Back in the ruins of Ragako Village, Moblit and other Scouts were looking everywhere for any signs of any blood or remains among the village.
"It's like the report said," spoke Moblit. "The entire village is devastated, and yet there's not a single drop of blood, let alone any bodies here."
"Then... the villagers of Ragako were able to safely evacuate?" wondered a Scout.
"If that's the case, then the Titans were having a field day in a completely empty village," stated Moblit. "That's hard to believe."
Moblit started walking to the stable, which all the horses were stationed and were alive.
"Furthermore... why would they evacuate without even taking a single horse?" he wondered.
"Then what happened?" wondered the Scout. "What could this mean?"
"Moblit, I found one!" shouted another Scout running up. "This way!"
Moblit and the group of Scout walked up to the Titan with small limbs and was on top of Conny's house.
"There you are..." muttered Moblit.
"Moblit look at this," said a Scout, handing him the portrait of Conny's parents.
"This is a portrait of Conny Springer's parents?" asked Moblit.
"It's a strong possibility," said the Scout.
As they observed the portrait, the Titan moved its eyes, scaring the Scouts. The Titan tried to move, but the small limbs prevent it from moving.
"Kill it!" shouted a Scout, drawing his sword.
"Wait! Hold up!" ordered Moblit.
The Titan tried to stand up, but fell back on top of roof. While the Titan was stationary, Moblit picked up the portrait from the ground and flipped it over, and started closely observed the picture to the Titan. As Moblit closely observed the picture, he was stunned to realize that the Titan atop the ruins bears exact resemblance to Conny's mother.
"Unbelievable..." he muttered.
"Will it be your petty life... or Christa's future?" asked Reiner. "It's up to you to decide."
"Hey, say something!" demanded Eren. "Who's the enemy?!"
Reiner, Bertholdt, and Ymir remained silent. Then, Ymir looked at Eren.
"Who knows," she replied.
"It's settled then," said Reiner. "Too bad, Eren."
Bertholdt jumped down to the branch that Reiner was standing. As they were getting ready to take Eren and Ymir, both of them heard a shot in the distance. Reiner and Bertholdt looked to their right and spotted three green signal flares on the horizon. As the smoke signals flew up in the air, the two warriors knew who was coming.
"You're kidding," thought Bertholdt. "The Scouts... are already..."
"Dammit!" hissed Reiner.
"Reiner, what are you right now?" asked Bertholdt.
"Relax, I'm a warrior," assured Reiner.
"You're saying to trust Ymir as a warrior?" asked Bertholdt. "Isn't she the one who ate Marcel?"
"Yeah, that's my point," stated Reiner. "Ymir's motive is clear. Once she turned human again, she probably roamed around and lived only caring about herself. Until she met Christa. And as cute as Christa is, we have other reasons to bring her to our side. She's an important person in a family of the Church. If Eren turns out not to be the Coordinate, our job isn't over yet. Having Christa with us at that point will make our search much easier."
Bertholdt nodded and then saw three red smoke signals and one green smoke signal in the distance.
"They're close," said Bertholdt.
"What are they talking about?" wondered Eren. "Are they planning to leave before the sun sets?"
"Let's bring an end to it," declared Bertholdt. "The next time we come here, we can take Annie, Christa, and that back home. That way we won't have to come back."
"Right," said Reiner. "And our mission will be over. But as for you... When you get to our hometown, tell Annie how you feel."
"Wh-What do you mean?!" asked Bertholdt, blushing.
"You stare too much," stated Reiner. "Enough that everyone can tell."
"B-B-But," stuttered Bertholdt.
"You should go for it," suggested Reiner. "You're both murderers with short lives ahead. Who better to understand what we've gone through than one of us?"
Reiner leaped off his branch, launching a hook into the trunk of the tree Eren stood on right above his head. Reiner reeled himself towards the bark and pushed off landing on the branch right in front of Eren. As Reiner approached him, Eren backed himself into the tree.
"What's going on, Reiner?" asked Eren. "Aren't we going to wait until night?"
"Nope, we're leaving now," answered Reiner. "Eren, don't try to resist.
"Come on, don't get violent with me," Eren chuckled. "Look at the shape that I'm in. Does it look like I can resist? Please, have me a break."
Eren started to back up, then in a flash, Eren charged knocking him down to his back. Before Reiner could get back up, Eren fell upon him and started to punch Reiner viciously with his stubs on his arms. Eren kept on punching Reiner in the face.
"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!" shouted Eren with each strike.
Reiner tucked his leg underneath Eren’s stomach, allowing him to push off with his foot and throw Eren into the tree, crumpling Eren into submission. Eren tried to stand up, but Reiner quickly crawled on top of him and put his neck and right arm into a headlock, restricting Eren’s movements as he tried to squirm free.
"I'll kill you!" wheezed Eren. "I'll fucking slaughter you!"
As Reiner tried to hold Eren down, Bertholdt leaped off from the branch he was on and landed next to Ymir.
"Hey," called Ymir. "Why are we leaving already?"
'Ymir," spoke Bertholdt. "When you turned back into a human, do you remember the person you ate?"
"No, I don't remember," answered Ymir. "But if it were five years ago... Was it one of your comrades?"
Bertholdt's silence seemed to be the only answer Ymir needed, although Eren’s grunting seemed to add to the feeling of anguish the Bertholdt must have felt then.
"I see," said Ymir. "Sorry... for not even remembering."
Eren tried to squirm around to get free, but Reiner's grip tightened. Eren desperately bit his stubs on his arm, but no light emitted from him. While Bertholdt and Ymir looked at them with wary eyes, they were both surprised and partially relieved to see that Eren still couldn't transform. Reiner tightened his grip on Eren’s neck was too much to the point where Eren’s vision became hazy and his consciousness started fading .
"It's not your fault for forgetting," Bertholdt accepted. "It was the same for us, too."
"I see," said Ymir.
"Eren doesn't seem to remember either," stated Bertholdt.
"Is that how it works?" asked Ymir. "Do you resent me for it?"
"I'm not sure," replied Bertholdt. "You probably didn't want to eat a human either."
Eren had enough consciousness to hear the last bit of Bertholdt and Ymir's conversation.
"How long were you wondering outside the walls for?" asked Bertholdt.
"About 60 years," answered Ymir. "It was like... I was stuck in a nightmare that would never end."
As the conversation had finished, Eren started to slip into unconsciousness .
Back at the open field, a Scout in the front line had encountered a Titan and fired a red smoke signal in the air. In Erwin's position, a Scout saw a red smoke signal in the distance.
"A red smoke signal," spotted the Scout.
Erwin responded by firing a green smoke signal in the air. Just as Erwin fired the green smoke signal, two red smoke signals were fired in the air in front of them.
"Commander!" called Peer. "We're surrounding!"
"There's a way around!" informed the Scout. "Should we head towards it?"
Then, Erwin looked up to see two more red smoke signals in the air.
"No," objected Erwin. "Any detours and we'll be too late. We'll force our way through! All soldiers, prepare for battle!"
Back in the forest, Reiner had Eren strapped to his back, his hands were tied to his back, and was gagged. Ymir was on Bertholdt's back and was looking back. The two warriors were quickly zipping through the forest to get away of the incoming Titans.
"For now, let's get a place without Titans!" shouted Reiner. "We need to get as far as possible! My Titan form isn't that fast! If I get surrounded, I won't be able to protect you guys!"
"Then, why didn't we wait until nightfall?!" asked Ymir.
Ymir looked behind and saw a green smoke signal close to them.
"Smoke signals? Did the Scouts come to rescue us?!" asked Ymir.
"Unless they brought loads of horses over the wall, that scouting formation won't work" said Reiner. "Some one made that call... I didn't think it would happen so soon. It must be Commander Erwin. A tough opponent!"
Then, another green smoke signal was fired into the air, now just meters away from them.
"Shit... There already that close?" wondered Reiner. "It's Eren's fault for going berserk."
As the two warriors zipped through the forest, Ymir feels a strong intuition that Christa is with the Scouts approaching them.
"It can't be," she thought. "She's... No, she is!"
"Reiner!" called Ymir. "Christa's here! Christa came with them!"
“Huh?” Reiner shouted, turning back for a moment.
"If you want her, now's the chance!" shouted Ymir.
"How do you know?!" asked Reiner. "You can't see her from here!"
"I just know it!" shouted Ymir. "She's such a good-natured, it's stupid! I guarantee she came to save me! I know it!"
"Even if that's true, it's no use!" shouted Reiner. "We'll do it later!"
"Huh?!" Ymir shouted.
"Our chance of succeeding is way too low!" stated Reiner. "How will you get Christa out of that formation? Wait for a chance!"
"Wait for a chance?" asked Ymir. "Seriously? Will that be after I'm eaten by one of your warriors? No! I don't trust you!"
"Trust me!" objected Reiner. "Christa is indispensable to us, too!"
"Then get her now!" shouted Ymir. "Go prove it to me this instant! It has to be now or never! I want to see her right now! At this rate... I'll never get a chance... to see her again."
Bertholdt couldn’t help but notice Ymir’s voice as it began to sadly waver.
"It's impossible," said Bertholdt. "I'm sorry, Ymir. We don't even know if we can escape ourselves, let alone go back for her."
"I promise," assured Reiner, zipped off. "If anyone, it's Christa I want to save from this conflict! You have to trust us! So just bear it with it! This is for Christa's sake! Got it, Ymir?!"
"Is it... really for Christa's sake?" asked Ymir.
"Yeah!" answered Reiner.
"Fine," hissed Ymir.
"Thank you," said Bertholdt.
As the two warriors continued to zip through the forest, Ymir starts to remember the days when she was just a child in rags.
"It's happening again, I've come so far... done so much," she thought "And still wound up falling for my own bullshit."
780
"Hey... Here's a promising one," said a man, holding a lamp.
The man shined the light at a couple of kids in rags and were homeless in a village. One of the children was a young Ymir. The man shined the light at the young Ymir.
"How's this kid?" asked the man.
"Yeah," nodded the other man.
"Hey, you there," spoke the man. "You're going to come live with us from now on. You'll be able to live a brand-new life now. A brand-new life... needs a brand-new name."
The man took Ymir's hand and started to walk away. As they walked, Ymir looked back at the other kids, who were waving at her.
"That day... was the time I lied to myself. From that point on, I convinced myself... that I never had a choice. But..."
Then, Ymir was taken into a cult and was introduced to the followers, and was sitting in a tall wooden throne.
"This is Lady Ymir who inherits the blood of the king," introduced the man. "As long as Lady Ymir is with us, we will be blessed with immortality."
The followers clapped as they were introduced to Ymir. The young Ymir had a smile on her face, as she felt like she was important to the them.
"To be honest... it wasn't all that bad. My food wasn't cold anymore... And neither was my bed off the ground. But more than all... was the feeling of bring needed by someone."
For a couple of years, the cult would bow down and worship Ymir, sitting on her wooden throne, wearing a white dress, and looking at all the followers bowing down to her.
"I served a purpose in someone's life for the first time ever. To me, that was more precious than anything else. But then, one day..."
Then, a squad of authorities kicked down the door to cult. The authorities proceed to arrest them all.
"It's her!" shouted the leader. "She's the one who did it! She told us she has the blood of the king! All we did was believe her!"
The leader was then silence by a gun shot to the head. The leader's body fell to the ground as blood started to pour out of his head.
"I was cruelly reminded that everything in my life... was a lie."
The authority then point his musket at Ymir's face.
"Is that right?" he asked.
Ymir looked at all the cultists, who all had their hands up. One of them was a female, who shook her head, signaling her to say no. Then, Ymir placed her right hand over her chest.
"It's true," said Ymir. "I am Ymir! The blood of the king runs through me!"
Everyone was horrified at the answer.
"And once again... I told more lies. If that's what it took to save everyone else... However, things didn't work that way."
As the arrested cultists were brought through the streets and stoned by the onlookers. Ymir looked at the angry onlookers with blood running down her head. The arrested cultists were then brought to a remote borderline. The female cultist screamed as she was then injected by a syringe and kicked off. Ymir watched as a light enveloped the cultist.
"Stop... Please, stop," begged Ymir. "I'm begging you!"
Then, the authority injected Ymir with the syringe and was kicked off. As Ymir fell to the ground, the last thing she saw was a bright light enveloping her.
That's when I knew... This was my punishment."
Ymir had spent most of her life as a mindless Titan, roaming around the lands all day.
"It's not that I was being punished for deceiving all those people. It was convincing myself to believe... to feel needed by someone. It's what i deserved for continuing to lie to myself. This was my punishment."
Ymir's mindless Titan then rested in the earth which settled over her as the decades passed by.
845
One day, Ymir's rest was disturbed as a camp was set up near her. A young Annie, Bertholdt, Reiner, and Marcel heard the earth crumbling. They all saw was a Titan.
"It's a Titan!" shouted Marcel. "Run!"
Ymir's Titan leaped towards Reiner, but Marcel pushed Reiner out of the way, causing him to be grabbed. Ymir's Titan opened her mouth up and with a loud crunch, Marcel was then devoured. In the night, Ymir's eyes shot open and looked up at the cloudless night sky. Tears started to wield up in Ymir's eyes, and to laugh as she was finally free from the hell she was in.
"When I opened my eyes... what I saw was freedom spread out before me. If there was such a thing as fate, I can only laugh at how fickle it can be. And in that moment... I made a promise to myself. I was done telling lies."
Ymir then started to do everything to survive, from stealing from markets and doing what little she had in her pocket.
"I wasn't going to tell anymore lies to myself anymore. From then on, I'd live honest to myself."
Ymir then remembers the time where she sneaked into a church and heard two pastors talking.
"So? Where ever happened with that?" asked a pastor.
"She was given the name Christa Lenz and sent off to become a cadet," answered the other pastor.
"What a pity," said the pastor. "She would have been better off not being born at all."
847
Later in the years, Ymir remembers the first time she met Christa during their cadet training.
"Are you talking about me?" asked Eren.
"Come on, now," said Jean, getting up. "It makes no difference to me.
As Ymir watch Eren and Jean bickering, she then saw Christa sneaking a piece of bread in her pouch.
"And then..."
"Hey you!" called Ymir. "So you're trying to do something "nice," huh?"
Sasha started to gobble down the bread fast.
"Uh..." stammered Christa.
"And then I met you. I could tell right away... that you were the same as me... That you fed yourself lies..."
850
"Give your hearts!" shouted Erwin, saluting
"Yes, sir!" shouted the cadets, saluting back.
"That you were someone desperately trying to convince yourself. But you know, Christa... That's why... I won't ask you to understand."
"Just that... that you give me one last time... to be honest with myself.
"I'm sorry," spoke Ymir. "In this environment, I'm the strongest one here."
As the two warriors zipped through the forest, Reiner heard a noise coming from the back. He looked back to see Ymir covering Bertholdt's right eyes and interfering with Bertholdt's maneuvering.
"Quit it, Ymir!" shouted Bertholdt.
"Don't you think a forest like this is where I can shine the most?" asked Ymir.
Bertholdt looked in front him and saw himself zipping into a tree, causing him to unlatch his hook and spin around. Bertholdt quickly launch a hook to a nearby tree, nearly avoiding the ground.
"Ymir! Stop!" demanded Bertholdt. "We'll fall!"
"Do you think I care?' asked Ymir. "If I become a Titan, I might be powerless compare to you. i could snatch Eren away from you and go back meet up with the Scouts... and probably succeed."
Both Bertholdt and Reiner landed on the side of a nearby tree.
"If you don't agree to take Christa with you right now, I'll get in your way and fight you all here," warned Ymir.
"What are you saying?!" asked Reiner. "Don't you care what happens to her?! We can't help her that way."
"Yeah, that's fine," said Ymir. "Even if it means taking her future away, i'll do what it takes to live and meet her. I might be the shittiest person there was. You guys don't know what it's like. She knows how awful I am yet she smiles at me... that girl."
"You," hissed Reiner.
"Don't be mad at me. I have a plan for it," assured Ymir. "If I stay here and fight, it should be easier for you escaping anyways! Or will you rather stay and kill each other. Do you want me to prove how crazy I am?!
Reiner grit his teeth as he looked at Ymir’s hostile eyes. If Reiner had any chance of escape, he would have to lose this time.
Back at edge of the forest, the pursuing soldiers finally reach the outskirts of the forest. As they were about to enter the forest, a lightning bolt struck down in the middle of the forest. Mikasa then spotted a light inside the forest.
"A light?" spoke Armin. "Straight ahead in the forest! I saw a light! It's the light that appears when a Titan transforms!"
"It must be Reiner or Ymir!" shouted Indigo Zap. "One of them must've transformed!"
"Then we're just in time," said Erwin. "Soldiers, disperse! We believe the enemy has already transformed! Locate Eren and recover him!"
The military started to split into two different groups, one going to the left and to the right. The Titans that were on the forest edge, were starting to chase the soldier. One Titan grabbed an MP, on his horse. The MP screamed as his upper half of his body was devoured, pouring blood.
"Whose idea was to bring a bunch of newbies to the field?!" asked Sour Sweet.
"Who do you think?!" asked Lemon Zest.
"Another one of the Police!" called Jean.
"Battle is not our objective!" shouted Erwin. "Prioritize recovery and retreat!"
Once the Titans were distracted the soldiers started to enter the forest from the sides or center.
"Phil! Around up the horses!" called Hannes.
"Yes, sir!" shouted Phil.
Hannes then launched a hook to a nearby tree and flew up and zipped through the forest. Mikasa, Armin, Rainbow Dash, Indigo Zap, Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, and Starlight Glimmer followed Hannes.
"First thing is to find the enemy and let the others know!" shouted Hannes. "They should be fleeing the forest! Break!"
Mikasa, Armin, Rainbow Dash, Indigo Zap, Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, and Starlight Glimmer had split up and were zipping through the forest.
"Eren," thought Mikasa.
"Dude," thought Rainbow Dash.
"Where are you?!" wondered Armin.
Then, all of them heard a loud and savage roar in the distance. Armin, Starlight, and Sunset landed on the side of a tree, while Mikasa, Indigo Zap, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash zipped passed Armin.
"What was that?" asked Starlight.
"I don't know it must be one of them," suggested Sunset.
"Is that the scream of a Titan?" asked a Scout.
"It came from ahead!" shouted another Scout.
“I spy with my little eye,” chanted Pinkie Pie loudly. “Something that looks like… a chimpanzee!”
"A what?" asked Conny.
Conny looked in front, and sure enough, in front of them, Ymir's Titan was hanging on to a branch of a tree with its feet firmly against the side like a chimpanzee. Ymir's Titan standing still, as her eyes scanned the area around.
"You can't hide from me!" shouted a Scout, drawing out a pair of blades.
"Wait!" shouted Conny, landing next to Ymir's Titan. "This is Ymir! She's the one they took! In Titan form!'
"Hey! Ymir!" called Pinkie Pie. "Why are you the only one here?!"
"Yeah!" shouted Conny. "Where's Eren?! What about Reiner and Bertholdt?!"
Jean, Mikasa, Armin, Sasha, Hannes, Twilight, Starlight, Sour Sweet, Pinkie Pie, Lemon Zest, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Sugarcoat, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Indigo Zap, Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sunny Flare landed on a nearby tree, and on a safe distance from Ymir's Titan.
"What is she doing, sis?" asked Apple Bloom.
"I don't know, sugar," answered Applejack. "Keep a safe distance from her."
"That's Ymir," said Armin.
"Did she transformed into a Titan and fight Reiner?!" asked Mikasa.
"Ymir?" asked Jean. "Did you get away from Reiner?! Where are they?!"
"Yeah, where are those two back-stabbing sons of bitches?!" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Tell us anything, Ymir!" shouted Sasha.
Ymir's Titan ignored the questions and pleads from them, she kept on looking around for a specific person.
"Say something already!" shouted Conny, swing up and landed on her head. "Hey, ugly! We're in a hurry!"
Conny repeatedly stomped on her head to get her attention, but she didn't say a word, but still kept a look out.
"Is she keeping an eye out for Reiner?" asked Armin.
"I highly doubt that," said Sugarcoat.
"Why?' asked Armin.
"Like I mean, something's not right, she's looking at us one by one," stated Sugarcoat.
"YMIR!!!" called Historia.
Ymir's Titan turned around and saw Historia zipping through the forest.
"Thank goodness, you're all right!" shouted Historia.
At the moment she saw Historia, Ymir’s titan pushed its feet off the tree, flying straight towards Historia with its mouth wide open. Historia, as well as the other soldiers around her, had no time to react as Ymir’s titan lunged at Historia while she flew into its mouth. With a closing of its mouth, Ymir’s titan swung around the nearest tree like a chimpanzee. Ymir's Titan hopped from tree to tree with great distance.
"No..." muttered Sasha.
"Holy shit..." muttered Scootaloo.
"She..." muttered Conny. "She ate Christa."
"I heard of getting close to friends but that in that way," said Sunset.
"Don't just stand here!" shouted Jean. "Chase her!"
Everyone pushed off their tree and started to zip through the forest, chasing Ymir's Titan.
"She's fast!" shouted Jean. "We're going to lose her!"
"Why did Ymir do that?!" asked Mikasa.
"I can't be the only one who couldn't guessed it would turn out this way!" shouted Jean.
"Or probably just to get close to her, she's also hanging out with Historia!" shouted Sunny Flare.
"Yeah!" shouted Armin. "She's clearly hostile to us now! Looks like she's cooperating with Reiner! She lured us right in!"
As Ymir's Titan continued to sing from tree to tree, Bertholdt and Reiner spotted her from above a tree. Now, Eren was now strapped to Bertholdt's back, while Reiner was holding the knife Ymir used.
"Here she come, Reiner!" called Bertholdt.
"Right," said Reiner.
Reiner turned around and leaped off the branch. Reiner held his hand upon the base of a blade sticking out of one of his sheaths. Halfway down, he sliced his hand open upon the blade, causing his body to glow yellow and burst with steam. With a bright beam of light shinning down, Reiner had transformed into the Armored Titan once again. With no time to lose, the Armored Titan started run away from the forest.
Bertholdt leaped off the branch and launched a hook, which grappled on to one of the Armored Titan's armored plate. Bertholdt landed on the left shoulder of the Armored Titan, while Ymir's Titan held on to the Armored Titan's right. The Armored Titan tried to maintain a safe speed for Bertholdt and Ymir's Titan to hold on. The others watched in disbelief as Eren is once again carried away by the warriors.
"Oh come, all this time and Eren was still getting carried away!" groaned Sour Sweet.
"Don't stop!" rallied Hannes. "Get on your horses and chase!"
Everyone got on their horses, now with full on anger and determination, what whatever it takes to get Eren back.
"I'm getting him back no matter what!" declared Hannes. "Even if it means trading my life for it!"