"Looks like someone was here earlier." Gelgar said.
"That's odd for a place this near the Wall."
"Maybe one of the bandits used it. It said Ruins of Utgard Castle on one of the signs. Who would have thought that there was a castle around here?"
Iris didn't find the conversation interesting. She leaned on Leon, pulled her legs to her chest and buried her face on the folds of her arms.
"Hey, look what I found." Gelgar went out of the room with a bottle in hand.
"Gelgar, is that booze I see?" An officer said.
"What the heck does this say?" Gelgar said.
"You're not gonna drink it now, are you?" Nanaba chastised him.
"I wasn't, not at a time like this."
"Convenient. All of this contraband to enjoy for ourselves."
"Now, youre making us sound like bandits." Nanaba chuckled.
Iris frowned.
Well, one of you is. She thought.
"You rookies should try to get some rest... Titans won't be roaming around at this time, but the rest of us will take turns keeping watch. We'll leave from here four hours before daybreak." Gelgar said.
"Um... what if the Wall wasn't broken?" Krista began. "The Titans... where could they be invading from?"
"Finding that is a job for tomorrow." Gelgar said, and went to get to his watch duty.
"Gelgar." Iris spoke.
Gelgar turned to her, as well as the other officers and cadets. Iris didn't bother to stand up or meet the man's eyes as she continued to speak.
"You were wrong..." Iris said. "Captain Mike... didn't make it back." Her hand balled to a fist.
Gelgar looked down at the ground, he knew how Iris admired Mike, how close they were. He remembered seeing Mike taking walks with Iris when Levi first brought her from the Underground. And he knew that Mike cared for the girl that he made a cane just so Iris could walk around when her legs were growing weak. Gelgar said nothing and walked up the stairs to take the first watch. He looked down at Iris and he was sure he saw tears form at the girl's eyes.
"I'm sorry." He said in a whisper and then left.
~*~
Levi stared at the necklace with complete shock, all this time, he had been wearing something made out of Titan. But moreover, knowing that the necklace had a connection with the Reed family, it meant that the aristocrat family had more secrets to hide behind the doors of their home, and he knew Pastor Nick knew something about it.
"Tell me." Levi began. "What relations do you have with the Reed family?"
Pastor Nick's eyes widened.
"There's no point in not talking because I will get answers." Levi said.
"Captain, where did you get that?" Armin asked, his face shocked as ever.
"It was given to me by someone I knew before." Levi said. He turned to the Pastor. "Now talk, who are the Reed family?" When the Pastor said nothing, he grabbed the Pastor by the collar of his shirt.
"LEVI!" Hange cried.
"Bastard, tell me!" Levi demanded. "Who are they?!"
"Tell us!" Eren said.
"Eren!" Armin chastised him, seeing that this was important, especially when it involved someone from the 104th that bore the same name as the aristocrat family, and it had a connection with their Captain. He had his thoughts about it, he had a feeling ever since he saw Levi talk to her at the barracks and when they were carrying the dead at their Excursion.
"Why does the Reed family have a Titan crystal?" Levi demanded.
The Pastor said nothing, Levi was forced to let go of the Pastor by Hange and went back in to his thoughts. But he was not the only one that was in deep thought, Armin, whose mind have been going on to the familiar family name.
Reed. He thought. There's only one person he knew that had the name of Reed...
~*~
Ehrmich District
"Once we leave Ehrmich, we'll be in Titan territory." Hange said to Eren.
Meeting them by the stables was Moblit, who had their horses ready for their travel back to Wall Rose, but just as they were to leave, Levi came with Pastor Nick at his side.
"Moblit, just a moment." Hange said and approached the Pastor. "So, have you had a change of heart?" when the Pastor didn't speak, Hange snapped. "We don't have time for this! you know, don't you?! Will you talk, or won't you?! Make up your mind already!"
"I cannot say anything." Pastor Nick said. "The other believers are the same as I, and that will never change."
"Then thanks for nothing!"
"It's too great a decision for a single person to make." Pastor Nick said. "The Order of the Walls must always adhere to the sacred will we're bound to obey."
"Whose will? God or something?" Hange asked.
"I cannot say anything... but I can inform you a name, who under their sacred will, we were instructed to monitor..."
"Monitor?" Hange asked.
"That person joined the Scout Regiment as of this year... Their name is, Krista Lenz."
The door opened and came Sasha with her message, but everyone was at shock to hear the name to even notice her.
"Her?" Eren said.
"Who is she?" Hange asked.
"You must find her at once." Pastor Nick said. "Only she... she may know the truths which even we cannot perceive. That is all the information I can share. The rest, I leave to you."
"If she's in the 104th, the she's deep in the front line right now." Hange said.
~*~
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me."
After the emergency call that woke them all, Iris and the others ran up the tower to see the situation, and to their great unfortune, Titans surrounded the castle, all attracted to their scent.
"What are we going to do?!" Connie asked.
"Stay here." Nanaba said and got out her blade. "We'll take care of it."
Iris watched as Nanaba and the others took care of the Titans trying to climb up the tower to get them.
"We can't just stand here and do nothing!" Connie said. "There has to be something we could do!"
"What, wanna take these bricks and smash them at those Titans?" Leon sarcastically said with panic.
Iris traced her arm, where her knife was hidden under her skirt. Cursing, she was about to pull up her skirt to get her knife –
"The Titans broke through." Lynne said. "Go back down and form some sort of barricade! If you can't block them, retreat back up here as a last resort! But that doesn't mean we'll be able to help you though. I'm not sure if we'll still be alive if it comes to that. We all have to do what we're trained to do. Give it all we got even if it means dying!"
"GOT IT!"
Running back inside, Reiner grabbed the torch and lead the group inside.
"I'll go see how far they're come though!" Reiner said. "You guys grab boards, rods or whatever! Bring anything you can carry!"
"REINER!" Krista called out.
"Hey, you idiot! Don't go alone!" Leon yelled and ran after him.
"Hey, hold on, wait, Reiner!" Bertholdt called out.
"Who does he think he is, always taking the most dangerous job?!" Connie said.
"That's his bad habit..." Bertholdt said.
"We need to get anything to bar the doors, so stop worrying about him and get to work." Iris said.
"Yeah." Connie said.
Running ahead, Leon and Bertholdt went after Reiner while the others searched for anything to hold out the Titans. Leon grabbed the nearest weapon he could find and went to the door where Reiner ran into. Upon entering the room, he heard a crash and Reiner yelling.
"REINER!" Leon came and stabbed the Titan before it could get the blonde man. Just behind him, Bertholdt came and helped.
"Reiner, are you okay?" Berthold asked.
"Yeah," Reiner said. "Bertholdt, we're gonna survive and go home. We're going back to our hometown for sure."
"Right!" Bertholdt said, smiling.
"REINER!"
Turning, the three young men found the others with an old cannon.
"Do you have powder and a cannonball?" Leon asked.
"Hell no! You'll just have to take the whole thing!" Ymir said. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
Ymir, Connie and Iris pushed the cannon down the stairs, and just before it could get to them, Leon, Reiner and Bertholdt got out of the way. After the cloud of dust cleared, they found the Titan under the cannon and the rubble, unmoving.
"That should keep it down." Ymir said.
"What now? All we have is this knife." Connie said. "Should I cut its nape?"
"Don't even try, you'll get hurt if it grabs you." Iris said.
"For now, let's retreat back upstairs." Krista said. "There could be more than just one that got inside."
The sound of growling and heavy footsteps caught everyone's attention, turning, they found a Titan bending down the door, its jaws open, about to eat Connie.
"CONNIE!"
Reiner came and pushed Connie away and the Titan's face away from Connie, but then the Titan turned back at Reiner and bit his arm.
"REINER!" Leon called out.
Iris's eyes widened in shock. She took out her knife and ran down the stairs.
"We need to cut its nape, that's the only way for it to let you go!" Iris said, approaching Reiner.
"STAY BACK!" Reiner yelled.
Iris was held back by Leon, she struggled to get out of his hold, but then stopped when she saw Reiner carry the Titan on his back and carried it to the window.
"REINER, WAIT!" Leon said.
"Reiner, don't tell me that you're going to jump out of the window with it." Connie said.
"I've got no other choice!" Reiner said.
"WAIT!" Iris came, she twirled her knife to get it at the right hold and stabbed the Titan's jaw. "If we cut this bastard's jaw, then you won't have to!" and just as she expected, the Titan's jaw released Reiner's arm, and the young man was able to get out of the Titan's bite. But what happened next wasn't what she expected, the Titan sat on the window, it turned back at them
-- Iris kicked the Titan with all her strength and it fell down the window.
After throwing the Titan, the others gathered all the wooden posts they saw to bar the doors while Krista tended to Reiner's wound. Finishing with the doors, they turned to Reiner and saw Krista making a sling for his arm with the use of the torn cloth of her skirt.
"Reiner, how are you?" Leon asked.
"I'm fine."
The tower shook, and the loud crash had everyone running back at the top of the tower, to see, just as they got to the top, they saw Nanaba and Gelgar lay down Lynne and Henning's bodies on the ground.
"They both died." Reiner said.
"It's him! The one that walked off towards the wall!" Connie said. "The Beast Titan!"
"Beast Titan?" Iris said.
"A GROUP OF TITANS APPROACHING! MORE THAN TWICE THE NUMBER FROM EARLIER!"
"What?!" Gelgar said.
"Their timing is too perfect, like it's part of some strategy." Nanaba said. "I have a feeling they've been toying with us from the start."
The Beast Titan roared. Iris turned to where the Titan was and saw it on the Wall --
the tower shook again, and this time, the Titans were punching on the tower, trying to tumble it down.
"Nanaba." Iris began. "Give me Lynne's gear!"
"We can't lose any one of –"
"We'll be dead either way!" Iris said, she went to Lynne's body and carefully took off the woman's gear .
"Stop it!" Nanaba said, grabbing Iris' wrist. "Captain Mike promised your father that he would keep you alive, and I vowed to keep that promise to honor my Captain's death!"
Iris pulled her wrist from Nanaba's hold and glared at the woman.
"I'm a Scout, my life is not special." Iris said. "If I die, then I die fighting!"
"LISTEN TO ME!" Nanaba said. "You will stay here and stay alive, you understand?!"
Iris' eyes widened at Nanaba's words. She couldn't help but remember, remember the last time she heard her mother's voice and Mike's orders to her.
Stay alive, you understand? Stay alive...
Promise me to, you'll fight to live...
Iris lets go of the gear and stood still, she nodded her head and stepped back. Seeing that she was finally listening, Nanaba handed Iris to Leon and then jumped down the tower.
Iris leaned down to see how Nanaba and Gelgar fought. As she watched, Iris knew that their fight would lead nothing but death. And she was right, she did everything she can to follow orders as she watched the Titans come after Gelgar and Nanaba, tearing their bodies --
She heard Nanaba's cries for help, for her father to stop, the woman's mind have gone mad, fear have taken over.
"Hey... are we gonna wait here now until the tower falls and we get eaten alive?" Connie said. "Is there nothing we could do about it?! Damn it, we'll be wiped out even before we could finish our mission!"
"It's not like we could do anything..." Iris said. "We'll be dead either way... unless Eren comes to save us..."
"That'd be a long shot." Leon said. "Who knows where he is..."
"I want to keep fighting... If I only had some kind of weapon then I could fight and die alongside them." Krista said.
"Krista, you're still saying things like that?" Ymir said. "Don't you dare use their lives. They didn't die so you 'd have an excuse to get yourself killed."
"That's not... that's not what I—"
"You're not like Conny and the Scouts! They don't want to die, but you don't even care! All you want to do is die in a way that makes you seem like a hero."
"That's no –"
"Connie. Give me that knife."
"Fine."
"Thank you." Ymir said and patted Connie's head.
Connie pushed off Ymir's hand off of him. "What do you want it for?"
"I'm going to fight them with this." Ymir said.
Iris' eyes widened.
"Ymir, what are you planning?" Iris asked.
"Who knows, I don't even know myself." Ymir said. She went to Krista and held her by her shoulders. "Krista, you might have forgotten our promise... try to remember... that promise we made training on that snowy mountain. I have no right to tell you how to live your life, so this is nothing but a hope of mine... I want you... to live a life you're proud of." Going to the other side of the tower, Ymir made a running start. "Remember our promise, Krista."
To their shock, Ymir ran and jumped off the tower, Krista reached out for her, trying to save Ymir. Leon had to grab her by her waist just so she wouldn't fall off he tower.
"KRISTA!" Leon said, pulling her back.
Light came from where Ymir jumped. Looking at where Krista stood, Iris saw the light. It was the very same one that she saw when Eren would transform, and from that light came out a Titan.
"That's, Ymir?" Connie said.
Iris watched with wide eyes as Ymir – in her Titan form – went after the other Titans, killing them in a speed and animalistic way they never saw before.
"Krista, did you know?" Reiner asked. "That Ymir was a Titan?"
"I had no idea." Krista answered. "I was always so close to her, how come..."
"Maybe you didn't know her as well as you thought you did..." Iris said, her eyes fixed on Ymir as she murdered the other Titans.
"That means, she knows some of the secrets of our world... and I never suspected a thing." Reiner said.
"Do you think she knew about it?" Connie said. "Eren's a Titan too, but he didn't know until it happened..."
"But Ymir... it was like she knew all along." Leon said.
"Are you saying that Ymir is an enemy of humanity?" Krista said.
"Who knows what she might she have been thinking." Connie said.
"I wonder, what Ymir's goal is..." Bertholdt said.
Ymir was caught by the Titans. It grabbed her arms, and bit her, but she fought back and freed herself. She jumped up at the tower, her nails holding at the bricks, but just as she were to jump, her legs were caught by the Titans and were pulling her down. She held on to the bricks, but when it moved, and when she saw Krista at the top, she let go.
"What was that? Was she worried about the tower falling?" Connie said.
"She was... Ymir could have used this power of hers to escape all on her own, but she stayed. She's risking her life to save us!" Krista said. "But why..."
"If she keeps this up, she'll be eaten." Iris said.
"YMIR!" Krista got on the tower's edge. Leon had to hold on to the girl's clothes just to keep her from falling. "TEAR THIS TOWER DOWN!"
With Krista's command, Ymir started to tear down the tower, brick by brick, using it to fight off the Titans. And when the tower was crumbling and falling, Ymir came to them.
"Want live?" Ymir said. "Grab on to me..."
Iris and the others grabbed on to Ymir's hair and held on tight. They all got on the ground with a hard thud. Getting up from the ground, Iris found the tower they once stood one gone. The sound of movement caught their attention, and not far, a Titan was trying to get out of the rubble.
"HEY, UGLY, GO AND FINISH THE JOB!" Connie said.
Just as Ymir attacked the Titan, and tore off its nape, another Titan came and grabbed her by her hair and slammed her at the ground. One by one, Titans emerged from the rubble, neither one of them looked scratched by the debris, and all at once came at Ymir, eating her.
"Ymir..." Connie said.
"This can't be... Ymir, wait!" Krista yelled, running.
"KRISTA!" Iris called after the girl.
A Titan appeared behind a huge part of the tower that was left standing, and had its hand after Krista. The familiar sound of zipping was heard, and before they knew it, the Titan's nape was cut off, and the Scout landed on the rubble.
"MIKASA!" Iris said.
"Krista, everyone, stand back. Leave everything to us." Mikasa said.
And from behind, Scouts rained and killed the titans. The sight had Iris fall on her knees, a weight on her shoulders was lifted. The sight of the Scouts finally helped her breathe.