"You guys sure are buying a lot of supplies," the man said as we looked down at our cart. It looked bad. We had two huge packs of toilet paper and several non-perishable foods. We had a ton of sanitary products and other packs of hygiene stuff.
"We like to be prepared," Levi said with a smile that to anyone else looked so normal, but to me looked like the fakest thing in the world. "You know with all the cursed walking around we don't like to leave the house much.
"And you need these?" The man asked, picking up the box of tampons.
"They're for our sister," I said quickly.
"This many?" he asked, seeing more than one box in our basket.
I just let out an awkward laugh, "I don't know how many to grab it's my first time picking them up for her I just want her to have enough," I said playing dumb.
"Really," he said before dropping it, "What happened to your arm?" he asked because he was looking for a reason to take us in. He was watching us closely and listening to every word we said. Any slip up and we would be arrested, or worse.
"I fell down the stairs," Levi laughed. I could hear the smallest bit of panic. He wasn't sure what to say and he just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "That's why you should always turn on the lights at night."
"Is that so?" Shit, he wasn't buying it.
I looked around and everyone was back in the common area, everyone but... where's Levi and Eren? I ran over to Pixis. It's already ten minutes past something went wrong.
"Send me in after them."
"It's too dangerous I'll-." He started to say.
"Bullshit those are my babies send me through," I glared him down and without another word, he nodded.
He called Thomas over and had him connect us so he knew if something went wrong. After that, he nodded to Erwin. The portal opened and I ran through. I had to hurry. I ran straight to the store making sure to look around so that I didn't pass them on the street in my hurry. When I got to the store I looked down every row before finding them near the back of the store.
I saw a guard there talking to them. He didn't look like he was buying what they were selling. Damn it, I need to think fast. I walked up and pretended I didn't see the guard.
"There you boys are, I told you to meet me at the front of the store 15 minutes ago. You had me worried sick you know better than to stay out too long with all these cursed around," I said before pretending to see the guard.
"Oh, sorry sir I didn't see you there," I said before putting on my biggest smile, "that you for keeping me and my boys safe," I said and he stared me down not sure whether or not to believe me.
"You are their mother?" He asked. "Yes, I adopted them both when they were just babies. Poor things, this one's mother was killed by one of those dreaded cursed." I said putting my hand on Levi's shoulder.
"You don't have any bags?" he asked.
"No, I put them in the car already."
"How did your son hurt his arm?" he asked almost like a test. Levi must have given him an answer and he's trying to match both of ours.
"Clumsy little thing fell down the stairs," I rolled my eyes. "He really should be more careful."
"Any reason you need this much stuff?" he asked and I looked around their cart and saw some issues with what they were buying for a family of three.
"Well, we are trying to be prepared. We don't like leaving the house unless we have to." I said before realizing something else, "though I do think that's a little too many boxes of tampons," I laughed, "Isabel doesn't need that many boys."
"Well, how are we supposed to know? You just said grab some so we did," Levi rolled his eyes.
"Some don't mean 5 packs," I laughed, "though we could give some to the Jeffersons, I know they were tight on money this month, and I know they have two daughters," I said making an excuse for them to keep them in the cart.
The guard just stared at us for a while before backing up and walking away. I took a deep breath and walked with them to grab the last few things on the list. We headed to the front to check out. I noticed the man was still watching us as we walked around.
When we headed out of the store he followed behind and stood at the door watching us. Oh no, he was waiting for us to walk to our car.
Levi acted fast and used his powers to make the car unlock and we opened the trunk and started loading groceries in it until he walked back inside. We quickly got the bags out of the car and closed the trunk before locking it. We quickly headed back towards the alley and I told them to open the portal. We came through and all let out a sigh of relief when the portal closed behind us.
"How did you know I told him I fell down the stairs?" Levi asked.
"Mother knows best," I shrugged and when they didn't buy it I just laughed. "I just thought of the most ridiculous overused excuse and went with that," I said, raising an eyebrow.
"Touche" he laughed.
We helped Pixis put all the supplies away before calling everyone in to discuss the missions. He gave everyone a briefing and told them we would need all hands on deck. I could tell that not everyone was very happy about that. We wouldn't force anyone to go on the mission, but I could tell they knew how urgent it was that they join.
I even caught Petra's thoughts saying that she might participate as long as she isn't the one fighting. I don't want her to feel like she has to, but if she's okay with joining her power would be a great advantage.
"Levi?" Eren whispered, getting my attention. "How is everyone?"
"They are thinking about what he's saying. Some people have already made up their minds that they will go, others are still on the fence."
He nodded and we waited for the mission briefing to conclude. Pixis dismissed everyone with a final line, "I would like a show of hands who will be joining if you are unsure then please have the night to think about it. Speak to me in the morning. I don't want anyone to feel pressure to join us. A few people raised their hands and Pixis wrote them down. "Thank you all for listening." Everyone stood to leave and we walked up to Pixis. He just gestured for us to follow him before sitting down in his office.
"We have a few people who raised their hands who don't normally go on missions," he said before showing us the list. All of the usual people joined, but there were a few others who I was surprised to see decide so early.
"Mike, Eld, Auruo, and Mina," I nodded.
"So almost everyone," Eren looked. "I think the only ones who haven't are Petra, Mom, and Molbit."
"If Mom or Molbit even tried to raise their hands we wouldn't let them go. They are our spies they need to stay hidden," I said.
"Yeah, that's true."
"A few others from Nanaba's group are undecided too," Pixis pointed at the list.
"Hitch, Thomas, and Marlowe," I said looking at the list again. "In their thoughts, most of them seemed like they were more leaning toward going."
"Well, let's hope they stay leaning that way," Pixis nodded.
"Petra actually seemed like she might decide to go."
"She what?" Eren asked.
"I didn't see that coming," Pixis mumbled.
"I don't know if she will. She was still on the fence and weighing the options. Though if she does go she doesn't want to be a part of the fighting."
"Well, anything from her could help. So whatever she chooses we will stand by it," he nodded.
"Good, cause I want in," she said from behind us.
We all whipped our heads around to look at her.
"Are you sure?" Pixis asked out of habit.
She just stared at him with a little grin, "I thought you were going to stand by my choice?"
"I am, I just want to make sure you are absolutely sure about this."
"I am on two conditions," she said.
"Let's hear them."
"I don't have to fight. I can disarm people and whatever, but I won't be one of the people actually harming people."
"Done," he nodded, "and the second one?"
"I go on the Desert mission."
I couldn't read her until she said that. She wants revenge on those two guards who were shit-talking Ilsa. "They might not even be there," I said quickly and no one else knew what I was talking about.
"Regardless of if they are there or not, I want to prove to them that their actions have consequences. We aren't just going to stand by and take their shit anymore."
"Alright," I sighed, "then with that condition I have my own condition," I said and both Pixis and Petra looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Petra's on our team."
"Do you really think that's best? Your team usually leads the charge?" Pixis asked.
"Yes, and that's why she should be on our team. Our team is used to start the fight, yes, but it is also used to disarm. She can disarm while we fight. Besides I want to keep an eye on her and make sure she is safe."
Pixis nodded before looking at Petra. "It's up to you."
"I'm okay with that," she nodded.
Over the next few hours of us planning the last three gave us their answer. Everyone was going on the mission except for Mom and Molbit.
It was time to make the teams. Nothing concrete, but enough to get a basic understanding of how we were going to do this.
The best we came up with is we had 31 people in total. 3 teams of 5 each and one team with 6. Now, all we had to decide was who goes where for now and after practice we will see if anyone needs to change places.