Dedicated Chapter Song: Save Myself From Me - New Year's Day
I'm a hostage inside my mind. No negotiations, no one gets out alive.
I'm a prisoner inside my mind. There is no release, I've lost the Skeleton Key. There's no escape I'll find a way. Betrayed by hope and cursed by fate.
Got one last chance, and now I'm not afraid to save myself from me.
(Anna)
“Where the hell is she?” Levi winced while his wounds were being tended to by Sasha. The remaining members of the Survey Corps— Not including Hanji, who managed to escape elsewhere— were all shacked up in an old abandoned barn just outside of Wall Sina. Though it wasn't perfect, it was somewhere to hide for the meanwhile. Anna had been missing in action for far too long now and everyone was growing worried.
“You don't think she ran into any trouble, did you?” Connie spoke up. “Knowing Anna,” Armin quietly chimed in. “That's exactly what she'd be looking for.”
“Why did they take Krista, though?” Jean questioned aloud. “I understand Eren and Ruby being kidnapped but Krista? Of all people it just doesn't make sense—”
“It does make sense.” Levi sharply cut in. “The Reiss family is quite powerful if Historia manages to take her title back. But... There's speculation that that title belongs to Anna in reality.”
“Wait, so,” Sasha blinked, unraveling another roll of gauzes to patch up his side. “Historia is the real Queen buuuut...Anna is the real, real Queen?” she tried to sum up everything they'd talked about in the past few hours.
“It's a complicated situation,” their Captain murmured. “So if Anna is Queen,” Jean drawled. “That makes you the King, doesn't it? At least, of course, once she's crowned.” Levi's silver eyes flashed. “Yeah, it would.”
“Greeeeat,” Connie muttered. “This whole kingdom will be spotless with Levi on the throne calling all the shots.” he joked. “Watch it,” Levi warned. “There you go, Captain. All patched up.” Sasha said and Levi looked down to see the bandages neatly wrapped around his torso and his leg. “Not bad, Brauss.”
“So, are we just supposed to wait here until Anna gets back?” Mikasa coldly asked. “How do we expect her to even find us?”
“W-Well, if she manages to rescue Ruby, she'd have the best tracker in the world with her.” Armin piped in. “That is...if they're all okay.”
“Of course they're okay, Armin.” Jean consoled the blond boy with a gentle pat on the back. “You know,” Armin slowly raised his head. “There has been something on my mind that's been striking me as rather odd. It has to do with Rose.” he lowered his voice just the slightest when he saw Jean react at her name.
“Well then, speak up, Arlert.” Levi crossed his arms.
“It makes no sense, you see. Why was she all of a sudden coughing up blood? Rosaline was in excellent health as far as every test Commander Hanji had executed on her. So...why did she sacrifice herself so Ruby could obtain her power? I refuse to believe it was out of fear and cowardice like some of others do.” he sighed.
“Ruby isn't a fighter, so it's not like it was planned. It's just...odd. Why would she willingly choose to let her sister eat her?”
The barn door creaked open. All heads snapped in the direction of the tired figure that stumbled into the dark barn. “I can... answer that question...” Ruby tiredly exhaled. She was being carried by both Anna and Eren while Historia lingered behind them, carrying a crate of sorts.
“What the hell happened?!” Levi exclaimed. Mikasa and Armin rushed to Eren’s side, helping him take Ruby off of his arm. Anna helped her young friend sit on a wooden crate. “Damn them,” she cursed, continuing to tear whatever was left of her dress to make tourniquets for the young girl. “I knew I shouldn't have ever trusted her.”
“Anna—” Levi attempted to get get attention, but she snapped her fingers. “Historia, hand out the clean clothing. We can't stay in dresses and tuxedos anymore.” she ordered. The blonde girl blinked in surprise but lowered the crate to the ground. “Ri-right...here, everyone...” she passed out some shirts and pants for each person.
“....Anna... I should...tell them about Rose...” Ruby weakly murmured. “Not now.” Anna insisted. “We barely made it out alive. I doubt the Ripper would've let us get away that easy. Either way, I don't think we can trust that...that Cayden fuck head.” she hissed.
“Who is Cayden?” Jean inquired.
“He helped us get out.” Eren explained. “He was...a little strange. It was like he wanted to keep us there but...wanted us to leave. None of us stayed, of course.”
“We have a lead, at least.” Anna explained. “My mother is working with Kenny. That fucking bitch.” Anna gritted her teeth as she tried hard not to think of the feeling of her mother holding a gun up to her head.
~•~ A few hours before ~•~
“Do you honestly think I didn't know you were a traitor?” Anna drawled, rolling her eyes at her mother. “Your lies are as weak as your maternal instincts.”
Her mother pretended to be shocked. “You really do have your father's spunk, Annie—”
“Anna.”
“—but you lack the basic knowledge of obeying your parents. You didn't even invite me to your wedding.”
“Tck!” Anna crossed her arms. “As if I'd even considered it! You and the Ripper killed off almost all of my guests, shot up my husband, ruined my dress, kidnapped my bridesmaids AND my ring-bearer, and you STILL expect me to willingly submit myself to your cause? You're out of your goddamn mind!”
“At least we know where you get it from.” Cayden muttered under his breath. “What was that?!” Anna gritted her teeth. “Enough quarrelling, you two. Don't act like the children you are. Act like the warriors you're born to be.”
Cayden lowered his head in shame. “Yes, ma'am.”
“Also, who the hell is HE?” Anna aggressively motioned to the boy next to her. “An assassin of mine.” Elizabeth carelessly smiled. “Now then, my child,” she reached into the pocket of her long coat and retrieved a gun, aiming it at Anna's head, right between her eyes. “No sudden moves.”
“What— this wasn't part of the deal!” Cayden suddenly argued. Elizabeth's green eyes flickered to him. “Do you think I honestly care about our deal, Cayden? You're useless to me now that I've got that Jaeger boy.”
“You used me!”
“Learn to get used to it.” she cocked the gun, her eyes returning to her daughter. “Any last words, little brat?”
Anna's eyes darkened as she began to raise her hand to her mouth. “Jigoku he ike.” she spat, but before she could take the split second to sink her teeth into her flesh, a gunshot went off. “Agh! You fucking bitch!” screamed her mother. Anna's eyes slowly trailed over to the boy bedside her, holding out his gun at her mother. He'd shot her in the leg without a second thought. “Go! Now!” insisted Cayden. “Get your friends and get out of here!”
Anna took in a small gasp before bolting back inside the warehouse. “Ruby!” she screamed, running to the young girl tied down to a chair with rope and knives. “I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?” she reassuringly stated, yanking the multitude of daggers and knives out of the girl's skin. “Anna...get Eren and Historia...” Ruby urged. “No, no, no, I'm getting you out too—”
“Don't worry about me, A. Get them out.” Ruby insisted. Anna stared at her in wonder but backed away. “They’re... agh.... they're in the warehouse down the alleyway. Third one on your right.” the redhead informed. Anna wasted no time in running there, only to find that Cayden had freed the two of them already. “Anna!” exhaled Historia in relief.
“Who are you?!” screamed Eren at Cayden. “Where's the jewel?” Cayden asked Anna. “She's fine. She's alive.” she said. “Then I'd suggest getting out of here before your deranged mother decides to release her hounds on you.” he spoke quickly, his eyes constantly looking to the door to make sure they weren't being followed. “Go! Now!”
“Right. Eren, Historia, come on!” Anna snatched up a broken lead pipe from the ground and ran back into the warehouse where Ruby was, only having to crack three skulls open to make it back. “Goddamn these people,” Anna spat, ripping the rope off of Ruby's limbs. “Rose is gonna kill me when I die.” she mumbled under her breath.
“Um...”
“Shut up, Eren.”
“Ah- uh- okay.”
“Ruby, stay with me. I need you to help us track down where the others went. Can you do that?” she lifted the girl onto her shoulder. “Eren, help me out here.” she ordered. The young boy slipped his arm around Ruby's slim waist and hoisted her up onto his shoulder as well. “I... I think I can lead you...” Ruby tiredly mumbled. “Great. Historia, look around for some supplies. Clothes, weapons, ammunition, anything you can find. You'll be in charge of bringing that back to the others.”
“Hmph. Right!” Historia nodded.
“At least we were right not to trust her.” Levi stated over the sound of Ruby screaming bloody murder from Eren ripping the remaining knives out of her back.
“Just breathe, okay?” Armin consoled her.
“It hurts so bad!” she sobbed, biting into the fabric of Anna's dress.
“Just a couple more-” Eren reassured her as he yanked out another knife.
“AAAAH!”
Anna covered her ears, her shoulders tensing and her eyes clenching shut at the sound. She cursed having impeccable hearing. It just made the screams so much worse.
“Let's go outside.” Levi grabbed her by the arm, not even giving her a choice. Anna blinked but followed his lead as he snatched up two outfits for them from the crate and lead her out into the barren fields. “Here.” he threw her clothes at her, to which she faltered in catching and ended up on the ground. “Tch. What's with you? You're acting strange.”
“My wedding just got ruined by my mother and my mentor, my best friend just got kidnapped and this mystery asshole is questionable at best. On top of that...” she placed a hand to her head. “I think she's getting stronger— no...she is getting stronger.”
“Hysteria?”
“Yeah...” Anna sighed, looking down at her ripped and bloody clothing. “Turn around.”
“What?”
“Turn around.” she spoke again, softer this time. “Please?”
“Anna, we're married. We've had sex before. I've seen you naked—”
“I don't want you to see me all bruises and scratched so could you please turn the fuck around?!” she urged. Levi inhaled deeply through his nose and turned his back to her. “Alright. Fine.”
Anna exhaled in relief and ripped off the rest of her corset and dress, leaving herself in her undergarments. She removed her garters and replaced everything with a pair of jeans and a slouchy grey t-shirt that was a size too big for her. She didn't care. “I hope there's a river nearby so I can wash all this blood and makeup off of me.”
“That's probably the first time I've ever heard blood and makeup be in the same sentence.”
Anna yanked out all the pins in her hair and let it flow in a perfect messy waterfall down her back. She felt grimy and disgusting and honestly just longed for a soak in a river or a hot spring, but that was a luxury she couldn't afford. “Tck! So...groooss...”
“Can I turn back around now?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever.” she dismissively waved her hand and began to tie her messy hair into a French braid. “So we know who we're fighting against, but the problem is that we're outnumbered. Severely.”
“Not necessarily.” Anna nonchalantly spoke.
“What do you mean by that?”
“We've got Humanity's Best on our side—”
“Anna, you know that Kenny knows both of our fighting tactics. He can read us easily."
“Crap, you're right...” Anna cursed, her eyes then darkening. “But he doesn't know Hysteria's.”
“That's a bold move, Anna. Even for me.”
“It's our only move. Hysteria is abnormal in her fighting patterns. They're impossible to track. There's just a slight problem..."
“And what is that?” Levi asked as he crossed his arms over his back and pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it to the ground. “There's no way I can be sure she won't turn on us.” Anna sighed.
“That is a problem.”
“For all I know, that's probably what they want. They probably want Hysteria to come out and play. If my mother is working with Kenny there's no doubt in my mind that he knows about her.” she threw her arms into the air and stretched. “Mmm! Guess we'll just have to find out.”
“And how many lives is that going to cost us?”
Anna dropped her arms and looked at him in disbelief. “You're saying that like I'm treating the lives of our soldiers as currency.”
“It's just the price we have to pay for freedom, Anna. Lives are currency these days. Whether that's humane or not, it's the sad truth.”
“Yeah...” Anna slipped on a pair of boots. “That's what sucks about this world. But that's why we're here, right, Levi? To make it a better place?”
He glanced down at her, a sad smile creeping onto his lips. “Yeah...”
“Then we'll finish this battle the same way we started it." She rose to her feet and took his hand. “Together.” Levi glanced down at their hands, seeing their wedding rings glinting in the sunlight. “Until death do us part.”