𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑬𝑵𝑫 𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑳 𝑩𝑬 𝑰𝑹𝑶𝑵𝑰𝑪 - Levi Ackerman [1]

thirteen

13|DEVASTATION

"Hanje." Levi announced, breaking the long silence. "Hey, four eyes. Are your hobbies so boring that playing with rocks is somehow fun for you?"

"Yeah, that's right." Hanje agreed, still staring at the clear rock in her hand. "But this is no ordinary rock. It's a hardened fragment of skin left behind by the Female Titan."

"Huh? It didn't disappear?" Armin asked puzzled.

"Right!" The Section Commander leaned forwards with excitement. "Annie reverted from a Titan, but it's still intact even though it broke off her body. It didn't evaporate. It didn't disappear. So I thought, "what if?" when I compared it to a piece of the wall, its pattern and composition were practically identical. In other words, the wall is a barricade of humongous Titans. And if I'm right, the surface is constructed with hardened Titan skin."

"And I'm guessing the Order of the Wall all know about this?" Lillian gave the man a narrow stare, watching his reaction to what Hanje had just revealed.

"That's exactly what Armin was saying." Mikasa gasped, staring at the wide eyed boy.

"T-then-" Armin was cut off by Hanje grabbing his face and covering his mouth.

"Let me finish, Armin." Hanje chuckled, not removing her hand. "As it stands, we'll be hard pressed to fill the hole in Wall Rose. That is, unless we can find the perfect boulder to plug it. But if Eren, in his transformed state, could use the Titans hardening ability to seal the hole in the wall."

"Use me to seal the wall?" Eren gulped hard, a nervous sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Hanje, let go of the poor boy." Lilly gestured to Armin who still had Hanjes hand over his face.

"It should be made of the same material." The woman finally sat back, letting Armin breath again. "And seeing how the hardened section won't evaporate, even after you revert from a Titan it's possible."

"I think it's well worth the risk to try." Armin smiled happily, nodding his head slightly. "And assuming it really does work, reclaiming Wall Maria is feasible, too. Up until now, we've had to transport a large quantity of materials and supplies. That's why the need for outposts past the wall limited are progress. But if we don't have to accommodate supply wagons we could quickly make our way to Shiganshina. What if we carried out the plan at night?"

"At night?" Lillian asked, trying to understand his plan.

"Yes." He continued. "During the night, when Titans can't move."

"If the group was small enough, you could sneak all the way to Wall Maria." Hanje scratched her chin as she began to think about the boys plan. "The current situation is as bad as it gets, but we still have a glimmer of hope."

"Yes, but remember it all depends on whether Eren can seal the hole or not." Armin said truthfully, glancing at the boy beside him.

"I realise asking this hardly seems fair, but do you think you can do it?" Everyone's eyes darted to the nervous boy, the pressure building on his shoulders.

"It doesn't matter what you think." Levi spoke up. "You have to, there's no other choice. We're out of options. Our forces are struggling so desperately there's nothing else they can do. You have to succeed."

"I know you can do it, I lived with you for many years and you were always such a determined little child." Lilly smiled at him, reaching across to grab his hand. "If anyone can save humanity it's you, Titan or not."

"I will!" Eren said determinedly before grabbing the key from around his neck.. "I'll do whatever it takes to seal the wall. If what my dad said was true, we'll find the answers to everything there."

"It's Ehrmich District." Hanje changed the conversation. They all jumped out the cart and walked through the gate, ending up in the busy district.

"Oi, keep moving." Levi kicked Pastor Nick forwards after the man had stopped at the sight of the hoards of people walking past. "You'll end up like a lost little kid."

"This is..." Nick trailed off, still shocked at the sight before them.

"What did you expect you'd see?" The short man stated stoically. Thousands of people walked past them, their homes had been destroyed by the suddenly attack from the Titans.

"This is what happens when the wall falls." Lillian stilled as she saw a boy crying for his parents, he was alone and lost.

"Hey. Where do you think you're going?" Levi grabbed the religious man by the shoulder and pulled him back before he could escape. "Take a good look at the faces of people who've lost everything. The faces of everyone you and your people abandoned. If your church's wish comes true, and Titans come flooding through the walls, we'll all be gobbled up in their stinking mouths and die in the most miserable way possible. All of humanity, digested as one."

"Let's just go." Lilly placed her hand over her mouth, trying to hold in the bile. She pushed past the two men and threw up behind some crates, her stomach curdling as it removed everything she had recently digested.

"Shit, Lils." Levi grabbed her long blonde hair and held it back for her.

"Sorry." She apologised, happily accepting the handkerchief Levi offered her and wiped her mouth. "I need water."