Participating in the battle of Trost had been difficult, terrifying, and chaotic. However, cleaning it up was much worse. Through events that Alfred could only describe as a blur of destruction, confusion, and death, they'd manage to evacuate the remainder of the villagers and soldiers into the safety of the inner walls. There were strange rumors floating around on how the Survey Corps and Stationary Police had managed to turn the tides, involving a particularly wild tale of aberrant Titan actually aiding them, but no clear facts had surfaced yet. The only truth that Alfred knew was that overall Humanity had lost; lost housing, lost civilians, lost troops and ultimately what little space they had left as a species on this planet.
It had been a few days since the attack on Trost, and as Alfred walked through the temporary barracks, seeing the tear-stained, haggard faces of his comrades, he realized he would never see some faces ever again. His lips formed a thin, taut line. His own brush with death had shaken him, shaken him so much that any intentions he'd had of defeating the Titan had vanished. Instead it had been replaced with utter submission, acceptance of his fate at the hands of a monster that he'd sworn to vanquish. He narrowed his eyes, so intent on mentally beating himself up for his weakness that he nearly ran right into another cadet.
"Hey! Watch where you're going-Oh, Alfred, it's you."
Alfred stumbled backwards a few paces, putting his hands up apologetically to gaze upon the face of his savior.
"What's wrong with you, Rookie? You look like you're constipated or something." Romano continued to chide him, the eternally angry vibe radiating from him.
"Sorry...Just thinking again, Lieutenant Vargas."
"Eh-A dangerous past time for you, but definitely something you need to practice."
Alfred dismissed the jest for the time being. Somehow this man's rude behavior reminded him of a particular someone that he had been missing desperately since the battle. Of course, he was very fortunate that Sasha and Connie had both escaped the struggle practically unscathed, he knew that many had not been so lucky. They'd shared a long cry after their reunion (it was mostly Sasha who had done the crying), but had little time to mourn before having to return to their work of protecting the inner wall. It was in this time of uncertainty that Alfred needed the strong hand of his best friend, the wise words of his mentor. He wondered if either of them had learned about the attack, if they thought he was still alive?
"He-LLO. Earth to Jones."
Alfred felt the sharp tap of Romano's nail against his head, the young man raising his arms up instinctively in a defensive position. The older man merely scoffed and crossed his arms, unimpressed with the display. Alfred lowered his guard.
"Look, I know a lot has happened, and that was one hell of a way to welcome you into the Survey Corps, but that's gonna be a norm, Rookie. When you live a life outside of the walls, you have to expect that not everyone's going to make it. "Romano paused, turning his head to watch as a pair of Stationary Guards carried off another cloth-covered body. The barracks had been turned into a make-shift infirmary, and large-scale operations were next to impossible with the hospitals already full of civilian casualties. Alfred hung his head.
"The more you think about it, the more you make yourself ready for defeat. You gotta live day by day-Like me." Romano shrugged his shoulders, nonchalant.
"Don't you ever worry about other people that are waiting for you at home? What about your brother? He and Matthew will both be stationed here in a few days-" Alfred thrust his hand after the retreating clean-up crew, "That could just as easily be them on that cot one day!"
Romano's eyes grew uncharacteristically dark as they locked onto Alfred's. The young man gritted his teeth, prepared for the worst, but instead of a reprimand, the superior officer gave him the cold shoulder and turned to leave.
"The sooner you realize that when you join the Survey Corps you fight for yourself, the sooner you'll learn to not wet your pants the next time you see a Titan face-to-face."
Alfred opened his mouth to shout a retort, but thought better of it and closed it again. There was enough fighting with the actual enemy than to create more of it within their ranks. Funny, Alfred thought, I feel like I've heard that phrase somewhere before...
It would be another day before news reached the remaining factions of the Survey Corps where Sasha, Connie, and Alfred had been stationed. The rumors of the "Titan Warrior" had been circulating, the story becoming more far fetched as it spread. First, the Titan had been an aberrant that decided to turn against its brethren, then it became a magical conjuration by some 'Witch of the Wall', and most ridiculous of all, it was some form of giant puppet that the military was planning on using to gain some advantage on recovering Trost.
Alfred leaned against a pillar on a street corner with a group of his peers. While awaiting orders, the lower ranking individuals in his legion had been assigned to assure that riots didn't occur amongst the civilians: the Stationary Guards were too busy with their own restoration efforts. A few older men were seated around abandoned cargo boxes transformed into crude tables. They nursed a large bottle of alcohol and were laughing gaily despite their current situation. Drowning their troubles away, Alfred mused.
"Aye, they're saying that if the attacks keep happen' like this, they're gonna seal the gates and leave us all out here past the point'a Wall Sina as bait!"
"Oi, and I heard that there's some new faction's been praying to the Walls for direction. Like a giant slab'a rock can stop 'um! Hasn't it already been proven they don't mean a thing anymore?"
"Heh, "a particularly heavy-set man with rosy red cheeks poured another pint back before wiping his maw, "What about that 'Titan Weapon' they keep spewing about in the city. I hear that there's some way that the Survey Corps is gonna use an actual Titan to fight for us and seal the hole in Wall Rose!"
This caught Alfred's attention, shifting his weight to gaze at them out of the corner of his goggles.
The other two men bubbled over with giggles and snorts.
"Yeah yeah! They're 'aving a trial tomorrow with a lad they say can control it. Boy's no more than 15 years old and he's the 'Hope' for Humanity! Got a Military Police escort and everythin'!"
"Oh really? What-someone finally convince them to be on our side instead? Well! Looks like our problems are solved, boys!"
"I'll drink to that!"
The three clinked their glasses and chugged until the amber fluid was nothing more than foamy bubbles. In the time it had taken them to do this, Alfred had crossed the street and was now standing above them, a frantic look in his eyes. Two of the mean nearly doubled over in shock, the third spewing the booze in the young man's face.
Alfred stood silent for a moment, raising his sleeve to wipe off the foul-smelling projectile.
"Sorry to bother you, my good sirs, " Alfred said, words dripping with sarcasm, "But what was that about a 15 year old with the ability to control Titans?"
The culprit of Alfred's how wet face rubbed the remaining alcohol off his chin and mustache, not an ounce of apology on his features.
"Another military brat...You could warn a man next time you decide to interrogate us, eh? Just because we're all trapped like dogs in here together, doesn't make you lot our masters."
"I wasn't trying to be, Sir, "Alfred soothed, placing his hand on the man's shoulder in a friendly gesture, "I was just asking a simple question."
Alfred was thankful that the man's intoxicated state was making his lips rather loose.
"There's rumor a boy from the Survey Corps that just came into town-your sort-was controlling a Titan to fight off the ones that came in through the hole. Could'a saved us a hell of a lot of time if we knew you could do something like that." His words sounded heated, as if he was blaming Alfred for their loss of Trost.
Alfred racked his brain for the proper response, but he couldn't make anything surface. So, he remained silent, hoping the other men would weigh in.
"Aye, what was his name, Fin, Jaga somethin'...?"
"Jeager?!" Alfred answered, eyes wide.
"Yeah! That's it, the Jeager boy. He's going on trial tomorrow at the high court. Military from all over's coming to discuss some other tax-wastin' scheme to keep us alive a bit longer before we're all devoured by those beasts."
Alfred wasted no time. He patted the man's shoulder gruffly.
"Thanks for the information, my good men! Your responsibility to your civic duties is highly inspiring!"
Without another word, Alfred walked off, leaving the other troop members that had been with him in search of his superior officers. His mind replayed the terrible scene in his head: the great Titan with pointed ears and crooked jaw; Mikasa flying past him with determination in the direction of its appearance, it was all making sense now. On that note, he hadn't seen Mikasa or Armin since after the battle. He'd feared the worst until he learned from Commander Erwin that they were being assigned to the opposite side of town. An excuse he highly doubted now.
He made it back to the barracks in mere minutes, breezing past a curious Sasha, who had been tending to one of the horses.
"Alfred? Where are you off to in such a rush?"
Alfred skidded to a halt, looking back over his shoulder to her. She needed to know about this-both she and Connie did.
"Sasha, have you seen Connie?" Alfred asked, walking back to join beside her.
"Yeah, he just went to get us some more rolls from the hall...What's wrong, Alfred? You seem upset."
Of course. The girl who was as clueless and carefree about fighting as she was obsessed with eating could pick up on the rush of emotions that were suffocating his brain. He rubbed the back of his neck, hoping to dismiss her worries.
"I'll tell you in a sec, okay? Can you go get him?"
Sasha gave him a quizzical look in response before heading off to fetch him. Once the two were together, Alfred retold everything he had learned from his interaction with the men in the yard.
"And they said that a lot of the heads of the Military Police branches are coming out to this. I think that means we might be seeing some familiar faces-I thought we were finally rid of them when we graduated."
"Well you can't say that you're not happy to see at least one of them, Al." Connie seemed completely unconvinced that this entire scene wasn't just the fanciful ramblings of drunk old geezers.
Alfred was unable to keep a blush from appearing on his cheeks, though why it had appeared he wasn't sure of himself.
"Oh come off it, Connie! Didn't you hear what I said? Eren can apparently control a Titan and is going to be on Tribunal tomorrow! This could be a life or death situation."
"Well, at least we know they're all alive," Sasha interjected, continuing to stroke the horse's neck, "I had the biggest scare that they were all killed in the attack after we didn't hear from them."
Alfred sighed. They were missing the point!
"So, now that we've heard this fairy tale, what are you suggesting we do about it, Alfred?" Connie stared at him with lofty expectations. "It sounds like a pretty crazy story to get all worked up about with some outrageous plan."
Alfred put his hand under his chin, a sign that the duo knew meant it was in deep thought. Alfred's eyes eventually rose back to stare at Sasha and Connie with all the determination he could muster.
"I don't know what you two are going to do, but I'm going to do everything in my power to get close to that Trial." He snapped his fingers, the sudden sharp geasture starling the horse as Sasha attempted to calm it. "I know! I'll convince them to make me an escort when they take Eren to be tried and sneak in through the back! That'll totally work, I'm sure of it!"
"Yep, that's pretty outrageous."
Alfred was too busy running through scenarios in his head to bother with correcting him. He had a lot of work to do before tomorrow's trial, but if all went well, he'd be able to kill two birds with one stone. The only problem was where was he going to get hair-gel at a time like this?
