Forty (40) - Betrayal

                                    

                                          
{Long Chapter Ahead - 6,280 words}
- Trost District SC HQ Division -
"Is Erwin here?! There you are!!" 
Erwin who was just buttoning up his shirt was interrupted when a certain brunette wearing an eyeglass goggles barged in inside his room. He looked back and saw a panicky Hange Zoë. 
"Eren remembered some vital information about the titans! And...! It's bad news! We need to rethink this plan!" Hange said as they closed the door and walked towards Erwin.
Erwin picked up the pitcher of water on the round table beside him and poured a water on an empty clean glass. "Eren said it might've just been a dream, so we shouldn't take it too seriously...but I don't agree! If this id true, it would be insane!" Hange said.
"We need to deal with it immediately!" 
Hange accidenatally slipped causing them to fall on their butt.
They groaned from the little pain and panted through their breath.
"Cut to the chase. What's the problem?" Erwin asked as he hand the glass of water to the brunette.
Hange took a deep breath as they accepted the glass of water. "Reiss... wants to eat Eren." Hange said.
Erwin's eyes widened.
He remained silent with a surprised expression on his gorgeous face. 
--
"...Thus is a conversation between Bertolt and Ymir?" Erwin asked.
He's reading the paper that Eren gave to Hange yesterday, containing the vital information about the titans.
"So he said. Bertolt said, "I'm sure you didn't wany to eat a human." And Ymir replied, "I wandered around outside the walls for 60 years."..."
Hange's brows furrowed, their brown eyes showed a sympathetic look. 
"...In other words, Ymir must have been one of the titans wandering outside of the walls. I don't know if she was forcefully turned into one like the people of Ragako village, or if it was something else...but she said it was like a 60-year-long-nightmare...
it's unimaginable. It's not like they want to walk around naked and eat human beingd. They're still unmistakably a threat to humanity. But maybe they're so cute in part because of the pity you feel for them..." The brunette scientist said.
Erwin just stared at the paper with his usual stoic expression. "Are these words the first Eren remembers Ymir saying?" The commander asked.
"Yes...his memories start with her saying, "Do you hate me for it?" You can probably infer from this that Ymir ate one of Bertolt, Reiner, or Annie's friends. We've seen countless people get eaten by titans...so we know eating a human won't turn a titan back into one."
Erwin looked at Hange.
"But if Ymir ate one of Reiner's comrades...whoever it was could probably transform into a titan." 
Hange pumped a fist. 
"In other words, if a human who has been turned into a titan eats a human who can transform into a titan, they turn back into a human. Or to he more precise, they gain their ability to control their titan transformation. And...if you'll allow me to change subjects...this reminded me of the report from when we recovered Eren from Reiner and Bertolt. Remember, they threw titans at Eren as he was getting away... they had tried to steal Eren away, so why would they suddenly try to kill him? I really had to think about their goal...couldn't it have been to have another titan eat Eren? If the ability to transform can be transferred by eating...then maybe the "scream" they want grim Eren works in the same  way. In that case, Eren is just a vessel. He interchangeable to them. If the royal government wants to use the scream, there's no way they'll keep that power sitting inside a personification of teenage rebellion like Eren. If they can...they'll transfer it to someone more convenient. Jusy like Reiner tried to do...in other words, if the royal government, which seems to know about the titans, has a titan of their own...they'll surely feed Eren to it." Hange said.