Avery leaned back against a stone pillar, her arms crossed in annoyance. "A gag order. I assume he wants us to keep quiet about him abandoning us too, huh?" She said, kicking at a rock with her toes. "You can tell by looking into his beady little eyes that he's a spineless coward."
The seven of them hadn't been the only ones to see Eren emerge from the back of that Abnormal Titan. A member of the Garrison had been watching, who then relayed the information to Captain Woermann. Without any hesitation he took Eren into custody – Armin and Mikasa staying by his side – and issued a gag order to the other five. So, when Ymir and Connie asked where Mikasa was they were unable to answer.
Reiner could see the rage building up in Avery as she clenched her fist and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Alright, let's take a walk so you can calm down. If we have to go fight more Titans, you're no good to anyone like this." He stood behind her with both hands on her shoulders, Avery too occupied with her thoughts to notice herself being led into an alley. Reiner leaned against the wall across from her, arms crossed as he beckoned her to explain what was wrong.
"I overheard some of the people who were assigned to the supply detail say he abandoned them. We could've died because of that bastard being a coward. And then he has the audacity to act like a Captain now… He doesn't deserve the title!" She stated, slamming the bottom of her fist against the wall. Her brows were furrowed as she frowned Reiner watching her intently. It wasn't a rarity to see her angry or annoyed, but he couldn't help but wonder if there weren't other factors adding to it.
"Is that it?" His tone was indicating that he knew something else was bothering her and he wanted to hear about it. She looked up at him as if confused by his words, though he was right to inquire further. The fact that Mina had gotten hurt and almost died weighed on her mind as well almost as if she were blaming herself. There were times where she found his astute and attentive ways maddening, but deep down she was appreciative. Unfortunately, she wasn't in the mood to be forthcoming with her emotions. At least not at this very moment.
"Until something else comes along to piss me off. How aren't you bothered by this whole thing? Eren coming out of that Titan, Woermann dismissing us as if nothing happened?" She asked, trying to change remove the attention from herself.
"I am bothered. But you looked like you were about to blow your top and, well, we all saw what it looks like when you do."
"Funny," she said sarcastically, "Then what do you make of it?"
"It's crazy to think Eren was controlling that Titan this whole time. That sort of thing sounds impossible. If everyone knew about it, there would be chaos, so it's understandable Captain Woermann wouldn't want us to talk about it."
"It does make me wonder," she said, squatting down to the ground, "What if there are others like him? Are we in trouble then?" Since seeing Eren emerge from the Titan the thought lingered in the front of her mind. It was unexpected and came out of nowhere, so who's to say it wouldn't happen again?
Avery glanced back up to Reiner, who was staring down at her as if he had just seen a ghost. "Don't tell me the idea scares you, Braun." She let out a soft laugh before shaking her head. "I'm just throwing the thought out there. It doesn't sound plausible, but you never know, right?"
When he didn't respond to her, she looked at him again. "Hey. Braun. Snap out of it." Avery stood up and moved closer towards him, her eyes remaining glued to his. There was a faraway look in his eyes that was unsettling as she placed her hands on his cheeks. "Reiner!" She shouted shaking his head.
He blinked several times before looking down at her as his hands wrapped around her wrists.
"What are you doing?" His voice was monotone, unlike the energetic way he normally spoke. He was still trying to gather his bearings as he blinked a few times. Her words had caught him off-guard for reasons only known to him.
"Well, you froze mid-conversation. Figured I'd shake you back into place." She was trying to hide the worry from her voice, not wanting him to think anything of it.
The two of them stood in silence for a moment longer, Reiner still trying to process his thoughts. It wasn't until his thumb began to absentmindedly rub across her wrist that she realized the position she was in. Her hands were still on his cheeks and they only had a few inches of space between them. Realizing the position they were in, Avery felt her stomach get twisted up in knots that resembled the ones from earlier. Only, these felt different. She wasn't sure how to describe it but it had a warm feeling behind them.
Staring down at her so close he was able to see the freckles that dotted her nose. That same mysterious look was in her eyes, but this time around they had been accompanied by worry. He wasn't sure if it was lingering worry from earlier on or if it were because of him; he was secretly hoping for the latter. She looked so... Vulnerable despite the situation they were in and he was going to take this moment to say so.
"Pisces-," Reiner started, interrupted by the sound of a cannon. It caused Avery to jump back away from him as he looked off to the side, clearing his throat.
"Uh- We should find out what that was." She suggested as she avoided his gaze. As much as she wanted to know both what he was about to say and what that feeling was, they had far more important things to do.
The two of them ran until they saw Jean standing amongst, looking at the grey plums of smoke in the distance. Many were speculating that another gate had been broken, but that wouldn't be a reason for one singular cannon to be shot. Reiner had taken out his triggers, readying his gear to go and investigate.
"It… Can't be. A Titan's steam?" Jean said. Before Avery had time to respond, Reiner launched himself in the direction of the steam. Annie and Bertholt shot out from the background to follow while Avery and Jean looked at each other. They silently agreed to follow suit and go after them.
They arrived at the same place Woermann had Armin, Mikasa and Eren surrounded. As soon as the smoke cleared someone let out an audible gasp. The torso of a Titan, half skeleton, half muscles, was sticking up with Eren and the others underneath. What looked to be a partial skeletal hand was sticking up and a cannonball sat in the palm. It was a failed attempt to kill the three of them it seemed, Avery growling at the sight.
"He was going to kill Armin and Mikasa too?!" She harshly whispered to no one in particular.
Woermann raised his hand to signal to his soldiers to ready another shot, Armin running out to talk reason to the Captain. They couldn't quite make out everything he was saying but knowing him, he was trying to convince him against killing them. It didn't sit right with Avery that this was happening, and she itched to do something about it.
She looked around at the group and noticed they were all focused on the scene before them. It allowed her to act with no one stopping her as she quickly jumped from the roof. She could hear someone harshly whisper after her, but she ignored them. 'Great,' she thought to herself, 'Now I'm acting like Eren!' Except, this wasn't an impulsive decision. Sure, attacking the Captain could land her in more trouble than she would have liked, but perhaps it would save her comrades.
Before she had an opportunity to get too close, a member of his team grabbed her arms and stopped her. She thrashed against their hold as Captain Woermann turned around to find out what the commotion was before frowning. "Pisces?! What do you think you're doing?"
"Stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your goddamn life, you coward!"
"Commander Pisces," someone shouted, "Are you okay?!"
Kai Pisces lay on the concrete next to the Titan she had just taken out, craning her neck further back to see her second-in-command running towards her.
"Eh? Dita! Yeah, I'm alright. It's just," she paused looking down at her hair. Her loose, auburn-colored curls had gotten caught in her wires… Again. Despite the many warnings given to her by both her second in command and Levi, she hadn't tied her hair up and this was the result. Dita kneeled next to her and worked to get her wires free of her hair while shaking his head.
"You really have to start tying up your hair, Commander."
"Oh, but this little dance between me and Death is very exhilarating." She shot him a cheeky smile while feeling him tug and pull her hair loose. He was done within a few more seconds, having been an expert by this point.
She stood up when he was finished and shook her hair out. "That feels so much better. Thanks!" She gave him a thumbs-up as her wires retracted. She turned to look around at their surroundings and noticed the streets were a lot quieter than when they first arrived. When they first arrived at the small town outside of Wall Maria it had been crawling with Titans. Seeing it so empty now meant the expedition was going as planned.
The sudden sounds of hooves grabbed their attention, Commander Erwin leading a group that included Hange and Levi. Their faces were serious, something of a rarity in Hange's case. "Kai, we're pulling back."
"Wha- Already?! We just got here."
"Wall Rose may have been breached."
Kai quickly frowned at his statement, her playful demeanor disappearing.
"At which entry point?"
"Trost." Erwin knew the moment he said where Kai would spring into action as she quickly whistled for her horse. The four-legged creature appeared from around a corner as Kai mounted her in a swift motion.
That morning, she had paused very briefly in their progression to speak with her sister. It was then that Avery expressed her distaste of having to complete cannon maintenance atop of the Trost section of Wall Rose. Kai just laughed and reassured her that once she was an official member of the Survey Corps there would be far more interesting things to do. She was happy that the younger girl had been so excited to take down Titans and hoped that's what she was doing now.
Avery Pisces was fully aware that when this whole thing was over, she would definitely be punished for her failed attempt at attacking Captain Woermann. Luckily, with the arrival of Dot Pyxis, she was able to avoid that for the time being. The Garrison Commander had saved her from being reprimanded as well as Armin, Eren, and Mikasa from being executed.
He had heard about Eren's 'gift', seen it in action himself, and planned to make use of it to plug the hole created by the Colossal Titan. The gag order had basically been thrown out the window as Pyxis had been completely transparent about their plans and Eren's newfound power to all of the recruits. He rallied them all together as he stood atop the wall shouting down to the rest of them what was going to happen next.
The rest of the soldiers would work as decoys corralling all the Titans into a section underneath the cannons on top of the wall. Pyxis dispatched an Elite squad that included Rico, Mitabi, and Ian – the Garrison's top three officers – and Mikasa to protect Eren while he used the rock to plug the hole.
Pyxis's plan sounded easy enough until the red smoke appeared in the sky. It was the signal from Rico that the plan had failed. Worry spread throughout the groups, everyone was unsure of the future that had been written for them.
"What do we do now?!" A soldier frantically asked Pyxis. "Were all of our comrades' deaths in vain then?!"
"We continue the mission as planned. Give the Elite team time to make their own decision about how we're to proceed." His voice was calm as he looked out towards the red smoke. He was sure something good was to come of this and remained level-headed.
Avery had been assigned to Jean's squad, along with Annie and Connie, after Pyxis confronted her about attacking Woermann. Seeing her in action reminded him of her sister though he would have to discuss that at a later time. They had been given strict instructions by their team leader to not engage any of the Titans unless necessary. Their purpose was to be decoys, distractions so Eren could do what he needed to do. They all nodded in agreement as they ran out to provoke as many Titans as they could without being eaten.
"If I'd have known I'd be used as bait, I wouldn't have signed up!" Connie shouted.
"You're telling me." Avery shook her head as she ran next to him, Annie and Jean joining them with their own Titans behind them.
"Once we get close enough to the wall, I want you to," before their team leader could say anything more, he was scooped up by a Titan and promptly eaten. The four of them quickly moved out of the way to avoid an untimely death as well.
"We have to get back up the wall to regroup!" Jean directed. They all nodded their heads before launching themselves upwards. Connie shot his anchor towards the wall, only for it not to attach.
"It's made of bricks, you idiot! Aim higher!" Avery directed, having already anchored herself as she launched up to the wall. Annie stood next to her, watching as Connie finally joined them. They turned to see Jean still running away from a Titan, Connie shouting after him.
"Jean! Wha-Why isn't he using his gear?!"
Avery narrowed her eyes in suspicion before concluding. "His gear isn't working." She mumbled to herself before jumping for the wall. "I'll get him."
It was risky to go down alone to save Jean and as she maneuvered her way towards him, she thought about why she was even doing it. For a brief moment, she thought about how many times she had taken risky actions to save people today and chastised herself for it.
She landed next to him and kept an eye out for Titans, watching as he found another set of gear. "Will you hurry it up, baby bottom?! We're super vulnerable right now!"
"Can it, Pisces, I'm moving as fast as I can!" He shouted back at her, struggling to remove the gear from a fallen soldier.
The Titan that had been going after Jean reappeared. Avery was shouting again to Jean that they needed to go just as Marco landed in front of it to provide another distraction. He was followed by Annie and Connie who were keeping the other Titans who had been making their way over busy. Once Jean was finally able to swap out his gear, they were able to move on to the top of the wall.
"I swear, all of you have a death wish," Connie said, trying to catch his breath. He was ignored as the rest of his group had been watching as Eren's Titan finally began to move again, carrying the boulder needed to plug the wall.
Commander Ian shouted for them to protect Eren, keeping all the Titans away from him. He, along with the rest of his team, was running on the ground around the Titans to get their attention. Some were being grabbed and eaten, others trying to save their comrades.
Avery had never seen so much carnage, not even earlier that day when the wall was first breached. The screams were sure to haunt her dreams for a while, but this was no time to be thinking about that as she jumped from the wall to cut down two Titans. By the time she landed on the ground again, another had slid its way in front of her. Her eyes grew wide as the world around her seemed to move in slow motion.
'Is this it? Do I die here?' She wondered. With her teeth clenched tightly together, she gripped the hilt of her sword in her hand. She was readying herself to fight her way through before feeling someone wrap their arm around her waist.
"Yeesh, kiddo, I didn't think you'd get into trouble so soon!" The voice sounded familiar as Avery looked up. She could see the green cape flapping in the wind as her eyes soon settled on Kai's smiling face.
"K-Kai?" She stammered. The older woman let out a soft laugh as she launched them to the top of the wall.
"Glad to know you didn't forget about me, kid." The two of them stood on the wall, Kai looking down at the scene below them while Avery observed the woman who had just saved her life in awe. She came out of nowhere, so effortlessly and with no hesitation. Again, the woman had gone and saved her from certain death.
"You wanna explain what the hell is going on?" Kai asked, looking up at the plume of green smoke. Avery blinked a few times to re-focus before looking down the wall as well.
"He did it… Eren actually plugged the hole." She gasped; her voice full of amazement. Seeing there were two Titans headed for Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and Rico, she shouted down to them. "What are you guys still doing down there?!"
"Eren's stuck!" Responded Armin. She moved to jump from the wall before Kai grabbed onto her shoulder.
"Relax. He'll take it from here." Kai's words confused Avery for a moment, wondering who 'he' was until she saw a sudden flash between the two Titans. In the next second, they had collapsed with a short man standing on top of the evaporating body.
"What a show-off," Kai stated with a scoff. She then jumped from the wall to approach him, Avery following suit.
"What's going on?" He asked, looking at Kai.
She shrugged her shoulders. "Haven't a clue. You should regroup with your team and assist with clean up for now. We'll ask questions later." She instructed, turning to Avery with a grin on her face. "Well? You joining us or what?"