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.

14. Chapter 14 (Rewrite)

"There is no place like home."

L. Frank Baum

Chapter 14: Home Invasion

"Dammit! Bastards! Bastards!"

"I can't believe it. I can't believe it. I can't believe it."

"This... This is a joke, right? You guys are just screwing with me?"

"..."

Eren, Cinder, Nora, and Ren had just returned from the town square with terrible news. The entire town erupted into chaos when the mayor announced that Mistral decided to give their land to the Schnee Dust Company and that they were expected to leave in two days time. Eren joined in, but left when an SDC soldier hit Nora in the face after she threw a glass bottle at him. When everyone took her back to the farm to rest, Cinder broke down in anger while Ren told Emerald and Mercury what happened.

"I can't believe it," Emerald whispered again and again, the truth driving her into shock. That was all she could do at this point.

"So what, they just want us to pack our shit and leave?" Mercury asked. "To hell with that!"

"I don't want to leave either," said Ren, who sat down next to Mercury. "But if we stay, we'll just-"

Cinder looked back at Ren with a cold glare. "Ren, if you're not gonna help, just get out of here!"

"..."

Cinder couldn't help but be angry right now. She had come to love her home in Kuroyuri, and she wasn't going to take the news of an incoming intrusion very quietly.

She normally wouldn't yell at her friends like this either, but she was having trouble thinking clearly. He was probably concerned for the safety of his parents and Nora, but Cinder hoped that Ren would eventually see that what the Schnee Dust Company was doing was wrong.

Nevertheless, Cinder knew that she crossed a line. The last thing she wanted was to be fighting her friends, especially since the SDC was the clear enemy. "Ren, I-"

"It's okay," the calm teenager assured Cinder. "I understand you're upset. But I'm just worried about Nora and my family right now. I mean, you saw what that soldier did to her."

Cinder began to think clearly again. "Yeah, I did," she admitted. "But we can't just do nothing about this!"

Just as she said that, Nora walked out of the living room. "Wow, these healing powers pack a punch!" she said as she tapped her head.

"Umm... yes Nora, that's what an Aura does," Ren said as he walked over to her. Given that Mercury and Emerald were in the room with them, Ren wanted to keep the Titan healing abilities he showed Nora a secret for now. "How are you feeling?"

"Not so good," she said.

"You should probably sit back-"

"No, not about my head! I hit that about three times a day!" Nora playfully tapped her head with her knuckles as she sat down at the kitchen table. "I'm more upset about these big-shots coming here and telling us to get out! Who do they think they are?!"

"We were just talking about that," Mercury said as he joined Nora. "And I'm not in a hurry to leave."

"Me neither." Nora and Mercury shared a fist bump at the agreement they found themselves in.

"That makes three of us," said Cinder, who didn't sit down.

"Four," said Ren. Given that Nora was feeling better, Ren could see that now was a time to worry about his home.

"Five," said Emerald, who was still in the room. "And uh... there might be a few more than that." She turned her head towards the stairs, where two other people had previously gone.

Everyone looked towards the stairs as well, and immediately knew what Emerald was talking about. They suddenly realized that she was right, there were definitely other people who didn't take this eviction notice too well. But it was worse than that.

Everyone on the first floor was angry, but there was one person who was heartbroken.

---

Right now, Eren wished he was somewhere else. He wished that he was anywhere else, even if it meant the Coordinate, than where he was right now.

He was in his mother's room. And he was watching her experience true, honest heartbreak.

When he returned home with Nora and his friends, Eren had to tell Carla what happened when she questioned him. She and Dina could hear the chaos from her backyard, even though the house wasn't very close to the town square. And so, Eren told both of them what happened with the Schnee Dust Company apparently "buying" Kuroyuri's land.

Carla and Dina had a hard time believing this at first, even though Eren's friends confirmed the truth. And after Carla and Dina called a couple of their friends in Kuroyuri, they knew they couldn't deny the truth anymore.

Carla was in her bedroom when she made her own calls. After she ended them, she fell onto the floor and started crying on her bed. It wasn't just crying, though; Carla was wailing loud enough for the whole house to hear.

Eren and Dina were trying to help Carla, but neither of them knew what to do. "Carla, please calm down!" Dina begged. "It'll be okay! It'll be..."

That was the last thing Dina could say before she began to cry as well. She wasn't crying as hard as Carla, but she was having trouble holding herself together.

Eren was having a hard time as well, and tears were forming in his eyes.

The news had made Eren very angry, and he was still angry now. However, when he saw his mother react the way she was reacting now, Eren became distraught. He had never seen Carla cry like this, he never saw how she dealt with despair like this. There was the time she was trapped and killed in Paradis, and then there was the time he had to tell her his story, but those events were nothing like this.

Carla looked like her whole world had just caved in on her. And Eren pitied her greatly.

"M... Mom," Eren said as he reached towards her shoulder. "P-Please stop."

Surprisingly, Eren's voice and his touch were enough to make Carla look up from her bed. When she saw her son looking over her, Carla began to feel a few different things.

The first thing she felt was unchanged; Carla was incredibly sad and depressed about the news. Kuroyuri was her home, the one place in Remnant where she felt the most warm and safe. Despite the Grimm attack that nearly destroyed the town, Carla hadn't lost her love and feelings for Kuroyuri. The town, and her family's farm, meant everything to her.

She didn't have the strength to let it all go.

She also felt pity when she looked at Eren. As a mother, it was Carla's job to provide for him and make him feel safe. She couldn't do that without a home or business. So she pitied him, she felt that she had failed him the moment she found out about the eviction.

However, in her current state of mind, there was one thing that Carla also felt when she looked at her son.

Hope.

"Eren," Carla whispered. She immediately stood up and grabbed Eren's shoulders. "Eren, you have to go!"

"Huh?" Eren asked as he witnessed his mother's transformation.

"Go! Go out there and stop them!"

Dina was also surprised by Carla's shift in behavior. She was also surprised by what she was saying, which seemed to imply something... drastic.

"Carla-"

"Use your Titan, Eren!" Carla yelled as she shook Eren's arms. "Use anything! Save the town, save everything we have, please!"

"Carla, stop!" Dina said as she approached her friend. "Please, calm down! What are you saying?!"

"..."

Carla suddenly ran from Eren and locked herself in the bathroom. Eren rushed over and knocked on the door while calling to her, but there was no reply.

"...Are you okay?" Dina asked as she looked at Eren's arms.

"I... I'm fine," Eren said as he looked where Dina was looking. He could feel a small tingling where Carla had grabbed him, but Eren was much more concerned about his mother. "She... She never acted that way before."

"No, never," Dina agreed. "I mean, this is alarming news, but I never thought..." The teacher suddenly drew a connection with Carla's feelings and behavior.

They were similar to how Dina used to react whenever she had bad dreams.

"I'll talk to her," Dina insisted as she moved to the bathroom door. "I think I can help her."

"...Are you sure?" Eren asked.

"She's acting like how I used to act when I had my dreams. You heard what she said, she's clearly not thinking straight."

Eren took a moment to think about what just happened. "...Right. Clearly."

"..."

"I'm... gonna go find everyone else."

Eren moved towards the stairs and began descending towards the first floor of the house. With each step he took, he became more and more angry with everything that was happening. But through it all, he was incredibly sad. Today was perhaps the first day where Eren learned just how much the farm meant to his mother. He always knew it was important, but now he could see that it was practically Carla's whole world.

He was never going to forget the face she wore in that room. Before and after she told him what to do.

"Eren?"

Eren looked at the living room to see that all of his friends were there looking at him. He wasn't aware that they were talking about him and his mother a few moments ago, but he was too upset to care.

But not too upset to talk to everyone.

"How... How is she?" Cinder cautiously asked.

Eren slowly shook his head. "Not good," he replied. The question made him think back on the look of heartbreak Carla wore. "I don't... I don't think I've ever seen her cry like that."

"..."

Nobody knew how to reply to a statement such as this, especially Cinder. She remembered the night she and Eren were forced to reveal their identities as Titans to Dina and Carla, and she remembered how upset they were.

To think that Carla was even more upset today was hard to believe.

Eren was even having trouble believing it, which was why he sat down and rubbed his head. "Mom poured her heart and soul into this farm," he said. "And her parents did the same thing. And all of that... was before me."

"..."

Mercury and Emerald simply assumed Eren was talking about Carla's life before she had him. Cinder, Ren, and Nora, however, knew better. And they knew a little more about the situation.

"...Ren was looking into this 'expansion' the mayor was talking about," Nora began. "Apparently the Mistral Council owns the land that villages like ours sits on."

Ren lifted his Scroll. "I was reading about it in the news," he said. "The SDC approached the Council and offered deals for land two weeks ago. A couple of the members objected, but they were outvoted."

Eren did nothing but listen carefully to what Ren was saying. Because of that, he was able to pick up a very important detail about this "deal" between the company and the Council.

"Two weeks ago?" he asked. "But... that was when-"

"The Branwen Tribe," Cinder finished with a gasp. "Oh, Gods..."

Ren gasped as well, after he connected the dots. "It wasn't just us," he said. "They've been robbing villages, trains, and even ships for Dust and supplies for years. No more tribe-"

"No more robberies," Eren finished. "They must have swooped in when they heard the news."

"We did this," Cinder said as she took a seat in the kitchen, where Ren and Nora were waiting for her. "Guys, we have to fix this."

"We can't," Nora sadly replied as she looked down at the table. "Even if we found a way to get them outta here, who knows what will come next? What if things get worse again? Because of us?"

"But Nora, we can't just do nothing while Kuroyuri waits to die," Ren said. "That would be worse than something else happening." His father's wisdom of taking action played in Ren's head once again, which allowed him to see that leaving or doing nothing was wrong.

"Ren's right," said Cinder, who sat closer to Nora. "We have no idea what's going to happen, but we can't let that stop us. We need hope, we need to take a risk."

"I took a risk two weeks ago," Nora said as she got up from the table. "And look where that got us." She then made her way to the back door, opening it and walking out of the house.

Cinder and Eren were about to go after her, but Ren stood up first. "Let her go," he requested. "She's... obviously not doing well."

"...Okay," Cinder said as she sat back down.

Eren knew that he had to learn more about what was happening before deciding what to do next. But in order to do that, he needed a moment with Cinder and Ren.

"Mercury, Emerald... could you give us a minute?" Eren asked as he turned to the duo.

"Uh, sure," Mercury said. "Yeah, okay." He moved to a different place of the house, but Emerald didn't leave just yet.

"Is that okay with you, Cinder?" Emerald asked.

Cinder didn't know why Emerald would ask her a question like that, but then she remembered what had happened earlier. However, she didn't have the focus to deal with that problem right now. First, she needed to figure out what to do about the town.

"Uh, yeah," Cinder said. "I need to talk to Eren."

"Okay," Emerald said. "I'll see you later." She immediately left the area and went to find something else to do. She was still reeling over the news, but Emerald decided to try to get her mind off of it.

Eren, however, knew he couldn't get his mind off a matter like this.

"Ren, what else do you know about the SDC's expansion?" Eren asked.

"Apparently, we're not the first town to learn about this," Ren said as he took out his Scroll again. "I saw that other towns tried to get in the way of the SDC, but they threw everything they had at the citizens and villages... until there was nothing left to save."

"How... How many villages have they razed?" Cinder asked.

"...Three. We're next."

"..."

The news weighed heavily on everyone's minds, especially given the truth behind the circumstances. Cinder and Ren understood what Nora was thinking with the Branwen Tribe. Destroying the camp was undoubtedly a good thing to do, but nobody could have expected a power play such as this.

Not even Eren could have predicted something like this.

The young man didn't regret his actions. He didn't regret giving Ren and Nora Titans, he didn't regret the change in plan that led everyone to the Branwen Tribe, and he certainly didn't regret helping his friends destroy the place.

But Eren knew that he had to do something about it now.

"Use your Titan, Eren! Use anything! Save the town, save everything we have, please!"

Carla's frantic words rang through Eren's head as he thought about what to do. More than anything, he wanted to help his mother and the town she called home. However, Dina was correct that she wasn't thinking clearly. Eren knew his mother long enough to know that she would never suggest an idea like that if she was in her right state of mind.

On the other hand... Eren knew himself long enough to know that he would throw everything he had at any enemy that threatened his freedom. And now, that enemy was the Schnee Dust Company.

Eren stood up again. "Well then... maybe the SDC needs a taste of their own medicine."

---

"You've said this is where it happened?"

"Yes, ma'am. Right over here."

A blonde man wearing glasses and a gray business suit was walking through the woods. Right behind him was a white haired woman as tall as him, wearing a white uniform with blue in the chest. At her side was a long silver sword, which was close to the ground and close to her heeled boots. At the moment, both of them weren't going through a peaceful stroll in the woods. Both of them were upset and concerned.

Once they came into a clearing, all that lay before them was dying fire on top of a large machine and rocks everywhere.

"And this was the third incident you've had out here?" the woman asked as she walked closer to the machine, examining the destruction firsthand.

"Yes, ma'am," the businessman replied. "What you're looking at is a mech we use for clearing out the land, to make room for-"

"I know what this is. What I don't know is how this happened." The woman looked around at the numerous rocks surrounding the mech, and some trees on the ground. "Actually, it would seem this is the work of a Grimm. A Geist could have used these rocks to destroy the machine."

"We thought that at first. But the guards we've employed are the best the SDC has. They saw nothing when this accident occurred. And they didn't see any Grimm at the other incidents.

"Hmm." The woman turned back to the businessman. "Tell me more."

The businessman pulled out his Scroll and showed it to the woman. On the screen was a picture of large crates. "This was the necessary equipment we need to begin mining the lands Mr. Schnee procured." He swiped his finger on the screen to show the same spot as before, but without the crates. "The first image was what it looked like one morning. This image couldn't have been taken more than a half hour later. Everything we had was gone."

"Gone?"

"Yes, gone. Not destroyed, but gone."

"So you're saying it was stolen. I thought the Branwen Tribe was no longer a problem."

"It couldn't have been bandits. They're reckless, make a mess everywhere. This was a clean job, it was as if everything vanished without a trace."

"...I see." The woman considered the man's observations, and deduced that they were true. She had been in Mistral for a long time and was aware of the destruction bandits were responsible for. This clearly wasn't their method of operation. And yet, that couldn't rule out the other incidents she heard of before meeting this man. "What else happened here?"

"After everything was stolen, we were behind schedule. So we decided to pick up the pace by excavating the nearby towns. Everyone was gone by that point, all we had to do was clear it out."

"You mean the houses?"

"Yes. I had just started clearing the town of Shion, so I decided to see how everything was going at Kuroyuri. When I got there, the first thing I saw was fire."

"Fire? I thought Kuroyuri wasn't abandoned yet." The woman became cross. "Why did Mr. Schnee give you clearance to destroy it?"

"He didn't. And it wasn't that, but a wildfire. Right where the reserves for our equipment were. All burnt to a crisp." The man used his Scroll to show what remained of the land. All they could see were dead trees and black grass. In the middle of it were the ruins of a temporary camp, along with what looked like a few bodies.

"Were these your people?" she asked.

"A few more guards, they didn't make it out."

"Weren't these the miners quarters as well?"

"They're all gone. Those aren't their bodies though."

"How can you tell?"

"These aren't the bodies of animals."

"..."

The woman merely turned back to the broken machine without a word. The businessman told her that this was the final accident they had before calling the authorities. Now she had enough evidence and testimony to make a full report. But rather than simply writing it on her Scroll, the woman made her way back the way she came from. This path led her to a unique Atlesian airship that was in the middle of a clear field. Stepping up the ramp and into the ship, the woman made her way to the control panel, where she placed her Scroll. After a few seconds, the computer screen on the panel showed a man with black hair and blue eyes wearing a similar uniform.

"General Ironwood, sir," the woman said as she saluted the man on the screen.

"At ease, Schnee," the General ordered indifferently. Once she lowered her arm, Ironwood spoke again. "Do you have a report from your sector in Mistral?"

"Yes, sir. I've just begun my investigation into the acts of mining sabotage. I've sent a preliminary report to you."

On the other end of the screen, General Ironwood removed his Scroll from a pocket in his shirt. Opening it and looking at the screen, he studied the images and sentences before him. "I see," he said as he continued to look at the Scroll. "The SDC associate you spoke to may be correct about this not being bandits."

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" the soldier asked.

This time, Ironwood looked back at the officer. "Granted."

"I learned the majority of the mining staff comprised of Faunus. I was thinking this may be the work of the White Fang. They rarely pass up a chance to hamper SDC production or steal Dust."

"I was thinking the same thing, Schnee." Ironwood smiled. "I suppose great minds do indeed think alike." The officer formed a small smirk at her superior's commendation, but quickly made it disappear. "We can't rule out the White Fang's involvement here, but we can't jump to any conclusions just yet. What was the name of the current town in the SDC's way?"

"That would be... Kuroyuri, sir."

"It may be beneficial to investigate there. Whether you'll find the White Fang or the true culprits, we can't leave any unturned stones here."

"Of course, sir. And if I find the White Fang?"

"You're authorized to use our methods in apprehending them. And anyone else involved."

"Understood, sir. I'll begin right away." The officer reached for her Scroll on the panel.

"Winter, just a moment," Ironwood requested, dropping formalities all of a sudden. The only time he did that was when what he needed to say to her was of upmost importance. And when he believed he could trust her with anything.

"Yes, sir?" Winter asked calmly.

"We weren't the only ones informed of these attacks. Apparently, the contact you met took the liberty of telling your father about the setbacks to his operations in Mistral."

"...I see. I assume he was upset?"

"He was. So upset that he saw fit to talk to me about it. Once I told him we were handling it, he insisted that he come to you personally."

Winter felt a twinge of fear when Ironwood brought her this news. She was prepared to handle any bandits, Grimm, even the Faunus terrorist group. But if there was one thing she doubted herself being able to handle, it was the parasite and wretch that called himself her father.

"Winter, I did everything I could to try and make him change his mind," said General Ironwood, who was all too familiar with Winter's father and his personality issues. "If he should cause you any trouble, contact me and I'll-"

"That won't be necessary, sir," Winter impulsively spat out. "I can handle it."

"In that case, can I ask you to try and be nice to him?"

"Sir, with all due respect, you'd have to pay me."

Ironwood chuckled. "That's what I thought." Straightening his collar, Ironwood gave one last sentiment. "Update me as soon as possible. Good luck."

---

When they were cleared of any Grimm, the forests of Mistral were always known to be quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were birds chirping in their nests and the wind blowing through the dark green trees. Many cities in the Kingdom of Mistral had organizations that were meant to protect these forests and protect the wildlife from both Grimm and mankind.

And it was safe to say that they were very successful, as activities like hiking, picnicking, and camping in the forests had all been deemed to be the safest while in Mistral.

One uncommon activity that some people chose to do was finding a place in the woods to meditate, which was what Lie Ren was doing at the moment. Normally, he would do this relaxing hobby alone and undisturbed. But today, he found himself to be a teacher to Eren Yeager, who was joining him in meditation practices.

"Control is the key, Eren," said Ren, who was sitting in front of his friend. "Your breathing, your thoughts, and your feelings are all we're going to learn how to control."

"..."

Eren kept his eyes closed while he was sitting on the ground. Each breath he took was always in through his nose and out his mouth, slowed and controlled.

"Even in a place like this, there's something that can catch you off guard. It may distract you, but don't let it prevent you from losing your current state of being."

"..."

Ren opened his eyes to see that Eren looked like him when he meditated. Seeing that his friend quickly picked up the basics, Ren decided that Eren needed his first challenge.

*THWACK*

"Augh!" Eren opened his eyes to see Ren's hand close to his face, which he had just smacked. "Ren, what are you-?!"

"Focus!" Ren ordered. "Return to where you were, and don't let your feelings overwhelm you."

Eren closed his eyes again, only to feel Ren hit him once again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Before his palm could come into contact with skin, Ren felt his hand get caught by another hand. Eren was holding his hand while trying to focus on gaining a sense of control.

"My hand's still distracting you," Ren pointed out. "It's making you angry."

"That tends to happen when someone gets smacked," said Eren, opening his eyes and letting go of Ren. "Forget it." Eren stood up and walked towards the trees.

Ren stood up and followed Eren. "It doesn't take a genius to see this isn't the only source of your frustration."

"Just like it takes a blockhead to blow something this simple?"

"I never said this would be easy, Eren." Ren put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm actually glad you asked me to do this with you. It's good to see you want to improve a flaw you see in yourself, but this takes time."

"Yeah... I know."

Eren wouldn't have decided to take up meditation if he didn't see any flaws with himself. However, recent events helped him see that change was more than necessary.

A few days had passed since Eren began his crusade against the Schnee Dust Company. In that time, many people in Kuroyuri were either starting to leave or wallowing in pity. Unfortunately, Carla found herself in the latter category. She hardly ate, slept, or spoken to anyone since she heard about Kuroyuri's "purchase."

Eren found this behavior to be pitiful, and honestly a little pathetic. However, he knew that only the destruction of the company's tools and equipment would not only get Carla back to her old self, but let Kuroyuri live on.

Eren took this job seriously, albeit passionately. His efforts were fueled mainly by anger, since he took the unwelcome arrival as an attack on his own personal freedom. And so, he destroyed equipment with his friends and ended lives.

However, when one mission resulted in Cinder and Ren being too close to an explosion, despite the fact that they were in their Titans, Eren began to see that he was going too far.

The last time he hurt his friends was when he commenced the Rumbling, a force that destroyed billions of lives. Eren's goal may have been destruction, but he wasn't going to let his friends be a part of that destruction.

Not again.

And so, after thinking it over, Eren decided that he needed help to calm himself. He wasn't trying to be "soft" or give up his fight, but Eren wanted to make sure that he didn't lose himself on the battlefield. He wanted to be in control of all of his actions, no matter what they were.

Ren was willing to help Eren in this endeavor, and he suggested meditation. This activity always calmed Ren's mind and helped him develop a stronger focus, so Eren was willing to give it a try.

And now, it was time to see how it worked.

"Well, how did you feel before you lost focus?" Ren asked.

"I felt calm, relaxed," Eren explained. "It was almost like I was having a waking dream."

"Almost, but not quite. The goal of meditation is to develop the ability to clear your mind. Not just a clear head, but clear thoughts and feelings. This can help your spirit become disciplined, better hone your fighting abilities."

"And not get angry easily."

"Yes, and not getting angry easily. You can do it, Eren. I know you can."

"...Thanks. If you don't mind, I'd like to turn this into a daily thing."

"I think I can teach you a few things before you try on your own." Ren moved back to where he was sitting before. "We can try again now if you like."

The sounds of gas escaping a metal contraption and something hitting wood turned Eren's eyes towards his right. "Looks like that'll have to wait," he said as he smiled at the sight of Cinder traveling through the woods on Dancing Midnight. She flew right above the two boys before landing in front of them. "You're getting better with that."

"I never expected it to feel so natural this quickly," Cinder said as she turned around. "Speaking of progress, how's the meditation going?"

"It was going fine until Ren decided to smack me in the face."

Ren quickly stood up. "It was merely part of the lesson," the boy defended himself.

"Oh, I'm not mad," Cinder said as she slapped Eren's stomach. "I always thought it was fun."

As Eren recovered from the slap, a risky idea came to him. "You know what else is fun?" he asked. "Watching your gear loosen up on you."

"What?" Cinder looked around her gear and saw that it was indeed loose. "Huh, guess I gotta fix the belt."

"Right. That's the problem." When Eren saw Cinder look at him in confusion, he went in for the kill. "I don't know, weren't you saying that you've felt, what's the phrase... bottom-heavy?"

Cinder's jaw dropped when she saw a small smirk form on his face. Even though she knew he was joking in retaliation for her prank, the young girl was prepared to take this banter to the next level. "Oh, you're in trouble now." She immediately leapt on her friend.

As always, Ren watched the playful fight Eren and Cinder had engaged in with a neutral glare. Then again, he was happy to see Eren take action in putting aside his negativity. He actually learned that it would make closing off negative experiences during meditation much easier. So he decided to let the duo have their fun while they waited for news from the SDC.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Ren said as he moved closer to Eren and Cinder. The two quickly stopped wrestling and looked up at Ren. "Cinder, did you find out anything from the SDC?"

"Oh, right!" Cinder said as Eren helped her up. "The work we did as Titans definitely caught some eyes. When I was waiting by that mech Eren destroyed, I heard the guy in charge of all this talking to some soldier."

"A soldier?" Eren asked. "So they'll be sending more soldiers here?"

"Yeah, that's another thing. When she went into her ship, I moved closer to see what was-"

"Closer?" Eren moved into Cinder's eye view. "Cinder, we can't take risks like that. You could have been seen, or caught."

A heat rose to Cinder's face when she heard how concerned Eren was about her safety. "Don't get your panties in a wad," she said as she played it off. "It was actually worth the risk. They think the White Fang is doing what we're doing."

"The Faunus activists?" Ren asked. "That's actually good news. Not about the misplaced blame, but they'll be none the wiser about us."

"Right... About that..." Cinder rubbed the back of her head. "They still want to check home out, make sure anyone who looks responsible isn't hiding there."

"Then we should head back too. Let everyone know what's coming." Ren prepared himself to make a run back to Kuroyuri.

"Wait a second, wait a second."

Ren turned back to Cinder. "Something else?"

"Two things, actually. The soldier that's looking into this... I think she's the daughter of the SDC's president."

Eren's eyes widened. "Seriously?" he asked in bewilderment.

"Seriously. And he's on his way here, to see what's going on with all his stuff."

"Wow. Sounds like we really pissed him off."

"We may have made him mad enough to want his schedule to advance," Ren pointed. "We have to warn everyone now."

"No," Eren argued. "Even if we warned everyone, this guy's still gonna destroy everything we built." Eren turned to Cinder. "And if we do anything to push him further behind schedule, his company will throw everything they have at us. Guys, it's time we finish this."

"But how?" Ren asked. "Destroying everything he brought here didn't make him change his mind. Nothing will."

"Actually, there might be one thing," Cinder pointed out. "He's Atlesian. And if there's one thing I know about them, it's that they always tighten their grip on what they have." Just as she said that, Cinder raised a hand to her neck. "We need to give him a reason to let it go. We can't kill him... but maybe we can scare him off."

Eren snapped his fingers at the idea. "And if there's one thing I've learned back home, nothing scares people like Titans," he said.

"Then this is our one chance to put it all to an end," said Ren, who found himself in agreement with the plan. "But we'll need all hands on deck to pull it off."

Eren nodded to approve of Ren's point, but Cinder didn't follow. "I hate to be that girl, but I need to point out that we're missing someone."

Eren sighed, remembering how Nora was feeling. Ren sighed as well. "She's... still not very happy with everything," he said. "I asked Mercury to check in on her, but all we can do is hope for the best."

---

While Eren, Cinder, and Ren had managed to delay the inevitable, there were still people in Kuroyuri who had lost hope in everything. Most people had finished packing their essentials and had made preparations to to leave for the "fair compensation" in Argus that was promised to them.

Surprisingly enough, one of these people was Nora Valkyrie, who was helping her family clean out the house. She had just managed to use her unloaded hammer to reach a vase and catch it before it hit the floor.

Just behind her was An Ren, who was laughing at the sight. "Thank you, Nora," she said as she took the vase. "You know, I may have done a similar technique to get this up there in the first place."

"It's good to get creative," Nora said with a small smile. However, the smile disappeared when she looked around the house. "You and Li really liked this place, didn't you? It's... not fair."

"Oh, Nora, this is just a house. Because Li and I were with you and Lie all these years, that's what made it a home. And I know we'll make a new one somewhere."

"But aren't you sad?"

"Of course. Li and I never imagined leaving Kuroyuri. But... I'm just trying to be optimistic about all of this."

"Ren once said blind optimism isn't good."

"And he was right. But no optimism means things won't get better." An put the vase down and looked around the empty room. "I think one more walk around the neighborhood will make you feel better. What do yo think?"

Nora smiled at the idea, but thought that it would just break her heart more. "Actually, Li wanted me to finish packing my room. I'll go for a walk after, though."

"Okay." An walked away with a smile, leaving Nora to finish packing in her room. One of the last things she looked at before packing it in a duffel bag was a picture of her with Ren, Cinder, and Eren. When that picture was taken, she and Ren had just gotten their weapons from Mercury and decided to show them off. The day left Nora with a nearly broken leg, but it was still a day filled with fun and excitement.

But sadly, those days seemed to be over now. So Nora packed the photo away before the sound of her door opening caught her attention. "You finally ready to pack, Ren?" she asked while turning around, expecting Ren to be standing there after giving up on the fight.

She instead found Mercury standing in the doorway, leaning on the wooden doorframe with his arms crossed.

"Oh... Hey, Merc," Nora addressed her friend in surprise. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah, that's right," Mercury said without leaving the doorway. "I came to grab something for the SDC. It's about yay high, dresses in pink, can break just about anything with a big ass hammer. Ring any bells?"

Nora simply sighed at the joke. "So they got you too, huh?"

"I thought I could help out. It's not like I was doing anything else today. And now they asked me to bring you along, we're about to perform our grand finale."

Nora looked away and began to zip up her duffel bag. "Are you sure that's such a good idea?" she dryly asked. "Given my track record, I just... I can't imagine us doing anything but making this all worse."

Mercury finally stopped leaning on the doorframe and uncrossed his arms. "Damn, they weren't kidding," he thought to himself, thinking back on what everyone told him about Nora. "What's gotten into you, Nora?" he asked, out of disbelief that Nora would back away from a fight.

"I'm a screw-up is what!" Nora said as she turned around. "Just when I thought I could actually do some good with everything I learned, I crashed and burned. We stopped the Branwen Tribe, but nobody thought we'd be sending something worse than them. I didn't think I'd be sending something worse."

"So that's it?" Mercury asked as he walked into the room. "You're feeling shitty about the Branwen Tribe so you're calling it quits? In what way does that make sense?"

"What aren't you understanding?!" Nora turned around and looked at Mercury. "I helped bring down a group of bandits that caused the SDC trouble, just so I could bring them right to our doorstep!" Nora angrily pointed two fingers at her head. "Think, Merc! Think! I was the one who did the most damage to the tribe, I'm responsible!" Nora sat down on her bed, and started to cry. "I... I don't want to be responsible for something worse coming here."

"..."

All Mercury could do while standing in the room was take pity on one of his best friends feeling sorry for herself. He knew that a good friend would leave her to her thoughts, let it all out until she felt better. But given what was at stake in the moment, Mercury knew he couldn't go back to everyone else without Nora. So he decided to be a better friend and give Nora a gentle nudge in the right direction.

"You know the only time I ever stood up to my old man?" Mercury asked as he sat down next to Nora. "The night he died, when we kidnapped you, Ms. Fritz, and Ms. Yeager. Again, my bad."

"..."

Nora had calmed down enough to stop crying, but didn't say anything to Mercury. So he continued to make his point.

"Eren and Cinder got him rambling on, mostly a big 'Fuck you, Mercury' and explaining what he was gonna do after he killed everyone. I was pretty pissed and ready for everything to end, so I took a chance. I stabbed him in the side."

"Is that... how he died?" Nora asked.

"I wish." Mercury looked down at his legs. "Because of that, he broke my legs in... I don't even know how many places. And I had to spend seven years in surgery and physical therapy, all because I took the risk to kill him."

As always, Nora felt immediate sympathy for her friend. But that didn't stop her from bringing something else up. "That's... not really the same as what's going on now."

"No, it totally is." Mercury moved both of his hands while explaining himself. "See, it's all about actions and reactions. Everything we do will always have some sort of consequences. Some good, others bad. I attacked my dad, he broke my legs. You dealt the biggest hit to the Branwen Tribe, and the SDC made a power grab."

"..."

"It only took me a few days for me to wish I hadn't attacked my dad. That way, I wouldn't have to be in a hospital room about twenty hours a day, go through multiple surgeries and physical therapies, and need help standing just so I could take a leak."

"So you spent seven years living in your own personal Hell," Nora said. "That sounds about right for me, I guess."

"No, see, here's the thing. It may have taken a few days to wish I had just died instead, but it took a little more time to see that what I did had other consequences too. And these ones were a hell of a lot better than before."

Nora looked up from the ground to Mercury. "Like... being friends with me? With Eren, Cinder, and Ren?"

"Yeah, yeah, exactly! I even got the chance to do things I didn't even think of." Mercury stood up and pointed to Magnhild. "Like making your weapons, getting a job and a place to live. Hell, I even made a girlfriend when I was stuck in Mistral! If I didn't attack my dad, he could have killed you guys. Or send you right where Vernal used to be. But look at me now." Mercury spread his arms. "I got a home, one that's a hundred times better than where I used to be. And I'll be damned before I let some rich assholes kick me outta here."

"..."

The surprising wisdom that Mercury had just shared left Nora dumbfounded. He was right about everything. The immediate consequences of his decision were the worst he had to deal with, but everything else down the road was wonderful. He found friends, a home, and it was all because of a risk he took that night. Nora remembered the risk she took when asking Eren for a Titan and letting herself go out of control. Right now, the immediate consequences of her decision were dire. And they were going to get a lot worse if she wasn't willing to give the SDC the boot.

So Nora made a quick stride towards the side of the room to pick up Magnhild. Mercury smiled at the sight and made his way to the door, ready to finish off the Atlesians once and for all. Once he got to the front door of the Ren household, however, he saw that Nora wasn't with him. Turning around, he saw that Nora was standing by the kitchen table, looking at her weapon in its grenade launcher form.

"Merc, thanks for saying all of that," she said as she looked at her weapon. "But I know that there's a chance of something bad happening again. When the SDC is gone, things could get better. Or worse."

"You're not... having second thoughts, are you?" Mercury asked, slightly worried that he may have made Nora's depression worse.

"No." Nora looked up. "Whatever happens, I'll be ready. I'll just have to take a chance." Nora walked over to the door. "But first... I wanna try something. See if there's a chance that things will work out."

"Oh. Okay... what is it?"

"Well... I was thinking... that I should..." Nora quickly turned her weapon into her hammer form and slammed the end of it into Mercury's chest. Watching him fall to the ground and look up with an astonished look on his face, she let out a laugh and began running away. "Race ya outside the wall!"

Mercury got up with a chuckle and dusted himself off. "Okay, Valkyrie," he said as he slightly kneeled down and put his hands on the ground. "You're on."

---

Eren was still standing in the woods, but closer to a clearing this time. At the moment, he was listening to some rather good news on his Scroll.

"You did?" he asked with a smile. "Mercury, that's great news. Thanks for helping. Where are you now?"

"I'm currently beating Nora in a footrace," the voice on the other end replied. "You still where you said you'd be?"

"Yeah, I can see where the SDC camp is now."

"We'll see you in a few."

Eren ended the call and playfully tossed his Scroll in the air. "Way better than the flares," he said, impressed by the ability to send more detailed messages quickly when compared to a simple letter or the smoke signals he used back home. Opening a different part of the Scroll, Eren sent a quick text message to Cinder.

"Nora's coming with Mercury."

After a few seconds, Cinder replied first.

"That's great news. We'll need her for this one."

Eren sent another message to Cinder, engaging in a text conversation with her.

"Let's hope they get here soon. What's the SDC doing now?"

"Same thing as before. Standing around talking."

"Well, what are they talking about?"

"How should I know? I don't have Faunus ears."

"Didn't Ren come back?"

"Not yet. He's still in his Titan."

Eren looked back at the large SDC campgrounds, seeing no sign of Ren or any alarms signaling his presence. After a few seconds, Eren heard quick footsteps behind him. Quickly drawing one of his swords, Eren looked into the thick bunch of trees and bushes. But once he saw a quick flash of gray followed by another flash of pink, he lowered his sword to greet Mercury and Nora.

"And Mercury takes the gold!" the boy shouted as he turned back to Nora.

Nora immediately fell to the ground. "How... are you... so fast?" Nora asked as she tried to catch her breath.

"Maybe you're so slow." Mercury chuckled as he lowered a hand to his friend.

"Very funny." Nora took the hand and stood up. Just as she did, the teenager turned to see Eren staring at her. The feelings of uncertainty and remorse filled her once again, but in a different way. "Hey, Eren." Rubbing the back of her head, she moved closer. "Listen, I'm sorry for ditching you guys. I was just feeling sorry for myself."

Eren couldn't explain it, but he was feeling a little disappointed in Nora for giving up so easily. But he knew that he would be even more disappointed in himself if he showed it. Instead, he decided to use a level head and find a way to show his friend why what she was feeling wasn't good. "Nora, I get it," he said. "I've felt sorry for myself before, and I almost died because of it. I learned that doing nothing but feeling sorry for ourselves can hold us back." He looked back at Mercury. "And it looks like you learned the same thing." He looked back and smiled. "Thanks for helping us."

"I'll always have your back." Nora took her weapon off her back and tapped its end on her hand. "Let's go kick some butt."

Eren smiled and looked back to his Scroll.

"We don't have to worry about Nora. She's ready to tear the SDC a new one."

"Well, her chance just came. Heads up."

Eren looked up to see an airship flying above the trees. Nora and Mercury followed his gaze and saw the same thing, as well as the airship begin to descend. In a few seconds, it was on the ground. Just as it landed, a truck drove to the front of the airship. As the airship's ramp for passengers began to descend, more soldiers and a man in a business suit stepped out.

"Is that him?" Nora asked. "The president of the company?"

"It has to be," Eren replied as he took out his Scroll. Quickly typing again, he showed a picture of an old man in a business suit, his head and faced covered in white hair and an even whiter mustache. "According to the company's website, this is our guy. Jacques Schnee."

"Heh," Mercury chuckled. "More like 'Jackass Schnee' if you ask me." Nora stifled a laugh of her own at the inappropriate nickname.

"There's a time and a place, Mercury," Eren said calmly. Once the laughter stopped, Eren looked back at the airship. "We can hear a little bit of what they're saying from here. If we're quiet, we just might hear what their plan is."

Everyone stayed quiet as the man began to walk down the airship's ramp. But when they heard him scream at the top of his lungs, they figured that maybe absolute silence wasn't a necessity.

"So let me get this straight, Mr. Briar! I gave you more than enough Dust, plenty of able-bodied miners and landscapers, and state of the art Atlas equipment to use at your expense, and what do you do with it?! Let it all get stolen, burnt to ash, and destroyed in less than a week?!"

The business associate with the soldiers stumbled as his apparent boss moved closer. "Mr. Schnee, I'm just as surprised as you are," he began. "If I knew this situation was possible-"

"Possible?! Of course it was possible!" The man spread his arms. "Look around you! We are in in a land that was once ruled by bandits and thieves! How can there not be people like them out there?!"

"W-Well, we're prepared to deal with it now, sir." The man turned to the soldiers. "General Ironwood saw fit to send someone capable to lead our security detail to whoever is responsible for these attacks."

Despite the good news and a plan in the works, Jacques Schnee wasn't impressed. "We should have been prepared weeks ago, Mr. Briar! And now I see you're incapable of doing such a thing!" Jacques turned to two guards. "Escort Mr. Briar back to Atlas, he has no place here."

"Bu-But, Mr. Schnee-!"

"You're fired!"

"..."

The former employee of the SDC wordlessly walked away with the two guards, leaving a dozen more soldiers. Jacques turned to their apparent leader and straightened his tie. "Winter," he addressed the woman. "It seems he was right about one thing. You're capable of dealing with this threat, are you not?"

"I am," the woman said. "I was just about to start an investigation into the city of Kuroyuri, and we-"

"Investigation?" Jacques walked towards the truck. "There will be no investigation, Winter."

"I beg your pardon?"

"My schedule in this project has been delayed long enough. We will be razing that town to the ground."

Eren heard everything that the old man was saying, and sent a text to Cinder.

"Be ready to fire. Aim for the ship."

"Say the word."

As Eren was texting, he missed part of the conversation the president of the company was having with the soldier. But his head looked back when he heard another yell.

"How dare you question my authority?! This is my business, these are my employees!"

"And this is my operation! One that I've already started by interrogating Kuroyuri's mayor." Winter turned around to see the mayor of Kuroyuri exiting the truck. The sight caught the attention of Eren, so he told Cinder to hold off from firing any arrows. Everyone payed close attention and listened as hard as they could to the conversation.

"Mayor Xing, you've been very helpful in my investigation," said Winter. "As promised, you have your chance to talk to President Schnee."

The mayor said nothing to Winter, but turned to Jacques and slightly bowed. "Mr. Schnee, I know you must be very busy with your... operation, but I-"

"Winter, I have no time for this," Jacques said as he walked past his eldest daughter and the mayor. "Make sure all of our trucks are loaded and whatever equipment left is ready. We're going to finish this."

Winter said nothing while the mayor followed Jacques. "Mr. Schnee, please lend me your ear, just for a moment!" Jacques turned around and looked at the man. "I've been told that you've managed to begin your work on almost half the cities this far from Mistral. The other half, including my own, don't have much to offer. I implore you to-"

"On the contrary, Mr. Xing..." Jacques interrupted for the second time. "Kuroyuri has become one of the most advanced cities in this wild you call a home. The Dust deposit you've discovered is truly remarkable. But I'm afraid it's no longer yours."

"Not just mine, Mr. Schnee!" The mayor pointed in the direction of Kuroyuri. "I came to this camp, answered all the military's questions, chose to speak with you on their behalf, not mine!" The man quickly reached into his robe and pulled out two small bags. "Maybe this will prove my validity."

Jacques took both bags and opened them. Pulling out card after card of Lien, Jacques began to smile. "An impressive amount. No doubt the salary and taxes you've been collecting in your position."

"Those as well as my life's savings. I didn't have time to count it, but it can all be yours if you stop your advancements. Let my people continue to live in peace."

Jacques looked over the money, counting each card. "You've made the majority of this in your entire life, hm?" He looked up at the mayor. "If I didn't make this much in a week, I think I would be impressed." He dropped both bags and turned to one of his armed employees. "Take him to a truck, we'll drop him off when we start to tear everything down."

"Yes, sir," the guard said as he grabbed the mayor's arm. "Come on, you."

But the mayor didn't move.

"Tear it down?" he asked. "But you can't do that! You promised to give us more time to-!"

"That was before you, or whoever is responsible for this mess, decided to try and cripple my business," Jacques coldly declared. "Now you've wasted even more of my time. If you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

"..."

Nora was beyond furious at the sight of injustice that she just witnessed. Here was a man who had done everything in his power to save his city, just to be tossed aside like common garbage. All because of the will of Atlas. The scowl on Mercury's face also showed his displeasure at the president's arrogant behavior, and so was Eren. But rather than showing his major disappointment, Eren decided to let his actions convey his emotions.

All he needed was the right moment.

Just as the group of Atlesians began to drive away, more SDC trucks and mechs began to follow it. Eren's Scroll made a soft noise, causing the boy to look at the screen and see a message from Cinder.

"I have a clean shot of his truck from where I am. Say the word."

Eren looked back at the direction of the trucks and large machines. They were heading down a path in the woods, which would take them straight to Kuroyuri. Eren started to get a sense of déjà vu from the forest and the enemy forces going inside. So he quickly typed a message into his Scroll.

"Don't shoot. I have a better idea."

---

Shortly after the trucks departed, Ren began to follow them back home. Seeing that Cinder was doing the same thing with Dancing Midnight, Ren decided to exit his Titan and see what the plan was. Once he did, the patient young man was greeted by Cinder, who helped him climb out of the Titan's nape.

"I don't think I'll grow accustomed to this feeling," he said, referring to the warm flesh leaving his face and leaving parts of his skin missing.

"It takes a little while, but it's no big deal," Cinder said. Turning around, she gestured for Ren to climb on her back. "Come on, Eren knows what we have to do."

Ren reluctantly climbed onto Cinder's back. "Are you sure I won't slow you down?"

Cinder simply smirked as she prepared to soar through the air. "Time to find out."

It took a minute, but Cinder was able to comfortably soar though the air while Ren was with her. The weight became inconsequential when she was well above the ground.

Despite the need to keep her distance to avoid detection, Cinder had managed to catch up with everybody else with Dancing Midnight. "I think I see what you want to do," she whispered to Eren. "Just as long as we avoid the front truck."

"That will come later," Eren promised. "Right now, you need to wait right here. When I tell you to, fire on the second truck." Eren turned to Mercury. "I'll give you a distraction, and you get the mayor out of here."

"I don't want to stay out of this," Mercury declared. "Like Ren said, we'll need all hands on deck."

Eren nodded and turned to to Ren and Nora. "Nora, think you can take care of those machines?"

The idea of destroying something big and powerful made the teenager find her usual excitement once again. "Yes!" she declared with a gasp and a wide smile.

"I'll cover you from the ground," said Ren. "The foot soldiers will starting shooting at you, and I'm fast enough to strike from place to place."

"Alright, we have our plan," said Cinder. "Let's not wait for them to get closer to home."

"One more thing."

Everyone turned to Ren, who reached into both of his pockets. After he took his hands out, Ren showed everyone a series of white handkerchiefs and black masks for their eyes. "The mayor may recognize us, but we can't let anyone from Atlas see our faces. All of this isn't entirely legal, you know."

"Ren's right," Eren admitted. "Everyone cover up." The teenagers each took one black mask to hide their eyes and one handkerchief to tie over their mouths and noses, leaving their faces well hidden. "And remember, these guys might not have an Aura. We can't hesitate, even if we have to kill them. The Branwen Tribe was easier, but this is different. Can you all... handle that?"

Everyone looked at each other for a few seconds before being unified by one phrase. "We can."

In that moment, Eren became proud of his friends. Not because they were willing to kill people, but because they were willing to push themselves to see something through. They were thinking like members of the Survey Corps.

And now, they were going to act like the Survey Corps would act.

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

A familiar noise caught everyone's attention. They weren't expecting a noise like this, but they knew it was coming from one of their Scrolls. After they made sure the soldiers and other Atlesians couldn't hear it, everyone looked at their Scrolls to see who was calling them.

They quickly discovered that it was Eren's Scroll, and he was getting a very unexpected call.

"Incoming Call: Mom"

"...It's Mom," Eren said as he showed them his Scroll. "Uh, you go ahead. I'll catch up."

"Okay," Cinder replied as she took the lead. "Come on, guys. There's a good spot up there."

Eren looked at his Scroll again as Cinder led everyone away. He normally wouldn't let his Scroll distract him like this, especially when he was about to fight. However, it had been days since he had an actual conversation with his mother. There was small talk, but nothing like this.

It was possible that Dina had finally gotten through to her, just like she promised. Carla may have recovered from her shock and depression, and she might have noticed that Eren was gone.

There was only one way to find out.

"Hello?" Eren said as he accepted the call.

"Eren?" Carla replied. "Eren, I've been looking all over for you. Where are you?"

"Wait, you have?" Eren immediately became worried, given the fragile state of mind his mother was in. "Why, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

Carla let out a sigh before she replied. "I'm okay. Better now, actually. Listen, I'm sorry about the past few days. My head just wasn't in the right place after I got the news. Dina's been helping me, but I didn't pay attention to you. I'm sorry."

Eren was glad to hear that his mother was sounding better. He didn't mean to prolong the upcoming conflict, but Eren knew that had to let Carla know that things were fine.

"No, that's okay," he insisted. "It's fine. I know how much home means to you, Mom. The farm too."

Carla sighed once again, but out of relief. "Thank you, sweetheart," she said. "But I think me and Dina have a plan. For some reason, the SDC's work is stalled, so I was thinking that-"

"..."

Eren noticed the immediate silence, and looked at the signal he was getting on his Scroll. It appeared to be strong, so his call wasn't being cut off by interference or anything. He put the device back to his ear and prepared to talk again, but Carla's voice cut him off.

"...You're outside the wall, aren't you?" she asked. "That's why I couldn't find you."

The cat was out of the bag now, and all Eren could do was admit the truth. "...Yeah," he said. "I've been trying to stop the SDC from razing the town." He didn't admit that he wasn't acting alone, since the whole thing was his idea.

"..."

Eren could hear Carla's breathing on the other end, so the silence wasn't a problem with his Scroll. It seemed that she was trying to think of something to say after she heard the truth.

Eren expected an argument, he expected Carla to try and convince him to come home and leave as soon as possible. He was also expecting Carla to say that she didn't mean what she said about using his Titan to help, that she wasn't in her right mind.

However, there was only one thing that Eren could say for sure. He knew that no matter what his mother, or anyone else, said next, Eren was going to follow through with his plan. He was going to get the mayor out, stop Jacques Schnee from doing anything else to hurt his home, and kill anyone that stood in his way. He knew that he would keep moving forward to defend everything that he valued right now.

Surprisingly, Eren had a chance to verify this claim when Carla spoke again.

"Eren... is this anything like on Paradis?" she asked.

Eren needed a minute to recover from the brief surprise he received, but he spoke again. "What?" he asked. "Sorry, what?"

"Is this like anything on Paradis?" Carla repeated. "What's happening right now; was there ever a time when something like this happened to you back home?"

Eren looked up from his cover at the marching force, which helped him confirm this idea. "...Yes," he said. "There's a force of soldiers coming to Kuroyuri right now. It's an invasion." This was true, given the circumstances.

It wasn't entirely the same thing, but the situation looked like the time Paradis was invaded.

"And there's nothing I can say or do to change your mind?" Carla asked.

Eren shook his head. "I can't," he said. "There's too much at stake."

"..."

"..."

Carla sighed one more time before she replied. "...I know," she said. "Go. Do what you can, and I'll help here."

Eren was surprised once again. "Wait... really?"

"If this is an invasion, everyone has to be prepared. I'll warn everyone while you do what you can."

Eren easily understood the plan, and saw it as essential. Everyone needed to know what was coming, whether he succeeded or not. "You're right," he said. "Okay, you do that, I'll do what I can here."

"Okay. Be careful, Eren. Come back safe."

"I will." Eren smiled a little as he felt better about his situation. "You be safe too, Mom. I love you."

"I love you, too."

---

"At last," Jacques said with a sigh. "I thought these distractions would never come to an end."

"..."

Winter's silence caught the older man's attention as well as his displeasure. "I must admit, you've impressed me today, Winter. Your business out in these wastelands seems very similar to all I've taught you. Well, before you gave up everything I offered you."

"These 'wastelands' happen to be home to one of the most advanced towns within Mistral's territory, potentially rivaling even that of Argus," said Winter, her eyes narrowing in distaste.

"Advanced?" Jacques turned to his eldest daughter. "Ha, ha! Maybe to everyone else they seem that way, but they are nothing compared to prowess of Atlas! To the entire company!"

"..."

"Didn't I once tell you that I have a duty to the company? To either expand or die?"

"I have duties too, Father," said Winter. "Ones that matter more than a simple mining operation."

Jacques rolled his eyes at the notion, seeing how much of the military's way of thinking had gotten to his daughter. "Believe what you wish. Just keep your 'duties' out of my business, as well as Weiss'."

Winter felt a twinge of anger as she turned to her father. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"It would seem she wishes to take up after you." Jacques looked out the window. "A Huntress, of all things. Of course, she'll still keep her title as Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. It appears I'll just have to make sure she stays out of your way."

"You have no right to make a decision like that."

""I have to. Why do you think I chose to come out to a place like this?" Jacques turned back to Winter. "I only want to do what's best for Weiss' future. And running off like you did won't be of much help to anyone. You must see that, yes?"

Winter continued to glare at her father. "I-!"

*SMASH*

"WAH!" Jacques cried out as glass scattered across the interior of the truck. "What in the world?!" When he and Winter looked around, they saw an arrow sticking in one of the seats. "An arrow?"

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

Winter gasped, her eyes widened in alarm as she saw the arrow flashing wildly as she she realized what it was. "Move!" she yelled as she shot forward, grabbing her father and kicking the door open before pulling him and herself out.

*BOOM*

The vehicle exploded, fire spewed into the sky. Scraps of metal shrapnel flew in multiple directions, impacting nearby trees and other foliage. The following convoy all swerved wildly to avoid the fiery wreck as well as any large debris flying in their direction. One of the vehicles couldn't move in time and crashed into the wreck of the lead vehicle, while a few others spun out of control and crashed against a tree.

Winter groaned and began to hear ringing in her ears as she laid next to her father. Shaking her head and regaining her bearing, the soldier pulled herself up and assessed her surroundings. All vehicles were stopped, some of them by quick thinking by the drivers, others unfortunately by crashing to a halt. Soldiers began pouring out and frantically calling out to one another, running over to the crashed vehicles to assist those who were unable to get out or were injured.

Hearing a groan beside her, Winter saw her father stand up, blood running down the side of his head. "Ugh... Winter...?"

"Father, stay down!" Standing tall, Winter pulled her sword from its sheath as she faced the soldiers that joined her. "Everyone stay alert! We have-"

*BANG*

Winter was cut off at the sound of a gunshot. One of the soldiers collapsed to the ground, a hole in his head.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

More gunshots rang out, each finding their mark as more soldiers began to fall.

"Take cover!" Winter bellowed, scrambling to cover with her father right beside her. More gunshots whizzed past her head, and she heard the Atlas soldiers return fire.

"They're in the trees! one soldier yelled. "Get those mechs into the trees!"

The robots did as they were told, and began breaking down tree after tree. But just then, one of them was hit in the back by a pink explosion, causing it to fall over.

"What was that?!" one soldier asked.

"Yaaaaaahhhhhhhooooo!"

Everyone turned to see two girls in the air, one firing arrows at the ground and another riding on a large hammer. Both landed on more of the mechs and began to destroy them.

The soldiers fired everything they had at the girls, but their attention was caught by three boys running towards them. Two of them were using bladed weapons to cut down their opposition while one of them was kicking each soldier with extreme force. The last person he was able to kick before running towards a truck was none other than Jacques Schnee, who hit his head against a tree.

An attack this close to her finally got Winter to regain her senses and fight back. Seeing that the girl with the hammer was finishing off the mechs with ease, Winter realized that she was the strongest and she needed to go first. So she stabbed her sword into the ground and created a glyph with a snowflake in the center. Focusing on the glyph, Winter felt herself fly into the air and towards the girl.

"Nora, look out!"

The boy in green jumped into the air and collided into Winter as well as Nora, causing all three of them to fall down a steep hill.

Eren and Mercury were left on the ground while Cinder stayed in the trees. Seeing that they needed to get the mayor out of danger before helping Ren and Nora, they all played a part in taking out each soldier as they moved to the truck where the mayor was.

As Cinder watched Eren and Mercury take down each soldier with ease, she felt envious. She wished the plan was different and that she could be fighting by their sides instead of over their heads. Even better, she wished she could use her Titan instead of providing air support.

After all, why not? The company's president would be scared beyond belief, and Mercury would have no idea where the Grimm came from. No secrets would be revealed, and the plan would end as soon as it began.

So when a soldier caught sight of Cinder in the trees, the teenager lowered her bow and prepared to transform once the bullet hit her.

"Cinder, no!"

Before the soldier could fire, a blade connected to a chain grabbed the gun and pulled. Cinder and the Atlesian both turned to see Emerald using her weapons to strike the soldier that tried to shoot Cinder. And just as she finished her off, Emerald fell to the ground as two rounds of Dust bullets struck her back before she could activate her Aura.

Cinder dropped her weapons as she jumped down from the tree. "Emerald!" she cried in disbelief. Eren and Mercury, as well as they mayor, joined Cinder as she tired to help her friend.

"Emerald?!" Eren asked in disbelief. "What the hell was she doing out here?!"

"She must have followed me and Nora here, I don't know!" Mercury said as he began to panic.

"How she's here does not matter!" said the mayor. "Mercury, can you help me get her home? She needs a doctor!"

Mercury looked back to see more soldiers coming towards them. "But Atlas is gonna-!"

"Forget it!" Eren said as he pulled his swords out. "Cinder and I will take care of it from here, just get them outta here!"

Cinder watched Mercury and the mayor pick up Emerald and prepare to run back home. Cinder stood up and prepared to join them.

"No, Ms. Fritz!" the mayor said with a raised hand. "This may be Kuroyuri's last chance to see a tomorrow. Your friends need you!"

"..."

Cinder regretted her mistake more than anything, and she wanted nothing more than to make up for her foolishness. But the mayor was right, it was Eren who needed her, not Emerald. So she quickly picked up her bow and prepared to fight once more.

And as soon as she got back home, she would tell Emerald everything.

---

When Nora and Ren finally stopped rolling down the steep hill, their first instincts were to let their Titan powers heal their cuts and bruises. Given what they were fighting, they would need every ounce of Aura they had.

And it seemed they would need more than that to deal with the Atlesian soldier that landed in front of them.

The masked teenagers stood up to see Winter pointing a long sword at them. "Listen well, whoever you are," she ordered. "I can see you hold no allegiance to the White Fang or the bandits of Mistral. But an attack on the Atlas military is a punishable offense."

"Oh, yeah?!" Nora cried out. "Well, your face looks... like a big dumb boot!"

Winter slightly lowered her sword and looked at the teenager in confusion. Fortunately, Nora had Ren to help make a point.

"I believe what my friend is trying to say is that we're aware of the consequences of this attack," he said. "But it seems we are not in Atlas... are we?"

"It would appear so." Winter raised her sword again. "But we are on the property of the Schnee Dust Company... for better or worse."

Ren raised his pistols, which he recovered after his fall, and pointed the barrels at Winter. "Not for long."

Winter mentally sighed at the bravado. True, she didn't like the idea of her father forcing people out of their homes. And yet, she had her orders. So after she put her personal feelings aside with alarming ease, Winter created a glyph under her feet. Using the glyph, the soldier lunged at Ren with her sword pointed at his throat.

Ren used his natural speed to dodge each attempted stab and slice the Atleisan sent his way. Once he was able to gain some distance after performing a flip, he unleashed a fury of Dust bullets at her. But Winter was able to use more Glyphs and her own agility to avoid each round.

But one such avoidance led the soldier to be on the wrong end of Nora's hammer, as she was struck in the face and sent flying. Using a considerable amount of Aura to dull the pain, Winter decided to make a distraction for her energetic enemy. Making another glyph into the ground, this one unleashed a swarm of small blue Nevermores that flew straight at Nora. As she saw her opponent try and swat the birds away, Winter was able to focus on Ren again.

Lie Ren had proved himself a force to be reckoned with, as he was able to conduct a form of sword duel with the blades on StormFlower. He was even able to lock the blades together and prevent Winter from landing another strike. He knew he had a chance to end the fight, if he could find the right place to strike.

However, Winter was able to think of a way first. Using a smaller blade hidden as a part of her larger sword, she was able to detach it and stab it into Ren's side.

"Ren!" Nora cried as she saw her friend fall down. She could see that he was still alive and attempting to use his Aura to heal the wound. But she didn't care, as she was angry beyond belief.

"I warned you that punishment would be reserved for you all," said Winter, who moved towards Nora. "But nobody else has to die. If you surrender, I promise that you will not be harmed."

Nora was beyond furious at what was happening. She knew that the only options this woman was giving her were either being arrested or being killed. And Nora wasn't about to have either of them. Instead, she decided to let them be bestowed onto Winter.

"You can't hurt me more than you just did," Nora promised. Taking off her bandana, she held her hand to her mouth. "But let me show you what pain really is!" Biting into her hand, Nora felt an explosion around her before a large body found its way over her. Once warm flesh fused to her body and the Atlesian became the size of a rock, Nora prepared to unleash her weapon.

"By the Gods," Winter thought to herself as she witnessed the creation before her. "It looks... just like..."

Everything became white when a bolt of lighting struck her.

---

With their friends taking care of the majority of the mechs and the president's daughter, Eren and Cinder were able to take care of the foot soldiers.

Cinder mainly took to the trees, returning their fire with more and more arrows. The few Atlesian soldiers had armor that covered the majority of their bodies, so Cinder decided to spare them until she was on the ground. The SDC guards, however, were easy prey. Each arrow Cinder shot while soaring and flipping though the air landed in their necks, chests, and even their eyes. She was even able to fire two arrows at once, and have no trouble finding her prey.

While Cinder felt more comfortable in the air and trees, Eren found his fight on the ground. His swords weren't able to cut the Atlesian armor, but he was more than capable at striking their necks. Each head rolled at his feet as more and more blood tainted the brown dirt at his feet. And if it wasn't the military, Eren was easily cutting through each SDC guard that tired shooting at him.

To say that the duo was creating nothing but carnage would be an understatement. Eren was covered in blood that wasn't his, but he still continued to fight. Cinder knew the people she loved wouldn't be sure if they recognized her if they saw what she was doing, but that didn't stop her from taking more lives.

To both of them, it didn't matter how cruel they were being. It didn't matter how the people they were fighting weren't the ones breaking any laws.

The only thing that mattered was the home they were defending, the friends and family they were all fighting for.

Eren remembered feeling this way a long time ago.

That the world only gave him the option to fight.

"Fight."

No matter how cruel the world was, no matter how terrifying the world was, he would always hold himself to that idea.

"Fight."

No matter the cost.

"Fight!"

And right now, the only thing it had cost him was the abundant pile of bodies he was looking at.

When Eren realized that his fight was over, he was finally able to stand up straight and lower his swords. Looking at the warm blood on his hands and shirt made him see that there would be nothing but trouble anywhere he went.

People would say that what he did wasn't necessary. That he was no better than a murderer.

But they could never understand who he really was.

Or how his first home was a world of nothing but one fight after another.

In a way... this idea made Eren feel more alone than before.

*SWISH*

The sound of something in the wind stopping immediately and something splashing his neck made Eren quickly turn around. Right behind him was one last SDC guard, who survived a cut to his chest.

But the arrow sticking out of his neck would make survival impossible.

Once his body fell lifelessly to the ground, Cinder finally joined Eren. Ripping the arrow out of the soldier's neck, Cinder shook the blood off of it before looking back at Eren.

"Well..." she said as she looked him over. "This was a thing."

"...Yeah," said Eren, who also looked over himself.

Cinder took off her handkerchief as well as Eren's. "Here, let me help you." Taking the clean sides of both of them, Cinder began to scrub the blood off Eren's forehead and hands. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just... reliving some memories."

"Same here." Cinder continued to scrub. "I'm pretty sure this is actually how we met." She began to laugh. "Never thought I'd be cleaning up after you. Or saving your butt for once."

"..."

Eren was amazed at how Cinder seemed okay after all she had done, and after all she had seen him do. He had a feeling she was using her usually attitude to play off the feelings of regret and disbelief of all she had done. The idea made him feel bad that he had to drag her into this, that he didn't tell her to help Ren and Nora or look after Emerald.

"Okay, what are you sad about now?"

Eren stopped thinking and looked back at Cinder. He had an idea that the look on his face made her see that something was wrong. Rather than beat around the bush, he spoke his mind.

"Can you forgive me someday?"

Cinder stopped scrubbing. "For what?" she asked.

"For this." Eren moved his arms back to make Cinder look at the dead bodies. "All of this is natural for me. When I did what I did back home, I still knew that it was nothing else but murder. I can live with myself, given what I'm doing now. But what about you?" Eren looked past Cinder. "All of this has happened before. But it doesn't need to-Ow!"

Eren turned around after feeling a burning sensation on his neck. Cinder quickly took her hand off the back of his neck and stopped using her Semblance. "Are you done feeling sorry for yourself?" she asked. "You know, you really amaze me."

"I do?" Eren didn't take his eyes off Cinder. "How?"

"You can remember every frickin' detail about Paradis, it's like you have a photographic memory. But you can't even remember what I told you, when we escaped Atlas?"

"What? I remember that."

"Okay, prove it." Cinder crossed her arms. "What did I say to you?"

"You mean how you thought I was a monster?"

"After that."

"That I'm not making you a slave."

"Ugh." Cinder rolled her eyes. "Before that."

Eren thought back. "All I remember is showing you my life, you wanting to help, and making me a promise."

"Well, there's something you missed." Cinder walked closer to Eren. "We're the same, Eren. I'm just like you, scars and all."

"..."

Eren finally remembered Cinder saying that before. He thought about it before, how Cinder had the same desires, ideas, and will to fight as him.

"You can make your own choices, yeah," she said. "But you don't make mine. When I fight with you, it's because I want to. So stop thinking you're ruining my life."

Eren began to feel better about himself, Cinder always had a way to do that for him. He still needed some time, maybe even more meditation. But he would make sure to grant Cinder her wish and see that what she said was true.

"I..." Eren began. "Thanks."

Cinder smiled. "Don't mention it."

"Oh, one more thing."

Cinder turned around to meet Eren pinching her cheek. "Ow!" she cried.

"There." Eren smiled. "We're even for you burning me."

"Okay, fine." Cinder gestured towards the trees. "Come on, let's go find-"

*CLICK*

Eren's eyes widened as he heard the sound of a pistol ready to fire. Slowly turning around, Eren saw not a soldier ready to defend himself, but Jacques Schnee ready to murder a young teenager.

"You... You just couldn't do as you were told," he coldly spat as he pointed the gun at Eren. "I could hardly expect young men and women like you to act so selfishly, so barbaric. You're no better than the savages of the White Fang!"

Cinder growled as she prepared to use her Voltant to fly towards the angry man, but Eren put his arm in front of her. "We never said we were," he said calmly. "Barbaric? Maybe. But selfish?" Eren pointed down the path the trucks were driving down. "Everything we've done, everything I've done, has never been about me. It's about the people who took me in and raised me."

"And you think that makes you the good guy today?!" Jacques looked all around him. "You've ruined a legitimate business, denied Atlas its own Dust, and most likely cost me millions!"

"That's all you care about?!" Cinder snarled, her hands gripping her gears control so tight her knuckles were white. "So many people had their homes taken away from them, people are dead before your feet, and all you can talk about is fucking money?!" Eren didn't stop Cinder from speaking her mind, or from spitting in Jacques' direction. "You Atlas elites really are all the same!"

Jacques simply rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't expect you people and the rest of the riff-raff to understand how things truly work," he said. "It seems I was right about you."

"So you're going to kill me?" Eren asked.

Jacques began to calm down and looked down at the metal in his hand. "Well, I can't say I've ever shot someone before. I can't even say that I'm going to like it." He pointed the gun at Eren once more. "But... it hasn't been a very normal day, has it?"

Eren chuckled. "At last, we find something we can agree on." He stood in front of Cinder with his arms wide open.

*BANG*

A bullet escaped from Jacques gun and hit Eren right in his chest. The man realized that he was right about never firing a gun, or liking such a thing. He thought he was stopping down to the level of savagery and meaningless conflict.

However, Jacques saw that there was something wrong about his prediction; it was the fact that Eren was still standing after being shot.

And red lightning was surrounding the entire area.

"What in-?!"

*BOOM*

A shockwave knocked Jacques back and made him tumble on the ground. Fortunately for him, there was nothing there that could have seriously injured him.

But when he looked up to see what caused him to fall back, he wished that it was the shockwave that finished him off.

Eren's Titan was standing before the dead Atlesians and looking down on the man who stood on top of everyone and declared himself a giant. Under the Titan, Eren smiled in satisfaction at how the tables had turned. And he smiled even more when he saw that Cinder had transformed into the Incinerator Titan. Nodding at each other, they looked down to see Jacques running away from the Titans.

With one swift move of his arm, Eren was able to destroy multiple trucks and barely miss the Atlesian running on the ground. He was screaming, fleeing for his life. The Titans could see that he was scared, unable to believe that he was witnessing a new kind of Grimm. Now they needed something else for him to not believe.

Cinder made a wave of fire to burn every body and truck below her to ash, to show that the Grimm were capable of destruction in more than one way. The fire was shortly behind Jacques to further intensify the act. And Eren placed the icing on the cake with a large roar.

Now everyone would know that this land wasn't a part of Atlas, or anyone else who tried to threaten places like Kuroyuri. It was more than that.

For better or worse... this was the land of Titans.

---

As Ren and Nora were finishing up with the Atlesians in the woods, Ren got a text his Scroll. Pulling it out, he saw that Eren and Cinder were on their way. "Eren and Cinder will be here soon," he said to Nora. "They want to know how we're doing out here."

Nora stomped on one Atlesian soldier while twirling her hammer. "Oh, don't say anything!" she said with a smile. Running over to one of the soldiers, she grabbed one and made a pose. She then took out her Scroll. "Selfie!"

Ren smirked while rolling his eyes, sending a message to Eren that they were okay. Just as he put the Scroll back in his pocket, a voice rang out through the woods.

"Hello? Hello!"

Ren and Nora turned to the direction of the voice, sensing that it was familiar. Quickly running over to the sound, Ren crouched behind a bush when he saw that one Atlesian was still walking around. It was the white-haired sword expert, the one who held a degree of authority over most of the soldiers.

"I thought you knocked her out cold," Ren whispered to Nora.

"So did I," she said as she inched closer and closer to Ren. "Guess her Aura helped her head. What's she doing?"

"Is anyone here?!" the Atlesian called out. "Ugh, let's make this quicker." The woman suddenly took her gloveless hand up to her mouth. And to the duo's surprise, she bit down hard.

"What is she... doing?" Nora asked as she stared at the woman continuing to bite down.

"I... have no idea," Ren declared. "Isn't that the technique Eren uses to turn into a Titan?"

"What technique?"

Nora and Ren turned around to see Eren and Cinder behind them, having used their equipment to make the trip faster. Nora quickly pointed to the Atlesian. Eren began to watch her continue to bite into her hand.

"That's weird," he said. "You're right, that's what I usually do to be a Titan."

"You don't think Atlas found a way to make Titans, do you?" Cinder wondered, considering the fact that the first Titan sighting was in Atlas.

"There's no way they could do that. Although... she's trying really hard."

The Atlesian suddenly released her hand and spit out blood. "Dammit!" she yelled. "Alright... guess I do this the hard way." She then began to walk towards Kuroyuri.

"We can't let her get back home," said Ren. "She's too strong for the defensemen to handle."

"And too fast for the cannons to blow up," Cinder included, remembering how the glyphs she made helped her travel at fast speed. Seeing an opportunity to stop her, Cinder prepared to fire an arrow into her back. But Dancing Midnight was all out of arrows.

Eren took out his guns with Ren, but they too were out of ammunition. Magnhild also ran out of ammo, but that didn't stop Nora from looking for a way to stop her. "Hang on," she said as she kneeled down. "I'll use this." Picking up a large rock, Nora carefully aimed at the powerful Atlesian and threw it at the back of her head.

*THWACK*

"Ow!" the Atlesian yelled as the rock hit her head. The impact caused her to lose her footing and fall into a river that she was standing over.

"Quick, while she's distracted!" Cinder yelled as she flew into the air. Eren followed her while Ren and Nora ran over and prepared to fight the soldier. However, they were forced to hide once again when she began to come out of the water.

"Aw, dammit..." the woman moaned as her head surfaced from the water." What the hell was-HUH?!" Rather than standing back up, the woman leaned closer towards the clear water, completely hypnotized with the reflection. That was when she began to scream and violently splash the water, causing confusion between Eren and Cinder.

"Is it just me or does she look like she's having a panic attack?" Eren asked.

"Maybe that rock gave her a concussion," Cinder hypothesized. "Either that or she's upset it caused a bruise on her skin." If there was one thing Cinder remembered about most Atlesians, it was that their appearances were their most treasured quality. And even the slightest problem would cause them to be over dramatic.

Eren knew this fact as well, but his gut was telling him that this situation wasn't like that. "I don't know. She's looks... terrified."

Cinder's observations of the soldier's behavior was cut by the sight of Ren and Nora running towards her again. "Let's not lose focus."

Dancing Midnight helped Cinder land on the ground with ease, and Eren followed her with Soaring Freedom. But as he approached closer to the river, he couldn't help but overhear a soft mumbling from his apparent enemy.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no. This... This hasn't happened before. This never happened."

As Eren walked closer and closer towards the seemingly confused woman, he failed to notice a stick under his heel that broke when he stepped on it. The noise caused the woman to look up and finally notice her enemies. Everyone readied their weapons for another fight and to do whatever they could to keep up with her speed.

But they weren't prepared to see the woman grab her sword and make clumsy and rather predictable swings in the air. The worst part was the fact that everyone was standing about six feet in front of her, and she was swinging at nothing.

"Stay back!" she ordered in panic. "Stay back! Don't come any closer!"

Eren lowered his swords and slowly turned towards his friends. "Is this really happening?" he asked as his opponent continued to scream and swing her weapon.

"This is insane," Ren commented on the bizarre behavior.

"What's wrong with this girl?" Cinder asked in disbelief, also lowering her weapons.

"Where's the fast sword expert we fought earlier?" Nora asked. "Oh, is this like one of those stories where this is just an evil twin? Or would that make the one we fought the evil twin?"

Nobody else expected this theory to be true, but they were ready to get the ordeal over with. So Eren decided to finish it quickly. "Hey, cut it out!" he called out to the screaming girl. "Hey! Idiot!"

No progress was made, but the woman tripped and fell into the water again. Instead of getting back up, she continued to swing her sword and mumble to herself.

"Okay, that's it." Eren took one of his swords and struck it against his opponent's, causing the exquisite blade to fly out of her hands. This left Eren a chance to put his sword against the woman's throat. "Here's how this works. We ask you a question, you give us-"

"Eren?"

"..."

The sound of his name escaping the Atlesain's lips caused the young boy to gasp and widen his eyes. His friends had a similar reaction when the woman asked again. "Eren, is that you?"

Cinder stepped forward. "Eren, you know her?"

Eren answered Cinder's question with a question to the Atlesian. "...You know me?"

"You're... Eren Yeager."

Eren was stunned at what he was hearing, and he could see that everyone else had the same expression as him. How? How was it possible that some Atlesian knows his name? With that Atlesian being a Schnee of all people as well?

Turning back to his prisoner, Eren noticed that something else was... off. When he first saw her, the first thing that caught his attention besides the unique white hair was her eyes. The indifferent state of the blue eyes had reminded him of the stare he always received from Mikasa or Levi. The cold indifference and stoicism was so similar to the point that it was nearly unsettling.

But when Eren looked at her again, he noticed a difference in her.

Her eyes were no longer an icy blue.

They were a dull grey color.

Eren shook his head and scowled, almost jamming his sword into the soldier's throat and forcing her to lean back. "Alright, talk! How do you know my name?!"

"Eren, wait a second!" Cinder called out, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down! We can't learn anything if-"

"What the hell is wrong with you, you damn suicidal maniac?!"

All motion suddenly ceased as those words rang through the air. Cinder and Nora gasped while taking a step back and Ren's eye's widened in surprise. Suicidal maniac... they remembered those words from when Eren showed them his memories back on his world.

Eren took a step back, his arm going limp. "...What did you call me?" he asked.

She simply shook her head. "It's me, you moron! It's-" The Atlesian looked back at the water and stared at the reflection once again. "Just forget it," she said as she shook her head. "What are you doing out here? Where's Historia? What's going on?"

Eren's heart froze. His breath got caught in his throat as he stumbled back, his sword leaving his grasp.

Historia.

How did this woman know about Historia? That should be impossible.

Unless... he knew her too. But Eren recalled his short time in Atlas as if it were yesterday. And given that this woman was roughly the same age as him, they would have met as children. But Eren had no recollection of meeting a little girl with white hair and dull grey eyes.

Then again... there was something about her voice that was strangely familiar. Eren felt slightly annoyed by it, that it belonged to someone he didn't like. But the only people he could think of were dead, both in Remnant and back home.

Just like his mother was supposed to be dead.

Someone Eren met before. Someone that he didn't consider a friend. Someone that should be dead.

A few people came to mind, but as soon as Eren thought back on what she said, how she sounded, one person stuck out. It was almost a perfect match.

"Are you..." Eren began. "Are you-?"

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

The sound of gunfire and a bullet grazing his arm caught Eren's attention, as more SDC soldiers came running from the opposite side of the river. Everyone behind Eren took cover behind the trees and returned fire. Cinder, however, grabbed Eren's arm and attempted to pull him to safety.

But the woman in the water grabbed Eren's leg and pulled.

"Wait!" she begged. "Wait, you can't leave me here!"

Before Eren could say anything, Cinder took one of her blades in hand and lunged at the woman. "Let go!" she screamed as the blunt slide of her blade hit the Atlesian in the face. As she fell back in the river, Cinder dropped to the ground with Eren, firing bow after bow at the SDC soldiers.

Eren began to snap out of his shock and joined his friend by firing his handguns at the soldiers. "Why are they still fighting?!" he yelled to Cinder. "We let their boss go, didn't we?!"

"We might have scared him too good!" Cinder replied as she let loose another arrow. "His first thought might have been to run as far away from here as possible!"

As the last soldier fell to the ground, Eren sprang back up and helped Cinder stand. "We should do the same. I'm running out of ammo."

"Same here." Cinder turned back to Nora and Ren. "How about you two?"

"We're almost out too!" said Nora. "We could run back home and get more, assuming Mercury and the defense team are holding up okay."

"We should still go, see if we can help," said Ren. Before he left, he pointed to Winter Schnee. "What about her?"

"Eren, do you know her?" Cinder asked.

"I... I think I do," said Eren. "I can't leave her here."

"What? No!" Nora stood in Eren's way. "Know her or not, she almost killed Ren! We can't take her back home, what if she tries to fight us again?"

"..."

Eren didn't see the battle Nora had described, but knew she had a valid point. If they took her back with them, she could attack anyone she wanted to. But if they left her here, Eren would never know the answers he needed. If he handcuffed her or tied her, maybe things would be different. But given that he didn't have any rope or handcuffs, that idea was out of the question. And he wasn't willing to argue with Nora about this.

"Nora... you're right," he said. "But if we can carry her and tie her up-"

*WHOOSH*

*WHOOSH*

Everyone looked up to see airships flying above them, ready to land with more soldiers and weapons.

"We don't have the time for this," said Cinder. "Or the ammo."

"We have to go," said Ren. "Right now."

Eren took one last look at the unconscious Winter in the water, knowing that now wasn't the time to fight. "...I'll see you again," he promised. Quickly jumping in the air, Soaring Freedom hooked onto two trees and launched him far away from the ships. Cinder followed suit with Dancing Midnight, while Nora and Ren ran as fast as they could, falling just behind their two friends.

---

When everyone returned home, all they could find was happiness and praise. The mayor explained that he saw airships flying far away from Kuroyuri and the remaining towns outside the city of Mistral. They were free once more, and it was all thanks to Eren and his friends.

Li and An hugged their children and exclaimed how proud they were that they protected their home, and they were prepared to help in any way they could if Atlas sought to arrest them.

Dina promised Cinder the same thing when she embraced her daughter, feeling nothing but pride and gratitude for her home being saved.

Cinder found the town's celebration to be one of the happiest moments in her life. Even though all everyone wanted to do now was move back into their houses, Cinder was happy that this was now a possibility. Kuroyuri wouldn't be rendered to dust, Carla could keep her farm, and all of her friends were happy.

However, there were still two things to take care of. Knowing that she couldn't do anything for Emerald now, she decided to see why Eren was being so quiet. And apparently, withdrawn from the crowd.

"Hey, Nora!" Cinder called to her friend. Once the bubbly girl turned around, Cinder asked another question. "Have you seen Eren?"

Nora looked around her immediate surroundings, but couldn't see Eren anywhere. So, she instead looked up towards the sky. Most people would call her silly for thinking such a thing, but her creative idea led Nora to seeing someone sitting on top of the city wall.

Cinder followed her gaze to see the same thing. Following her gut, Cinder used Dancing Midnight to hoist herself up the wall with ease. And once she did, Cinder saw Eren sitting down in a meditative state. Realizing that she might be distracting him, Cinder prepared to go down the same way she came up.

"Don't go," Eren requested.

Cinder turned around to see him staring back at her. "Sorry," she said as she moved closer, her heels making sharp sounds on the rocky wall. "I didn't mean to distract you."

"It's fine. I can always practice later." Eren continued to sit on the wall, but moved his left hand under his chin. "I just... really need to talk to someone right now."

Cinder sat down on the wall. "Why, what's wrong?"

"I can't stop thinking about what happened outside the city. With that girl."

"Girl? What are you-?" Cinder quickly knew what he was talking about. She had been so caught up in the town's newfound happiness, as well as her own, she completely forgot about the crazy encounter. "Oh... right. She seemed to know you. Do you... know her too?"

"I keep playing it back in my head. What she said, who she mentioned. I can't believe I didn't see it earlier, their voices were exactly the same."

"You mean before that happened? When she first met us?"

"Yeah. And our fight didn't give her amnesia, she knew who she was. And I think I do too." Eren looked back at her. "I hadn't thought of her in years, I never expected to see her again, I just have so many-"

"Take it slow, Eren."

"..."

Eren took a deep breath before he spoke again. "Back home, when I was training to become a soldier, I was part of the 104th Training Corps. So were all my friends, including... Ymir."

"Ymir?" Cinder asked. "Is that who we saw in the woods?"

"It has to be. I knew she was from back home, when she said my name. But when she mentioned someone else-"

"Right, their name was... History?"

"Historia." Eren chuckled. "Ymir was a lot of things. Selfish, cynical, uncooperative... just a real pain in the ass. But she was also head over heels for Historia, a girl our age who later became the ruler of Paradis."

"Oh, really?" A sly grin formed on Cinder's face. "She was looking to share the throne, was she?"

Eren chuckled again. "No, this was all before Historia became Queen. Ymir loved her so much that she gave up a chance to go back home just so Historia would be safe. Which was probably the only decent thing she did before she died."

"You really didn't like her that much, huh?"

"She wasn't the most trustworthy person. And based on what she said in the woods, she still doesn't like me."

"So why are you still thinking about it? You don't like her, she doesn't like you. And technically, she's an Atlesian of all things. Why not just forget about it?"

"Mostly because it might be possible to see people that I've lost again. Before and during the war, we lost some good people. Some gave their lives, others... others died because of me." Eren dried one of his eyes, thinking back on what everyone said to him about Sasha's death. "So if there's a chance they were brought back too, I have to find them. Let them know what's going on."

"You... You really think there are more people from your world here?"

"Look at Ms. Fritz. Look at Ymir." Eren stood up. "Darkness said what he did with her was out of anger for being kept in the dark about Ozma. But he might have given me a chance to find people I used to know. I can't pass up this opportunity."

Cinder stood up with Eren. "You're right. And with things back to normal here, you have a good chance to start now. You know that I'm helping you with this, right?"

"You might want to hold that thought. Considering that I'm going after Ymir first."

"Her? But she's Atlesian. You know, the people who we fought and killed to get where we are now?" Cinder turned around. "And I thought you hated her, so why-?"

"I never said I hated her." Eren put a hand on her shoulder. "I don't like her, you're right. But she needs my help. I think I know what's wrong with her."

"You mean why she's here?"

"I mean why she's in someone else's body. You remember Salem's rival, Ozma? How he's been living all this time?"

Cinder thought back on the first night she learned everything from Eren. She remembered the events Darkness showed her in the Coordinate, about how Salem was cursed and Ozma chose to stop her. Darkness even showed her how he learned about Ozma's reincarnation cycle from his brother.

"Oh, my Gods," Cinder whispered. "Are you saying... what I think you're saying?"

"That Ymir might be caught in some twisted cycle like him?" Eren looked back to the distance. "I can't say that it's impossible. But I can say it's a fate she doesn't deserve. Not just that, but she's on a whole new world, lost and alone." Eren sat down again. "I don't like this either, but I'm the only one who can help her, maybe even undo what happened to her." A sigh of exhaustion escaped Eren's throat. "I just hope I can do what I want to do."

Cinder couldn't help but feel proud of what Eren was planning. He was willing to grow past whatever differences he and this "Ymir" had in the past just to do what he thought was right. He knew what he was capable of, and he was choosing to do it in the name of all that was good in the world.

All he needed now was a gentle nudge to make him take the first step.

So Cinder sat down once again and hugged him. "Don't worry," she said. "You always have a way of doing the impossible."

Eren slightly moved so he could properly return Cinder's hug. Grateful for all the support she gave him, today and just about everyday, Eren decided that now was the best time to be there for her. So he stood up and offered his hand to her. "I think I heard you mention that you wanted to see Emerald before we go home. Do you want me to come with you?"

Slightly surprised at the request, Cinder graciously took Eren's hand and stood up. "That... That would be great. Thank you." Just then, she felt Eren pull on her arm and fall off the wall. Quickly using Soaring Freedom to catch himself, Eren moved across the wall and used his Volant to fly in the air. Cinder followed suit, realizing that Eren had just challenged her to a race. "Alright. Game on."

---

A small airship with four wings on the back was flying above the ground, with little white flags on each wing. Inside the ship was Jacques Schnee sitting next to a window while holding a glass of liquor. However, he found himself having trouble holding the glass still, given that his hands were shaking. Ever since he was given the opportunity to flee with his life, Jacques couldn't lose the feeling of fear he felt since he saw the humanoid Grimm. He was confident that he would be having trouble sleeping for a few nights.

"Excuse me, Mr. Schnee?"

Jacques looked away from the window to see a brown haired man wearing glasses and a business suit standing in the aisle of the airship. In his hand was a clipboard. "You... wished to see me, sir?"

"Yes, I did," said Jacques, who gestured for the man to sit down. Wishing for any kind of distraction to make him forget his time in Mistral, Jacques decided to focus on the matters of his company. "Do you have what I asked for?"

"Yes, sir." The man looked at his clipboard. "The damage reports and losses from our operation in Mistral. I... should warn you, sir, it's... not very pleasant."

"I don't care." Jacques took a drink from his glass. "Let me hear it."

"Well, before today, our efforts to relocate several towns and razing what was left... that cost about two hundred and fifty thousand Lien. After that, we've lost fresh supplies of mining equipment and one of our larger mechs... that seems to have dropped us a few thousand. And with the majority of our mining staff being sent to Mistral and seemingly fled... we've lost a major backbone in our operations in Atlas. My estimates show that this operation cost almost half a million Lien. And I estimate another half a million to restock our supplies as well as hiring more miners."

"I imagine this will make our stocks drop?"

"Verily. If things continue at this pace, we won't see any kind of rise in six months."

"Hmmm..." Jacques put his drink down and stared out the window, putting all of his focus onto resolving this issue. A few ideas came to mind, and they seemed to be his only hope of recovering from this failure. "Tell me, what would you consider a safe amount of spending at the moment?"

"Um..." The associate took out his Scroll and pressed a few keys. "I would have to say... in between one hundred and two hundred thousand."

"Would that be enough for a downgrade in mining equipment?"

"A... downgrade, sir?"

Jacques looked back. "It would appear that purchasing more modern equipment is out of the question at the moment. Last I heard, classical methods of mining are still in use."

"Um, you're right sir. To fill our current mines, I would have to say that would cost about twenty five thousand. But the tools you wish to use wouldn't really create a safe working environment."

"Leave that to me, you can worry about the numbers."

"Of course, sir. I'll make the orders as soon as we get back. What about staffing?"

"Mantle's always full of unemployed riff-raff. And given that some people in Mistral are out of a job... we can spread the word virtually."

"We could do that. It would cost practically nothing. But I'm not sure I would expect anyone in Mistral would react too well."

"Well, it seems to me they may not have a choice. Each town I saw had some well abled men and women."

"True." The man pressed a few keys on his Scroll again. "Alright, we'll post later today, sir. I'd like to take a week before brining back any results."

"A week?" Jacques took a moment to consider the idea. "Very well. In the meantime, have any of the company's security forces checked in?"

"Yes, sir. About sixty five percent of them were able to flee the village and reach their airships in time."

"Sixty five percent. Better than nothing I suppose. Is my daughter among them?"

"Um... no, sir." The associate looked at his Scroll again. "She abandoned the rest of the team to stay in Mistral."

"Stay in Mistral?" Jacques growled as he raised the cold glass to his mouth. "She defies me once again. How insulting. What possible reason could she have for staying, other than being eaten by those monsters?"

"Perhaps to stave off the Grimm horde, sir?"

Jacques turned to his associate again. "I beg your pardon?"

"It would appear that our involvement in Mistral and our attempts to stay on schedule have caused quite the negativity. Right before we left, reports of a large Grimm horde reached the city of Mistral. According to said reports, the Grimm are heading straight for Kuroyuri."

"Is that so?" Jacques took a sip of his drink once again. "Keep me updated on this horde, will you? Perhaps we can pick up where they leave off."

"Of course, sir."

---

Author's notes: thank you much for reading and leaving all your thoughts! The Avenging Titan and I are so happy that we caught enough of your interest to break over 300 favs and follows! Thank you so much!

Before we go, we just want to address one thing. We've seen a lot of reviews talking about shipping Cinder and Eren. We would be lying if we said we didn't consider the idea. It just seemed so perfect, how similar the two really are.

But we ultimately decided to go with a sibling relationship. Not that the ship is a bad idea, but we believe that it makes more sense to go this route.

That being said, we hope you understand and you're still able to enjoy the story. Thanks again, we'll see you next time.