"...worthless! They have the Female and the Colossal because of your incompetence -"

"We warned you guys about Captain -"

"Then why didn't you -"

"Where were you when he-"

"Doing my job!! Unlike you and -"

"You let him go!"

"Like hell I did -"

"ENOUGH!"

Growling anger and frustrated exhaustion permeated through the thick clouds of confusion that suffocated me awake. The low rumbles of arguing slowly translated into voices and words I could understand. Only one of the voices could I put name and face to right away: Reiner Braun... the Armored Titan. I knew his deep, agonized voice well enough, from a time when I believed we were allies. Only after I recognized Reiner did I realize that the woman's voice belonged to his true ally, the Cart Titan, which meant the third was...

"I have half the mind to retire you both to stomach acid when we get back!! Reiner, you for obvious reasons - but you, Pieck, I'm surprised at you! Where the hell did you disappear to back then!? If you had been where you were supposed to be, we wouldn't be in this mess; We would have taken back the Coordinate, Berthold would still be alive, and I wouldn't have been fucking dismembered by that disgusting devil! So unless you've got the answer up your sleeve, I suggest you both SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTHS."

My shallow, shuddering breath was perfectly camouflaged by all three Titan shifters breathing heavily, utterly exasperated by their apparent loss. I began to digest the words of the man who was undoubtedly the Beast Titan. Although they were languishing in their defeat, I knew that the word 'victory' was not how I would define our outcome, but even then, I had no idea what events had transpired following my loss of consciousness. However, from the way they were talking about Levi, I knew I had at least been successful in keeping him alive... Eren was safe, Berthold was dead-- but that was as far as I got.

"Zeke... we're not going back empty-handed, though," spoke the woman referred to as Pieck.

I sipped in a silent gasp once I understood to whom she was referring, but I didn't have time to react before I was blinded by sunlight pouring into the crate where I lay. Shielding my eyes, I squinted against the light as three figures appeared over me.

"(F/N)?"

I stared up at Reiner, who was both confused and surprised to see me, as Pieck perked her gaze up at him.

"You know her? What is she!?"

Reiner turned toward Pieck, raising an eyebrow, as he asked, "What do mean, 'What is she?' She's nothing more than an Island Devil. Why did you bring -"

Before I could react, Zeke had pointed a blade to my throat and scowled, "If this girl was the reason behind Pieck being distracted out there, then she's not just some island devil. What are you hiding from me, Reiner?"

Reiner's eyes widened with fear. "S-sir! I'm not lying! I don't - " A sudden realization shot across his face as his vision transported him to a memory unearthed by their conversation: His chapped, calloused hands grasping letterhead parchment, stamped with a proud green and white unicorn atop a silver coat of arms. A scrawled message void of the author's name. He could hear Berthold's pained voice vibrating over his shoulder as he cautiously narrated the cryptic code.

Before drawing his wide-eyed gaze back toward mine, Reiner whispered under his breath,"Annie... is this what meant...?"

Pieck clasped her palms onto her head and turned toward Zeke as she filled her lungs with satisfaction. Nudging Reiner with her right elbow, she half-chuckled, "I'm right, aren't I?"

Mouth still agape, Reiner shook his head. "How did I miss it...?"

My eyes bounced between Reiner and Pieck as they mumbled nonsense to one another, Zeke's blade still resting below my jaw. I had no idea what their murmurings meant, but I knew I didn't like it.

Stagnant silence pierced the air around me as both warriors stared at Zeke in unison, warily anticipating his next move.

Excruciating fire tore through my veins as crimson and iron gushed from my throat, spraying in violent response to the swift bolt of lightning that ripped metal through skin. No longer poised to pierce, Zeke's blade streaked across the sky, drooling red from its hunger for truth. Clutching my throat, I crumbled forward in an unwilling bow before Zeke, as a wave of liquid blood poured into my lungs, flooding my windpipe as I struggled to breathe. Beyond the sound of my labored gasps, I could hear the audible shock emitted from Reiner and Pieck, who apparently had not been expecting Zeke's actions.

Calmly and confidently, Zeke towered over my body as I writhed in red agony.

"If she's just an Island Devil, problem solved," Zeke sneered, pausing to eye Reiner. "If not... we have a lot to talk about."

As if I were on display for amusement or entertainment, the three shifters silently watched me as I gurgled and gasped, clawing at my throat for air. Even while I struggled to breathe, I felt a certain pair of eyes burrowing through my skull, searching for secrets and whispers and truth. My mind was racing; inventing and discarding ways in which I could stay alive and escape without them knowing I was different. As oxygen gradually came more freely, I felt an odd mix of relief and panic. I was healing rapidly before their eyes, endangering my soul's silent savior.

With blood still trickling along the curve of my neck, soaking into my tattered clothes and muddied skin, I pooled my strength into bursting out of the crate, tearing through the space between Pieck and Reiner, hoping that any kind of headstart would be enough to leave them behind, so I could make my way back home, back to Levi.

My veins pulsed from my heart to my legs and back again, urging me to keep sprinting, keep running, keep moving forward... but the landscape before my eyes sent a falter into my step, cementing my feet to the ground. Although my ability to inhale was gradually returning, I found it impossible to take even a single breath.

The wall that had poisoned us with a false sense of security had always been there, keeping the Titans out but locking the real monsters in... it had always loomed over me, taunting me with its presence. I had dreamed of leaving it behind, to know what it would feel like to be in a place free from Viktor. From the moment he had laid eyes on me, Viktor had bathed in my misery, finding joy in every form of torture and torment to which he could subject me. If I ran, he got off on the chase. No matter where I went, his shadow followed. He would track me down and find me in the end, reveling in the taste of my fear and basking in the glow of my anguish. Back then, I didn't care if leaving the wall meant I would meet my demise by the hand of a Titan. I honestly had just wanted to die in a place where I was truly free from Viktor's grasp... instead of dying by his hand.

That version of myself would have been so happy to be the girl who was standing there, feet frozen to the floor, absolutely in awe of the blue hues that painted my entire vision. Pale blue greeted its own deeper shade that swayed and moved like grass on a hill caught in the breeze. Yet, there were no blades of green or brown, no yellow or purple petals speckled about in floral smiles. This was a sight that my mind could not comprehend. Instead of being speechless and overcome with pure relief and happiness, I stood in shock, realizing there was nowhere to run.

I was trapped in an unknown world painted blue for as far as the eye could see; the sky above me, and water below.

With an agonized expression of bewilderment, I turned around slowly in place, salty sorrow and confusion streaming down each cheek. Not one of the shifters had moved to try to prevent my retreat, knowing it was pointless to do so. For they had recognised that death was the only way I could have escaped from them.

"Well, now I see why you got so distracted out there, Pieck," Zeke murmured as he patted her shoulder, making his way toward Reiner. "Braun, you wanna fill me in on what Leonhart said in her letter?"

"What is this place...?" I finally managed to say in a quavery voice, tinged with anger.

Pieck, still angled toward me, averted her eyes from mine and stared into the vast nothingness before us. When my trembling query remained unanswered, I took a step forward, repeating my words through gritted teeth, demanding to be acknowledged.

"I said... What is this place!? Where the hell are you taking me!?"

The woman parted her lips to speak but hesitated to make a sound. Instead, she released a sigh, turned back to Reiner, and mumbled, "Let's hear what Annie had to say."