Attack on Titan: Bloodline -- Version 2

• Chapter 41 •

"Eren!! Eren, wake up! Can you hear me!? Eren!!"

Mikasa and Jean slammed their blades into the nape of Eren's Titan form, now a brilliant crystal structure, over and over, begging for him to get up.

Lorraine stood below, holding her left arm. The pain that coursed through her shoulder came in waves, but for the most part, it was surprisingly dull, though she attributed the lack of pain to the adrenaline no doubt still coursing through her veins. She wondered if her injuries had finally healed themselves.

Historia stood by, worriedly watching and looking around at the sheer destruction her father had caused around them. The entire chapel was nothing more than piles of rubble. The crystal structures that had once held the chapel open laid in piles around them, though they still had a bright bluish-white glow to them, and new, more jagged and careless structures had formed, creating a kind of scaffolding to hold the cavern up around them.

Levi put his hand on Lorraine's shoulder. She looked up at him, then smiled. He nodded.

"You're okay."

She said softly, "I know. Thanks." He nodded. With a loud crashing sound, Eren was finally pulled free of the crystalline Titan and thrown over Mikasa's shoulder as she lowered herself to the ground. Lorraine and Historia ran to his aid.

"Eren," Lorraine said, reaching out and putting her hand on his cheek, "Eren, are you okay? Wake up!" Mikasa held his shoulders up while Lorraine looked over his body for injuries. The youngest Ackerman sighed in relief.

"He's gonna be fine."

She stood up and continued, "His injuries have all healed themselves, with the exception of the ones on his face, but those usually disappear quickly enough." Eren stirred gently and sat up, holding his head in his hands and groaning tiredly.

"Wh-where are we?"

Historia said, "We're safe now, thanks to you."

He looked around. Levi said, "Not too shabby, Eren. Even after we cut you out of it, your Titan hasn't disappeared. This could be a game-changer."

Eren said weakly, "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. Listen. Before I transformed, I drank some liquid from a bottle that said 'Armour'."

Levi stepped forward and said, "I see. Guess that's all you needed to pull it off, 'cause this time you did it easily."

"Eren," Lorraine said softly, "Not only did you protect me when we were in that cage back there, but you saved all of our lives just now."

Levi said, "You came up with and created everything we see here in the blink of an eye. Not exactly pretty, but I can see its potential. I bet this is how the walls were made, too." He knelt down and held out his hand.

"Guess what," he said, "This means we finally have a real shot at plugging the hole in Wall Maria." Eren, Mikasa, and Lorraine gasped. Levi continued, "We had a hell of a time getting here, took long detours, watched friends die...but as long as it's been, look at the position we're in now."

Lorraine said, "We can finally...go home?" Mikasa nodded and grabbed her hand.

"If we can pull it off," Eren thought, "and retake Wall Maria, I can finally get to the basement. But, knowing what my dad did..."

His thoughts trailed off, and he was jolted back out of his head by Sasha, who dropped down from the giant hole in the ceiling and called out, "Captain! All clear, Sir!"

Connie dropped down beside her and announced, "Hange's fine, Sir! Armin and Moblit, too!"

Lorraine sighed, "Thank God."