A/N: Hello, readers! Another chapter is here! Enjoy!

edited on march 26th, 2022 @ 1:16am

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𝓒𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝚃𝚈-𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙴,
𝓣𝙷𝙴 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙴𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃.

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JULIAN WAS SITTING ON TOP of the wall, wrapping up his chest as he winced in pain. He didn't know what the bandages would do considering it was his spinal cord that was injured, but he hoped it helped him move easier.

"Bertholdt..." Armin muttered.

"It hurts... It hurts so bad..." Sasha mumbled.

Julian glanced up, seeing that Armin was awake. "Armin, you're finally awake." He said.

"Section Commander?" Armin questioned as Julian snorts at his former title.

"I'll let someone else tell Armin that Erwin is no longer here." Julian thought.

"Sasha?" Armin then noticed Sasha. "You're both in terrible shape! What happened to the both of you?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Julian questioned, causing Armin to look at him in confusion.

"Armin!"

Julian looked over to find Eren running towards Armin, before finally hugging him. "I'm glad... you're back!" Eren said.

"Huh?" Armin questioned in confusion.

Levi suddenly appeared on top of the wall. "You're up?" He asked.

"Captain!" Armin said. "What in the world happened here? I remember... Bertholdt becoming a Titan... What about the others? Are they okay?!"

"That's as far back as you remember?" Levi asked, getting out a smoke flare.

"Huh?"

"Eren, tell him everything." Levi said before firing a green smoke signal.

The others soon arrived as Eren soon told Armin what happened, his eyes were widened at the news.

"Well? Up to speed, Armin?" Levi questioned.

"Are you telling me... the Scout Regiment... is the ten of us here... and that's it?" Armin asked.

"For the time being. The fighting ended four hours ago. We've been looking for survivors, but... none yet..." Jean replied.

"S-So, we managed to seal the walls of Shiganshina... But Reiner, the Beast Titan, and one other escaped... Bertholdt was captured... Then... there was a dispute... about using the injection on Commander Erwin or me... And I... turned into a Titan and ate B-Bertholdt..." Armin looked like he was about to vomit.

"Here." Jean said, handing Armin some water, in which he accepts and drinks it.

"Why... did you pick me? No matter how you look at it, wasn't Commander Erwin the right one to bring back? Captain! Why did you give me the injection?!" Armin asked.

"Tsk!" Levi muttered under his breath in annoyance before kicking Eren's back. "I told you to tell him everything."

"The thing is, it seems your two friends here didn't think that way. They stood up to me... prepared to draw blood." Levi continued on.

"Huh?" Armin glanced over at Eren and Mikasa.

"We'll take whatever punishment comes." Eren said.

"You'll be disciplined for insubordination, but... Does taking the punishment allow you to do anything?" Julian asked the pair.

"No..." Eren responded, looking down.

"However... The final decision to choose you was mine. No... I chose this to be the place where Erwin dies." Levi claimed as Armin looked shocked and confused.

"I don't understand... There's no way it's okay to let Erwin die... If the commander is gone, how... how will we go on?" Armin questioned.

"I agree. I thought it should've been used on Erwin... if we're being brutally honest. No... it's a shame we were put in that position..." Julian agreed. "Anyways, Erwin entrusted Levi with the decision to use it. And Levi ended up choosing you. There's nothing more to say."

"Erwin's life and a Titan's power rests on your shoulders. No matter what anyone says, that's part of who you are now, Armin." Hange added on.

"Does that mean... I need to be... Erwin's replacement? No way... I can't..." Armin said.

"Don't get me wrong. You'll never be Erwin's replacement. But... I know you have a strength that nobody else has but you. I won't regret my decision. However, don't make these guys regret it. Nor anyone else. And don't regret it yourself, either. That is your mission." Levi told him.

Sasha groaned in pain. "Shut up!" She said as everyone turned to look at her.

Julian let out a chuckle. "We're no match for Sasha." He commented. "Well, being the successor of Erwin as commander of the Scouts, we're kinda in the same boat."

"No way. You're commander now, Nii-san?" Jean smirked. "Nice."

"Shut up, Jean. That doesn't mean you'll be getting special treatment." Julian flicked his younger brother's head, which made Connie snicker.

"And here I was thinking having my older brother as commander would benefit me..." Jean mumbled, rubbing his head in pain.

"Besides, I tried giving it to Hange, but they wouldn't let me. So they're kinda like my second-in-command, or whatever you wanna call it." Julian explained, glaring at Hange who gave him an 'innocent' smile.

"From here on out, we'll have to grin and bear it." Julian told Armin.

"Right..." Armin agreed.

"Now then... If it's not a problem for Armin, we should get going." Julian spoke, gently standing up. "Levi, Hange, Eren, Mikasa, and I will go investigate. You other four keep watch from atop Shiganshina's wall."

"Roger." They replied.

"Eren. Do you still have the key?" Julian asked.

Eren touched his chest. "Yeah. Right here." He responded.

Julian, Levi, Eren, Mikasa, and Hange jump off the wall and started heading towards the direction of Eren's house.

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Eren and the others eventually reached the street where Eren's house was located. Eren and Mikasa looked around, seeing the destroyed houses around them.

"Hey, where's your house?" Levi asked.

"R-Right..." Eren replied, walking towards the staircase.

"Is this it?" Hange questioned as Julian looked around.

"Luckily, the fires didn't make it this far." He said.

Eren and Mikasa finally found the trapdoor that lead to the basement.

"Right here. Under this are the stairs to the basement." Eren announced.

"Good." Levi said.

Levi, Julian, Hange, Eren, and Mikasa began moving the boulder, finally removing it. Eren opened the trapdoor, revealing the staircase.

"That's a relief. It's not flooded with water." Hange pointed out, Julian humming in agreement.

"Let's go." Mikasa placed a hand on Eren's shoulder as he nodded.

The four followed Levi down the stairs. "Eren." Levi said.

"Right." Eren said, taking out the key.

Eren tries to put the key inside the lock, but it didn't fit. "What's wrong?" Julian questioned.

"Eren?" Mikasa questioned.

"Hurry it up." Levi added on.

"This... This key... it doesn't go to this door..." Eren informed.

"You're kidding... I'm certain that's the key Dr. Yeager had." Mikasa said.

"Step aside. I'll open it." Levi said, shoving Eren to the side.

"Huh? Wait..."

Julian tried to stop Levi, but Levi ended up kicking the door, breaking it in the process.

"Hold up..." Julian finished.

They entered and lit up a lantern inside of the basement and began looking around.

"It almost feels like a laboratory down here." Hange commented.

"My dad was a doctor, so... he was always cooped up down here mixing medicine." Eren explained.

"That makes sense. In fact, if this medicine is all labeled correctly, it's stuff that's widely available. And since all the books here relate to medicine, at first glance, it's just a doctor's study. "There's nothing suspicious here." It's like that's what he wants people to think." Hange spoke.

"Yeah... if you're hiding stuff from the Interior Police, you wouldn't want it out in the open." Julian agreed.

"Hey. Quit standing around, brats. Erwin's hunches are rarely wrong." Levi scolded.

"Right." Eren and Mikasa said in unison.

Eren and Mikasa started looking around in books and cabinets until Mikasa accidentally hit a cup that fell to the floor as she saw a secret keyhole.

"Eren... There's a keyhole right here." Mikasa stated.

Eren looks at it and he puts the key inside of the keyhole. Surprisingly, the key fits and Eren unlocked it.

"It opened." Eren said, pulling the drawer and saw nothing inside. "It's empty?!"

"Look closer. It's a false bottom." Levi said, removing the false bottom where they saw three books. Hange picked up one of the bags and smells it.

"It smells like peppermint oil and charcoal. Were these treated to keep moisture and bugs away?" Hange wondered.

"We were looking for something... and these must be it." Levi announced.

"I wonder what it was my dad wanted to show me." Eren stated.

Eren and Mikasa opened the book, seeing a far too realistic sketch of three people.

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The Scouts stood on top of the wall as the townspeople were cheering below them as Hange was carrying the three books they found in the basement.

"This is... a portrait?" Eren questioned with uncertainty.

"Let me see that." Julian said as Eren handed him it. "No... It's far too detailed for this to be drawn by a person."

"That's Dr. Yeager's writing." Mikasa pointed out, gesturing to behind the paper.

Julian flipped the paper over. "This is no illustration. Instead, this uses light reflected off a subject... and burns the image on special paper. It's called a photograph. I come from a place outside... the walls where humanity lives in elegance. Humanity has not perished. I pray the person who finds this book is a fellow patriot." He read out loud as everyone had shocked expressions written on their faces.

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A/N: Another chapter is completed! Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 1610 words.