For every passing minute that ticked away, the buzzing pain began increasing, mimicking the feeling of thousand of needles penetrating your skin, one by one.

You didn't know how much longer you would be able to hold out. The blood flowed freely from everywhere on your body, coating it a crimson red.

You were a walking snack.

As you staggered through the city, the never-ending possibilities of your demise raced through your mind. Would you be able to make it? Was Eren really dead, or did your mind play a cruel trick on you?

Whatever the real answer was, you had to proceed.

The surroundings around you passed by like a blur as you stomped through the street. Suddenly, movement caught your eye, snapping your head to your left.

It was an 8-meter titan, beckoning its way further into a dead end.

Curiosity and fear hit your body full-force, feet beginning to run cold as your heart sped up.

As the beast proceeded to crawl towards something, moaning as its mouth bit for something.

You knew that someone was stranded in that alleyway. What if it was Eren, who was knocked out cold? Or worse...?

With that thought in mind, you decided to hop as quick as you could behind the titan, turning back just in time when it jerked its head towards your position.

It sniffed once, then turned back to whoever was, as you could clearly see now, sitting on the ground.

And you swore you could have thrown up right then and there.

"Mikasa," you choked out. What could you do?! You had to do something to get her out of this death-trap!

Your fingertips then brushed something hard and bumpy. You picked up the grey rock and swung it into the air once. Once you caught it again, you leaned your arm back as much as you could, desperate for the amount of power you would need to divert its attention.

But, before you had the chance to, a yell erupted, so loud that you dropped the rock and held your hands to your sensitive ears.

There's no way that could have been a titan.

Instinctively, you looked back towards where Mikasa was now standing on her own two feet, with a dull yet sharp sword clasped firmly between her hands in pure survival mode.

But that wasn't what made you gulp in fear, no.

It was the huge, muscly beast behind her that bolted towards her, screaming in such a strong voice that your ears rang.

But when it slammed its foot down beside Mikasa, instead opting for the way smaller titan that reached out for your friend, that's when you knew that a miracle had been sent.

You choked on air as you stared, wide-eyed at the big titan that was squishing the smaller one under its foot, crimson titan blood sputtering into the air, evaporating soon after.

"What is that," you gasped silently to yourself, your body bopping up and down as the titan shook the ground with its weight. The titan green eyes that it possessed reminded you of something.

Oddly.

While Mikasa was staring with horror-wide eyes, she something gripping her thin waist, as she was then hauled into the air and dumped onto a rooftop.

"Mikasa, are you okay?!"

Mikasa looked up, and she swore that it was like an angel had been sent from God himself. Armin kneeled down beside her, checking her condition as Connie, who stood beside them, scanned the area.

This was your chance.

With crushed lungs and heavy panting, you screamed out Armin's name.

Luckily, he heard you and had proceeded to heave you up onto the roof to temporary safety. The three of them discussed a plan to survive and had decided upon using the abnormal titan that had earlier rescued Mikasa.

"Lure it?" Connie asked, both intrigued and scared by this idiotic plan. "How would we even pull that off?!"

Armin stood still for a couple of seconds, arm around your shoulders securely as he thought up a plan. "I think it acts on instinct. If you two," he gestured with a nod to Mikasa and Connie. "defeat the titans in its vicinity, I'm sure it'll start looking for other titans. Most likely, it'll move towards the titans swarming the headquarters."

"Headquarters?" you wondered out loud. Had the titans already invaded the HQ? And so soon? You realized that this could become a problem, seeing as how you had little to no gas left and no blades left to use.

Armin nodded with a sigh.

Connie crossed his arms and looked towards the raging titan. "How can we pull off something based on a mere guess?"

"But if it does work, we could eliminate every titan at HQ in one move!"

It was Connie's turn to sigh as he pondered over the plan. To you, Armin and Mikasa, the plan was clear as day. "It's at least worth a shot," Mikasa butted in.

Connie turned to her with a gasp. "Are you serious?!"

"If we're facing certain death anyway, the path to take is the path with a chance of victory. Let's go with Armin's plan."

"You want to side with a titan to fight against titans?!"

"Yes," Mikasa nodded. "Precisely."

Connie let out a defeated grunt, picking up Armin in his arms, Mikasa following suit as she told you to hop onto her back.

"It won't even be funny if we fail," Connie dryly laughed. You could feel the terror in his heart all the way from where you stood. To be completely honest, your own heart was shaking with fear as well.

Mikasa dropped off the roof with you on her back, scouting for the remaining titans that the vicious titan had missed.

On a rooftop not far off stood a single cadet named Jean, terrified as he saw the titans feast upon the bones and meat from his comrades. As he saw one titan chew on a bone, he wondered; Am I really cut out for this? Can I handle a position with this much responsibility?

His gaze dropped as the titans ignored him and the cadets behind him.

Suddenly, his head snapped up.

No, wait! The titans are relatively concentrated around here. This is our chance!

Jean shifted his foot ever so slightly, rubbing it behind him as he got set into a 'go' position. The irony smell that lingered in the air almost made him gag, but it wouldn't be around for much longer.

"Go!" he suddenly yelled, desperate for the cadets to follow his footsteps as he ran away. "Hurry to HQ while you can!"

The cadets that had stood frozen behind Jean perked up, his sudden battle cry echoing in their ears.

"Everyone, move in!"

Jean led the small puddle of cadets over rooftop after rooftop, careful to look out for any hidden titans.

Mikasa and you was in the front, Connie and Armin not far behind.

Attaching her wire to the neck of an unsuspecting titan, Mikasa used the smallest portion of her gas, bringing herself and you down until you both sliced at the titan's neck simultaneously, resulting in blood spraying onto your clothes.

You looked back at the abnormal titan from before, observing it carefully. As it had had enough of wrestling with another titan, it grabbed its head and shoved it into a brick wall, punching the neck until its head got detached.

That titan would be the result of either your demise or your victory.

Jean, Marco, and the small group of cadets had dodged every titan that had lashed out at them on their way to HQ. Marco decided that this was the time he was gonna show his gratitude, for he might not be able to later.

And so he ran up to Jean, his blades ready just in case a titan should show up.

"Jean!" Marco said loudly, catching the brief attention from the temporary Cadet Squad leader. "Thanks. I only got out because of you."

Was he serious? Did Marco really run up to him in a time of crisis and death to say thank you? Jean hummed in confusion as he sped up.

"It's all thanks to you! I told you before, didn't I?" Marco grinned as Jean made a confused face, urging Marco to continue. "You're cut out to be a leader!"

Oh.

Jean grinned shortly before focusing on getting to HQ. He seriously didn't know if he was cut out to be a leader, but if Marco wanted to think he was, he would let him.

"The titan is close!" you yelled, tightening your hold around Mikasa's collarbones. "It's within a 10-meter radius, just keep going!"

You gulped as you noticed Mikasa shift uncomfortably. She was using up her gas way too fast. At this rate, you wouldn't make it to HQ.

"Calm down," you whispered in her ear, eyes never leaving the titan that followed you to HQ. You continued cooing into her ear as she visibly relaxed, her shoulders dropping.

"Hold on tight."

Before you could react, the world started spinning up and down, colors rolling around as if someone had thrown a rainbow into your face. It felt like hours had gone by before you almost flew off Mikasa's back.

Until she grabbed you at the last second.

Dammit, your concussion must be making things worse for you.

"Mikasa?! Y/N!"

As you slowly regained your conscious, you heard metal tapping and Connie beaming. "It's empty! We did it, we just barely made it!"

The world slowly came together like puzzle-pieces again. Mikasa grabbed your underarm and heaved you up. Suddenly you noticed the baffled boy that stood in front of you.

If you didn't have such a hard time breathing, you would have called him out for his horse-face.

"You're all... alive?" Jean gasped. He felt the stinging sensations in his face as he fought back his tears from relief.

It caught you completely off-guard, seeing Jean, the stuck up, prideful person almost breaking down. What had happened? Mikasa slung your arm over her shoulders as she gripped your waist, guiding you to a chair.

In the background, Connie was repeatedly clapping Armin on his back while praising him.

When Mikasa set you down in front of a few shocked cadets, you caught a brief glimpse.

A brief glimpse of the emerald eyes that stormed away from outside the building. Your eyes widened as your heart skipped a beat.

I know those eyes, you thought.

Faint noises of groans, moans, and limbs being torn off echoed outside the HQ and everyone knew that it was the rampaging titan doing its work.

"We found some!" Jean ejaculated. You turned your head to see him and Armin walking into the room with dusty boxes in each hand.

Curiosity took over as your inched closer towards them.

"They are Military Police supplies," Armin said when he noticed you staring at the box. "Though they are covered in dust."

"I have a plan," Armin informed once everyone was seated around him, focused on his next words, including you. You would have to partake in his plan, whether you liked it or not.

You listened to Armin as he rambled on with his plan.

"The 8 most physical strongest in here are Mikasa, Y/N, Reiner, Bertholdt, Sasha, Connie, Jean, and Annie. You 8 will be positioned in the hiding places in the supply depot, above the titans' eyesight. The rest of you, including me, will be taking the lift and the Military Guns. We'll be using them to blind the titans."

You nodded as Armin continued.

"When we fire the bullets, that's the signal. You 8 must jump down and slice their necks. Make sure it's about 1 meter in. Also..." Armin choked out, his gaze falling downwards. "I'm sorry. This was my plan, yet most of you'll have to shoulder everyone's lives."

Annie, a cadet known to be stoic and cold-blooded, stood up and scowled. "No matter what the risk, if someone fails, we all die."

Armin nodded and sighed, picking up a gun. "I know. Everyone, get your guns and get in the lift. The others follow me to the ceiling below. Make sure you got your blades."

You were all in position.

This plan scared you to almost death. Here you were, seated in the ceiling as titans roamed below you. One look up would be all it took for the moaning to start.

You had to do this. You needed to succeed.

Unconsciously, your hands gripped your blades tighter and tighter, waiting for the signal from Armin.

The lift which had the remaining cadets in it lowered down into the death-trap. 10 seconds.

You watched in frozen disbelief as the titan that had stood below you suddenly took a step towards the lift, where every frozen cadet stood with their guns out.

As you looked around, you found several titans stomping slowly towards what could be their next meal if this plan fails. 8 seconds.

You caught Armin's eyes for a second. You saw the mixed emotions lighting up his eyes. Fear, despair, regret, pride and most importantly;

Determination.

He flicked his eyes back to the titan that stood directly in front of him, and it took every ounce of strength in him to not yelp. The short sight with you was all he needed to get that extra mile of determination. 5 seconds.

"Ready..."

The titans drew so near that their eyes were almost poking the barrel of the guns, giving everyone a perfect opportunity. 2 seconds.

Armin swallowed thickly and shouted; "FIRE!"

Shots echoed in the supply depot, evaporating blood spraying everywhere as titans moaned and squeezed their eyes. That was your signal.

The 8 strongest cadets leaped off of the ceiling, crashing down onto the titans' necks. You stood for a moment on the wiggling titan's neck.

It was a 4-meter titan, and it stood directly in front of Armin.

"I'll exterminate them all..." You remembered Eren's words clear as day. They rang through your ears and buzzed your body.

"Every single fucking one of them!"

It was as if black abruptly took over your vision, and all you could see was red. All of a sudden, you were standing on your own two feet above a dismantled titan that was no longer grunting.

"Y-Y/N..."

Oh no.

Everything stopped and moved in slow-motion as you looked over your shoulder up into the lift, seeing the several terror-stricken faces of the cadets that stood inside it.

The worst one was Armin's, who was looking at you like you were a titan.

You sat in silence in the supply room, forehead pressed into the palms of your hands.

What had happened in there? All you remember was seeing Eren's face and then losing it. Next thing you knew, you were on top of a titan.

A pale hand squeezed your knee.

You looked up sluggishly at Armin, who was kneeling before you with sad eyes.

"Y/N," he spoke gently, folding his hands gently with yours. "Forget what happened in there. It was nothing serious."

You sighed pathetically at his words. You and him both knew you completely lost it, and if it wasn't for the others, you might as well have massacred every titan that stood in that room.

Armin engulfed you in a hug as you held your head in your hands. He felt the salty tears drip onto his pants, only encouraging him to hold you tighter,

For Armin, you were like a big sister for him, the sibling he never had.

You had so much in common with each other, that he couldn't help but feel the need to protect something that was almost a part of him, in a way.

That's why he became so deadly afraid in the supply depot when you had cut off every part of that titan's body. limb from limb.

Armin had guided you to the outside after having filled up your gas but had 'forgotten' to give you new blades.

That was a lie. He simply didn't trust you with them for the moment.

You had physically wrecked your body. You had a concussion and bleeding head, thousands of bruises and scabs littered your body, dried blood on your clothes.

Probably a few broken ribs as well.

"You really outdid yourself this time, Y/N," Armin half-chuckled half-scolded.

You smiled a little and shrugged, scanning the area. Everything had died down around.

Looks like the abnormal titan did its job.

Wait... speaking of the abnormal titan.

"Can you see it?" you wondered out loud to Armin, who looked at you confused before he realized what you meant. He, too, began looking around in order to spot the titan,

Armin managed to spot it at the side of HQ, but it was hard to tell. It had several titans swarming over it, biting and scratching at the flesh.

"It's over the╴"

"Armin," you interrupted. Armin felt you shuddering in his arms. He immediately turned to you, only to see you with wide eyes, nodding towards something.

He turned his head, and suddenly he understood why you had frozen.

The same titan that swallowed Thomas roamed around the area as it strolled around, possibly looking for its next meal.

Mikasa, who stood beside Reiner, didn't fail to notice the abnormal titan stirring, leaving her very confused and observant.

She watched with wide eyes as the titan yanked off the other titans, standing up despite having no arms at its side. With the force and sound like that of thunder, it stormed and stomped over to the titan that Y/N had spotted.

Before anyone could react, it dove down on the titan that ate Thomas, biting down with force like a rock onto its nape, holding it firmly. Everyone watched as it jerked its head up, ripping off the nape in the process.

Mikasa gawked at the scene that was unfolding in front of her very eyes, watching as the titan that was supposedly abnormal died, revealing the nasty secret that had been buried within in it.

Or rather, the miracle.

The fleshy nape split open on its own, revealing something that made all cadets' hearts stop, and their feet run cold.

Inside the titan, right at this moment while you watched, a person, a boy emerged from the nape, springing up like a flower going into summer.

Mikasa choked back a sob as she realized who it looked like.

Without hesitation, Mikasa swung down from the roof, ignoring the calling of her name. All she wanted to do was see for herself if it was her imagination... or maybe, reality.

She ran as fast as she could towards the titan, and the closer she got, the more she realized what was happening. The boy that was unconscious atop of the titan looked more and more like Eren upon further inspection.

The nearer she got, the more her heart rate picked up the speed.

Until she finally was able to wrap her arms around the torso of the boy.

And then Mikasa knew for sure...

it was Eren.

Mere seconds after Mikasa had Eren in her arms, she began bawling out loud for every cadet to hear. Armin had quickly convinced her to get to high ground to safety.

Now here you all were, gathered around a crying Mikasa as she refused to let anyone except you and Armin anywhere near him.

And as you sat there, relief washing over you like a waterfall, the sudden realization of reality stopped the euphoric feeling from progressing.

You let go of Mikasa and Eren, standing up and turning around to look over the burning and dead city that was once Trost.

You slapped your hand over your mouth. Titans, blood and tears sprawled over HQ.

You realized it like a slap to your face.

Eren did all of this.

We were happy that Eren had been given