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A few hours later
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Emi hadn't bothered to go find her friends. They could wait in the cave, but she just wanted to be alone. She had found her Titan and she climbed on his back to rest, letting a few tears escape as the memories she thought she lost years ago now resurfaced.

They had been walking around for a while, and hadn't run into anybody from the Survey Corps, so she assumed that Levi got them all to leave, which she was thankful for. She would break down if she had to speak to another one.

Buddy kept walking umtil they heard a screech. It sounded similar to a normal Titan's roar, but higher pitched. She could also feel vibrations even on Buddy's back, so she assumed that there was some sort of earthquake. It was fine, though. Nothing bad could happen except for a tree falling above them, and even then Buddy was fast enough to get out of the way.

However, she quickly found out that it wasn't an earthquake, but instead it was a Titan. A Titan with a particularly feminine body, which no Titan naturally had. It was one of the first things Melodians learned about Titans, other than their weak spot, how much the people behind the Walls hated them, and their history.

Behind the Titan, hundreds of others followed. They seemed to Emi like what the Endocarians believed them to be. Mindless.

"Let's follow them, Buddy, but keep your distance. I have a feeling that something bad is gonna happen," Emi said. The Titan looked at the Titan leading the pack and followed after it, making sure to stay far enough back that they wouldn't be in too much danger.

After a while of running, the Walls came into view. It was incredibly tall and stood proudly, gazing at the land around it for miles. It made Emi wonder what it was like inside of the Walls, and if you could see Wall Maria if you were standing on top of Wall Rose.

Eventually, the Titan got to the Wall and collapsed. Lightning struck the ground next to it and a giant Titan appeared. It stood taller than the Wall, and swung it's leg back before kicking in the gate.

Emi froze and Buddy could sense it. He stopped and waited for Emi's next orders, which she didn't give to him straight away. She had to think about what to do. She could leave it and allow thousands of people and countless Titans to die, or she could help out the cowards behind the Walls and also try and save Titans.

She sighed. Everyone knew that she wasn't mean enough to just let people die, even if they were the people that her whole kingdom didn't care about. She didn't want to admit it, but she really wasn't that cruel. Besides, there were also Titans that could be saved.

"Let's go, Buddy," Emi said. The titan reluctantly looked at her before starting to run as fast as his four legs would allow.

It didn't take long for them to reach the gates, and Buddy walked on through as if he were just a mindless Titan like the rest of them. None of the others even gave him any of their attention.

Emi's eyes widened as she watched just how much chaos and damage had been done. Buildings, bridges, and walkways were all destroyed by the chunks of Wall that had flown off when the giant Titan kicked it, and people were running around like chickens with their heads cut off while Titans picked them up and tossed them in their mouths like they were blueberries.

She realised that this was what they were scared of. Mindless beasts breaking in and tearing their civilisation apart without any regret or guilt weighing them down. Emi didn't grow up like these people did. She was always safe from Titans.

But these were no Titans. These creatures were just pure evil. The moment that they stepped inside, they changed from the lovable giants she was so used to, to bloodthirsty nightmarish creatures from hell, who only wished for destruction. These weren't Titans.

"Buddy! Run!" Emi screeched. A Titan came up behind her and reached out to grab her, but Buddy was quick enough to escape it before it was able to get to her. These were the things that these people feared. Not Titans.

And they had every right to be scared of them. Even she was scared, and she was previously convinced that Titans couldn't be what these people thought of them, but her opinion quickly changed. When they were mindless, they really were terrifying. And, for the first time, she was terrified of Titans, too.

She looked up once again, terrified out of her mind as an abnormal quickly approached her.

"Speed up!" she told the Titan. She could only be thankful that Buddy wasn't under whatever weird spell that the others were under.

They ran around with the Titan following them until they saw the gate into the area between Wall Maria and Wall Rose. Cannons started shooting around them, trying to hit Buddy and the abnormal behind them. One hit Buddy in the eye and the small Titan roared, standing up on its hind legs and covering its eye that got hit.

Thankfully, the abnormal decided to leave Emi alone and go for the people by the gate. It went down, and the soldiers started aiming for Buddy. However, they stopped and redirected their fire towards another Titan that Emi had never seen. It was completely covered in armour, and Emi didn't think that was possible.

It ran through the gate, breaking yet another one to allow Titans through it. She couldn't help but ask herself how many they planned to destroy. All of them? If they destroyed the last Wall, would the Titans still be in their trance? If they were, would they go after Melodians without thinking?

It didn't matter, she still had to help as best as she could. Countless lives would still be lost- hell, countless lives were already lost- but she had to make sure that as little beings as possible, human and Titan alike, were harmed.

They made it through the gate, but the Titan was already gone. There was nothing she could do about it but search, but there would be plenty of time for that later. She just had to hope that it didn't destroy another wall before she could find it again.

In the meantime, she had to find someplace to stay while she worked to not only find the Titans, but also figure out what was causing the Titans to become flesh-eating monsters. She knew that there was a barrier that kept the magical creatures such as wyverns out, but the one above Wall Maria had been shattered along with the destruction of the Wall. But, the barriers above the other two Walls were still up, which meant that if she wanted to get Mage inside, she'd have to let him in, and it wasn't an easy process unless you were experienced like the people who put up the barriers.

If she could get to the saddlebags on Melody, she could get some money. She always had money kept in Melody's saddlebags, and it really helped that, as far as she knew, the two kingdoms still used the same currency. It was something that Melodia never bothered changing, but she couldn't say the same about the Walls.

But, it didn't matter, because she didn't have her horse with her. She would have to go back outside the Walls, find her horse, and then get it safely back inside.

Which she could do if she had Mage. She could allow him through the barrier, get on the wyvern, fly over, find Melody, and then have Mage pick her up and they could all go back.

She smiled, content with her decision. But, I still didn't solve one problem. And Buddy was that problem. It wasn't like anyone would just let her live inside Wall Rose with a Titan, and she couldn't leave him outside because she might need him. She wouldn't be able to sneak him in, because anybody who wasn't blind would be able to see a three meter Titan.

She sighed as she realised the only good solution. Take him to the Survey Corps and see if someone there would watch over him. Maybe she would be able to get Levi to. He would of course request something, but she could give him basically anything in return. She was a Princess, she could get anything with a wave of her hand and then she could give it to him. She didn't like the idea of it, but he was probably the only person she could trust inside the Walls.

"Buddy, I'm gonna have to have the Survey Corps watch over you for a while," she told the Titan. It grunted in response and she could just tell that it wasn't exactly excited about her plans, but it would follow along anyways.