Memories ~ Attack on Titan

Chapter forty two

Hange put a hand on my shoulder, "Rin, it's time to go." I nodded, "where now?" Hange smiled slightly, "to meet up with Levi and the others."

It was night fall by the time we reached them. My legs and feel were throbbing but I was determined not to show my discomfort on my face. We all three walked in silence for practically the whole journey, talking was to risky, best to just put our hoods on and stalk towards the others silently. Finally we reached the wood line, and I saw a familiar figure look front behind a tree. When we reached Levi we pulled our hoods off, he seemed surprised to see us. "Rin," my father spoke quietly. I looked up at him, I knew his face would show nothing but still, I felt that he was relieved to see me. I let off a weak smile, "hi dad." I heard a gasp to the side of me which made me jump. "You're back?" It was Armin, whispering a bit loudly. "Armin!" I said happily trying to keep my voice hushed. I ran over to him and gave him a big hug. "Is everyone okay?" I asked, pulling away. Armin smiled, yea, come stand by the fire. They're all there." I couldn't suppress me smile now. The thought of seeing my boyfriend again made my heart jump. Armin walked us through the trees to a small clearing, no one looked up from the fire. I examined all of their faces, they seemed so tired. Armin cleared his throat causing Conny and Sasha to look up. Connie smiled, "no way." Sasha gasped, unable to keep in her excitement, "Rin!" She said way to loudly as she jumped up practically tackling me to the ground with a hug. "Awe I missed you guys," I said, finally feeling like I could breath again. I looked over at Jean, who was still sitting but looking up at me in amazement. Almost like he couldn't believe I was actually here. He jumped up from his seat and ran over to me. "Hey what-" but I was cut off by the boy embracing me in a hug. It caught me off guard so much that I gasped slightly. "I'm glad you're okay," he whispered. I felt myself relax into his arms this time. Jean was everything I needed. Suddenly my father, Hange and Moblit walked in. "Well, Rin, should we tell them everything now?" I looked up at Hange then back down at the ground. "Yea I suppose it's that time," I whispered, not sure of how the others would take this new information.

While Hange and I finished telling our story, several of the others looked completely shocked. Hange ended it with, "and there you have it. The coup was successful. Premier Zachary now has full control of the capital and government." I took a deep breath before chiming in, "well, for the time being at least. The nobles seem to be staying in line." Armin looked up now, finally able to process this information and ask questions, "okay but what about the incident with Mr Reeves?" Hange smirked, "oh we got a public confession out of one of the interior police. Rin came up with a brilliant plan and Reeves son Flegel really pulled through for us." Hange handed my father a newspaper, the one Flegel convinced the towns people to write. Hange continued, " it's all right there. The abuse of power, the bogus charges here' against the scouts. And that king Fritz was both a puppet and a fraud. It's clear now that we only acted in self-defense. in short, we're no longer criminals." Everyone gasped at Hanges last sentence. Then they all jumped in the air yelling with excitement. I couldn't hell but laugh at how silly they all looked. I looked over at Hange and my father who were now talking. Levi sighed, reading the paper again, "it looks like Erwin's gable paid off." Hange laughed, "that it did, but it wasn't just Erwin who gambled. Many people had to make a lot of hard choices for this to work." Levi sighed again, "my choices got three of your people killed. I'm sorry." They were silent for a moment before Levi continued, " here's the thing, the interiors may have lost, but not all of them know it yet. They still have Eren and Historia. We need to find them quickly." Hange walked back over to the group, " I think I know where they might be. Let's get there and put an end to this fight. Everyone, load into the wagon." With Hange leading the way we all piled into the wagon. I sat next to jean, putting one of my legs over his. I looked up at him but I dont think he noticed, but I definitely noticed the small blush in his face. I couldn't help but smile, amongst all this death, and despair, I could still find happiness in him. We rode in silence for what felt like forever before Mikasa got impatient. "You said you might know where they are," she started. Hange held up a book, " oh yeah, I guess I should explain how huh. Erwin gave me this scout report from an invitation on lord Reiss' land. Details a certain incident that occurred five years ago. It was the day wall Maria was breached. I'll Summarize the important bits, as far as regional lords went, Reiss was fair and well respected by his people. he had five children. The most well-known of them was his eldest daughter Frieda. She was down to earth, a girl who even the peasants adored. But five years ago, on that night, disaster struck. With the fall of wall Maria having plunged the world into chaos, bandits set fire to the only chapel around. Unfortunately, the entire Reiss family had gathered there to pray. And so the entire family was massacred that night. Only Rod Reiss managed to escape with his life. To top it all off this incident occurred just a few days before Historia's mother was killed by the interior police. So we know they're in the immediate week of losing his family Rod Reiss sought out Historia." Hange's story, tho I had heard it all before, still made me sick. Levi crossed his arms, "well she is of royal blood. Where do you think that bloodline has some other secrets?" More secrets, I was tired of the secrets. Historia didn't deserve this, she was to kind. Unless that was a lie too. Hange looked over to Levi, "it's possible but I'm not sure. What really stood out to me at least was the fact that large parts of the chapel were destroyed. The chapel was built from stone. It would take a lot of time and effort to just destroy it. If it was simply just bandits, they would've taken what they could and left. Also, Lord Reiss was the only witness. Then Reiss rebuilt the chapel with his personal wealth almost immediately. What was his rush?" We we're all silent, trying to process this information. I sighed and stretched my arms over my head, groaning a little, I felt so groggy from the lack of sleep I've had. I spoke in a monotone voice while I stretched, " well when you think about it, the story would only really make sense if it involves some kind of titan attack. I mean, maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but it's suspicious. Suspicious enough to have an investigation at least. Plus isn't this the only lead we have?" Hange laughed slightly, " couldn't have said it better myself. That's why we head there now. Before the night is over Reiss's land will be crawling with our soldiers. Unfortunately, we can't expect him to wait that long. We have to get there as soon as possible. Before Eren ends up in someones stomach." That wouldn't happen, I wouldn't let it. That and Mikasa would go out on her own if she even suspected, we wouldn't get there in time.  I found myself stuck in my head. This just doesn't makes sense. If a titan gains intelligence and special abilities by eating another human, who also possesses that power, if that's true then how the hell did Eren become a titan? And who the hell did he eat? One of Reiner's buddies? Fuck, I can't think about Reiner now,i had almost forgotten him. But to be betrayed like that, by someone I was so close with is something I could never forget or even imagine forgiving. I wonder how long they had lived here before they decided to break down the wall.
I jumped slightly when my fathers words sounded through the air. I didn't even realize how feel of thought I was really in. " You should understand. This is Kenny the Ripper. If he's there, he's our biggest obstacle. Rin's can tell you,  she managed to fool him once. Don't think we'll get that lucky again tho. In terms of a threat level, I'd be like fighting a bigger version of me. Or wait, with those crazy weapons of his he'll be stronger." Sasha gasped slightly, "then he's unbeatable. At least for us." Connie chimed I'm too, "yea uh maybe we should wait and meet up with other soldiers." Mikasa cut the two of them off, speaking with straight venom behind her words, " no chance in hell." Connie, being slightly intimidated, took back his words immediately, "right? If we wait for reinforcements, it'll probably be too late." I felt myself break out in a cold sweat, it wasn't that I didn't believe in my comrades, it's just that I had way too much faith in Kenny to get his job done. And several of his other lackeys seem to be as well trained as he was, which would be okay for Mikasa, dad and I, but I'm worried for the others. Armin looked back at everyone with a serious expression, " you know, based on what the captain just told us the odds won't be entirely in Kenny's favor. His squad is well trained, but we have way more combat experience."
Hand to hand combat huh. Reminds me of someone. Miche, what would you do if you were here?
Hange cleared their throat, "have to ask. How was it that you lived with Kenny the ripper but know next nothing about him?" Levi kept his gaze fixed on the ground, "we didn't talk much. I only just learned the man's last name. Don't know if you heard or not, but it's Ackerman."
Ackerman. I always thought it was funny Mikasa and I shared a last name. I never thought until now that I'm actually mean something.
Mikasa gasped slightly, " I remember my dad telling me about his side, the Ackerman's, how they were persecuted when they lived in the cities. My mom said her ancestors were eastern. her family's appearance made it hard for them to fit in. Both groups were chased deep into the mountains near the edge of the walls. that's how my parents met. But my father never told me why the Ackermans were persecuted. He looked the same as everybody else, that's why I don't think he was a different race." This was making my head spin, as if I didn't already suffer from constant migraines. Levi looked up at her, " tell me this have you ever felt like a power was awakening inside of you?" Mikasa looked shocked by his question, even letting out a gasp after he asked, "I have," she practically whispered. Levi continued, " this happened to Kenny as well. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he felt absurd amount of power surging through him. And in that moment, he knew just what he needed to do. And it's happened to me too. I can't speak for Rin but, it makes me wonder." I felt my blood run cold.
As if I wasn't going through enough. I'm so tired of all the secrets.
After what felt like forever, we arrived at the chapel. We unload from the cart, and with Hange leading the way, we headed inside. Jean waited to catch up with me. Everyone entered but he pulled me to the side, I looked up at him, taken aback and slightly confused. Jean looked nervous, like he didn't know if he should say what he was about to say. I took a step closer to him, and put a hand on his arm, " just say what you need to say," I said a softly as I could, even forcing myself to offer a small smile. Jean didn't smile tho, which made me even more nervous. He scratch the back of his head before clearing his throat, " I um, just wanted to say that I don't I don't know what's gonna be behind those doors, but whatever it is, I don't want you to do it alone. I wanna be by your side. it kills me every time you feel like you have to venture out on your own or you just try to leave me behind and do your own thing, which I understand, but I am your uh, boyfriend, so I'd really like to be around you more, have your back a little bit. I hate wondering if I'm ever going to see you again every time you walk out those doors. I know I can't change who you are, but please just let me be a part of it Rin."
Jean. Even amongst all the chaos, knowing I still have this pure, loving relationship makes every day worth it. I really hadn't been spending as much time with him as I should. I don't know the first thing about relationships or boyfriends. Truth be told I probably shouldn't even have one. I'm reckless with my own life, I can be called and once my mind is set to something nobody's changing it. But Jean, sweet, beautiful Jean. He's right, if I want to keep somebody like him my life I need to let him in. I've lost so many people that I loved, I won't lose him too. I think I let my grief blamed me to everything that was going on around me, I became reckless, and just set on revenge. I was so worried about not letting anything else happen to anyone I loved, but I forgot to show them how much I actually love them. Whatever happens behind these doors, me and him, how it should've been from the start.
I grabbed my boyfriends hand and kissed it softly before looking up at him, a mix of blush and surprise written in his face. I offered a genuine smile, something that I can't remember the last time I did, "you and me this time. No more games," I have all the thoughts going on in my head, those were the only words that I could seem to muster out. But luckily, it didn't take much to please him, he squeezed my hand and open the door, "after you then," he said with a silly smile. I couldn't help but giggle before entering the the chapel. I saw Hange knelt down looking at something on the floor. "Common," I said, pulling Jean along to where I was going. I knelt down next to Hange, "what are we thinking?" I asked, looking at the trap door under our feet. Hange looked over at me, "Eren and Reiss should be inside. Hopefully the layout is close to what I predicted." Levi rolled his eyes, "this better pay off." Armin finished up the last of the preparations, "okay. We should be ready to go now." I looked up at Jean, who was standing behind me. I felt Levi's eyes on me now, I turned a look at him trying to keep the fear out of my expression. "Alright then, is everyone ready?" He asked, "because you're all about to dirty your hands." I looked to each of my comrades faces. Sasha and Connie both look like they had seen ghosts. Mikasa, kept the same game face she always had. I could see Jean sweat, but I knew he wasn't going to hesitate this time. I felt my heart thump. The world was crashing down before us, but this time, we were leading the charge.