Eren emerged from the nape of the steaming Titan and ran toward us.
"Eren!" Armin called out, letting out a breath of relief upon seeing him unharmed.
"This thing's already starting to evaporate... just like any other Titan corpse," Eren muttered, stepping through the dissipating steam. "I stepped out for a bit. Not sure if they're still observing us or if they've decided we're no longer a threat. The Garrison troops haven't made a move yet… but I doubt they'll just let us go, right?"
The three of us stepped out from within the bones of the half-formed Titan and turned to face its fading upper torso.
"Now that they've seen something like that… I doubt I can negotiate with them," Eren said grimly, his eyes downcast. "But I remembered something..."
He reached up and clutched the chain around his neck—the key. That strange, heavy key to the basement.
"The basement. Our family's basement. Dad said if we ever went there, we'd learn the truth—everything. The reason I ended up like this… it's all because of him. If we can reach that place… maybe we'll finally learn what Titans really are."
"Damn it…! If that's true, then why did he hide it?!" Eren's voice cracked with frustration. "The Scout Regiment has sacrificed hundreds just to uncover information like this. That basement could hold the hope of humanity! So why the hell did my father—Grisha—keep it secret?!"
He pounded his fist against one of the Titan's ribs.
"He gave me this power… and vanished. Left us for five years… Where the hell did he go?!"
I took a deep breath. My strength was fading, but I could still just barely stand.
I closed my eyes briefly, trying to stabilize myself. It seemed like the precognitive visions—those mysterious glimpses of the near future I'd used so freely during cadet training—became dangerous when I was completely drained. I hadn't expected them to leave me feeling like this.
"Eren," Mikasa said gently, the steam beginning to thin around us as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "there's still something else we need to do right now."
"Sandra… are you okay?" Eren turned, his expression shifting the moment he saw how pale I looked.
Mikasa and Armin both stared at me with concern. Mikasa walked over, steadying me with one hand.
"I'm fine," I said, shaking my head. "Just weak. But there's something more important than how I feel… right?"
I lightly tapped the back of Mikasa's hand, trying to reassure her.
"Yeah… I'm leaving," Eren said softly.
"Leaving? Where? How?" Armin asked, worry creeping into his voice.
"I don't care where—I'll climb over the wall if I have to. I'm going to the basement. That means… I need to transform again."
He glanced at his left hand, already thinking ahead.
"Are you sure you can control it?" Armin pressed.
"I don't know how, not exactly," Eren admitted. "It's like… I just know. The way I know how to move my own arm. Back there, I didn't think—I just wanted to protect all of us from the grenades. I didn't have enough strength, so the Titan that formed was incomplete—just a torso and ribs. But this time… I'll summon something stronger. Like the 15-meter-class that took down all those Titans before."
It seemed he remembered what had happened during his earlier transformation—the chaos, the power.
But me? I still couldn't recall anything.
As he spoke, a stream of blood suddenly trickled from Eren's nose.
"Eren! Your nose!" Mikasa's eyes widened as she spotted the blood.
Eren's breathing had grown unsteady. He was pale. Clearly, something was wrong.
"Your breathing's off, your color's bad—your body's not okay," Armin said firmly.
"I don't care about that anymore," Eren replied. "I've only got two thoughts in my head. One: if you stop protecting me, you'll stop being in danger. Two: I've already dragged you all into too much trouble. So from now on… I'm acting alone."
"What are you even saying?" I whispered, shocked.
"Don't try to shoulder everything yourself," I said. "Even if I can't remember why they're calling me a monster… If your condition is because of Mr. Yeager, then it's not a stretch to think mine is too."
My eyelids fluttered shut again—my eyes ached, heated by the strain of the recent vision.
"And it's not just you they're targeting. It's me too," I added, my voice steady despite the weariness. I opened my eyes slowly. The steam that had been seeping from them began to fade.
"Eren… I'm going to the basement too."
"No!" he snapped. "It's too dangerous."
"If I can't keep up, you don't have to wait for me," Mikasa said, stepping forward, "but I will go. That's my choice."
"I told you to stop being reckless," Eren growled. "And Sandra—you're not going either. It's too dangerous outside the Walls—"
"Like Mikasa said, it's our choice," I interrupted. "Even if you forbid me, I'll go anyway. Don't forget—I'm the 'monster' they're all afraid of. If you go alone, I might survive… but I'll be half-dead by the time they're done with me."
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