The Queen of Pain - Levi Ackerman

Chapter 21

Dedicated Chapter Song: Wake up, get on, get out there - Lyn

Can we make a difference if we don't break out of here? Wake up, get up, get out there! Raise your voice against liars! Feed your anger like fire! Why does nobody want change? Just imagine you're out there!
(Anna)

“He's gonna come up here,” Levi observed as the Scouting Legion remained still standing on the inner Wall of Shinganshina, peering down at the Armoured Titan. Anna's eyes weren't on Reiner, however, but were curious as to who controlled the gigantic monkey out on the horizon.

“TROOPS!” Anna threw back her head and yelled. “Avoid engaging with the Armoured Titan! Don't get anywhere near that thing!”

“Understood!”

“Yes, ma'am!”

“You still okay to fight, Rubes?" She turned to the redhead, who was carefully wrapping up her ankle. “We've all been through worse, right? This is...just a bruise, yeah? It'll heal, won't it? I-I mean, my Titan powers will heal it, right?”

“You sound so unsure.”

“Anna...” Ruby snivelled, looking around for any sign of her sister again. “Everything's going to be okay, right?”

“Of course it will be.” she crouched down and hugged the younger girl. “I'll do whatever it takes to keep you all safe.”

“...Hanji?” Eren approached the scientist. “Are we still waiting on attack orders?! What are we doing?!”

“Observing the enemy's movement.” Hanji replied calmly. “Reiner, Bertolt and Hysteria probably have a very elaborate welcome waiting for us here.”

Anna once more looked out to the Beast Titan as it sat so idly by, just watching the havoc being brought upon Shinganshina. “Just who are you...?” she whispered, then noticed another strange Titan near it. “That quadrupedal Titan has a saddle on it for carrying cargo. It must not be part of the group of Titans that transformed just now. Could that mean it's an enemy Scout?” she pondered aloud. “It would have been the one that spotted is approaching and warned Hysteria in that case...”

Anna lifted her head and pointed out towards it. “That quadrupedal Titan is intelligent, too!” she informed everyone nearby. “No...there must be even more of them out there. The enemy is even more formidable than we predicted.”

All of a sudden the Beast Titan raised a lanky and long arm, smashing it into the ground near him with a loud and frightening roar. A swarm of smaller Titans came barreling into the city. “Shit! As if the Resurrected weren't bad enough!” Anna gripped at her hair.

“Multiple two-to-three meter class Titans approaching!”

It'll be simple for them. Them go for our horses first. Their primary goal is to capture Eren and kill me. But to do that, they'll first take away our escape options. There's no way for us to return home from here in Titan territory without our horses. If they can kill our horses, they can cut our supply lines simply by blocking our retreat.

Then they just have to wait a week or at most a month for us all to waste way. In that way, they could pluck Eren from his deathbed without even having to fight. Given that, the large Titans are doing just what I'd expect standing in a rank. They're clearly acting as a cage to trap us here.

“C-Commander, the Armoured Titan is getting extremely close..." Armin warned in concern. “Plus, we still don't know where Bertolt is...”

“Yes, I know,” Hanji responded.

Anna exchanged glances with her, as if they could exchange information without ever needing to talk.

The scenario we must avoid above all...is the one which our horses are killed because we have no way to deal with Reiner and Bertolt. To that end...

Levi scuffled up beside her, breaking her concentration. “So, you're finally ready to talk...? Or should I get breakfast after all?”

Anna felt her shoulders tense up and she nodded at Hanji before making a call. “Squad Dirk and Squad Marlene, go join Squad Klaus at the inner gate!” she commanded loudly so no missed a word she said. “Guard our horses with your lives! Squads Levi and Hanji...” she panted heavily all of a sudden. “Take down the Armored Titan!”

“At squad leaders’ discretion,” Hanji jumped in. “Use the thunder spears!  Carry out your objective by any means necessary!”

“This moment— this battle!” Anna shouted. “Humanity's continued survival depends on it! So once more, for Humanity's sake....dedicate your hearts!”

A fleet of soldiers jumped off the Wall, ready to fight with every last breath they had.

“Levi, Armin, wait!” Anna stopped them quickly. “I know I gave orders to your squad...but you're staying here, Levi,” she said with a stern tone to her voice. Normally Levi would ignore her orders since she ranked lower than him but she happened to be the only one who knew Hysteria's fighting style inside and out. “...You want me to protect the horses, not Eren?” he cautiously asked.

“Yes,” Anna firmly nodded. “That's right, and wait for your opening to kill that monkey. You're the only one I can trust to destroy him once and for all. As for me...” her eyes searched around for the albino queen of demons. “I'm going to finally kill that bitch.”

“...Understood.” Levi reluctantly replied. “Make him pay for what he did before,” Anna reminded him, thinking back to the time Levi died in her arms. She didn't want to think of that. She wanted to avoid that ever happening again because if he died there'd be no way to save him again.

“Armin,” she turned to the teen. “I have a plan for the Armoured Titan. One of the front in this battle for humanity's fate will be under the command of you and Hanji.”

As Reiner in his Titan form finally made it up onto the Wall, he went to move straight for the horses. He was distracted, however, by a lone soldier standing on the Wall, staring out at the city. Anna turned her head ever so slightly and stared at the Titan beside her. “Hi, Reiner," she said with such an emotionless expression and tone that it was hard to imagine just what was going through her head at that moment.

Anna waited, staying ever so still to provide Reiner a distraction from the horses. He could choose to kill her now for Hysteria or he could choose to wipe out the horses, leaving the Scouts without an escape. She waited and waited, standing as still as humanly possible until the final moment.

A large flash of lightning struck before her, yet she still did not move an inch. It was clear to her that Reiner was surprised to see Eren Jaeger’s Titan, especially when Eren knows he's the target.

“Stick to the plan, Eren,” Anna whispered, soaring off the Wall in search for Hysteria and the remaining Resurrected. “And good luck.”