A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to another chapter! Enjoy!

edited on september 21st, 2021 @ 4:35am

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𝓒𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚂𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽,
𝓗𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝙸𝙰.

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HEAVY JACKETS AND SCARFS WERE WRAPPED around the cadets as they walked through the snow. "Come on! The goal is right here! Keep it up!" A female soldier called out to them.

"Nine hours and twelve minutes. Not a bad time, considering the weather."

Eren takes a seat next to his friends and sighed. "Thought we were gonna die out there." He stated. "No one ever said winter training would be this tough."

"Damn it, I can't feel my legs." Jean complained.

"I wish they'd let us inside already." Connie said.

"I bet they're busy putting together a huge feast for us! Yum..." Sasha stated.

"Hey!" A voice called out as the group saw Reiner running towards them. "Christa is missing."

"Huh?"

"She was sticking with Daz since he wasn't doing so well." Mikasa said.

"Daz isn't here either. Ymir as well." Reiner informed.

"Maybe they're with the last squad?" Marco said, walking over to Reiner who shook his head.

"Can't be. The last squad, led by Thomas, just arrived." Reiner told him. "They never saw those three."

"Huh?"

"You don't think... they got lost?" Armin questioned.

"Hey... They don't stand a chance if they're stuck in this blizzard." Connie added on.

"Shit!" Eren cursed as he stood up before Mikasa grabbed onto his hand.

"Eren!"

"I'm going back out to try and find them!" Eren declared.

"Me, too." Marco agreed.

"Everyone get in the cabin."

"But... Christa and—" Eren began to argue.

"Yeah. We'll send a rescue team first thing in the morning."

"It'll be too late by then!" Eren informed.

"We won't make any more victims!"

A gust of cold air hit both Eren and Mikasa's cheeks, knocking down their hoods.

"Shit." Eren said, getting frustrated.

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Back in the snowy mountains, Christa and Ymir walked through the blizzard. Ymir walked ahead as Christa was dragging Daz, who's body was cold.

"Christa." Ymir spoke up. "Christa, give it up. Listen to me."

"Never." Christa responded as she continues to pull Daz.

"Daz already has one foot in the grave. It's his own fault for doing this training to boost his score without knowing how much his body can take. He's just not cut out to be a soldier." Ymir informed. "If you keep crawling to the foot of the mountain at this rate, he'll probably be a goner by then, and we'd be lucky not to be."

"Which means there's only two outcomes. Leave Daz here and save ourselves, or all three of us die. Which will it be?"

"You forgot one. That your prediction is entirely wrong. I'll be able to reach our base at the foot of the mountain... with Daz. You can go ahead of us and get back safe. How about that? There's no trouble in it for you. We'll make it back for sure. Go ahead of us." Christa said.

She began dragging Daz's body again. "Hey. Why haven't you asked me to help at all?" Ymir asked. "I think... you have no intention of saving Daz."

Christa stops walking as Ymir stared down at her. "You don't care. You've resigned yourself to death already. You're hoping to die here, aren't you? How could you? I thought you were a good girl. You've gotta at least make it look like you're trying to save his life. If you want people to remember you as a hero who died trying to save someone, don't drag him down with you. That's what a bad girl would do." Ymir stated.

Christa grabs onto Ymir's collar. "You're wrong! I didn't... That's not..." She releases her hand. "I..."

"It's you, right? The mistress' daughter who had people after your life." Ymir then said.

"How do you know?" Christa asked.

"I see... So it was you after all." Ymir replied before explaining.

"It's something I happened to overhear. At a church in the interior, back when I snuck around borrowing things to stay alive. What a sob story it was. An illegitimate child can't succeed a powerful noble. So they just wanted to kill her, to end all the fuss once and for all. But they'd look aside if she changed her name and lived a humble life. In the end, I heard the girl was forced to join the Cadet Corps."

"Don't you worry. I haven't told anyone. I don't plan to either." Ymir reassured her.

"Then... did you enter the Cadet Corps just to find me?" Christa questioned. "If that's the case... Why?"

"Who knows. Maybe because we're similar." Ymir responded.

"What? You and me... have similar backgrounds?" Christa asked.

"Well, more or less." Ymir answered.

"That's the reason you became a soldier?"

"Could be. I don't really know. No it's not." Ymir responded.

"You wanted... to become friends with me?"

Ymir scoffed. "Huh? You've got to be kidding me." She replied. "You and I can't even compare. We both got a second chance at life. But I'm not the one who took on a fake name. If I abandon my name and reject who I am, they win. I'm going to keep the name I have and make the best of my life. That's the one and only way I can get my revenge. So how do you explain yourself? Are you gonna commit suicide and make everyone who ruined your life happy? Why is your desire to kill aimed at yourself? If you're so eager, use that passion to change your own fate!"

Christa looked at her. "I... I can't... Even now..." She looks over at Daz. "There's no way the three of us can make it out of here alive."

"There is." Ymir told her as she begins climbing the big piles of snow. "I can see the base straight down from here. We drop Daz off this cliff."

"What?"

"Hopefully he survives the fall, and hopefully someone down there finds him. Sure, it might be a long shot, but... that's his only real chance now. Unless some miracle happens, he'll be an icicle long before you drag him down."

"But... But he'll die for sure if he falls!" Christa argued.

"Shut up!" Ymir said before grabbing Christa and throwing her down to where a pile of snow fell on top of her followed by a flash of yellow light that disappeared as quick as it came.

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Inside the camp, Eren packs his bag in a rush. "It's better if you guys don't come along. Like our instructor said, you'll only end up becoming more victims." He informed.

"I'm going so that doesn't happen." Mikasa stated.

"I'm not leaving Christa and the others." Armin added on.

"Hey. What do you think you're doing?" Reiner questioned, catching them red-handed.

"Don't try to stop—"

"You're gonna need a lot more gear than that." Bertholdt interrupted.

"If you go by yourselves, you'll be in the same pickle as Christa." Reiner said.

"In a search, the more eyes, the better." Bertholdt added on.

"You guys..." Eren trailed off. "Thanks. To be honest, we could use you."

Sasha, Connie, and Marco stepped up. "Hey. We're coming too." Connie informed.

"The weather's steadily improving." Marco added.

"I brought extra rations!" Sasha exclaimed.

"You guys..." Eren said as a noise could suddenly be heard from outside.

"What was that sound just now?" Armin asked as everyone rushed outside of the cabin.

"Somebody's coming!" Sasha shouted out.

From a distance, they spotted a lantern being carried by a short person, dragging something along the ground.

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Christa dragged her feet in the snow, making it back to camp just as the sun was rising. Ymir was sitting outside one of the cabins as her eyes were on the snow. "Took you long enough. I got here before you."  Ymir stated. "I told Reiner and the others I'd wait since you'd come along eventually. What a stupid thing I've done..."

"Where's Daz?" Christa asked.

Ymir turns her head towards one of the cabins, where Daz was being warmed up with blankets as Christa turns her attention back to Ymir.

"That was the cliff? But you didn't have any rope. Even if you did, it's too high. How did you get Daz down from there?" Christa asked as Ymir stood up.

"Why not? I think I can trust you." Ymir said as she turned around to face her. "However... Promise me. When I reveal my secret to everyone, promise me."

She placed her hands on Christa's shoulders. "Take back your old name and live." Ymir said.

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Back at the tower, Ymir was falling from the castle, holding the knife in her hand. "Christa... I felt the same. That it would have been better if I was never born at all. I was hated by the world just for existing. I... To give countless people joy, I gave up my life."

Ymir slices her hand with the knife with yellow electricity surrounding her as everyone from the top of the castle watched in shock. The electric bolt vanished as Ymir appeared as a 5 meter Titan.

"Is this real? Ymir is a Titan, too?"  Connie asked himself.

The tower then shook as Ymir tries to pursue a Titan among Christa who almost falls off the edge. Luckily, Reiner catches her in time as she almost falls into the pit of Titans.

"Th-Thanks, Reiner." Christa stuttered as Reiner stated in the distance, tightening his grip on Christa's ankle. "Ow, it hurts! Reiner, my leg!"

"Reiner! That's enough! Let her leg go! Her leg!" Connie shouted as Reiner didn't seem to hear him.

"Hey!" Connie shouted louder, snapping Reiner out of his trance.

"S-Sorry." Reiner apologized as Christa just gave him a smile.

"No, you saved me." Christa reassured him.

"Christa... Did you know?" Reiner asked, looking back down at Ymir who took down another Titan. "That Ymir is a Titan?"

"I had no idea. I was always so close to her, too. How? How could this be? That Titan... is Ymir?" Christa asked herself.

"In other words, she knew some of the secrets of our world. And I never suspected a thing." Reiner commented.

"Hey... Do you think she's known about it?" Connie questioned. "Eren's a Titan, too, but he didn't know until it happened. But Ymir is like... she is aware of being a Titan all along."

"Are you saying she might be an enemy of humanity?" Christa asked.

"I'm saying that's one hell of a power to hide. Who knows what she might have been thinking." Connie replied.

"I wonder... What could be Ymir's goal?" Bertholdt wondered out loud.

A Titan suddenly pulled Ymir down from the tower as they continued attacking her. They see her dangling off the edge. Ymir looks at Christa as she lets go, falling into the horde of Titans.

"She's—" Connie began but was interrupted when Ymir stepped onto them. "Wh-What was that? Is she worried about the tower falling?"

"She has to be. If she wanted to, Ymir could use this power of hers to escape all on her own. And yet, she's not doing that. It's us... She's risking her life to protect us." Christa replied.

One of the Titans grabbed onto the hair of Ymir's Titan.

"Don't you die, Ymir! Not in a place like this!" Christa shouted as Connie quickly grabbed ahold of her.

"Don't pretend like you're good, you idiot! You wanna go out in a blaze of glory? Are you stupid?! It's too late for you to try and get into heaven! Live for yourself, goddamnit! If you're gonna die protecting this tower, forget about it! Tear it down!" Christa exclaimed.

That knocked some sense into Ymir as she began removing the bricks from the tower while moving at a fast pace as the tower began to collapse.

"H-Hey! She's really tearing it down!" Reiner exclaimed.

"Keep it up, Ymir!" Christa cheered.

Ymir climbed on top of the tower. "Want live...? Grab me!" She spoke in her Titan voice.

They each grabbed onto a strand of Ymir's hair. When the tower fell, all of the Titans surrounding them were crushed underneath the tower.

They got off of Ymir's Titan and looked around. A Titan slowly rose from the debris.

"Titans again?" Christa questioned.

"Hey, ugly! Go and finish the job!" Connie shouted.

Ymir bit the nape of the Titan, but another Titan emerged from the ground and pulled onto her hair. The Titan slammed Ymir's Titan head on a rock.

"Ymir!" Christa shouted as more Titans has emerged from the debris.

"This looks bad." Connie commented.

All of the Titans went towards Ymir's Titan as they began eating her.

"Ymir is..." Connie trailed off.

Christa ran towards Ymir. "Ymir, wait! I still... want to talk to you! I still— I still haven't told you my real name!" She exclaimed as a Titan suddenly appeared in front of her.

Suddenly, someone slashed the nape of the Titan before it could grab Christa.

"Christa. Everyone, get back." Mikasa said as she landed on a rock. "We've got this. Leave the rest to us."

"Mikasa!" Christa exclaimed.

Many Scouts appeared and slashed the napes of the Titans that were there.

"Have the others disperse and cover the area!" Hange ordered. "The rest of us will attack where the Titans are gathering!"

"Hey! We don't need you to be part of the attack!" Julian shouted at Eren who slashed a Titan's nape as he lost his balance and fell to the ground.

"You moron! I told you to stay back, Eren!"

"Right! I'm sorry!"

After the Titans were exterminated, Julian was with Hange as Christa was holding onto Ymir.

"My real name... is Historia." Christa told Ymir her real name.

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A/N: Whoo! Julian finally made an appearance again! Sorry that it took forever. Anyways, thanks for reading!

Word Count: 2369 words.