Beneath The Surface

Chapter 4- The Trial (FINALE)

Morning has finally fallen upon the ocean...
Annie slowly started waking up, "good morning, Arm-" she stopped once she realized he was gone.
Annie bolted out of her bed, "Armin!" She searched around every room.
Hange swam to the room Annie was in, "Annie...stop yelling, it's way to early..." Hange said as they rubbed their eyes.
"Hange! Have you seen Armin?!" Annie rushed over to Hange.
"Whoa, calm down, are you still dreaming?" Annie, now confused on what Hange meant by that.
"What are you talking about?" She asked, "didn't you return Armin to his people yesterday?" Annie's eyes widened.
"I never did.." she looked away from Hange, "Annie, he wasn't here when I came back late last night!"
Annie's vision started to get blurry, as if she was gonna faint.
"He wasn't here? Did he abandon me? No...he wouldn't..." Hange slapped Annie a couple of times, "focus Annie! I told you this would happen! King Erwin has him for sure! You promised me that you would return him to his people and never go back!" Hange yelled at Annie.
"Hange, I couldn't let him go, I love him!" Annie covered her mouth once she confessed.

"That was the one thing I told you not to do! When will you learn, child?" Hange face palmed their forehead.
"Just tell me what to do!" Annie frantically yelled.
Hange thought of it for a moment, "well, merfolk laws grants all suspects a trial before sentencing, it's a tradition going back generations. But...we never had a water-breathing human among us, the only humans we get are the dead ones.
Technically, a trial should still apply for Armin like any other merman, but since he's human..." Hange stopped for a moment.
"You said it yourself! We have laws, it shouldn't matter that he's human!" Annie folded her arms.
"Yes, Annie but you know merfolk hate humans, they might be a little unfair." Hange said, rather nervous.
"I know that the odds are against me but I couldn't care less! What do I need to do for that trial?" Annie was getting more desperate  by the minute.
"Just like any trial, you need proof or merpeople to confirm that he isn't what they think he is, that he never ate, killed, or abused us."
Annie was silent for a few seconds, "Hange, you know that he's not like that, won't you please vouch for him?" Annie pleaded.
Hange sighed, "they found him in our home, Annie, they won't believe anything that we might have to say, they'll just think that we're lying to save his life."
Annie rubbed her sinus area, "then I have no choice but to ask Reiner and Marcel..."
Hange's eyes widened, "they know that he's human?!" She yelled out.
"They don't..." Annie swam to find her friends, leaving a worried Hange behind.

Meanwhile...

Reiner was flirting with a couple of mermaids, while Marcel was watching him make his cringe inducing flirty comments

"Reiner, Marcel, I gotta speak with you two." Reiner rolled his eyes.
"Well look what the catfish dragged in, my so called friend who slammed my face into the sand!" Reiner scowled and folded his arms.
"I have no time for this, Reiner, King Erwin has Armin." Annie said bluntly.
Marcel and Reiner's eyes widened, "King Erwin?!" They both said.
"But he seemed so nice at first! What did he
do?" Marcel asked.
"Well, the reason is...that he's human." Annie looked up to see Marcel and Reiner staring at her, like as if they've seen a ghost.
"Please tell me that you're joking, Ann." Reiner said.
"Am I really the type to go and joke around the kingdom?
I need you two to testify for him in the trial to let the King know that he's innocent, that he doesn't eat or kill us!"
"Annie, have you lost your mind?! He's a monster! He's human!" Reiner yelled at her.
"What are you talking about?! You've met him and the first thing you do is put your hands on him!" Annie's blood boiled at thinking of Reiner laying his filthy hands on Armin.