AUTHOR'S POV:
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Bertolt began to glow as he transformed, Mikasa and Armin fleeing.
A massive spheral explosion erupted in Shinganshina.
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"Armin, get down!" Mikasa yelled, holding out a hand toward him.
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The shockwave ripped apart the homes caught up in it.
Then everything turned white.
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The silence was interrupted by soft, shuddering breaths.
"It hurts." Bertolt's voice echoed as a skull appeared, left half muscles and right half bone. "It hurts so bad." Bertolt said.
Armin opened his eyes in a daze. Darkness surrounded him and he stared up at the half-muscle half-bone skeleton.
Its lone eye teared up and began to cry.
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On the Wall, Armin muttered softly, "Bertolt."
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"It hurts." A female voice said.
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The words snapped Armin out of his head and he looked over to the person lying on his left.
"It hurts so bad." Sasha said, eyes closed, forehead bandaged with burns on her face.
"Sasha? Sasha!" Armin said, lifting the blanket and saw the bloody bandage around her chest. "You're in terrible shape. What happened?" He looked around and saw some injured recruits who were laying on their blankets.
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"So you are up." Erwin said, standing beside him.
"Commander? What happened here?" Armin asked, looking over at him.
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"Armin!" Eren yelled, running over.
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"Eren?" Armin exclaimed.
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Eren hugged him. "I'm glad you're back!" He squeezed Armin, crying.
Armin gasped, confused at Eren's actions. "What?"
Levi came up from the side of the Wall. "You're up?"
"Captain, what in the world happened here?" Armin asked as Levi came to stand before them. "I remember Bertolt becoming a Titan... What about the others?! Are they okay?!"
"That's as far back as you remember?" Levi said, pulling out a flare gun.
"What?" Armin asked.
"Eren, tell him everything." Levi told to Eren before firing a green smoke signal.
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Down in the city, Connie, Jean, Mikasa, Faye with Floch, Marlo, Hange and some other recruits took note of the green smoke at once.
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With wide eyes, Armin remained speechless.
"Well? Did you follow it all, Armin?" Levi asked when Armin remained silent.
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Mikasa sat in between Eren and Faye while Connie and Jean sat beside Sasha.
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Hange and Erwin stood before them.
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Floch and Marlo kept an eye out not far behind the group, holding up spyglasses.
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"Are you telling me the Survey Corps is the thirty-eight of us here and that's it?" Armin asked.
"As far as we can tell, yeah." Jean replied, holding a water flask.
"The battle to retake Wall Maria ended four hours ago." Faye informed Armin. "We've been looking for survivors, but haven't found any yet."
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Connie brought the water flask to Sasha's lips.
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"S-So, after we managed to seal the gates of Shiganshina, Reiner, the Beast Titan, and another Titan escaped. Bertolt was captured. And I turned into a Titan and... ate B-Bertolt." Armin summarised.
Eren watched him in worry.
Armin began to choke back vomit and cough.
Jean knelt and held out his water flask. "Here."
Armin drank gratefully and breathed deeply.
"Are you ok, Armin?" Faye asked, rubbing his back.
"Shut up!" Sasha said in pain, eyes still closed.
They gasped at her, surprised.
Hange began laughing quietly. "We're no match for Sasha."
"Alright. If Armin's fine then it's time to investigate the basement." Erwin said and stood at the edge. "Hange, Levi, Eren, Mikasa, Faye and I will go investigate." He turned to them. "All other soilders, keep watch from atop Shiganshina's Wall."
"Got it!" Connie and Jean replied.
"Eren, have you brought the key?" Erwin asked.
"Yes." Eren replied, clutching the key around his neck. "Right here."
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Grisha pulled out the key.
"Eren, Faye. When I get back, I'll show you the basement that I've kept secret all this time." Grisha said.
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"Eren, no!" Carla said, stopping her young son, who sat on his knees before the top of the stars. "How many times must I say you can't go in the basement?!"
"Why aren't I allowed to?" Eren asked in a petulant tone.
"Because your father keeps his work tools there." Carla said and started to walk away. "Including drugs. It's dangerous for children."
"Hmph." Eren grunted and began to close the trapdoor.
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One by one, the six soldiers jumped off from the Wall.
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Green blanket wrapped around him, Armin stood atop the Wall, looking out before glancing at Connie, Jean, and Sasha.
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Floch and Marlo along with some other recruits stood to his right a few yards away.
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Armin turned back to Shinganshina.
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Eren landed on the ground first, taking off running, followed by Mikasa and Faye. Hange, Erwin and Levi ran after them.
The six slowed and walked through the dilapidated neighborhood.
A worn, dirty teddy bear lay on the ground.
A broken sign outside a shop danced in the wind.
Levi and Hange looked around while Erwin kept looking ahead.
"Hey, where's your house?" Levi asked.
"Around the corner." Faye replied.
They walked through the street filled with debris and abandoned personal items of the former residents.
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A young Eren, Faye and Mikasa ran through their healthy and lively neighborhood.
Little Mikasa and Faye saw the fruit vendor with a baby on her back, advertising her apples.
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Eren, Faye and Mikasa came to a stop, looking at an old basket.
They kept moving, past a single bright white flower in the middle of the street.
As they came to a broken white pillar with a marble circle around it, Eren blinked in recognition.
There was a wooden crate with three broken stools around it.
He recalled how Hannes and his buddies used to play cards and drink there.
Eren, Faye and Mikasa moved forward.
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Their young selves approached Hannes, who waved and pointed them at Carla as she walked around the corner.
The children ran after her.
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Eren remembered rushing back to his house after the Colossal Titan had kicked down the outer gate.
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The group of six turned the corner and walked down the street, arriving at last.
"Is this it?" Hange asked them.
They moved closer and Eren saw an old brown shoe in the grass.
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"Hey, Dad!" Eren called out, standing by his father's chair with Faye beside him. "When will you show us what's in the basement"
Grisha turned his attention away from the newspaper. "Who knows? Perhaps when you two realize the most important thing of all."
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Eren, Faye and Mikasa looked up.
Eren and Faye thought back to his mother hanging white sheets on the clothesline.
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Hange observed the wreckage around them. "Luckily, the fires didn't make it this far."
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Nearby, Levi kicked something on the ground while Erwin stood beside him.
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Kneeling, Eren, Faye and Mikasa picked through broken old dishes.
Eren stared at the cup in his hand and he paused.
They returned to their task.
Eventually, Eren and Faye cleared the last of the small bits of rubble before the three of exchanged a nod.
"Here." Eren said to Erwin, who stood before them. "Under this are the stairs to the basement."
"Good." Erwin replied. "Now, we just have to remove the boulder."
The five of them worked together to used two long wooden beams to move the boulder.
After some struggle, the large rock rolled away.
Eren dusted way the pebbles and grabbed the latch, lifting the trapdoor.
Concrete stairs plunged into darkness and Hange shone down her flashlights. "That's a relief. It's not flooded with water."
Levi went in first, followed by Erwin.
Mikasa placed a hand on Eren's shoulder. "Let's go." She turned to Faye and exchanged a nod.
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They followed after Levi, who also had a lantern in hand. He focused on the large padlock on the door at the base of the stairs. "Eren." Levi said.
Eren held up his key. "Right." He fiddled with the lock, trying to get the key to fit.
"What's wrong?" Hange asked as he continued to struggle.
"Eren?" Mikasa said in question.
"Is it not working?" Erwin asked.
"This... This key doesn't go to this door." Eren said.
"What?" Hange said, confused and Erwin slightly gasped.
"But, that's the key Dad always carried." Faye said.
"Move out of the way." Levi said and waved Eren off, stepping in his spot. "I'll open it."
"Levi-" Erwin said.
Eren, Faye and Mikasa looking at Levi in surprise when he lifted his leg.
The door broke and twisted up where his foot had connected.
Levi removed the door and they went into the darkness.
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A flame ignited. The small lantern was on the desk in the middle of the basement room. It illuminated cupboards, shelves, bookcases.
"It almost feels like a study down here." Hange said, observing the room.
"Dad was a doctor." Eren explained, seeing the glass jars full of medicine in a cabinet. "He was always cooped up down here mixing medicine."
"I see." Erwin said and picked up a small, brown glass bottle. "In fact, if this medicine is all labeled correctly, it's stuff that's widely available." He put it down and faced them while Lev and Hange flipped through a book. "And since all the books here relate to medicine, at first glance, it's just a doctor's study."
Levi put down the book and picked up two medicine bottles. "Well, if he was trying to hide anything from the Interior Police, we won't be able to find it with a cursory glance. 'There's nothing suspicious here.' It's like that's what he wants people to think." He set down the bottles. "Hey. Quit standing around."
"Yes, sir." Mikasa said before she, Faye and Eren began looking.
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A black spider sat in a web in the corner.
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Eren and Mikasa checked the books, trying to shake something loose that might have been hidden between the pages.
Faye opened the desk's drawer. She moved to its side and picked up the book, accidentally knocking down the cup beside it.
It bounced off the floor.
She recognized it, remembering something from years ago.
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Books tucked under one arm, Grisha accepted a plate from a young Faye as he stood half descended in the basement.
"Thanks, Faye. It's going to be another all-nighter." Grisha said.
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Faye smiled fondly at the memory.
She reached down to pick up the fallen cup and noticed something. "Eren." Levi, Erwin and Eren glanced at her. "There's a keyhole right here." She knelt before the key shape in the upper lefthand corner.
The six gathered around.
"Eren." Erwin said and he nodded.
Eren inserted the key in the key hole. "It fits." He leaned in and slowly pulled the drawer out. "It's empty?!"
"There must be a false bottom." Erwin said, looking closely.
Levi lifted the fake cover and revealed three notebooks, cushioned with a white cloth.
Hange sniffed the cloth as Levi inspected the green journal.
"It smells like peppermint oil and charcoal." Hange said. "It must be to keep moisture and bugs away."
"It seems we've found what we were looking for," Levi said, sitting the journal on the desk. He turned to Erwin. "Erwin, you are going to get your answers now."
Erwin nodded with a straight face.
Eren placed his hand on the book. "I wonder what it was my dad wanted to show me."
The six of them watched intently.
Mikasa placed her hand on the journal as well. Eren and Faye looked at her in surprise before Eren and Mikasa nodded.
Together, they opened the book.
An upside-down image of a photograph of a family was placed on the very first page.
"Is this is a portrait?" Eren wondered, holding the photograph.
"Let me see it." Erwin said and took the picture from Eren.
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Dina sat with a child Zeke in her lap, Grisha standing by her chair. The three were dressed in formal attire.
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"No. This is far too detailed for this to be drawn by a person." Erwin said.
"That's Dad's writing." Faye informed him, pointing at the back of the photo.
Erwin flipped it. "'This is no illustration. Instead, this uses light reflected off a subject and burns the image on special paper. It's called a photograph.'"
Eren, Faye and Mikasa listened with wide eyes.
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"I come from a place outside the Walls where humanity lives in elegance. Humanity has not perished. I pray the person who finds this book is a fellow patriot." Grisha's writing said.
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"Hurry, Faye!" A child Grisha said. "We'll lose it unless we're fast!"
"Wait up, brother!" His sister, Faye said, running up to him.
The boy and girl opened their house's front door.
"Hold on, you two." Their mother came up and they turned to face her.
Mrs. Yeager slipped a yellow armband around her daughter's left arm, Grisha putting on his own. "I told you not to forget your armbands when you go outside. Grisha, you absolutely must not leave the walls."
Faye ran out of her mother's grasp with an excited giggle.
"Hey, wait!" Grisha called after her and went to stand beside her in the street. "I got it, Mom!"
Faye waved at her. "We'll be back soon!"
Grisha led his sister away. "Come on!"
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An airship drifted lazily in the blue sky full of puffy white clouds.
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"When I first thought as to how I should start my story, I immediately thought of that day."
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Twin looks of childish delight on their faces, Grisha and Faye chased after the airship.
"Wow!" Faye said, smiling widely.
Grisha bumped into Tom ksaver.
"Hey!" Tom Ksavar cried out.
"Sorry!" Grisha said, waving in apology.
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"Grisha, be careful!" Tom chided after them. "Watch where you're going!"
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"Oh, it's leaving." Faye said and stopped, watching as the airship left. She smiled adorably up at the sky. "Must be nice. Someday if I'm rich, will I be able to ride on an airship, too?"
"What are you talking about? There's no way either of us will get rich." Grisha said.
Faye hummed in agreement. "But it must be nice. I wonder what we could see from up there." The airship went out of view as the two stood a short distance from a fence gate surrounded by a concrete wall. "There it goes."
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Two guards with rifles stood at the gate, one inspecting a woman's papers.
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Grisha pulled his eyes away from his sister's longing face. His brows furrowed in determination. He grabbed Faye's hand and ran. "Let's go, Faye!"
"What?" Faye asked.
"My teacher said the airships take off and land at a place near here! Let's go see!" Grisha said.
"What?! But Mom said we're not allowed to leave the walls!" Faye said nervously, running as he led her.
"Don't worry, it's just for a little bit!" Grisha assured Faye and they ran past the guard and the woman. "We'll be right back." He yelled at the guard.
"Hey!" The guard yelled and failed to grab him. "Get back here!" He chased after them.
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"That naive day of my youth when I had to face the truth of this world."
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"Back then." Nile said.
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A young Erwin raised his hand and stood in his father's classroom, all the students watching him.
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"Erwin asked his father, 'How do we know there's not more humans outside the Walls?'"
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Nile sat with some of the other military heads, including Pixis and Zackly.
"The way he put it, since we can't travel far outside the Walls ourselves, we have no way of knowing whether all the humans out there were really eaten by the Titans." Nile said.
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Teenage Nile and Erwin sat outside, having lunch.
"And yet, history books declare the rest were wiped out." Erwin said.
Nile stopped eating and finally focused on Erwin. "Hmm?"
"If you consider that history books should maintain an objective viewpoint, it should read, 'It is believed the rest of humanity was wiped out.'" Erwin said.
"You're just being pedantic." Nile rebuffed him dismissively.
"No!" Erwin argued fiercely. "There's intent behind it! For example, to make us believe that humanity doesn't exist outside the Walls. As the publisher of the records, the Royal Government could have intentionally phased it that way."
"You're overthinking it." Nile said with a smile, still not convinced. "Your whole argument is nitpicking."
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Nile looked down regretfully. "I was teasing him back then, but look at us now..."
"You'll just have to apologize to the man himself." Zachary said, elbows on the table, hands folded in front of him.
Pixis uncrossed his arms and sighed, looking outside the window behind Zackly. "Dawn is about to break. Our heroes' triumphant return should be upon us soon."
In that moment, the door flew open and Anka barged in. "The Survey Corps has returned just a moment ago!" The men stared at her in anticipation. "They successfully took back Wall Maria!"
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The population was cheering and hooting loudly, white confetti in the air.
An overjoyed Flegel stood among them. The streets were crowded with celebrating and happy people.
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Mikasa's parents quickly recognised the red scarf so they were relieved that their daughter was alive.
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Up on Wall Rose, the wind ruffled their clothes.
Erwin, Levi, Eren, Faye, Mikasa, Connie, Sasha, Jean, Marlo, Floch, Hange and the remaining 37 recruits stood facing the crowd.
Under Hange's right arm were the three journals.
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'Outside the Walls...'
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