Here we are chaps, part two! SHIT'S ABOUT TO GO DOOOOOOOOOOOWN!

Enjoy, please. And drop a review if you like.

PROLOGUE:

2 YEARS AGO

'Woah, that's a big one!' A girl gasped. I glanced around at it from under my hood. My entire body seized up.

I recognise you.

The gate… My parents… I don't believe it…

IT'S THE SAME DAMN TITAN! THE SAME DAMN ONE THAT KILLED THEM!

I hadn't realised until now, but I was screaming at the top of my lungs. My Captain ran at me, shaking me and yelling for me to pull myself together. I could not hear a word of what she was saying. All I could hear was my own hysterical screeching. I shook her off, throwing myself at the titan and forcefully yanking my swords out of their sheaths. I bore my blades deep into its skin, rage consuming my brain. I cut and cut and cut through every piece of flesh it had, getting dizzier and dizzier until there was nothing left to cut. I fell to the ground, heaving and shaking. My brain whirled and whirled. Kneeling in front of the smoking lump of flesh, I ripped my hood off, throwing up as my body convulsed in pure fury and disbelief.

That was my last memory of the Eastern Scouting Regiment before I fell unconscious. Upon waking up in a mental hospital, I instantly remembered everything, but… the memory of it had no effect on me. I had not been the most emotional person recently, but this was different. I was completely blank, completely…

…Empty …

Chapter 26 – Insider

'There is a new threat to the Scouting Regiment. Move over, titans, Kansten is coming.'

I could never imagine myself being old. As soon as I got so old that the Scouts sent me packing, my life would be over. I cannot RETIRE. I cannot die decrepit and frail. What would I DO with myself for all those years? No, that kind of miserable death would never suit me. What I hoped for was a simple death in action. I pray I do not live to see the day when I am too old to be a soldier. Mind you, the slower and older I get, the more likely I am to be eaten anyway. I'm just not cut out for old age. A short life on the front lines will do me fine. I have lived to this age though, which not many scouts do. I am grateful for that. Although, there have been those that have lasted longer than I, and talking of one such person, Levi stopped speaking to me. At least, as a friend. It was back to cold, calculating instructions from my Captain. I remembered the time when that was all we were - Captain and comrade. I seemed to constantly piss him off back then, but in an almost amusing way. Still, I could never TRULY go back to that, considering all we've been through together. I still felt a pang of pain knowing that if I went up to him he'd ignore me – or worse- tell me to leave him alone. I could tell he was struggling to do this, and he wouldn't look me in the eye, knowing I'd see the torment this caused him if he did. I knew there was a high chance of him wavering if I kept on at him, but something held me back. It was a niggling feeling of guilt, the one that whispered to me, "you are the cause of his pain… Remember?"

Despite this, it was all I ever thought about. So I was almost eaten by a crawler, almost died in a basement, almost drank a cup of poison, and was almost strangled to death, but I had my uses. I mean, I have protected him from certain death on multiple occasions… Wait, what if he gets into one of those situations now, and I'm not there to save him?

I did this all day, every day. It was pathetic, pitiful.

I opened my bedroom door, following the gentle rap that came from the other side. It was Grace.

'Hello Kamoku, um, a man asked for you down by the tailors in town. His name is Elias, do you know him?'

I raised my eyebrow. Elias? The only Elias I knew was my dead brother. 'No, I don't. I'll go see what he wants.'

'Oh, do be careful, the townsfolk are even more furious with us than before. Maybe don't wear your uniform?'

'I'll be fine,' I assured her. 'Thanks Grace.'

I decided to walk to town since I had time to kill. Elias… Who the hell could that be? They clearly have addressed me as Kamoku, since that's all Grace knows me as. I've never met an Elias though. Hm. Strange. Guess I'll have to find out.

As I neared the tailors, I spotted an ash-blonde man leaning against the front window, smoking a cigar. I approached him. He saw me, grinning toothily and sauntering up to me. I scanned his face. He has the same hazel eyes as me, eyes that reminded me of my Father. His jaw line was incredibly sharp and he had high cheekbones. He looked in his mid-thirties, and was, I suppose, what many would class as "good looking". He wasn't particularly tall either, standing only at about five-foot six.

'Novalie, hello there,' he greeted me heartily. I froze. Novalie? He knew my name? That's… Impossible. Did this person know Levi, by chance? Even if he did though, Levi wasn't likely to have told him my real name.

'Who are you?' I asked. His face dropped all of a sudden.

'Ah, you were but a tiny baby when I left. I don't suppose you remember me. It's me, Elias.'

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was not possible. This man… CANNOT be…

'I'm your brother.'

No way.

'You are meant to be dead.'

'Well, yes, that was the agreement.'

'Agreement?'

'I joined a band of thugs at the tender age of seven in an attempt to not only get out of that stinking hole of misery you called home, but to earn our family a bit of money. They were so devastated that I'd done something so dishonourable that they told you and Nina I'd died to prevent you from following in my footsteps.' He sighed. 'Mother and Father never had much, but boy did they have their honour. They took the money I gave them though, but only to keep you alive. It was too late for Nina by then.'

'We went to the surface though,' I pointed out, trying to cram this overwhelming information into my brain.

'You did indeed, and I chose not to come. To be honest, I felt more at home in my little family of ruffians than with our parents.'

'But… How… Did you find me? And why?'

'Because I want to see you sis! Look at you, all grown up!' He grinned again, pulling me into a hug. I stiffened, wriggling out of it.

'How did you know I was here? How did you know I knew Grace?' Before he could speak, I blurted, 'and how did you know my nickname?'

'Woah, woah, questions galore! All in the work of a very informative person sister.'

'Who?'

He waved it away. 'I haven't touched your precious Captain, if that's what you are so worried about.'

How does he know these things? He must have someone in the scouts, watching me.

'Novalie, there is something very unfortunate about our situation. You see, I don't like your scouts. They are the reason so many of us are stuck in the Underground. Taxes are too high, and lets me honest, what are they doing that's bettering humanity? They need to be… Disabled… Shut down… And I want you to help me.'

'You are asking a scout to destroy the scouts along with a bunch of hooligans?' I asked incredulously. I couldn't believe my ears. This man was my brother. I had A LIVING SIBLING, and yet, he wanted to destroy my LIFE, my CAREER, in the name of taxes?

'I'm asking you to leave the scouts and join me. What will it be Novalie, your family, or death?'

'I'm not betraying them,' I said firmly. If he is going to attack me and all that I hold dear, then I will attack him, no matter if we are related.

'No? Well, you will have to go down with them then. Up to you...'

'Fine. And stay away from me,' I said assertively. I don't believe it. This CRIMINAL is my brother, who is hell-bent on destroying the one place I can call home. 'Wait, were you part of that riot a few weeks ago?'

He looked offended… And disappointed. 'THAT mess? Are you kidding me? Never. Something so messy and disorganised and ANIMALISTIC would never be my doing!' He folded his arms indignantly. 'Do you remember the massacre of Kuras?' He asked me. I sure did, I was part of the Eastern Scouting Regiment back then, so I wasn't part of it, but it was big news for ages. Kuras, a town not four miles away from the Western scout's former headquarters, had rioted, killing dozens of scouts as they passed through the street on the way out of the gates. It was a deadly, and very well planned, attack.

'Yes, I do.'

'That was my massacre, sister. You see, our bunch of "hooligans" are a well-trained, and VERY powerful organisation. We are the LDSR.'

I stared at him. Just stared, stared into those hazel eyes that were identical to my Father's. Elias, you are malevolent, absolutely evil, and you have taught me a new emotion, one that I never missed: disgust.

I am disgusted to think I am related to you.

'You killed them?' I said, retaining my composure.

'I did. I expect you will go running to your scouts, telling them all about me, won't you? Don't worry, you are welcome to. I dare say when you tell them Elias Kansten is the leader you will immediately be put under suspicion. Your reputation will be ruined, and if they lock you up, how can you protect little Levi while I set my soldiers on him?' I clenched my fists. What do I do? This is impossible. If Kuras was him, then they were surely powerful. Too powerful. There have been a few attacks on the scouts over the years, but the one that scared everyone to death was that massacre. We were going to need more than brute force to break their little army apart. An idea struck me then, something crazy, out of this world. What if I joined them? I could gain Elias' trust, and slowly dismantle their organisation from there. I would surely be prosecuted afterwards, but what if I could be Erwin's insider? No, Elias is no doubt an intelligent man, if this is going to work, no one else must know. It would be too much of a risk if Erwin was involved. It was the biggest risk I could ever imagine – if it worked and I destroyed them, then great, but if I failed…

'What do I get by joining you?' I asked, pretending to be interested. He smiled at me devilishly.

'Well firstly, you get me.' He laughed, but saw that I wasn't impressed and nodded. 'But of course, you want more than that. Well, you will be rich, richer than old Smith could ever be. You will be utterly safe within our ranks, and you will no doubt succeed me in leadership. If you prove yourself… You will be a hero. For now though, you can be my right-hand woman.'

'Mother once said to me… She wished I could be with you. That I would be safer, healthier. I never realised what she meant,' I lied, bringing our Mother into it to try and increase my credibility.

'Yes! See, sis, she wanted this. You loved Mother, right? Make her happy, you are going to get yourself killed for nothing in the scouts. With me, we can be heroes to the people of the Underground, we can help people like us who suffered for the scouts to die! We can avenge Nina. It's a no-brainer.'

Wow, he had some delusions of grandeur.

'OK…' I sighed, and forced the words out of my mouth. 'I'll join you. But I must sneak away unnoticed,' I couldn't believe what I was doing. And Levi, what would he think?

'I have just the thing,' Elias murmured.