Author's Playlist: Echelon by Titan Slayer
Levi and Yavena scouted out the chapel first, to make sure that no one was inside the main area and waiting to shoot them. It did not take long to ensure that the foyer was empty. In fact, it seemed as though it was deserted.
"They're here," muttered Levi, eyes narrowed. "I can tell."
Yavena agreed with him. Together, they summoned the remainder of Squad Levi so they might begin to prepare the gunpowder and the oil for their newfound plan.
They located a few spare barrels within the closet of the chapel; prime vessels for the gunpowder and bags of oil. Each person found something to occupy themselves with: Hange, Moblit, and Levi continued hastily making attack plans for whatever they might find, while Yavena assisted Sasha, Conny, Jean, Armin, and Mikasa with the homemade bombs.
"Are you sure you should be carrying that?" whispered Conny as Yavena hauled one of the barrels towards the others. "I don't think Captain Levi would be very happy to see you straining yourself before the fight…"
Conny's words had some merit, but Yavena would pay them no mind. She winked at him from behind the barrel. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him."
He chuckled somewhat, but it was uneasy.
As it was, Yavena managed to finish transporting the barrel towards the far end of the hallway without being caught by the other aforementioned Captain. Deciding it was safe enough to test her luck, she waved Conny onward—the two of them began to bring the other two barrels to join the first—
"And just what the hell do you think you're doing?"
Yavena cursed as Levi stormed over, shadows lining his face.
"I tried to warn you," muttered Conny, so that only Yavena could hear.
If Levi happened to overhear this, he did not say as much. He snatched the barrel from Yavena's hands and, with a fearsome glare, finished carrying it over to the altar where the first barrel was sitting pretty. As he walked away with Conny doing his best to trot after him, Yavena could distinctly hear Levi mutter, "And you wonder why I call you an idiot…"
Yavena stuck out her tongue at Levi's back, which made both Jean and Hange snicker from the sidelines.
With this task done, everyone proceeded to don their gear. Yavena received some assistance—unasked for—from Levi, seeing as he was glaring at her and she knew that he wouldn't be taking 'no' for an answer.
"Are you all ready for this mission?" she asked as she forcibly took her blades from Levi. To him, she added, "For goodness' sake, Levi."
He just rolled his eyes.
"As ready as we'll ever be," said Sasha, offering her Captain a shaky smile.
The others nodded in agreement, doing their best to put a brave mask upon their faces. Any other Captain might have been deceived by their act, but not Yavena. She could still see the slightest hint of fear bouncing through the lights of their eyes, and preemptive guilt for what they were about to do.
Taking care to keep her voice calm, Yavena said, "We're nearing the end of this journey. It's time to do or die; Eren is somewhere in this damn chapel, and we're going to find him and Historia and get them back. You know what you need to do; we can't afford to regret or freeze up. Understand?"
Jean was the first one to salute. Unlike a few days ago, there was no more hesitancy in his gaze. He had told Levi that next time, he would shoot—and it seemed he was taking his own word.
"At the end of the day, our first duty is to protect the civilians of the Walls," she continued, locking eyes with each of her squad-mates: her friends. They looked directly back to her, latching onto her words. "And we're going to do that by reclaiming Wall Maria, and continuing the fight against Titans after. This is just a short stumble in our purpose… one we're getting over today."
At the remembrance of the Scout Regiment's goals, Sasha and Conny visibly straightened. Resolution was visible in all of their faces, which Yavena was only barely able to see thanks to the faint light of a few scattered torches and candles.
"Found it!" cried Hange, breaking the severity of the conversation. "A hidden door!"
Everyone glanced over to where Hange was kneeling. They were directly beside the altar upon a pedestal; a fancy red rug with golden tassels had been pulled back to reveal a trapdoor. It could only lead somewhere underground. Shooting Yavena a self-satisfied grin, Hange added, "Eren's got to be in here with the enemy. Hopefully the layout is like I predicated…"
"And these presents better pay off, considering we spent extra time to put them together," said Levi, glaring at the three barrels.
"Speaking of, Captain, we're good to go," Armin relayed with a salute.
Levi's eyes gleamed. "Are we? Is everyone ready to get their hands dirty, then?"
Each person kept their eyes trained on Levi, though no one said anything aloud. There was nothing to say: it was yet another moment where it was best to let the silence speak for them.
"Guess so," said Levi.
With that, Hange opened the trapdoor to reveal a wide staircase descending into the dark. They and Levi wasted no time in taking the lead, carrying one barrel each alongside them. Moblit took the third, seeing as Yavena had been scolded earlier for carrying it… and then the rest of Squad Levi followed.
The journey through the darkened tunnel was a long one. Conny was forced to light a torch, though he made sure to keep very far away from the three who were carrying the barrels full of gunpowder and oil. The faint light was enough for them to walk safely, at least.
Despite how olden the chapel itself had seemed, with painted glass windows and traditional religious décor, it seemed that the building was well taken care of. There was no dust or cobwebs lining the stairwell, which was something that Yavena had feared. Stones were not popping out of the walls or anything of the like; there were no signs of decay anywhere.
Yavena walked next to Armin, whose jaw was clenched. If she didn't know any better, she would say that he was steeling his nerve, perhaps preparing for the guilt-ridden feeling he had suffered in the warehouse of Trost District.
"Do you remember what I told you as we walked through Stohess District to the capital building?" she asked without looking at him.
Armin glanced at her, questioning. "I… don't think I do."
She placed a warm hand on his shoulder and smiled. "I told you to keep your bravado. And I wanted to tell you that you've done a good job of it."
Shadows lined Armin's face, but not because of a feeling of unease or displeasure. It was simply the way the light fell upon his face, which was carrying the same smile that Yavena had just shown him.
Only another minute later they had reached a shining, metal door. There was no telling what lay beyond that door; Levi, Hange, and Moblit set their barrels upon their sides in preparation for rolling them out of the room. Glancing back at the remaining six soldiers, Levi asked, "Ready?"
Yavena glanced towards Sasha. "Light your arrow."
"Aye," whispered Sasha. She tipped her arrow, coated in a thin layer of oil, towards the torch that Conny held in his hand. The tip of the arrow blazed bright, illuminating her dark eyes.
Once this was done, Yavena turned back to Levi. "We're ready."
He did not acknowledge her words. Levi slammed open the door and shoved all three barrels down the stairs—
A flash of bright surroundings met Yavena's eyes. She blinked, shying away from the sudden glare, before taking inventory of the place that would become their battlefield: it was a huge cavern covered in white and grey crystal. The material almost reminded her of the crystal that Annie Leonhart had surrounded herself with.
Perched upon a number of wooden platforms close to the cavern's ceiling were a number of Kenny's soldiers, looking startled by the appearance of the barrels. Taking advantage of their confusion, Levi burst into the room, followed by Sasha.
She did not need to be commanded to shoot a fire arrow towards the barrels. Her weapon found its mark with no trouble—a deafening BOOM rattled the sonorous room, a thick layer of smoke and ash accompanying it.
Kenny's soldiers began to shout, but Squad Levi didn't let them get their bearings. Levi and Mikasa roared forth, shooting green smoke signals towards the back of the room so they might further hinder their enemy's vision. The smoke became so thick and foggy that Yavena felt as though she could hardly breathe in clean air.
Not ready to be left behind, Yavena nodded towards Armin, Moblit, and Sasha—who would be spreading more smoke as necessary—and joined Levi in firing more green flares around the room. Once she caught up to him, she could hear him muttering, "Twenty-four… thirty-two… thirty-five enemies!" This last was said as a shout. "They're gathered behind the pillars! Continue the plan—we'll take them all out right here!"
"All troops, spread out!" ordered the woman in charge of Kenny's forces. Yavena was able to pick her out easily; she had pale-blonde hair and startlingly blue eyes, and she seemed to stand taller than the rest of them. "Surround them one at a time!"
Sasha fired another fire arrow into the second barrel, covering the cavern in a second round of fog.
Knowing that this was the best situation they would have to fight, the remainder of Squad Levi leapt forth and began the battle. Remembering what Levi had asked of her, she locked eyes with him and mouthed, Be careful before heading a separate direction to take on some of Kenny's lackeys.
Only a number of meters away, two enemies were coughing, trying to get their bearings: a man and a woman. The man gasped and pointed towards Conny, who was out of the smoke, having just thrust his swords through one of their comrade's back—
Yavena crept up behind them and sliced his wrist off. The man howled in agony, but not for long; her second sword slit his throat. His body went tumbling to the ground.
His comrade gasped and aimed her guns Yavena's direction. Two resounding BANGS followed, but Yavena had already gained enough distance on the woman to avoid the bullets. As soon as she knew the woman was defenseless, she whirled back around for another stroke; then the second enemy's body was falling, too.
She did not hang around to admire her handiwork. Yavena felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up—she promptly dove behind one of those grey crystal pillars and was followed by two more gunshots.
"Tch," she gasped, peeking out from behind the pillar. It was the woman who had ushered the commands to the others—when they locked eyes, Yavena could see the other woman's were not filled with hate, but indifference.
In a way, that was even more dangerous.
Yavena knew she wouldn't have enough time to attack the woman before her weapons were reloaded. Instead, she bolted to the far side of the cave, hoping that her enemy would chase because if she did, she would have difficulty leading the remainder of the others—
Unfortunately, the woman didn't take the bait. She merely sneered and returned to the midst of the battle.
The smoke was beginning to lessen. It was necessary to keep the whole room blinded if Squad Levi was going to win the fight. Yavena fired off another green smoke signal—she was met with one or two more flares, but who shot them, she could not say.
"Conny!" shouted Armin's voice. "Hide in the smoke and fight!"
With the insinuation that Conny was in danger, Yavena made her way towards where the sound of gunshots were thickest. As she broke through a dense cloud of smoke, she noted one man was pursuing Conny around the pillars of the cavern, firing off aimlessly, uncaring about whether he hit the crystal or his intended target.
His back was turned; Yavena screamed and threw her blade forward, directly into his spine. Even with all the chaos of battle, she was able to hear him gasp—she lunged forth and retrieved her blade, now bedecked in crimson, before he could fall.
Conny locked eyes with her and nodded, a gesture that was swiftly returned. Then they each continued onward, as there were still plenty more of Kenny's people left alive.
Yavena was able to see Hange was alive and well—they had just dove forth and embedded their blades in one man's chest. Blood splattered their goggles. Mikasa too was fighting with the ferocity of a demon; Kenny's soldiers were barely able to blink before they were cut down in her warpath. And while Mikasa was truly terrifying, Levi was even more so. Three soldiers were breathing in one second, and the next, they were not. All of them were tumbling to the ground in almost perfect unison.
Two of Kenny's soldiers seemed to have the idea of taking out Armin and Sasha, who were the main culprits of the smoke in the air. Moblit was able to take out one with a rifle, but the other was still charging forth. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to reload in time, Yavena rocketed in between the man and the rest of her friends. He raised his gun—
Her blade was faster, launched straight through the man's throat. He died instantly, unable to get his last gunshot fired.
"Thanks!" cried Armin, whose face had been pale.
"Anytime!" Yavena replied, already off to fight some of the others.
Her eyes frantically scanned the battlefield. There were no casualties on her own team, but over fifteen of Kenny's men had been killed. The plan was working even better than she had expected—
Two more bangs, both of which had been directed straight towards the pillar ahead of her, where it was attached to the ceiling. The sharp sound of crunching stone told her it was no longer secure.
Yavena gasped as the entire grey crystal pillar began to fall towards her; its shadow was thick and tall, providing little room to escape its breadth. But she considered herself a master at utilizing omni-directional gear, not to mention there was no way she'd be taken out by a giant chunk of rock—
"KENNY!" roared Levi's voice.
Even though Yavena knew that she needed to focus her attention on escaping this falling crystal, something in her gut was screaming at her to look up.
Off to her left side, Kenny was grinning like a madman, the fading light of the crystal cave reflecting off of his perfectly white teeth. Both of his guns were pointed in Yavena's direction. He laughed loudly and said, "Didn't I teach you, Levi? Sometimes you gotta throw a little dirt in your opponent's face if you want to win!"
Yavena was not an unintelligent woman: she knew exactly what that meant. She dodged abruptly left as another bullet headed her way, and then right again to evade the second. That one had been incredibly close—Yavena could feel it disturb the air, whistling just past her ear as it collided into the floor.
The giant crystal above her was almost atop her now. There was only one choice; she threw herself down towards the ground, buying herself a few precious milliseconds—the shadow was drawing closer—
Yavena yelped as she cleared its path of destruction; the familiar sound of broken stone and glass followed her even as she collapsed onto the ground, rolling out of the way of whatever shrapnel might be headed her way.
Her ears were ringing; fuzziness was buzzing through her head. Clutching a hand to her forehead, she groaned and looked up.
Flying above her was Kenny, who had deflected one of Levi's blades directed straight for his neck. A mild look of impressment filled his face as his eyes flickered back to Yavena. "Not bad. I was fairly sure that would kill you."
Levi withdrew his blade from being parried by Kenny's gun and swiped it at his torso; blocked again. Without looking at Yavena, Levi shouted, "Get up!"
She inhaled sharply and scrambled to her feet as more of Kenny's soldiers appeared—a sharp tear in her side told her that her wounds from the previous day had reopened again. But there was no time to focus on that; she had to return to the air, to the fight.
More gunshots were fired, though as Yavena attempted to acquire a more advantageous position, she noted that Jean and Mikasa were covering her escape, slitting the throats of two soldiers. An arrow appeared, spearing the chest of a third: Sasha.
"Oh, all right," sighed Kenny, rolling his eyes. "I ain't got time to waste on her, anyway. If you get past here… it'll all be for nothing."
Yavena glanced over her shoulder to see that Kenny was attempting to swipe at Levi with a knife—the blow was evaded, but noticing that Kenny was reloading his guns, Levi dove behind another pillar to regroup.
"So be it!" Kenny grinned, his eyes flashing. "Guess I'll have to play."
There was nothing more that Yavena would've liked to do than turn around and help Levi fend off this man, but even as she looked back, she could hardly keep an eye on them. They were simply so fast, it was both utterly frightening and fascinating.
And there were others of her squad that might need assistance, too.
Ignoring the sharp pain in her side and the warm wetness seeping through her green shirt, Yavena returned to the main portion of the battlefield. She was both pleased and surprised to see it was much less crowded than it had been before; only a few of Kenny's best soldiers were remaining, including that blonde woman, his second in command…
Hange appeared next to Yavena with narrowed eyes and said, "That bitch up there is the only reason we haven't won our way into the next room. It's time to take her out."
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Yavena answered, and they were off.
Kenny's second in command noted the approach of these other two. Her blue-grey eyes widened; she called for reinforcements and began to retreat further inside the cavern, towards what Yavena could only assume was the next room.
Both of them gave chase, never mind that they were now outnumbered. The smoke was still thick enough to hide their pathing; Yavena looked back and noted that Levi was still fighting against Kenny—there was blood across his cheek.
She swallowed and continued forward. She had faith in Levi's abilities.
"You go for the reinforcements," murmured Hange. Their dark eyes were full of determination. "I'll go for the leader."
Even though Yavena felt nervous with this, she still nodded. She was faster than Hange was on omni-directional gear… taking out two soldiers would be a better way to take advantage of her speed…
The smoke was gone, and there were the three soldiers, with all six guns pointed in their direction. Yavena and Hange broke away, taking shelter behind the pillars—four shots were embedded within the grey crystals, while two of them had been way off.
Yavena lunged forth to the soldier on the left, taking off his head with one clean stroke. The second one, she threw her blade towards—it got stuck in his torso before he could utter a sound.
"Huh?" exclaimed Hange's voice. They smirked at Kenny's subordinate. "Both of your shots were way off! You like to live recklessly, eh?"
Hange began to dive forward, but in that split second, those worms returned to Yavena's stomach, the ones that always told her when something was wrong—
"Hange, get back!" Yavena screamed.
The blonde woman launched one of her omni-directional cables towards Hange, whose eyes had widened at Yavena's cry. They managed to turn theirself away ever so slightly—the cable was stuck in Hange's shoulder, and while that was better than in their chest, Yavena still felt panic pour over her body like a bucket of ice water. All she could do was watch as Kenny's second in command used her cables to swing Hange into a pillar. The crystal shuddered as Hange collided into it.
They fell to the ground, a trail of blood cascading from the pillar all the way down to the place where they had landed.
The blonde woman huffed and turned back to Yavena, smirking as she began to reload.
Black. All Yavena felt and saw was black. With a maniacal screech, she dived towards the other woman—she seized her wrists, teeth bared as she glared directly into those soulless blue-grey eyes—
Yavena kneed the woman in the stomach; she was rewarded with a sharp gasp. Her enemy's strength waned for the briefest second in time, and that was all Yavena needed. She bent the woman's arm backwards, pointing the gun at its owners face. Their hands scrabbled for the trigger, for who would possess it first.
Another bang: a splash of red bathed Yavena's face and hair; she squeezed her eyes shut for only a moment, and when she reopened them, she was able to see the blonde woman's head halfway blown off. The woman's forehead was completely gone; fragments of white bone protruded from the top of her skull. Bits of pink flecked the wall behind them: Yavena did not need to be a doctor to know that was part of the enemy's brain.
"Caven…"
She whirled around, her expression promising further murder. Staring at her with wide eyes was Kenny, shocked by his officer's death. He had a hand clasped to his abdomen, fingers and palms stained red.
"Fall back to the final defensive position!" he shouted. "Time to regroup!"
But Yavena was not done. She dropped the woman's—Caven's—body to the ground. It hit the cave floor with an unceremonious thump. Noting that the enemy's leader was escaping, she roared after him, screaming, "KENNY!"
The rest of Kenny's soldiers pelted forth, no longer in the mindset to fight. Yavena ignored them all; the one she wanted was the man who had spearheaded this defense, the one who had led the people that hurt her best friend, for the longest time, her only friend.
Even injured, Kenny was fast on his omni-directional gear. But he was at a significant disadvantage; he had to keep one hand placed against that wound on his stomach or suffer severe blood loss, which meant he only had one hand at best for shooting a gun—
That hand whipped behind him and fired a bullet. Yavena was able to utilize cover efficiently, having expected the attack. Noting how close Kenny was to escaping, she withdrew one of her steel blades from its hilt and launched it.
The blade went spiraling sideways through the air, directly towards the man's head; he was not looking at her, but at the last possible second, he ducked.
Yavena's weapon did not hit Kenny, but it did knock the hat he had been wearing off of his head. Her blade stuck into the wall with a sharp chink, and then Kenny was through the cavern opening leading to wherever Eren and Historia must've been taken.
A thick net of steel mesh was dropped directly after him, preventing Yavena from following. She cursed loudly and kept her distance, knowing that there were more soldiers with guns waiting for anyone to come into vision.
Hearing her swear, Kenny looked back. He chuckled. "Damn, you're a spunky one," he said. Then he continued forth and disappeared.
She swore again, this time under her breath. She still had four blades remaining, but only a little less than half of the gas in her gas tank. Knowing that it would be wise to take advantage of the temporary cease-fire, she turned around with the intention of regrouping with the others. When she did so, however, she was unsurprised to see that Levi was following after her.
He stopped upon laying eyes on the mesh net blocking their advance. A familiar scowl occupied his face. "Were you able to kill him?"
Yavena sighed and gestured to where her blade was stuck in the crystal wall. Kenny's fedora was still impaled upon the weapon. Reflecting Levi's scowl, she muttered, "That fucker is fast."
"Did you expect him not to be?" Levi asked, rolling his eyes. He did not allow Yavena to answer the question. Upon noting the blood covering her face, he asked, "Are you injured?"
Part of her said that she should be honest and tell Levi that her previous wounds had reopened… but the other part of her said that he would ask her to escort Hange out of the chapel and leave the operation.
And she wanted to be there when Eren was reclaimed.
"No," she said. "I'm fine. This is that bitch's blood, the one that hurt Hange."
Levi did not say anything to that. He simply made a quick inventory of the hallway they were inside; each of them noted there was some sort of a hole leading up to the surface. They could see faint traces of moonlight from where they stood, but that hole was covered in metal bars, preventing anyone from going up or down.
Figuring that there was nothing else for it, they returned to the others. Sasha and Conny both gasped upon seeing the red stains upon Yavena's face—Levi handed her a number of handkerchiefs, which she used to clean herself up as much as possible.
"Everyone alive?" asked Levi.
It seemed that was the case. Other than Hange, no one had even been injured.
"Good," he said, even though he had received no verbal answer. "Armin, Moblit. Carry Hange in between your shoulders. We don't have the time to get them back upstairs. Everyone else, make sure your weapons are reloaded. It's not over yet."
There was no arguing that point. As far as Yavena could guess, based on the number of bodies upon the floor, there were still at least a dozen of Kenny's soldiers left in play, not to mention Kenny himself, even if he was in a debilitated state.
Within the next two minutes they were off again, walking towards the cavern that Yavena and Levi had just reappeared from. Everyone made a conscious decision to avoid looking at the corpses upon the floor, Yavena included.
Something had changed, deep in her chest. She did not regret killing these people: it was a do or die situation. If she had not killed, then she would be dead.
They returned to where the net was waiting and paused briefly. Levi frowned and muttered, "Shit. If only we had some gunpowder left…"
"I don't think that net will be going anywhere anytime soon," said Yavena, inspecting it with crossed arms. "Its bars looks thick. I think we'd have a better chance going into the next room through this hole. It's got to be a way through if it's plugged up like that." With these last words, she pointed towards the hole above them, the one that had captured their attention only a few minutes before.
Levi looked back to it. "You think there's a way we could open it up?"
A flash of yellow-orange light emitted from the room beyond; the unmistakable light of a Titan transforming.
Mikasa gasped. "Eren!"
But something was wrong. Yavena's eyes widened as the whole cavern began to shake. "I don't think that's Eren!" she bellowed as crystals began to shudder and crack; some of the walls and supporting pillars had thin lines across them, proving that they were much more fragile than Squad Levi might like—
"Captains! The hole!" cried Armin, pointing up.
Both of them looked. As the whole earth was trembling, beginning to crumble in on itself, the bars blocking the hole above them had fallen away.
"Armin, Moblit! Take Hange and get the hell out of here!" ordered Levi.
The three of them were gone in seconds, although Yavena bit her lip as Hange was taken away, out of her sight and protection. She knew that Moblit would get them to safety, but the worry was always there when it came to her best friend.
The shuddering of the cavern was only getting worse. Now it was hard for everyone to keep their footing; it was so disorienting that even the steel net was suddenly blown back. Screams echoed from the room beyond, signaling that Kenny's men were being thrown off of their feet.
"Let's go!" exclaimed Yavena. She sprinted forth, Levi directly beside her, and braced herself for any oncoming shots—
None met them. The few soldiers under Kenny's command were simply doing their best to retain their footing, to not let themselves be crushed by rubble. Knowing that they only had a limited window of opportunity, Yavena utilized her omni-directional gear to fly past them, towards the source of the rumbling.
In the room beyond the next, a ginormous Titan was forming. Yavena's mouth dropped open as she realized it was certainly bigger than the Colossal Titan—behind it, upon a plinth with his arms and legs restrained by chains, was Eren. Historia was next to him, doing her best to unlock his binds.
"Eren," she whispered—she, Levi, and Mikasa dove forth.
Another blast of hot steam filled the air, which made Yavena gasp and cough. She kept her dark eyes fastened ahead of her and noticed that Historia was tumbling back towards the wall due to the sheer power of this transformation—she bypassed Eren and seized Historia before her head could smack into the hard crystal.
"Captain!" gasped Historia.
Levi landed next to them, his hand outstretched. "Give me the keys!"
Eren gasped upon hearing his voice and turned around as best as he was able. "Captain Levi? Yavena! You guys…"
The others caught up to them; Historia gave Levi the ring of silver keys that she had fortunately managed to keep ahold of. He, Jean, and Conny dove forth, grabbing at Eren's arms and legs and struggling to unlock the two padlocks remaining.
"Forget about me!" Eren cried. "Captain, hurry up and escape!"
"Shut up already, you topless wimp!" bellowed Jean. "It's not just a Titan, there are dudes with guns coming for us!"
Only after making sure Historia was secure with Sasha and Mikasa did Yavena step forward. She grabbed Eren's shoulder, keeping him steady against the powerful gusts of hot wind that assaulted them from every angle. Narrowing her eyes, she shouted, "We aren't going anywhere without you, Eren! Now hold still!"
A soft click.
"He's loose!" Conny said.
Against the wall, Mikasa gasped. "The ceiling! Get back!"
Yavena followed her gaze and realized that a huge chunk of crystal was coming loose from the ceiling—she seized Eren's arms and yanked him out of the way with a fierce shout. Levi, Jean, and Conny all followed, only narrowly managing to get out of the way of the debris.
She landed hard on her back, gasping as her head hit the ground. Eren fell slightly atop her, though he scrambled to his feet and held out a hand.
Yavena took it, groaning as she stood once more. It was here that she noticed a thin veil of blood was covering his forehead and face. Instead of asking what happened, a humorless chuckle exited her mouth. "Oye, Eren! We're matching!"
While she was sure that this would normally get a laugh out of him, it seemed like Eren hardly even registered her words. He simply grabbed Yavena's hand and pulled her against the wall, where the others were already standing and watching the transformation of this Giga-Titan.
The glare protruding from its form was so bright, Yavena could barely look at it. Its body seemed to be made of almost all muscle, no skin… and it continued to grow with each passing second. It was easily already larger than sixty meters—then seventy—then seventy-five…
"Shit, there's no way out!" shouted Jean over the roar of the steam and wind.
Eren's hand fell from within Yavena's own. She stared bemusedly at him as he sunk to his knees, tears in his eyes, and wailed, "I'm sorry, everyone. I've been nothing but useless… ever since the very beginning, I was never the hope of humanity…"
Under any other circumstances, Yavena would've been happy to try and console him. But this was very clearly life or death yet again—she dug her nails into Eren's shoulder and shouted, "Get up, Eren! We aren't finished just yet! You can cry later, damn it!"
"Aye, what she said!" exclaimed Jean, shooting Eren a disgusted look. "You think you're some tragic hero? When have you ever accomplished anything by your own strength alone, anyway?"
Conny chuckled; a sound mildly more humored than Yavena's earlier laugh had been. "What a wuss. We've been through much worse than this."
"Not that I want to get used to it!" Sasha said.
"Still, it is going to suck trying to navigate through all of that," Conny sighed.
Mikasa stepped forward. "I'll take Eren."
Yavena reached out for Historia's hand and gave the young woman a stern look. She knew that Historia knew what that meant: to hold on tight.
"It's useless," whispered Eren. "We can't escape."
Historia's blue eyes flared. "So do nothing? You want to sit here and hold hands until we're crushed or burn to death? Because we're enemies of humanity?"
While Yavena had no idea what this last sentence meant, it was clear that it had resonated with Eren somehow. He was staring at Historia with wide eyes; the tears from within them were dissolving as he held her gaze.
"You know, I hate doing this to you every time, but… Eren," said Levi, looking over at him, silver eyes gleaming. "You've got to make the choice."
Eren stared at him for a long moment before slowly turning his head back towards the Titan still forming in the center of the crystal cavern. He placed a hand upon Yavena's, as it was still on his shoulder—then he scooped up a small bottle of liquid that had been sitting next to him and bolted forth with a scream.
Another burst of yellow-orange filled the cavern; a familiar roar echoed off of the walls. A cage of blue crystal was emitting from his Titan's body—Yavena gasped as she realized that he was using the hardening ability—
"Everyone! Get underneath Eren!" shouted Levi.
The ceiling continued to crash down, but the rocks and crystals did not cause any damage. Veins of hardened Titan skin were forming and merging, creating a strangely beautiful crystal cage around Eren and the remainder of his squad-mates. Yavena stared up at it in wonder; most of the structure had been formed in the blink of an eye, without any sort of preparation whatsoever… it felt as though Eren had had some sort of breakthrough when under threat of saving his friends…
The walls of the cave were the next to collapse. By this time, Yavena could no longer see the blaze of the giant Titan transforming. Rocks had buried both the Titan and Squad Levi somewhere far underground, though she suspected that this rumbling was close to over.
Screams could be heard in the cavern as the rest of Kenny's soldiers were crushed by the falling rubble. Yavena huddled close to Historia and Jean, both of whom were underneath Eren's extended arm. Eren roared as he continued to form that crystal cage, intertwining blue veins so that no piece of rock could get through the structure.
And then it was over. The shaking had stopped, the screaming was gone… and each member of Squad Levi was still alive.
Yavena exhaled and released her hold upon Historia, who was gazing around the rest of the squad. She took a step forward before turning to Eren, who had not exited his Titan's body, and gasped.
Eren's Titan was completely consumed by the blue crystal, save for a spot at the nape of his neck that could possibly be chipped through with their blades.
"Sasha, Conny," said Levi, taking no time to doubt. "Start finding a way to make an exit. Mikasa and Jean, get Eren out of there."
All four of them saluted and rushed off to begin their tasks. Yavena exhaled lightly as her dark eyes perused Eren's Titan, hardened and crystalized. It was almost like a sculpture made of ice; the details were incredibly fine, from the crease of his hands to the lines upon his face…
Levi stepped towards her, crossing his arms as he too studied the statue. He scoffed. "Tch. Figures that he'd be able to pull it off only under life or death situations. But I suppose better late than never. We might actually be able to seal Wall Maria now…"
"Aye," she agreed, her voice soft. A sharp stab of pain lanced through her side; Yavena placed a hand against her reopened wounds. Now that the battle was over, and there was no more reason to have adrenaline coursing her veins, she remembered that she had been bleeding for the last number of minutes. "Better late than never."
Levi was quiet, apparently lost in thought. Knowing that she did not wish him to find out the precariousness of her injuries, Yavena asked, "What would you have me do in the meantime?"
"You can help Conny and Sasha, if you wish," he said. "Though some of the rubble might still be on the verge of collapse. Be careful."
She nodded. "I will." And then she utilized her omni-directional gear to ascend towards the ceiling, where Conny and Sasha had already found an acceptable hole to begin digging upwards at.
Once she joined them, Yavena used her blades to begin chipping away at some of the dirt ahead. She told the others not to dig straight upwards, in case a large rock was waiting to fall to the cavern floor. Each of them had nodded and followed this advice, although it did seem to take a little extra time.
Yavena could hear Mikasa grunting in effort and frustration below. She was likely desperate to free Eren from that crystal prison; and Yavena was, too. Although she knew that Eren was likely fine, that nagging little voice in the back of her head reminded her there was a possibility that his own power had consumed him…
Ten to fifteen minutes passed. By this time, the side of Yavena's green shirt was sticking resolutely to her skin, and she was feeling lightheaded. It was taking every bit of her strength to continue swinging her sword upwards, trying to find a way to free herself and her friends from the underground…
But it became obvious she could no longer do so.
Swallowing hard, Yavena murmured, "Eh… you two… I don't think I can continue doing this…"
Conny raised an eyebrow and looked back to her—Yavena gasped sharply as her cables fell away from where they'd been embedded in the wet dirt. She could hear him scream, "Captain!"
Yavena shot her cables towards anything else, any other walls—but they weren't able to stick within the thin veins of the crystals that Eren had formed. She was able to lodge one into one of the fallen rocks surrounding them; she cried out as she was caught by the harnesses of her gear and swung towards the wall.
She smacked into the rocks with an audible thump before her cables were dislodged and fell to the ground.
"Yavena!" cried Jean. He leapt off of Eren's Titan, leaving Mikasa with the job to free him, and bolted forward. Levi followed him soon after; while he did not say anything, the flash of panic that crossed his eyes spoke volumes. Each of them stood over her, concerned.
"Ouch," she said breathlessly, pressing her hands against her abdomen. "That was uncomfortable."
Hearing the weakness to her voice, Levi frowned and appraised her—his eyes landed upon the hand pressed against her side, the one covered in a fresh coat of blood. Sharply, he said, "I thought you said you hadn't been injured."
"Heh," she chuckled, a bit awkwardly. "I hadn't been… it's just… my old wounds opened up while I was escaping Kenny."
"For fuck's sake," he groaned. Levi knelt beside her, removing her hand from her side and pushing up the fabric of her shirt. Yavena did not know what he saw there, but she could see how tightly his jaw clenched. Turning back to Jean, he said, "Check in with Sasha and Conny. Ask them how much longer it's going to take."
Jean nodded. "Aye, Captain." And then he was gone, to follow Levi's bidding.
As soon as he was away, Levi turned back to Yavena, fire in his face and irritation in his voice. "Why the hell do you have to make my life so difficult?"
"I daresay you had a difficult life long before I came into the picture, Levi," she retorted, daring to shoot a tiny smirk in his direction.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something under his breath. Yavena's best guess was that it was the word, "Insufferable."
She chuckled again and placed her hand—the one that wasn't covered in her own blood—atop his. Hoping that it would make him feel better, she murmured, "I'll be fine. Probably just have a horrible headache for the next few hours or something."
Unfortunately, he did not seem much comforted at all. Levi's eyes narrowed as he once again scanned over her condition. He placed the back of his hand upon her forehead; no change of expression overcame him, but he did turn in the direction of the others and shout, "Well? What's our progress?"
"Almost there, Captain!" echoed Jean's voice from the upwards tunnel. "Just a few more minutes or so!"
"Tch," said Levi. He took out what handkerchiefs he had remaining and kept them pressed them against Yavena's side.
For another few minutes, the only sounds in the cavern were those of four sets of blades chopping into dirt or crystal. Yavena kept her eyes open and her breathing regulated, knowing that it would be best to remain calm. While she wanted to believe that her blood loss wasn't so bad, the troubled sheen to Levi's eyes told her otherwise.
At last, Mikasa's triumphant voice exclaimed, "Eren!" as she pulled him out of the Titan's frozen form.
Levi did not say anything as he easily scooped Yavena up from the ground and resettled themselves over to where Mikasa had propped Eren against the crystalized Titan body.
Only a moment later, Eren's eyes opened. His eyes were hazy for a number of moments; the first person that he seemed to recognize was Levi. Weakly, he said, "Captain…"
"Now that's what I call hardening," Levi said, offering Eren an approving nod. "Even after cutting you away, the Titan hasn't disappeared. Pretty impressive."
Eren blinked. He seemed to have gathered his bearings by now. "That bottle… right before I turned into a Titan, I drank from that bottle! It said 'Armor' on it…"
"Aye. You couldn't do it at all before now, but you used the hardening power and saved all of us. In the blink of an eye, you devised and built all of this. The construction looks shoddy, but… I bet that's how the Walls were made, too."
Yavena laughed and rolled her eyes. "The construction is shoddy? That's what you have to say after Eren shielded us inside of it?" She glanced over to Eren, an amused light to her pale face. "Don't listen to him, Eren. Everyone's a critic."
"Tch," Levi said, rolling his eyes again.
Eren returned Yavena's chuckle, but it was short-lived. Mirth melted into alarm as he registered the state that she was in. "Wait, what the hell? When were you bleeding?"
She smiled, trying to calm him down. "I was shot a few days ago. The wounds have reopened during today's fight, but it's fine, Eren."
He stared at her with wide eyes before looking back to Levi, as if for reassurance. But Levi was not exactly the person one went to for reassurance; Eren swallowed hard and allowed Mikasa to wrap an arm around his shoulder.
Yavena couldn't help but smile to herself with that.
"Despite the situation, I bet it's possible for us to plug that hole in Wall Maria now," mused Levi. The light within the cavern was fading and Yavena's vision was still slightly blurred, but she could see the intensity with which he was looking at Eren as he spoke. "A lot of enemies and allies have died along the way, and getting this far hasn't been pretty. But for as ugly as it's been… look at the position we're in now."
Yavena placed her hand upon her jacket pocket and smiled.
Mechanical whirring broke the stillness that had settled between those four, and then Sasha's voice was crying, "Captain! We secured a way out!"
"Armin's safe! Hange and Moblit, too!" added Conny. Upon seeing the light that had reappeared to Yavena's face at the mention of Hange, he said, "The Section-Commander is awake, they're all right. Their shoulder's a little banged up but otherwise they're fine."
Yavena offered Conny a grateful smile, hoping he would know how much she appreciated his words through that gesture alone.
"Well done," said Levi.
He stood once again, carrying Yavena with him, though as she felt herself being picked up she said, "I can probably walk, Levi."
"Shut up."
Sasha, Conny, and Jean all touched back down to the ground and rushed over to Eren, the former two with bright looks upon their faces. It was Conny who spoke first, saying, "Eren! You all right?"
Before he could reply, Sasha fell to her knees in front of him and exclaimed, "We're all safe, thanks to you! But to be perfectly honest, when you ran off prancing while crying like a baby, I thought it was over for us. 'It's over, it's over! Get it together, nincompoop! Quite bawling like a snotty-nosed brat!' is what I thought."
Jean snickered.
"Enough," said Levi, turning both himself and Yavena towards the newly formed entrance. But there was no annoyance in his eyes as he regarded the members of his squad. "It's time to go. We'll have a few minutes to regroup and restock our supplies, and then we're going after that big-ass Titan."
The others nodded, the jesting mood gone; and then each of them lunged towards their newly formed exit, where Yavena could see Armin and Moblit waiting to greet them.
For those of you who are reading as I post, I just wanted to say I've been changing the format/style of my author's notes! I saw a post recently that mentioned how some long-fic writers will insert 'mandatory rest stops' so people who are reading as a complete story know when breaks in arcs are and all that jazz. I decided to implement it myself since... you know... we're now at 275k words with an approximate landing zone of 550k...
Thank you, as always, for reading. I really appreciate all your support and feedback! You guys mean the world to me, and I hope you have a day that it twice as wonderful as you are.