𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐎𝐌 (𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐍 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑)

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟓.

Y/N's POV (Continuing previous flashback)

The 4 of us were sitting around a fire. It was late at night, and the stars were out.

I looked up at the stars. I could get lost in time just by adoring them.

"Guess we can't travel far at night," Marcel said. I noticed everyone was looking extremely down. Maybe they were just sad that they were far away from loved ones?

"Is the King of the Walls really not gonna use the Founder even if the Walls are destroyed?" Bertholdt said out of the blue.

"There's no going back. We can't reverse the clock. Tomorrow, we'll have to keep moving forward and..." Marcel stopped.

"Wait... Don't tell me you feel hesitant about killing these devils... Do you need a strong reminder what we're supposed to do and why? They must be punished!" Reiner said. He was the only optimistic one in the group right now.

"Sorry, Reiner," Marcel said all of a sudden. "You weren't supposed to be chosen as a Warrior. I influenced the Marleyan army's opinion by making you look good... just so I could protect my brother. I'm sorry, Reiner."

Reiner stood there in shock for what seemed like forever.

The next thing I knew, I saw a Titan come up from out of the ground and Marcel pushed Reiner out of the way. He was grabbed by the Titan instead and eaten.

Reiner's POV

I ran until I could no longer breathe and stopped at a tree to catch my breath. Then I noticed...

"Bertholdt... Annie... Y/n... Marcel." Where...

Oh no! He got eaten! Did they get eaten too?! Looks like I'm going to die here! Why?!

I was shaken out of my thoughts by a fierce kick. "WAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!" I yelled. Only one person could kick like that.

"That's... not... bad... This is... the first time... I've ever lost to you... in a running race," Annie said, out of breath. Y/n and Bertholdt eventually caught up to her and now all of us were together. I was relieved the 3 of them managed to escape. They were covered in sweat and panted heavily.

"If we had quickly... gotten ahold of that Titan... that ate Marcel... we wouldn't have... lost the Jaws... But you 2 ran... and y/n and I... didn't know what to do either..." Annie said. "Dammit... He's not gonna come back anymore..."

She was right... Marcel is... gone.

"Let's head back."

"What...?" Annie wants to go back?

"We'll find whoever possesses the Jaw Titan now, and head back. Marcel's gone, and he was the leader of our group. The mission has already failed." Annie gave me a look that was anything but pitiful. She simply didn't care and wanted to go home.

As Bertholdt, y/n, and Annie started walking back, I yelled, "Wait!" They turned around and looked at me.

"We can't go back..." I started.

"True... You can't go back," y/n said, emphasizing the word "you." This was the first time I had seen her get so cold.

"She's right. If you go back, they'll take away the Armored Titan from you because of this disgrace," Annie said.

"And what makes you think that would only happen to me?!" I yelled.

"Hm?"

"They're not only going to punish me! They'll punish all of us! And we can't get the Jaws back... It's too fast and small for all of our Titans. And if we mess up retrieving the Jaw Titan or head back to the boat like this we'll be screwed either way!!" I yelled. I tried to make a point and it seemed to be getting to them because they were quiet. "If we ever wanna go back... we need to bring them results that they'll be satisfied with. Otherwise..." I said.