*
The soft creaking of the wagon, comforted the silent night.
Hanji was in deep thought, troubled by the sudden breach while the trio remained quiet. The night was rather cold, making Eren wrap the blanket more closely to himself. There was tension for a moment, while Armin questioningly glances at the priest out of curiosity.
Hanji's eyes narrow, "To think that Rose would suddenly be breached......." Armin spoke up, quietly but yet firmly. "What options.....do we even have left to us?....."
Everyone remains quiet.
"......Even if we go with Eren to the damaged spot...I can't imagine it going well...and......" Armin lifts his eyes, to meet the Priest who remained slightly distressed but composed. ".....why are we taking a wallist Priest with us?"
A smile spreads across the Section Commander, before throwing an arm around Pastor Nick, "We as I said before, we're buddies!" Hanji exclaims, before their smile slightly falters. "However....he knew there were titans inside the walls. But he kept it a secret until now........"
Levi on the other side remains quiet, listening in but also worrying for his lover's safety. He hated to admit out loud, but all he could do was sit and be passively calm.
".......I don't know why, but....." Hanji continues. "...it seems he's serious about dying before he'll spill anymore. Still........the church knows some sort of secret about the walls."
Eren's breath shudders for a moments, as his eyes shot wide open.
"Wait! Wait, back up.....!!!!"
The young shifter's eyes were wide, as if the situation could get any worse.
"....You're joking, right?!" Eren questions, while Armin and Mikasa sat there stunned about more of the truth, that was brought new to them. "This guy knew? He knew, and he kept quiet?!"
Hanji held nods with a calm expression, "Uh huh, afraid so," they admit, tilting their head to the Priest. Nick the Priest sat there, in dead silence afraid to blabber more nonsense. "Sums up where we are with him......"
Eren gasps quietly, while everyone was silent processing the news.
"....cats out of the bag now, of course," Hanji continues. "He's not willing to talk, yet, but we we'll see how he feels after a harsh dose of reality. Faith keeps him quiet, first hand experience though?"
Eren clicks his teeth infuriated, "Tch, to hell with that!" Eren stood up, slamming his hands harshly against the crates in front. "No, we're doing this backwards! If this son of a bitch knows something, he needs to come out with it! Humanity is on the brink of extinction, and all you care about is keeping your oath?!--"
Eren sways weakly still not fully recovered, grasping his head painfully from the rush of anger.
Mikasa rushes to help him, "Hey, take it easy," She says, guiding him back to sit back down. "You're still not fully recovered."
Levi cocks his small pistol beneath his coat, aiming at the Priest beside him calmly.
"There's more than one way to get the truth," Levi spoke up. "Granted, I may not be in top form at the moment, but it doesn't take much strength to squeeze the trigger. That said, I'm genuinely hoping I won't have to blow a hole in you, to settle this.......how 'bout you?"
The Priest subtly swallows, trying to remain calm.
"Threatening him doesn't work, Levi, trust me on that......." Hanji ensures him, speaking from when they threatened the Priest to drop him from the top of the wall. It was a moment full of tension, so a bullet won't compromise the main issue.
".....Agree with him or not, there's no denying our Priest is a man of principle. Which of course leads me to wonder, if he's so unwilling to talk......what in heaven's name do you imagine he's putting above the fate of humanity?"
Everyone soon falls silent for a moment, while processing everything just now that's been said. Everything was confusing, and many are questioning what was so important, that even this Priest would die for? Troubling as it may seem, Hanji still had many questions on the stone fragment in hand.
Levi seems to notice at a side glance, before leaning forward slightly.
"Hey four eyes, since when were you a genealogist?" Levi questions, curiosity as to why they are holding onto such a small piece. "Or rocks are just that fascinating? Looks like you're about to drool."
Hanji shifts their eyes are a moment in a daze, "What, this? It's not a rock," gesturing it in full view, for everyone to see. "Not an ordinary one anyway, it's a harden piece of skin, left behind by the female titan."
Armin gasps in shock, "It didn't vanish?!"
Hanji jumps with enthusiasm, "No! This random fragment broke off, when Annie reverted back to her human form....!" they explain, feeling excited to express their little knowledge with someone that had the same curiosity as they did. "....it didn't evaporate, didn't simply go poof! So that got me thinking, and when I compared it with the sliver of the wall, it's texture and composition were for all in tense and purposes, virtually they're identical! In other words, we are barricaded of enormous titans!..."
The scientist felt more openly to their assumption, with less material to work with.
"...if my hypothesis is correct, the surface was constructed using consolidated titan skin," Hanji concludes,
The young children's faces were in shock, "You're kidding me, that's what Armin was trying to say," Mikasa spoke up, but at that moment Armin finally realises something.
"Wait...s-so then--"
Before he could rain on Hanji's parade, the Scientist slams a hand over his mouth forcefully.
"Easy! It's rude to steal someone else's thunder!" They playfully scold him. "As it stands, we'd be hard pressed to find a rock, big enough to plug wall Rose. It had to be just the right shape and size, and we don't have specifics yet.....but on the other hand, where there's a will....there's a way. Picture Eren utilising his hardening ability while in titan form."
Hanji's releases Armin, when Eren's eyes widen in realisation with a shaky breath.
"I could, patch the hole," He recognises that he's capable in doing so, seeing that he could be useful to everyone, especially after their defeat.
"This sealage could be composed by the same material," Hanji further explains. "The harden bit won't dissolve once you've transformed back, this might be less of long shot than it sounds.....Thoughts?"
The three kids stare in shock for a moment, when Armin's face softens in response.
"Well, I think it's definitely a gamble worth taking," Armin admits. "If we can manage to seal up Wall Rose, Wall Maria starts to look rather promising. Vital as it is, the infrastructure slows us down to a crawl. The time and resources needed to transport materials are immense....."
Everyone keeps listening to his explanation.
"......but, if supply wagons don't have to be accommodated, we can make our way to Shiganshina much faster," he continues. "And what if we decided to carry out our plan in the dead of night?"
Hanji slight gasps, "Night?"
Armin nods, "Yes, when the titans are effectively motionless," he firmly states, making Hanji interested by this suggestion and hypothesis.
"That's not bad, in fact it's genius....particularly with a group that's small can slip by, undetected," Hanji says, while trailing into deep thought. Lifting the small fragment in thought, "Even in moments of the deepest despair....I guess we can still find hope, huh?"
"Yeah," Armin light heartedly agrees. "Just bear in mind though, the whole plan hinges whether or not Eren can seal the hole again."
Eren gasps in realisation, wondering if the first would even work.
Hanji's scoffs, "It's uh probably unfair of me to even ask, but do you think you can?"
All eyes were on him who seemed rather nervous, as silence falls upon the wagon and all around. He was rather hesitant, trying to gain the confidence if he can do the task Hanji asked of him. Everything was new, fresh in his mind, but even rusty with the ability.
"What he really thinks, isn't really the issue," Levi broke the silence, seeing the hesitation stirring inside the young boy. His piercing blue eyes shift to the young soldier, "You either will, or you won't.......that's the reality. Our comrades are breaking their backs, but without you, it's nothing. Failure isn't an option."
Eren's posture straightens, before sternly nodding.
"Sir! I know, I'm prepared to do whatever it takes!" Eren confirms he won't fail. "That's a promise.........."
*
EHRMICH DISTRICT - (Levi's pov:)
Finally arriving safely at Ehrmich District, many people were flooding the streets from outside the District that was in the titan zone. My eyes narrowed with frustration, but wat pissed me off even more, was this damn Priest had no clue how these people suffered to survive.
Trailing behind the wavering Priest down the stairs, I kicked his rear behind to keep moving forward.
"No one said stop!" I scold him sternly, already feeling disgusted by this son of a bitch. "Rolling stone gathers no moss."
The Priests eyes were wide, horrified by the sight before him. People trailing down together, cries, and silent screams of suffering.
"T-this is....." he utters out, while I clench my jaw.
"Maybe you expected to see something quaint?" I sarcastically question him, bitterness lacing in my tone. "This is what happens, when the walls give."
The Priest stumbles forward about to help, when I slam my hand on his shoulder with abrupt force.
"No! Take it in holy man, these are the faces of human beings who lost everything they ever had," my eyes darken, while enduring the suffering. The darkened expression upon the civilians, hollow eyes of pain, and despair. "Human beings you and your kind abandoned incidentally, hard to look at it I imagine......."
Judging by his face he was unaware of what was really happening, or was only revealed once in his life.
"....But if the church had their way, this would be all of us. Titans would pour in and make a feast of what's left, shoveling man, woman and child down their putrecid gullets. All humanity would be digested as one."
Grabbing his collar harshly shove him forward, heading back to where Hanji and the others were. Feeling rather pathetic with my sprained leg, all I wanted was to see her. To make sure she's alright and well, but a part of me must stay to watch over this idiot. Things were growing dire, and these people needed our aid.
"Section Commander, we're pressed for time," I hear moblit usher Hanji, yet they were eager to know the Priests thoughts.
Entering the main Scout facility, four eyes rushes towards the Priest who remained quiet since I revealed the crowded street of miserable families and elderly.
"So, seem to like it by any chance?" Hanji sarcastically questions him, while he remains quiet with a grim expression. Seriously, this bastard holds nothing to defend himself.
An aggressive inhale was drawn from the scientist, before yelling in frustration.
"Oh goddammit! Make up your mind!" She cries out. "This isn't some spiritual test, lives are on the line!"
The priest lowers his eyes, "Alas, I have no choice.......neither myself nor the others who believe our liberty to divulge the truth."
Hanji's eyes were filled with anger, "Fat lotta help you are!" voice raising more with indignation. Sarcasm dripping from their tone, "Thanks for keeping us company! It's been fun!"
Turning on their heel she storms off, when the Priest spoke up again.
"I would offer my help, if I could," he admits. "But a duty as great as this one, is beyond me. The order of the walls abides by the sacred will our faith commands us to obey."
My eyes narrow, shifting up not even taking his answer seriously.
"Who's sacred will?" Hanji questions, vehemently. "You mean like god, or something?"
"I can't answer that, but.....what I can do is provide you with a name," He spoke up. "An individual, the sacred will is it's divine wisdom instructed us to monitor."
Hanji shifts their head, "Monitor?"
He heavily sighs before giving in, "It's a person you know, someone who enlisted with the scout regiment as of this year," peaking my interest for a moment. "A child by the name of........Christa Lenz."
My eyes slightly widen in surprise, but remained collected.
Everyone else stood there in surprise, taken back by the sudden and news that a royal was among them. Who would've thought a brat like that, would be hidden well within our ranks.
"N-No way," Eren breathes out.
Hanji turns in confusion, "Who?"
The Priests eyes darken, "You must find her with all haste, she is the key," he explains, hastily. "She may know things we understand, but poorly....and with that, we come to the end of what I'm free to share.....the rest I leave in your capable hands."
"But if she's in the 104th cadet corps, she's at the frontlines by now!" Hanji realises, while my eyes shift to the Priest with a narrowed expression.
"Then let's go!" Eren decides, turning on his heel. "Come on! There's no time to lose--"
Eren rushes back only to collide into someone, a soldier from our regiment.
"Watch where you're going!" Hanji scolds him, as the young soldier collapses to the ground. Eren took a good look who it was, before recognising her realising she wasn't supposed to be here.
"Sasha?"
"Just where did you come from all of a sudden?" Mikasa questions, which I presume that's her name. Soon the young cadet gasps in remembering why she was here, before scrambling back up standing before Hanji.
"I was sent to give a message to Commander Erwin!" She announces, her voice shaking while trying to keep a firm voice. "Who then entrusted me to deliver this to you, Section Commander!"
She passes the scroll as Hanji took it hesitantly, confused, but still troubled about the fresh new information on who we just discovered. Hastily taking it, "Excellent work," before passing her something in return, while I trail behind. "So who is this girl, Nick's talking about?"
"She was the smallest one in our class," Eren replies, while adjusting his straps and ODM gear.
"Golden hair, blue eyes......in fact....." Armin describes. ".....She's uh, kinda cute."
Hanji doesn't seem to be recalling anyone, while I tried to picture the child.
"The girl who's always hanging around Ymir," Mikasa states, earning a small gasp from the Scientist.
"Excuse me?"
//
After a matter of minutes while Hanji's assigned group were preparing to depart, I stood behind waiting for any further instructions. My damned leg wasn't making my position any better, and I have a sinking feeling about Akira. My eyes fluttered shut while waiting for four eyes to come up with some plan, but she stood there reading over something.
Hanji hums in deep thought, "Hmm," their eyes scan over the files
"Section Commander, something wrong?"
"H-Huh? Oh uh, well I was finally able to get my hands on the background report I requested for Annie Leonhardt," They reply honestly.
"Annie?"
"Yeah, took longer than I was hoping for," She continues, lifting the background information in their hand. "The paper trails abt of a catastrophe at the moment,bureaucracy huh?....."
The three remain quiet, respectfully wanting to know more.
"....Anyway, according to this there were two other cadets in the 104th who hailed from the same region," Hanji's eyes focused on the files in hand. "I have their names.....one Reiner Braun, and Bertholdt Hoover."
Judging by their reactions they were close, and more so, they didn't even know they were the culprits. To our assumptions at least, but it's more of a pain to deal with.
"Not much survives in the way of records, and thanks to the chaos five years ago what we have on them is unreliable," flicking through the records, as she spoke. "However.....we do know that during the long range scouting formation, their unit was given false intel. They were among those intentionally mislead into thinking Eren was in the right wing."
Processing some little evidence, my anger boils subtly for Akira. She risked almost her life to save Eren, and there's more of these bastards out there, that caused the female to wipe out my men. It's true we weren't expecting much of a fight, but they're intelligent. Given the circumstances though, I partially wanted to forget that painful fight.
A small gasp makes me shift my attention, upon the blonde boy, Armin I remember.
"Wait just a minute, that's the section Annie attacked," Armin spoke up.
"What? What does that mean?"
Armin seems unsure, "Well it's entirely possible, they told Annie where they thought Eren was," he says.
"Huh? Why would they do that?"
Eren seems a little nervous stepping forward, "Where are you going with this, Armin? You can't just accuse--"
"I totally agree," Hanji cuts him off, preventing an argument alone. "Coincidence doesn't establish relationships, bearing that in mind......I'm curious to know how the three interacted while training. Over the course of those three years, Corporal Akira was monitoring all of you.....it's safe to say she also felt something was unsettling, so she documented over those three years......"
I, myself was surprised by this, but then again Erwin and Akira have held hunches for a long while.
Thankfully myself wasn't kept in the dark, I guess things are always comfortable to speak publicly. Akira somehow knew something was wrong when she fought during the Breach through Shiganshina, but she even admitted that it was uncertain.
She was rather tucked away in her office from time to time, or busy giving reports to the Commander. Even so, three years she was monitoring the cadets from a hunch?
Eren remains quiet, while the other two were accepting of their Corporals past actions.
"....anyway what I want to know is what can you tell me, being closer?" Hanji asks, while I rest my weight against the crates behind me. The torches dim the room faintly, with the soft flickering
"I knew Bertholdt and Reiner were from the same region as Annie," Armin spoke up. "But I never saw them act friendly."
"Same with me," Eren replies. "You'd never catch 'em shooting the breeze, and when they did talk it was pretty curt. Plus, it's not like Annie was not very social to begin with."
Sasha nods, "Yeah, at meals she seems to prefer eating by herself, I don't know," when realisations hits her, slamming a fist firmly against her palm. "Oh! I think I've got that struck me as weird at the time! I uh, heard she likes sweets!"
"I've got nothing," Mikasa adds, rather bluntly. "Except maybe tha--"
"Guys!" Eren cuts her off, causing for everyone to turn to him. "What are we even doing? These are our comrades we're talking about? Yeah sure, Bertholdt never has a lot to say, but Reiner is like everyone's big brother ya know? You really think he is capable of lying to us?"
Armin sighs, "Eren does have a point, think about it," he rhetorically questions. "Reiner fought the female titan with everything he had, almost got himself squeezed to a bloody pulp in the process.....huh?"
Yet something hits Armin, in realisation.
"What's the matter?" Eren questions.
"He bursts free from her grip at the last minute, afterwards Annie changed her course," he continues on. "In fact she ran straight towards where you were. I-I mentioned that you might be at the centre rank, but there's no way she could've heard me. She wasn't at earshot at the time."
The truth was slowly unfolding, things were adding up.
"You gotta be kidding,"
After listening in thoroughly, Hanji parts their lips, "Do you recall if he seemed unusually interested in Eren's location?"
The boys slowly widen assuming he did, "Oh no.....I only brought up his position in the first place, because Reiner asked me where I thought Eren might be......" before he falls quiet for a moment, then resumes. ".......Something else, once he broke free......the female titan stood there staring at her palm. Possibly transfixed on something he carved onto with his blades....maybe Reiner......."
The room falls deadly quiet, only to have faces either surprised or they all came to realisation.
"What is wrong with you, people?" Eren questions, appalled by the distrust and thrown assumptions. He was denying it, "The man's been with us from the beginning, you don't jus--"
"Enough!" Hanji snaps. "All of you, listen up. If we cross paths with the apparent question, don't give them any indication of what we've discussed....and under no circumstances, are you to approach the topic of Annie Leonhardt in their company. Before we can ascertain whether they co-conspirators, we must find, lure and contain them underground! That's the plan, are we clear?"
"Yes, clear!"
Everyone replies in unison, before the titan brat eagerly turns on his heel towards the door. Eager to head out, I click the roof of my mouth in annoyance turning to him. "We got to go, now!"
Lifting my steel gaze, "Calm down Eren," drawing their attention upon me. "I need you all to listen, we're going our separate ways. That's how it has to be. Erwin has had his reasons for throwing this rag tag squad together, but right now this is all riding on you."
Shifting my eyes to Armin.
"Armin and Hanji are the brain trust, use your combined knowledge to cook up some kind of solution," I entrust my own to those two.
"Yes, right!"
"Mikasa," my eyes shift upon her. "I don't think I'll ever get why you're so attached to the guy, but put your skills to good use....protect Eren, at all costs."
"Sir, I intend too!"
"And finally you, Eren," I calmly spoke, firmly giving them some responsibility that might shoulder so much. "Learn how to restrain yourself. Don't succumb to rage and lose sight of the goal. We can't afford another mistake."
"Sir!"
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