he learned that he would be leaving earlier than he expected.

He didn't know who this woman was or why she was doing this, but the farmer promised that he told his client where Eren was planning on going.

Cinder refused to leave the window as she stared at the clouds. "I've never been this high up before," she admitted.

"I've seen ships like this before," Eren confessed, remembering what he saw in Marley and Paradis. "But I've never been in one like this." He began to smile again. "It's... incredible."

"I know. And we're going to Argus?"

"That's what the farmer said. He told her that's where I need to go."

"Good." Cinder finally looked away from the window and back to her friend. "I've never been outside the farm before. I'm just so excited!"

"Yeah, me too."

"..."

Cinder wasn't entirely sure about that. She could hardly contain her excitement, since she was smiling and practically bouncing off the walls. Eren, on the other hand, was being rather calm and quiet. Most people would wonder if Eren was okay, but Cinder had one idea about her friend's melancholy behavior.

"Are you... thinking about your mom?" Cinder asked.

Eren sighed before he replied to Cinder. "Yeah... a little."

"..."

Eren had no intention of sharing his life's story with Cinder, but he expressed great interest in Argus. When asked why, Eren willingly admitted that he was looking for his mother there. He told Cinder a few things about her, mainly how kind and protective she was. Since he still planned on keeping his promise about going places with Cinder, Eren said that he would introduce her to his mother.

And this made Cinder all the more excited, which was why she was confused about Eren's behavior.

"I'm sorry," Eren said as he quickly shook his head. "It's just been... a long time. You know, since I've seen her."

Cinder nodded in understanding. "Well... I guess that means you'll have a lot to talk about," she said. Eren silently nodded, which made Cinder feel a little sad. To lift both of their spirits, Cinder took Eren's hands in hers and spoke. "Eren... you're really lucky. That you can still talk to your mom. It's nice, I think."

Eren smiled as he saw that this was true. Not all of his conversations with his mother went well, but they had plenty of good times together. He remembered the times he made her laugh, and how she made him laugh too. Most of all, Eren remembered how he planned to kill all the Titans because of what happened to her.

And now, he was going to save the world because of her.

"And she can take care of us while we look, you know."

Eren stopped thinking when he heard Cinder talking. "Huh?" he asked. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I was talking about her," Cinder said as she pointed towards the front of the airship. "She's taking us to Argus, after all. She'll take care of us while we look for your mother. Maybe she can help."

Eren looked at where Cinder was pointing. "Oh," he said. "Oh, right. Yeah, you're right." Eren began to feel hopeful once again. If he was going to Argus, he would be getting all the help he needed.

And better yet, he wasn't going to be alone.

"You'll like her, you know," he said. "You'll like my mom when you meet her."

Cinder smiled when she heard this. She was sure that Eren's mother was just as kind as he was, and she was looking forward to meeting her. Though she didn't have any intention of leaving the woman who took her away from the horrible farm, Cinder wanted to meet Eren's mother.

"Do you think she'll take you places?" Cinder asked. "After you see her again?"

"You mean outside of Argus?" Eren asked before he saw Cinder nod.

He hadn't thought of this, even though it sounded like a good idea. Darkness had told him that Argus' wall was meant to keep Grimm out, just like the walls on Paradis kept the Titans out. But unlike Paradis, people could come and go as they wished.

"Yeah," Eren replied with a smile. "Yeah, she might."

Cinder really liked the idea. "Where do you want to go?"

"You first."

Cinder smiled as she looked out the window. "I've always wanted to see the Kingdom of Vale," she said. Cinder wasn't allowed to bring her books with her, but she remembered everything she read. "I want to see the mountains, walk its streets. And the ocean looks beautiful."

Eren immediately began to remember what Armin told him about the ocean, so he decided to indulge Cinder. "I've seen the ocean. I saw it in books first, but it's better when you see it in person. The water's cold and the sand's kind of coarse, but you don't need to worry about feeling it. Seeing it is freedom enough."

Cinder smiled as she began to feel excited again. She wanted to see the whole world, and she decided on the ocean first. Eren always talked about it, and she believed everything Eren said about it.

Especially about freedom.

Just before Cinder could say something else, the woman who took her and Eren cleared her throat to get their attention. She then handed two small necklaces to her passengers. "Put these on," she said.

Once the children looked at each other and took them, the Madame left without a word. "What are these?" Eren asked as he looked at the yellow crystal on his.

"I... don't know," Cinder replied. "Maybe they're a gift?"

"She didn't give them like they were a gift."

"I guess." Cinder started to put her necklace on. "Maybe we should do what she wants."

"..."

Eren didn't put it on, but he kept the necklace in his pocket. "I'm not sure if I met another boy wearing something like this," he said.

"Maybe it's because you're a different boy," Cinder suggested.

Eren's head shot up and looked at Cinder with widened eyes. "Wh... What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing." Cinder began to smile. "I just think that necklace would look great on a girl named Erin."

"A girl-?" Eren deadpanned when he realized Cinder was joking. "My name is not a girl's name!" He slammed his fist on his chair, but Cinder just laughed it off.

---

A couple of hours had passed since Eren and Cinder left the farm in Mistral. Eren had to admit that he was starting to grow impatient. He didn't know much about Remnant, but Cinder's books told him that Argus was a part of Mistral. So shouldn't he have been there already?

Suddenly, the clouds cleared to reveal a snowy tundra. Eren could see mountains as well as the ground, but he could also see that they were covered in snow. He had seen the winter on Paradis before, but nothing quite as large as this.

"Cinder, look at this," Eren said as he tapped her shoulder. Cinder looked out the window to see what he was seeing. "Should there be this much snow in Argus?"

"Um... no," Cinder said slowly. She easily saw why Eren was confused by all the snow. It wasn't winter yet, it was only spring. So there couldn't be this much snow on the ground.

Unless...

"Eren... I think I know where we're going," she said.

Eren became confused once again. "Well, yeah. We're still going to Argus... right?"

Cinder looked back to Eren. "No, I... I think we're going to Atlas."

Eren stepped back in surprise. "Atlas? Not Argus?"

"Well... we can't be in Argus," she said. "Mistral never has this much snow in the springtime. Only Solitas does. And that's where Atlas is."

Eren was starting to understand now, and he remembered what he read in Cinder's books. "And... Atlas is a Kingdom, right?" he asked.

"That's right," Cinder replied. "l've heard it's the greatest Kingdom in the world."

"Really? What makes it so great?"

Cinder looked out the window again. "Um... mostly that."

Eren followed her gaze to see a large city. Or rather, a city in the sky. Multiple buildings were on top of a large rock, hovering hundreds of feet off the ground and above another city.

"This... This is impossible," said Eren, who was unable to take his eye off the city in the clouds.

"I know," Cinder said. "I've read about it a lot, but I never saw Atlas in person. It's not Vale, but it's still better than Mistral."

"..."

Eren didn't think so.

The moment he heard that he wasn't going to Argus, Eren became angry. He trusted Cinder, especially when it came to knowing places in Remnant. So he trusted her when she said that they weren't anywhere close to Argus.

Eren had no reason to express his anger at Cinder, because the woman who took him away from Mistral was the one responsible for this. He quickly decided to get to the bottom of this, which was why he marched to the front of the airship to find the woman sitting close to the pilot.

"Hey!" he called out to her. "What do you think you're doing?!"

The Madame turned back to Eren with a scowl and a look that almost seemed like she had been offended. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"You knew I wanted to go to Argus! Why are we in Atlas?!"

The woman stood up and moved towards Eren, but she didn't look at him. Instead, she looked at a button that was on her side of the doorframe. "Go back with your friend," she said. "Then I'll deal with you."

*BEEP*

*SLAM*

A metal door slid out of the wall when the Madame pressed the button. Eren's anger intensified not only from this act, but also from the truth he had discovered.

As soon as the Madame said that she was going to "deal with him," Eren knew that he was in trouble. And when he realized that the farmer only said to the Madame that he planned to go to Argus, he didn't care where he and Cinder would be going. He didn't know what was going to happen now, but Eren knew one thing.

He had been set up.

---

The airship flew closer to the city, where it passed close towards the tall buildings beneath it. Cinder was currently looking at each building as she wondered why she and Eren were in Atlas instead of Argus. But she was too captivated by the lights and structures to be upset.

The same, however, couldn't be said for Eren.

"Cinder!"

The young girl jumped at the sound of her name to see Eren marching towards her. "Cinder, we gotta get out of here!" he said. "It's not safe!"

"Wh-What?" Cinder asked. "What is it?"

Eren stopped in front of Cinder. "They lied to me," he said angrily. "They lied to us!"

"Who lied?"

"She did!" Eren pointed towards the closed door. "She and that bastard farmer!" Eren began to lower his voice as he explained. "She's not taking us to Mistral."

"What?"

*WHOOSH*

*THUD*

A low but noticeable shake caught both of the children's attention. They also noticed that the airship had stopped moving and the engines had gone quiet. Eren and Cinder realized that they had landed, which caused them to rush towards the window and see what was outside.

The children could see multiple people walking around a large area, and that there were other airships landing and taking off too. They were larger and wider than the airship they were on, and it seemed that they could carry more people.

*BEEP*

Eren and Cinder turned around to see a door opening behind them. The woman they had left with was standing behind them, and she began to walk outside when the door fully opened.

And though Eren had no desire to stay in Atlas, he followed quickly.

"Hey!" he called out. "We're not done yet! Where are you taking us?!"

"Away from here," said the Madame. She stopped momentarily to see that both Eren and Cinder were following her. "You'll have your answers soon."

"I don't need answers! I need to get to Argus!" Eren already didn't trust this woman, so he had no plans to go anywhere else but Argus.

Cinder, however, had another idea.

"Eren, calm down!" she implored. "We shouldn't be arguing with her!"

Eren quickly gasped as he replayed what he just heard. "What?" he asked out of disbelief. "Cinder, she lied to us!"

"She said she would explain! Let's just hear her out!"

The woman hummed as she stopped walking. "Listen to your friend," she said. "There's no need for arguing."

"Eren, please," Cinder said in agreement. "Let's just go."

Eren became angry once again, but then he saw how afraid Cinder was. He was surprised at this reaction, how it seemed to be directed towards him. Eren thought fear would be inevitable, since they had no idea where they were going on. But he didn't expect Cinder to be afraid in a way that she would agree with the woman.

Let alone keep walking with her.

"Cinder, stop!" Eren said as he grabbed her arm. "You can't be serious!"

Cinder began to pull her arm back. "Eren, you're hurting me!" she said. Eren immediately let go and let Cinder rub her arm. "Let's just go. I don't want to be here."

Eren didn't understand what had come over his friend. "But what about finding my mom? Or seeing Vale? Don't you want to do that?"

"Of course I do! But I... I-"

"Then what are you so afraid of?!"

"I'm afraid of going back, okay?!"

"..."

Eren and Cinder had known each other for only a short amount of time, but they had never argued in that time. They also never disagreed with each other, so this was all very surprising for the both of them. However, Cinder continued to talk as Eren listened.

"You said it was about time we left, remember?!" she asked. "That you thought we were never going to leave?!" Cinder felt tears fall down her eyes as she continued to talk. "You don't know that place like I do, Eren! I was there, alone, for years! I knew that if there was any chance of getting out of there, I was going to take it!"

"..."

"I'm free now, Eren! We both are!" Cinder pointed behind her. "And I don't want to throw that away as soon as I got it! So please, please, let's just go!" She quickly took his hands in hers. "We'll find your mom, we will! But I'm not ready to go back!"

"..."

It was strange, to say the least. Eren couldn't help but feel like he understood where Cinder was coming from, but also disagreed with her. He understood how she viewed being free as being far away from that stupid farm. After all, Eren once viewed being free as being out of the walls and in a world without Titans. Either way, neither of them planned to abandon the sense of freedom they felt.

Eren understood that better than anyone.

However, Eren knew that this woman wasn't up to anything good. It wasn't Cinder's fault that she couldn't see that; it seemed that her young age came with a sense of... innocence. That she was willing to trust anyone who would be willing to take her away from the farm, for better or worse. She may have been distrustful at the farm, but that was all in the past now. Cinder was ready to trust people again, but she didn't know that she was trusting the wrong person.

Eren recognized Cinder's innocence in this matter, and he was willing to help her see the light. She was still his friend, after all, and Eren wanted to help her.

"Cinder, I don't think-"

"She's not wrong," said the Madame. Both of the children looked up to her, unaware that she saw an opportunity with Cinder's fear. "I would suggest that you don't give me a reason to believe I choose poorly in taking you here." She then began to walk towards what appeared to be a metal cart. "Come along."

Eren quickly realized that the cruel woman was trying to manipulate him and Cinder through fear. Fortunately, Eren recognized the signs of manipulation when he saw them.

Cinder, however, couldn't abandon her fear. She quickly walked towards the cart without hesitation, which caused Eren to follow.

"Cinder, wait!" Eren begged. "You don't understand!" He saw her enter the cart, but he didn't step inside with her.

"This is your last chance," the Madame said as she stood beside Cinder. "Come with me or stay here."

"..."

Whether it was fear or innocence, Cinder couldn't be more conflicted. The woman's blunt and strict nature were very intimidating, but Cinder couldn't deny that she brought her out of Mistral. And she insisted that there was a reason behind all of this.

And Eren's anger was also intimidating, but Cinder could understand how betrayed he felt. Nobody said anything about Atlas, and he was far away from his mother. Cinder didn't want to leave him, she wanted to help him like they helped each other at the farm. But on the other hand, she didn't want to go back to Mistral.

Even though she was still with the woman, Cinder couldn't make up her mind what to do. Eren, however, made up his mind quickly.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said firmly.

Cinder softly gasped before she looked up at the Madame. She still couldn't make a decision, which was why she found herself unable to move.

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

The sound of two electronic horns made everyone look up at the doorframe. The Madame was the first to look back to Eren and make a decision for herself and Cinder.

"Have it your way," she said.

*WHOOSH*

*CLICK*

Two metal doors quickly appeared and closed right before Eren's eyes. He was taken aback by this, as well as the fact that the cart appeared to be moving.

"Hey, wait!" Eren yelled as he moved to the doors. He hit them as hard as he could, but nothing stopped the cart from moving. It appeared to be linked to other carts like it, and they all moved in the same direction as the others.

"This is... It's some kind of train!" Eren realized. He remembered how he and his friends in Paradis helped build one on the island, after the Marleyan engineers they captured decided to help. This machine appeared different in appearance, but Eren knew that it was some kind of train.

The last thing he saw before it disappeared was a sad look from Cinder.

---

"You'll see your friend again. But first, he needs to learn what will happen without me."

That was what the Madame told Cinder when she unwittingly left Eren. Ever since the train took off, Cinder was heartbroken and somewhat ashamed. She still wanted to help Eren, since he had no idea why they were in Atlas. She had no intention of leaving him abandoned, even though she didn't think going back to Mistral was the best plan.

Her judgement and confidence about her new situation were starting to waver, especially when the Madame refused to go back for Eren immediately. Her fear, on the other hand, was rising quickly. She didn't want to be abandoned like Eren, and she didn't want to be sent back to Mistral. So she believed the best thing to do would be to stay where she was.

But there was one other thing she could do.

Cinder looked up to the ceiling of the train car. All she could see was metal, so she looked towards the window instead. When she saw the night sky, Cinder clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.

"Please..." she whispered. "Please, let me see Eren again."

"..."

The train opened its doors once again, and the woman led Cinder outside. They walked together for a few minutes, which led to Cinder asking more questions. The Madame didn't seem to pay close attention to Cinder, since she only looked back once or twice to see if she was still there. It didn't seem like she cared too much, just like the farmer in Mistral didn't care how Cinder was doing.

That, and Eren being left behind, was what made Cinder finally start to have a bad feeling about this.

The rest of the walk was long and tiring for the child, but the woman didn't seem to care. They stopped in front of another building, a little smaller than the rest but still very exquisite. The outside was made of stone and had multiple windows, showing that this building had more than one floor.

"The Glass Unicorn," Cinder read the writing made by lights on top of the door. "This doesn't look like much of a house." She took another look around the area, where she saw people minding their own business.

"Come now."

Cinder looked to see the Madame holding the door open, but not out of kindness. Reluctantly, she walked up the stairs and into the building. Once she did, Cinder entered a large lounge, with multiple tables and people. The first thing she saw was numerous people going about their business. Some were talking, some were drinking, but they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Then, Cinder noticed a few glass statues around her. She recognized them as Grimm, which she saw in her books and a few times around the farm in Mistral.

Cinder continued to walk straight and ended up in some kind of kitchen. She was still looking at the lounge, but turned around at the sound of the woman clearing her throat. Once she did, Cinder saw the woman standing next to two younger ladies, a blonde with curly hair wearing a skirt and a black headband and a brunette with straight hair wearing gray pants.

Cinder's focus shifted from the older children to a basket of steaming rolls behind them. She was about to reach out for them, since she was starting to feel hungry. But when she thought about Eren and how hungry he probably was, Cinder lowered her arm in shame. Her bad feeling about the situation came back immediately.

And it got even worse when the Madame spoke again.

"You're to make sure the laundry is folded, the dishes are spotless, and the floors are clean enough to eat off of."

The Madame turned heel and began to walk away, but she stopped when Cinder spoke again.

"Wh... What?"

The Madame and her actual daughters all looked at Cinder, who was confused and surprised by the declaration. "But... that's what I did at the farm," she said.

The teenage girls slightly gasped at the reaction. The brunette raised an eyebrow at what she believed to be stupidity from Cinder while the blonde just giggled.

"Yes," the Madame said. "And that's what you'll be doing here from now on."

"..."

Cinder's jaw dropped. Between the declaration and the apathy from the two girls, Cinder finally realized that she had made a terrible mistake in coming here. Her belief that anything would be better than the farm, that anyone who took her away would be a savior, was completely destroyed. Just as all of it happened before, everything bad and horrible that happened to Cinder was going to happen again.

Only this time, she wasn't going to be alone.

"Eren," she whispered. "Oh, no."

The girls laughed at Cinder while the Madame simply smirked. "Your friend was smart to stay behind, but don't worry," she said. "I'll bring him here soon."

"..."

Fear and panic found their way into Cinder's heart as tears came down in her eyes. Any semblance of innocence she had was completely destroyed by cold reality, as she left behind one Hell to simply find another. Cinder cursed herself for feeling stupid, just as she cursed herself for unwittingly leaving Eren behind.

But it wasn't too late to stop this plan.

Cinder quickly turned around and ran for the front door. She had to push past people as she ran, but she didn't care about them. All she cared about was finding Eren so she could warn him about what was here. After that, he would know what to do. Even if it meant going to Argus, Cinder knew she would follow Eren wherever he went.

These plans, however, resulted in failure when Cinder stepped out the door.

*ZAP*

"AAAAAUUGH!"

Cinder fell to the ground in pain as she felt a sharp electric shock around her entire neck. The pain was unbearable, and seemed to travel from her neck down to her chest as it continued to burn harder.

"Now, that does feel too good, does it?"

Cinder couldn't see the Madame standing behind her, but she could hear her voice. "It was kind of that gentleman to tell me you would be trouble," she continued. "Fortunately, I came prepared." The Madame grabbed Cinder and pulled her back inside. Once they were back in the hotel, the pain on her necks stopped.

Cinder looked down on her neck, trying to find out what happened. That was when she saw the necklace, and when she pulled on it, she felt a mark on her neck.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the Madame said. "Now, I believe I made myself clear. You're to make sure the laundry is folded, the dishes are spotless, and the floors are clean enough to eat off of." She began to walk away, and her daughters put a bucket of water and a brush next to Cinder. Once they did, they laughed again as they walked away.

Cinder cried once more as she picked up the bucket and brush. Memories of her past came back in an instant as she realized that she was taken away just so she could do the same thing again.

This was going to be her life now, and it was her fault she didn't listen to Eren. But her only hope of help left her the second the train doors closed. And there didn't seem to be any sign of help coming again.

Nobody in the lounge was watching what happened.

Nobody was going to help her.

Nobody cared.

---

"Okay, let me get this straight. You boarded an airship headed here, thinking that it was going to Argus."

"Yes! That's what happened!"

"And you don't have a ticket to prove this."

"I already told you, the woman I came with didn't have anything like that! She's gone, my friend's gone, and I'm just trying to get to Argus!"

"And you're sure your mother is there now?"

"Yes, she is! I just need to get back to her, okay?!"

"..."

Eren had lost count how many times he told this story. Ever since he had been abandoned by the woman who brought him here, Eren's first idea was try and find a way to Argus himself. Finding out where to get a trip to Argus was the easy part, since all he had to do was ask around.

But convincing the receptionist who was aware of every flight in and out of Atlas was rather hard, given the circumstances of his arrival. Fortunately, given that she could see that Eren was a lost child, the receptionist knew that she was the only one who could help Eren. He didn't seem to pose any threat to travel safety, he was just trying to find a way home.

"Okay, don't worry," she finally said. "I'll call security now, and they'll help you be on your way."

Eren sighed in relief and exhaustion. He was tired of explaining himself and trying to find a way to Argus, but he was thankful that the first half of his problem was finally over. The second, however, needed a little more work.

"But what about my friend?" Eren asked as he looked above the receptionist's desk. "She's in trouble, I know it!"

"Are you saying that she was kidnapped?" the receptionist asked.

"I... I don't know," Eren confessed. "But what I do know is that she and I were brought here together, when I specifically said we needed to go to Argus. Whoever that woman was, she tricked us!"

The story was indeed a suspicious one, but the receptionist knew it was outside her jurisdiction. "Let's focus on getting you home first. Then we'll see about your friend."

Eren pointed to the train stop, where another train was waiting. "Can you at least tell me where that train goes?"

"All I know is that the final stop is the east side of Atlas. There's got to be over a dozen stops in between. I can help you get home, but there's nothing I can do about your friend. I'll tell security when I call them, but there's nothing we can do now. I'm sorry."

Eren groaned in frustration as he paced around the area. He was angry at the woman who brought him here, who manipulated Cinder into going with her wherever she went. But Eren was also angry at himself, for being tricked and being unable to convince Cinder that the woman had bad plans for them.

He couldn't be angry at Cinder for not wanting to give up her freedom, or being innocent enough to not realize when something was wrong. The Madame had taken advantage of her fear, and she used that against Cinder. And worst of all, they could be anywhere doing something horrible.

But through it all, the Madame had made one mistake; she didn't do anything to strip Eren of his freedom.

She may have abandoned him when she saw that he wouldn't be useful to her, but the Madame didn't have Eren locked away. The boy was free; free to do whatever he wanted and however he planned to do it.

And now, Eren planned to find his friend and save her. He left his friends behind on Paradis, but he wasn't going to do that on Remnant. He was going to do whatever was necessary to help the one person he could call a friend.

But first, Eren needed to know where Cinder was.

The first thing Eren did was sneak away and look at a map of the train line. Just as the receptionist had said, the train had dozens of stops along the way. The train on Paradis didn't have as many, so this train was clearly advanced. And it made it all the more harder to figure out where Cinder was.

Eren knew he couldn't search each stop one by one, and he didn't have Cinder's knowledge of the world to tell him where to start looking.

This was a truly desperate time; one that called for desperate measures.

As he began to calm down, Eren closed his eyes and took drops breaths. He let the sounds of the area and the people fade away into silence, and let the sights of Atlas fade into darkness.

And when Eren opened his eyes, he found himself with Darkness once again.

Using what he had learned on Paradis, Eren took himself back to the Coordinate. The red stones and the crystals told Eren that he was back at the Coordinate to Remnant, and he knew that someone was waiting for him.

"Welcome back, Eren."

The young boy turned around to see the horned deity who had brought him to Remnant. "It has been a while since we last spoke," Darkness said calmly. "So... how are you?"

Eren remained calm as he talked. "I'm... I'm fine," he said.

"And your Titan? I trust you were able to properly test it?"

"It's... fine." Eren quickly realized that he should have expected Darkness to want a report about his days on Remnant. "It's basically the same as the Attack Titan. And I rediscovered my Hardening."

"Excellent." Darkness walked closer towards Eren. "It's been a long time since I've assisted someone. Helped them in any way they needed."

Eren was surprised to hear this. "You know why I'm here?"

"Why else would you be here? I'm sure your mission is bound to come with... challenges." Darkness stopped walking when he was inches in front of Eren. "So, how may I help you?"

"I'm trying to get to Argus," Eren quickly explained. He didn't want to waste any more time. "I was in Mistral for a while, but now I'm in Atlas."

"Hmm, I see. That's a long way from Argus, Eren."

"I know, and I think I found a way back. But I didn't come here alone."

"Oh?"

Against his better judgement, Eren told Darkness about Cinder. "I... I made a friend in Mistral. She came here with me, but she's gone now. I want to help her."

"...Do you now?" Darkness expected Eren to find allies on Remnant, but he was surprised that he found one so soon at such a young age. "A new Titan, perhaps?"

"What? No!" Eren stepped back. "Cinder's just someone who helped me in Mistral! I just want to help her now. I need to know where she is."

"Hmm... if you insist." Darkness turned towards the Coordinate. "Follow me."

Rather than walking, Darkness transported himself and Eren to the tree. Once they found themselves there, Eren needed a second to readjust himself while Darkness touched the Coordinate. Eren almost vomited from being teleported, since he wasn't used to the feeling. But he was able to control himself as he listened to Darkness.

"Ah," he said. "There you are."

Eren looked up to see Darkness examining the Coordinate. But instead of a plain white tree, Eren could see moving images inside the structure. It appeared to be similar to the images he saw of his mother in Argus, but they were different. Instead of his mother, Eren could see himself and Cinder.

"That's her," he said. "That's Cinder."

"I see you've been busy," said Darkness. "Crushing Salem into paste and practicing your Hardening. Impressive." Darkness had seen this the second he touched the Coordinate, when Eren had his head down. But to satisfy his champion, Darkness focused on Cinder now.

"Yeah, that's right." Eren didn't care about Salem or his Titan now, he just wanted to find Cinder. "Can you find her?"

"It's already done."

Darkness let go of of the Coordinate, which connected to everyone on Remnant. That was how he was able to use it to find Cinder, since she was a subject of Remnant. By focusing on the connection she had to the world, Darkness was able to find her in no time at all.

"It is fortunate that you came to Atlas at night," Darkness said to Eren. "My powers were always stronger in the dark."

"I thought you couldn't use your powers because of your brother," said Eren. He wasn't trying to sound ungrateful for Darkness aiding him, he was just confused as to how he could help.

"I cannot," Darkness confirmed. "But you are living proof that we are quite safe." Darkness placed a hand on Eren's shoulder. "When you return to Remnant, I will give you a path to seek your friend. Only you will see this path, and you alone can travel it. You will find your friend soon enough."

"...Okay. Got it." Eren turned around as soon as Darkness let him go. He prepared to return himself to Remnant and find this path that Darkness set for him.

"Oh, and Eren?"

The young boy turned around at the sound of his name. "I would suggest you hurry and find your mother after your friend," said Darkness. "I would hate to think that time for growth is being wasted."

Eren understood the subtle threat behind the demand, but his first encounter with Darkness told him that arguing would be unwise. So he left in silence and found himself back in the spot he left.

At first, Eren didn't seem to notice anything different about his surroundings. But when he looked down, he could see a faint shadow at his feet. The shadow was moving, like it was made of a sort of mist or smoke. And the shadow extended itself towards an exit of this area, towards the rest of the city.

Eren knew that this was the path Darkness was talking about, that it would lead him to Cinder. Nobody else seemed to notice it, and it extended itself far across the floor. Before he followed it, Eren looked back towards the reception desk. It was the only way he could get to Argus, and his chance to leave might vanish if Eren left now.

But Eren knew he wouldn't abandon his friend. So he followed the path without a second thought.

---

Darkness' plan to help Eren was working perfectly. The deity stared at the Coordinate he had created to see his champion moving forward and across Atlas all in the hopes of finding his friend. Darkness recalled that everything he did on Paradis was for his friends, so it made sense that Eren would do it again here. That was why Darkness brought Carla here after all. And with Cinder, Eren had another reason to fight Salem.

The more, the merrier.

Darkness changed the image in the Coordinate when he saw Eren on the path he created. Now, he decided to focus more on Cinder. Ever since he learned that Eren made a friend on Remnant, Darkness became curious. He examined Cinder's life through the Coordinate, where he saw a sad little girl who had been raised like a slave.

She didn't seem too different from Ymir the Founder, Darkness observed. He soon hypothesized that Eren saw the same thing, and that this was one reason he decided to befriend her. Because of this, the god saw many interesting possibilities for Cinder.

Though Eren denied it earlier, Darkness believed that Cinder could become a warrior like his champion. But first, she would need a reason to become one. She would need something to hate, something to fight against.

That was why Darkness made sure it would take Eren a long time to find his friend. In that time, Cinder would become something Darkness could use as well.

And sure enough, Cinder's hate was growing strong.

[Play Jeff Williams' "The Truth"]

Just as the Madame ordered, Cinder had to take care of the laundry, dishes, and floors at the hotel she was at. But it got even worse when she had to take care of the guests as well. Helping make and serve their food was a chore, and not once did any of them show a sign of gratitude. And rather than being allowed to eat as well, Cinder had to feed herself with scraps the guests left behind.

And just as she did at the farm, Cinder was forced to clean as well. She had to wash every floor, dust the glass statues, and she had to do it without any chance of resting.

If she tried to rest, the child was immediately punished with pain.

Just as Darkness predicted, Cinder hated everything. She hated the hotel, she hated the apathetic people, she hated the white uniform she was forced to wear, and most of all, she hated the stupid collar the shallow woman gave her. It went off whenever she tried to leave or whenever the Madame pressed a button on a remote she kept with her. It hurt for minutes, even hours at a time.

More than anything, Cinder wanted to fight everyone. She wanted to stand up for herself just as she did back in Mistral, but the pain was too unbearable for her. And without Eren, Cinder knew that there was nothing she could do.

So she stayed in the hotel and worked continuously for hours. The only kind of joy she had was knowing that Eren wasn't here with her, that he hadn't become a slave like her. Though being far from Eren, without knowing where he was, broke her heart.

Rather than fight, Cinder took out her frustrations on the ground she was currently cleaning. She pushed the brush back and forth and grunted each time as her anger rose. She eventually stopped when she felt exhausted. So she wiped her brow and took deep breaths as she tried to relax.

"Nice, huh?"

"Whoa."

Cinder put down her brush and looked down to the lobby of the hotel when she heard voices of amazement. There were a few people staring at a man in a blue and bronze outfit with a pauldron on his left shoulder. He was holding a sword, and showing it off to some of the other hotel guests.

"Wow," Cinder thought as she became entranced by the sword. "He must be a Huntsman, and he must have used that sword to kill tons of Grimm." She had read about Huntsmen and Huntresses, people who risked their lives to hunt the Grimm and protect people. Cinder showed Eren her books on Huntsmen and Huntresses, and she read some of their exploits to him. And when Eren taught her how to fight, Cinder believed she could be like the Huntresses she read about.

Better yet, maybe the Huntsman below could help her.

*SPLASH*

*SPLASH*

The sound of something hitting the ground behind Cinder caused her to shift her attention away from the Huntsman. She looked to see the Madame's daughters behind her and the brunette was slowly walking towards her. The only thing was... she had mud on her shoes, and was walking all over the floor Cinder worked hard to clean.

"You missed a spot," she said as she stomped on the ground, which caused more mud to escape from her muddy shoe. Once she did, the sisters began laughing at what they just did.

Cinder, however, wasn't laughing.

*SSSSSSSSS*

A sizzling noise was being drowned out by the laughter, and none of the girls could hear it. The brush that she was holding appeared to be steaming and burning in her grasp. Cinder didn't notice, she focused her glare on the laughing sisters. That was when she growled and threw the brush on the ground with a small explosion.

*BOOM*

A cloud of steam erupted from the brush and the sisters stopped laughing. They let out a yell and fell to the ground, which caught the attention of all the guests. After a few seconds, the large cloud of steam dissipated and vanished. In its place stood a seething Cinder, who stared daggers into the sisters. But once she calmed down, Cinder looked at her hands in confusion. She could see an orange glow on both of her palms, which was the same color as her Aura.

"Did I just-?"

Cinder didn't finish her question, since she was grabbed by the Madame and dragged into the kitchen. Once they got there, Cinder felt a shock to her throat, and she fell to the ground.

"Now, that wasn't very ladylike, was it?" the Madame asked. She kept her finger on the remote for a few more seconds before she stopped. Once she did, Cinder began to breath and try to use her Aura to heal herself "I suggest you remember your place."

"..."

Cinder knew what the woman was referring to, and it was perhaps the thing she hated the most. When she was punished for the first time, the Madame said something to Cinder and told her that she was supposed to repeat it in times like this.

But Cinder didn't want to.

"Say it!"

*ZAP*

The Madame pressed the button again and Cinder continued to spasm. Once the electricity died down, the young girl uttered a phrase she despised.

"Without you... I am nothing."

After she said this, the Madame let her go to resume her chores. During the half hour she spent cleaning the floors, Cinder thought back on how she managed to burn her brush and cause an explosion. She remembered feeling very angry, and then she felt warm. Not just in her hands, but all across her body.

Cinder had never felt that warm before, and all she could think about was how good it felt. She decided to test it again, but in a more private area. So she moved to the backroom of the lobby, where multiple crates and rags were resting. When Cinder made sure that she was alone, she looked at her hands and concentrated on the warm feeling she felt earlier.

And like Magic, the warmth and color returned to her hands.

"It's real!" Cinder said with a gasp. She wasn't sure what had caused the explosion in the first place, but now she was proud to see that it came from her. Maybe she was still strong after all.

After she stared at her hands and embraced the warmth she created in the cold room, Cinder was able to put two and two together. She was able to see that along with her Aura, she had just unlocked her very own Semblance. Cinder's books told her and Eren that a Semblance was a special ability someone could use with an Aura, and that it could help with defense and offense. So it was natural for Cinder to think of ways she could use her Semblance to fight against her cruel taskmasters.

Unfortunately for her, they attacked first.

*BAM*

Cinder felt two hands on her back push her forwards, which caused her to fall on the cold hard ground. And when she did, Cinder felt a hard kick to her stomach. The attack made it hard for her to breathe, but she looked up to see that the brunette girl was standing above her.

"Mom might be done with you," she said as she stared daggers at Cinder. "But I'm not." She and her sister were looking for a chance to get even with Cinder after she attacked them. The blonde teenager was helping some of the guests, but she would be joining her sister soon.

Cinder couldn't stand up after she had been kicked, but she grabbed the girl's foot before she could be kicked again. When she did, Cinder managed to activate her Semblance once again and burned the girl's ankle. Unfortunately, her grip wasn't very strong.

The teenager was able to move her leg back after she screamed in pain. "Now you've done it," she said as she kicked Cinder's face.

*BAM*

The kick was strong enough to make Cinder bleed, and they got worse as they went on.

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*CREAK*

The sound of a door opening behind her made the teenager stop kicking Cinder and turn around. Cinder was badly hurt and bleeding from her mouth, but she was able to see who was at the door. Both of the girls were expecting either the Madame or her second daughter, but the sight of a young boy caught them both by surprise.

"He... Hello?" the boy timidly said.

The brunette quickly stood in front of Cinder to block the sight of her condition. "What are you doing?" she asked the boy. "You're not allowed back here!"

Despite her efforts to keep Cinder out of view, the young girl could see that someone was in the room as well. Her face was badly bruised, but she recognized the boy the second she saw and heard him.

"E... Eren?" Cinder uttered as she stared at her friend.

The boy at the door was indeed Eren, who had finally found the place he had been looking for. The path that Darkness allowed Eren to see had proved useful, even though it took him a while to get here. He had to sneak into the backroom, past the Madame who had initially brought him to Atlas, but his goal was nearly complete.

Now he just had to get Cinder out of here.

The brunette teenager was surprised that Cinder knew the boy, but she began to make sense of this. "Oh, you know each other," she said as she walked towards Eren. "Mom said she was bringing two of you. She already went back for you, huh?"

Eren looked at the taller girl and spoke with a timid voice again. "I... I couldn't be all alone," he said. "I had to come here."

The teenager was pleased to see that Eren had apparently learned his place. She was sure that her mother had taught this lesson, and that it began by letting him see what would happen if he was alone.

Cinder, on the other hand, knew that Eren couldn't be here.

"Eren, no," she whispered as she tried to get back on her feet. She was happy to see him again, but she didn't want him to make the same mistake she did. And she didn't want him to be trapped like she was.

"Don't worry about her," the girl said to Eren. She was standing close to Eren now, but she refused to kneel to his level. "A couple of crates knocked her over, I came back here to help."

This was obviously a lie, but Eren didn't point this out. "That's nice of you," he slowly said. He then moved his right hand towards the back of his pants.

The brunette smiled a false smile as she prided herself in covering up what was really happening. As she looked at Eren, she couldn't help but notice that he wasn't wearing a necklace like Cinder was. Her first thought regarding this was to make sure Eren got one of his own.

"Let's go talk to Mom," the teenager said. "We'll get some help for Cinder."

Eren looked up at the girl and made eye contact with her. "Thank you..." he slowly said.

*SHICK*

"But no thank you."

When Eren formed a scowl at the teenager, he took out a knife he stole from a table he passed and stabbed it in the girl's side. He knew that she had been hurting Cinder, and Eren decided to make sure she couldn't do it again.

The girl coughed up blood as Eren quickly pulled out the knife. She immediately grabbed her wound as she fell backwards, but nothing was going to stop the bleeding.

*CRASH*

The girl knocked over a crate when she moved back, and she fell with it. When she did, Eren took his chance and stabbed the girl in the neck, which was the fatal blow that ended her life.

*SHICK*

"..."

After a few seconds of staring at the body, Eren knew that the girl was dead. His ruse of acting innocent and shy had worked, just like it did when he killed two of the people that kidnapped Mikasa as a child. Now that his plan had worked, Eren rushed over to Cinder to make sure she was okay.

"Cinder," Eren said as he helped her stand. "Are you okay?"

Cinder was able to use her Aura to heal her wounds. It had shattered since she wasn't used to using it on so many injuries, but she wasn't in pain anymore. Despite this, Cinder began to cry as she realized that she had been saved.

And she had gotten her wish of seeing Eren again.

"Eren!" Cinder cried as she wrapped her arms around her friend. Eren reciprocated the hug and felt relieved that he wasn't too late to save Cinder. Both of them knew that she was safe, and that they would be leaving soon.

But not before Cinder spoke her mind.

"Eren, I... I'm so sorry!" Cinder said as she held her friend tighter. "I-I should have stayed with you! I shouldn't have listened to that woman, I didn't mean to leave you! I was scared, and I didn't know she wanted me to-!"

"It's okay, it's okay!" Eren assured her. He let go of Cinder so he could look at her. "She knew you were scared, and she used that to make you do what she wanted."

"I know, I know!" Cinder knew that she had been tricked, and she still felt stupid that it happened. She believed she should have known better, but her wish and dreams for a better life had gotten the better of her. "I'm sorry, Eren."

"It's not your fault." Eren knew that Cinder was a victim of manipulation, that she wouldn't have done what she did if she knew the truth. And based on what he saw just now, Eren knew Cinder was a victim of torture. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm better now," Cinder insisted. When she saw the bloody knife in Eren's hand, Cinder looked at the girl he had attacked. "Is... Is she dead?"

Eren looked at the body once again. "...Yeah. Yeah, she's dead."

"Good."

"..."

As Darkness predicted, Cinder grew to hate the three women in the short time that she had been at the Glass Unicorn. She was willing to hurt them if she needed to defend herself or try to escape again, so she didn't mind that Eren took it a step further.

He did her a favor.

"What happened to you?" Eren asked. He knew that Cinder had been beaten, but he didn't know everything that happened as he made his way here. "Is that some kind of uniform?"

Cinder looked at the plain white clothes that had been dirtied and stained with blood, and she could confirm that this was true. "I'll tell you later," she said. "I think we should go."

"Right," Eren agreed. He didn't regret killing the girl who was hurting Cinder, but he knew that being here longer was a bad idea. He looked around the room, but he didn't see another exit. "We'll have to go back the way I-"

"Hey, what was that sound?"

Eren and Cinder froze when they heard another voice outside the room. Footsteps followed closely, and they were heading straight for the door.

"Hide!" Eren whispered as he took Cinder's hand. He guided her behind a crate that was close to the door so he and Cinder could make a run for it.

*CREAK*

When the door opened, the Madame's second daughter stepped inside. She had heard the sound of one of the crates falling, so she came down to investigate. She was expecting to see Cinder with a mess on her hands, something that her mother would have to deal with.

What she saw instead was the last thing she expected to see.

"Oh, my God!" the blonde teenager screamed as she ran to her sister. She began to panic as she desperately tried to wake her sister up, but all the girl managed to do was spread blood on the floor and on her hands.

Eren saw that the door had closed behind the girl after she ran inside. Since she swung it open the moment she saw her sister on the floor, the door hit the wall and the force made it close again. Eren knew that opening it again would draw the girl's attention, so he refused to move until she did.

Cinder, on the other hand, had a different plan.

"RRAAAHHH!"

The blonde girl looked up just in time to see Cinder angrily run towards her with Eren's knife in hand. He had put it on the ground when he hid behind the crates, so Cinder picked it up and decided to finish what Eren began.

*SHICK*

The knife had found its way into the girl's chest and she joined her sister on the ground.

Eren was surprised to see that Cinder had picked up where he left off. After all, most children would have very strong sentiments against committing murder. But one look at Cinder and listening to her screams made Eren see that Cinder had made up her mind.

"You're a monster!" Cinder yelled as she began to stab the girl again and again. "You're all monsters! You're just like the Grimm! And this is what happens to the Grimm!"

Eren's eyes widened.

"You're an animal, you hear me?! No! You're a disease! This is what you get, you son of a bitch! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR BEING WHAT YOU ARE! DIE! DIE!"

Eren felt a strong sense of déjà vu as he watched Cinder kill the girl. This was just like the day he rescued Mikasa from the kidnappers, how he cursed them for being the kind of people they were. Only now, Eren wasn't the only one who saw these girls as monsters. Whatever they did to Cinder had affected her greatly, and it caused her to give in to a natural impulse she had.

Eren couldn't fault Cinder for feeling like this. He may have grown and matured, and he may have stopped acting on impulse... but he shared the same feelings as her.

"NOOOO!"

Eren and Cinder looked to see that the Madame who brought them to Atlas was now in the room. She had heard all of Cinder's screams from the lobby and now she saw the young girl covered in the blood of her daughter.

"What have you done?!" she screamed as she looked at the bodies of her children. Even though she wouldn't admit it, a part of the Madame told her what had happened. Namely, how the things that were done to the child were monstrous; and now they created a monster.

The Madame tried to stop the monster by pulling out her remote. As soon as she pressed the button, Cinder moved to the ground and grabbed her neck in pain. Electric shocks began to travel throughout her body, just as they did countless times before.

But this time, Eren had come to her rescue again. He had emerged from behind the crates to smack the remote out of the woman's hand, which gave Cinder a moment of reprieve. The Madame kicked the angry boy to knock him away, and then she ran to retrieve her remote.

When she saw what had happened, Cinder ran to the Madame and grabbed her throat. She had to jump to reach this height, but she had the woman's throat in both of her hands.

*ZAP*

*ZAP*

*ZAP*

The Madame was able to press the remote and shock Cinder multiple times, but the child's grip didn't loosen.

"You were wrong," Cinder said as she choked the Madame. She turned back to Eren. "Without you... I am nothing." The Madame kept gasping for air as she desperately tried to control her slave with the collar. But Cinder merely embraced the pain as she looked back at the Madame. "But... because of you... we are... everything!"

*CRACK*

The Madame's body finally went limp. As the remote fell from her grasp, Cinder stopped feeling any kind of pain. She didn't feel pain from the collar, she didn't feel pain from the idea of these women hurting her again, and she didn't feel pain from the fear or sadness that she endured.

Instead, Cinder felt relieved and happy that she was free once again. And she was happy to see that Eren was still with her.

Eren was planning on killing the Madame before she could hurt Cinder again. But when he went to retrieve the knife Cinder had dropped, Eren was surprised to see that it was Cinder herself who landed the killing blow. And rather than just being surprised, Eren realized that he was proud of Cinder. He was proud to see that she had let go of her fear and that she had fought to earn her freedom back. He may have started the fight when he killed the first daughter, but Cinder was the one who took back her freedom.

And for that, Eren was proud of her.

"I'm glad you're okay," Eren stated honestly.

Cinder was also glad that she was okay, and free as well. But more than that, she was grateful that Eren had come back and rescued her. She may have killed the second daughter and the Madame, but this wouldn't have been possible without Eren. He saved her life, and he made her feel brave enough to fight.

Cinder quickly pulled Eren into a hug to show her gratitude, and Eren willingly reciprocated it. "We don't have to run now," she said. Cinder squeezed Eren a little tighter as these words lingered in her head. She didn't need to be afraid of the Madame anymore, and Eren didn't need to worry about being stuck in Atlas anymore. Nothing was going to stop him or Cinder reaching Argus now.

And she was right; they didn't have to run away.

"That's all you'll ever do."

Cinder and Eren jumped at the sound of a new voice. Letting each other go and turning back to the door, they saw an armed man staring back at them. He had a blue and bronze outfit with a pauldron on his left shoulder. He was also drawn to the sounds and screams coming from this room, and the sight of multiple bodies made him reach for the weapons on his back.

Cinder immediately moved back. "Eren, he's a Huntsman," she said in fear. "And he has weapons."

Eren slightly gasped when he heard this. He had read about Huntsmen and Huntresses' in Cinder's books. Namely, how they were known for fighting Grimm and being the strongest warriors on Remnant. He was familiar with their strength and mastery over Aura, but Eren wasn't afraid.

The boy simply moved in front of Cinder with his arms extended in an effort to protect his friend. "I told her to do this," Eren lied. "She's my responsibility. Take me instead."

"..."

The Huntsman merely shook his head and moved closer.

Both Eren and Cinder were disappointed to see that their efforts were about to be thwarted, that one of the best warriors on Remnant was standing in their way to freedom. Cinder was afraid once again, since she knew that a Huntsman could kill her in an instant. Eren, on the other hand, knew that there was one thing he could do if he wished to escape. He knew their would be consequences, he knew that he didn't want to do this, but he also knew that he didn't have a choice now.

Turning around, Eren grabbed Cinder's hand. "Cinder, I can get us out of here," he said.

"Kid, don't lie to her," said the Huntsman.

Eren ignored the Huntsman and continued to talk to Cinder. "I can get us out of here, but I need you to trust me."

"Wh... What?" Cinder asked.

"Trust me."

"Step away from her," the Huntsman ordered.

"We can be free," Eren promised. "But I need you to trust me. Do you understand?"

Cinder saw the man approaching closer, as well as the look in Eren's eyes. She knew that doing nothing had gotten her in a bad situation before, so she decided to not make the same mistake again. Instead, Cinder looked at Eren and made her choice.

"...Yes," she said.

"Say the words, Cinder," Eren ordered.

The young girl took a deep breath before she replied. "I trust you, Eren."

"..."

Eren looked down at the small blade in his hand, which he used to cut himself. Once he did, Eren threw the knife away and turned around. "Get out," he said to the Huntsman. "I'm warning you."

"I'm not going to let this go unpunished," the Huntsman said.

"But you're willing to let what they did go unpunished?" Eren pointed back to Cinder. "She knows you're a Huntsman. That means she saw you here, right? And you saw whatever they did to her?"

The man let out a quick sigh. "I'm not saying she got the most... fair treatment," he said. "But that doesn't justify... this."

Eren followed the man's eyes to look at the bodies before him, but he didn't agree. "They were beating her," he argued. "They could have killed her."

Eren's voice and conviction was gradually building up Cinder's confidence and feeling of self-importance, so she argued as well. "And that's not enough to understand?" she asked sarcastically. "How about you try being treated like a slave? How about you try doing all the work here and being tortured when you're not enough?"

The Huntsman sighed again. "It doesn't matter how you try to spin it," he said. "That doesn't-"

"Slave?"

The Huntsman and Cinder looked to Eren, who was starting to grow angry once again. He turned around to look at Cinder and remembered that she was wearing a uniform, of sorts. What she described sounded like what happened at the farm, but it was obvious that Cinder was referring to her time at this place.

Eren knew that nothing good was going to happen here, but he had no idea that was what Cinder went through.

"You were their slave?" Eren asked for confirmation. "That's why she brought us here?" When Cinder nodded, Eren became angry once again. Just as he told Mikasa, Eren couldn't stand the sight of a slave doing nothing but follow orders.

But now, Eren couldn't stand the sight of someone doing nothing to stop this. He hated it so much that he turned around again and spit in the man's direction.

"You're disgusting."

"Alright, that's it," the Huntsman said as he removed two iron maces from his back. "Get out of my way before I make you move."

The threat scared Cinder enough to make her grab Eren's shoulder for security. "Eren?" she asked.

The boy simply turned around and nodded. "It's okay, Cinder," he said. "Everything's going to be okay."

Turning around, Eren raised his fist and sent it towards the man. But as it was midway, red lightning began to form around Eren.

And when that happened, a remarkable transformation began.

---

"That went well."

"Went well?! That was the most fun I had in months!"

"I must say, even I found the experience to be... different."

"Now that's what I call an initiation!"

A brown haired man wearing a white shirt cut off at the sleeves with a green pin on it was leading three other adults through various halls. One was a pale man with a shaved head in a similar suit, but with red sleeves. The other was a tall woman with brown hair and another white suit, only she had one sleeve torn off and she was wearing sandals. They were all followed by a shorter, younger girl with buzz cut brown hair that had a blonde streak in the middle. Her suit was cut off at the sleeves as well and she was wearing pants that exposed her legs.

"Well... I'm glad I got to see you guys in action," said the younger girl. "Though, based on your reaction time with those Grimm, I think I'm a little faster."

"Not everything is a competition, Harriet," said the pale man. "That's one thing you should remember when you're in the field."

"Aw, come on, Vine!" the large woman said. "Let the newbie have one sure thing!"

"Hate to say it, Elm, but I think Vine's right," said the man in front of them. "You did good, Hare, but competition shouldn't be your top priority."

"Yeah... sure thing, Clover." Harriet looked away for a moment, but turned back once they all entered another room. A large terminal was in front of them, along with a man with black hair in a white overcoat. His coat was over a gray undercoat, black sweater, and a red necktie. He looked at the group of soldiers and saluted them. The soldiers saluted him back.

"At ease," the man ordered. Once the soldiers lowered their arms, their superior officer spoke again. "Clover, I've been keeping tabs on your mission in Mantle. It seems everything went well.

"Yes, sir, General Ironwood. Harriet proved herself to be a valuable asset in the field, and I think it's safe to say you chose a great addition to the team." Harriet smiled at the last part as Clover continued to talk. "I talked with Elm and Vine before coming here, and they support your choice." The other two soldiers nodded in agreement.

"In, that case..." Ironwood began as he walked over to the younger woman with an extended hand. "Harriet Bree, welcome to the Ace-Ops."

As Harriet shook the General's hand, the other Ace-Operatives began to applaud. She looked at them all and smiled, but quickly turned back to Ironwood as he released her hand. "Thank you, sir," she said as she stood at attention. "I won't let you down."

"I'll hold you to that." Ironwood walked over to a computer screen. "Now, the task you performed was Operative Bree's initiation. Your next mission is critical."

Clover stepped forward. "What are our orders, sir?" he asked calmly.

"The Schnee Dust Company is prepared to begin new mining operations out in the tundra. Jacques Schnee has his eyes on several caves that have been reported to hold Dust. What we need now is-"

*REEEE*

An ear-piercing ringing began to fill the room and a red light began to flash. Everyone recoiled at the sound, but they all began to readjust themselves. The large screen behind Ironwood changed from a map of Atlas to a uniformed soldier.

"Sir, we have a situation in Sector Four! Requesting immediate assistance!"

"Situation?" Ironwood asked. He walked closer to the screen and began to press keys on a keyboard. "What kind of situation?"

"There's a Grimm loose in the city! A GIANT Grimm!"

The videocall of the soldier shifted to the left as a new screen appeared to the right. The screen divided into four smaller ones, each showing multiple buildings. General Ironwood had just accessed the military's security cameras across the city. And sure enough, one of them showed a large Grimm, taller than most of the buildings in the city. It was pure black, except for white bones sticking out and red eyes. And it looked... human.

"My God," Elm said as she moved closer to the computer. "What... is that?"

"I've... never seen a Grimm like that before," said Vine.

Ironwood pressed a few more keys on the computer, and his voice began to boom on every radio in the building. "Attention, this is General Ironwood. Any and all troops and airships are to be deployed to Sector Four of Atlas immediately. Repeat, all soldiers and ships to Sector Four immediately." After the radios turned off, Ironwood turned back to the Ace-Ops. "Clover, looks like you'll be staying in the city for now. I'll be joining you on your airship, now let's move!"

"Yes, sir!"

---

A gust of wind at her face woke Cinder up. She could feel a small cut and blood on her head, which caused her to remember that the last thing she saw was a flash of red light and the ceiling coming down. But rather than being crushed under the rubble, Cinder was protected by something black. It did a good job, since her only wound was a small cut. Cinder couldn't use her Aura to heal the cut, but she was able to look around and see why the wind was blowing on her face.

And what she saw scared the Hell out of the young girl.

Cinder was in the grasp of a large black hand, hundreds of feet above the ground. She followed the large hand, which led to a large arm, and then led to a giant Grimm. Its crimson eyes and sharp teeth stood out and caused the girl to scream in fear. Out of desperation, Cinder tried to break the monster's grasp by pushing on its hand. When that failed, she tried to use her new Semblance to burn its skin. When that failed due to her Aura being broken, Cinder began to panic and hit the fist as she desperately tried to break free.

"Cinder."

The girl stopped punching the fist when she heard the sound of her name. When she felt something warm softly touch her neck, Cinder slowly turned around to see the monster's face close to her. It opened its mouth, which made Cinder try to back away. But rather than placing her in its mouth, the monster moved its lips.

"Trust... me," it said, clear as day.

Cinder's fear disappeared when she recognized those words. The voice was different, but she knew who said those words to her.

"E... Eren?"

The monster nodded once she asked this. To make sure she wasn't hallucinating or going crazy, Cinder looked all over the body to see nothing but black skin. Eren didn't look like a boy anymore; he looked just like a large Grimm. "What... What happened to you?" she asked. "Is this-?"

"I'll... explain later," Eren slowly replied. He suddenly realized how slow the Founding Titan actually spoke. But he knew that he shouldn't be too surprised. After all, the Beast Titan spoke very slowly as well. So Eren simply pointed to the edge of the floating city. "Right now... we need... to go."

Cinder nodded and gave her approval for Eren to lead the way, unaware that he had been leading it for a little while.

When Eren had turned into a Titan, the Glass Unicorn had been completely destroyed. The bodies of its guests and customers were either buried in the rubble or littered on the streets, and Cinder appeared to be the only survivor. Many people were drawn to the sound and sight of explosion, but the sight of the Titan was enough to make them run.

Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to save their lives.

As soon as Eren was free and as soon as he saw Cinder was safe in his grasp, Eren ran across the city. His goal was to search for an exit, and that goal was leading to death and destruction. People at his feet were crushed in an instant, just like they were when Eren commenced the Rumbling. Cars and objects were also destroyed, as well as buildings that stood in Eren's way. The Titan either avoided buildings or hit them with his arm to clear the way, regardless of whether or not people were inside.

When Cinder awoke, Eren had caused enough destruction to see that a possible exit was before his eyes. He knew that he couldn't take an airship now, but the outskirts of the city weren't far away. Eren knew beyond the outskirts was nothing but air and the sky, but he knew that he couldn't stay in the city any longer.

Especially when small airships with guns begins to fire on him.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

The bullets made contact with Eren's skin, but they didn't hurt him. After he put Cinder on his shoulder, Eren attacked back and swatted each airship like they were bugs. Some of them evaded his large hands, but Eren was able to knock a couple out of the sky and send themcrashing into the ground.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

The explosions killed even more people below Eren, but he payed them no heed. Instead, he kept running and crushing everything in his path until he reached the outskirts of the city.

Cinder was safe on Eren's shoulder, and she knew that she couldn't do anything to help right now. So instead, she looked back at the burning city and the people who had died. She had to duck her head once or twice to avoid the airships and their bullets, but Cinder didn't turn away from Atlas. This was because she found herself hating the city, hating the people who refused to help her and tried to arrest her for rebelling against people who made her a slave.

Cinder didn't know if she would be willing to hurt people again, since the adrenaline from earlier had disappeared. She wasn't even sure if she would like doing it. But she had to admit that everything that happened had gotten her the freedom she desired.

So the only thing she could do... was keep moving forward. Until she and Eren were free.

Eren's long and destructive trek had led him to a large field that ended with two metal spires in the distance. When Eren first came to this place, he saw this was the final piece of land the city of Atlas stood on. Below it was the tundra, and Eren knew that he would have to run across it to escape this place. But first, he would have to make a dangerous jump and fall miles to the ground. But once he did that, Eren knew that he and Cinder would be free.

So it was worth the risk.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

As he started running on the field, Eren felt something hit his shoulder. After he made sure Cinder was safe on his shoulder, Eren looked up to see two ships in the air. Just like before, these airships appeared to belong to an army rather than a passenger airship that he and Cinder were brought on. The ships passed above him and fired at him once again, but Eren ignored the feeling and continued to run towards the spires. The airships seemed to notice that the bullets weren't having any effect on the beast, so they fired something else instead of bullets.

*WHOOSH*

*BOOM*

Cinder held on to Eren's flesh as tight as she could when she saw and heard loud explosions. She briefly covered her ears from the loud noise, but she was forced to keep her hands on Eren's flesh. "They're firing missiles at us!" Cinder yelled into Eren's ear. "We need to get out of the open!"

"Almost there!" Eren yelled. But just to make sure they would be safe, Eren picked up a large hay bale and quickly threw it at the ships. The pilots managed to dodge it, but they broke off their pursuit. Eren continued his run to the spires, and he was much closer than before. Freedom was just within arm's reach.

"We're here, Cinder! We-"

*BAM*

Eren's body collided into something hard and almost invisible. After he fell on the ground, Eren looked up to see some kind of wall, made of blue light. It disappeared after a moment, and Eren stood up. He punched the spot he just hit, and another light appeared. So, he hardened his skin and punched it again. Same result.

As he punched the wall, Eren didn't notice that Cinder had fallen off his shoulder when he fell. She wasn't hurt, but she noticed that Eren wasn't having any effect on the wall. So she tried to look for a different way to to break the shield.

*BAM*

*BAM*

With each punch, Eren and Cinder noticed the blue light reveal itself over and over again. However, Cinder was able to notice that something else was glowing blue. The metal spire closest to Eren was shining a blue light each time he hit the wall, which gave Cinder an idea. She believed that somehow, through some complex methods, the spires were keeping the shield up. If they were destroyed, then maybe the wall would go down.

"Eren!" Cinder yelled.

*BAM*

"Eren!"

*BAM*

"EREN!"

Cinder had to yell as loud as she could to get Eren's attention, but she finally got it. Eren was surprised to see that Cinder was on the ground, and he felt stupid for not noticing that she had fallen. But when he saw her pointing towards the spire, Eren could see the same blue light on the wall. He too was beginning to understand its purpose, so he started running over to the spire in an attempt to destroy it.

*BOOM*

When an explosion hit the wall, Eren looked to see more airships flying towards him and multiple people on the ground charging at him. He realized he was going to have to fight his way out, but he couldn't protect Cinder at the same time. Cinder seemed to realize this as well, so she moved towards the spire and out of harm's way.

When he was alone once more, Eren charged at the ships and people.

---

"We're almost to the city limits, General. ETA, one minute."

General Ironwood moved away from the pilot and looked to his team of elite soldiers. "Listen up, everyone," he said. The soldiers stood at attention at the sound of their superior's voice. "Whatever this thing is, it just demolished Sectors Four and Five of the city. Our forces at the city limits are telling us that it's trying to escape by destroying our Hard-Light shields. Our top priority is to make sure the city's shields do not fall and the monster is destroyed. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

The doors of the airship opened a minute later, revealing the Grimm standing over burning airships and dead bodies. But the General and the Ace-Ops didn't waste any time staring at the destruction. Instead, they jumped out of the ship and landed in their own ways. Vine projected two yellow arms to grab the ship and land on the ground, Clover used a fishing rod to latch onto the ship and join him. Elm and Harriet landed less gracefully, as Elm used a giant hammer to destroy the ground below her and Harriet used her Semblance to take off running towards the Grimm at high speed. The rest of the Ace-Ops didn't wait for Ironwood as they followed her.

Harriet ran to a group of soldiers, but quickly moved out of the way as a fist crushed them all. Harriet quickly ran on the Grimm's arm and came close to its face. Once she did, she moved her arms outwards. Two sets of mechanical gauntlets formed over her limbs and she sent a fist close to the monster's eye. She landed more using her Semblance before the Grimm shook its head to knock her off. Harriet fell to the ground, using her Aura to soften the impact.

"Uhh..." she mumbled as she got back up. She landed close to the generator of the shield, but Harriet didn't see Cinder hiding by the metal structure before she took off running again.

To avoid the bullets and missiles, Cinder stayed close to the generator and watched Eren fight the Atlesian army. The Titan's body had holes in it from the bullets and small missiles, but he was more than capable of fighting. He was just about to destroy another airship, but a hammer to his face and two glowing arms over his eyes got his attention. Vine had blinded the Titan while Elm hit it with her weapon, but Eren broke the grip on his eyes by grabbing Vine. Elm's feet glowed as she stood firmly on the Titan's body, courtesy of her Semblance, but Eren was still able to hit her.

"DIE!" Eren yelled as he watched Vine and Elm fall. Pieces of Eren's flesh were stuck to Elm's feet because of her Semblance, but she wasn't standing on Eren anymore. Fortunately, Vine was able to grab her with his glowing arms and land on the ground safely.

Harriet found her way back to the Ace-Ops and General Ironwood, who were staring in awe at the Grimm. "Did... Did that thing just talk?" Elm asked out loud.

Everyone in the group was trying to comprehend what they just saw and heard, and they knew that this wasn't any ordinary Grimm.

"I've counted over twenty of our Mantas and smaller airships destroyed," said Vine. "They're having no effect on the creature."

"I've called for reinforcements," said General Ironwood. "One of our capital ships is en route, the weapons it has will vaporize that Grimm. Until then, we can't allow it to leave."

Clover looked at the Titan to see that the foot soldiers were all being crushed by the Grimm's fists and feet. Their numbers were dropping rapidly, and soon there would be nothing left to stop the Grimm from attempting to escape.

"I need to buy us some time!" Clover yelled as he ran towards the Grimm. When he reached the beast, Clover was able to latch his fishing rod onto its fists and ascend upwards.

Eren had a group of soldiers in the fist that Clover landed on, but he dropped them to focus on the single human climbing up his arm. Eren's experience with Vine and Elm told him that they weren't common soldiers, and he had a feeling that Clover was uncommon as well.

Clover showed the Titan that he was an uncommon soldier by launching his hook at Eren's left eye, which partially blinded him. Eren shook his head as he attempted to shake Clover off, but the Ace-Operative did nothing but hold on as he soared through the air.

This proved to be a mistake, as Eren was able to catch Clover and prevent him from attacking once again. Clover lost his grip on his weapon when Eren caught him, and now he was moving closer to the Grimm's mouth.

"You're not prepared... to fight a Titan," Eren said as he began to crush Clover in his grasp. To finish off the soldier that was trying to stop him, Eren opened his mouth and prepared to devour the Ace-Operative.

*WHOOSH*

*BOOM*

Eren fell over again and dropped the soldier when he felt something strong and powerful hit his chest. As he recovered from the fall, Eren noticed that his chest was burning and a large amount of flesh was missing. Something hot and lethal had just hit him.

The remaining soldiers, General Ironwood and the Ace-Operatives included, looked up to see a much larger airship flying towards the wall. This airship served as a capital ship for the fleet of smaller airships, and it had some of the most advanced weapons Remnant had ever seen. One of these weapons was known as a "plasma cannon," a gun that fired beams of red energy that either damaged or destroyed anything in its path.

In Eren's case, it damaged his Titan strong enough for him to know that he couldn't fight anymore. He couldn't destroy the ship that rested miles above his head, and he couldn't withstand another blast like that.

It was time to leave.

Eren moved to the generator and saw Cinder waving at him with both arms. After he picked her up, Eren hit the generator with all his might. Some of the spire was on the outside of the shield, but the important components were currently being hit by Eren's fists.

"It found one of the generators!" Elm shouted.

"Does this thing take a hint?!" Harriet yelled in annoyance.

"They can't hold out for long against something like that," General Ironwood noted before he pressed on a communication device in his ear. "Blue One, this is General Ironwood. Your first strike was a direct hit, you need to fire again."

"Copy that, sir," a voice said to the General. "But the cannons need to cool down before we can fire again. We're almost ready."

Ironwood had forgotten that the plasma cannon was still in an experimental stage. While it was a powerful weapon, it was known to overheat whenever a red beam fired. The Kingdom's team of top scientists and engineers were currently working on a solution, an upgrade for the cannon. However, they were still months away from a finished product.

Which meant the Titan had all the time it needed.

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

As Eren hit the generator, he discovered that the red blast he had been hit with had made him lose a lot of strength. It was becoming hard for him to lift his arms and move his body, but it wasn't impossible. The healing factor was able to help a little, but Eren knew that he didn't have much time before the military fired their weapon again.

Eren looked up to see that the shield was still active. However, it was flickering on and off in a few spots due to the damage Eren had inflicted on it. And when he touched it, ,Eren was able to see that he could make the hole expand by pulling on it. The shield wasn't completely down, but it had been weakened to a point where Eren could move.

The soldiers behind him were yelling and firing more bullets at him, screaming how they couldn't let the creature escape. And with the capital ship still in position, it was bound to fire on him once again.

It was now or never.

"We have... to jump," Eren said to Cinder. None of the soldiers could hear him, so they didn't know his plan. They couldn't even see Cinder, who had lost all of her bravery and confidence.

"What?!" she yelled in fear. "No! No, I..." Cinder looked down from where she was standing to see that the ground was miles and miles below her. The height was intimidating, and Cinder was terribly afraid. "I can't do this!"

"Yes... you can."

"..."

Eren knew that he was asking Cinder a lot right now. He knew that she was afraid, that she was probably thinking that the only way she could be safe was by staying where she was. Eren once felt like this on Paradis. He was being chased by the Female Titan in the woods. His fear was almost enough to make him transform and fight, but he ended up doing something else.

At the suggestion of Petra Ral, Eren placed his trust in his comrades. As a result, they were able to protect him and keep him out of the grasp of the Female Titan. That day, Eren knew that he could trust the Survey Corps with his life.

Now he needed Cinder to know that she could do the same with him.

"Trust me," Eren implored. "You... did that before. And now... you can do it... again." Eren looked deep into Cinder's eyes as he spoke to her. "You can... count on me... to keep you safe."

"..."

Cinder was deeply touched by those words. They served a reminder as to why Eren was her friend in the first place. He saved her from the bullies at the farm, he rescued her from the Glass Unicorn, and now he was promising to keep her safe from whatever happened next.

Nobody else ever promised to do this for Cinder. Not even a Huntsman. It was at this moment that Cinder knew that the only person she could rely on was Eren.

"Get back! It's going to fire!"

The sound of the soldiers retreating and the sight of a red light overhead made Eren and Cinder realize that they would have to move now. Eren was ready to jump, and Cinder was ready to trust him once more.

"Do it!" she said as she held on to his large body. "I trust you, Eren! Jump!"

Ironwood pressed his hand against his ear and yelled. "Fire at will!"

*WHOOSH*

*BOOM*

Once again, the red beam from the capital ship made contact with the Titan. Only this time, the Grimm was falling over the side of the floating city.

"..."

Silence fell upon the remaining soldiers as they watched the fields burn and listen for anything else. They couldn't hear anything besides crackling fire and their own heavy breathing, so General Ironwood placed his hand on his ear again.

"Blue One, I want eyes on the Grimm," he said. "Confirm that the target has been destroyed."

"We have eyes sir," the voice said. "The target is on the ground."

"Has it been destroyed?"

"Standby for confirmation."

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Ironwood and his soldiers turned back towards Atlas when they heard more explosions. It was obvious that the Grimm had demolished much of the city, but they didn't know where it had come from. For all they knew, there could be more of those things causing the explosions.

"Clover, take everyone and the Ace-Ops to the city," he ordered. "Make sure those explosions aren't any more Grimm,"

"Yes, sir," Clover said as he led the soldiers away. "Back to the city! Let's move!"

Ironwood was prepared to join them, but the voice in his ear caught his attention.

"General, the target is mobile."

Ironwood quickly moved his hand to his ear when he heard this. "Say again, Blue One," he ordered. "The Grimm is mobile?"

"Affirmative. I don't how but... it's still alive. And it's running across the tundra."

"Is it attacking Mantle?"

"Negative. It appears to be fleeing the Kingdom. Permission to pursue?"

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Ironwood turned around when he heard explosions again. He was sure that they were being caused by the aftermath of the destruction, but he knew better than to take chances.

"Permission denied, Blue One," the General said. "We need eyes up here in case there are more. Move back to the city and report any sightings of more Grimm."

"Copy that," the voice said. "Over and out."

Ironwood finally moved to the nearest airship. He knew keeping the Grimm alive was risky, but he also knew it was better off being far from the Kingdom instead of being here and causing more destruction. And if there were more, Ironwood knew only the capital ship could destroy them.

With any luck, the Grimm would freeze out in the tundra.

---

Eren indeed survived the blast, and it was all thanks to his Hardening.

He had jumped off the side of Atlas right before the beam fired, but Eren activated his Hardening on his back the second he heard the beam firing. Because of that, Eren wasn't hurt like before and he could focus on keeping Cinder safe.

And when they landed on the ground, Cinder knew that she was wise to place her trust in her friend.

Eren then ran across the vast tundra for what felt like hours. He couldn't see any more airships trying to fire on him, and neither could Cinder. But the both of them focused on getting as far away from Atlas as possible.

Eren stopped running when he reached a place that gave him déjà vu. Just like when he escaped Salem, Eren found himself at the ocean once again. He knew that this ocean wasn't the same one as he swam in before, but he knew that he would be free as soon as he started swimming.

Before he began to swim in the cold water, Eren made sure to place Cinder on his back when he kneeled down. Once she moved and held his hair once again, Eren began to swim towards freedom.

After a few minutes of swimming, Eren decided to check on Cinder. He couldn't exactly do that with his Titan, but he had the ability to kill two birds with one stone. Eren opened his nape and let his torso escape the warm flesh, but kept his arms connected to the Titan's nape. That way, he could still make the body swim. But his main concern was Cinder sitting a couple of feet away from him with her arms wrapped around her legs. "Are you cold?" he asked calmly.

"...My Aura's protecting me from the cold," Cinder said as she looked at her friend. "I'm fine."

"Good. Are you... okay? I'm sorry if I scared you."

Cinder suddenly stood up and walked over to Eren. "I'm not scared. I feel... good."

"..."

Cinder turned around and looked at the vast sea before her. Eren once told her that seeing the ocean was a sign of freedom, and now she understood what he meant. She was out of Atlas with her best friend, and the vast ocean told Cinder that she wasn't going back to that Hell anytime soon.

"We did it, Eren," she said as she looked at the water. "We're free." Cinder then looked down at her hands. "This feels..."

"I know," Eren said. It was easy for him to empathize with Cinder, and he was happy that she was feeling what he felt before. "I discovered what you're feeling a long time ago. This is your freedom, Cinder. You fought for it. You earned it."

Cinder spread her arms out and smiled. She finally had a chance to feel what Eren always talked about. The imagination of the possibilities gave Cinder a new life... but it also gave her questions.

"How long ago?"

Eren suddenly realized what he just said and cursed his stupidity. "Um... before I met you," he quickly answered.

Cinder turned back to Eren when she noticed the hesitation. It was at that moment she noticed something else, something that was rather unexpected. So she moved closer to Eren and sat down once again. "Eren... how long have we been out here?" she asked.

"I don't know... ten minutes?" Eren assumed.

"...How long were you fighting in Atlas?"

Eren was about to answer quickly again, but stopped. He suddenly had a bad feeling as to why Cinder was asking questions like this. But if he lied now, things would get worse. "...A long time," he said.

Cinder knew that this was true, and she knew she didn't need an exact number of minutes. "Do you remember the book about Auras?" she asked. "The one I had at the farm?"

"...Yes," Eren replied.

Cinder moved in for the kill. "It said the longest time anyone's been able to use their Semblance at one time was ten to fifteen minutes. You've been like this for... way over that time. So either you broke the record, or-"

"I never unlocked my Semblance, Cinder." Eren didn't see any point in lying to her.

"..."

Cinder stepped back, shocked that Eren confessed what she realized. But now, this answer just raised more questions. "But how... Eren, what is this?"

Eren exited the rest of his Titan. It would remain afloat for a little while longer, just as long as he didn't leave it alone for too long. "Cinder..." Eren ran a hand through his hair. "There's... There's a lot I should tell you."

Cinder continued to back away, fearing the boy's movement toward her. "Are you... Are you a monster?" Cinder didn't know why she asked that, but it was the first thing that came to mind. Fear had taken over once again.

"Wha... No! Cinder, I'm human. I'm like you." Eren approached closer. "I'm just... different."

"Different?!" Cinder stopped walking. "Humans and Faunus are different! Day and night are different! But you... you're not like me!"

Each word sent a knife through Eren's heart, but he didn't let it show. "...You're right." He sat down. "I'm not like you. Not entirely."

"..."

Cinder kept her distance, but stopped walking. "Then...what are you?"

"I'm human, don't get me wrong. But... I'm not from Remnant."

"..."

"I'm not going to hurt you Cinder. You trusted me before, and I kept you safe." He gestured his hand for her to sit. "Please, trust me again. I can explain everything."

Cinder said nothing, but sat down in front of him. "So... where are you from?"

"A place called 'Paradis,' an island on my world. There, the people of Paradis fought against monsters like the one I made to survive. They're called 'Titans,' and I was one person who could change into one whenever I wanted."

"..."

"Recently, there was a war. A big one between Paradis and the rest of the world. Using my Titan, I... stopped the world. Crushed it, actually. My people won, but I was the final casualty."

"..."

"But rather than going to the other side, I was given the chance to come to Remnant, to do something nobody else could. I was sent here by a god, who said that-"

Cinder stood up and walked away with a chip on her shoulder. "Forget it," she coldly said. "Don't tell me."

"What?"

"Eren, do you honestly expect me to believe that God gave you this power? Or that you're from another world?"

Eren's feelings were hurt even more, this was the last thing he expected to happen. He wasn't lying to Cinder, but he should have realized nobody would believe his story.

And it was even harder since Cinder didn't know who to trust. She had been lied to in Atlas, that things were going to be better. The Madame used her, tried to make her into something she wasn't, and it all started with a cruel lie.

Cinder felt even more sad and distrustful when she learned that Eren had been keeping a big secret from her. And there was no way she was going to believe a story like the one he tried to tell. Now, more than ever, Cinder had enough of people telling lies.

Eren easily understood why Cinder didn't trust him, but he wished there was a way for him to show he wasn't lying.

After a little while, Cinder began to turn back to him. "You can believe whatever you want, I don't care," she began. "Once we get to wherever you're taking us, I'm going to-"

Cinder suddenly saw Eren charge towards her with an open hand, which caused her to back away in fear and close her eyes.

"EREN!"

He grabbed her shirt and closed his eyes.

When the children opened their eyes, they couldn't see the ocean anymore. Instead, they were surrounded in a red landscape with rocks all around. A white tree stood in the background, about ten yards away.

"Wha... What?" Cinder looked around frantically, trying to make sense of what was happening. "What is this place?"

"It's called 'the Coordinate,'" Eren answered. "I'm sorry for scaring you, but I had to show you that I was telling the truth." He pointed to the large tree. "That's how I came to Remnant, how he sent me to your world."

Cinder turned to look at the tree, but she looked back at Eren quickly. "What? Eren, who's 'he?' Who sent you?"

Before Eren could answer, an elated voice called out to the boy. "Ah, Eren!"

Eren looked to his right to see the God of Darkness standing before him, hands behind his back. "Back so soon," he stated. "And I see you've returned victorious."

"That's right," Eren said. "We're on our way to Argus."

Darkness turned his head to see a scared little girl, too shocked to even move. "And this must be Cinder," he said as he moved closer. "Welcome, child. I've been looking forward to meeting you."

"Wait!" Eren stood between Cinder and Darkness, afraid he might try to do something. "That's far enough. I just want her to see that I was telling the truth."

"I see." Darkness began to laugh as he gently pushed Eren aside so he could look at Cinder. "So, you didn't believe him."

*WHOOSH*

*WHOOSH*

Darkness held two balls of purple fire in his hand and moved closer to Cinder so she could feel that the heat was real.

"Do you now?"

Cinder finally spoke up after she took a step back. "Eren... is this-?"

Eren stepped towards Cinder again. "Yes, Cinder," he confirmed. "This is the God of Darkness, the one who gave me my new Titan and brought me to Remnant." Eren rubbed the back of his head when he realized how all of this sounded. "I know it sounds crazy, but I-"

"I can assure you, both you and Eren are completely sane," Darkness said to Cinder. Once again, the god gave his full attention to the young girl. "And since he came to your world, Eren has become my hands. My eyes. My vengeance."

"..."

The last word made Cinder fall silent once again, and it also made a chill go up her spine. But Eren wasn't afraid like she was.

"Cut it out!" he said as he stepped in between Darkness and Cinder again. "She knows you're real, just stop!"

"How bold," Darkness said as he lowered his head to Eren. "Do you forget who it was that helped you find her? Surely, I've earned a moment of your friend's time."

"..."

Eren couldn't deny that Darkness was the one who gave him directions to the Glass Unicorn, but he didn't like where any of this was going.

"What else have you told her?" Darkness inquired.

"That I'm from another world, that you gave me these powers, and that you sent me to Remnant," Eren explained. But before he could say anything else, Cinder grabbed Eren's shoulder and turned him around.

"So, it's true?" she asked in disbelief. "He let you turn into... a Titan?"

"Yeah... it's true," Eren admitted. "I wanted to tell you more, Cinder. But I only brought you here so you could see that I was telling the truth. I can tell you everything else... if you want."

"..."

"I can as well."

Eren and Cinder looked up at the god, who simply looked down on the children. "Allow me to show you how Eren came to be here," Darkness offered. "And why."

Cinder was beginning to consider the offer, given everything she had just seen and heard. But Eren's voice caught her attention once again.

"Wait a minute," Eren requested. "Cinder, you don't have to see anything else. If you still want to leave me, I'll-"

"Show me."

"..."

Eren was taken aback by Cinder's demand. He remembered how scared she was, before and after she came to the Coordinate. But now, there didn't seem to be a trace of fear on Cinder's face or in her voice.

And for good reason.

Cinder didn't know what was going to happen to her, but she knew that she was done being afraid. Fear had led her to being manipulated. Then, it led her to doubt her only friend, the person who came to her rescue. But now, Cinder knew that being afraid was only going to lead to more uncertainty and a bad future.

So Cinder was done being afraid. Now was the time for courage.

"Show me what happened to Eren," Cinder demanded. "Show me what he wanted to say."

If Darkness had a mouth, he would certainly be smiling. "As you wish," he said as he lifted his hand.

*SNAP*

Cinder's head became filled with memories and past events from Paradis and Remnant. Darkness showed the young girl Titans, war, and genocide at the same time. And most important of all, Darkness showed Cinder Salem.

A few seconds after Darkness snapped his fingers and Cinder's eyes widened, Eren looked up at the god. "You're welcome," the god said before he disappeared.

The environment soon changed back to the ocean. Once it did, Eren knew that he had to return to the nape of the Titan so he could continue to swim. But he didn't take his eyes off the expressionless girl.

Eren knew Cinder had just witnessed the same things he did and then some. He also knew that any doubt she had before going to the Coordinate was gone. All of this left the girl's questions for the God of Darkness answered. But not her questions for Eren.

"Cinder?" Eren called out after a few seconds. "Are you okay?"

Cinder looked towards Eren and spoke after what felt like an eternity. "...Yeah," she replied. "Yeah, I'm... I'm okay."

"..."

Cinder wasn't hurt or anything, but her mind was racing with a million questions. Rather than asking them at the same time and demanding answers, Cinder calmly approached Eren and spoke to him.

"So... it's true?" she asked. "You're... from another world? And this?" Cinder looked at the Titan. "This is a part of you?"

"...Yeah," Eren replied. "After I... died, Darkness gave me the chance to come here. The first Titan I used was my father's, but this one was made just for me."

"So you died?"

"That's right."

"Died like... really died?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you stay dead?"

Eren was confused and slightly hurt by the sound of the question. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Darkness gave you a choice," Cinder explained. "You could go to... whatever afterlife these Gods made. Why did you come here instead?" Cinder moved close enough to Eren so she could sit down before him. "Is it because your mom is here?"

"Yeah, that's right." Eren stopped swimming and fully exited his Titan. "Darkness told you about Salem, right?" Cinder slowly nodded. "That means you and I are the only few people who know about her. Hardly anybody knows the kind of danger they're in, my mom included."

"..."

When he saw that Cinder understood this, Eren decided to share a bigger picture with her. "I didn't understand his methods at first, but looking back on what Darkness showed us... I think Ozma's plan is to keep Salem at bay," he explained. "He can't kill her, but he can make sure she can't win. Stopping her..." Eren looked down at his Titan. "That's where I come in. I have a plan, but I need to strengthen my new Titan."

Cinder understood, but she didn't nod like before. "How long will that take?" she asked.

"I don't know... a few months? Few years?" Eren put his hands down. "But I have all the time in the world to regain the strength I had on Paradis." Eren took a few steps away from the nape and looked out towards the ocean. "Once I do, I'll stop Salem. I'll free Remnant."

"..."

Cinder stood up with Eren and looked deep into his eyes as he turned around. She understood everything now, and this understanding led to a decision that she made rather quickly. So when aqua and amber met and stood at a standstill, Cinder said one thing to his plan.

"No."

Eren blinked and titled his head. "...No?" he asked.

"No, Eren," Cinder repeated. "You won't stop Salem."

"..."

Cinder moved closer to Eren and blocked his path to the Titan's nape with a serious expression on her face. He immediately became worried about her next move. She continued to move closer, and Eren cautiously balled his fists. He didn't know what was going through her head, but Eren knew that he had to be prepared. He didn't want to hurt her, but he knew that he had to reach the nape of his Titan again.

Fortunately, Cinder gave Eren a good reason to release his fists. She reached out and gently took his hands with a smile.

"We will."

Eren's fists disappeared, but his confusion didn't. Only now, Eren was confused about something else. "Huh?"

"Eren, I'm sorry I didn't believe you," Cinder sincerely apologized. "But I believe you now. And if you're going to fight Salem, I'm going to fight her with you."

Eren immediately stepped back. "Cinder, no. You can't possibly want to do this."

"But I do. I fought with you in Mistral and Atlas, remember? Maybe this is why I learned how to fight."

"But you can stop now." Eren moved a finger at Cinder. "You're free, Cinder. Don't you remember what you told me you were going to do?"

"..."

Cinder remembered.

"You were going to see Vale, do whatever you wanted to do. You can do that now, Cinder. You're free."

"No, I'm not." Cinder gestured her hand to the ocean. "Nobody is. Remnant is living under Salem's shadow, she has the world on her fingertip." She looked back to Eren. "There's no freedom for me without you, Eren. Even after we stop Salem."

"But you're not strong enough," Eren pleaded. "I've seen some of the things Salem can do, she'll fry you before you know what hit you."

"Darkness said you can pass down your Titans," Cinder reminded him. "If you pass one down to me, I can fight with you."

"But-"

"Eren, stop it!" The boy jumped back as she yelled. "I don't care what else you say, I don't care if this might kill me!" She walked closer to him. "Salem's not all high and mighty you might think she is! She's just a girl who's mad at the world because something bad happened to her once upon a time!" Cinder turned into the sky and continued to scream. "Well guess what, freak?! Something bad happened to me too! And you don't see me trying to conquer the world!"

"..."

Cinder took a few quick breaths as she recomposed herself. Turning back to Eren, she made her point again. "I want to help you, Eren. And I don't want to see the rest of the world without you. I mean, sure, you killed people so you could gain your freedom... but I did too." She took his hands again. "Don't you see? I'm just like you, Eren. We're the same."

"..."

She was right. Cinder was just like him. Eren knew this was true, and knew she wouldn't take "No" for an answer.

Eren walked back to the nape of the Titan and began to think. Maybe Cinder could help him fight. She wasn't ready now, but Cinder had the qualities of a warrior: initiative, willingness, and a dedication to see her fights through to the end. Cinder would make all of Eren's friends proud.

But there was one thing stopping him from saying "Yes."

"Cinder, I... I can't ask you to do this," Eren said. "You would have to kill with me, maybe even for me. You'd have to follow me straight into Hell." Eren looked down into the Titan. "I can't... I won't let you be my slave."

Cinder wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm not your slave, Eren. I'm your friend."

Eren's body tightened at the word. Cinder felt this, and had a feeling she upset him. But she continued making her point.

"Eren... I know you had friends back home," Cinder reminded him. "You had a family too. I'm not trying to replace them, but... I still want to be your friend." She felt tears drip onto her hands, but she didn't stop talking. "You were always there for me when I needed you, and now it's my turn to do the same. Because from what I've heard... that's what friends do. You did it for Armin, for Mikasa. And I really want to-"

She stopped talking when she felt two hands take hers. Eren turned his head around and spoke from his heart.

"Mikasa was... important to me," he said. "She was... more than my friend. I'd give anything to be with her right now, to tell her how much I love her, to grow old with her. Everyone else you saw, they were... they are my family." Eren stood up and looked at Cinder. "But you're right, Cinder. That's what friends do." He started to smile again. "And I know I lied, I know I didn't tell you everything, but... I still want us to be friends."

Cinder gasped. She expected to hear more attempts to talk her down, but this was more than she could have expected. She didn't know it before, but a confirmation like this, a confirmation of friendship, was what she wanted all her life.

"You mean it?" she asked with a smile. "Really?"

"Really," Eren confirmed.

Cinder pointed behind her. "Even after what happened in Atlas?"

Eren nodded slowly. "That wasn't your fault, Cinder."

"And... you forgive me? For not believing you?"

"Of course I do. Trust me, I understand." Eren's face became a little red from telling his story. "I, uh... probably sounded crazy, huh?"

"I mean, yeah. A little." Cinder briefly laughed with Eren as they reminisced on how Eren explained himself. "So... does that mean-?"

Eren gripped her hands tighter and smiled. "If you're serious about helping me, being my first Titan... let's do it."

Cinder quickly squeezed his hands in joy. "Let's do it."

---

Update: hey, everyone. So this is the rewrite for Chapter 4 we promised. This was the chapter that probably got the most criticism, and for good reason. But AT and I made sure to fix what needed to be fixed, and we added a little extra for Cinder too. The overall theme of this chapter is the death of innocence, Cinder's in this case. We hope you like it! Don't forget to leave your thoughts before you go.

And AT will be uploading the first chapter of Beyond the Path really soon. Hope you enjoy!

Author's notes: thank you so much for reading this, I really hope you're enjoying it. Make sure you leave a comment and support my idea guy for this story, The Avenging Titan.

Speaking of which, I have a message from The Avenging Titan that will explain some of the choices we made in this chapter: "Both this chapter and last chapter were definitely exciting ones to help plan as they both lay the groundwork for a big change from canon. Eren and Cinder's relationship was one of the main developments the two of us were talking about as we were initially working on this story. And thanks to RWBY Volume 8 FINALLY giving us Cinder's backstory, young Cinder was the perfect opportunity for this to happen. After all, if someone else other than Salem were to find Cinder first, then who knows how things can change for her?"

That last question actually reminded me of another story I'm currently writing, "The Way of the Maiden." If you're a fan of The Mandalorian and RWBY, check it out! Other than that, please leave a review and support The Avenging Titan. Until next time!