Wavering
Rain sat on the roof, staring out at the horizon. Some how she knew it was in the direction Levi was in. She wanted to go to him. She wanted to talk about everything that's been happening since he had left. That was a month ago. So much had changed since then. She had changed. Or she thought she did. It seemed with what she had learned from Eren, without Levi, and with the rest of her friends locked up, she had no idea who she was anymore.
A burning rage was building up inside of her. And each time a memory came back to her it fanned that fire. She wanted to kill. She wanted to kill every single one of the people who had tampered with her body and turned her into a titan.
Bringing her knees to her chest she hugged them, desperate for those bad memories to disappear again. She had plenty of good memories in this place to relive. Though they had some bad memories mixed in with them. She wanted the good memories. They wouldn't come.
"What are you doing up here?" Eren sat beside her.
"Just thinking."
"You're missing the captain, aren't you?"
Rain nodded. "Of course I am. I want to talk to him. I feel so confused and lost without him."
"Are you regretting your choice of staying with me?"
"No." Rain shook her head. She wasn't. She just didn't know where she belonged at this point. Should she really give into this rage inside of her? What would she do once they got to Marley? Would she really attack those who did this to her? Eren said she would have her revenge. But would she?
Eren took her hand. "It's going to be all right. No one is ever going to hurt you again."
Rain leaned against his shoulder. "Did you come for a reason?"
"I'm heading down to see the brat who killed Sasha. Thought you'd like to come."
"Yeah. Might as well. I'm doing nothing but driving myself crazy sitting around here." Rain followed Eren inside.
They were joined by another woman who's name Rain had yet to remember and a man who had been loyal to Eren since the beginning. They entered the cell without pause. Rain's eyes went to the girl, Gabi, if she remember correctly.
"Yo. The brat who killed Sasha," Eren said.
"Wha…?! What do you want?" Gabi eyed them with caution.
"If you want to save Falco, then lets cooperate," Eren said.
"Cooperate?! To do what?!" Gabi asked.
"I'll have you make a radio call for help. To make the invaders who infiltrated the walls react."
Rain caught movement from the woman. Before she could react the woman stabbed the man then lifted a gun to Eren.
"Don't move. You too, Gabi. Stay quiet."
"Miss Pieck!" Gabi said.
"Quiet. You must be Eren Jeager and Rain Smith," Pieck said. "Well, am I right? Gabi, point that rifle at Eren and Rain. Gabi!"
"Understood." Gabi grabbed the rifle and held it on the titan shifters.
"Eren, get your hands out of your pockets," Pieck said.
"What if I don't?" Eren tilted his head.
"I'm pulling the trigger and your brains are getting splattered across the floor. You'll never seen it. You won't even have the time to turn into a titan." Pieck twitched the gun.
"And?" Eren remained calm. "You're still not shooting me. If you aren't pulling the trigger now, then what have you come here to do? What happens if I just leave my hands in my pockets?"
"Well, there won't be any way for you to know what happens after your brains are splattered across the floor, that is," Pieck said.
"But mine won't," Rain said. "Unless you're so naive that you think that girl over there can shoot me before I kill you."
"Easy, Rain. I know she won't shoot," Eren said. He leaned his forehead against the barrel.
Rain jumped, wanting to stop him, but held her ground.
"You aren't permitted to kill the founding titan," Eren continued. "Your orders are to make sure to recapture the founder no matter what. Even in a situation like this you would have to temporarily turn into a titan and eat me while keeping me alive."
"Miss Pieck!" Gabi said.
Rain lifted her hand to her horn. "Make your move."
"Gabi, remove your finger from the trigger," Pieck ordered, lowering her own gun.
"Wise choice." Rain lowered her hand.
"Those who'll pay the bill for such a serious violation of military rules won't just be you but the family you still have in your internment zone," Eren said.
"Yes. I can't shoot." Pieck raised her hands. "I think it's definitely impossible for me to eat you, either. Sorry."
Rain stepped forward and took the gun from the woman. She emptied the bullets and toss it aside.
"Miss Pieck?" Gabi asked.
"You found the footprints my titan left behind when I invaded, right?" Pieck said. "I wanted to try and conceal myself before you made a move and I was glad I could come all the way here. But there's another reason why I couldn't shoot. If you were to use the founding titan's power I thought you might be able to defeat Marley." Pieck leaned against the wall. "There's no way you would have made the whole world your enemy if you didn't have a chance of victory, right? But speaking of chances of victory, do you have anything else other than the power of the founder?" Her eyes drifted to Rain. "And the beast killer?"
"Miss Pieck? What are you saying?" Gabi waved the gun between Rain and Eren.
"Gabi, lower your rifle," Pieck said.
"In that case… what is it you wish for?" Eren asked.
"I want the Eldians who are being controlled by Marley and the rest of the world to be liberated at once. I want to free my family from the internment zone," Pieck said. "I became a warrior so that my father, the only family I had, could receive direct medical care. Father's life was prolonged but he's overcome with sorrow knowing that I don't have much time left before the end of my term. Before I die, and by my own means, I want to show Eldia's bright future to my only remaining family." She pushed off the wall. "In order to do that Marley needs to be crushed. I'm ready to cooperate in any way I can. If you can kill all Marleyans then I'll do as you say."
"The mastermind behind the attack on Marley… was Mr. Zeke. Miss Pieck, you too?" Gabi asked. "For what purpose have we fought until now? Wasn't it so that if the good Eldians were acknowledged by the world someday Eldia would be freed?" She lifted the rifle. "You're the same as Zeke! Are you a traitor?!"
"Gabi, what are we? Marleyans? Eldians? What do you think?" Pieck looked at the girl.
"We are honorary Marleyans," Gabi said.
"That's wrong. We are the subjects of Ymir. This is the inescapable truth." Pieck grabbed the rifle barrel. "No matter which name we give ourselves, we are a race of people who can turn into titans. As you saw in Fort Slava, sooner or later the power of titans will no longer be effective. In other words, we'll run out of use for Marley and one day they'll kill us all. Even if you keep proving that you are a good Eldian, the day of our liberation will never come. We have no choice but to claim our rights with our own power."
"Prove it." Eren brought a hand from his pocket, blood dripped from his index finger. "If you say you're willing to collaborate then show me some kind of proof."
"I will tell you where my comrades who're lurking in this city are located," Pieck said.
"What?" Gabi gasped.
"How will you do that?" Eren asked.
"If we go to the rooftop of this building I can point them out to you immediately," Pieck said.
"Fine then." Eren nodded and they left the cell, meeting up with other followers. He took a pair of shackles from one of his followers and linked Gabi with Pieck.
"Are you sure about this?" Rain whispered to Eren as they walked to the roof. "Pieck could be lying. We have no way of knowing is she's telling the truth."
"Could be. But if she is it's nothing I can't handle." Eren smiled at her. "And I have you to watch my back."
Rain hummed.
"Is it okay that I have become your ally?" Pieck asked.
"If you can point out the other intruders, until then you are chained to that Marleyan brat," Eren said. "If you're foolish enough to try and shift, that child will be beaten to a pulp."
"Don't worry. This child too will understand very soon." Pieck placed her hand on Gabi's shoulder.
"That small woman is Marley's soldier?" a man said.
"Our ally, you say?" another added.
"Let's get along." Pieck turned to the men talking and raised her hands.
"Hey, Falco, where is he?" Gabi asked.
"Falco is here too. But he ended up ingesting some of Zeke's spinal fluid," Eren said.
"What do you mean?" Pieck said.
"They say he got some of the wine containing the spinal fluid into his mouth," Eren said.
"Ah! Could it be that time?" Gabi said.
"Gabi?" Pieck looked at the girl.
"Because of me… again." Gabi clenched her teeth.
"I see. With Zeke's spinal fluid you could control an army. Do you know why Zeke's got that special ability?" Pieck asked.
"Who knows? Do you want to know why?" Eren asked.
"No, nobody knew. Except for Zeke. Ever since I met him it looked to me like Zeke continually kept on telling lies but it was four years ago that I could finally be certain of it," Pieck said. "Because in front of you he spoke his true intentions for the first time. 'I want you to trust me' 'I understand you' 'Eren'. 'Someday' 'I will save you'. If he doesn't lie in front of you wouldn't he have told you about the secret of his special abilities as well? For example, that secret hasn't got anything to do with using the power of the founding titan, or something like that?"
They reached the top of the stairs and the doors open to Yelena standing on the roof with others.
"Ah. Did you shave your beard? Even though it suited you so well," Pieck said.
"Eren, it's too dangerous to trust this woman," Yelena said.
"Yeah. I don't trust her. Just like she doesn't trust me," Eren said as they passed through the doorway.
"There's a lot of mistrust in the world," Rain mumbled to herself.
"Anyway, you still aren't using the power of the founding titan. Where's Zeke?" Pieck said.
"That's something you will know soon enough. That is, if you can confirm and show me the location of your allies. Show it to me. Where's the enemy?" Eren said. His fingers crackled.
Pieck took Gabi's hand then turned back to them and pointed at Eren and Rain. "There." She then grabbed Gabi and dove.
The roof cracked and crumbled. Eren grabbed Rain and shoved her away before the jaw titan came through the roof.
"Eren!" Rain reached out for him but he was too far way now. She lifted her hand to her horn. Pressing down she paused as she saw the zeppelins fly overhead. Cursing under her breath she crossed her palm over her horn and transformed, taking to the air.
Pandemonium erupted.
Soldiers dropped in front zeppelins. The Jaw titan bit off Pieck's hand so she could transform. Eren transformed.
Rain glanced over everyone and everything. She had to make sure Eren remained safe and out of harms way as much as possible. So she swooped in where she was needed. She knocked soldiers away here, kicked an enemy titan there. Though she stayed back from Eren's fight against Reiner. She knew Eren would want to face him alone. He would be fine. And she was right. Eren used the powers of the other titans he ate to overpower Reiner.
Thunder spears flashed and hit Eren.
With a shriek Rain shot up towards the zeppelins. Striking at the fabric, she cut a hole in each one so they slowly descended down to the ground. Everyone didn't have to die.
Thought all the mess and destruction Rain kept a lookout for Levi. It was unnerving to see that he wasn't there.
Then the beast titan finally made his appearance.
Rain's heart squeezed. What happened to Levi? He was suppose to watching Zeke. Did something happen to him? Levi...
Her heart skipped a beat when Eren's head went flying off his shoulders.