The Embers that Burn Persimmon [AoT]

XXIII

Calliope sat at her desk holding a cup of tea as Armin sat in front of her. "I need you to tell me every single detail that happened during the expedition in the right wing, Armin." Calliope requested before sipping on her tea.

"Everything was going fine until an Abnormal came running from the right. Cis and Ness were able to kill it, but then another one appeared, the Female Titan. She killed both of them in a different manner than a regular Titan would. She showed intelligence much like the Colassal and Eren." Armin informed causing Calliope to nod.

"She rushed forward and I looked up right when she was about to step on me, she jumped over missing me. I was then thrown off my horse and landed on my stomach with my hood covering my head. She bent down next to me and removed my hood, taking a good look at my face before taking off. Then Reiner showed up and we tailed behind the Female Titan. I went to launch a signal only for Jean to come from behind and set one off. He informed us of the right wing being ambushed by a hoarde of Titans brought by the Female Titan and completely wiped out." Armin informed before taking a sip of tea.

"And that's when I explained to them my theory on why I thought it wasn't just an Abnormal, but a human. The way she struck them down in cold-blood before moving on. She murdered them instead of eating them. I then realized that she was after someone and the only person that made sense was Eren. Reiner then mentioned that Eren was with Levi's squad spear-heading the right wing. The same as my copy of the plan. However, Jean's copy had them in the left wing. But it didn't make sense for them to be there, strategically. Reiner asked, "where they were supposed to be?". And I told him that Eren would be in the safest spot of the formation. It would only make sense that Eren would be rear of the center rank. And it made sense seeing that you were also rearguard, which would be directly behind that position." Armin continued causing Calliope to nod.

"That's when Jean came up with the idea to distract her to give the platoon enough time to retreat. I told them to pull their hoods up hiding their faces because if she was looking for someone she wouldn't be able to kill us if she couldn't see our faces. We prepared to go on with the plan until she stopped and blew the hood off Jean. She then proceeded to smack me off my horse. I landed on the ground as she approached me and Jean went to attack her but, he couldn't maneuver properly with her movements. Then in order to try to save him I shouted out, "Don't let that suicidal maniac die in vain.". That stopped her right in her tracks. While she was focused on me, Reiner jumped in aiming for her nape. He was grabbed and almost crushed, but at the last second he broke free from her hand. She then changed course and they thought she retreated, but she moved to the center rank towards Eren. We were left stranded with only one horse that was until Krista showed up with an extra horse and Jean's horse came back. From there we regrouped with the others and were told to guard the forest." Armin finished.

Calliope set down her cup, "Jean and Reiner, were those the two I saw you with outside the forest?" Calliope questioned.

Armin nodded, "Yes, the man with the ash-brown hair is Jean Kirchstein and the blonde is Reiner Braun." Armin informed.

"And what about this suicidal maniac?" Calliope questioned in curiosity.

"Oh. That's just a nickname Jean came up with for Eren." Armin replied with a smile.

Calliope's lip twitched up slightly at the comment. "Your class sure has a lot of blondes. Last year the majority had dark hair." Calliope commented.

Armin pressed his lips together, "I guess. There's Krista, Annie, Reiner, Connie, and me. So I suppose a few. But Annie didn't join the Scouts. She joined the Military Police, so I guess she doesn't necessarily count." Armin informed.

Calliope sipped her tea, "I suppose you're right since I won't be seeing her around." Calliope commented.

"Thank you for sparing me a portion of your time, Armin. I like to know what goes wrong on expeditions especially with the wing spotters since that is normally where my squad is placed." Calliope thanked the boy with a small smile.