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The Female Titan emerged once more, defeating the elite Squad Levi members, one after the next. Having decided it was his fault for believing in his companions, Eren and (Y/n) transform and confront the Female Titan, but he suffers defeat, and the Female Titan takes him.
For some strange reason, (Y/N) was also captured by the Female Titan..
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[Levi]: Maintain this distance. It may be tired. It doesn't appear to be going particularly fast. He seems to have been bitten right out of the neck..Is Eren dead? or (Y/N)?..-Mikasa gives Levi a firm look before looking ahead-
[Mikasa]: They are alive. The target appears intelligent, and its goal seems to be capturing Eren and (Y/n). If it wanted him dead, it would've crushed him. The target is fighting to escape going through .. But I still don't know why he captured (Y/N), if the goal was only to capture Eren..
[Levi]: Its goal may have been to eat Eren or (Y/N)..If that's the case, he's in its stomach next to (Y/n).. It's more reasonable to assume that they are dead..
[Mikasa]: They are alive!!..-She says coldly, Levi looks at her over his shoulder-
[Levi]: I hope you're right..
[Mikasa]: If you're only protected Eren, this wouldn't have happened!..-Levi's mouth parts as he moves over to Mikasa-
[Levi]: I see..You're the one from back then..Eren's close friend?..-Mikasa looks at him confused, but Levi continued speaking- We'll limit ourselves to a single goal. First, give up on killing the Female Titan..
[Mikasa]: It killed many of our comrades!..
[Levi]: As long as it can harden its skin, we can't kill it..Do as I say. We'll pin our hopes on Eren and (Y/n) still being alive, and we will rescue them before it leaves the forest..I will tear away at it..You draw its attention!..
Mikasa nods and flew towards the Female Titan, to stand in front of the Titan as Levi approaches from behind.
The Female Titan looks at him instead of Mikasa as he has ready his blades. The Female Titan continues to run before she turns to punch him. He reacts and cuts up her arm de ella to her de ella eye de ella. She falls back as he leaving pushes himself off, reloading quickly, and goes to attack the rest of her body in mere seconds. She falls on the ground as her legs weren't able to move anymore.
[Mikasa]: He's fast..so fast that it has no time to harden its skin!..-Levi continues to cut her arms until they go limp. Mikasa gasps, noticing the nape was wide open- We can go for the neck..It's tired..I bet it can't move! I can kill it!..
Mikasa attaches her hook on the nape, making Levi's eyes widen as he yells at her.
[Levi]: Stop!..
She doesn't listen though and goes to cut it off, but the Female Titan raises her hand to stop her. Mikasa watches as the hand gradually gets closer to her, but she gets pushed away by Levi, causing his foot to get sprained.
He inhales sharply and cuts up the Titan's mouth. It falls and reveals (Y/n) and Eren covered in saliva.
[Mikasa]: Eren! (Y/n)!..-Mikasa yells, as Levi quickly grabs Eren's body and throws it towards Mikasa, who catches him in her arms. Levi grabs (Y/n) and leaves before the Female Titan's mouth can catch him. The two land on the branches as Levi announces-
[Levi]: Hey! We're getting out of here!..
[Mikasa]: (Y/n), Eren..
[Levi]: I think both okay...They are alive!..But filthy..Forget about it..we'll retreat..-Levi says, looking at the Female Titan- Don't lose sight of the core objective. Is it more important to get what you want? Isn't he an important friend?..-With that he takes off as Mikasa was thoughtful-
[Mikasa]: No, I..
Mikasa looks at Eren in her arms before following Levi from behind. Levi looks behind him and gasps slightly when he notices the Female Titan crying, still sitting on the tree.
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[...]: They're returning already? What happened?..- citizen asks his friend, who shrugs-
[...]: No clue. I'll bet they're coming back with a heap of corpses again, though...-As they continue to talk, the Survey Corps was coming back after retreating-
(Y/n) and Eren were lying in a cart, they were both sleeping, bandaged and with two green capes on top of both of them. Inside Trost again, a girl looks out a window as her mother comes in, telling her news.
[??]: Eld is coming home...-The girl flinches and turns to her mother, sighing-
[Girl]: I see..
...
[...]: You think Oluo will have time to come home?..-One of Oluo's siblings asked his mother, who was stirring food-
[??]: It couldn't hurt to make dinner for him, just in case..
...
[??]: Gunther's coming home..-Gunther's mother tells her husband who opens his eyes from a rocking chair-
[?? 2]: I see..
...
Outside the walls, the Survey Corps stopped riding their horses as they scouted out for any incoming Titans and laid the soldiers who sacrificed their lives on the ground. Mikasa approaches (Y/n) and Eren, with a worried look, sighs and turns to the wrapped corpses. Mikasa noticed that one of the soldiers had a bite mark on their hand.
Levi walks over to his squad's corpses and removes the cloth a bit, staring down at the "Wings of Freedom" symbol. Armin and Jean placed a body on the wagon with the rest.
[Jean]: This is the part I just can't get used to..
[Armin]: Nobody gets used to it..
[Jean]: How are my friends going to die? How am I going to die? It's all I can think about..
[Armin]: I try not to dwell on it..-He slightly smiles- If I imagined the way I'm going to die, I doubt I'd be able to fight at all..
[Jean]: Yeah. You're right..
The two go over and lift a body up as they continued to place the corpses away.
[Connie]: How much longer will I be alive?..-Connie asks Sasha, while he was feeding a horse. Sasha had her back to him, feeding another horse-
[Sasha]: You're living now, aren't you?..-Connie blinks, staring down at the ground-
[Connie]: For the moment...
[Sasha]: Isn't that a good thing? You're alive!..-She tries to lighten him up, but he just brings it down even more-
[Connie]: How can you say that in front of the corpses of those who died...-She goes silent as the grass flows with the wind, making Connie continue- I'm not even sure I can go home anymore...
[Soldier]: We're almost done. There were five casualties..-A soldier tells Erwin, to which, he furrows his eyebrows-
[Erwin]: Not even any parts of them?..-The soldier shakes his head-
[Soldier]: We couldn't get close enough because of the Titans. It's probably better for the families if we don't bring those back..
[Erwin]: Report them as missing..
[Soldier]: Yes, sir. We sighted several Titans near the forest, but none are headed in our direction us yet...
[Erwin]: We're moving out now. Inform the squads...-The soldier nods as Erwin walks off to his horse, but another soldier stops him from doing so-
[Soldier 2]: I refuse to accept this, Commander Erwin!..-Erwin turns his head and sees a soldier yelling at him- We should recover them! Ivan's body was right in front of us!..
[Soldier]: There was a Titan right next to him! We'd just end up losing someone else!..
[Soldier 2]: If they attack us, we can just take them out!..-The soldier beside him turns to the Commander-
[Soldier 3]: Ivan and I are childhood friends from the same village! I know his parents. If nothing else, I'd at least like to bring him home!..-
Louis and Levi frowned, looking at the soldiers before walking towards them.
[Louis]: Quarreling children?...-He says, causing the soldiers and Erwin to turn to him-
[Levi]: If you confirmed he's dead, that's enough. Whether or not you have a body, dead is dead. It doesn't change a thing...-The soldier stares at Levi with disbelief-
[Erwin]: We'll say Ivan and the others are missing. That's my final decision. Leave it at that...-Erwin says as he, Louis and Levi start to walk off as the soldier who was yelling talks yet again-
[Soldier 2]: Don't either of you possess any human feelings at all?!..
[Soldier]: Hey, Dieter! You're getting too far ahead!...
Dieter looks at the soldier with disbelief as the Commander, Louis and Levi get on their horses and lead everyone back to Trost.
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As they gallop, Mikasa looks towards (Y/n) and Eren, while the two keep their eyes closed. A soldier looks up from the wagon and gasps, exclaiming.
[Soldier]: Titans!..
Mikasa looks back to see Dieter, a soldier and Ivan's corpse on the horses as two Titans ran after them.
[Soldier 2]: That's... Dieter!..-The soldier groans and holds up a flare gun- That fool...-He shoots out a red flare as one soldier reports to everyone-
[Soldier]: The rearguard has sighted Titans!..
[Erwin]: Full speed ahead!...-Levi turns to him and says-
[Levi]: I don't see any tall trees or buildings. It will be difficult to fight out here...
[Louis]: We're better off trying to outrun them to the Walls...
Levi groans and slows his horse down. Meanwhile, Dieter and his friend continue to gallop when a Titan's hand comes and tries to swoop them up. Dieter ducks but by doing that, he drops Ivan's body on the ground. He gasps and turns to see his friend getting picked up by a Titan. He stops his horse and flies over to kill the Titan as one runs past him and heads straightforward.
[Armin]: They're gonna catch us!..
[Jean]: Will we have to fight?...
[Armin]: 3D Maneuver Gear has limited functionality in open areas! And look... They just keep coming!..-The two gasp when they look at three Titans who were running in the distance-
[Jean]: Then what'll we do?...-Armin looks around until he spots the dead wrapped up bodies-
[Armin]: We...
Mikasa watches as Dieter gets caught by a Titan. When they were going to eat it, Mikasa jumped off her horse and used his equipment to kill the Titan. The Titan falls to the ground as Mikasa lands next to her, she sees Dieter crawling out of Titan's hand
[Soldier]: No! They'll catch us!...
[Soldier 2]: I'll circle behind them! When I draw their attention, you--
[Levi]: No..-The soldiers turn to see Levi as he states- Just abandon the corpses. Otherwise, they'll catch us..-The soldiers look at him confused- On past expeditions, dozens of bodies never made it back. These guys will be no different..-One of the soldier sweats as another screech-
[Soldier]: Are we doing this? We're seriously dumping them?!..
The soldier looks between the other soldier, the corpses and the Titan that was still running after them. Levi gritted his teeth as he stared at his leg. The soldier kept staring at the Titan for a few seconds through clenched teeth, but he looked at the other soldier and yelled at him.
[Soldier 2]: We have no choice!...
He opens the small door and pushes the bodies out as Armin and Jean. One of the bodies that were dumped out was Petra, as Levi watches her body roll away. The wagon gets faster as some bodies were dumped.
[Soldier 2]: Ok! Keep on going!...
And so, they get away from the Titans and move forth.
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[Soldier]: As soon as we ascertain our location, we'll depart. Stay alert!..-A soldier announces as Dieter stares at the ground-
His face was full of traumatization as he hears a horse approaching him. He turns to see Levi getting off his horse.
[Dieter]: Captain Levi... I...-Levi approaches him after digging in his coat-
[Levi]: This proves that they were alive. To me, at least...-He hands him something on his hands as Deiter gasps. Deiter grabbed the badge as his hands began to shake- This was Ivan's..-Dieter shakes and quivers and soon, tears fall down his face-
[Deiter]: Captain...-Levi looks at him one more time before leaving. Deiter continues to cry as a soldier announces again-
[Soldier]: We're leaving!..
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[Mikasa]: Eren..
Eren wakes up gasping as Mikasa kneels next to him.
[Mikasa]: Eren..-Eren wakes up gasping as Mikasa kneels next to him- Eren!..-He tried to get up while letting out slight moans for the pain he felt in his body, but Mikasa stops him- You shouldn't get up. Rest..
[Eren]: The Female Titan?..He asks, looking at her with wide eyes. Mikasa looks at him with a sad expression-
[Mikasa]: She escaped...
[Eren]: Why? What happened to the others? What about the plan?...
[Mikasa]: It failed. Just lay still for now..
[Eren]: What's going on? Did you save me again?..-Eren's eyes twitch as he looks away from her, and he looks at the cloak on top of him-
[Mikasa]: We're almost to the Walls...
Eren looks around while sweating, before a memory flashes through his head. He quickly turns to Mikasa, with a worried expression.
[Eren]: Mikasa! Where is (Y/n)? It's fine?..
[Mikasa]: Do not worry, she's fine, she's next to you..-She tells him, making Eren quickly turn to his side, looking at (Y/n) with closed eyes and bandages on her head-
[Eren]: (Y/n)..
Eren approached her body and hugged her tightly, leaving his face on her chest while he closed his eyes. When they reached Trost, many civilians began to murmur among themselves.
[...]: Aren't a bunch of them missing compared to this morning?..
[...]: Man... Far fewer...
[...]: Just this morning, they left raising a ruckus, but they're already back?..
[...]: What was the point?...
[...]: Who knows?...
Mikasa looks at Eren with a worried look as she listens to the things that the citizens were saying. Eren had his teeth clenched together as he couldn't bear to listen to these insults and gossiping anymore.
[Mikasa]: Eren, just bear with it..
When Eren looked up, he found the kids from the morning smiling at them.
[Boy]: So cool!..-The boy gawked- The Recon Corps are so awesome! They get their butts kicked, but they keep on fighting!..
Eren gasps as he sits back down, as (Y/n) slowly opened her eyes, tears fell nonstop.
[Eren]: The heroes are back! Come on, (Y/n)!!..
[??]: Captain Levi!..-A man screeched, approaching him with a smile- My daughter is in your squad. I'm Petra's father. Before I see her, I wanted to talk to you..-Petra's dad lifts up a letter and continues- She sent me this letter. She said you respected her skills enough to allow her to join your squad. She swore she'd devote herself to you. Well, I guess she's too starry-eyed to consider her father's feelings!..-Petra's dad lets out a laugh- Anyway, as her father, I think it's still too early for her to marry. She's still so young, with so much left to experience!..-Levi's face darkened a bit as citizens start to yell at Erwin-
[...]: Commander Erwin! Answer us! Did you expedition learn anything worthwhile to can justify the body count? Do you believe the dead leave no regrets?...
Erwin doesn't say anything, Louis looks at each citizen in silence before lowering his gaze as they continue to head back to base.
But suddenly, a citizen quickly approached the two, ready to hit Commander Erwin. Louis felt a sensation in his body and quickly stopped the man, grabbing his arm tightly, making the man gasp in pain.
[Louis]: Don't touch Erwin...-He looked at the man with a frown, the man stepped back but Louis was still holding the man's arm, who was gasping in pain. Erwin sighed before touching Louis's shoulder, who blinked rapidly as he looked over his shoulder at Erwin-
[Erwin]: Louis, let him go. Don't do anything...- He told her, causing Louis to clench his teeth as he released his arm from her shoulder before following Erwin.
The expenses and casualties from the expedition were more than enough to discredit the faction that had supported the Survey Corps. As those responsible, including Erwin, were summoned to the capital, it was decided that Eren would be handed over along with (Y/n).
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Preview...
That day, Annie was part of the escort guard for Eren and the others, as they answered a summons to the capital. Suddenly, Armin appeared, and asked Annie to assist with a highly sensitive mission.
Next episode: ‹Smile: Assault on Stohess, Part 1›