Year 850
"This is the part of our job I'll never get used to..." Jean says, stacking a body.
"You're not alone on that," Armin says as I place a hand on his shoulder.
"Seems like death's everywhere. All I can think about is how it'll end. Which one of us is next? Or if it'll be me..." Jean frowns.
"Let's just try not to obsess over it. The only thing that train of thought is good for is breaking your nerve, believe me...Push it out of your mind." I say.
"I suppose you're right..." Jean makes his way over to another wrapped body.
"Nah, I know you're right." Armin joins Jean as I grab a bucket of hay.
"How are you even supposed to tell the families?" I ask while feeding the horses.
"Well, when your father died how were you and your mom told?" Jean asks.
"Jean!" Armin stops Jean.
"Armin, it's okay...Actually, I was told by that little man over there." I say pointing to Levi as he was inspecting bodies.
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"Wait!!! Heads up!! We've got company!!" We all look back at Dieter.
"Titans!!" Dieter says two Titan's were on his tail.
*POP*
Someone shot a red smoke signal up into the air.
"Enemy spotted at the rear!" A messenger says.
"Full speed!! All soldiers!" Commander Erwin orders.
As we continue to look back one soldier was taken right off his horse while Dieter attempts to rescue him. The other titan quickly made its way up.
"It's about to be right on top of us!" Armin shrieks.
"Looks like we've got no choice but to fight!" Jean says.
"Won't cut, the ground is too flat for us to engagee ODM gear. And not only that-" I look more behind and see more titans running.
"We'll be outnumbered pretty soon." Armin finishes.
"Ugh, perfect! Then what you suggest we do geniuses?" Jean asks the two of us.
I look at the carriages of bodies, "We reduce the number of bodies weighing the carriages down. The horses are fast but not as fast with that much weight."
A few minutes go by and then the first body was dropped by one of the carriages. And then the next. There was one body that took special notice by Levi. He doesn't show much emotion, normally just one plain face, but this time you could see it in his eye how crushed he was.
"That's it! We're losing him!" A soldier says.
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We had finally reached the Wall. The moment we continued in everyone started talking. Just like how I remember, shit-talking all around. Talking about the sum of us that made it back, about how we didn't accomplish anything, and how we are a waste. I never truly understood how one felt back when I was ten-years-old, but now I do. Degrading never really got to me, up till' now, how shitty it made me feel.
'Ignore it...'
I look to my left to see those two previous kids look at me with such a great smile.
"Awesome! Beat, but they're still ready to go! You gotta be made out of nails to be ridin' with these guys! They're unstoppable!" The little boy said with passion twinkling in his eye.
I don't what to feel anymore. I don't know whether or not to feel sad or mad. He doesn't know any better, I knew how he felt. Couldn't blame the little man, that was how Eren and I felt. Look at us now.
"Good evening! Captain Levi! I- Uh-- Yes! I am Petra's father, sir. May I bend your ear before she sees us?" He asks but Levi didn't speak.
He holds up an envelope, "I received this letter from her somewhat recently. Apparently, you handpicked her yourself? She is very excited, I can assure you! In fact, it seems like she is utterly devoted to you in every way! So devoted that, well, to be honest, her mother and I are a bit concerned you see haha. I-I know that fathers can have trouble letting go, but still, I can't help but see that she is far too young to think about marriage. She has far too much to experience before settling down!" Levi continues to walk as people kept screaming out to us.
They just kept poking and poking.
Soon after our return, we had to report to the capital for the Scouts custody over Eren, who would soon be revoked.
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"So, we didn't get the identification of the Female Titan?" I ask.
"No. We didn't, the scream that you all probably heard from the forest was coming from her though." Eren reassures me.
"Was it some call for back up? Because after the scream, a mod of abnormals came rushing in, so much we were all ordered to withdraw." I say.
"Cannibalism," Eren says.
"Hey, (y/n), this is most likely just a hunch, but I have thought about it, and I think I may know who it is," Armin says as Mikasa, Eren, and I look at him in shock.
"And I have a plan." He says confidently.
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"We made it, I can't believe it was that easy," Eren says through his hood.
"Hush," Mikasa says.
"The Military Police, hard at work. I'm actually surprised they all bothered to show up." Eren says looking over the bridge.
"Let's just keep moving," Mikasa says pushing Eren.
"Hopefully, they haven't noticed my stand-in yet, either. It won't hold up under close scrutiny. After all, Jean and I look nothing alike." I hold in my laugh.
"R-Right." Eren slaps the back of my head to shut me up.
"It's close enough. You both have the same angry scowl and the same boulder-sized chip on your shoulder." Armin says.
"Yeah, Well!! I don't have his horse face!" Eren says sternly.
"Hehe," Eren stares me down.
"Hey, so if I refused to help you guys out, then what's your Plan B for getting over the wall?" Annie asks.
"We would've used our ODM gear to barge right through the checkpoint," Armin says.
"That's stupid. Why didn't you just avoid all this trouble in the first place? You could've escaped before reaching Stohess, right? I mean, why wait 'til now?" Annie interrogates us.
"I felt that this town's complex layout would have allowed us to squeeze more time out of our body-double ploy. Of course, a head-on assault is ill-advised. So as long as the convoy acts like it's following orders, then everyone keeps their defenses down." Armin says.
'Damn.'
"I see. It's a very good plan." Annie says as we all exchange glances.
"Ah, there it is!" Armin starts to waddle faster.
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"Here?" Annie confirms.
"Yeah, we'll pass through here. It's what remains of an underground city they were planning on building way back when." We start to make our way down the steps.
"And if I'm right, it should lead us to the vicinity of the outer gate," Armin says.
"Great work, Armin." I complement.
Eren stops, "Annie? What's the matter? You're not afraid of the dark, cramped spaces, or anything, are you?" Annie was looking down on us.
"So what? What if I am? I wouldn't expect a suicidal maniac like you to understand. You don't know what it is to be an ordinary girl, crippled with fear." Annie states.
"Mhm, that's a lot coming from a girl who can flip a full-grown man on his ass with one move," I say glaring at her.
"Cut the crap, let's move." Eren orders as we continue down.
"No. I refuse." Annie states.
'She knows...Of course, she does, she is smart...'
"I'm too afraid. Above ground, I'll help. Otherwise, the deal's off." Eren started to tense up.
'Oh shit, here we go.'
"Quit being stubborn, dammit!!! Just get the hell down here! Move! We're running out of time, alright?!" Eren yells.
"Shush! Someone is going to hear you." Mikasa says.
"I'm sure it's fine, Mikasa," Annie says coldly.
"It seems that for whatever reason, this place has been completely deserted." I face Annie completely, holding the flare.
"That hurts me. It really does. The way you're looking at me now. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you guys don't trust me. Eh, Armin?" Annie says.
His breathing becomes unsteady, "Annie. Tell me. What were you doing with Marco's ODM gear? It all had the same dents and scrapes. See, I used to help him with maintenance, so, I know you used it." Just that sentence alone made my blood boil.
"Yes. I found it and took it." Annie said.
'She did it...I knew it from the start, the way she was unfazed by the death of Marco...She was the one who killed him...'
"When the two Titans we had in custody. It was you who killed them!" Armin shouts a bit.
"No one knows." I clench the flare.
"Oh, but I do Annie...I know a lot more than you would expect." I say looking into her eyes as she looks away.
'Why don't you tell me about Reiner and Bertholdt...Berthold wasn't there from the start and nor was Reiner for the fall...So tell me...'
"If you all suspected this a month ago, why did you wait this long to say anything." Armin shakes.
'While you tell me, why don't you tell me why you decided to kill Marco?..What he did to you?.. Describe to me what he looks like in his final moments...'
"Because! Even now it's difficult! I-... We simply just didn't want to believe it! (Y/n) and I came to the conclusion but we didn't want to follow through! So we stayed quiet!" I laugh.
"I knew it from the start, I'm like you Annie, I don't show emotion, nor do you, but, I sure do know how to smell bullshit from a mile away. During the 57th Recon Mission, why didn't you kill us? It was because you didn't want to and it set Armin and me a perfect path. So I thank you." She stares at me and Armin.
"Yes. We are here because I let both of you live. Of course, I would have never dreamed the both of you would corner me up like this. Well, I could for sure say that for Armin...Why? Why didn't I just kill you, (y/n)?" I smile.
"Annie! Please! You've taken this joke far enough!! Just tell us it's just some sort of terrible joke! Come one! Tell us! We'll understand! Come down! Let's just talk! You can prove us wrong by just walking down these steps! Prove us wrong to accuse you!" Eren yells.
"We both know. can't. I told you, I don't have the constitution to do that." Armin and Eren start to worry.
"Work with us, Annie!" Armin says.
"We're talking about life and death!!!" Eren yells.
"Reason with us like humans!!" Armin yells.
"There is nothing to reason with, Armin. I know and she knows. You can't convince a hard head like me, a person who graduated top of their class. You just can't. And didn't I mention, I know way more than you would expect!" I say drawing my blade and slip the flare into Armin's hands.
"I refuse to listen to this bullshit anymore. There is no point." I point my blade at her and tilt my head sadistically.
"I'll kill her. As I had once thought of her as a fellow comrade was disappointing. I have a debt to pay to one of my fallen. No. Make that one hundred fallen. And the debt will be repaid with the blood I spill." I say as she closes her eyes.
"Haha! Hahahaha mmm." She holds her shoulder and laughs.
"You know Armin and (y/n). It was nice to be a "good person" to you, while it lasted. For now, at least, you guys won the bet. But. I'm going to gamble too!! And here is my wager!" Annie holds her finger to her mouth.
*POP*
Armin had wasted no time cueing everyone. And with that, loyal civilians came rushing towards Annie, restricting her from any type of harm.
*SHINK*
A shiny thing had caught my eye.
'Smart bitch.'
I hold my arms out and tackle everyone down the stairs.
"W-What are you doing?!" Armin cries.
"It's too late," I say, dragging them down.
。°。°。(*'￫ܫ￩｀*)。°。°
*IMPORTANT*
(A/N): Hi!!! Okay! Officially one of my favorite chapters I've written! Loved it! Hope you guys liked it though! Also, I want to make something clear if that is okay. So, no, (y/n) will not have any Titan abilities, this reason is that I want her to be able to be "normal" (I didn't know how else to put it sorry!) but I hope that her skills will overcome that factor and no, she will most likely not be getting into a relationship with Levi or Erwin (anyone over 18) because she is a minor (she is Eren's age.) Thank you for hearing me out!!! Love you!