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.

39. Chapter 39

"The deeper you go, the darker it gets."

Anonymous

Chapter 39: The Mysterious Stranger Part II

"Mom... something happened while I was away. Something with Darkness."

"..."

"There was more to his plan than just stopping Salem. He had plans for me. For all of us."

"..."

"Darkness knew that with Salem out of the way, nothing would stop him from taking her place. But to do that... he had to use me. He had to... possess me."

"..."

"It's a long story, how he did it and how I got out. But I just want you know that I'm back. And I'm not going anywhere."

"..."

"See? That wasn't so bad."

There was nobody in the room with Eren, but the young man believed that he had made his point.

Work at Ambrose Farms had ended for the day, and everyone was ready to enjoy the rest of the evening. Most people were heading home to have dinner and spend time with their friends and family.

But before he could join them, Eren decided to prepare for a hard conversation with his mother.

The young man felt that he was ready to finally tell Carla what had happened at the Land of Darkness, how he had been possessed by Darkness in a bid to conquer the world. It wasn't something he was looking forward to, but Eren had been preparing for it ever since work ended for the day.

Talking to Dina first helped Eren prepare better, to see that talking about it did help. And after practicing a few times in his room, Eren felt ready to do what he had to do.

It was hard at first, but that feeling wasn't really new to Eren. He knew how hard things would be with the Rumbling, as well as living with his future memories. But every time something hard came Eren's way, whether it was on Earth or Remnant, Eren always found it within himself to be strong and keep moving forward until his objective was reached.

Though it took a little time today, Eren was ready to move forward once more.

Carla wasn't home yet, she was still in her meeting in the capital. So Eren had more than enough time to prepare himself. But rather than rehearse some more, Eren decided to wash up before he joined his friends for dinner.

Eren's first day back at work was definitely filled with backbreaking labor, from helping with the harvest to taking care of the land the farm rested on. He welcomed the work and took great pride in it, since he was willing to help his home in more ways than one.

In terms of Ambrose Farms, the day was a great success for Eren and his friends.

Rather than take a shower, which he planned to do before bed, Eren washed the dirt and sweat off his hands and face. The cool water was very refreshing after a hot day, and it felt good to be free of sweat and dirt.

And what made Eren feel even better was that he could see his own face in the mirror rather than Darkness' face.

Eren couldn't help but mentally sigh in relief when he saw his own face. The incident from this morning stuck with him, as did the voice he heard last night. Eren dismissed both notions as stress and imagination, but now he understood why he was nervous about talking to his mother to begin with.

Despite the fact that the threat was over... Eren was afraid of Darkness.

This wasn't an easy thing to admit, given the life Eren had led. Back when he was younger, Eren was scared of the Titans. He was scared the day the Titans breached the wall and he was scared when he was swallowed whole. But after those times, as he grew bigger and stronger, the Titans didn't scare Eren like they used to. In fact, nothing really scared Eren easily after he learned about Marley. It was a lot to swallow, but Eren didn't feel scared after he saw all of his father's memories.

All he felt was resolve mixed with a degree of guilt. The latter didn't reveal itself easily, not even to Eren. But never once did Eren feel afraid of Marley or the Rumbling. Ever since then, Eren didn't find himself to be easily afraid of anyone.

But all that changed when Eren was possessed by Darkness.

Their first meeting was daunting to Eren, but he became accustomed to it all when Darkness gave him a chance to live again. However, being chained and being shown how weak he was to the god made Eren scared of Darkness.

He was perhaps the one person Eren was truly afraid of.

That didn't mean Eren was afraid of certain things. He feared the idea of losing his friends greatly, especially during the fight with Salem. But Darkness was the one person who triumphed over Eren in a way nobody else did before, which shook the young man to his core.

However, Eren told himself that it was all over. And now that it was, all Eren had to do was face his fear. The experience would last forever, and each mention of it may have scared Eren, but the young man knew that he would have to be brave and face his fear every time it showed itself.

Fortunately, Eren knew that he didn't have to be brave all the time. The friends and family he had waiting for him showed Eren that he wouldn't be alone. That he would be happy and stronger than ever. The threat of danger would surely reveal itself once again, just as the voice Eren heard last night said it would. Eren believed this, but he knew that he would be ready to face it. With his friends by his side, Eren would be able to triumph over any danger that came to him.

Unbeknownst to him, however, the first test of Eren's faith was about to begin.

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

The silence around Eren was disrupted from the sound of his Scroll. Taking it out of his pocket, Eren could see that he was getting a call from Midori.

"Why would Midori be calling me?" Eren wondered curiously. "Wait, she might have some news about that woman." Eren decided to answer the call and braced himself for news of the ill-stricken stranger. "Hey, Midori."

"Hi, Eren," Midori replied on the other end. "Listen, I gotta talk to you about that lady we have here."

"Oh, sure." Eren began to walk downstairs as he spoke to Midori. "If you have any news about her, I'm all ears."

"No, I don't have any news. And I don't want to be rude, but this new plan of yours doesn't seem to be going anywhere."

Confusion was Eren's immediate reaction to this claim. "Uh, what new plan?" he asked as he stopped walking.

"The plan you made with Emerald," Midori explained. "She's just been standing out there for a while now doing nothing, and I'm starting to get a little freaked out."

"Standing out-?" Eren finally got out of his seat as he continued to talk. "Midori, I didn't make a plan with Emerald. What are you talking about?"

"Wait, what? No, Emerald said she could use her Titan to help that lady. That she could do something like she did with Hazel at Salem's castle. She said you helped her come up with this."

"..."

"...Right?"

"..."

Eren wasn't very concerned about Emerald's absence when he first heard about it. But now, after hearing something as crazy as Emerald going off on her own and using her Titan on the strange patient, Eren was growing very worried.

And there was only one thing he could say.

"Midori... where's Emerald now?"

---

Emerald herself was trying to figure out that question.

Moments ago, she was standing in Kuroyuri as her new Titan. Her plan was to use the powers she discovered via Hazel Rainart and tap into the mind of the mysterious woman everyone brought home. It was a strange and reckless plan for Emerald, since she was never one to strike out on her own and try something that seemed impossible.

However, the plan was a success.

Emerald had found herself in a strange and unfamiliar place; a dead forest covered in a red mist. Given that she was previously in Kuroyuri as a Titan, Emerald was positive that she had entered the woman's mind. However, she wasn't expecting a human mind to look like a dead forest like the one she was staring at.

But given Emerald had no experience with this sort of endeavor, she didn't know what to expect from a person's mind. Which, unfortunately, made the place much more dangerous. Nevertheless, Emerald set out what she promised to do. She set out to do what Eren was always able to do.

Keep moving forward.

That was how Emerald found herself amongst the trees, within the forest itself. The first thing Emerald noticed was that the place didn't seem too different from the Forever Fall, the red forest where the White Fang were living. The trees were lifeless, but the red color stuck out clearly.

The second thing Emerald noticed was that the forest was rather cold. There wasn't any wind, but the environment was cold enough to form goosebumps on her arms. Oddly enough, Emerald was used to the feeling of goosebumps on her skin during a cold night. After all, she couldn't always find a good place to sleep when she lived on the streets in Vale.

Emerald was able to notice something else after she tripped on a root sticking out of the ground. When she caught herself on a nearby tree, Emerald felt something rough and coarse on her hand. At first, Emerald believed it was some kind of mud or muck. But when Emerald took a closer look, she was able to recognize the substance easily.

"Grimm?" Emerald asked herself as she looked at the liquid. She quickly rubbed her hand free of the substance, in case the liquid was harmful to her skin. Once she was finished, Emerald took a closer look at the tree. The structure was definitely wood, but it appeared to be covered by Grimm water. Some of it even looked like a black weed.

Weed that was covering something on the tree.

"What's that?" Emerald wondered as she took a closer look. There appeared to be something on the tree, but it was covered in the weed-like Grimm. Emerald tried to pull on it to get a better look, but the weed was too strong.

Emerald eventually gave up and looked at the other trees. They were all similar in nature, all completely wooden that were covered in Grimm like-weed. And they were all covering something that was supposed to be resting on the wood. When Emerald took a closer look at two trees, both of which were revealing different parts of the hidden objects, she could see that the objects had edges that made them look square or rectangular.

If she didn't know any better, Emerald would say that the hidden objects looked like picture frames.

After trying one more time to pull the weeds off, Emerald decided to try and cut them. She reached for Thief's Respite on her back, but she found nothing there. She tried looking at the ground and the other trees for something sharp to peel the weeds away, but there was nothing useful around.

*THUMP*

When she heard the sound of something hitting wood, Emerald's heart nearly jumped out of her chest. She instinctively looked around for a source, but found nothing. But then she heard it again.

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

Though the noise was unsettling, Emerald followed it deeper into the forest. After a few seconds of walking, Emerald found the source to be even more unsettling; there was another person in the forest.

And the thumps were a result of them hitting their head on the tree.

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

The person refused to break their pattern of hitting the tree, even when the sound of Emerald's footsteps was clear. Emerald was able to have a better look at the person, to see that they were wearing a white cloak and had black hair on their head.

"...Hello?" Emerald called out.

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

Emerald was sure that she spoke loud enough for the person to hear, but they continued to hit their head on the bark.

"Hello?" Emerald called out again. "Can... Can you hear me?"

The only answer Emerald received was the person hitting their head again and again. It was almost like they knew how to do nothing else. It was starting to get on Emerald's nerves, and intimidate her greatly. So, she took a bold but calculated risk by reaching out to the person so she could move them away from the tree.

But as soon as Emerald touched the woman, a foreign voice resounded in her head; a voice that spoke over and over again with every thump.

"Pain."

*THUMP*

"Pain."

*THUMP*

"Pain."

*THUMP*

"Pain."

*THUMP*

It was hard to do, but Emerald released the person with a gasp and stepped back. The voice was gone, but Emerald grabbed her head to shake away the unnatural feeling of having someone else's voice in her head.

"What the hell was that?" Emerald thought to herself. "That wasn't her voice, those were her... her thoughts?" The voice in Emerald's head was definitely a woman's, and it gave Emerald a clue about her condition. "Wait... I'm in that lady's head right now. Maybe she's trying to say she's in pain. But I thought Midori helped her with that?"

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

Emerald looked back to see the woman was still hitting her head on the tree. Between this repeated action and the voice in her head, Emerald could tell that the woman was hurting. So, Emerald decided to help her by gently nudging her away from the tree. She didn't want to hear the voice again, so she used as little physical contact as possible.

The action made the woman stop hitting her head against the tree, which made Emerald feel proud of herself. It also made her feel brave enough to touch the woman again, to turn her around so she could look at her face.

But bravery soon turned to fear when Emerald saw that the woman's face was completely covered in Grimm-weed.

"Ah!" Emerald yelped as she moved backwards in horror. "Oh, my gosh, no!" Emerald continued to back away from the woman, but this caused her to bump into something behind her. And as soon as she touched it, another voice came into her head.

One more horrifying than the other.

"Kill. Me. Kill. Me. Kill. Me."

Emerald gasped when she turned around, and stifled a scream when she saw another woman with Grimm where her face should have been. Emerald had to turn around to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and she soon confirmed that there were two of the same woman in her proximity.

And now, there were even more of them coming out from behind the multiple trees.

Emerald turned around in an effort to run, but she didn't make it very far. More and more of the same woman were coming out of the forest, and they were all converging on her. Emerald reached for her weapons once more, but found nothing attached to her back. She tried running once more, but the multiple figures in her path made this difficult.

Emerald couldn't help but freeze, since both fight and flight had failed her. She still had the hand-to-hand combat she practiced with Eren and Mercury, but she was rather a novice compared to them. Nevertheless, Emerald balled her fists and readied for a fight as two things ran through her mind.

The first was a reminder that this whole thing was a stupid plan to begin with. And the second was more a prayer; a prayer that some kind of miracle would save her now.

Fortunately, a miracle was well on its way.

"Hey, uglies!"

All of the figures stopped advancing when they heard a voice. Emerald was the first to look at the source, where she was greeted by the impossible sight of an annoying gray haired teenager with a cocky attitude.

"Don't even think about kicking her ass!" said Mercury. "That's why we're here!"

"Mercury?" Emerald asked. "What are you... Wait, did you say-?"

Suddenly, four more figures emerged from various directions of the woods. Emerald immediately recognized them as Eren, Cinder, Ren and Nora; and they all struck hard at the terrorizing figures.

*BAM*

*BAM*

*CRACK*

*BAM*

*CRACK*

Just like Emerald, nobody had their weapons. However, they had plenty of experience with hand to hand combat, courtesy of Eren's training. Mercury still had the lessons he learned from his father, and he joined in with his friends to punch and kick at every figure that came close to Emerald.

It wasn't long before every terrorizing figure was on the ground. In fact, it didn't take that many hits for them to simply give up. Everyone was surprised by the speed of the fight and the apparent lack of resistance, but they didn't pay much attention to the quick duel.

Instead, they all turned to a grateful Emerald, who was happy to see her friends.

"Guys?" Emerald asked in disbelief. "You're... You're here! Oh, my gosh, I can't believe you're here!"

Cinder was the first to run up to Emerald and examine her. "Emerald, are you okay?" she asked as she looked at her friend from head to toe. "Did those... things hurt you?"

Emerald focused on how she was feeling when Cinder asked her question. And save for her scare, Emerald felt completely unharmed. "Yeah," she said after she took a breath to relax. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks."

*FLICK*

"Ow!"

Emerald felt a brief pain on the back of her head, which was courtesy of Mercury flicking his finger at her. Normally, he would perform such an action to annoy Emerald, but he was rather mad at the moment.

"Em, what the hell is this?!" Mercury asked. "What did you do?!"

"Yeah, where are we?" Nora asked.

"Why are you using your Titan?" Eren asked. "We have no reason to be using our Titans!"

Emerald was beginning to feel overwhelmed by all the questions, she could only answer them one at a time. But before she could do that, Emerald asked a question of her own.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" she said to silence everyone. "Guys, how did you get here?"

"We were about to ask you the same thing," said Ren. "After all, you were the one who brought us here."

"...Huh?"

---

Moments ago

"I'm sorry! She told me that she talked to you, that this was all part of the plan! Gods, I was so stupid!"

This was the last thing Midori said to Eren and his friends after they arrived at Kuroyuri's hospital. Eren had told everyone what Midori had told him, which led to them running out of the farmhouse and towards the hospital. On the way, Ren told everyone what Emerald had asked him earlier, if using her Titan to tap into the mind of the woman was a good idea. Ren had dismissed the idea, but he had no idea that it would cause Emerald to try it herself.

And neither did Midori, who learned too late that Emerald had lied to her.

"It's not your fault, Midori," said Ren. "I told her not to do this." He and everyone else were outside, so they could all see Emerald's Titan. "Why didn't she listen?"

"This makes no sense," said Cinder. "She saw what happened to Eren, why would she do something so... so stupid?" Cinder knew that was a terrible thing to say, but she couldn't comprehend what was going through Emerald's mind in order to think that using her Titan without saying anything was a good idea.

And judging from the way Eren was looking at the Titan, he completely agreed with Cinder.

"That's not good," he said as he studied the giant body. "Guys... she's letting out steam."

Everyone looked where Eren was looking. The night and the trees were doing a good job hiding Emerald's Titan, but the night wasn't going to last forever. And it wasn't dark enough to hide the fact that steam was surrounding most of her body.

Mercury noticed this as well, and he knew that a steaming Titan was a red flag.

"That's bad, isn't it?" Mercury asked. "I only let out steam when my Titan gets hurt. Every time I fought Hazel, I was bleeding and steaming."

"Wait, I thought that meant you were healing," said Vernal, who had joined everyone to help. "Merc, your body was covered in steam whenever you got out of your Titan."

"It still means you got hurt," said Eren. "Whether or not you're healing, steam is a sign that you've been hurt. And all of this..." Eren let the steam flow past him as he made his point. "This isn't good."

Everyone believed Eren, the one person who had more experience with a Titan than anyone. Whatever was happening to Emerald was hurting her, whether she knew it or not.

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

Cinder had managed to bring Dancing Midnight with her, in case that there were any problems with the Grimm. "I'll get her out," she said as she prepared to fly. "Then we'll find out what she's doing."

*THWIP*

Everyone watched Cinder use the trees to take flight and reach Emerald's Titan. They all paid close attention to Cinder's movements before they took a step back. Everyone knew the Titan would fall the second Cinder cut Emerald out of the nape.

However, Cinder simply stood still when she reached Emerald's shoulder. Seconds passed, but she simply stood right where she was instead of cutting Emerald out.

"Cinder?!" Eren called out.

"..."

Nobody heard a reply, which worried them even more.

"Cinder!" Eren called out again.

"..."

When silence was heard once again, everyone looked at each other with perplexed stares and uncertain faces. But for Mercury, his confusion led to taking immediate action.

"Alright, that's it," he said as he moved closer to Emerald's Titan. "I'm gonna find out what's going on." Earlier, he and everyone else tried yelling for Emerald to get out of her Titan. When that didn't work, Cinder then tried her idea to cut Emerald out. And now, Mercury believed that physical touch would get the attention Emerald needed to stop doing what she was doing.

But as soon as his hand touched the flesh of Emerald's Titan, Mercury froze.

"What the-?" Nora asked as she saw Mercury stop moving. "Mercury?" She approached closer and began to reach out to her friend. "Mercury! Stop messing with-!"

"Nora, don't!" Ren yelled as he grabbed Nora's shoulders. He was able to pull her back just before she touched Mercury's shoulders, which alarmed everyone. But what was even more alarming was the look on Mercury's face.

He was completely immobile.

"Wh-What's wrong with him?" Midori asked.

*SNAP*

*SNAP*

Ren snapped his fingers twice in Mercury's face, and then waved his hand left and right. When he received no response, Ren was able to draw a conclusion. "It looks like he's in... some kind of trance," he said.

Everyone got a look at Mercury's face and agreed with Ren. "Did that happen to Cinder too?" Eren asked.

Ren looked up with Eren and saw that Cinder was as still as a statue. "It had to. If she touched Emerald's Titan, she must have been affected too."

"Emerald's Titan does things to people's minds," Nora recalled. She was there when Emerald used her Titan to attack Hazel.

"Are you saying she's doing this?" Vernal asked. "On purpose?"

"She's definitely doing it," Eren replied. "If it's not on purpose, then she must be losing control of herself." Eren looked at the steam around him. "Probably from whatever's hurting her." Eren's frustration with everything came in the form of a low growl.

"So what do we do?" Nora asked. "Cut her out?"

"Cinder already tried that," Ren recalled. "It didn't work."

"But we have to do something!"

"I know, but... I'm just not sure what." This was far out of Ren's league, since he had no experience with this kind of situation. Meditation had taught him to control his mind, but control over others was something else entirely.

Eren also had no experience with a situation like this, but he was well aware with how people can lose control over their Titans. The only way to make it stop was to go directly to the source, to the person inside that Titan. The only problem now was physical means weren't working.

But that didn't mean mental means were impossible.

Eren recalled a similar situation to this on Paradis. When he first had his Titan, Eren lost control and nearly failed to seal Wall Rose like the military had planned. He was able to get back on his feet, however, when Armin spoke to him and reminded him why he became a soldier in the first place.

Armin also had to stab him with a blade, but what he did tapped into Eren's mental fortitude and helped him move forward once again. And now, though the circumstances were different, Eren knew he had to do the same for Emerald.

"We don't have a choice," he said as he prepared himself. "We have to help Emerald. If we do what Cinder and Mercury did, maybe we can reach her."

Ren and Nora were pleased to hear that they would be helping Emerald, but the plan wasn't exactly foolproof. "But we'll get stuck too," Ren pointed out. "Whatever Emerald's doing will put us in a trance too."

Eren was well aware of this, and Armin's past actions were able to inspire him once more. "I got it," he said. "Nora, let me see Magnhild."

Nora had retrieved her weapon with Ren on their way to the hospital. She didn't know why Eren would need it, but she fulfilled Eren's request nonetheless.

Once he had the weapon, Eren transformed it from a rocket launcher to a hammer. "Midori, Vernal, take this," he said as he handed them the hammer. "If I'm still in a trance after ten minutes, use Magnhild to pry me off Emerald. Then, we'll just have to think of something else."

Midori and Vernal understood the plan quickly. "That should break the connection," said Midori. "And we'll be safe."

"What about Mercury?" Vernal asked. "Can we just break him off now?"

"I don't want to risk hurting him," said Eren. "Let's see what happens to me. If I'm not hurt or anything, we'll get him off. But if you see anything wrong while I'm gone, just get us off." Eren was a little nervous about being a human guinea pig, but he would prefer seeing his friends safe at the cost of his own safety.

Vernal understood this perfectly, and found it to be admirable.

"Ren, Nora, I know you two could use Magnhild or StormFlower to get me out," Eren said as he looked to his friends. "But I could use some Titan help if the Founding Titan can't help us."

"You got it," said Nora.

"We're with you on this, Eren," said Ren. He felt somewhat responsible for Emerald's condition, and wanted to do anything he could to stop it. With that in mind, Ren followed Eren's lead by touching Emerald's Titan.

And after a strange fall, which led to a reunion with Cinder and Mercury, everyone found themselves at someplace new and extraordinary.

---

Present

"...Oops."

That was all Emerald could say for herself after everyone finished explaining themselves. It was never her intention to bring her friends here, despite the fact that she needed help earlier. But they were here now, and it seemed Emerald had her powers to thank for that. They were apparently much stronger than she initially believed, since she was able to bring other people into the woman's mind.

And while they could see that Emerald was unaware of that ability, her friends didn't exactly take that as an excuse.

"Oops?" Mercury repeated in disbelief. "Seriously? Is that all you gotta say for yourself?"

"Emerald, what were you thinking?" Ren asked. "Running off on your own? Using your Titan without telling us?"

"You can't just turn into a Titan whenever you want!" Eren sternly followed. "What if we weren't in Kuroyuri? If someone saw or heard you, that'd be putting all of us in danger!" Eren was more critical of the situation, given how he knew Titans had to be handled with responsibility and care. One small misstep was enough to open a can of worms nobody could close.

And the last thing Eren wanted was for him and his friends to be hunted down like a Grimm.

Emerald understood everyone's criticism, even Mercury's. What she did was completely irresponsible, and she regretted them the moment things got out of hand.

Whatever everyone had to say, she believed she deserved it.

"I... I'm sorry, guys," Emerald said sincerely as she lowered her head in shame. "You're right. This was stupid. I was stupid."

Everyone could see that they were getting through to Emerald, so they stopped their scolding. Now, they decided to try and rationalize the situation.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Nora asked. "You could have talked to us."

Emerald looked up once more to answer the question. "Well... I talked to Ren," she replied. "After what he said, I just... I didn't think anyone else would like the idea. And I... didn't really think this would work."

Ren recalled his conversation with Emerald, and he too believed that her plan wouldn't work. However, he was willing to admit that he was wrong. "Well... it seems that we were both wrong, Emerald," he said.

"Yeah," said Cinder. "If we're where I think we are, I guess your Titan did its thing."

"Yeah, and it dragged us with you," said Mercury. "Eren, you got any ideas about all this?"

"There was never a Titan like Emerald's back home," Eren replied. "But if I had to guess... Emerald's powers must have been stronger than we thought. And she might not be able to control everything."

Eren recalled how much training he needed to control everything about his Titan, so Emerald being unable to master everything made the most sense. But in her case, rather than not doing enough, Emerald's Titan was doing too much.

She needed to learn how to control her powers.

"I'm sorry," Emerald repeated. "You're right, Eren. I just... I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

Eren's own experiences with losing control of Titan, mainly during the defense of Trost, made him sympathetic towards Emerald. "We'll figure it out," he promised. "You'll learn how to control it."

"And we'll do it together," Ren insisted. "No more running off on your own, okay?"

Emerald nodded. "Okay," she said.

"We'll talk about this later," Cinder promised. She was also upset and unable to believe that Emerald would do something rather reckless, but there were bigger things to worry about. "For now, let's just find a way out of here."

"Hang on, Emerald's the one who brought us here," said Mercury. "Can't she just, you know, stop using her powers?"

Eren was the first to agree with this idea. He was well aware that Emerald needed more training with her Titan, to learn how to control her newfound powers. In this case, it seemed it would be a trial by fire. And if that failed, Eren was sure the Founding Titan would help.

"Do you think you can do that?" Eren asked calmly. "This might be that woman's mind, but you're still in your Titan, Emerald."

It was easy for Emerald to understand what Eren was talking about. If they all found her within her Titan, then reconnecting to it was a possibility. "Well, I can give it a try," she promised.

Before she did, however, Emerald recalled something rather important.

"Wait," she requested. "Can I show you all something?"

Normally, Emerald's friends would accept the offer if it meant helping her. But now, all they wanted was to get back home. And while nobody was going to say it out loud, they were still disappointed that Emerald went ahead and did this.

"What?" Mercury asked impatiently. "No way."

"Emerald, we shouldn't be here any longer than we have to be," Cinder insisted. "Remember what happened to Eren? And your Titan was giving off steam, it could be-"

"I know, I know!" Emerald insisted. "But it'll be quick, I promise!" Emerald then moved towards a certain tree while gesturing for her friends to join her. "Come on! This way!"

Mercury was still impatient and annoyed with the situation, and a walk through an imaginary forest wasn't going to help with that. "Are we really doing this?" he asked everyone around him.

"Emerald's the only one who can get us back home," said Ren. "She's not going to leave until she's ready." With that, Ren walked after Emerald with Nora close behind him.

Eren and Cinder were still with Mercury, but they had a moment to themselves as they tried to think about the idea. "What's gotten into her?" Eren asked.

"I don't know," said Cinder. "I just want to get out of here."

"Yeah, me too. But Ren's right, Emerald's our only way out of here. We'll just have a quick look and go."

"But what about you? That woman hurt you when you tried using your powers, she could do it again."

"Yeah!" Mercury agreed. "And we all saw Emerald's Titan with that steam! That only happens when a Titan gets hurt, right?"

Eren agreed with both Cinder and Mercury, but there was something else to consider. "Actually, I'm not getting another headache," he said. "And Emerald looks fine. How are you two feeling?"

"I'm okay," said Cinder.

"I'm kinda pissed, but I'm not hurt or anything," Mercury followed. "Kinda weird, huh?"

"Yeah," Eren replied. "Weird."

"..."

"Hey, Eren!"

Eren, Cinder, and Mercury all looked to see that Nora had called to them and was standing with Emerald and Ren. "Come here!" she requested.

"You should look at this!" Ren insisted.

As soon as Ren vouched for Emerald, Eren and his two friends began to have a change of mind. Ren was always considered the wisest member of their group, and everyone knew that they should heed advice when it came from him.

And so, Eren heeded Ren's advice and moved towards him. Cinder and Mercury followed closely, and they discovered one of the strange trees that Emerald had discovered earlier. Not only was it covered by a black weed, but it was also hiding something underneath it.

"Whoa," said Mercury, who became captivated by the sight.

"Is that Grimm?" Eren asked as he ran his hand against the substance. When he saw a familiar black muck on his hand, Eren confirmed that the substance was indeed Grimm.

"What's it covering?" Cinder asked as she looked beyond the Grimm weed. She could see two edges that didn't seem natural. "It kind of looks like a picture frame." She looked on the other side, but there was too much Grimm to make out any details.

"Yeah, that's what I thought!" said Emerald. "I don't know anything about this, but it looks like that lady has some kind of problem with Grimm. I mean, I know this is her... her mind and all, but that's Grimm!"

Everyone began to internalize this idea, but Eren made his thoughts more vocal. "I... I don't understand," he said. "That woman is human again. I drained the Grimm out of her. How can there still be more here?"

"I don't know," Nora casually replied with a shrug. "Does it matter?"

"I think it might," said Emerald, who turned to look at her friends. Once she had their complete attention, she shared her theory. "Think about it; the last time we saw that woman together, she was burning up and thrashing around on her bed. And we don't know what's causing it."

"...So?" Mercury asked.

"So, what if this is it?" Emerald gestured to the Grimm. "We all know what she used to be. What if this is a sign that she's having a relapse? What if she's turning into that freak again?"

"..."

Nobody wanted to think about it, but Emerald's theory made a lot of sense. Nobody knew anything about Salem's experiments or what kind of effect they had on a person. They all assumed that Eren's work had paid off, but the amount of Grimm weed in the woman's mind, which seemed impossible, was a telltale sign that not everything had been fixed.

And if those fits of rage that woman had in her bed were indeed signs of relapse, they were in a lot of trouble.

"Hold up, hold up," said Mercury. "I mean, I hate the idea as much as you guys, but Eren fixed her. She's human again. She's fine."

"..."

"Right?"

Nora rubbed an awkward itch as she lowered her head, since she didn't know what to think just yet. But Ren already knew what he was thinking, and he knew he had to bring it to light.

"It would make sense," he said reluctantly. "Midori said she has no idea why that woman is having her fits. Emerald may have the right idea."

"And all of this Grimm has to be here for a reason," said Cinder. "I mean, none of this should be possible, but..."

"It does speak for itself," Eren agreed.

Mercury knew that he had been outvoted in the matter, so it was pointless to disagree now. "Well, what are we supposed to do about it?" he asked. "Remove it?"

"I already tried," said Emerald, who gave the closest substance she saw a tug. "This stuff is like concrete. If I had something to cut with, maybe I could kill it."

Cinder remembered that she had taken Dancing Midnight with her, but she couldn't see the gear around her waist anymore. It had vanished without a trace.

Everyone else began to look for something sharp to cut the Grimm, but Eren was more focused on his hand. He remembered what he said about the Founding Titan being able to help in a situation like this, and Eren was sure he would have to use its power.

And now, after careful consideration and a search through memories, Eren knew what he could do.

"I can use the Beetle to drain this stuff," he decided. "Just like I did with Rod Reiss and Salem." Eren moved closer to the tree and looked at the Grimm. "Then we can see what's behind this stuff."

"Is that a good idea?" Ren asked. "The last time you used your powers with the woman, your head hurt."

"I think we're okay," Eren replied after he turned around. "Emerald's Titan was steaming all over, but she's okay. And so are we." Eren let his friends think about their current health for a moment before he continued. "I can't explain it, but something's protecting Emerald. It's protecting all of us too."

"A Titan power?" Nora asked.

"Maybe." Eren looked back to the tree again. "I'll give it a try." Eren began to lift his hand to his mouth, ready to bite down and use the blood as a means to create a Beetle in his palm.

But without warning, he hesitated.

The hesitation turned into a few seconds of silence and inaction, one that his friends noticed easily. They were all mildly confused about what Eren was apparently waiting for, but it was Cinder who realized that Eren was waiting for something.

The slight shaking of Eren's fist gave Cinder reason to move forward and help her boyfriend.

"What is it?" she asked out of concern.

Eren looked at his shaking hand before he stopped it with his other one. "It's just... Nothing," Eren said as he shrugged off whatever was holding him back. "I can do it."

Before Cinder could ask Eren another question, Eren but into his hand and watched black blood seep onto his palm. And within seconds, a Grimm Beetle appeared and waited to act.

Cinder could have sworn she heard what sounded like a sigh of relief from Eren before the Beetle leapt off his palm. She could t help but pay attention to the Grimm weed after that, which was slowly beginning to disappear. And in its place, Cinder and everyone else could see the tree begin to change. Not only did it appear to be healthy with the lack of Grimm, but it finally revealed what the weed had been covering.

"It is a picture frame!" said Emerald. "And there's a picture in it!"

"Huh," said Mercury, who looked closer at the picture. "It's... just a kid."

"A little girl," said Nora. "Aw, she's kind of cute."

"But... what does it mean?" Ren asked.

The picture in the frame was indeed that of a little girl, who had black hair that was red at the ends. The only things that seemed to stand out were the white dress she was wearing and the large eyes she had.

Mercury was the first to notice a similarity he had with the woman. Namely, that their eyes looked the same color.

Eren couldn't make much sense of the picture, and he was more focused on a single strand of Grimm weed at the edge of it. He moved his hand to clear it out of the way, and ended up touching the side of the picture.

Once it did, the image began to move and make noises.

"That's it, Summer!" said a woman's voice that came out of nowhere. "That's it! Come to Mommy!"

Everyone jumped back when they saw that the picture had turned into what reminded them of a television screen. The little girl was walking towards a pair of open arms, which picked her up and lifted her up. There, everyone could see another woman with the same features as the child.

It was almost like she was the spitting image of her mother.

"Yay!" the woman said with enthusiasm. "What a big girl you are!" The mother then kissed the child's forehead, which caused the young girl to giggle before the image froze.

Once again, confusion spread over the group in an instant. What they saw was rather nice, but it didn't answer any questions about what it was.

But once he remembered where he was, Eren was able to put the pieces together. It seemed rather obvious, since he had plenty of experience regarding one aspect of the mind. It was the one aspect that made the Attack Titan unique over the rest of the Nine Titans.

And that aspect... was memory.

"Oh, wait a minute!" he said." I think I get it now. I think... that must be some kind of memory."

Emerald gasped at the idea. "Eren, you're right!" she said. "If we're in that woman's mind, that picture must have been one of her memories."

"That's a pretty early memory," said Cinder. "But it makes sense."

"It does," said Ren. "And it looks like we found out something about this woman. It seems her name is 'Summer.'"

"Wait, was she the kid?" Mercury asked. "Or was she the mom? They kinda look the same."

"Well... there's only one way to find out," said Emerald, who turned towards the other trees that had Grimm weed covering more pictures. "Guess we have to keep digging."

Nobody followed Emerald immediately, since they were questioning the idea of clearing out the Grimm in the forest.

"Are we really gonna do this?" Mercury asked skeptically.

"I mean, we're already here," said Ren. "And Emerald might have the right idea about preventing a relapse."

"Yeah!" Nora agreed. "Besides, it's obvious that lady needs some help." Nora then turned to Cinder. "What do you think, Cinder?"

"Uh, I'm kind of with Mercury on this one," Cinder said unsurely. "Don't get me wrong, I think we might be able to help. But Eren's just one person." Cinder turned to the Beetle on Eren's hand. "We can't just have him clean the whole place himself."

Eren was appreciative of Cinder's support, that she didn't want him to do everything in the woman's mind himself. But at the same time, he wasn't exactly keen on leaving when there was an obvious problem.

"Maybe I don't have to," he said calmly as he lifted his hand. The Beetle on it was squirming, but it wasn't causing Eren any pain. "This thing doesn't hurt me. If anything, it actually makes me stronger." He then moved his hand towards his friends, where more Beetles were beginning to take shape. "Do any of you want to give it a try?"

Everyone looked at the multiple Grimm in Eren's palm as they considered the idea. They took Eren's word when he said that it made him feel stronger, but they were a little unnerved by the idea.

Everyone except Nora.

"Sure!" Nora said as she extended her hand. "I've been wanting to try it since you sucker-punched that Hound! Come on, gimme!"

Ren believed that Nora was being a little overexcited by the idea, and that she would definitely need someone to keep her from getting carried away. So he agreed to take a Beetle as well. Mercury could see that they weren't leaving anytime soon, so he took one as well. Not wanting to feel left out or see Eren overextend himself, Cinder took one for herself as well.

And with that, everyone set out to see if their idea would help.

---

A few minutes had passed since Eren had uncovered the first memory, which started a chain reaction within the mind of the mysterious stranger. More memories had been uncovered with everyone's help, and they were all able to discover new things about the hospital's new guest.

Just as Ren believed, the woman's name was indeed "Summer." The first memory they found was of her early childhood, and they saw her grow up in every memory they saw. Summer's family, a husband and wife by the surname "Rose," all lived in the heart of Vale. Summer's parents, Thomas and Maureen Rose, were a Huntsman and Huntress who graduated from Beacon Academy. Cinder was mildly annoyed by this, until she learned that Summer's parents worked in a unique system.

Their system was one of taking turns. One parent would stay in the city while the other would take missions beyond the city. Two things were accomplished with this; mainly, that they could keep an eye on their daughter while helping those who needed it most.

It was quite the rarity for Eren and his friends, one that Cinder was actually able to admire. But, it was clear that not all Huntsmen and Huntresses worked like the Roses did. And this gave Cinder all the more reason to hopefully pick up where she left off with her speech in Mistral.

One way or another, she was going to change how things were.

Summer herself was quite the specimen for observance. Her parents raised to be a very kind person, to humans and Faunus alike. She had a love for fairytales and stories, which were mostly read by her mother. As a result, Summer had a romanticized view of Huntsmen and Huntresses, and her parents' profession helped with that.

Eren and Cinder took note that the stories she read were the same as the ones they read at the farm where they met. Neither of them thought about it at the time, but the stories of Huntsmen and Huntresses were rather numerous. In fact, it reminded Eren of the stories he saw in his father's memories; the stories of Eldians being devils and causing pain throughout the world.

It was clear those stories were meant to serve as propaganda for the Marleyans and Eldians living in internment zones. And judging by all the stories Cinder had read him, he'd say the same was happening with Huntsmen and Huntresses.

These thoughts were put on hold when everyone saw the effect their work was having on the forest. After Nora unveiled a memory of Summer graduating from a combat school, everyone noticed that the red fog was becoming weaker. Along with that, the trees were looking more alive. Nobody had seen any more women covered in Grimm weed, which Emerald hypothesized to be thoughts and ideas incarnate, so everyone could see their work was having a good effect on the woman's mind.

But not everything was finished just yet.

Eren and Cinder were working with Emerald to free memories of Grimm weed, while Mercury worked with Ren and Nora. They were still disappointed with Emerald's reckless actions, despite the fact that they were helping Summer. And more than anything, Eren and Cinder wanted to know what would drive Emerald to do something as dangerous as using her Titan alone.

And after they made sure they were alone with Emerald, Eren and Cinder took the opportunity they had.

"That's another memory down," Cinder said when she saw Emerald look at another picture. "Does that make fifteen now?"

"Yeah," said Emerald, who had been keeping count of the memories she saw. "This one is a little sad, though. Looks like her dad got sick after she got older." The memories everyone uncovered were out of order. Summer would be a child in one picture, and then an older woman in the next. Emerald had just uncovered a memory with Summer as a woman, who was attending to her sick father.

"Oh, that's too bad," Eren said sympathetically. "Is that after she became a Huntress?"

"Yeah, I think so," Emerald replied. "I think Ren said something about finding some of her Huntress memories over there if you want to see them."

"We'll take a look," said Cinder. "After we're all done here."

"And after we're done talking," said Eren.

"Talking?" Emerald asked. She was about to ask what Eren wanted to talk about, but then she realized that she was alone with Eren and Cinder. She also remembered that Cinder promised to talk with her later.

It seemed later had finally come.

"...Oh," Emerald finally said. "Okay."

Since she was the one who said they would talk later, Cinder took the lead and spoke first. "Emerald... we know you were just trying to help," she said. "I mean, we are helping right now. But running off by yourself, with a Titan you can't fully control... I just don't get it."

"I don't either," said Eren. "We've seen how you use your Semblance. You always say that you need to be careful not to affect more than one person with it. You know better than to get carried away or do something reckless."

"But here we are," said Cinder. "And Ren told us what you two talked about. Ren had the right idea to hold back after Eren got hurt."

"So why'd you do it?" Eren asked. "Why did you ignore Ren? Why did you do something this dangerous?"

"..."

It was funny to think about, but this was perhaps the first time Emerald had ever been scolded by someone. She never knew her mother or father, and she had to pick herself up out of the gutter multiple times just to survive. As a thief, she never cared about anyone other than herself. She never listened to anyone who told her that what she did was wrong and senseless.

However, things were different now. Cinder was the first to show Emerald that there was a better way to live, and the friends she made along the way helped Emerald give up her old ways. There were many things she had to learn, but she never learned them by being scolded like a child.

Emerald believed that if she was talking to Eren and Cinder as a thief, she would say that she wasn't a child and that she could take care of herself. But like Eren said, she knew better than to think that. She knew better than to ignore advice and go do something she wasn't prepared for. Emerald believed that she had learned her lesson, but her friends still deserved an answer.

"I'm sorry," Emerald began. "Really, I am. I know it was stupid, I get that now."

"We know," said Cinder. "But that doesn't answer our question." Eren was silent, but he agreed with Cinder. They had to know why Emerald did all of this, and they weren't going to leave until they did.

Fortunately, Emerald was willing to tell them.

"I was thinking about what Cinder said," Emerald explained after taking a breath. "After we left the Forever Fall."

"..."

Cinder took a moment to reflect on the conversation she had with Emerald that day. Mainly, how she regretted saying the wrong thing to Emerald and how she confessed that she used to be a slave. Cinder remembered that day easily, but she couldn't see a connection to recent events.

"Cinder asked me to promise her something," Emerald continued. "She asked me to promise her that I'd start living my life differently. You know, with not just thinking about her. Not being a... a slave."

Cinder decided to stop the conversation here. "Whoa, whoa, wait a second," she said. "Emerald, we went over this. I shouldn't have said that about you. It's not true. You know that, right?"

"Well, yeah. But... I know how you got the idea."

"Emerald-"

"Let me finish." Emerald found a stump for herself to sit on, which she did as she continued to talk. "I was always doing everything for you because you helped me come here, Cinder. I thought I was supposed to repay you for that. But when you asked me to be different, I got the idea that doing this would be keeping that promise." Emerald lifted her hands to gesture towards everything around her, signifying her belief that helping Summer would be keeping her promise. "I thought that doing this would show that I could do it. That I could call my own shots from now on."

"..."

Emerald sighed as she put her hands down. "And look where that got me," she said in resignation.

"..."

While Emerald sat on the tree stump feeling sorry for herself, Cinder couldn't help but feel that her friend's actions were partially her fault. She regretted what she said to Emerald that day, and she believed that their talk helped make things better. But now, it seemed the promise Cinder asked Emerald to make had only done more harm than good.

Cinder never meant for this happen, for Emerald to think that she had to run off and do something big and dangerous like she did. But now she couldn't deny her role in the events, and this troubled her greatly. Cinder wanted to help Emerald, but now she had no idea what to do.

"Emerald, listen to me."

Emerald and Cinder turned to Eren, who had been listening closely to Emerald's confession. Eren was well aware of the conversation Emerald and Cinder had together, as well as the events that led up to them. He let Cinder talk to Emerald that day, but now Eren felt that he could add his own experiences to this one.

And he had a good feeling someone like Emerald needed to hear them.

"Back on Paradis, I knew a girl that used to think the way you did," Eren began. "Her name was Krista Lenz. At least, that's what she said it was."

"Uh... what?" Emerald asked. The last part of Eren's prelude was confusing, given what he said about Krista's name.

"Let me finish," Eren requested. "Krista was in the Survey Corps, like me. But she didn't join to kill Titans or see the outside world. She told me about it once, that she was... condemned to be a soldier. To be someone completely different."

"..."

Emerald was more confused than ever, but she let Eren continue.

"Krista came across as someone who took the world's problems on her shoulders. She always believed that she didn't have time to focus on her own feelings, that she had to see if everyone was alright. It would have been admirable... if what she felt was real."

"..."

"Krista was disowned by both her parents. She was sent out into the world to die as a soldier, that's how I met her at training. She coped with feeling empty by being exactly how I described. But it was never real. I could see it behind that forced face of hers. It was actually a little creepy."

"..."

"But Krista told herself that was who she needed to be. She thought she couldn't afford to feel like herself. That's why she kept wearing that forced face. Why she kept calling herself 'Krista Lenz.'"

Emerald was willing to listen to Eren, but she had to ask Eren about the name he kept referring to as a fake one. "You mean... her name wasn't really Krista?" she asked.

"No, it wasn't. Her real name was Historia Reiss. We found out about that later, then one thing led to another, and... she got better."

"..."

"Historia couldn't do it right away. She couldn't just give up something she had been doing for years. She couldn't just take her old name back and live like nothing happened. But when she did... that's when I got to see the real person under the mask. Someone who was normal. She was brutally honest, but normal."

"..."

"I think I know what you meant a minute ago, Emerald. You're just trying to let go of what you thought you had to be, right?"

Emerald felt awkward being put on the spot like this, but she answered Eren's question. "Well... yeah," she said. "I mean, I thought I..." Emerald sighed before she spoke again. "Yeah."

"I get it," Eren said. "Really, I do. Historia wanted that too, but she couldn't do it alone. She had the rest of the Survey Corps, me... and even Ymir to help."

"Wait, Ymir?" Emerald asked. She had known Ymir long enough to know that she wasn't the most selfless person, so the idea seemed ridiculous. "Come on, quit playing around."

"No, no, I'm serious!" Eren replied with a laugh. "You know how Ymir kept flirting with Cinder?" Eren pointed back at Cinder as he explained himself. "That's because Ymir was totally in love with Historia. True story."

Cinder laughed with Eren and Emerald as she recounted all the times Ymir tried flirting with her. It was easy to laugh now, since she felt that Eren was definitely helping Emerald. And when the laughter disappeared, Cinder let Eren help even more.

"Historia knew what she wanted, but the people around her helped her see what she had to do," Eren continued. "If she tried to do it alone... she would have gotten even more lost than she already was." Eren suddenly remembered where he was, and decided to use it as an example. "Probably as lost as someone wandering through these woods."

Emerald looked around and also remembered where she was. And the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. She already understood that doing what she did alone was a mistake, but now Emerald also understood that dealing with her problems alone was also a mistake. She had people like Eren and Cinder who were willing to help, she just had to let them in.

Just like Historia did.

"Do you get what I'm saying?" Eren asked calmly.

"...Yeah," Emerald replied after a few moments of thinking. "Yeah, I think I do. But... I don't want to burden you with my problems." Emerald looked at Cinder. "Either of you."

Cinder shook her head quickly when she heard this. "Emerald, that's what friends are for," she said. "Anytime you need our help, we'll be there."

"Yeah," Eren insisted. "Just like you all were when I had to fight Salem. I couldn't have done it without you."

Emerald nodded before she spoke again, and after she thought about Historia Reiss some more. "Like how Historia couldn't be her real self alone," she concluded.

"Exactly," Eren insisted. "Ymir helped her with that first, and sort of left the rest to us."

"And... what happened to Historia?"

Eren began to smile as he reflected on Historia. "Oh, she did great things. I wish you could have seen it. The biggest thing she did... was actually become the Queen of Paradis."

Emerald's eyes widened in surprise when she heard this. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. Historia became someone who could do anything she put her mind to. With the right help, of course."

"..."

Emerald didn't know Historia personally, but she was becoming more and more inspired by the woman. To think that someone who tired to be someone else entirely faced her inner demons and became a ruler was quite remarkable. And now it was easy to see how similar Emerald was to Historia, to "Krista Lenz." Now it was her turn to change for the better. To stop being someone who she thought she had to be and be herself.

Now, more than ever, Emerald knew she had to follow in the footsteps of Historia Reiss. It was going to be scary, but Emerald knew that she was had to succeed.

In order to do that, Emerald knew that she had to avoid making mistakes like the one she made earlier tonight.

"Do you think I could that too?" Emerald asked. "Even after what I did tonight?"

"Of course," Eren said. "You made a mistake, Emerald. But who hasn't? We'll work it out."

Emerald couldn't help but smile at the forgiveness and acknowledgement Eren was giving her. And when she saw Cinder nodding at her with a smile, Emerald became even more happier and confident that things would turn out better.

"But to work it out, I think you should probably hold off on using your Titan when we get back," Eren said. "We have a lot of things to work out with it, huh?"

"...Oh," Emerald sadly replied. She had just remembered that Eren and Cinder were bound to still be disappointed with her, so she knew that there were going to be repercussions for what she did. "I mean, yeah. I get it. That's fair."

"Wait a second, Emerald," said Cinder, who picked up on her friend's sadness. "I agree with Eren, but we don't mean it as a punishment."

"No, definitely not," Eren agreed. "I mean, we have no idea what else your Titan can do. It brought all of us here by accident, and that's just one power. I was just saying that we should probably train with it before using it outside of Kuroyuri."

"Oh!" Emerald said in understanding. "Oh, sure! Yeah, we can totally do that. Just training with my Titan, got it."

Eren and Cinder smiled in relief when they saw Emerald feel better about herself. And they continued to smile as Emerald thanked them for talking to her and helping her. But after she promised that she would be more careful with things like tonight, Emerald had one more question to ask.

"One thing, Eren," she said. "Did you say your friend's name was 'Historia Reiss?'"

Eren thought he was clear when he told Historia's story, but he still answered the question. "Uh, that's right," he said. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just that her last name sounds familiar." Emerald suddenly snapped her fingers. "That Chill in the woods. Beyond Mistral. Didn't you say his name was 'Rod Reiss?' That he was from Paradis too? Are he and Historia related?"

"Oooh... right." Eren had failed to mention the relationship Historia and Rod had, and it was going to be a rather awkward thing to talk about. "Let's just say that's a story for another day."

"Really? I mean, I'd like to-"

"Eren!"

The trio turned towards the sound of Eren's name to see Mercury running towards them along the path in the forest. When he stopped and saw everyone together, Mercury pointed behind him and shouted again.

"Guys, come this way!" he said. "You gotta see this!" Mercury took off running in the direction he just came from, towards a tree where Ren and Nora were waiting.

Eren, Cinder, and Emerald were normally used to fast and wild behavior from Mercury, especially when he was the Flashstep Titan. But the look on his face spoke volumes of how distressed and shocked he appeared to be, which disturbed everyone greatly.

And so, Eren and his two friends walked to reunite with their other friends to see what the matter was.

"Hey, guys," Emerald said with a smile, since she was feeling much better about herself. However, nobody was smiling back at her.

"What's going on?" Eren asked.

Nora took the lead and gestured towards the tree she and Ren were in front of. "We found something," she said. "It's not good."

"..."

Eren looked back at Cinder and Emerald when he heard this, and he saw they were both wearing the same confused expressions that he had on his own face. The only answer to the shared question they had was apparently on the tree's portrait, which they all turned to look at.

"What's this?" Cinder asked as she looked at what appeared to be a large room of people.

"So, you know how Summer's parents were a Huntsman and Huntress?" Mercury asked. "Well, if I had a Lien for every Rose that took the job, I'd have three."

"Summer went to Beacon Academy, just like her parents," Ren explained. "This a memory of her initiation to the school."

"Okay," said Eren, who looked over to Cinder. "Beacon's the Huntsman school in Vale, right?"

"That's the one," Cinder confirmed. "I did a lot of research about each academy. The other three schools accept just about anyone, but Beacon's known to take the best people they can find. Not just how smart they are, but I mean the best fighters Remnant has. They're mostly graduates from combat school, the ones beneath the Huntsmen Academies." Cinder sighed as she shook her head. "I can name twenty other ways those kids could do some good without being Huntsmen and Huntresses."

"More on that later, please," said Ren. "Like I said, this is from Summer's initiation. But she wasn't alone that day."

"What do you mean?" Emerald asked.

Nora quickly pressed her hand agains the image and stepped back. "Take a look," she said.

Just like the other pictures they saw, the memory began to play like a video. There, everyone could see an auditorium full of people clapping at other people on a well-lit stage. People were moving off the stage and letting four new people on it, but a man in a black suit with gray hair and a cane stayed right where he was as he spoke.

The man was addressing the groups of people who came on his stage by addressing their names and discussing certain 'relics' they acquired. He would then say that they would be working together as a uniquely named team before they would walk off the stage.

"Eren," Cinder whispered. "That's Professor Ozpin. The Headmaster of Beacon."

Eren softly gasped when he realized what that meant. "Ozma," he recalled. He knew right then and there that he was looking at Salem's enemy, someone who spent years trying to hold back her power but ultimately failing to stop her entirely.

It seemed he didn't have to worry about her anymore.

After another round of applause died down, four new people walked on the stage. It was hard to see a few of them, since the lights were almost blinding everyone. But they could see Summer Rose with a white cloak standing with three other people and Professor Ozpin. The light began to reveal the physical features of every other person, and Ozpin began to recite their names.

"And finally..." the old man said as the memory played. "Taiyang Xiao Long, Summer Rose, Qrow Branwen, and Raven Branwen. The four of you-"

"RAVEN BRANWEN?!"

The shared reaction of Eren, Cinder, and Emerald echoed throughout the woods when they heard the familiar name of a deadly enemy. It was almost impossible to believe that they all heard Raven's name, but one look at the memory told them that they heard it correctly.

The woman at the end of the line was indeed a younger Raven Branwen. She had the same hair, clothes, and weapon as the woman they all fought over and over again. She was indeed the same Raven Branwen who nearly killed them all, the one who stooped so low as to begin working with Salem just to kill them.

And the worst part of all... Summer knew her.

"That's... about the same reaction we had," said Ren, who wasn't paying attention to the rest of the memory.

"I... I can't believe it," said Emerald. "That was Raven Branwen!"

"...It couldn't be," said Eren, who was having a hard time believing what he was seeing. "This makes no sense."

"Raven was a Huntress?" Cinder asked, who was also having a hard time believing what she saw. "Raven? The most notorious bandit in Anima?"

"I know," said Mercury, who leaned against the tree when the memory finally stopped playing. "Crazy, huh?"

"We watched it again before Mercury went to find you," said Nora. "But it's true. Raven and Summer knew each other. They... They might have been friends."

Cinder immediately realized what Nora was implying. "You think Summer went rogue too?" she asked. "Like Raven?"

Nora knew it was a bad thing to say about someone, especially someone she didn't know. However, the memory she witnessed unnerved her greatly. "I mean... we all know what Raven did," she said. "If she was working on a team with Summer, it might be possible that..."

Ren knew that Nora was having a hard time finding the right words, so he spoke for her. "It might be possible, yes," he said. "So... what does that change for us?"

"..."

Ren was looking at Eren when he asked this question, and everyone else soon began to do the same thing. They were obviously looking for guidance on what to do, and they believed that Eren was the best person to figure this out.

However, Eren was having a hard time wrapping his head around all of this. He could understand a Huntress getting involved with Salem, since she most likely created the Grimm that Huntsmen and Huntresses had been killing for years. But a Huntress who knew Raven? That was something else entirely.

Something that Eren couldn't understand right away.

However, this didn't change the fact that he still had a mission. And right now, he had a very good reason in order to keep moving forward.

"Nothing," he said. "We can still do this."

Everyone would normally be willing to follow Eren's lead, but they couldn't help but feel skeptical about their friend's decision.

"Uh, Eren?" Mercury asked to get Eren's attention. "Are you sure about that?" He then pointed back to the memory of Summer and Raven. "Raven knew Summer, we all saw it. She could be dangerous."

"She is dangerous," said Eren. "Like Emerald said, Summer could be suffering a relapse of what she went through with Salem. If she turns back into that thing, she'll attack the first people she sees. Midori and Vernal could be some of those people. We can't let that happen."

Everyone had almost forgotten Emerald's idea about a possible relapse for Summer. If she was on the path to becoming a hybrid once more, that put the entire town of Kuroyuri at risk.

"Eren's right," said Cinder. "We can't let one of Salem's experiments stay in Kuroyuri. Not until we fix it."

"What about after that?" Mercury asked. "Summer's not gonna stick around, right?"

"Maybe we should cross that bridge when we come to it," Ren suggested. "For now, let's make sure Summer won't be putting Kuroyuri at risk as a Grimm."

"Got it," said Emerald. "How many memories do we have left?"

Everyone looked around the forest to see only a few dead trees remaining. The forest had become more lively thanks to their work, and the red fog was almost completely gone.

But there was still one more thing to contend with.

"Uh, guys?" Nora asked as she pointed in one direction. "We got company."

Everyone looked where Nora was pointing to see that they indeed had company. The variants of Summer with Grimm weed on their face were back, and they were all converging on Eren and his friends. Not only that, but they appeared to be turning towards them.

"Oh, great," said Mercury. "Attack of the Grimm clones."

"They're running this time," Ren observed. "They're much faster than before."

"Guess that means they're gonna fall faster too," Cinder said confidently.

Nora followed what Cinder was saying and smiled. "I could use a break from cleaning," she said. "Now I get to see how stronger that Beetle made me!"

Eren balled his fists and stood in a fighting position. "Alright, then," he said. "Here we go-"

*WHOOSH*

"..."

Everyone couldn't help but look away from the variants of Summer and turn their gaze towards the spot where Eren had just been standing. Rather than seeing their friend, they were all looking at an empty space.

Eren Yeager had disappeared.

"Eren?" Cinder asked when she saw the empty space. She began to worry greatly as she looked around and failed to see Eren. "Eren?!"

"What the hell?" Mercury asked. "What just ha-?"

*WHOOSH*

Without warning, Mercury had also disappeared from sight. Everyone looked around once more, but all they could see were the monsters almost within arms reach of them.

"Run!" Ren yelled as he took off in the opposite direction. His remaining friends followed the order with ease, but soon found themselves being chased by the monsters.

"What's going on?!" Cinder yelled as she ran. "How are they doing this?!"

"They didn't do it before!" Emerald replied as she ran. "And they can't! They're just thoughts... I think!"

Ren didn't know what the multiple versions of Summer were, but he was getting an idea as to why Eren and Mercury disappeared. "Nora, how long have we been here?!" he asked.

"I don't know!" Nora yelled back. "Ten minutes, I guess?!"

Ren gasped when he heard this. "Oh, no! Guys, it's not those things! It's Midori and Vernal! They're following Eren's plan! They're-!"

*WHOOSH*

Without warning, Ren too disappeared from the forest. Everyone couldn't help but stop and look at the spot where Ren had once been running, but they all took off again when they saw the creatures chasing them.

However, they had a clue as to what was going on.

"Nora, what was Ren talking about?!" Emerald asked as she ran again.

"Yeah, what plan?!" Cinder asked.

Nora suddenly realized what was going on. "Oh, shoot!" she said. "Eren made a plan with Midori and Vernal! He said if we didn't come back in ten minutes, they would use Magnhild to pry us off Emerald's Titan!"

Cinder and Emerald gasped when they heard this. "Wait, they're getting you out of here?!" Emerald asked.

"Yeah!" said. Nora. "And I might be-!"

*WHOOSH*

Nora suddenly disappeared as well, which left Emerald and Cinder to keep running. But now that they understood what was happening, they knew they needed a better plan than running.

"Emerald, can you bring them back?!" Cinder asked as she ran. "Can you use your Titan?!"

"I don't know, I never tried it before!" said Emerald. "I didn't even mean to bring you here! Oh, Gods, this is bad!"

"Stay calm, Emerald! I'm still here! I went on your shoulder, they can't get me down soon!"

"Well, what are we gonna do?!"

Cinder suddenly stopped running and turned back to the monsters. "We can fight them!" she said. "Just like last time! Remember what Eren taught you and-!"

*WHOOSH*

Cinder didn't get a chance to finish her sentence. Somehow, she had also disappeared as fast as everyone else did.

Emerald was all alone again.

---

"Uh..."

"Don't move! Just take it easy."

"I got her! I got Cinder!"

"Bring her here! We got everyone else!"

Just as Ren and Nora believed, Midori and Vernal were executing their part of the plan. Exactly ten minutes had passed since Eren went into a trance with the rest of his friends, while they were still holding onto Emerald. And just as he wished, Midori and Vernal used Magnhild to pry them off.

When she saw that Eren was still alive, that he was recovering from the experience, Vernal immediately got Mercury away from the Titan. After she moved Mercury towards Eren, Midori got Ren and Nora off Emerald while Vernal worked out an idea she had for Cinder.

Since Cinder was on Emerald's shoulder, neither of the girls could use Magnhild to get her off. But when Vernal remembered that she still had her weapons, a pair of pistols that could act as boomerangs, Vernal took careful aim to throw one gun at Cinder's chest. The force of the impact was enough to knock Cinder off, and Vernal was quick enough to catch her before she got hurt.

Now, all of their friends were free from Emerald's uncontrollable power. They could see that they were all safe and almost done recovering, which pleased them greatly.

"I think they'll be okay," said Midori. "They just need a minute."

"Good," said Vernal, who was looking at Mercury. "Not gonna lie, I was getting worried there for a minute."

"Yeah, me too." Midori then turned her gaze towards the steaming Titan. "What about Emerald?"

Vernal turned her gaze towards Emerald as well, and immediately noticed that nothing changed about her. "I don't know," she said. "Nothing we can do, I guess."

"But we can't leave her!" Midori insisted.

"If we touch her, then we won't be able to do anything!"

"..."

Midori hated to admit it, but Vernal was right. If she tried to do anything to Emerald's Titan, she would most likely be entranced as well. The only hope she had was if somehow Eren knew what was wrong. And if that were true, perhaps he could fix it.

Midori would soon get the answers she needed, since Eren was finally standing up.

"Uh..." he groaned as he reoriented himself. "What... What happened?"

"Eren!" Midori yelled as she approached her friend. "Don't move too much! Are you okay?"

"...Yeah." Eren shook his head before he answered again. "I'm okay. Just... a little lightheaded." Eren opened his eyes to see Midori standing in front of him, which was a surprise. "Midori?"

"Yeah, it's me." Midori smiled when she saw that Eren was alright. He wasn't wounded or showing any signs of pain, aside from a feeling of lightheadedness. "We did what you told us, Eren. We got you away from Emerald."

"You... You did?"

When Eren's head was finally clear, he saw that he was indeed back where he started. It was still nighttime, he was in Kuroyuri, and all of his friends were around Emerald's Titan.

The plan had worked perfectly, but at the worst time possible.

"Oh, no!" Eren said as he helped his friends get up. "Guys, get up! We're back at Kuroyuri!"

"We are?" Mercury asked as he stood up.

"Emerald's still in there!" Cinder yelled. "We gotta go back!"

This was the last thing Midori and Vernal expected to hear from their friends. They didn't know what to think at first, but Vernal knew what to do when she saw everyone running back towards the Titan.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second!" she said as she moved in front of them. "You can't go back, we just got you away from her!"

"You don't understand!" Eren said. "We know what's going on!"

"Yeah!" said Mercury. "And Emerald's in trouble! We gotta get her out!" Mercury ran past Vernal and touched Emerald's Titan once again, but nothing happened. He couldn't see himself falling or returning to the forest like he did before. Instead, all he could see was his home and his friends.

Nora was the second to try and get back to Emerald, but touching the Titan did nothing. "Huh?!" she asked as she began to touch the Titan in different spots. "It's not working!"

Eren, Cinder, and Ren all tried to reconnect to Emerald's Titan, but nothing happened when they touched it. They were ready to move back and think about why it wasn't working, but they suddenly noticed that the Titan was moving downwards. Then, they noticed that the nape was starting to open. And finally, they all noticed Emerald Sustrai freeing herself from the Titan.

"Quick, grab her!" Cinder yelled as she ran towards the Titan. Everyone followed behind her and they all managed to catch Emerald just before she fell.

"Ah!" Mercury screamed as he moved back. "Jeez, that burns!" The young man quickly activated his Aura to block out the burning pain, as did Ren and Nora. Midori used Healing Wish to help Ren and Nora while Vernal helped Mercury, but Eren and Cinder were able to move Emerald away from her Titan.

Emerald was laid down on the cool ground next to her Titan, where she could get the rest she needed. Everyone soon surrounded her, where they all saw her body give off more steam, her eyes begin to open, and finally sit upright.

"Emerald?" Eren asked. "Can you hear me?"

"...Phew," Emerald said after she saw everyone. "Glad that's over."

"She's alive!" Nora exclaimed with joy.

"You okay, Em?" Mercury asked.

"Yeah," said Emerald. "I'm okay." She suddenly grabbed her head as she tried to stand. "Ugh... Sorry, just lightheaded."

Eren and Cinder helped Emerald stand up once more. "That's okay," said Cinder. "It happened to us too."

"Do you need Healing Wish?" Midori asked as she moved closer.

"No, I'm fine. Just... Just need to catch my breath."

Everyone remained silent as Emerald took a moment to rest. The steam around her body soon began to disappear, along with the massive Titan behind her. Midori had to step away for a minute when she got a text on her Scroll, so everyone else talked to Emerald when she showed signs of improvement.

"What happened back there?" Eren asked.

"Yeah, are you okay?" Cinder asked. "How'd you escape those things?"

"And how did you get out of your Titan?" Ren asked.

Emerald took another breath before she replied. "I wish I could tell you," she began. "But I have no idea."

"You don't?" Mercury asked.

"No. I mean, I saw what was going on, but I can't explain it."

"What do you mean?" Nora asked.

Emerald thought back on her experience in the mind of Summer Rose, after her friends inadvertently left her behind. It wasn't hard to think about, but it was hard to explain what had happened.

"After Cinder disappeared, I knew I couldn't keep running," she began. "I had those things in front of me, and the endless forest behind me. So I decided to try and fight. But I thought I could use the Beetle Eren gave me to-" Emerald stopped talking when she looked at her empty palm. "Oh, it's gone."

Everyone looked at their palms to see that the Beetles Eren had given them had all disappeared. Eren also noticed that his was gone, and he began to wonder how he was able to create one with his mind instead of his actual body. There was certainly a lot about the mind that he didn't understand.

But that question would have to wait, since Emerald was still sharing her story.

"I managed to get a couple of them by throwing that bug," she said. "Drained them pretty good. But the third one grabbed it and threw it against a tree."

"So you ran again?" Cinder asked.

"No, the Beetle wouldn't let me. It landed on a tree with that Grimm weed, it wouldn't stop draining the Grimm off it."

"Wait, really?" Eren asked. "I never even thought of that." Eren immediately felt guilty about giving Emerald a Beetle of her own. He knew that it was capable of draining Grimm, but Eren wasn't aware that it wouldn't budge until it stopped.

"I didn't either," said Emerald. "So there I was, unable to move while being surrounded by those things. I thought I was a goner, that I was gonna die there. But after a few seconds... I heard something."

"What?" Eren asked.

"A voice. I think it was Summer's mom. It was coming from the memory I accidentally uncovered." Emerald thought about the memory before she talked about it, since she didn't get a chance to think about it before. "But you know, it got me thinking... we might have been wrong about Summer. You know, being with Raven and all."

"Wait, what?" Vernal asked. "What's this about Raven?"

"We'll explain later, babe," said Mercury.

Vernal trusted Mercury, but she was a little disappointed with the idea of being told later. "Jeez, how do I miss everything with you guys?"

Everyone ignored Vernal's sarcastic remark as they listened to Emerald's story. "Anyways, Summer was talking to someone," Emerald continued. "I'm pretty sure it was her mom. And she was telling Summer to think about... to think about the people who love her. To focus on the thought of them, the way they made her feel."

"...Oookay," Mercury said slowly. This was a strange thing to think about, let alone be requested for someone to think about.

"Anything else?" Eren asked.

"Yeah, there was something," Emerald confessed. "Summer's mom was saying something about life needing to be... protected, or something?" Emerald groaned as she thought about it. "I didn't get all the poetic stuff, to be honest. And I especially didn't get what came next."

"What?" Nora asked. "What came next?"

"I don't know, it was this... great big light. It came out of the memory, and it shined all over the place."

"A light?" Mercury asked. "Don't tell me you heard a voice telling you to go towards it. That'd be pretty lame."

"Oh, shut up, Merc! I'm being serious! I saw a giant light shine all across the place, even on me! And that's not the weird part! It burned me!"

"Wait, what?" Ren asked. "What do you mean it burned you?"

"Here, look." Emerald showed a part of her arm that was healing, but also bleeding black blood. "It burned my arm. And I think it burned that Beetle too, I could hear it shrieking. As soon as I felt it burn, I told myself that I had to get out. Get out of the forest, get out of Summer's mind." Emerald took one more breath before she finished her story. "Then, I woke up here."

"..."

Everyone didn't know what to think about the story, but the results spoke volumes of what had happened. Emerald was indeed back with them and she had a strange burn that was healing on her arm. The strange part was that it was continuing to bleed while being healed; whatever Emerald saw left a strange mark on her, strange even for Titan standards.

However, it wasn't entirely unfamiliar to Eren.

"Wait a second," he said. "Emerald, you said that light burned you?"

"Yeah," Emerald said as she showed Eren her arm. "I mean, it was just light. I don't get it."

"Huh..."

Cinder recognized the look on Eren's face. It was a look he had when he was in deep thought, when he felt that he was on to something.

And Cinder knew better than anyone that it was important.

"What're you thinking, Eren?" she asked.

"I don't know," Eren replied after another second of thinking. "Something like that... kind of sounds familiar. But... I can't put my finger on it. It's weird."

"Well, it's about to get a whole lot weirder."

Everyone turned around to see that Midori had rejoined them. She was holding her Scroll in her hand as she walked closer towards them, with a surprised look on her face.

"The woman in the hospital," she said. "What did you say her name was?"

"Summer," Emerald asked. "Her name's Summer Rose."

"She was a Huntress at Beacon Academy," Cinder explained. "Why do you ask?"

"I just got off the phone with a nurse," Midori replied. "She's waking up."

---

A few minutes had passed since Emerald successfully exited her Titan. And now, everyone was walking through the familiar halls of the hospital like they did earlier. They didn't think it was a good idea, after everything they experienced with the woman's mind, but Eren and his friends knew they had to see Summer Rose for herself.

Between Raven and the light that hurt Emerald, there were just too many questions that needed answers as soon as possible.

Midori could tell that her friends had gone through quite the experience, and Vernal just had to know what happened to them all. So she proposed that she would go into the hospital room first and warm up Summer for an inevitable visit. Everyone agreed to this idea, between Vernal's insistence on hearing what happened and the idea that Summer might need medical attention.

But they made sure to warn Midori about Summer's acquaintance with Raven, just in case she tried anything bold.

Nevertheless, Midori stepped into the room and found a nurse by Summer's bed. The nurse had a stethoscope in hand, and she was leaning close to a stirring Summer. "Stop moving!" the nurse quietly protested. "Just stop moving!"

Midori moved into the room faster and prepared to help the nurse. "Is it happening again?" she asked. "Is she having another episode?"

"No, this is different," the nurse insisted. "Her fever's gone down, I think she's waking up." The nurse moved her stethoscope again. "I just can't get her heartbeat with her moving like this. Could you maybe-?"

"Uh... Mmph..."

A soft moan from the sleeping woman was enough for the nurse to stop moving and look upon her patient. Her mouth began to open in order to breath regularly, and her two eyes were slowly beginning to open.

Midori remembered the warning her friends gave her and decided to practice slight caution. "Get back," she said to the nurse as she gently took her shoulder. "Let her wake up."

The nurse obeyed the command and took a few steps back with Midori. Once they stopped, they could see that Summer was indeed waking up. And just before she did, Summer began to speak.

"No... no... Stop it!"

Within the blink of an eye, Summer rose off her bed with a start and began to take rapid breaths. Her forehead was sweating, but it wasn't as bad as it was in the morning. It appeared that she had simply awoke from a bad dream and was now becoming aware of her surroundings.

"Huh?" Summer asked as she examined the room she was in. She didn't know what to expect from waking up, but she didn't expect to see a well-lit room and appear to be in a comfortable bed. "What? Where-?"

Summer stopped talking when she noticed that she was wearing an unfamiliar robe and that her arm was attached to an IV tube. She lifted her other arm to remove the IV, but she stopped when she heard an unfamiliar voice.

"Wait, don't do that!"

"Ah!" Summer yelped when she turned to her right. There, she could see a woman and a teenager staring at her in awe and surprise. Summer became afraid once again, but could only shield herself with the blankets on her bed.

"I'm sorry," the nurse apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you. That IV is there to help you, that's all."

Summer's breathing began to grow calmer and less rapid than it was a second ago. She now understood that she wasn't alone, but that didn't exactly explain where she was or how she got here.

But she had one idea.

"...Where am I?" Summer asked. "Is... Is this Heaven?"

The question surprised both the nurse and Midori, and they couldn't help but exchange a confused glance at each other. But when she looked back to Summer, Midori answered the question.

"Um... no," she said. "I mean, it's our little slice of Heaven." Midori laughed at her own joke to break the tension, but she explained herself when Summer didn't laugh. "This is just our hospital. In Kuroyuri."

"..."

Despite the environment appearing to be a hospital room, Summer was having a hard time believing what she heard. Her more recent memories were a blur, but all she knew was pain, cold, and darkness. However, the light had seemingly returned to Summer, though she had no idea how.

Skepticism was dominant within Summer's mind, but a semblance of hope and joy remained.

"A... A hospital?" Summer asked. "You mean... I'm alive?"

Midori took a calculated risk by moving a little closer to the bed. "You were in bad shape when you came here, but yes," she said. "I mean, it's kind of obvious, isn't it?"

After spending a few seconds in silence, and after Summer processed this, a tear came to her eye. This tear was followed by another, and then a smile came to Summer's face.

"I'm... I'm alive," she said. "My Gods. I'm alive." More tears came down Summer's face as she relished the feeling of being alive.

Midori and the nurse were happy to see that Summer was taking the news as well as one could expect. The nurse then followed in Midori's footsteps and moved closer. "We're happy to see you're alive too," she said. "But I'd just like to look you over and see if anything's bothering you." The nurse lifted her stethoscope for Summer to see. "Is that okay?"

Summer calmed down and understood that the nurse was asking for her consent. And given that she felt a little sore in her legs and torso, Summer decided that an examination might help.

"O-Okay," she said after a moment of thinking. With that, the nurse began to give Summer a proper and careful examination. While this was happening, Summer couldn't help but look at Midori and ask another question. "H-How did I get here? Did... you bring me here?"

"Well, yeah," Midori replied. It was true that she brought Summer to the hospital once she returned to Kuroyuri, but Midori knew she had much more to say. "Well, me and my friends, actually. They're all outside, they wanted to see how you were doing." Midori pointed to the door. "Would it be okay if I let them in?"

Summer needed another second to think, but she eventually came to conclusion that more visitors wouldn't be harmful. And Midori was slowly earning Summer's trust, so Summer believed that friends of hers would be fine.

And so, after Summer nodded, Midori stepped outside to see her friends talking to Vernal.

"So after we saw the memory with Raven, that's when the weird people showed up," said Mercury. "We were gonna kick their asses again, but we just popped back here instead."

"Damn," said Vernal, who was fast to process everything she heard. "Sorry, Em. Didn't mean to abandon you back there."

"It's okay," Emerald replied. "Sorry I got Mercury and everyone else dragged into it. Don't worry, Eren's gonna help me make sure that doesn't happen again."

"Cool."

Nora was the first to notice that Midori had returned. "Oh, hey, Mimi!" she said as she stopped leaning against the wall. "How is she?"

"She's awake," Midori replied. "Happy to be awake, actually. One of the nurses is looking her over."

"Did she say anything?" Eren asked. "Anything about us?"

"No, nothing about you. But get this; her first question was whether or not she was in Heaven."

"Wait, what?" Cinder asked. "She thought she was dead?"

"Yeah, and then she broke down crying when she realized that she was alive. She's happy about that."

Ren let out a sigh after Midori finished talking. "The things Salem must have done to her," he said. "No wonder she would think she had died."

"No arguments there," said Mercury. "But what about Raven? She talk about that?"

"Nope, nothing," Midori replied. "You can all go in and ask her, but just be careful. She just woke up, and we don't know what condition she's in. Just don't get her too excited, okay?"

Just as everyone finished nodding, promising that they would be careful with Summer, the nurse came out of the room with a clipboard in hand. "I just finished looking her over," she said. "Her heart sounds fine, but I should let a doctor know about everything else. Figure out what to do to treat her."

"I'll keep an eye on her for you," Midori promised before she watched the nurse leave. She then opened the door and let all of her friends in to see Summer.

Nobody really knew what to say when they saw that the patient was awake. After everything they saw and did, Eren and his friends felt rather awkward being in her presence. However, Summer didn't appear to feel awkward when she looked at Eren.

If anything, she looked as if she recognized him.

"I... know you," said the woman. She then looked past Eren and towards the rest of his friends. "All of you."

"..."

They hadn't been properly introduced, but Eren, his friends, and the woman seemed to know enough about each other from their shared experience. It was enough for the woman to see that the teenagers before her were immensely strong and powerful, and that she owed a great debt to them all.

But the one thing she didn't know... were any of their names.

"Who... Who are you?" she asked calmly.

Everyone looked to Eren when the patient asked this question, so he took the lead and introduced himself. "...I'm Eren," he said. "Eren Yeager." He then gestured to the people behind him. "These are my friends."

Midori and Vernal chose to remain silent, since they were the ones who didn't venture into the woman's mind. And so, everyone else introduced themselves.

"I'm Cinder."

"Mercury."

"Lie Ren."

"I'm Nora!"

Emerald was the last to introduce herself, but she decided to move closer to the bed while doing so. "And I'm Emerald," she said before she stopped at the edge of the hospital bed. "And... you must be Summer Rose."

"..."

That was the first time Summer had heard her own name in a while. She couldn't even remember the last time someone actually said it. However, it was remarkably easy for her to remember that "Summer Rose" was indeed her name.

"Yes," she said after a brief second. "Yes, I am." She then spent the next few seconds looking at each and every one of the people in front of her. "I... I'm sure I've seen you before. All of you." She then pointed to Midori. "She said you found me but... I can't remember it. I'm sorry."

Eren and his friends remembered what Midori said about not exciting Summer too much, and they also remembered what they learned about Raven. Emerald saw the latter as an opportunity and spoke once more.

"That's okay," she said. "We understand. Do you think you can tell us what you do remember? What the last thing you remember is?"

"..."

Summer understood the request, but it was a hard thing to do. As she sat on the bed thinking, Summer was able to recall her oldest memories. These memories came from years ago, and now she remembered them like they were yesterday.

But her more recent memories were hard to recall. When Summer tried to think of them, all she saw was darkness.

"...Black," she said. "All I can see is black."

"..."

The silence was an indicator that everyone was thinking about what Summer just said. And judging from their faces, Summer could see how foolish that sounded. "I'm sorry," she said. "That's all I can think of."

Eren decided to approach closer to the bed as well, where he asked a question of his own. "Are you sure that's all you remember?" he asked. "There's nothing else?" It was hard for him to believe such a claim, since he and his friends spent the last ten minutes searching through her memories.

Fortunately, Summer was able to validate her claim.

"Well... my name is Summer," she insisted. "I'm... I'm from Vale. And I... I'm a Huntress. And so were my parents. I went to Beacon and I... and I..." Summer held the sides of her head as she tried to recall more information. "And I..."

Midori tapped Eren on the shoulder to get his attention. "Eren, don't excite her," she whispered. "She just woke up, it's gotta be hard to remember everything."

Emerald leaned over to Eren and whispered to him as well. "Not to mention everything she went through with Salem," she reminded him.

Between Summer's recollection of certain memories and Emerald reminding him of Summer's previous condition, Eren was able to make sense of everything. He and his friends helped Summer see her long-term memories, but her more recent memories were apparently hard to remember. And when he thought about it, Eren realized that he didn't see any sign of Salem or her servants.

"What?"

Eren, Emerald, and Midori looked back to Summer when they heard her speak. "What did you say?" Summer asked Emerald. "That name..."

Emerald immediately knew that she didn't whisper quietly enough, that Summer had heard her. "Oh, I-"

"Salem. You said.. Salem."

"..."

Summer grabbed her head once again, but she wasn't trying to remember anything. A low groan told everyone that Summer was experiencing pain, which alarmed Midori enough to move closer to Summer.

"No, no, no, no," Summer said. "H-How do you know that name? Gods, why does my head hurt?"

"Summer, relax," Midori said as she prepared to use Healing Wish. "You're not with her, you're in Kuroyuri. You're safe."

"But... But you know her." Summer looked at everyone in the room. "All of you! You know her, don't you?"

The truth seemed evident at this point, and denying it wasn't going to do anything good. Eren was the one who decided to speak the truth, where he was followed by his friends.

"...Yes," he said. "We knew her. And everything she did."

"But we're not with her," Cinder insisted. "We're not working for her."

"And she's not in any condition to do anything anymore," said Nora.

"She won't hurt you or anyone else again," said Ren.

Summer was listening to everything that they were telling her, but she wasn't quite at ease. "But... But you know her," she said. "I know her. I... I remember her." Summer stopped grabbing her head and put her hands on her bed. "Her and... and..."

"It's okay," Midori insisted. "Don't strain yourself, just relax. If you rest up, maybe we can-"

Summer suddenly squeezed her bedsheets as she remembered something else. "And Raven."

"..."

The name came as a surprise to everyone. They all wanted to know what relationship, if any, Summer had to Raven, but hearing the name made them surprised enough to be unable to figure out what to say next.

But some of Summer's latest memories were returning to her. And she knew exactly what to say next.

"I remember them," she said. "Both of them. They... They hurt me. They made me see black after that."

"What?" Mercury asked as he moved closer. "Wait, what was that? Raven hurt you?"

Midori was about to tell Mercury to give Summer some space, but Summer quickly answered the question. "Yes," she said. "I... I was with Raven. When we first saw her. Together."

"Her?" Eren asked. "You mean Salem?"

"Yes. Raven was with me... but she disappeared. I... I was alone." A tear fell down Summer's face. "All alone."

Emerald gasped when she heard this. Listening to Summer's incomplete story was able to trigger one of Emerald's own memories, back when Raven was still alive.

"You see that place? That place is death! I know what happens to people who go there, I know the things Salem is capable of!"

It all made sense now. Back then, Emerald asked how Raven could know such a thing, what evidence she had to back up the claim she made. But now, Emerald could see that Summer was the evidence.

"She abandoned you," Emerald concluded. "Raven left you with Salem, didn't she?"

"..."

The idea was surprising to hear, but not unexpected from someone like Raven. Cinder soon remembered the same thing Emerald did, since they were together back then. "Is that how you knew her?" she asked Summer. "How you knew Raven?"

Summer shook her head, but she didn't exactly deny the claim. "I... I don't think I ever knew Raven," she said. "But what I did know..." Summer squeezed her bedsheets again. "I didn't like."

"..."

---

Everyone knew that they had a lot more to say about themselves and their given situation, but it was Midori who pointed out how late it was getting. And despite the fact that Summer was awake, Midori decided that Summer should talk to the doctor soon. Summer would make this easier, to describe if anything hurt and what treatment would be best.

And how exhausted Summer still was, the Huntress agreed and bade farewell to her saviors and new friends.

On the way back home, everyone did nothing but talk about what Eren and Emerald saw in Summer's mind. It was quite the experience, both surreal and rather intimidating. Emerald was mostly excited to talk about it, given that she was the one who discovered her new Titan power.

This gave Nora the incentive to think of a possible name for Emerald's Titan. However, it was easier said than done. Names like "Telepath" and "Telekinetic" were too simple and unoriginal, according to Mercury. But Nora promised that she would have a name for Emerald's Titan, hopefully sometime tomorrow.

Ren and Nora were the first to split from the group, since their walk from the hospital took them back to their house. Everyone else mostly split apart when they reached the farm, with Mercury and Vernal going back to the shed they were working in earlier. Eren, Cinder, and Emerald made their way into the farmhouse, where they were welcomed by its owner.

"There you are!"

Eren, Cinder, and Emerald looked to the kitchen to see that Carla was sitting at the table. She had apparently been waiting for someone to come through the front door, which she had been watching closely. And now that her patience had worn off, Carla stood up and walked over to the teenagers quickly.

"Are you okay?" Carla asked as she looked at her son. "I mean, I know you look fine, but you could have used your healing powers! What happened?"

"Huh?" Eren asked. It was clear that Carla had been worried about him, and that she could tell he had used his Titan. But there was nothing wrong with Kuroyuri, so it was easy for Eren to be confused. "Mom, what are you talking about?"

"Dina said you all ran out of here earlier," Carla explained. "That there was some kind of emergency or something. Is everything okay?"

"Oh... that."

Eren and Cinder had forgotten how quickly they ran out of the house after Midori's call. Cinder couldn't remember if she talked to her mother or not, but it was clear that Dina got the wrong idea about Cinder leaving with everyone.

Fortunately, Emerald was willing to clear things up.

"My fault entirely, Ms. Yeager," she reluctantly explained. "I, uh... I was doing something with my Titan. Alone."

"Yeah, without telling us," Cinder chimed in. "Midori called us, so we ran off to find her."

Carla was relieved to hear that things were fine, since she wasn't ready to deal with another Grimm emergency. But to hear the truth about the incident was very surprising.

"Emerald?" Carla asked. "You?" She couldn't help but be taken by surprise, since she would normally expect Eren to run off and use his Titan. So to hear that someone like Emerald would do something rather reckless was very surprising.

"Yeah, but it's okay," Eren insisted. "We already talked about what not to do with a Titan." He then turned to Emerald with an insistent, and mildly sarcastic, look on his face. "Right, Emerald?"

"Uh... heh, heh," Emerald awkwardly chuckled. She remembered how worried and disappointed everyone was when they found her, and she was sure people like Carla would feel the same way. "Sorry..."

Carla didn't know what to say at this point, but it was clear that there was no kind of trouble or emergency. Her relief came in the form of a sigh, along with a small smile that things were completely normal.

"I'm sorry," she said. "With everything that's happened recently, it's just gotten easy to expect the worst."

"We understand," said Cinder. "And I guess we gave off that impression."

"Sorry about that," said Emerald. "My bad."

"Okay, let's go," Eren said as he moved towards the stairs. "Emerald, maybe we should hold off any training for-"

"Eren, just a minute," Carla requested. When her son stopped walking and started giving her his attention, Carla immediately explained why she stopped Eren. "Dina also said you wanted to talk to me. That it was important."

"..."

Eren had almost forgotten the conversation he planned to have with Carla. Of course, searching through a person's mind had the tendency to be more important and serious than a simple conversation. But now that he remembered it, Eren knew that he couldn't wait or delay it any longer.

He had to get it out in the open.

"Oh, yeah," Eren said. "Yeah, I need to talk to you. Are you busy?"

"No, I can talk," Carla insisted as she moved back into the kitchen. "Have a seat."

Eren turned to Cinder and Emerald before he moved into the kitchen. "I'll talk to you two later."

"Okay," Cinder agreed before she began to walk upstairs.

"See you later," said Emerald, before she walked upstairs. She wasn't sure if she should expect peace or another lecture, but Emerald was sure that things would be better as long as she didn't do anything reckless again.

With that, Eren was left alone with Carla.

"So, how'd it go?" Eren asked to warm up the inevitable conversation. "With the meeting?"

"Good," Carla replied happily. "Really good. I got some pretty big news, actually."

"Oh, yeah?" Eren became curious as he sat down at the table. "What is it?"

It was true that Carla had some big news that she deemed exciting, but she didn't want to share it yet. "It can wait. Let's talk about you."

"Are you sure? I mean, if it's a big-"

"No, no. I promised we would talk later. Now's a good time as any." Carla leaned forward to show that Eren had her attention. "So, go on. Tell me what's on your mind."

"..."

The request was very easy for Carla, but not so much for Eren.

The young man remembered his plan from earlier, how he had rehearsed what he was going to say and how to say it. He was ready to let it all out, to explain everything that happened to him. And yet, Eren felt the familiar twinge of fear.

Not so much as Carla's reaction or her questions, but the fear of Darkness was strong within Eren.

Eren told himself countless times that this wasn't going to be hard, that Darkness was in a place where he couldn't hurt anyone again. But Eren was still scared of the being; perhaps more scared than he had ever been in his life. And Eren couldn't tell if that made him more human or more of a coward.

However, Eren believed that he could gain this answer tonight. That by moving forward, pushing through his fear, he would see how much of a man he really was.

And so, he began.

"Mom... something happened while I was away," Eren recited from memory. He remembered the rehearsal he did earlier in the day, so Eren decided to follow it. "Something with Darkness."

"..."

That was the last thing Carla had expected to hear. She was well aware of who the God of Darkness was, and how he was responsible for bringing her and Eren to Remnant. She only met him once, and once was more than enough for her. After that meeting, and after Eren stopped Salem, Carla believed that Darkness wouldn't be much of a bother anymore.

But now, Eren was telling her that she was mistaken. And judging by the look on her son's face and the small hesitance in his voice, it seemed that the deity was more than just a bother.

"Darkness?" Carla repeated. "What about him?"

Eren could tell that his mother was starting to grow afraid at the mention of Darkness' name, so he decided to speed things along by continuing what he practiced. "There was more to his plan than just stopping Salem," he said. "He had plans for me. For all of us."

"...What do you mean?"

"..."

"Eren?"

---

Author's notes: hey everyone, hope you're all doing good. Sorry this chapter took a little longer than expected, hope you enjoyed it. But now that it's over, allow us to address the elephant in the room.

AT and I know that RoosterTeeth will be shutting down. We know that its IPs (RWBY included) are in the process of being sold. Nobody has bought anything yet, but the future of RWBY is uncertain. We know this came so suddenly, and we're sure you're all sad and a little scared about what'll happen next. We're feeling the same way, none of you are alone.

While AT and I can't comment on RWBY's future, we can assure you that the shutdown will not impact the future of our story. We have everything we need to continue it, and we will continue it. Because of your support and interest in our story, we are willing and able to keep it going. We hope this eases your worries and concerns.

If RWBY is going to end, all I can do is appreciate that it happened. It gave me the drive to be a fanfic author, and I've been having a lot of fun writing this story with AT. For better or worse, I'm glad RWBY existed.

And here's AT to share his thoughts with you.

"Hey guys! The Avenging Titan here! Hope things are going good with everyone, and i hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Things have definitely been turbulent recently. As Court mentioned, RT has been shut down, with all their IP's such as Red vs. Blue, RWBY, and gen:LOCK all in a state of uncertainty. Now i am cautiously hopeful that RWBY may be bought by another group, and that Monty's legacy can continue telling it's story, but at the same time i am also nervous. I mean... can you blame me?

But RT shutting down wasn't the only thing that happened this last month... another tragedy has befallen us.

Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball, has passed away at age 68.

According to statements, the cause of Toriyama's death was acute subdural hematoma, and he had actually planned to undergo surgery for a brain tumor in February. Just like with Queen Elizabeth's death, when i saw a video that mentioned he had passed away, i didn't believe it until i saw multiple articles online discussing it. It was a gut punch, and i had to lay down for a second. And i certainly am not alone here.

The news of his death has caused grief all over from fans and admirers of Toriyama and his work. Fans publicly mourned his loss before a life-sized statue of Goku in front of Bandai HQ. Fellow anime/manga creators have also chimed in with Tributes to Toriyama. From One Piece's Eiichiro Oda, Naruto's Masashi Kishimoto, Bleach's Tite Kubo, My Hero Academia's Kōhei Horikoshi, and many more. Even

Akira Toriyama transformed the industry with his Dragon Ball series, introducing anime to a broader international audience, with its popularity transcending borders and inspiring a whole new generation of fans in the west and the rest of the world. Dragon Ball would also serve as a major inspiration for many other groundbreaking anime/manga series such as One Piece, Naruto, and many MANY more. And will most likely continue to inspire more works in the future.

For me personally, i grew up watching Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT both on TV and on disc when i was younger. In fact my original username on this very website was one called "TheDeathly-Z" due to my love for the series. Now while my love for the series isn't the same as it was when i was younger, with Attack on Titan, Naruto, and My Hero Academia taking the spot, Dragon Ball will always be have a special place in my heart.

Akira Toriyama

April 5, 1955 - March 1, 2024

'Rather than deliberately trying to draw something, use something you yourself like and want to draw, and I think the characters that come out of that will really have their own individuality.' - Quote from Akira Toriyama.

May he find peace in the Otherworld."

Well said, AT.

So we will be continuing our story, even if RWBY itself may not continue. Thank you for all your support so far, you've been a great audience so far. Don't forget to leave a comment before you go, we'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter and story.

See you next time!