Armin and Jean worked together to stack corpses onto one of the many wagons for the dead. Jean groaned, "This is the one thing I'll never get used to..."
"I doubt anyone ever could."
Jean muttered, "How my comrades are gonna die... How I'm gonna die... That's all I start to think about..."
Armin said, "I try not to think about it at all. Because if I started picturing my own death, I'd probably lose the ability to fight..."
"Yeah. You're exactly right." The two of them continued stacking the corpses until Jean asked, "Hey, Armin. You ever see Y/N come back?"
Armin turned away and shook his head, "Not yet..." Armin tucked away the thought that one of the corpses could be Y/N and continued doing his job.
Meanwhile, Ymir and Krista were soothing and feeding some horses. Krista happened to glance at one of the wagons and gasped, "Ymir! That's Y/N!" Ymir followed where Krista was pointing and saw an unconscious Y/N being bandaged up by another Scout. He looked pretty hurt and it sounded like he was having trouble breathing.
Ymir groaned, "I told that moron not to try being a hero... See what happens when you don't listen to me, idiot?!"
"Ymir, he can't even hear you!"
Soon after that, the order to leave was passed around. Krista saw Armin and Jean, who both looked very worried, and she waved them over. Jean asked, "What is it Krista?"
She pointed at Y/N, "I don't know if you've seen already but—"
Armin happily leaned over the wagon and exclaimed, "Y/N!"
Jean gasped, "What happened to him?"
"We don't know," Krista shrugged. "We just noticed him too, but it looks like he'll be okay." Ymir gestured for Krista to get back in formation, so she waved goodbye to the two boys as they went back to their spots.
~~~~~~~~~~
Carnage and destruction filled the streets of Stohess. A priest stared out of his crushed church in despair. Children covered in the blood of their parents roamed the streets, longing to find help. The Military Police were scrambling to do something about it. And all the while, the two Titans kept fighting. The Attack Titan charged at the Female as she was planning to climb up Wall Sina. On the way they stepped on civilians, smashed buildings, and wreaked havoc everywhere while the Scouts attempted to follow from behind. Finally, Eren cornered Annie by the wall and she turned around to fight.
They both got in their fighting stances and Annie kicked, expecting to easily win, but Eren caught her leg mid-air. He threw her away from the wall, refusing to let her escape. Eren recklessly attacked again, giving Annie the chance to make dodge and make another run for it as the Scouts helplessly watched.
Eventually, the two Titans were forced into another brawl. This time, the Female prepared hardening on her leg before the kick. She spun and did a low-kick, chopping off the Eren's right leg, but he shifted his balance and continued going in for the punch. He successfully knocked her back, but he fell down too. Eren lunged forward and she kicked again. He was smashed into a nearby house, but when Annie tried to pull back, he clenched down on her leg. She hardened her fist and desperately beat the Attack Titan's face in until she finally got loose.
The Female Titan sprinted away, once more, but also once more, the Attack Titan got up. Eren roared, and jumped at Annie like an animal. His Titan's body was so hot from regeneration that parts of it were on fire. He tackled her just before she made it to the base of the wall. Finally, with the Female against the wall, the Scouts fully surrounded the two Titans. They wrestled on the ground as Eren tried to get to her nape. He even ended up squeezing her head so hard that one of her eyes almost popped out.
Annie struggled, but finally kicked Eren off of her. She latched onto the wall by hardening her fingers, but Eren refused to give up. He jumped and grabbed onto her legs, biting down on one of them. She kicked him off with the last of her strength, also causing the leg he was biting to go down with him. But it didn't matter—Annie was finally going to leave this cursed place. She was finally going to go home. Or at least that's what she thought before a familiar girl with a red scarf flew up next to her. Mikasa gracefully swung by and cut off the fingers of both hands. She landed on the Female Titan's terrified face as she fell down. "Annie. Fall."
Annie smashed into the ground and tried to get away with all her might, but Eren was already on her back. He ripped off one of her arms and discarded it to the side. Then her head too. Finally, he bent forward to eat Annie right out of the nape. But then he stopped. His rationality returned to him as he saw Annie with tears streaking down her face. Eren was completely frozen in place, and that was when a bright blue light shone from Annie's human body. Eren's Titan body was merging with Annie's Titan and somehow, this made a crystal of hardening form around Annie's body. Captain Levi swooped down and cut Eren out of the nape, stopping whatever was just happening with the two Titan bodies.
And when the fight ended, there was nothing to show for it. Nothing but Annie inside a crystal and a broken hole in the wall, revealing the face of a Titan inside. Hange and the other Scouts looked up in horror at the Titan before a hand gripped her shoulder. Pastor Nick from the tribunal was panting behind Hange. He pleaded, "Whatever you do... you must keep that Titan out of the sunlight!"
Y/N vaguely remembered waking up several times on the wagon ride back to Scout HQ, but all he ever thought about each time was Annie. It was strange, really, that he was so sure that Annie was the Female Titan. After all, not only did she never come out of the Titan, but he didn't even know that much about her. But still, there were so many things about that Titan he recognized. He could've told someone. Captain Levi was in the wagon right next to his, but Y/N never told him or anyone else. Even now as he was sitting in some random cabin in the middle of nowhere with most of his fellow recruits, he didn't tell anyone.
Apparently, Eren and most of the Scouts were heading into the Interior for yet another trial for Eren's life, but unlike last time there was basically no chance of the Scouts getting him back. They would likely be at Stohess soon and Commander Erwin was probably trying to come up with some kind of plan to save Eren. But even so, Y/N was worried. Whether he was worried about Eren's life or the Founder, he couldn't quite tell.
But while everyone else was gone, Y/N, most of the other recruits, and a small group of veteran Scouts stayed behind. They were stationed in a cabin south of Wall Sina and none of the recruits had any equipment. They were all ordered to stay inside while the older soldiers stood watch outside. It was incredibly boring, or at least it should've been if Y/N wasn't so caught up in his anxiety-ridden thoughts.
If Annie is the Female Titan, then that confirms that the Armored and Colossal were also in the 104th Cadet Corps with me. Y/N took nervous glances from side to side. It could be anyone here with me. If only there was a way to figure out who...
Y/N suddenly remembered Marco's death with a grimace. Wait... Annie wasn't alone in those memories. That's right! I seem to remember there being two others with her while she watched Marco get eaten. Y/N lightly hit his head, but couldn't manage to bring the vision back. Dammit, brain, remember! If only I could just remember whose team she was with that day. I do vaguely remember her being with Marco but... who else was with Annie at Trost?!
"My village isn't far south of here, you know," Connie sighed. He was sitting, fatally bored with his head resting on his hand, finally resorting to small talk.
Sasha, just as bored, responded, "My hometown is close by too..." Sitting next to them were Reiner and Bertholdt passing the time by playing chess and Y/N who was finally stirred from his thoughts by their rambling.
Connie groaned, "Damn. Why can't I go visit? Maybe I'll sneak out at night."
"They told me not to come back until I'm normal."
With a smirk, Connie said, "They told me I was too puny to be a soldier. Was genius enough to be one, though. I was in our class's top ten. I'm gonna go make them eat their words."
Y/N caught the other two off guard by laughing, "You? A genius? I think you need to lower the self-praise a little bit." As Connie half-heartedly told him off, Y/N thought to himself, at the very least I can cross Connie and Sasha off the list of suspects—they're far too stupid.
Reiner interrupted, "Connie. If you're serious, I'll help."
"What? How come?"
"Doesn't it seem strange? We're on standby in our plain clothes, and we're not allowed to train or wear our uniforms." Reiner stood up and walked over to a window. "Even more suspicious is that everyone else is fully armed. We're inside the wall, not on the front line. Who are we fighting?"
So you noticed too, huh, Reiner? I'm pretty sure of the reason, though. Commander Erwin must've came to the same conclusion I did: the Colossal and Armored Titans must be in this very room with me.
"Well, there are bears in the area," Connie suggested.
Y/N chuckled again as he stood up and walked away. His ribs ached as he stretched, but he hid the pain. He tucked in his blue button-up shirt to hide the bandages underneath and walked over to Ymir and Krista.
Krista smiled and waved once she noticed him, but Ymir groaned, "Here comes the idiot that didn't listen to me."
"Huh?"
"Don't think we didn't notice," Ymir scolded. "I told you not to act like a hero. But there you were, almost a corpse on a cart."
Krista worried, "I-I'm sure, it wasn't like that—"
"No, it was," Y/N sighed. "Or at least, I think it was. After the order to withdraw, I headed deeper into the forest on my own..."
Krista gasped, "Why?!"
After Y/N shrugged, Ymir groaned, "Wow, you two really are similar sometimes. It's like you're related or something. He went in there to die in a blaze of glory, or something stupid like that." Once the other two went quiet, Ymir laughed, "It's not like I really care what happens to an idiot like you... but just live for yourself, yeah? You don't want your final moments being ones of regret."
Y/N's eyes went wide upon hearing actual advice from Ymir. She always acted cold, but she really did care. "Jeez, I already had this same talk with Krista before. Stop making me repeat all this wise crap!"
Both Y/N and Krista were going to respond, but suddenly Sasha cried out, "I hear thuds! They sound like footsteps!" Y/N and every other recruits looked at her in confusion.
"Huh?" Reiner said, "Get serious, Sasha. If you're suggesting there are Titans here... That'd mean Wall Rose has fallen.
She stood up and exclaimed, "It's true! I really hear footsteps!"
"What the hell," YN muttered. "It can't be..."
A soft bang drew everyone's attention to the window behind Sasha, where a Scout, Nanaba, was anchored outside of it. She opened it and said, "Everyone here? Multiple Titans, 500 meters to the south. They're coming right this way." A wave of fear and anxiety fell over the recruits, just like at Trost. "There's no time for you to gear up. Take your horses and evacuate all nearby homes and settlements. Understood?"
Connie uttered, "From... the south?"
Reiner turned to Bertholdt and panicked, "Has the wall been breached?!"
Y/N whispered, "W-was I wrong?" Everyone has been here the entire time... meaning at least the Colossal Titan isn't here, right? Unless... yet another Titan shifter has arrived...
Before jumping out of the window, Nanaba ordered, "Get going! Lunch will have to wait, I'm afraid!"
The recruits quickly got into the stables and raced away on horseback. Y/N pulled his doll out of its dangerous position in his pocket and stuffed it under his waistband since he didn't have a belt to hook it on. Section Commander Miche, humanity's second strongest soldier, barked, "As soon as the Titans reach the woods, we'll split into four teams of recruits and soldiers alike, and then simultaneously scatter in each direction! Avoid combat when possible and focus on getting the word out! Is anyone familiar with this region?!"
Sasha raised her hand, "M-me! My town's north of here! I know the lay of the land well! And... so does Connie!" The boy in question was staring off into space. "Connie?!"
"My village..." He uttered, "My village is to the south... where the Titans are coming from. I can take you to the nearby villages. After that... please let me visit mine."
"All right. You'll guide the southern team."
"Yes, sir!"
Reiner rode up next to Connie. "I'll come with you, Connie."
"The south will be crawling with Titans. It'll be the most dangerous."
"So?" Reiner smirked, "I was going to help you sneak there anyway, remember? You coming, Bertholdt?"
He seemed shocked at first, but answered, "Of course I'll come."
Nanaba shouted, "As you may know, today marks the new darkest day in humanity's history! If ever humankind needed to give its all, that time is now!"
Another Scout, Gelgar, yelled, "The Titans have reached the woods!"
Miche ordered, "Scatter! Ride as fast as you can!"
Y/N followed Ymir and Krista, who were going with Nanaba's team to the west. Just then, he happened to look at a couple of the Titans, when he saw one of them unnaturally jump into the air before sprinting towards them, followed by the others. He gasped, "They're sprinting... all of them. They're all abnormals!"
Connie shouted, "Woah! They're going to catch up!"
"Gelgar!" Miche bellowed, "Take charge of the southern team!"
"Sir?!" Gelgar watched as Miche went off on his own to fight the Titans and muttered, "Understood."
Another Scout asked, "He's using himself as bait?!"
"He won't survive! I'll help!"
Gelgar responded, "No! We can't spare anyone else! Have faith in him! His skill is second only to Captain Levi! He'll make it back alive!"
Y/N watched as their leader charged towards the Titans without fear. But he couldn't watch for long, for Y/N himself was filled with fear of his own. He then turned and saw his other friends splitting off—Sasha going to the north while Connie, Reiner, and Bertholdt went south. "Good luck," he whispered.
~~~~~~~~~~
"We're getting close to the wall now, so there's no people living in the area."
Y/N nodded, wondering why they hadn't seen any Titans this far out yet. Nanaba said, "Right. That didn't take us very long. All right, let's head to the south."
The south. That's where Connie and the others had gone. Y/N wondered how they were faring.
Ymir questioned, "What for? There shouldn't be any villages south of here."
Nanaba explained, "We need to find the location where the wall was breached. We'll ride along the wall from the west until we can find it."
"But Krista, Y/N, and I don't have our battle gear. There's probably Titans roaming everywhere to our south. It's very possible that we'll become Titan fodder. Let the three of us withdraw from the front."
Krista gasped, "Ymir..."
"Ymir!" Y/N interrupted, "Shut up, we have to follow our orders." Ymir sent a slight glare in his direction before listening to what Nanaba had to say.
"You can't. I'll need somebody to relay back a report. I know how you feel, but you signed up for this as a soldier." After that, Ymir didn't say anything and the group rode on for some time in complete silence. Even as they got further south, they never ran into the Titans.
While Y/N was watching out for Titans, Krista and Ymir had their own conversation. "Ymir, I'm fine with putting my life on the line. After all, I'm the one who chose to join the Scouts. But... it's not the same for you. The only reason you joined the Scouts was because—"
"Hmph!" Ymir snapped, "You think I did it for you?!"
"Then why are you even here? You kept trying to convince me to join the Military Police. But even after I didn't get the top ten, you still tried to get me to join the Garrison with you!" Ymir scoffed as Krista reflected, "So, I don't understand. You were set on going into the Garrison until I decided to join the Scouts... Why would you go that far for me?"
Ymir kept facing forward and ignored her. Krista hesitantly asked, "Does it... have to do with my family?"
Finally, the other girl answered, "Yeah, it does." Krista's eyes opened wide. "Krista... don't worry about it. The only reason I'm here... is for myself and nothing else."
"I see..." Ymir turned back to see Krista with a forced, angelic smile. "Thank goodness."
~~~~~~~~~~
Y/N and the rest of the group and had been riding against Wall Rose for hours now, and it was currently the middle of the night. The only things lighting the way were the small torches everyone had. At any second, a Titan could get the jump on them and wipe everyone out. And really, it was practically inevitable that it would happen.
Y/N's heart almost leapt out of his chest as he saw something appear in front of them: another group of torch lights. As they got closer, they recognized the people holding them as the southern group, including Connie, Reiner, and Bertholdt. The two groups stared at each other, horrified looks plastered onto their faces. Gelgar asked, "Did you follow the wall here, too?"
"Yeah," Nanaba said, "Where did you find the hole?"
"Huh?"
"We didn't find anything to the west. Didn't you find it your way?"
"No... there's no hole this way either."
Hundreds of implications and questions raced through everyone's minds. Lynne, a soldier with Gelgar, suggested, "Is it possible we missed it?"
A soldier from the western group, Henning, said, "No way. Not a hole big enough for Titans to use."
Gelgar wondered, "Should we go back and look again?"
Nanaba answered, "We'll need to, but the horses and the rest of us are exhausted. If only we had some moonlight..."
"Yeah..."
And then at that very moment, as if granting her request, the clouds cleared up to reveal the full moon. "What's that?" The moonlight shone directly down upon an abandoned castle not far from their location. "Castle ruins?"
After making it to the ruins, Gelgar said, "It looks like a mess, but we can make it work for one night of rest."
Everyone led their horses to a stable further into the castle. Nanaba sighed, "Right. Luckily the moon is out." She got off her steed, then so did everyone else.
Y/N looked over everyone there. "I hope Sasha and everyone else in the north and east teams are alright..."
He felt a hand land on his shoulder. He looked over to see Reiner who assured him, "Don't worry, if we didn't find a hole in the south, there probably wasn't one in the north."
Y/N nodded before looking over at the two boys behind Reiner: Connie and Bertholdt. "Oh yeah." Y/N asked, "How was Connie's village?"
Reiner shook his head, "No one was there... I think it's best not to bring it up to Connie." Y/N agreed as they all entered the castle.
Once they did, they passed by a campfire, some kind of kettle, and a strange grinding machine. Henning observed, "Looks like someone was here recently."
"That's strange for a place this near the wall," said Lynne. "Some bandits probably used it as a base. It said 'Ruins of Utgard Castle' on one of the signs. Who would have thought there was a castle around here?"
Gelgar came out of a side room and waved a bottle of alcohol around. "Hey, check it out. Look what I found."
"Gelgar... is that booze I see?"
"Yeah. What the heck does it say?" He squinted as he looked at the label, as if it was written in another language.
"You're not gonna drink it now are you?"
Gelgar acted surprised, "Don't be stupid. Not at a time like this."
Henning joked, "Convenient... All this contraband to enjoy for ourselves."
"Now you're making us sound like the bandits," responded Nanaba.
"You rookies should get some rest," Gelgar suggested. "Titans won't be roaming around at this hour, but the rest of us will take turns keeping watch. We'll leave from here four hours before daybreak."
"Um..." Krista asked, "What if the wall isn't actually broken after all? The Titans... where could they be invading from?"
"Finding the answer to that... is our job for tomorrow." Gelgar slowly walked up the stairs for the first round of taking watch."
Krista turned back to her fellow recruits and wondered aloud, "But what if—? Maybe it's not nearly as bad as we thought from the start. I'm just saying, but..."
"Yeah..." Henning said, "There's barely any Titans around here. If the wall really was broken, that is."
Nanaba added, "The only group we've really seen was during the initial sighting."
"Connie?" Ymir asked, "What about your village?" Y/N became worried as he remembered Reiner's warning not to talk about it.
"It was destroyed. Crushed to sticks and rubble by Titans."
Y/N gasped, while Ymir grimaced, "I see... How awful..."
"But nobody there was eaten." Everyone went quiet as Connie explained, "I think they all escaped, so there's that to be thankful for."
Ymir wondered, "Wasn't the village destroyed?"
"The houses and stuff were wrecked, but the villagers made it out safely. If anyone was eaten, then... there would've been blood and remains. But there wasn't any of that, so it's the only explanation."
Y/n furrowed his brow, unable to help but to question Connie's logic. If everyone escaped, then why would the Titans destroy the houses?
Connie's face darkened as he muttered, "Still... I can't stop thinking about it... There was that Titan at my house. It couldn't move on its own, but it was lying right on top of my house. But it's weird... I don't know why, but it reminded me of my mother... What does that—"
"Connie..." Reiner groaned, "You're still saying that? You—"
"What an idiot!" Ymir started loudly laughing. But Y/N was still thinking about what Connie said. There were no villagers, but there was a Titan. "You think your mother might have been that Titan?!" No one could've been killed by Titans, but they still destroyed the buildings. "Then how come you're so damn short, huh?" And then on top of all that, there was a Titan that looked like Connie's mom... "Come on, Connie! I knew you were pretty stupid, but this is taking it to another level!" As everyone was staring at the insensitive girl, Y/N suddenly remembered the Titan syringe. Of course! Someone transformed those villagers into Titans! There's no breach, the Titans are from inside the wall!
Once Ymir's cackling calmed down, Connie groaned, "Would you shut up? This is so absurd."
"If this theory of yours is correct, that means your father had to be a Titan too. Otherwise, you know... They couldn't do it—"
Connie snapped, "Shut up! Go to sleep, you bitch!"
Later, everyone found spots to rest. Y/N's choice was lying on the floor against the wall. At one point he heard Ymir, later followed by Reiner, go through the door he was resting close to. He didn't pay any attention to them, though, as he was too busy trying to fall asleep.
But just as he was about to fully drift off, Lynne, who had been standing watch, shouted, "Everyone wake up!" Y/N shot up, at first glaring at the woman in annoyance. "Get to the tower! Quickly!" But his annoyance soon turned to fear as he discovered the reason to his sudden awakening.
Once everyone was gathered at the top of the tower, he noticed the large group of Titans climbing into the castle ruins. Lynne muttered, "I couldn't see them in the darkness, but then the moon..." Most of them were big, 10 to 14 meter Titans.
Gelgar growled, "Why? Why can they move? It's been so long since the sun's set!"
Y/N looked up at the sky and gasped, "The moon... Moonlight is just reflected sunlight, so if the Titan's can move under sunlight..."
"Hey!" Connie pointed away from the castle, shouting, "Look at that!" Everyone followed his finger to a giant 17m Titan, covered with hair and sporting strangely long arms. "It's huge! What the hell is it? A Titan?" The horrific monster stomped away from the ruins, not even glancing their way. "No, it's more like... It's like a beast! Right?" He turned to the others and noticed Reiner and Bertholdt, who were especially terrified.
Y/N was having a similar reaction as he was doing his best to hide his shaking. That's an intelligent Titan, it has to be! No normal or even abnormal Titan would look like that. So it's that one... that's the Titan that transformed those people into Titans! And that means... Y/N wildly looked around at his comrades in fear. The Armored and Colossal could very well still be with me at this very moment!
Connie gasped, "It's heading for the wall!"
Y/N stuttered, "I-is it just leaving?"
Suddenly, everyone was rocked from side to side as a Titan slammed itself into the base of the tower. Gelgar yelled, "Hey, wait!" A smaller Titan tried to break through the door while others attempted climbing up. "Wait, wait, wait up!" Even more Titans were coming out of the nearby forests, completely surrounding the ruins. "Don't you be coming in here!" Y/N met eyes with a particular Titan that smiled right at him as it started getting a hold onto the side of the tower. "You're fricking kidding me. Gotta be fricking kidding me."
Gelgar, who was shaking at this point, drew his blades and screamed, "I'd be drinking right now if it wasn't for you! This is all your fault!"
"Stand back, rookies," warned Nanaba as she, Lynne, and Henning joined Gelgar. "Leave it to us. It's time to show off our 3DM Gear. Let's go!" The four of them jumped off of the tower.
"Why..." Y/N muttered, "Why can't I just have one day where nothing goes wrong?!" He leaned over to watch the four soldiers battle with the Titans, hoping that they could save them. He instinctively touched his doll to calm himself. This isn't your fight, or at least not right now. You need to focus on figuring out who the two traitors are. Think! Who was with Annie that day?!
Meanwhile, everyone else on that roof was dealing with their own turmoil. Reiner and Bertholdt were still glancing at the Beast Titan, strangely terrified of it. Connie was struggling to understand what happened in his village. Ymir was worrying about Krista as her blonde companion leaned over the edge to watch the Scouts fight. And of course, Y/N was carefully watching all of them, wondering if any of his friends with him on the tower were traitors.