Chapter 1: Still I am

When Armin was only a little boy with a faded hat too big for him on top of his unruly blond mane, he used to climb his father's desk and rummaged his stack of wood-bound journals. Father was a researcher and an adventurer at heart, and written in the journals were tales of courage and love. His favorite was the valiant prince who fought a big scaly dragon to save the princess in a tower. Mother used to tell him that as long as the hero was brave and strong, no tragedy would befall him, and a happy ending always followed. This was how little Armin perceived the world, that anyone could be a hero. But then Father and Mother left one day, the walls tumbled down, the waterways under his city turned red, people killed people for sport, and his best friend released annihilation to the world believing it was justice. It was justice to destroy and it was justice to receive destruction. Armin stopped believing. While people were certainly the heroes of their own lives, they could also be the villains in others. That, he realized, was what most people chose to ignore.

"Armin?"

Soft footsteps pattered the floorboard beneath him. Armin turned and opened his arms wide. The owner of the voice flew into his embrace in a flurry of grey and yellow.

"Have a nice nap?"

Annie mumbled something. Armin laughed, "I bet it's nice?"

"I wish I can nap forever."

"Oh no, what will I do if my girlfriend decided to leave me to Napland forever? I will just have to build a spaceship to visit her then."

"You know, that actually won't be a surprise considering how many books on astronomy you've been reading lately."

Armin flicked Annie's cheeks gently. "Not as much as those romance novels you sneaked around. Who knew the scary Annie Leonhardt is a sappy schoolgirl deep down?"

Now it was Annie's turn to flick him and needless to say Armin learned his lesson not to tease a tired Annie in the morning.

He rubbed the red spot and pouted. "Not fair. You're using Titan extra power."

Annie deadpanned. "Then you should've used your Titan extra power to defend your squishy marshmallow cheeks."

"Alright, alright, point taken," Armin chuckled. "I'm going down to the city today. Need anything?"

"I need you. Here. Don't leave me."

"Annie, we'll starve to death if we didn't restock our supplies. Your coffee is also running low. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"… no. Okay. Be back before sunset or I'll hunt you down myself."

Armin raised his hands in surrender. "You sure you don't wanna come?"

"No."

"Sunlight will be good for you."

"No. Sunburn."

"I'll buy you ice cream."

"Too sweet. Bad for teeth."

"How about we visit the bookstore? The next book in the series you're reading is out already."

"It can wait."

"Then, to watch the lantern fountain?"

"What am I? A kid? No. I'll stay here, you go. Just don't forget my coffee. And a bottle of wine. I'm going to Reiner's this Friday."

"What will you do with the wine? Pour it all over his tombstone?"

"Yeah. He'll be mad and haunt us again if I forgot."

"Annie, how many times do I have to tell you that our broken shed is from the storm and not Reiner's haunting us?"He

"Can't be too sure with that guy. He can be a pretty vengeful ghost."

"It's been two months. I'm sure he's doing okay, at peace whenever he is."

"I hope so. Just… just buy the wine. I wanted to make him happy."

Armin ruffled Annie's hair. "Of course. Coffee and wine, it is. Anything else?"

"Nope. Be careful. Wear your hoodie."

There was a frayed paper sloppily glued on the town's announcement board. Other papers were glued on top of it, and the rain had smudged some of the ink off, but Armin could still see the texts as clearly as the first time he'd seen it the first time he moved into Trost.

WANTED ALIVE

HISTORIA REISS AND HER INFANT CHILD

TRAITOR OF THE EMPIRE

CONTACT THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT BASE

ANY KIND OF USEFUL INFORMATION IS REWARDED

Armin clenched his hoodie tighter and walked away.

"Mr. Armin?"

Armin struggled to divert his attention elsewhere, but he wasn't a really good actor, and the uniformed girl caught up to him in no time.

"Mr. Armin Arlert? What a pleasant surprise! I thought you'd be in Shiganshina still!"

"Hi, Louise. Fancy meeting you here. Weren't you stationed in Mitras?"

The short-haired girl giggled, "I did, but I figured I'd move here to Trost to oversee the rebuilding. It's my hometown after all. I'm a lieutenant now, so it's easy for me to move around."

"Oh. Congratulations." Even to himself, his voice sounded too strained. If Louise noticed, she didn't show it.

"Thank you. I'm happy Trost isn't nearly as damaged as other cities from the Rumbling. So far, the construction's been doing great. Some daring architects even wanted to build a building as tall as the walls once been! Can you believe that? Paradis is developing really fast."

Yes, the technology on the island had been advancing rapidly. But compared to what? Armin thought. What good was to be the most advanced country if there were no other countries for them to compare with?

"Yeah, it's nice."

"So, grocery run?" Louise pointed at the paper bags he was carrying.

"Um, yeah. Mango season. Gotta get them quick."

"Right. You're still doing research works, Mr. Armin?"

"Yeah."

"On what?"

"On… stuff. Astronomy. Geography. Random stuff mostly. Just to pass the time."

"Well, if you found yourself really bored and wanted to do something productive, you could always join the government. With how things are going right now, they'll really need a genius like you."

It wasn't the first time Armin heard such offer, and it also wasn't the first time he had to refuse. "Thanks for the offer. But I guess I want to keep things low. To catch up on some long overdue readings."

"Of course, of course. Have you been to Mitras lately?"

"No. Is there a problem there?"

"Oh, no. Everything's okay in the capital. They're preparing a huge end-of-the-summer festival there. You should go visit soon. Lord Yeager needed you."

It was a name he didn't hear for a long time and took him by surprise. "What?"

"Well, I didn't hear it directly from him, but the other officers told me. A week ago, he fired three advisors because they're, in his own words, 'a bunch of money-sucking scoundrels'. He then demanded that someone get him a man at least half as capable as you or he will fire the entire advisory council."

"That sounded just like Eren." Armin chuckled weakly.

"He missed you."

Armin gulped. "Now that doesn't sound like him."

"I know he did. We all know it. The Yeagerists and his men. Lord Yeager grew colder and more distant each day. He's a man of justice and he fights to bring equality to this island, but his ways are concerning. He's passionate but hateful. He needs his friends by his side to help him. He's just one man."

"One man who kills an entire civilization."

Louise just looked at him sadly. "The Curse is gone. Are you really going to grow old without ever making amends with him?"

"If that's what necessary to teach him a lesson, then yes. I'll live years condemning him every day."

"But don't you want to see her?"

Razor-sharp confetti exploded on his throat. Her. They didn't dare to name her. Not in front of him at least.

"More than anything. Is she… is she alright? Do they treat her well?"

"As befitting of a lady. You have nothing to worry about."

"A lady?" he spat. "She's a prisoner. A toy for Eren to play with until he's bored. That's how sick that bastard is."

"Lord Yeager would never—"

"Never what? Hurt her? He already did, Louise. You cared for Mikasa too, don't you? I know you do in your own way. But Eren's hurting her. He doesn't let her outside the palace or let me see her. I beg him to let her stay with me, but he refused. Do you know what he said to me that day? He said he will be the one to protect Mikasa from then. How is it protecting when he's not letting her be free?"

Armin turned around before his calm façade cracked any further.

"Tell Eren. If he really needs me in Mitras, I'll come. To stay as his advisor and also to take Mikasa back home."

No matter how much he tried to cramp in paintings and sculptures into his new flat, it still felt empty. He even bought plants, for fuck's sake, as recommended by Pieck, but the dying sad thing also couldn't make his house any homier.

Maybe what he lacked wasn't material things, but a sense of comfort. For Jean, his comfort was in the form of a woman. A woman who was now miles away from him in an undercover mission.

Jean shrugged off his heavy military-issued coat and proceeded to pour himself a glass of scotch. It had been a long day. He thought he was suited for this kind of diplomatic works but turned out he had the unacceptable tendency to curse out people he deemed idiots. They were really idiots, so he wasn't wrong in that aspect at the very least.

The doorbell rang. Jean opened it.

"Oh. Good evening."

"Good evening, Mr. Kirstein. A mail for you," the mailman greeted.

"Thank you, Gustaf."

"Welcome. Nice speech on the TV yesterday."

"Uh, thanks."

Yes, he was awkward like that.

He opened the first letter.

Dear Horse-face,

Quite a boring nickname actually. Fitting, though. Don't flatter yourself with my 'dear' greeting. Historia forced me to write it. She's very persuasive. I had written so many fake letters to go in the circulation today and my hand hurts like a bitch so I'll keep this simple.

Historia and Frieda are safe. The baby's wailing is accompanying me as I write this letter. The farmhouse you're lending us is… decent at the minimum. Seriously, you used to be a high-ranking officer in the SC you couldn't afford to buy a better retirement house? Anyway. No suspicious activities. Thanks for that. I really don't want to get ambushed while I'm showering.

Historia wanted to tell you she's sorry she couldn't disclose the location that you required. Something about endangering the people. She's also sorry she couldn't meet you in person. I'm not sorry for that. As much as she annoyed me, I don't want her head to get blasted off. You understand that.

God, I really hope this letter is not being read aloud in the council right now. If it does, then fuck you. Fuck you all.

But also fuck you, horse-face, if this is really you. Your plan is shitty, but I'm interested, so go on. Until next time.

From,

Hitch the Baddest Bitch the Royal Secretary, if the Reiss regime is back on the throne again

With love,

Your friend Historia

Well, that sucked. Also, a relief. Jean threw the letter into the fireplace and grabbed the next letter.

Whoever received this letter,

The Alliance or the loyalists, new or old,

The water has run dry.

Watch for the rising clouds.

A

Jean decided not to burn this one.

Author Note:

Hiya. I'd never thought I'll return to writing fanfictions after 7 years of hiatus and only being a silent reader. Welcome to my very first story on this website and fandom. My name is oyip and this is me trying to cope with the fact that aot is ending. sobs. I've always been curious what will happened if Eren did succeed with the rumbling and what will happen to our beloved alliance so that's the base of this story.

I wrote this chapter back-to-back with the second chapter so please read that too. Cuddly Annie and bad bitch Hitch are my favorite part to write. And Jean. And Armin. God I love them so much I hope I did their characters justice.

The 'poem' in the last letter is actually from a poem in a K-Drama. Can any of you guess where it came from?

And if any of you guys are interested with my writing process, I'll explain that in the next chapter's notes.

Anyway, enough rambling (or should I say rumbling?), hope you enjoy!