A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to my first update of 2022! Enjoy!

edited on january 19th, 2022 @ 1:03pm

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𝓒𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝚃𝚈-𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙴𝙴,
𝓣𝙷𝙴 𝚃𝙾𝚆𝙽 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙱𝙴𝙶𝙰𝙽.

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Wall Maria contained one third of humanity's remaining territory. Five years ago, when humanity lost this territory, from within the remaining two walls, they realized: "That we... are not meant to continue living." After all, humanity cannot defeat the Titans.

However, one young man gripped that small blade held in his heart, and thrust it into a Titan, pounding its massive head into the ground. When humanity saw this, what did they think?

Some were proud.

Some held hope.

Some cried out in anger.

Then, if Wall Maria was retaken, what would humanity cry out? Would they finally start believing that humanity deserves to live? That our fate is something we can decide? Will it be enough for them to believe?

If only Wall Maria was retaken...

NIGHT HAD FALLEN AS THE Scouts were walking through a deep forest with their hoods up. One Scouts horse slightly went out of control, causing them to stop.

"Hey! You've gotta light up the ground!" Levi scolded.

"S-Sorry."

"We're not at the foot yet? It's almost dawn." Levi asked.

"Once we're over this mountain, Shiganshina's right there." Julian replied.

They carried on walking until a Titan was spotted by Jean.

"Titan on the left! Everyone halt! Light up the area!"

Everyone raised their lights to a Titan leaning against a rock.

"It's all right. He's fast asleep. This lad must not be one of those new types that moves at night." Hange chuckled a bit. "That's too bad. Let him be."

The Scouts continued to walk forwards as Eren spoke up from behind them. "I can't believe we didn't see it till that close up." He stated.

"Yeah, I'm with you there." Hange agreed. "This moonless night must be protecting us. Light from the moon is reflected sunlight. The new type of Titan... We think they use that minuscule amount of reflected light to move. Using the new moon was the right move. There's no guarantee we won't have a repeat of before. That lad may by one of those "Moonlight Titans" for all we know. Hope we capture one someday!"

"Actually, I have a suspicion that it's not the moon at all." Julian spoke up, causing Hange to look at him. "Before Miche died... there was a Beast Titan that controlled the Titans, making them devour him. He gave a command. It's possible we're dealing with a Titan shifter."

"I guess we'll have to wait and see." Hange stated.

They soon found a trail and followed it as they continued walking forward until they could see Wall Maria.

Dawn was soon to come as the Scouts got on their horses and moved towards the walls, going past the buildings.

"Be on guard for Titans hiding in the shadows! Our operation begins now!" Erwin shouted, extending his arm out. "All troops, switch to ODM gear!"

As soon as he gave the order, the Scouts lifted themselves from their horses and flew over Wall Maria, landing on top of the wall.

Julian looked over to see the now abandoned Shiganshina District, before heading over towards the outer gate. He glided over to the other side of the wall before landing next to Levi and Hange.

The three observed the area. "This is all too strange... Not a single Titan in sight?" Hange questioned.

Julian hummed in agreement. "I have to agree. It's definitely weird considering this place should be swarming with Titans." He stated.

"But we have to keep going." Levi informed.

"Yeah, there's no reason to call it off." Hange agreed, before raising a smoke signal and shooting it off.

As the other signals were shot off, Eren went over the wall and bit into his hand, lightning struck down on him as he changed into his Titan form as Julian watched his transformation.

His Titan hardened around the hole in the wall in a matter of seconds, Mikasa quickly went down to grab him and carry him to the top of the wall.

"This seems a bit too easy... Why the hell is there no Titans around?" Julian thought.

"Don't let your guard down!" Julian ordered. "Keep on the lookout!"

"Roger!"

Mikasa landed on top of the wall with Eren. "Eren!" Hange shouted.

"How's your ODM gear?" Mikasa asked.

"It's fine. But I did manage to lose my cloak." Eren replied.

Mikasa came up behind him and wrapped her cloak around him in which Eren accepted it.

"Thanks." Eren thanked her.

"Mmm." Mikasa nodded in reply.

"The hole?!" Levi called down from below.

"Success!" The soldier from down below replied before firing a smoke signal.

"It's plugged all right!" A soldier from the other side called out and shot a smoke signal.

"We did it!" Hange declared before they walked over to Eren. "Eren, you okay?"

"No problems here. I'm ready like we trained." Eren responded.

Hange turned away from him. "We'll head for the inner gate! While we're on the move, remember to hide your faces!" They ordered.

They all began running forward. "You did it." Mikasa spoke up, causing Eren to look back at her. "Believe in your own power."

"Not yet!" Levi said. "No matter how much you plug it, they'll break the wall as long as they live. Until we kill Reiner, Bertholdt, and any other enemies, the operation to retake Wall Maria won't end."

"Of course... I know that!" Eren informed.

While swinging on the wall on their way to the inner gate, a red smoke signal was fired.

"The signal to halt the mission!" Julian exclaimed before turning to them. "All troops, scatter and stand by atop the wall!"

"Roger!"

Julian turned his head towards Hange. "I'm going to go see what the problem is." He informed. They nodded as Julian glided over towards the inner gate, landing next to Erwin and saw the Scouts tapping the walls with their swords.

"What's the hold up, Erwin?" Julian asked.

"Arlert found a campsite that was left behind, the enemies knew we were coming beforehand and prepared ahead of time. They may be hiding within the walls." Erwin replied.

Julian narrowed his eyes in thought. "I was wondering why this operation seemed too easy. There's no use for a surprise attack if they already knew we were coming." He stated.

"Precisely." Erwin agreed. Julian looked down as a signal was shot off.

"Here! There's a cavity here!"

Julian looked down at the soldier. "Hold on just a minute..." He thought, noticing something move in the wall.

"Look out!" Julian warned. Before the soldier could do so, he was stabbed in the chest by Reiner who made his way out of the wall in front of him.

The soldier fell as Reiner jumped out. "Reiner!" Armin shouted out.

Before Reiner could do anything, Levi went shooting down towards him, stabbing him in the neck. Levi ran down the wall, pushing the blade in further and stabbed him again in the chest to let go of Reiner and let him fall.

Reiner landed harshly on the ground as Julian could see him shaking.

"He's not dead! He's transforming!" Julian called out.

As if on cue, a bright light comes from Reiner as lightning struck once again, transforming him into the Armored Titan.

"Keep on the lookout!" Erwin ordered. "Locate his allies!"

However, another flash of lightning appeared from behind Erwin and Julian, both of their eyes widened as the ground shook beneath them. A bright light surrounded them as both Erwin and Julian turned around to see the Beast Titan standing there with a row of Titans forming around it.

Julian gritted his teeth. "It's... that bastard who killed Miche!" He thinks to himself, recalling Miche's death.

He watched as the Beast Titan picked up a large boulder and held it over its shoulder, before jumping back and throwing the boulder towards the wall.

"Boulder incoming! Get down!" Erwin shouted out. The boulder hit the wall as Julian felt the wall shake as the boulder made impact with it. Smoke and dust formed around the damage of where the boulder hit. He looked down to see the boulder had plugged the entrance up.

"Did he miss?"

"No... That was a good aim. He plugged the entrance. Now the horses can't pass. They'll aim for the horse and surround us... in order to block our escape and annihilate us here." Erwin replied. "We're both hoping for the same thing. To settle this once and for all. Humanity or Titans?! Which side will live?! Which side will perish?!"

Julian glanced back up and eyed the Beast Titan who had a sinister grin on his face and his eyes glowing red before clenching his fist in anger.

"This time... I'm gonna cut you where you stand, you son of a bitch!"

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A/N: Just a heads up, Julian will not be with Levi when he attacks Zeke. He'll be injured for trying to face him head on. Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 1559 words.