AUTHOR'S POV:
Eren, Mikasa, Faye and Armin walked through the snow, bundled up in thick gray coats, scarves covering their mouths.
Connie and Sasha walked in silence.
In a line, the recruits made their way to a cabin.
"Come on! The goal is right here!" One of the instructors said, standing next to a pole with the Training Corps flag waving in the wind. "Keep it up!"
"Nine hours and twelve minutes," Her companion said. "Not a bad time, considering the weather."
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Flames from the bonfire cackled as some of the trainees waited by the fence.
Eren fell to the ground.
"Thought we were gonna die out there. No one ever said winter training would be this tough." Eren said.
"Well, you should have see it coming." Faye said, standing next to Mikasa.
"Damn it, I can't feel my legs," Jean said, sitting against the fence next to Eren.
Connie sighed. "I wish they'd let us inside already."
"I bet they're busy putting together a huge feast for us!" Sasha said. "Yum..."
"Hey!" Reiner called out, getting their attention and running to them. "Christa is missing."
"Huh?" Eren said with confusion.
"She was sticking with Daz since he wasn't doing so well." Mikasa said.
"Daz isn't here either. Ymir as well." Marco said, coming up to him. "Maybe they're with the last squad?"
"Can't be." Reiner replied, turning around to look at the last group. "The last squad, led by Thomas, just arrived. They never saw those three."
Armin's eyes were wide. "You don't think... they got lost?"
"Hey..." Connie began. "They don't stand a chance if they're stuck in this blizzard."
"Shit!" Eren said, standing up.
"Eren!" Mikasa said and grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"I'm going back out to try and find them!" Eren declared.
"Me, too," Marco said immediately.
"Everyone, get in the cabin." The instructor ordered.
"But... Christa and-" Eren said.
"Yeah. We'll send a rescue team first thing in the morning." She replied.
"It'll be too late by then!" Eren argued heatedly.
"We won't make any more victims!"
They faltered at her words.
A cold gust of wind blew and Mikasa, Faye and Eren closed their eyes, bracing themselves. The flames in the bonfire flickered.
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Inside the forest as a storm raged, Christa balanced a small branch on the shoulder with a lantern hanging on the end, pulling a sled with a body in it.
"Christa." Ymir called out, following behind, holding a lantern of her own. "Christa, give it up." With a stubborn look on her face, Christa kept moving, not replying. "Listen to me."
"Never." Christa replied.
"Daz already has one foot in the grave. It's his own fault for doing this training to boost his score without knowing how much his body can take. He's just not cut out to be a soldier." Ymir said.
Christa continued without a word.
"If you keep crawling to the foot of the mountain at this rate, he'll probably be a goner by then, and we'd be lucky not to be. Which means there's only two outcomes. Leave Daz here and save ourselves, or all three of us die." Ymir said.
Christa finally stopped.
"Which will it be?" Ymir asked.
"You forgot one," Christa said after a pause. "That your prediction is entirely wrong. I'll be able to reach our base at the foot of the mountain with Daz. You can go ahead of us and get back safe." She looked back at Ymir. "How about that? There's no trouble in it for you. We'll make it back for sure. Go ahead of us."
Ymir watched her push forward. Christa fell, but stood up after a second and kept moving. Ymir pulled down her scarf.
"Hey, why haven't you asked me to help at all?" Ymir asked and started walking. "I think... you have no intention of saving Daz."
Christa stopped, staring at Ymir in shock.
Around them, the storm continued to rage.
Daz was unconscious in the sled, parts of him covered with snow.
"You don't care. You've resigned yourself to death already." At Ymir's words, Christa turned away. "You're hoping to die here, aren't you? How could you? I thought you were a good girl. You've gotta at least make it look like you're trying to save his life."
Christa appeared terrified as Ymir continued, an intense look on her face, voice mocking.
"If you want people to remember you as a hero who died trying to save someone, don't drag him down with you. That's what a bad girl would do." Ymir said.
"You're wrong!" Christa said and grabbed Ymir's scarf, clutching tightly, voice wavering. "I didn't... That's not..." Her hand fell away, head bowed. "I..."
"It's you, right? The mistress' daughter who had people after your life." Ymir said.
"How do you know?" Christa asked with wide eyes.
"I see... So it was you after all. It's something I happened to overhear. At a church in the interior, back when I snuck around borrowing things to stay alive."
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Ymir walked through the church, ducking and hiding when she noticed someone coming in.
Two priests talked as she eavesdropped.
"What a sob story it was. An illegitimate child can't succeed a powerful noble. So they just wanted to kill her, to end all the fuss once and for all."
Ymir's eyes widened before narrowing as she listened to the two men talk.
"But they'd look aside if she changed her name and lived a humble life."
"In the end, I heard the girl was forced to join the Training Corps."
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"Don't you worry," Ymir assured Christa. "I haven't told anyone. I don't plan to either."
"Then... did you enter the Training Corps just to find me? If that's the case... why?" Christa asked.
Ymir appeared as if she didn't know how to answer.
"Who knows? Maybe because we're similar." She replied.
"What? You and me... have similar backgrounds?"
"Well, more or less."
"That's the reason you became a soldier?"
"Could be. I don't really know." Ymir replied and looked way. "No, it's not."
"Definitely the reason you joined. You wanted to make a friend."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"You wanted... to become friends with me?" Christa asked and rushed out, tone taking a hopeful and happy note.
"Huh?" Ymir said and smirked. "You've got to be kidding me."
Ymir stomped over and towered over Christa.
"You and I can't even compare. We both got a second chance at life." Ymir said and threw out her arm in emphasis. "But I'm not the one who took on a fake name."
Christa was stunned, listening to her without a word.
"If I abandon my name and reject who I am, they win. I'm going to keep the name I have and make the best of my life," Ymir declared passionately. "That's the one and only way I can get my revenge. So how do you explain yourself?" She demanded. "Are you gonna commit suicide and make everyone who ruined your life happy?" Ymir said ferociously. "Why is your desire to kill aimed at yourself? If you're so eager, use that passion to change your own fate!"
"I... I can't." Christa said. "Even now..."
She glanced at Daz.
"There's no way the three of us can make it out of here alive." She said.
"There is." Ymir replied and started to walk away.
"Huh?" Christa said and dragged the sled, following.
"I can see the base straight down from here," Ymir stated as the two stood a few yards from the edge of the cliff. "We drop Daz off this cliff."
"What?"
"Hopefully he survives the fall and hopefully someone down there finds him. Sure, it might be a long shot, but..." She said and looked back. "That's his only real chance now. Unless some miracle happens, he'll be an icicle long before you drag him down."
"But... But he'll die for sure if he falls!"
"Shut up!" Ymir said and tossed aside her lantern and threw Christa over her shoulder.
"Huh? Quit it! Ymir!" Christa said, struggling to no avail.
Ymir threw her down a small incline, watching as Christa rolled down and slid into a tree, causing snow to fall on her.
"I'll do it myself, so get moving already!" She said and walked away and blue lightning struck.
Christa crawled out of the small pile of snow, stunned to see no one at the top.
"It can't be... Wait!" She said, struggling up the incline, slipping once. "Ymir, wait!" Once at the top, she twisted her head left and right. "They're both... gone."
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At the base, Eren had a backpack on, ready to leave.
"It's better if you guys don't come along. Like our instructor said, you'll only end up becoming more victims." Eren declared.
"I'm coming with you." Mikasa declared.
"I'm not leaving Christa and the others either so I am coming too." Faye said.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Reiner said, standing in the doorway with Bertolt.
"Don't try to stop-" Eren said.
"You're gonna need a lot more gear than that." Bertolt interrupted Eren.
"If you go by yourselves," Reiner said, "you'll be in the same pickle as Christa."
"In a search," Bertolt continued, "the more eyes, the better.".
"You guys... Thanks," Eren said. "To be honest, we could use you."
"Hey, we're coming, too," Connie announced, Marco and Sasha beside him.
"The weather's steadily improving. I think we'll be fine." Marco said.
"I brought extra rations!" Sasha said and held up the supplies.
"You guys..." Eren trailed off.
A sound was then heard. Simultaneously, they turned to the door.
"What was that sound just now?" Armin said.
Eren rushed out first, going down the steps, his friends coming after him.
"Somebody's coming!" Sasha pointed standing on the porch.
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In the distance, Christa, holding a small, golden light could be seen as the wind blew strongly and flurries of snow came down harshly.
The storm had died and the quiet of the air was only punctuated by Christa's heavy breathing. She noticed a figure sitting against the fenc up ahead.
"Ymir?" Christa said.
"Took you long enough. I got here before you. I told Reiner and the others I'd wait since you'd come along eventually. What a stupid thing I've done..." Ymir replied.
"Where's Daz?" Christa asked urgently and Ymir turned her head toward the cabin.
Christa followed her gaze. Through the cabin's window, she could see Dax was shivering, a blanket around his shoulders, Sasha and Marco by his sides and an instructor sitting before him. Pulling down her hood, Christa checked out the cliff.
"That was the cliff?" Christa asked. "But you didn't have any rope. Even if you did, it's too high. How did you get Daz down from there?"
Ymir stood, walking past Christa.
"Why not? I think I can trust you. However..." She replied and tilted her head back to look at her. "Promise me. When I reveal my secret to everyone," she said, walking over and leaning down, placing her hands on Christa's shoulders, "promise me. Take back your old name and live."
Christa gasped at her words. Sunlight lit her face. Between the mountains far behind them, the sun began to rise, lighting up the sky.
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"Ymir!" Christa yelled and threw out her arm as Ymir jumped off, knife in hand.
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'Christa... I felt the same. That it would have been better if I was never born at all.' Ymir continued to descend. 'I was hated by the world just for existing. I... To give countless people joy, I gave up my life.' She sliced her hand, blood squirting over her face.
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Mouth open, Christa watched in shock, hand still out in front of her.
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'But from that time, there was a wish I held in my heart. If someday, I was given a second chance at life... this time...' The cackling sphere of blue light continued to fall. 'I would live for no one but myself!'
The bones and muscles formed quickly along with a dark mop of hair atop the head. The Jaws Titan cried out.
Grabbing a Titan with her clawed hand, the Jaws swung herself up and bit out the nape before ripping into another's face, flipping and landing on a third Titan and tearing out that Titan's nape with its sharp, pointy teeth.
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"Ymir..." Christa said softly while Reiner and Bertolt appeared traumatized behind her.
"Th-That Titan is..." Reiner recalled Marcel's death.
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The Jaws ran along the side of the tower and jumped off, slashing a Titan then springing back as a second tried to capture her. She jumped it instead. Taking to the air once more, she did a flip and blinded a Titan with her feet.
The Jaws dodged a Titan, which crashed into the tower, causing the boys to stumble and Christa to fall off.
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A hand snapped forward and grabbed her ankle. Reiner had a dark look on his face.
"Th-Thanks, Reiner." Christa whimpered as his grip tightened. "Ow, it hurts! Reiner, my leg!"
"Reiner! That's enough!" Connie said and grabbed Christa's shoulders. "Let her leg go! Her leg!" He yelled but Reiner was lost in his head. "Hey!"
Reiner finally snapped out of it.
"S-Sorry." He apologized once she was standing.
"No, you saved me." Christa replied.
"Christa... Did you know?" Reiner asked. "That Ymir is a Titan?"
"I had no idea," Christa replied, watching her. "I was always so close to her, too. How? How could this be?"
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The Jaws leaped from Titan to Titan, slashing and making blood fly, then hanging from the tower.
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"That Titan... is Ymir?" Christa finished.
"In other words," Reiner said. "she knew some of the secrets of our world. And I never suspected a thing."
"Hey... Do you think she's known about it?" Connie said, flashing back to the attacking Titan steaming, both his arms missing, as the trainees watched. "Eren's a Titan, too, but he didn't know until it happened." He thought about Ymir asking for his knife, the things she said and did. "But Ymir is like... she is aware of being a Titan all along."
"Are you saying she might be an enemy of humanity?" Christa asked.
"I'm saying that's one hell of a power to hide. Who knows what she might have been thinking," Connie replied.
"I wonder... What could be Ymir's goal?" Bertolt said.
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The Jaws Titan jumped back, hanging from the tower.
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Christa gasped as a Titan grabbed the Jaws' arm, yanking her down.
"Ymir!" Christa yelled.
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The Jaws Titan continued to struggle with the Titan as more gathered. She attacked them and attempted to climb the tower, but a Titan caught her ankle. Digging her nail into the tower, she tried to hold on.
Another Titan grabbed the second leg and the bricks in her hands began to crack. The Jaws' eyes were focused on Christa, who was staring down at her. Then she let go and fell.
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"Wh-What was that?" Connie asked. "Is she worried about the tower falling?"
"She has to be," Christa responded. "If she wanted to, Ymir could use this power of hers to escape all on her own." The Jaws spun around, swiping furiously. "And yet, she's not doing that." The sound of flesh being ripped was heard. "It's us... She's risking her life to protect us."
Connie grabbed her legs. "Hey!"
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One the ground, the Jaws Titan struggled.
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"Don't pretend like you're good, you idiot! You wanna go out in a blaze of glory? Are you stupid?!" Christa yelled, one hand slapping Connie's head, Reiner and Bertolt gasping. "It's too late for you to try and get into heaven! Live for yourself, goddammit! If you're gonna die protecting this tower, forget about it! TEAR IT DOWN!" Christa screamed loudly.
"Hey!" Connie protested.
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Gaining new resolve, the Jaws began tearing the tower apart and nailing the
The tower began to tilt.
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"H-Hey! She's really tearing it down!" Reiner said, freaking on the ground.
"Keep it up, Ymir!" Christa cheered, arms up in the air.
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The Jaws Titan climbed up and loomed over her.
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"Want live...?" Ymir said. "Grab me!"
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The tower began to tilt.
Connie and Christa jumped, latching onto Ymir's Titan's hair.
The tower began to crumble. With the four in her hair, the Jaws moved to crouch on the other side of the falling tower. They held tightly as it went down, crushing the Titans underneath it and causing an explosion of dust, shaking the ground violently.
Christa and Connie slid to a stop on the ground once the dust and debris in the air cleared. Reiner and Bertolt sat up, the
Jaws crouching behind them.
They looked around, gasping when they heard something shift under the rubble. A dark-haired Titan came out.
"Titans again?" Christa said shakily.
"Hey, ugly!" Connie yelled. "Go and finish the job!"
A second Titan came out of the rubble as the Jaws Titan ran toward the first and jumped behind it, biting out its nape. The second Titan grabbed her by the hair and smashed her forehead first into a large, sharp rock.
"Ymir!" Christa cried out.
Three Titans rose around the Jaws. Then four more.
"This looks bad." Connie said.
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Christa stared in distress at the disoriented Jaws Titan. Suddenly, a dozen Titans pounced on her, ripping her body apart with their hands and teeth.
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"Ymir is..." Christa trailed off, horrified, watching them feast on the jaw Titan, blood spraying all her attackers. "This can't..." Her voice shook. "This can't..." She took an uneasy step forward, then quickly began to run, sliding down a large piece of rubble.
"Christa!" Connie yelled.
"This can't..." Christa ran for her. "Ymir, wait!" She stumbled once but kept going. "I still... want to talk to you!" Large gallons of blood burst out as the Titans continued to cannibalize her. "I still-"
Wrapped up in red muscles, Ymir lay with her eyes closed.
"I still haven't told you my real name!" Christa said.
Tears began to overflow in her eyes.
Slowly, Ymir opened her eyes, hearing her voice.
A Titan peaked around a large piece of rubble, right in Christa's path, and she froze.
Chasing after her, Connie, Reiner, and Bertolt watched, stunned.
'Wait... I still...' Christa was frozen in place, mouth open, the corners of her eyes filled with tears.
A hook shot out and with lightning speed, Mikasa sliced the Titan's nape.
Mikasa landed above them on the remains of the base of the tower and stood.
"Christa. Everyone, get back. We've got this." She said, looking over her shoulder. "Leave the rest to us."
"Mikasa!" Christa said and above them, about a dozen Scouts converged.
The Scouts attacked the Titans at once and took them out quickly as the four watched.
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Hange took out her sword, pointing it to the side and gave out orders to the Scouts riding behind her.
"Have the others disperse and cover the area! The rest of us will attack where the Titans are gathering!" Hange ordered.
"Got it!" All of them replied.
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Mikasa killed a Titan while Hange and a female Scout took out another one. Titans continued to drop like flies, thanks to the Scouts flying around. Mikasa spun and eliminated yet another with a cry.
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Small, thick clouds were in the now light-filled blue sky. Everywhere around them, the Titan bodies steamed as Scouts stood watch.
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Eren, Mikasa, and Armin had joined their friends, the two boys staring in shock.
"It can't be... Ymir is..." Armin spoke quietly.
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A few yards away, Hange and Christa knelt beside an unconscious Ymir.
Her right leg above the knee and arm above the elbow was missing. There was blood in a massive circle in her abdomen from a gaping wound and thick red veins covering the right side of her neck.
Christa had one hand cradling Ymir's head, the other one on the wound.
"Ymir..." Christa said.
Weakly, Ymir opened her eyes. Christa smiled sincerely.
"My real name... is Historia." Christa said.
Hange was silent as she watched it play out.
Ymir closed her eyes, a small smile pulling at her lips.
'Another titan shifter...?'
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