Levi and Kaya were stunned. They were well aware that they'd been isolated for almost a month, but that didn't change the shock they felt when they were informed of Zackery's assassination and Eren's escape. Everything they'd been through, and it all changed in a matter of seconds, the order and control they once established over their comrades disappeared.

"It's not even funny, that piece of shit has a titan and he's sitting right beneath us." Levi scowled from the treetops, looking onto Zeke.

"What do you mean?" Asked another soldier.

"We'll transfer Zeke's beast to another host, someone expendable like one of those Yeagerists." The captain explained.

"I'll inform my squad, try and see if we can single out any traitors in the mix. That way, I don't have to look at that thing anymore." Kaya offered, tilting her head toward the blonde man.

"Good, just don't tell anyone outside your squad. We don't want anything getting into the wrong hands." He advised, to which Kaya swiftly nodded and used her gear to reach where her squad were stationed.

"Kaya?" Jade asked after she seen a green cape fly past her. "I mean, Lieutenant." She quickly corrected when noticing the serious expression.

"Good, you're all here." Relieved, Kaya sighed, she was glad she didn't gave to got though the trouble of tracking them down individually. "The premier's dead, he was assassinated." She brought bad news.

"What? You're serious?" Without haste, Tessa immediately panicked, she understood the severity of the situation instantly.

"And why exactly would she lie about that, you're supposed to be the smart one." Taylor scoffed. Once again, Kaya was reminded of the fact that the woman hadn't drank any alcohol, judging by the way she acted, Taylor could use some stress relief.

"Yes I'm serious." The ghoul confirmed. "And Eren Yeager has escaped, we suspect he's gonna try and retrieve Zeke." She paused, giving the group a moment to catch on. "Here's the plan, we need to find ourselves a Yeagerist, someone expendable to feed Zeke to. So look out for any suspicious behaviour and don't make our plan known, got it?" She asked.

The squad nodded. "Lieutenant, what do we do if we find something?" Sally wondered.

"Report to me or Levi immediately. Or if you can, restrain them." Kaya then ordered before spotting Levi next to Zeke at the campfire. The blonde man looked towards her squad with a suspicious gaze, which soon showed a look of understanding and refocused on Levi's conversation. "What the hell?" Kaya muttered and turned to see her squad weren't paying attention to the man. "We'll rendezvous later, but stay close." Leaping from the tree branch, she made another demand.

"Just read your book." Levi turned from Zeke once he'd seen his partner land beside him.

"As you command Captain." He laughed. "Oh and Kaya, you wouldn't mind telling me where Sally is, I quite enjoy her company." He asked.

"Like I'd tell you." She scoffed and walked beside the captain. "Levi, somethings wrong. I can't put my finger on it but he knows. He has to." Quietly, she whispered her thoughts to Levi, who seemed to understand her concern.

"With 30 fully armed soldiers waiting in the trees above us, even if Zeke becomes the beast, he won't escape." He reassured.

"If he's our hostage then why does it feel like he's calling the shots. Can we cut him up now, save ourselves the trouble?" Kaya asked, in the past it may have been thought that she was joking, but on this occasion, her seriousness was deadly.

"We need to wait for clearance fro-" The captain answered but was interrupted by Kaya. Upon hearing footsteps, the ghoul swiftly spun around and dragged his arm with her, leading them both to see Zeke running out of the woods. "Huh?"

"Hey, where are you going?" Kaya asked with slight fear and a low tone, but knowing he couldn't hear her from the distance between them.

It happened suddenly. A scream. A flash. The sound of falling from the trees above. And of course, the striking pain of terror. All the soldiers surrounding the duo were quickly turning into orbs of light, each of them being reformed into giant man-eating titans. Their friends, dead. Her squad, dead. It was all happening again. Unfortunately, the two didn't have enough time to dwell on their current situation, the titans were once in the trees and falling was inevitable, so they used their gear to dodge the giant thuds made upon impact.

"This is goodbye to you two. You're both caring leaders, your comrades haven't done anything wrong. You wouldn't slice them up just because they've grown a bit now." Zeke taunted as one of the titans gently lifted him from the ground.

"Shit, it was in the damn wine." Kaya yelled, cursing herself for her ignorance.

"Since when? Nobody froze up, was everything he told us a lie?" Levi asked himself rather than the ghoul, both were still occupied avoiding the titans.

"Taylor and Sally! They didn't drink it." Kaya exclaimed. "What if they're still out there? They can help." She tried to convince but the chances of them surviving against such advanced titans were low.

Cautiously, Levi shook his head. "They're fast, and don't move like other titans. I think it's because of Zeke too." He said while taking a detour away from an enemy, only to fall towards the hand of another. Kaya moved fast and quickly sliced its fingers, giving Levi the chance to swoop towards the nape, his hesitation didn't go unknown, Kaya knew he'd always held a place in his heart for his comrades, even when they first met. So Kaya had to sacrifice her pride, she took a deep breath and sliced the nape, the shock was evident on the captains face.

"Dammit! Get out of here! Make that bastard pay, I'll take care of this." The ghoul yelled, activating her ghoul features and spinning to cut another's nape with her Kagune.

"There's too many, you'll get yourself killed." Levi protested.

"There's 21 here, Zeke's got 3. Trust me, I can do this. Do you really think I'd let a shitty titan kill me?" The ghoul smirked cutting down another one of her old comrades. She knew it was wrong, the act alone was difficult to carry out because of her bodies initial stutter, but she had to, Levi was too humane to kill his old friends, but Kaya was a ghoul, she was designed to kill.

"Meet me near the stream, at the edge of the forest." He instructed. "Don't die on me, I don't know what I'd do if the woman I love died." Levi admitted, but his timing was more on the rushed side.

"We don't have time for this, none of us are dying." She sliced another. "See. Just go." She demanded, it was cruel but Zeke was getting away, killing her soldiers meant nothing if they didn't capture Zeke. With haste, the captain left, a few titans attempted to follow him but all three were brought down after Kaya's blades penetrated the back of their necks.

"18." She muttered, counting down her enemies in hopes of eventually finding her squad unscathed. Alas, it was an unlikely belief, so she continued. Spiralling around a tree, two titans followed her, clashing against each other when Kaya made a sharp turn upwards, giving her a brief moment to kill them. "16."

The killing spree continued and Kaya showed no weakness when eliminating her friends, but from what she knew about being in titan state, she was doing them a favour. 'Hell' Ymir once described it as, luckily she managed to turn back into a human, the soldiers didn't have the same luxury. "3." She muttered to herself until she finally saw another titan run toward her, Kaya merely attached her hooks to its torso and swung through its legs, finally meeting its nape.

"2." There was silence, no titans stomping their feet or gruff noises, yet still, Kaya kept her guard up, she still had two titans left, and judging by the lack of feminine titans, her squad were missing. Upon hearing the continuity of silence, Kaya placed her blunt blades back into their holsters and was prepared to find Levi.

"Help!" A loud familiar voice yelled. Taylor. It didn't take long for the ghouls instincts to kick in and she soon found herself using her gear to speed towards where the sound originated from. The voice she heard was faint but it definitely resonated from the brunette.

As she drew closer, Kaya managed to interpret the scene. Taylor was fully capable of killing two titans, even if they were stronger than usual, but the faces made it all too clear who they were. Jade and Tessa. The strawberry blonde hair and big blue eyes were still features of the titan, even if the face showed little resemblance, but Tessa's titan was most frightful. The usual glasses that sat on her nose were no longer present, but instead, two large brown eyes rested in their sockets, the dilated pupils were glued onto Taylor.

The only human member of the squad was trapped in the roots of a tree, presumably using them as cover until she was cornered. "Tessa, Jade." Kaya yelled, making the two titans turn to her. "I'm sorry." She looked down, too ashamed to look at the eyes that no longer showed any humanity. Swiftly, she cut down Jade before swinging around Tessa to slash her nape. Both were left dead.

"No!" Taylor screamed from her hiding spot, but deep down, she knew it was for the best. "No." She said in a more tearful tone.

"It was in the wine, they're all dead, because of me." Kaya admitted. "Is Sally...?" She then asked, assuming that the blonde girl was dead.

"I don't know, she flaked on the mission as soon as you left." Taylor continued to cry.

Kaya was never good at comforting people, but she did take notes from Levi's attempts every now and again, so she wrapped her arms around the brunette and hoped that she'd calm down. The gesture would've been more effective if she wasn't covered in titan blood.

"You've probably heard it before, and knowing you, you'll think it's a load of bullshit. But just because they're dead doesn't mean they're truly gone. They'll live through me, guide me when I kill everyone associated with this massacre. I'm sorry you had to see me do that to your friends, but they were in a lot of pain and I couldn't lose another friend." Kaya spoke softly, trying not to initiate a negative reaction from Taylor.

"Jade and Tessa didn't deserve that, they were supposed to live a long life and eventually find somewhere to settle down. Maybe they'd even realise how they felt about one another." Taylor formed a slight smile, however it didn't last long. "But now, they'll never be able to do any of that shit." The girl finally arose from her knees, leaving the steaming bodies of her friends.

"Cmon, I told Levi we'd meet near the stream on the outskirts of the forest, we thought you were dead." Kaya changed the subject.

"Well, it's like that shitty thing you always say. As if I'd let a titan kill me."