A buzzing clamor of unrest was rippling across the crowd of soldiers from both Garrison and Training Corps near the southern inner gate of Wall Rose; just earlier that very morning, the colossal titan had appeared seemingly out of nowhere just as it did five years ago, kicked through the outer gate of Trost district, and puffed out in a heap of steam.

The colossal titan really said: "Hey guys, brought some titan friends for ya. Peace out!" and dipped.

Commander Pixis was now currently standing at the top of Wall Rose with the other Garrison soldiers who were stationed at the rim, readying themselves with the artillery in the case of the appearance of the armored titan. After the unexpected tragedy five years ago at Wall Maria, the military had formulated emergency plans should the same incident occur again, so everybody was now more alert compared to before.

What Pixis had not expected, was that a fresh graduate from the Training Corps, could in fact, turn into a titan.

Yes, you read that right. A human could transform into a titan. Such revelation was beyond their expectations.

Commander Pixis had received news from a messenger about how the said human-titan had appeared during the battle to defend Trost while evacuating the civilians, and that it had apparently assisted in preserving the other graduates' lives while they were fighting to replenish their gases.

Of course, Pixis had to see the human-titan for himself and rushed to meet the boy in question.

Now, he, along with the said human-who-could-turn-into-a-titan who went by the name Eren Jaeger, were standing at the top of Wall Rose along with the teenager's friends, a raven haired girl named Mikasa Ackerman and a blond boy named Armin Arlert, who had suggested an unconventional yet sort-of plausible plan to use Eren's titan and plug up the hole in Trost district.

Pixis did not waste time and called for his skilled troops up the wall to devise an on-the-spot emergency plan to retake Trost district.

While the squad leaders of the Garrison's 1st Division Elite Forces, Armin, and Mikasa were discussing the details of the plan, the old Commander and Eren stood atop the wall while surveying the disarray of soldiers down below, who were waiting for further orders.

After bellowing out a command to call for everyone's attention, Pixis proceeded to inform everybody about Eren Jaeger being the result of their titan experiments (a temporary cover up), before going to announce their plan to use his titan to plug the hole.

Just as Pixis expected, the soldiers did not take the news of the plan nicely.

Murmurs of skepticism and dissatisfaction ruptured throughout the soldiers below, and the Commander knew they were all doubtful of the credibility of the plan and its core component, Eren Jaeger.

For the colossal titan to appear in the same day our best soldiers embarked on an expedition.. what a stroke of bad luck, Pixis thought grimly, his thoughts going to the Survey Corps who had left for their 56th expedition beyond the walls earlier that very day, it's as if it had actually knew and planned for it..

As the soldiers of both Training Corps and Garrison began leaving their ranks and abandoning their duties, Commander Pixis breathed in and yelled in another loud bellow,

"Upon my order! Anyone who leaves right now will go unpunished!"

After his declaration, the other soldiers regarded their Commander with shock.

Pixis continued on to say that if one's fear of the titans had got to them, then they will never be able to stand against their enemies.

This was another reason why Pixis had utmost respect for the Survey Corps. Despite all the odds and defeat, they had never given up and continued to push forward.

"And!" he added, "Anyone who wishes for their loved ones to feel that same terror for themselves.. should leave as well!"

The soldiers who were already on their way to leave their duties promptly froze in their tracks, eyes trailing on the ground after the Commander's announcement as his words caused their minds to simultaneously flash images of their family and loved ones suffering the terror of the titans. Swallowing down the fear in their throat, the soldiers turned around and returned to their ranks, willing themselves to fight for the ones they loved.

Pixis stared down at the soldiers from the top, knowing how deeply his speech impacted them; because people always become braver and stronger when they had someone to protect.

He began to retell another disastrous tragedy that had occurred four years ago, the 'mission' to recapture Wall Maria, and how the whole of humanity, including him, was guilty for sending over twenty percent of the total population out the walls in a death sentence to save the rest.

Pixis recalled the meeting with the council and military heads; only him and the second-in-command of the Survey Corps had outwardly opposed the plan, but the heavy responsibility to prioritize the majority of humanity overrode their feelings in the end.

He hoped for the Scouts to return immediately from their expedition, realizing how much humanity needed them in that dire situation.

•

Beyond Wall Rose, in one of the ruins of the city towns in Wall Maria, the Survey Corps were battling against the titans.

Isanna grunted as she slivered through the nape of a fifteen-meter class, the steaming titan blood spurting out and landing on her face as she dropped to one of the rooftops just as the titan crashed on the ground where its other fallen friends laid. She flicked the blood from her blade and walked away, turning her head here and there, looking for more titans while scanning the condition of her comrades at the same time.

Hearing a disgruntled yell that was a mixture of pain and fury, she snapped her attention towards the direction and saw a soldier whose lower half of his body was in the mouth of a titan. He shouted something at the titan, and Isanna was about to go kill it and get him out when a figure flew past her, the wind ruffling her hair in a sharp whistle.

When she realized that it was Levi, she decided to leave the matter in his hands, ignoring the slight ache in her chest when she realized the soldier in the titan's mouth was beyond saving. She rounded her heel and hooked a line to the next building as she propelled her figure across the town of ruins.

There were fewer titans now, Isanna noticed, as she continued to soar towards a certain direction, passing by the occasional steaming titan corpse and fallen comrades. When her eyes landed on two blonds who were mounted on their horses and seemed to be discussing about something, she slowed down and landed on the ground with a small thump of her boot as her hooks zipped back inside her gear in a clatter.

"You boys look like you're holding in your shit," she remarked as she stalked towards them just as Erwin and Mike turned to her, "what's wrong?"

"We noticed the titans have begun to head due north," Erwin informed her, keeping a stern expression, "we have every right to believe something may have happened at Trost."

Isanna paused at his words, eyes briefly widening. That would explain why there were fewer titans in town compared to earlier. "You think the wall was breached?"

"Most likely."

With a curse and a click of her tongue, gruesome memories from the fall of Wall Maria replayed in the girl's mind. They couldn't afford for Wall Rose to be gone as well—humanity would be doomed to extinction.

Erwin ordered for her to fire up a flare signal ordering the retreat of the Scouts, to which she wordlessly nodded and obeyed, taking out a flare gun from her jacket and pointing its muzzle at the sky. As she pulled the trigger and a loud gunshot pierced through her eardrums, a colored trail of smoke went up shooting in a pillar.

Isanna walked towards Mike, who handed the reigns to her horse before she mounted herself.

"Where is Levi?" asked Erwin as their steeds began to canter down the streets of the ruins.

"Last time I saw him, he was at the western buildings," Isanna replied.

They followed Erwin through the town and in a few minutes, saw the Captain crouching at the ground beside a bloodied soldier while one of his members, Petra Ral, was at the other side.

Erwin ordered him to pull back to Wall Rose, while Levi looked confused and half pissed as to why they were suddenly retreating when they haven't even reached the supply point, adding that the soldiers who had died would have departed in vain because of it. After the Commander explained to him the reason for their sudden withdrawal, he finally understood why and begrudgingly stood up.

Isanna's eyes trailed at the soldier lying at the ground and recognized it was the man she had seen earlier. She mentally wished for him to rest in peace.

In a short while, Erwin had finally gathered the remaining Scouts and ordered their formation to head back to Trost district at full speed, horses neighing and wagons jerking over the rough terrain as clopping hooves galloped across the fields, leaving the ruins of the town behind them.

Isanna was riding behind to the Commander's right, her eyes steeled and focused ahead of her at the general direction where the outer wall of Trost district stood. She wished that all of this was just false speculation and that Wall Rose would be intact when they returned. Should humanity be pushed back to Wall Sina, even sacrificing twenty percent of their population would not be sufficient, and she absolutely did not want to relieve the unpleasant memories.

After what felt like endless riding, Isanna could finally make out the distant outline of the wall of Trost; the sun had already begun to set, the heavens painted in a calming color of red and orange while shadows of the soldiers accompanied their route.

As they got nearer and nearer, a distant clangor of rumble pounded throughout the air, and it sounded like it came from the direction of Trost. After straining her eyes hard enough, focusing at the spot where the gate of the district should be, Isanna saw it.

What should have been a gate was now plugged by a large boulder. She also caught a thin line of yellow smoke shooting upwards behind the wall.

"Commander!" Isanna yelled amidst the galloping hooves, and although the blond did not turn to her, she knew he was listening. "I don't know what the fuck is going on in Trost, but a boulder is barricading the gate! We can't pass through it!"

Erwin nodded at her information.

"All squads, scale the wall with your maneuvering gear!"

In about a minute, the Scouts had finally reached the wall and leaped off their rides, hooking their lines on the structure and climbing up the wall. Isanna and Levi were the first ones to reach the top, with Mike right behind them as the trio stepped forward and examined the carnage mess of the district before them.

Just as they had unfortunately expected, it seemed that the titans had managed to breach the walls again.

Isanna heard familiar thudding of footsteps below them and looked down, her eyes widening when she saw two titans that were lumbering at.. a steaming, fallen titan that was hunched over the boulder. That wasn't what caught her attention, but it was the small group of people below her.

"Levi, dispose those two," she ordered without tearing her attention at the four people. Judging by their uniforms, they were obviously soldiers.

The Captain didn't say anything else as he leaped down the wall and in a quick second, slayed the two titans without breaking a sweat.

Down below, Armin was handling an immobilized Eren whom a member of the Garrison's Elite Forces, Rico Brzenska, had cut him out of his titan nape. Following the success of their plan in plugging up the breach, their next task had been to recover Eren and retreat but could not make it in time because two titans came lugging behind them. Just when Armin looked behind him and momentarily felt a shiver run down his spine at the sight of the titans drawing closer, a blurry figure came flying down and killed them in one fell swoop; they were so fast Armin couldn't identify who it was.

He first thought it was Mikasa, but the girl himself landed beside him, her eyes widened in shock that were also staring at the new figure. As the three teens regarded the newcomer, their eyes finally landed on the all-too familiar Wings of Freedom crest behind the man's cloak.

"Brats," Levi started, peering over his shoulder, "what's the situation?"

The trio were still at a loss of words at the sudden appearance of Humanity's Strongest Soldier, Captain Levi, when another person swiftly dropped and landed in front of them, blocking their sight.

Isanna studied the trio with a scrutinizing gaze, recognizing the emblem of the Training Corps on their uniform and noting how the blond boy looked fairly familiar. "You kids have a lot of explaining to do. But first," she paused and flicked her chin upwards, "get to higher ground. Staying down here is suicide."

Her eyes went to the boy who was in the blond's arms, her brows knitting when she saw strange markings below his eyes and how his body was currently emitting steam. She offered to carry him back up when the dark-haired girl wearing a scarf said she could handle it, to which Isanna allowed her to.

As the trio scaled the wall with their 3DMG accompanied with another female soldier from the Garrison, Isanna turned around and surveyed the incoming titans coming from all sorts of direction, heading towards their direction with their usual stupid faces.

"You have plenty of time to play with these bastards later," Isanna told Levi as she shot a hook at the side of the wall, "for now, we need info on the situation."

She heard him click his tongue as he too hooked a line at the wall. Despite his sharp tongue (just like her), Levi wasn't one to go against orders.

"Playing with these shitheads is Shitty Glasses' style."

Isanna didn't reply as the both of them whizzed back upwards and scaled the wall, where the rest of the Survey Corps, some Garrison squads, and the trio of teenagers from the Training Corps were currently perched.

As the duo reached the top of the wall, Isanna saw that Hanji and Mike were currently assisting the trio while Erwin was listening to a rushed report of a Garrison soldier with dark blonde hair and a pair of glasses. Both Levi and her stalked nearer towards the small group and rejoined them.

"So what kind of fucked up mess happened while we were gone?" inquired Isanna as she crossed her arms and waited for someone to tell her.

Erwin turned to her and Levi, and Isanna couldn't help but notice his expression—like he was shocked, but willed himself to retain his calm composure, because gods forbid he show other kinds of emotion except his usual stoic.

As the Commander repeated what the Garrison soldier had told him, she finally understood what made him look so surprised as both she and Levi had a difficult time digesting the information.

While Levi stayed silent and allowed the news to settle inside him, Isanna was the one who spoke up first.

"The kid can turn into a titan?" She looked at Rico incredulously. "You sure you're not drunk?"

Rico nodded her head at the woman, recognizing that she was none other than the second-in-command of the Survey Corps, Isanna Herrmann. "Yes ma'am. We conducted an emergency plan and used his titan to plug up the breach in the gate."

She gulped, still having a hard time believing. "And it was a success."

As Rico's affirmation hung above the air, Erwin and Isanna stared at each other, waiting for the news to sink in.

Had Isanna not seen the fallen steaming titan below that was near the boulder, she would not have believed Rico's words. Looking over towards the teenager, whom she had heard was named Eren Jaeger, she finally realized the gravity of the new information.

Someone inside the walls had the ability to turn into a titan, and they had used that power to retake Trost.

As Erwin turned to the rest of the Scouts atop the wall and ordered them to clean up the rest of the titans inside the district, Isanna on the other hand, was still focusing her eyes on the trio, with Eren who had now lost consciousness and was currently being taken care of by whom she assumed were his friends.

Upon closer inspection, she recognized the blond boy with blue eyes. Armin, was it? That same boy whose grandfather was part of the fake mission to reclaim Wall Maria four years ago, and whom she shared a small encounter with.

Who would've thought we'd meet again under these circumstances?

While the news of a titan shifter was definitely beyond Isanna, and for anyone's comprehension for that matter, it didn't change the fact that Eren Jaeger had helped humanity claim its first ever victory against the titans.

The heavens have finally graced us with hope, she thought as she stared at the unconscious teen.

Perhaps this boy was their key to freedom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: hi guys author here and im expecting readers have either read/watched the canon series by now, so i wont hold back spoilers. i will combine both anime and manga as references, with some changes, and subplots :>

irrelevant info but i edited the ACWNR chapter bc i didnt like how i wrote erwin there and i thought about how the ova did his character dirty and portrayed him as this mean guy when in fact he showed more emotion in the manga so.. yeah. you dont have to reread tho lmao

i also made some small changes in their ages! in case yall curious, here are the current ages of the main cast in this fic:

mike: 36
erwin: 35
levi and isa: 34
hanji: 32
(bonus) nile: 35

we're now at the third and final season of this book! 😘

thank you so much for putting up with this book for this long! all the reads, votes and comments you give to this fic are my biggest form of motivation. whether you're a silent reader, active voter or active commenter, im so thankful! see you next chapter ♡