Chapter Twenty-one: Promise Me Part 2

Reaching the door from her crawl, she put a hand to the frame and paused to catch her breath. Achi was in trouble, she was dying. Pulling herself up, she eased open the door and found that nobody was there, just like when Fritz had tried to rescue her. Not having time to dwell, she felt along the wall as she walked for support, careful not to get in the light of the torches lest someone really was there, waiting in the shadows to subdue her. The corridor was rather long, but finally it split off, and she guessed this must also have been the same way that Fritz and the others had used to get to her. Pushing off the wall and going to the one on the new corridor, she slowly made her way up, since it led to the surface. She hoped that the sound of her boots scrapping the ground wouldn't alert anyone to her presence, if they hadn't heard the crystal shatter already. She needed to get there before anything else happened, so there wouldn't be anymore casualties. Through Fritz's eyes, she could see that he was still trying to revive Achi, who's eyes had fluttered briefly. Quickening her pace, she stumbled and fell again, getting back to her feet in the same instance. She wasn't about to be put down now, she had to get there no matter how much it caused her body to hurt. Her spirit wouldn't let her stop, wouldn't let her quit, wouldn't let her lie down and accept.

The light of the morning blinded her as she exited the underground prison, covering her eyes from the sun. Passerbys looked at her with pity and contempt for her uniform was now caked in dirt, dust, and grime, but none dared say anything since she still wore the insignia of the Military Police. Moving down the street, she wondered why there had been no guards posted and got her answer when a lone woman with black hair that went down to her shoulders, dark brown eyes that held a tempered fire, and wearing a Scouting Legion uniform stood before her. The woman had two throwing knives at her belt and she was absentmindedly thumbing them. Annie backed away, no sure what she wanted. From Fritz's memory, she knew this was his older sister, Ines, but based on the woman's actions, Annie knew she couldn't trust her like she did Fritz. When she tried backing up a bit more something solid was blocking her retreat and looked up into the eyes of one of Captain Ines's subordinates. She had medium length blonde hair with red streaks that went to her shoulders and was holding it away from her forehead by a hand to see Annie clearly. It was Captain Ines's second in command, Riecka.

"Don't move," the woman said, not moving herself to subdue her, but nonetheless Annie could feel she could at any moment if she wished, or, if Ines commanded. The woman grabbed her head and turned it forward, to Ines again, who had come closer and motioned for Riecka to let go. Before she could, Annie shook her off and stepped forward, locking eyes with the dark haired Captain.

"Let me go, I-!"

Ines held up a gloved hand. "We know. My team and I are coming as well," she waved a hand above and Annie saw that two others were strategically positioned on rooftops within close proximity just in case she tried anything rash. "I need to see this Speaking-Type for myself, but before that I want to hear directly from you first before proceeding: what exactly are we dealing with?"

Annie fixed a strand of hair and took a step forward, side to side with the Captain. "A girl with nothing to lose," she whispered into Ines's ear as she passed, the Captain unfazed as she ordered her team to gather the horses and secure a spare. Annie stood to the side as a horse was brought over then jumped into the saddle, all the while thinking about Achi. Fritz had managed to get her breathing steadily, so now it was unlikely that she'd die from her injuries, which he had healed externally anyway. The wound to the stomach, though, she was worried that he couldn't heal internal injuries. The mysterious powers of the Titan Shifters were still being discovered and worked out, tested, so there was no telling what his healing abilities were yet capable of. Then there was Eren, able to control Titans by his emotions alone. She had to be careful approaching, since there would surely be unresolved tension between everyone. Though, she knew that if nobody else was, that Fritz would defend her. Even if the rest of the whole world curses and resents me.

As they went through the gates leading to the stretch of land, onwards to the next District, she also had a feeling that Historia, Jayce, and Eletta would also be on her side. The problem was Mikasa. There was no telling if she'd try to kill her outright or not. The hunch was that, given her recent actions, like when she'd threatened to kill Historia if she got in her way, that an attempt was likely. She clenched a fist tightly; this time, if it came down to it, she'd kill her. Theirs was a fight to the death, it seemed.

"Annie, focus!" Ines called over her shoulder. "This isn't the time to let your emotions get the better of you!"

Nodding, Annie looked up; The Special Investigation Squad had boxed her in on all sides, with Ines in front, Larrens and Zena to either side, and Riecka taking up the rear. Alger was nowhere in sight. "Weren't there five of you?" she asked, knowing the answer but wanting to hear it from the Captain herself. She was unlike Fritz in some many ways, yet they held that same fire in their eyes that intrigued her. Fritz...

They rode in silence until they cleared two more Districts and Ines finally decided, since they've made it close enough to their destination, to answer that question:

"He went down last week, during the failed operation to capture both the Armored-Type and Colossal-Type. As we know them now, Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover. Ymir, the Dancing-Type, also escaped along with them and currently we don't know their whereabouts, and I'm sure you don't either. Am I correct?" No response as Annie was listening intently. She continued: "As it stands now, we deal with the Speaking-Type and think of nothing else. Alger went out the way he wanted to, fighting to his last, so there is nothing to regret." Ines took the time to turn back briefly and lock eyes with her again. "There's no such thing as a regret to me anymore. Everything sacrificed is for humanity, everything lost is on our hands, and everything gained is a step closer to figuring out what the Titans really are." With that, she turned back to the front and quickened her horse's pace, forcing everyone else do the same, their horses near the breaking point.

Annie stared at the Scouting Legion insignia on the Captain's cape as it fluttered around and thought that before this moment that the two of them had been similar. But now, Annie knew better. Unlike Ines, she wasn't one to throw regrets away and surge forward unshaken, she wasn't the type to abandon others to their fates, and she wondered now: when had that changed? When had she starting thinking this way? Fritz's face came to her and then she realized it; no, she had it known all along.

/-.-.-.-\

Annie was crouched under the windowsill as the old man and Achi sat at a dinky little table that was barely enough for both their plates, and eavesdropped on their conversation as they began to talk.

"Aren't you hungry, Achi?" the old man asked softly, the sound of his own utensils clearly heard. Even if she wasn't going to eat, that didn't mean he had to starve along with her. "Is it about-"

Annie heard Achi's first slam on the table, her plate and glass as they shook. "It's not about her! Forget her, she's just trash that's better off nothing being looked for!" the young girl shouted hysterically, and, even in her anger, she couldn't hide her lingering sadness. The tears. "She's not coming back, we'll never find her in this stupid place!"

"Nothing's ever hopeless, Achi," the old man replied. "If we don't find her tomorrow, or the next day, or even the day thereafter, I know she'll pop up eventually, perhaps by accident, perhaps by fate's hand, but the one thing I do know is that it'll happen because you've been trying so hard for her, yet she herself never knowing."

"Old man..."

"Now, quit moping and eat your food or it'll go to waste and you'll waste away, then what will you have to show your friend when you see each other again? Skin and bones, or a full stomach ready and rearing to confront her again?"

"I..." Achi sneezed and wiped her nose with a piece of cloth. "Ok..."

"Good girl," the old man smiled as his voice became soft again. "That's the look I want to see, the girl I first met. That resolve. Never lose sight of that, you hear?"

"Ok..."

Annie moved away from the window and back to her perch in the shadows and balled one of her hands into a fist. Achi... A tear welled her eye, but she wouldn't let it fall. No matter how much she wanted it to. She had to for her sake.

/-.-.-.-\

They'd come within in the village, the hut not much further ahead and Ines smiled as Annie went swiftly past her. She could see what Fritz saw in the girl, and hoped that he wouldn't have to see what happens, if it happens, when the person you love is taken from you. Without hesitating, she commanded her three remaining squad members to follow her orders and to protect Leonhart at all costs until they arrive safely. "I'm giving your jurisdiction of this operation, Ines, since I trust in your judgement. Use whatever means that you have to to see that it succeeds" was what the Commander had told her, and she knew that when it reached its conclusion that there would be no happy ending.

/-.-.-.-\

Jayce purposefully placed himself in front of Sasha, as Eren was getting more and more frustrated at Eliza's evasiveness, causing more destruction of the forest behind the hut. Each time Eren went for a jab or a punch, she'd easily maneuver out of the way, but then do nothing else. When he tried to kick or grab at her, the same thing would happen, and Jayce realized immediately that her goal was to wear him down to the point of exhaustion, where at that point he'd be an easy target. He could also hear Fritz's voice as he was sweating profusely, still trying to keep Achi breathing. As Jayce looked over, he thought that his friend should just give up on her, and it may sound cruel, but her wounds had been fatal, and it was only a matter of time before she succumbed to them. Feeling Sasha's hand on his sleeve, he spun and smiled warmly to reassure her that everything was alright, expecting to she her afraid, but instead it was quite the opposite.

"We can't stay standing around here much longer," Sasha said, looking beyond him at Eliza and Eren in their Titan forms. "Sooner or later, they're going to bring the fight down on us. And, what's more," she held up a hand and then pointed down at the ground. "Do you feel that? Those tremors. It's the same feeling back at the castle!" Titans. She turned back and pointed now in the direction of the village. "They're coming from that way! It's faint, but moving very fast!" Looking him in the eyes now, her eyes were grave. "If we just stand here, we'll get crushed without a second thought!"

Being crushed. Jayce remembered Lund getting killed by the Female-Type Titan and again looked in Fritz's direction. But Annie is still inside that crystal! Unless, Fritz, did you somehow manage to free her? If he did release her, did that mean she's on their side now? What if Fritz was secretly a part of her, Reiner, and Bertolt's plans to take down humanity? But, no, that wasn't like him at all to just switch sides like that without telling anyone! Especially his friends; so then, what-

"Everyone, move out of the way!" a woman's voice commanded as four riders were coming in on horseback.

Had what Sasha felt been how swiftly they were moving, having been wrong about the presence of more Titans? No, there was definitely something else out there, but perhaps they had stopped, lying in wait for the best moment to strike? Jayce's thoughts were interrupted when Annie, one of the riders on horseback, came galloping to a halt just in front of the rise that led to the now destroyed hut, everyone looking at her except Fritz and Historia, who were still working on Achi. Annie glanced at them, a look of rage on her face.

"I told you guys to wait for me!" she said, a certain sadness present in her tone of voice, despite her obvious anger.

"Annie! What are you doing here!?" Armin interjected, as Mikasa glared at her, a blade in one hand. She'd been wanting to assist Eren the whole time he'd been fighting with Eliza but Captain Levi had strongly ordered any of them to not get involved. Now, all that pent up longing was directed towards Annie, who glared back briefly.

"No time to explain!" the woman from earlier shouted, her and the three others with her coming up beside Captain Levi. "Levi, the Commander has orders for you and your team to pull back to Sina with Historia and Eren alive at all costs!"

"Oh? Did he leave you in charge of taking care of this bitch?" he asked, nodding toward Eliza. "Well, regardless, we can't leave unless Eren stops fighting, and, is that brat on horseback here to relieve him?"

"That's right, if everything goes as planned. Hange should be waiting for you guys with some spare horses on the outskirts of the village, so the moment that girl transforms, you'll get Eren out of his Titan and retreat."

"And what about the other girl?"

Ines glanced over at her little brother, Achi, and Historia. Eletta was hovering nearby, unsure if she should lend a hand or not. "Take her along with you, the injured will just get in the way. Leave the three others who came here of their own volition to me and my squad."

"Right. I'll leave it to the Special Investigation Squad, and, Ines? Don't let any of them die. We may need them as valuable witnesses if there is ever a trial later."

"I know that, and I'll keep that in mind," Ines responded coldly. She still couldn't bring herself to like this man, and never did see what Petra had seen in him. His eyes, they reminded her of a vulture's, creatures with small beady eyes that liked picking away at dead corpses with no remorse. More devious than a crow. She was about to say something more when his stare stopped her. She didn't need to say anymore, it seemed.

Annie looked over at Fritz, watching each beat of sweat as it dripped from his face onto Achi's torn shirt, and knew that some of them were actually tears. She didn't like to see him suffer like that. She didn't want to see Achi so close to death either. She briefly shifted her gaze to everyone else and took note of Mikasa, not caring about any of the others, then went back to Eliza and Eren atop the rise, seeing that the hut was smashed to pieces, splinters of wood all along the hill, some of the fruits still rolling down and massing at the bottom. Her rage was something she'd always been quick to keep under control, but now, now she let in loose as she got off her horse and sprinted up the rise, biting her thumb the moment she made it to the top, roaring a warcry as she slammed into the two of them and pulled Eren off, then proceeded to grapple with Eliza, who looked thrilled to have a worthy opponent. If anything, something to play with until she got rid of the Coordinate, but Annie wasn't about to let her be all that easy to take down. The side of herself that she hated, she let it run free.

She went for a mid-kick to knock Eliza back but she caught the blow and twisted around as Annie did the same to counter. Placing both hands on the ground, she twirled her body and kicked up with her free leg, swiping Eliza on the cheek, and in response Eliza just smiled. As Annie came up, Eliza swiped her elbow and she was so busy dodging the blow to her face that Eliza scored a direct hit to the other side of her face, causing her to stagger. Before Eliza could try anything else, Annie crouched and swiped her feet, hoping that Eliza would jump out the way, thus giving her enough space to leap up and swing her leg at her neck, but Eliza rushed in and went for a straight right punch, to which Annie countered by sweeping the punch to the side and at the same time doing a straight punch with her own right, hardening her skin just as her fist impacted with Eliza's giant black eye. Eliza didn't cry out as she took it head on, and Annie's attack didn't even break skin.

"Good..." Eliza garbled, pressing her face further into Annie's fist. "But..." The arm that Annie had swept away came back and sunk its claws into her left arm, then tore it off, and Annie broke contact just as Eliza hardened her claws and charged her again. She ducked under a strike then sidestepped from an elbow from the side, slamming into a tree in her haste to evade the other girl in her overbearing Titan form. Holding up Annie's left arm, blood dripping off the muscle and tendons where she'd ripped it off at, Eliza nonchalantly tossed it down the hill, straight toward the everyone still gathered there. Acting fast, Annie leaped into the air and caught it as she twisted her body in the air to avoid falling on Fritz, Eletta, Achi, Jayce, and Ines along with her squad. Captain Levi had already done as ordered and left with the others, Ines having ripped Eren from his Titan. At least, it was only supposed to be the seven of them, but instead there were nine and Annie caught a glimpse of blonde hair. Historia had refused to leave along with Achi! She crashed to the ground, rooting earth and sliding to a halt meters away from the nine of them. Craning up, she saw that Eliza had vanished, guessed that she fled into the woods, and sat waiting. When she didn't reappear, Annie knew that she'd either gone after Eren in her human form or had laid off until the ten of them were thinking everything was relatively safe to attack again. She felt something on her chest and saw Ines standing there, serious as always.

"The Speaking-Type retreated, come on out," she commanded, crossing her arms, and now addressing her squad. "Larrens and Zena, watch the perimeter just in case. Riecka, salvage whatever you can from that hut and bring it down." Without averting her eyes from her squad, the Captain went back to Annie again. "Annie, did she say anything valuable to you during your scuffle?" Annie tried her best to shake her head to say "no" and Ines nodded in understanding. "I see, in any case get out of there, there's no need for your Titan form any longer."

The nape of her neck opening, Annie slowly emerged herself from the knots of muscle and dropped to the ground, sweaty and exhausted. Her vision was blurry and she stumbled as she tried walking over to where Achi was, her left arm steaming. Even though it hadn't been her actual arm that Eliza had tore off, it still affected her human body to a great deal, and she struggled to cope with the needles of pain. Finally reaching her friend, she sank to her knees and stared at her for a long while, Fritz next to her with his head in his hands.

"I couldn't heal the internal injuries!" he sobbed, shaking. Historia's face was hollow and drained of all color. She had no more tears to shed since she'd been doing it nonstop, her reserves all gone, hands uselessly lying in her lap. Annie's eyes were wide and she reached a hand out to touch Achi's face, still warm, her eyes closed. All the blood was gone, and she looked relatively peaceful, sleeping there. She'd been right, Fritz couldn't heal internal wounds, no matter how hard he tried, but her being right this time was the cruelest thing in the world. The tears wouldn't stop...

"You take Achi with you, you hear? Don't leave her behind."

"Alright, father." She'd felt reassurance everytime she'd looked into her hazel eyes back then, even when she'd clumsily stumbled to her, tripping. She couldn't help smiling everytime she'd seen her back then, as well. Achi had been her courage, much as Annie was to her.

"Promise me you'll come back, alright you two?"

"Father, Mina, Achi. I've broken my promises one by one," she whispered to herself, clenching a fist. "But that doesn't mean I can't make new promises and see those through to the end." Looking over at Fritz's hunched form, she smiled sadly and drew him closer in an embrace. And one day, I'll make it up to all of you for all the pain, all the sadness, all the loss you've endured, that I've caused. I'll see it through to the end, you can count on it. She buried her face into Fritz's shoulder and continued weeping.

"There's no such thing as happiness in this world," Ines said to herself, looking down at the body of Achi Almen and thinking of Petra, of Kalia, and all the other friends she'd lost during her time in the world. No, nobody else was going to die from scrapes of paper, nobody else was going to die from doing nothing in the end, and nobody else was going to die as long as she was leading this operation. She really hoped that Achi had died the way she wanted to, but like Petra, Kalia, and everyone else before her, she knew none of them really got what they wanted in their final moments. Even living their lives the way the wanted to, she honestly thought none of them had achieved that in the end either. Slowly, she was losing her humanity, and she needed to if she wanted to know more about Titans. Even if it meant, in the end, she had to give up everything she's even come to care about. That was her resolve now, forever and always.

"Riecka."

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Prepare the girl's body for burial, then round everyone up as we'll be moving out soon."

As Riecka did as ordered Ines touched her breast pocket and felt her book of flowers, weeping no tears, her fire burning brighter than ever.