{Mercy's POV}
Shannon and I made our way to the stables to go see Ronnie.
As we approached each horse whinnied and neighed at the sight of us.
"Are you excited?" Shannon asked with wide eyes.
"About what?"
"About being on a squad with me, idiot!" He retorted and smacked his palm to his chest as if he was hurt by my questioning.
"Ecstatic," I replied as I pet the velvety muzzle of my horse.
"Not that I'm complaining," he started, "But why did they move you to Squad 47 anyway?"
I glanced at his expectant honey colored eyes, and knew I couldn't tell him the truth.
"Because Commander Hange knew that with a dumbass like you your squad will need all the help it can get," I jeered and raised a brow at him which only resulted in him shaking his head and clicking his tongue.
"Can't argue with that one."
Shannon and I hoisted ourselves onto our horses.
The sun was high in the sky, but it wasn't a hot day. The playful breeze swept over the walls that surrounded us and dove down to rustle up the fallen leaves on the ground like it was a game. Our horses would whinny and shook their heads randomly as we trotted through the streets. Children were playing behind buildings. They'd gawk at our passing and burst with excitement at the admiration for our horses.
It was a brand new, childlike, nostalgic day.
"I remember playing in streets like these when I was a kid," Shannon laughed as the children halted several feet from us to stare. "How about you?"
I remembered the shackles around my wrist and the intensity of my father's anger. I remembered the hunger and the confusion and the pools of my own tears.
I couldn't remember playing or laughter.
Still, I nodded my head and pretended to agree with him.
"So how was your mission into the unknown?" He asked with a lifted brow.
"I'll save that story for when we see Ronnie. Then I can just tell you both," I said as I watched the townspeople slowly clear the streets to make way for us.
"Come on," he sighed, "At least give me something to think about."
I looked over at him to see his expectant stare and realized he wasn't going to shut up unless I gave him some kind of information.
"The sea is larger than you could imagine. It's endless," I said, "Kind of like your arrogance."
He pursed his lips and furrowed his eyebrows before blowing raspberries at me.
"Like I said earlier today, that-"
"-Concussion made me a bitch. I know," I laughed.
It was nice to finally talk and joke with Shannon. With the memories flooding my brain and the stress of the mission I didn't realize how much I needed it.
I looked at my fingers curling around the reigns of my horse. It baffled me that they had enveloped Levi's hands just hours before.
I wondered what possessed him to take such a brazen move back at my quarters, and why he was so passionate about it all.
I had my suspicions about his feelings toward me as the mission progressed, and his actions only confirmed them.
He did want to join me in that field after all, I thought as I recalled looking back at him those several days ago. His eyes were so relaxed and soft.
Still, I couldn't shake the desperate look he had as he kneeled before me earlier that day. His gaze was passion filled and pleaded for forgiveness as if he had done something terrible. I also was relieved to know that him being cold and distant wasn't my doing... He was just struggling with his feelings.
I wasn't angry at him for booting me off his squad, but my bones ached at the thought of not being close to him and my skin longed to touch his again.
I thought about his thin hands and what he'd said to me during our handshake that reminded me of-
"You sure are deep in thought," Shannon scoffed which made me turn my attention to him. "What're you thinking about?"
"H-How much I miss Ronnie," I answered and looked around at the townspeople.
"Well, stop being sappy over it," he laughed, "We're on our way to see her right now."
I nodded my head and continued to look around.
Gawking children were accompanied by their mothers who nervously whispered for them to not get too close to the street. Merchants under tents were boasting loudly about their products. A stray dog was quietly approaching one of the booths and snuck off with one of the merchant's goods. I watched as the man cursed and mumbled as he chased it off.
I couldn't help but giggle at the sight.
As I panned my attention back to the street ahead, a shadowy figure caught my eye.
A man dressed in all black hid in the shadows of an alleyway, and disappeared after meeting my stare.
"Did you ever figure out what crawled up Levi's ass?" Shannon asked nervously.
"What do you mean?" I asked absent minded as I kept my focus on the dark alley.
"Uhm, what do you mean?" He countered. "What about at the graduation ceremony where he grabbed you like you were a stray cat? Or just his overall attitude? I bet he was a bitch to work with."
I remembered how he removed the cloak from my body in the midday heat. How he comforted me when I was breaking down in the tree. How his eyes longed to sit next to me in the field and how comforting it was to squeeze his hands.
"He's not as bad as you think he is," I laughed through a subtle smile that I couldn't contain.
Shannon's face contorted slightly as he noticed my grin.
"W-What's that suppose to mean?" He said with furrowed eyebrows as our horses moved along. My lips went straight and I tilted my head.
"Why are you upset?"
"I'm not!" He retorted and threw his hand up. "He's a total dick from what I've seen and heard, and I just don't understand why you're trying to see something good in him."
"Because there is good in him, Shannon," I argued. "Sure, he can be a real pain in the ass, but he's actually a good guy."
"How?"
"How what?"
"How is he a good guy? What makes him such a good guy in your eyes?"
A flash of black showed in my peripheral and I quickly turned my head to see another figure disappear.
"We need to pick up pace," I said quietly as I stared into the darkness.
"Did you seriously just change the subject," Shannon muttered and I quickly whipped my head around.
"What is your problem, Shannon?" I pleaded. "Why are you so fixated on Captain Levi?"
"Because I wanna know what makes him a good guy!"
"He just is! Now-"
"But why?" Shannon shouted and I could feel everyone's eyes on us. Another dark figure emerged from the alley directly behind my sight of Shannon.
The hairs on the back of my neck began to stand and I could feel my heart beating faster. I felt uneasy with all of the ominous figures emerging and disappearing.
"What?" Shannon said quietly as his face relaxed at the sight of my alertness.
"Let's go," I demanded and quickened the pace of my horse.
"W-Wait for me!" I heard Shannon call as he whipped his reigns.
Whoever those people were I could feel they had ill intent. I didn't know who they were, or why I was so uneasy at the sight of them, but I knew I had to leave. If they wanted a fight I wasn't afraid to dish one out, but I remembered the children and the townspeople surrounding us and decided to just avoid it all for their sake.
They were probably just some street thugs, but it felt as if we were being targeted.
After riding for about an hour we finally reached the south edge of Wall Rose. Ronnie's team had been working on restoring Wall Maria, so I knew she had to be stationed close to the Trost District.
Several soldiers in Garrison jackets were grouped together at the District's entrance.
"I don't see Ronnie," Shannon said quietly as he looked around. "How 'bout you?"
"No, I don't see her either."
I felt the anticipation boil inside of me. I was so excited to tell her about the sea and the mission. It'd only been a week since I last seen her, but it felt like a lifetime.
We tied our horses to a nearby post and made our way toward the group.
"Any of you guys seen Ronnie?" Shannon asked the unsuspecting crowd. They all turned to us.
"Ronnie?" A girl said as she tilted her head.
"Ronette Collins," I said as I stepped out from behind Shannon and came into view, "Short girl with long black hair and blue eyes. Said she was working on restoring Wall Maria."
They all stared at me with widened eyes as one man stepped forward.
"You're Merciana Sheehan!" He exclaimed which made everyone else drop their jaws.
"She's the Titan Slayer?" A girl chimed.
"We heard all about your expedition!" Another girl beamed. "We heard you killed nine Titans with several assists! Is that true?"
Shannon glanced over at me with raised eyebrows as everyone started to gather around me.
"Word gets out fast I guess," I laughed as they all began asking me hopeful questions.
"Alright, alright!" Shannon announced as he stepped between me and the group. "We're here on official Scout business to find our friend Ronnie. Any of you guys seen her?"
I laughed at the term "official Scout business" because it was far from true, but I couldn't help but give him points for cleverness. They would've never shut up otherwise.
"Never heard of her," A boy scoffed.
"It's a girl? Who gives a girl the name 'Ronnie'," someone laughed.
We all watched as they snickered and talked amongst themselves when a blond headed girl carrying her ODM gear passed by the group.
She stopped and perked up as she listened to the chatter.
"You guys are looking for Ronnie?" She said quietly. I turned to her and nodded my head.
"Yeah, do you know her?" I asked and she nodded her head slowly.
"Well, where is she?" Shannon chimed in impatiently.
The girl's eyes fell to the ground and her hands tightened harder around her gear.
"S-She's not here," she said quietly.
"Then where the hell is she?" Shannon asked angrily. I put my palm to his chest and shot him a discerning look.
"What's your name?" I asked as I moved my attention back to the girl. I could tell Shannon's fiery attitude was making her nervous. She looked to only be fifteen or so, and must've joined the Cadet Core as soon as they'd let her in.
"Blithe," she said weakly as her eyes met mine.
"It's nice to meet you, Blithe," I smiled. "Do you know where Ronnie is?"
She nodded her head and looked off toward the city.
"She's over there," she said dismally. A wave of eeriness flushed over my body as I looked into the girl's eyes. Something wasn't right.
"Can you take us to her?" I whispered as I kneeled down to meet her gaze.
She nodded slowly and began walking.
Shannon shot me a bewildered look, but my face was expressionless.
Whenever Ronnie wasn't near I could always feel her like she was always watching over me. Even as a Cadet, she worried about me constantly, and the sense always made its way to me. When I went to visit her before my mission she was easy to find because some connection pulled me toward her.
In that moment I couldn't feel any trace of her.
We walked for fifteen minutes or so until we came upon the District's cemetery.
"W-What are we doing here?" Shannon pleaded quietly beside me as we followed the girl through the gates. I didn't answer him. I couldn't.
My heart ached with denial.
We walked for several more minutes until Blithe stopped in front of a fresh grave with flowers and several letters piled on top of it.
"Mercy?" Shannon asked desperately as he stood beside me. Out of my peripheral I could see that he was facing me like he was terrified to look at what was before us, but I read the name on the headstone plain as day.
𝙍𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚 𝘼.
𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙨
I read the engraved lettering over and over again until the name sounded foreign in my mind.
"She passed several days ago," Blithe said sadly. "Her ODM gear malfunctioned after a shift in Wall Maria, and she fell from several stories."
Shannon fell to his knees while I stood solemnly and processed the information.
"Did she feel any pain?" I asked weakly as tears began to well in my eyes.
"No," Blithe said quietly as she stared at the ground. "It was almost instant."
"That's good," I mumbled as my throat began to tighten.
I stared down at the grave that held my friend. I thought about her black hair and her blue eyes several feet below us, and how I'd never get to see them again. I thought about her soft voice and how she always worried about me.
"H-How could this happen?" Shannon asked furiously as he glanced up at us. "ODM gear is always checked daily for malfunction or any kind of fault! How did this happen?" He cried.
As if Shannon's fury reached the sky, dark clouds started to roll in quickly.
"Blithe." I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Please leave me and my friend alone to take on this news," I said calmly.
She nodded and flashed us both an apologetic look before walking back toward the exit.
I slowly fell to my knees and sat on my heels as Shannon silently cried beside me and the clouds began to let their own tears fall.
I continued to stare at her name engraved in the stone.
Every emotion coursed through me. Anger. Confusion. Sadness. Emptiness. Longing. At the same time, I felt nothing.
I was in shock.
"This has to be a sick joke," Shannon sniffed as his head continued to hang. "This just can't be, Mercy."
I looked at the back of his head. His jaw was clenched and his hair was dripping from the rain. Each strand shook as he weeped quietly.
I placed my hand on his shoulder, and as soon as I did he pulled me into a hug. He sobbed into the crease of my neck while the cold rain fell on my cheeks. I was too stunned by the news that I couldn't wrap my arms around him. Instead, I sat there lifelessly while he clung to me.
"She didn't deserve this," he weeped.
"I know," I said flatly as I glanced over to her name once again.
Time seemed to stop moving as we sat there and grieved, but the rain didn't stop and neither did Shannon's tears.
After what felt like hours, we composed ourselves and rose to our feet to head back to base.
"The sea is beautiful, Ron," I whispered as Shannon looked at me with a pained expression.
I'm sorry you'll never get to see it.
As we silently made our way back to the Scout Regiment my brain flew a million miles per hour.
I thought about our bakery by the sea, and how she was so excited to hear about my mission. I thought about her parents, who I'd never met, and wondered how they were doing.
I thought about how worried she was for me and how her presence always followed me around.
I thought about the night of graduation and how betrayed she looked, and how I wished I would've just followed her.
I wanted to tell her about how the sea crashed into the land like clockwork, and how critters of all kinds were scattered at the bottom. I wanted to tell her about sand and how it was coarse when it was dry but mushy when it was wet. I wanted to tell her about the patch of greenery that would've been perfect for her bakery.
I thought about the sweetest, gentlest, most kind hearted girl and wondered how a world could keep going without her in it.
I thought about all the times she made me laugh, whether it was a funny joke or just a look. I thought about how her smile could stop anyone in their tracks.
I hoped that wherever she went there was a beautiful sea of her own waiting. I hoped that she'd make pastries and goodies, and sit by the mass of water with no cares in the world. I hoped that wherever she was she'd find my mother and they'd become friends and share fun stories. I hoped that she was at peace and that she'd never have to worry about anything ever again.
Goodbye, my sweet Ronette, I thought as we made our way into base and tears filled my eyes at the weight of it all.
My last memory of her was when she waved goodbye before my big mission. Little did I know that she was waving goodbye...forever.
I'll be safe.
I promise.