𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅

"Advance! Eren is just ahead! Advance!" Erwin continued to order the Scouts to advance and rescue Eren.

Following Erwin's final command, the Scouts charge head-on into the Titan horde.

Many are caught and killed in the attack, though Mikasa navigates through the Titans and reaches Reiner.

Her attack against Bertholdt misses, and she is caught by a Titan which crushes her ribs in its grip.

Jean comes to Mikasa's aid and blinds the Titan as other Scouts attempt to close in on Eren, though Reiner tosses them aside.

Y/n comes to Erwin's aid and slices the nape of the Titan that was biting down Erwin's right arm.

It was too late. His right arm had been severed and it was bleeding. It was bleeding so much that his blood could feel a bucket.

Y/n used his sleeve and her extra hair tie to stop the bleeding for now. They will take care of the rest once they retreat.

"Why am I doing this?" Y/n muttered to herself, not sure why she would risk her life to save someone she barely talks to.

"Thanks, Voland." Erwin thanked her, standing up himself. Y/n assisted him and he called his own horse while Y/n called her own.

The two of them part ways as Y/n noticed Armin heading towards Reiner, Bertholt, and Eren.

Armin approached Bertholdt, wondering to himself what he must sacrifice to resolve the situation.

Recalling Bertholdt's affection for Annie, Armin formulated a cruel bluff to get him to snap.

"Are you two just gonna leave like this? You're fine with leaving your teammate behind?" Armin asked, making Reiner and Bertholdt rethink their actions.

"You're abandoning Annie?" Armin questioned the Warriors if they are willing to abandon Annie Leonhart.

Armin claimed that Annie has been taken to Utopia District in the far north to be tortured.

He pried further, claiming that Annie is enduring every kind of suffering imaginable since her capture.

"You spawn of the devil! I'm going to murder you!" Bertholdt snapped and that was Y/n's cue to head in.

"Thanks, Armin!" Y/n shouted, maneuvering past the Titans with her blades ready to strike.

She managed to slice his chest, creating a deep wound that will probably take a while to heal, even with his Titan powers.

Y/n also managed to cut a part of his face. As she was about to deal the finishing blow, she spotted Erwin.

She paused and allowed Erwin to cut loose of Eren's bonds that tied him to Bertholdt's body.

Mikasa grabs ahold of the falling young man, who couldn't save himself since he was all tied up.

As soon as Eren is rescued, their Commander immediately announces a retreat since they have accomplished their goal.

"Y/n!" Armin grabs Y/n, who was getting ready to deliver another blow at Bertholdt since Erwin was not in the way anymore.

He grabs Y/n by her waist and carries her to his horse. Y/n stared at the Armored Titan and Bertholdt.

She shook her head and snaps out of it and forces herself to come to her senses and focus on what's happening right now.

Suddenly, a Titan soaring overhead crashes ahead of the Scouts. The ground shakes as the bodies land on the ground.

In the distance, Reiner throws Titans at the soldiers as a last resort attack, and Eren and Mikasa are dismounted in the chaos.

Mikasa attempts to stand, but her injury, which is her crushed ribs, is worsened by the sudden attack.

In the distance, a Titan advances through the clouds of dust, and Eren recognizes it as the same Titan which killed his mother 5 years ago.

"Girlie's smiling like some Titan." Y/n scoffed.

"Well, uh, she is a Titan." Armin pointed out.

"Oh...right." Y/n sweatdropped.

Ymir brawls with the Titans. The commander is dismounted when she attacks a Titan pursuing him.

Erwin's Scouts attempt to defend him, though Erwin places Eren's life above his own for the sake of the mission.

Scouts continue to defend Erwin as the Armored Titan throws more Titans, dismounting Y/n from her horse.

(A/N: Shhhh, let's pretend Jean is working with some other people.)

"Y/n! Are you okay?!" Armin jumped off his horse and ran to Y/n, who attempted to stand up.

"I'm okay. I just need to get rid of these Titans and we'll be fine. Give me...a few minutes." Y/n requested before standing up.

"Stop lying to me and yourself! You're obviously not okay!" Armin argued, finally saying something about Y/n's constant lying.

"You got me...Armin." Y/n sighed, her legs giving out. She had fought in this expedition a little too much.

She had been fighting a bit too much than what she had been allowed to. She had been fighting and lying to herself that she wasn't tired.

Armin comes to her side, carrying her away from the battle since he wasn't the best when it comes to fighting the Titans.

The only reason he even managed to graduate from the Training Corps was because he excelled in Academics.

Eren desperately attempted to trigger his transformation while the Titans devour the Scouts, and Hannes nearly gains the upper hand over the smiling Titan.

Suddenly, the Titan catches Hannes in its grip, and Eren and Mikasa are unable to stop it as it brings Hannes to its mouth, biting him in half.

Armin, who saw the scene, is powerless when it comes to fighting against Titans.

Mikasa, who saw the scene, is unable to fight due to her crushed ribs from being gripped by a Titan's hand.

Eren, who saw the scene, is not able to turn into a Titan just in time to attack the Smiling Titan that had murdered both his mom and now...Hannes.

Y/n, who saw the scene, is currently unable to move due to her numb legs and exhaustion.

They all watched in horror as Hannes gives them one final smile before getting eaten by the Smiling Titan.

Eren collapses in anguish, laughing and screaming hysterically at his inability to prevent the tragedies around him.

"N-No..." Y/n stammered, staring as the Smiling Titan just grinned at Eren and Mikasa as if she didn't eat someone they have been with since childhood.

"Armin...let me go." Y/n demanded, trying to escape his grasp. If her legs weren't numb, she would've saved him.

"Y-You'll get eaten if you go out there, Y/n! You can't!" Armin strengthened his grip around her.

"I haven't changed a darn bit...why am I so weak?" Y/n whimpered, her body gave up on her.

"I've rested enough. This is annoying as heck. Why am I so sleepy? Why am I always tired?" Y/n stammered.

"Why am I...like this?" she sighed. She was planning to give in to the darkness waiting for her, but the voice in her head said otherwise.

Y/n escaped his grasp, making Armin stumble backward. She held the blades tightly and glared at the Titan trying to reach them.

"Y/n, you can't! Your legs can't even move! How do you expect to fight that Titan?!" Armin yelled.

"I don't need them...so run, Armin. The Titans are coming this way, so run while I distract them." Y/n ordered, standing up.

Yes, her legs were numb, but she can use them. Y/n can't fully control her legs, but she can move them, at the very least.

She attached herself to the Titan's head. Just as the Titan was about to grab her, she bent her body so that the Titan would just grab the air.

The Titan's other hand reached in to grab her, but she avoided it once again and stepped on the arm.

She ran towards the nape via the arm of the Titan but just as she was about to cut the nape off, the Titan turned around and started running.

The other Titans nearby redirected their attention from the Scouts to the Smiling Titan, charging and swarming it before tearing its body to pieces.

Y/n slipped, unattaching her ODM gear, due to the sudden movement of the Titan and its change of direction.

"Y/n!" Armin caught her before her body would make contact with the ground.

She fell and her body was now in the arms of Armin, who just gave her an awkward smile.

"Are you okay, Y/n?" Armin asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay, just slipped. Thanks." she thanked the young man. Arlert puts her down and calls for his horse.

"Why did I..." Y/n mumbled before shaking her head. She thought thinking of it is meaningless.

The Titans, devouring the Smiling Titan, turned their attention to Reiner and Bertholdt, charging towards them.

"Get on." Y/n ordered, gesturing to the horse behind Armin and her. They brought a horse for Eren and Mikasa.

Commander Erwin orders for a full retreat, telling them that they should not let this chance slip away.

As the Titans rush Reiner, Bertholdt cries out in fear as he is unable to defend himself. Ymir hears his cries and stops to look back.

Turning to Historia, she gently caresses her hair and apologizes before running for Reiner and Bertholdt.

As Historia looks on in confusion, Conny turns her away to join in the retreat.

Meanwhile, Ymir aids Reiner in fending off the Titans, and the two Warriors are shocked by her sudden change of mind.

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𝚈/𝚗'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

"I still don't understand why Ymir stayed behind, but the Armored Titan stopped chasing us after that." Armin pondered, taking a seat in the chair.

Right now, we are discussing about the current events in my room. Every night, he would come to check on me and my condition.

Sometimes, when I fall asleep and I obviously can't have a conversation with him, he would leave one of his used jackets for me.

When I wake up, I would often find myself hugging his jacket, allowing his scent to linger in my room.

Of course, Mikasa and Eren would pay me a visit at times to check up on me and my current condition.

Not that my condition is life-threatening, since even the most experienced doctors have no idea on what it may be.

They said that it might be some muscle pain due to overworking myself. Some say that it's Leukemia.

But I don't think it's any of those, because one symptom contrasts the other symptoms.

Mikasa would sometimes sleep next to me since we liked to have sleepovers back in the days and we have grown used to it.

Eren would just pull a chair and sit there and talk about how much he's going to make the Titans pay for everything they've done.

Then after an hour of his rambling, he would act like a drunk person once he's tired, but he just refuses to fall asleep so he ends up slurring his words while punching the air and flexing the new moves he came up with.

When he does fall asleep, he is the loudest snorer ever. I barely get any sleep when he visits me.

At times, both Mikasa and Eren come over and Mikasa and I can't sleep due to Eren's constant rambling and deafening snoring.

"Did you hear Eren? Like before they started devouring the Smiling Titan and before they charged at the Armored Titan and Colossal Titan?" I asked.

"No, did Eren say anything before it? How is he involved in this?" Armin questioned, scratching his cheek.

"He yelled at the Smiling Titan and the other two. Then, they started charging at them." I elaborated.

"Do you think...it's possible that he controlled the Titans and they were affected by his emotions?" I guessed.

"I can't deny the possibility, though. Maybe it's another one of his Titan powers. Isn't it similar to the Female Titan's power?" he reminded.

"No, wait, but the Female Titan was a Titan at that time. Eren was still in his human form, and yet, they still attacked." I argued.

"Maybe Eren has some new Titan powers that are a bit different from Annie's?" Armin suggested.

"Well, it is possible. The Titans did react when he yelled at them." I recalled.

"Hey, Armin. Did you feel that earlier when he yelled?" I inquired.

"Huh? No, why?" he answered. I shook my head, telling him that it was nothing and just for fun.

"Did you hear about the situation and what happened to the refugees of Wall Rose?" Armin asked. I shook my head in reply.

"When the possibility of a breach in Wall Rose was reported, everyone within the wall was forced to take refuge in an underground city beneath Wall Sina." he mentioned.

"Oh, yeah. Unfortunately, the food stockpiled within the city would feed the refugees for more than a week." I sighed.

"Yeah...after that, people would have inevitably turned to stealing and killing to survive." he added.

"Because the authorities wanted to prevent this kind of scenario from happening, Wall Rose was declared safe after one week." I informed.

"Although it's dangerous and I'm sure not many will trust it, they didn't get much of a choice." he rested his head on the table.

"How are you feeling? Are your bruises going away? Wait a minute, where's that injury on your head?" Armin stood up and approached me.

"Injury? I don't remember receiving one. Are you sure I hit my head?" I doubted him.

"Yeah, I saw it with my own two eyes. You rolled off your horse and hit your back and head." he justified.

"That's weird. It sounds familiar but there's no injury at all. Maybe you got my symptoms and started hallucinating as well." I joked.

"I've been spending so much time with you that even I got your symptoms." he joked along.

Oh snap...are my symptoms actually contagious?

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"Just because I got kidnapped, the Survey Corps lost more than half of their veteran soldiers. They died trying to rescue me." Eren stared at the ground.

Armin informs Eren that Armin and I believe that Eren could be the only one responsible for the sudden power which made the Titans obey his will.

"We're still not sure about it, but there's no other explanation." I reminded him.

I don't want him thinking that he actually has that power because we are basing this on theories and what we've seen so far.

Eren still doesn't seem to feel encouraged and he feels like a complete fool for allowing many to perish just because he got kidnapped.

" 'There is no future in which humanity can inhabit these lands without Eren. Recover Eren and immediately retreat.', is what Commander Erwin said." I mentioned.

"Without you, we wouldn't have been able to take back Trost District. Those who died didn't die in vain." I stated.

"So stop punching yourself and be a man already. Their sacrifices were all worth it if you do your duty." I flicked his forward.

"H-Hey! What was that for?!" Eren rubbed his forehead that had turned red after I flicked it.

"Y/n is right, Eren. Those people didn't sacrifice themselves so that you would doubt your abilities." Mikasa agreed.

"I agree. You have to show them that what you do is worth the sacrifices." Armin encouraged.

"Yeah, you're all absolutely right. I have to keep going. I'll control the Titans. I'll plug up Wall Maria. I'll capture Reiner and beat some sense into him." Eren declared.

"That's the bare minimum of what I need to do to make up for all those lives." he clenched his fist.

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