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"LADY WHAT NOW?" Hange asked, facing Nick with a troubled expression.

That was the first time Pastor Nick had ever spoken since the whole ride and that was what he had to say? An implicitly useless piece of information?

"Lady L/n..." he subconsciously muttered again, staring at her with shock written all over his face while the woman stared back at him, mindlessly shoving bread on her face.

Pastor Nick fumbled and took out a small book, frantically flipping to a page where writings were written. Levi and Hange peered over his shoulder as his finger trailed down the lines of sentences.

The first page seen was a drawing of a baby with the title 'Lady L/n' written on top.

Lady L/n

'A Goddess born on The Surface.'

[date] [month] 825.

[insert baby sketch]

Lady L/n, a child whose mother had passed the second she touched the light, was raised by an only father, the Emperor of the Empire of Aigragalla.

Shortly after she was born, the Emperor of Aigragalla announced her as next in line to the throne, right before his brother, Lord of Aiceolyra.

But a tragic event that happened the day after the announcement, Lady L/n was pronounced missing in the Empire, leaving the Empire the Lord of Aiceolyra to be next to the throne.

...

Hange pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose, blinking irrationally at what she had just read. Levi furrowed his eyebrows, looking somewhere else in the dark while Pastor Nick continued on with the reading.

There wasn't much to read but it was something.

The flipping on the pages stopped and Pastor Nick seemed to have found what he was searching for. There, words were written normally like the rest of the book but seemed to stand out more than the rest.

Pastor Nick turned his head slowly, gazing at F/n with an expression of utter disbelief. Hange leaned forward to stare at the girl while Levi simply glanced at her.

Meanwhile, the three youngest in the cart exchanged concerned glances for a moment of silence. Eren leaned forward, gazing at the book the man held numbly in his hand and the other two followed.

There it was written.

The Royal family had one way of identifying each other...

It was through their eyes. The oddly shining purple-coloured eyes.

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁

The wagon was moving at a consistent speed. F/n was long gone in her dreamland, body curling up at the edge of the wagon as she slept soundly.

Hange kept glancing at the sleeping woman she cared for, thinking of theories as she played with the rock she brought.

"Hange."

She stayed silent.

"Oi, Four-eyes," Levi called, "Are your hobbies so boring that playing with rocks is somehow fun for you?"

"Yes. That's right," she responded, showing him the rock she was holding, "But this is no ordinary rock. It's a hardened fragment of skin left behind by the Female Titan."

"What? It didn't disappear?" Armin gasped.

"Right!" Hange faced the boy, "Annie reverted from a Titan but it's still intact, even though it broke off her body. It didn't evaporate. It didn't disappear."

"So I thought, 'What if?' When I compared it to a piece of the wall, its pattern and its composition were practically identical. In other words, the wall is a barricade of humongous Titans. And if I'm right, the surface is constructed with hardened Titan skin."

"That's exactly what Armin was saying..." Mikasa commented.

"What- What about F/n's crystals?" Eren asked.

"I tried but it wasn't the same," she said, taking out a sample of the crystal that shattered the other day.

Armin gasped. "Then-"

"Let me finish, Armin," Hange interrupted, covering his mouth with her hand, "As it stands, we'll be hard-pressed to fill the hole in Wall Rose. That is unless we can find a perfect boulder to plug it in. But if Eren in his transformed state... could use the Titans' hardening ability to seal a hole in the wall..."

"Use me... to seal the wall?" the mentioned boy repeated.

"It should be made of the same material. And seeing how the hardened skin won't evaporate even if you revert from a Titan... it's possible."

"What about F/n's crystals? Can't we use them to seal the wall?" Eren asked.

"And... how are they different from the Titans' hardened skin?" Armin asked.

"Simple: F/n's crystals are stronger," Hange explained, "The outer shell of each carbon atom has 4 electrons, which causes it to form very strong chemical bonds. This results in an extremely rigid tetrahedral crystal."

"Her crystals can seal the wall. But she lacks the ability to control her powers," Hange glanced at the sleeping girl curled up in the corner and a soft smile grew on the older's face.

"Instead of training her, I've been trying to explain to her to help her control it and I can tell she's trying. But she's just... she needs more support and I'm giving all I can to her."

It was quiet for a moment, each person with a thought of their own. Some were thinking about the possibilities of the wall while others thought about how they could help F/n.

Levi's head turned when he noticed F/n stirring in her sleep. But she stayed asleep, appearing to not move after a while. The man clicked his tongue before averting his eyes elsewhere.

"Trying it is well worth the risk," Armin spoke up, "And assuming it does work, claiming Wall Maria is feasible, too. Up until now, we've only had to transport a large number of materials and supplies."

"That's why they need for outposts past the wall hindered our progress. But, if we don't have to accommodate supply wagons, we could quickly make our way to Shiganshina. What if we carried the plan at night?"

"At night?"

"Yes," Armin nodded, "During the night when Titans can't move."

"I see..." Hange said thoughtfully, "If the group was small enough, you could sneak into Wall Maria. The current situation is already as bad as it is, but we still have a glimmer of hope."

They all glanced at Eren before following Hange's gaze on the sleeping woman.

"Or in this case, two."

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