Chapter 10 | Great God of the Walls

"Well… that's the last of them."

With a firm shove of his boot, Nile Dok rolled the old king into the dark abyss of a deep pit. He stroked his thin, black goatee and watched along with Boris Feulner, Marlo Freudenberg and Dennis Eibringer, as the king's velvet clad body landed on the pile of finely dressed corpses below, then slid and tumbled to sprawl awkwardly against the side of the pit's stone wall.

It had been an unsavory task, but necessary for the survival of humanity. Boris Feulner brushed the silvery strands of his platinum blond hair back from his eyes and shook his head thoughtfully.

"When I joined the Military Police… The last thing I ever thought I'd be doing would be…"

"This?" Interrupted Marlo. He ran his sleeve across his brow, removing the sweat that had appeared just below his black, bowl cut hair. His grey eyes swiveled over to Nile then back to Boris.

"The Royal family had become corrupt. I don't care how beloved they were by the people. They turned their backs on their faith – on our faith!"

Nile nodded and said with finality, "Faith or no faith – the decree to tear down the walls was an act of insanity. The Royal family had to be stopped – all of them."

Boris cleared his throat then spoke up tentatively.

"So… shall we inform…"

"Yes." Nile broke in. "We need to let Lord Balto know immediately… while it will upset him that we did not find the decree… he insisted on personally viewing the bodies the moment the executions were completed."

In the palace above, situated in the luxurious audience chamber, Lord Balto was kneeling along with the high priests of the Walls. Standing before them was the Great God of the Walls himself, with two of his angels.

The three of them were dressed strangely – but then, Balto reasoned –

So strange and exotic! Of course, this is to be expected. The Great God of the walls and his angels would naturally be attired differently from mere mortals.

The Great God of the Walls was rather large and wore a fifteen thousand dollar merino wool suit from London's famed Savile Row. It was charcoal grey with almost invisible black pin stripes. The Great God was known by another name in circles outside of the walls. Dick Cheney, 46th vice president of the United States of America and CEO of Halliburton, a global Fortune 500 company. Most importantly, he was also the Chairman of the Board for the New Horizon's Club and things were getting a little out of hand and a visit from the "Great God of the Wall" was needed to get the situation back in order.

The royal family had begun asking too many questions. They were starting to distrust and go against the will of the Great God of the Walls to the point where there were even rumors of destroying the walls.

Although events were moving in the right direction, Dick was beginning to get irritated. He didn't like entering the game reserve personally. He preferred to come in as a titan, catching children and pinching their tiny, screaming heads until they popped. Or sometimes he enjoyed catching warriors and just pulling off their arms and legs as they struggled and gasped in shock. He would watch them writhe in his grip, savoring their pain, before popping their torsos into his mouth and chewing them up into a pulp. Occasionally, he would leave a piece – usually the head – untouched so that he could keep it as a souvenir.

He was just remembering the last kill he had made.

Cute one – barely old enough to be a soldier – but FUCK she tasted great! Saved her pretty little head too, but before I could collect it for the taxidermists, that freak – whatshisname – Levi, yeah that's the one – he came whippin' in there and fucked up my damn titan before I could –

The simpering, fawning sounds of Lord Balto brought him back.

"Oh Lord of Lords! Great God of the Walls! Tell me what has brought you and your angels to the palace?"

I don't like this sneaky, goddamn little shit Balto. How long do I have to play this stupid game? Seriously, fuck this crap.

Dick forced a strained smile but his sharp nose and teeth seemed to undermine his desire to appear kind and fatherly. He adjusted his glasses and smoothed his white hair back along the sides of his balding head. When he spoke his accent was strange and exotic to Lord Balto and the priests who were prostrated at either side of him, but understandable.

"So Lord Balto – TELL ME – have you carried out my divine commandments?"

"Yes great lord! I have given instructions that the entire royal family was to be slain. I am merely awaiting word confirming this – then I shall go and view the bodies for myself."

Dick Cheney, turned to his "angels." They were two Black Water mercenaries dressed in full combat gear. Black boots with black operator pants, gloves and roll neck sweaters with leather patches in the elbows and shoulders. Each one was carrying an HK MP5 and like all the security agents back at the New Horizons Club, were seasoned veterans who had seen their share of action.

He spoke softly to the "angel" on his left.

"Glen – I want you to accompany Lord Balto here when he goes to confirm the kills… Make sure we're cool okay? Alan here will stick with me in case anything – weird happens."

"Yes sir."

Turning back to Lord Balto, Dick smiled again.

"Lord Balto, one of my uh, angels will accompany you… His name is Glen and he'll make sure everything is as it should be."

Then looking over his glasses Dick didn't try to hide the venom in his voice.

"The royal family betrayed me. It is important that every single one of them is put down. UNDERSTAND?"

"Y-Yes Great Lor –"

There was a knock at the door. The two "angels" Glen and Alan spun and rose their guns to their shoulders and took careful aim at the door. Dick looked at them both nodding and raised his hands slightly, palms to the floor signaling for them to calm down.

"Easy boys… Let's see who it is."

The mercenaries lowered their weapons as the door creaked open and Boris entered. He glanced at the strangers with Lord Balto.

"Lord Balto? I – I am sorry to interrupt but the king and the last of the royal house have been executed – there is no one left."

"Did you find the DECREE?!" Balto blurted out. "IF that gets into the wrong hands there's no telling what kind of –"

"N-no… We didn't. We thought that it would be on the king's body – but it was not. Now we're not sure where to –"

"Never mind!" interrupted Balto. "Take us to the dungeon. We need to see the bodies."

"So this is the royal decree?"

Armin leaned in past Mikasa and looked closely at the scroll Levi had just unrolled on the table. Krista was helping to hold it flat on the table as they all carefully examined it.

Levi shot him a glance and answered.

"Yes. It had actually been given to me by a servant who stole it from the king's chamber. It was fastened shut with wax bearing his seal. She said she had heard of me, and insisted that the royal family was in danger and that I should have this. When I initially read it – I was just as surprised as you are."

The hour was very late and the dim lamplight hanging over the wooden table flickered making the shadows of the dining hall dance in the gloom around them.

"But then when I checked – the city mentioned was there."

Moving only her eyes, Mikasa looked across the table at Levi and noticed to her surprise his arm was around Krista's shoulders. Immediately her gaze darted back to the document.

Armin continued to study the decree, making quiet comments.

"They wanted to tear down the walls… The uh, enemy – the real enemy – is not the titans… But they don't say who. Hmmm, just that they believe titans are coming from a city outside the walls beyond a great rift. Curious…"

Armin looked up at Levi. "This is the strange, bright city you showed to Mikasa and me. The same one you also showed to Krista last night?"

"I am certain of it." Levi responded, "It is where our real enemies are, and we need to find a way to get out there and get to the bottom of it."