Arc One: Flight for Freedom
Chapter Four: Broken Trust
A/N: This chapter is a day late because I was doing a lot of editing. Thanks to those who reviewed and favorited the story, it means a lot to me. Enjoy!
The palace ball room was as Levi remembered it being from five years before, the only difference being instead of a celebration it was a time for mourning. Grand twin staircases spiraled on either side of the main room leading to a balcony above giving it a stately appearance. The floor was made of glossy white marble that reflected the room's occupants, and the walls were decorated with finely woven tapestries and oil paintings. A giant chandelier, the size of a titan's head, hung loftily from the ceiling, made of flashing jewels and gold, lighting the entire room.
A dark chestnut coffin raised on a dais was the focal point of the room, surrounded by hundreds of chrysanthemums and roses that lined the closed casket.
People, wealthy and high-ranking, dressed in black and grey wandered up to the coffin placing flowers at the base, whispering words of prayer while touching the casket of their dead princess. Most of the guests thought it was closed casket because the body had been so damaged it would have been too ghastly for any of their sensitive tastes, but Levi knew the coffin was vacant. There was no one to bury.
Commander Erwin stood next to him talking business with General Pixis, both wore black tux suits with a glass of wine in their hands. Erwin had asked Levi to come to assist in watching for suspicious activity. Rarely did anything escape Levi's acute gaze, which was why shadowy movement on the second floor did not escape his notice.
"Excuse me." He gave Erwin a meaningful expression before making his way to the staircase.
The second floor balcony overlooked the entire ballroom, and was lit by miniature versions of the large chandelier. Few people walked along the railing, preferring to stay in the crowd of the main area to gossip.
His senses alerted him to a presence behind him; he turned suddenly his hand hovering over a hidden knife in his jacket pocket.
"Levi, it has been a long time." A tall familiar figure stepped out from behind a tapestry, and Levi did well to hide his alarm.
"Not long enough." Levi retorted, his mind working out two different escape routes.
Kenny grinned smugly as if highly amused, "I can see you figuring out how to abdicate yourself from this predicament, but if I had wanted you dead you would be bleeding next to the empty coffin down there."
Levi straightened, feigning astonishment. "Empty coffin?"
Kenny's smirk died on his face, "Where is she Levi?"
The two hunters stared each other down, the challenge clear in their predatory eyes. "You're more than welcome to try and find out."
"You can't hide her forever."
"I don't plan to."
Levi held his gaze refusing to back down, and Kenny chuckled as if he had just indulged a child's fancies. "She is mine Levi, and no one can stop me from having her, not even you."
He was gone, as suddenly as he came, leaving Levi to contemplate why his former mentor would want Petra.
The designated meeting room was an abandoned storage shed behind the Survey Corps headquarters, dimly lit with a few lanterns brought in by its current occupants. Old and broken 3D maneuvering gear, extra blades and gas tanks, and left over parts stacked up against the walls. The smell of rust and mildew left a bitter after taste and burned the nostrils of all who breathed the dank odor.
"Can we open a door or something? It stinks like shit in here." One of the seven moved to crack open the door, only to be stopped by an outstretched arm.
"What are you stupid Grady? You want someone to come by and hear us?"
Grady leaned uneasily back away from the exit, "Whose stupid idea was it to meet here anyway?"
"Mine." Quick gold eyes dared him to say anything else on the issue, and Grady wisely kept quiet.
"How are we doing this? Are we even sure this is the Princess, like the actual Princess that's missing? Didn't they have a funereal for her? I thought she was dead."
"She is, and her head will be worth a fortune once the king knows she is alive."
"How do you know it's her?" The blonde with the intimidating eyes asked.
"I'd know Petra anywhere." He'd seen her, though he'd barely recognized her, while delivering supplies to the Survey Corps. He'd thought he was going crazy, how could Petra be in the Survey Corps? She was supposed to be dead, their soon-to-be ruler, yet here she was on crutches wearing an eye patch, her hair cut, looking battered and bruised, but still the girl he'd always thought he loved.
Everybody, including himself, had thought her dead, killed by titans while visiting Trost, at least that was what they'd been told by the King. There had been a funereal, people, including himself, had mourned, cried over her, over an empty coffin. They'd said the damage had been too horrific to open the casket, but now he knew better, it had been vacant.
Even after his father had committed suicide over losing his job, and Thomas having to leave the Military Police, taking a lower job as a delivery man, to care for his grieving mother and sister, he'd still cried over her loss, thinking he loved her, thinking he'd never be able to love again after her death. And then on a routine drop off he'd seen she was alive, and he'd seethed and fumed for weeks.
And then he'd been approached by a very frightening individual asking if he wanted a high-paying job.
And he'd said yes.
He'd offered her his life, his love, his heart and she'd rejected it. And for what? Life as titan fodder? She'd taken his dreams, his livelihood, his family, and now he would return the favor.
Thomas looked each one of his co-conspirators dead in the eye. "We wait until everyone is gone on this scouting mission, all the injured will be left behind, including Petra. There's a place not far from here, a cottage in the woods where we will meet."
Reiner put his hands behind his head, leaning back on the wall, "So that little firecracker is our next ruler huh?"
Thomas' face screwed up into a knot of bitter hate, "That bitch is our next ruler if I'm a titan."
Reiner's brows raised in a contemplative expression.
Anything was possible.
"Tomorrow you all will be part of a mission scouting titan territory. I want everyone to be mounted and ready at 0700 hours."
"Sir!" In unison veterans and recruits alike saluted and shouted at the end of Commander Erwin's speech. The gathering broke apart to meet with their squad leaders.
Petra sighed watching the new recruits listen to their leader's instructions; she dearly wished she could join them. Only a week away from the six week mark and she'd healed remarkably well. She looked down to the new boot on her leg, put on after the caste had been cut off the day before. She'd been horrified to see how her left leg had shrunk compared to her right leg, Mrs. Smith said it wasn't a big deal and with some rehabilitation it would regain muscle. She tried not to worry about it, but at night she'd taken the boot off to do light exercises.
Her arm was out of the sling, but still in a caste. She could move her fingers without any pain. The bruising on her stomach and sides had subsided, but the aching was substantial. The haunting dreams had drifted away all but forgotten. Without the pills Levi had given her she didn't think she would have slept at all the past few weeks.
His lantern was still a comforting presence to read by.
Petra spotted Levi talking with his specialized task unit; among them were Chichi Solurio, Eld Jinn the second in command, Gunther Schultz, Oluo Bozado, and Eren Yeager the human titan. Watching them she felt a pang of worry knot itself in her chest, an unreasonable fear for their lives overcame her. It was difficult to breathe, and it synched tighter and tighter until she turned away.
That same feeling had come to her as a small child when she'd looked at her mother days before her execution.
The foreboding feeling didn't leave her, even after doing her daily chores, and letting Rageous out to roam. In fact it worsened, grew into this unshakable fear that dogged her every step, the shadow of a storm cloud hovering over her. Some nameless, horrible thing was going to happen, and she was helpless to stop it.
After dinner she waited outside the designated meeting room for a gathering of the Squad Leaders and some of the newer members to end. They filed out one by one and Petra saw each face with the stamp of death upon it. The last one to go was Eren, his face was tense, and his eyes withdrawn. She wondered if they felt it too, the cold breath of the grim reaper against the back their necks, chilling the spine and freezing the blood.
Captain Levi was sitting with his legs crossed alone in the room. He held a small book in his hands, which looked to be a little brown journal.
Petra saluted, "Sir!"
Levi closed the journal, and gestured to an empty chair, "Have a seat."
Petra limped to the open seat, took one glance at his austere face and immediately regretted her decision to come see him. He was more deadpan than usual. The burden of the mission was weighing heavily on everyone's minds. She hesitated, unsure if she should reveal her fears. Would he mock her? Dismiss her? Tell her to not bother him again?
"Did you come to enjoy my delightful presence or do you actually have something to say?"
How did you tell someone you are afraid of a feeling?
She blurted out, "I think you should talk to the Commander about cancelling the mission."
He didn't laugh or sigh impatiently as she had expected him to, as her father would have done. Instead he sat back resting his hands behind his head, his black hair falling away revealing a thoughtful expression. "Petra."
"Yes?"
"Do you trust me?"
"Sir?" She asked unsure if she'd heard him correctly.
"Do you trust me?" He repeated, leaning forward and staring grim-faced into her amber eye. The question was honest, and sincere, lacking any of his usual facetiousness.
"Of course."
He didn't appear satisfied or unsatisfied as if he hadn't been expecting her to answer one way or the other. "Nobody knows how a mission will end; no one can guess what will happen in the duration of that mission. I carry out those missions, whether they end badly or for the better because I trust my commander, and so I am asking you to trust me as your captain."
Petra sat there speechless, completely at a loss what to say. Levi was the strongest, boldest person she'd ever met, inwardly she'd placed him upon some untouchable pedestal she could never reach; she did trust him more so than she cared to admit, but she also trusted her instincts. Petra wanted nothing more than to wholly put her confidence in Levi, but that awful dread crept like slime through her whole body.
She nodded dumbly and he went back to reading the journal. Several minutes passed in stunned silence before she slowly stood to leave. "Petra."
"Yes?"
"Carry a weapon hidden on you at all times tomorrow, do you understand?"
"Yes sir." She saluted turning to leave.
The knot of fear tightened.
The next day she watched solemnly as the scouting formation headed south, she felt as if her heart were tearing in two. A part of her wanted nothing more than to somehow stop this suicide mission, but she remembered Levi's words asking her to trust him. She felt the serrated edge of a knife hidden in her boot, reminding her that she did trust him at least enough to not question why he'd tell her to keep a weapon with her.
Levi's cool gaze passed over her as he rode with his squad. Chichi rode behind him, smiling warmly and waving when she saw Petra. She waved back feeling that this was the last time she'd ever see her beloved sensei again. Some riders looked scared, some determined, some as though they knew they weren't going to come back home, but despite their fears they stayed mounted, none refusing to go, all stayed true to their cause. Petra knew she would never see that kind of courage in any other military branch, and it made her proud to be a part of such an organization, even as she felt her own heartache at seeing them leave.
Then they were gone, possibly forever.
Mrs. Smith was the only other one left in the courtyard, her eyes holding back tears until Erwin was out of sight. Their eyes met and Petra realized they were both crying. Petra quickly wiped away her tears, not wanting to upset Mrs. Smith any more than she already was.
"He'll be okay," Petra drew closer, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
Mrs. Smith nodded, "I know dear, but it never gets any easier saying goodbye."
There was nothing left to say, she smiled cheerlessly and left Petra standing in the courtyard by herself.
It was a strange sensation to stroll around the headquarters while it was empty. Not completely empty, the injured had been left behind, and of course the Senior Medical Officer to tend to them. Still the hallways echoed with each halting step emanating an eerie feeling. It felt colder, almost haunted without people wandering the castle.
At least she had thought no one else was in the headquarters. As she walked she suddenly had the uncanny feeling of being followed, but when she paused and listened there was only the wind singing softly through the windows. Behind her there were only stone walls.
Petra steered toward the kitchen keeping to her plan to surprise Mrs. Smith by helping her with preparing the lunches for the injured, ignoring the creepy feeling of being watched, telling herself it was her paranoia at work. She set about pulling out the ingredients for oatmeal and cubed fruit. She hummed softly to herself, enjoying the calm and quiet of slicing and dicing the strawberries and apples, it was something to take her mind off what the scouting expedition was currently going through.
She paused when she heard the door to the dining area open and close, "Mrs. Smith?"
Footsteps alerted her someone was nearby, she waited, knife in hand, for them to make an appearance, "Anyone there?"
Reiner emerged from the dining area into the kitchen, wearing a large raincoat. He smiled pleasantly, but his usual mirth was gone.
Why was he still there?
"Hey Petra, sorry didn't mean to scare you. Mrs. Smith asked me to help you make lunch."
Petra did well to hide her unease; she hadn't told anyone, including Mrs. Smith, she was going to make lunch or that she would be in the kitchen. Warning bells rang in her head as she returned his faux smile. The little hairs all over her body rose to attention like tiny soldiers. Her hand shook as she gripped the knife tighter.
Petra held her ground as Reiner approached, watching his every move. "Reiner?"
"What?" He stopped suddenly seeing her tense disposition and the blade in her trembling hand.
"Why are you lying to me?"
His innocent act dropped, the friendly demeanor dissipating; it was like a different person suddenly stood in front of her. "Petra put the knife down. There is nothing you can do to stop this."
He walked forward confidently, "Stay away Reiner, I don't want to hurt you, please." She held out her hand warding him back.
"That is why you will lose."
Petra stood stunned, she couldn't move. She found she couldn't raise her weapon against someone she cared for. Reiner had been like a big brother to her, one of her closest friends, had it all been a sham? Had she been so utterly fooled by his acting? She couldn't understand how someone she'd grown so close to could want to do her harm.
"Why are you doing this?"
Reiner towered over her, his expression blank and cold giving nothing away as to what he was thinking. The knife clattered to the floor; it was useless in her hands.
"To save you."
In one swift movement he knocked her out with a blow to the stomach.
"Petra, wake up my love."
Petra rolled over, her blanket covering her small face, "I don' wanna wake up." She whined.
"It's your birthday, love," A gentle hand pushed away the blanket, revealing two large eyes and a button nose.
The amber eyes gazed up irritated, "Then lemme sleep, I'm tired."
The hand held out a sparkling gift that had Petra sitting up to get a closer look. "Oh my gosh it's so pretty, is it mine?"
"Always and forever."
Small hands reached out to grasp the pendent. "Ooooh," Petra watched as the blue and white diamonds glitzed when she twirled it round and round. She turned it over screwing up her pretty little face, "What does it say?"
Her mother reached out, brushing away her long auburn hair. Petra looked up expectantly only to see a tear falling slowly down her mother's cheek. "Someday you'll know love."
She lay down next to her daughter, enjoying the way she admired her gift. "Petra."
"Yes mamma?"
"Whatever happens the next few days, never forget your mamma loves you."
"Okay mamma I love you too."
"Hey Grady, look I think she's waking up."
Petra woke from her dream feeling as though a titan had stepped on her ribs, her sides throbbed every time she breathed. She barely managed to crack her eye open. The room was lit dimly by lanterns, no sunlight showed through the open window. Two men were watching her from rickety wooden chairs, a deck of cards splayed out on the table. She recognized one of them as part of the military police, a low ranking officer she'd seen slinking around the halls of the castle. The other wore the unicorn symbol for the military police on his jacket.
One ankle was bound with rope to the bed she laid upon. She sat up slowly, determined to look at her captors from a better angle. Her ribs screamed in agony, and she was reminded of Reiner hitting her in the stomach. His betrayal hurt more than any broken bone.
"Welcome to the real world princess." The soldier she recognized grinned, leering at her grotesquely. "Do you remember me?"
Petra sneered, her contempt for the military police and the ache of Reiner's treachery pouring out of her like poison. "I remember you, just another lazy, incompetent moron in the military police."
He rose with such force his chair fell back with a crash, "Grady, wait!" But Grady didn't wait, he pounced on top of Petra slugging her across the face.
"You fucking bitch," He hit her again, snapping her head back the other way. Her eye-patch flew off her head as he swung a third time. Grady grabbed the collar of her shirt pulling her close to his snarling face, his eyes enraged. "You think you're something special? You're nothing! You're a bastard child, you hear me? A bastard child!"
He let go of her shirt and she fell back on the bed, dazed and out of her mind. Somehow she stayed conscious, aware of Grady's groping hands ripping her shirt open. Despite the agony resonating through her body, despite every part of her wanting to give up, lie down, and take it, she swung her hand clawing his face. Her nails drew ribbons of red across his surprised face, he became practically volcanic.
He lost his mind, his hands pressing on her throat, choking the life out of her. "All of you royal fucks think you're so much better than the rest of us! You're nothing!"
She groped blindly reaching for her boot where the hidden knife rubbed against the skin of her broken leg. Every muscle in her body stretched to reach the handle, she managed to grip the tip pulling it out as she felt her world fading away. The serrated edge slid easily into her attacker's heart. The pressure on her throat ceased, blood gushed hotly over her as he fell over the edge of the bed.
"Oh damn, Grady!" His friend who had stood by watching him mercilessly assault her suddenly became animated. He slid his sword from his maneuvering gear, "What did you do?!"
Petra cut through the rope binding her foot, just in time to roll over avoiding a downward slice that would have carved her in half. Feathers flew wildly in the air as the mattress broke open, cleanly cut. Grady's body softened her landing, and she crawled under the bed avoiding another swing that decapitated Grady's corpse, his head rolling across the room.
The flesh-paring blade appeared in front of her face, stabbed downward into the mattress, nearly impaling her head. The feet of her attacker were next to the bed within stabbing distance, she punctured his boot pinning his foot to the floor and he howled, an awful cacophony yelling obscenities. Petra crawled out from under the safety of the bed to the table, using it to steady herself and stand. She began to limp her way to the door when it swung open.
"Thomas," She whispered, not quite believing her eyes.
He walked past her to the screaming man, and in one smooth maneuver jerked her knife from his foot imbedding it up into his head through his jaw. The screeching ceased as Thomas pushed the blade up further into his brain for good measure, letting the twitching body fall over.
"I knew I shouldn't have left them with you."
