A/N: This is a chapter I was particularly excited to write, since it began to foreshadow the Civil War Arc. Anyways, Enjoy!
Traitors Arc Part III: A Devil to Battle a Devil
Wall Rose
As she let lose the first arrow, it missed the Titan's eyes, and only ended up embedding itself in its neck.
'Shit!' Sasha swore internally, climbing up a small ledge, she fired again. She only grazed it's ear, "Damn it! Two left!" She inhaled, and calmed herself down.
'Like father taught me...focus on you, and the target. Me...and the target.' She let loose another arrow, this time she hit right on it's eye.
She raised the bow and drew another arrow, but the titan was barely two meters away from her now and steadily approaching.
'If I miss now...that's it. I'm dead….and she'll be...No. This won't work.' She tossed her bow aside, stepped back a few paces, and ran straight toward the Titan before leaping
"Eat this!" She screamed as she stabbed the arrow right into its eye before dropping to the ground and rolling between its legs and ran. 'Now to find the girl.'
"Well I can't believe my eyes." From the forest several horse-riding men came out of the woods, "Is that Sasha?"
Stohess District
A bright flash of lightning struck down on the area Eren was pinned down in. And Eren's Titan emerged from the mix of smoke and steam. His green eyes glowing with pure rage. He raised his head, and roared as he charged out of the smoke and towards Annie,
'Well, finally.' Alto smiled as Eren charged right at Annie and threw a punch directly at her and threw her into an evacuated chapel.
Annie quickly got up and ran for the wall,
"Everyone! The civilians have been cleared, pull back and leave this to the Scout Regiment!" Alto shouted, and the MPs were more than happy to comply.
Annie broke into a relatively level plaza area before stopping and turning to fight Eren, digging her hand into a building to slow herself down, killing several civilians in the process.
'Annie...you complete piece of shit. Always looking so superior. So smug, like nothing and no one else mattered. But I saw right through you, especially when you showed off your fighting skills. Anyone with half a brain could've. Fighting is your whole world...but...what I don't understand is what the hell are you fighting for?!' Eren moved first, roaring, he threw a fist straight at Annie, in response she raised a crystalized elbow and blocked the blow, sending a shockwave throughout the area.
When Eren ducked to dodge her next feint, she kicked him with her left leg, but he quickly blocked it with both of his arms and then wrapped them around it, throwing her back into the buildings surrounding the plaza.
Eren dived after her, but Annie swiftly moved to the side and began to run again.
"What?! Shifters are fighting each other?!" Nile said in shock,
"Yes. But evacuation efforts are already underway and are almost completed, and have minimize civilian casualties. Most of the casualties are military."
Nile gritted his teeth, "Erwin! Is this the fruit of your plan?!"
"Yes. I foresaw all this coming."
Nile stepped forward and grabbed Erwin by the shirt, "You knew this would happen! You bastard! How many of my men are dead because of your plan!? Was it worth it?!"
Erwin looked down on Nile coldly, "I believe it was a step forward."
Nile grabbed his rifle and aimed it at Erwin, "I'd be well within my rights to shoot you right here and now!"
"Fine. Then you will take charge of this operation." Nile gasped, "The Female Titan must not escape, Paehl is-"
"Hold on…" Nile stopped him, "You really believe...this is good for humanity?"
"Bottom line? Yes, I do." He said with surety.
Nile lowered his rifle, "Lower your rifle, you two," He turned to the Recruits who came to warn him about the Female Titan, "Who gave you your orders?"
They looked among each other, "Christoper Holt, sir."
"Another recruit? You took orders from another recruit?"
One of them stepped forward, "With all do respect while most of us were shitting our pants. He managed to organize us and begin evacuations."
"I see…" Nile sighed, "Bring him to me, I want a report from him ASAP!" He turned back to Erwin, "Your fate will be decided by trial."
"Very well."
Wall Rose, Near Dauper
"This little girl here came runnin' scared of us. Said there was someone behind her on the road, and they were taking on a Titan without ODM Gear. Then we ran into folks from Ustel, and we came here." Mr. Braus explained to his daughter,
"Glad to see you're still alive Sasha." Ambros called from the back of the train of horses.
"I'm just glad to be alive."
"Anyone would be." One man next to Ambros called,
"I'm proud of yer Sasha." Her father nodded, "I really am."
Sasha smiled, "Thanks dad. It's good to be home."
Near Ragako
"Connie! Slow down!" Reiner yelled as Connie's horse blasted past them.
He ignored Reiner, and fervently took glances around. "Oh god…." Titans had clearly rampaged throughout the village. Houses had caved in, stalls were crushed,
"This is...not real…" Connie muttered to himself, "Hello?! I-Is anyone here?!" He shouted as loudly as he could, "It's Connie! Please! I've come home!"
However, no matter how hard he yelled. He was only greeted by cold silence.
"Uh, guys!" Lynne yelled from a block down, "You guys are going to want to see this!"
The entire group rode down to where Lynne was and was greeted with a shocking sight, but most of all to Connie.
A 5-meter Titan lay flat on it's back and right on top of Connie's house.
"My god…" Nanaba said quietly,
"What the...what happened here?" Gelgar wondered,
"My house...that's my house." Was all Connie could repeat to himself,
"How did it even get here?" Mina asked no one specifically, "Look at it's limbs! They're far too deformed to even lift themselves up."
"Hey. There's something else." Gelgar said, "There's lots of debris and rubble, yeah. But has anyone seen any blood?"
The recruits and soldiers looked among themselves and shrugged.
"No...in fact I haven't seen a single drop." Mina noted, "Perhaps they escaped before the Titans came?"
"Maybe...but then why would Titans ransack empty houses?" asked Henning.
Lynne ignored him, "Y-Yeah! They must've escaped then the Titans stampeded through here in pursuit! That's the only logical explanation! I mean it's not like the entire village could've been turned into Titans!" She chuckled nervously
"Yeah...you're right." Connie nodded,
'Possible...but unlikely. Especially considering all the horses are still in their stables...still though. Poor kid.' Gelgar thought.
"Whatever it is, we need to move out now. We need to locate and assess the breach!"
"Right!" Connie mounted his horse,
"W-Welcome home." A low rumbling voice came from behind him.
Connie's eyes widened in fear, "W-What the actual…"
"Connie!" Reiner snapped his fingers, "Snap out of it!"
"R-Reiner? You heard that right, that Titan it spoke!"
"I didn't hear shit! Pull yourself together man! Hundreds of thousands of lives depend on this mission, so you need to get it together! And fast!"
"Yeah. Good point!" He followed after Reiner on his horse,
Eren stood facing Annie, dropping into a crouch, he launched himself at Annie,
Annie quickly sheared off his right leg with a hardened side-kick, but he used the momentum to keep himself going, forcing Annie to put up a block to avoid the Female's head from being blown off it's shoulders. Nonetheless the blow sent her sliding back several paces, and left a sizable indent on her face
Annie began to think 'Damn...I may have an advantage when it comes to hardening and speed, but in raw strength the Attack Titan far outclasses my Female…'
"Annie!" Her father gripped her shoulders tightly "Annie!"
Annie raised her hardened leg, and when Eren charged at her she slammed him into a building beside her and cut off his right arm, but Eren bit into and even began to crack her leg. She roared, slamming a hardened fist down onto his head.
"Remember Annie! Your father is always on your side!"
She hit him again.
"No matter if the whole world is against you!"
And again.
"Or if they all scorn you!"
And again.
"I will always remain by you. No matter what!"
"LET GO DAMN IT!" Annie screeched from inside the nape, and an inhuman screech came from her Titan containing four years of bottled up emotions and released its power into a final blow on Eren, nearly cleaving his head in two and allowing her to run free.
She ran straight for the Wall, 'Father. I'm coming, just wait a little while longer!'
Something snapped inside Eren, 'I'm...g̴̨̐ō̵̜i̷̝̍n̶͎͝g̸̰̏ ̴̎͜t̵̔ͅo̶̠͒ ̸̭̚ḱ̸̠ǐ̸͍l̷̨̽l̷̻̀ ̵̘̈́y̵̥̕o̵̤̓u̷̺̓ ̷̮͘a̴̞͋l̵̟̐l̷̨̒!' A blast of flame incinerated the nearby buildings as a second more fiery transformation occurred.
Eren roared, his body was blacker, as if it had been burnt, and every vein was lit as if fire ran through them. Raw flame emitted from his limbs as they healed. And he charged wildly at Annie, moving on all fours like a savage hyena about to take down its prey. He launched himself straight onto Annie's back, the momentum carrying them straight to the wall.
She let out a small scream from her Titan, and dust and debris billowed up from where they landed. She twisted her leg around Eren's he quickly pulled it out, grabbing her face he began to squeeze, popping out one of her eyeballs.
Alto landed beside Armin and the other Scouts, "So...do you know who it is?" He asked,
"Yeah...it was Annie." Armin said to him
Alto recoiled, "Annie? As in Annie Leonhart?" 'The same Annie Leonhart who was so excited to see a donut?'
"Yeah...it was hard for me too believe as well." He looked down, "What is she fighting for? What can she possibly gain from all this?"
Both Eren and Annie screamed as one continued to squeeze the head of the other. Finally, Eren dropped his hand, and Annie struck, quickly lashing at him with a crystalized fist before kicking him back into a building and jumping for the Wall.
"She's trying to climb the wall?!" Hanji shouted as Annie dug her crystalized fingers, now claws, into the wall and began to climb.
Eren immediately ran after her, latching on and biting a leg, but Annie pushed him off with her other leg and continued climbing.
"You're not getting away!" Mikasa charged up the wall with her ODM gear and cut the claws off her right hand, leaving her dangling.
She spun around and cut those on the left, and she could no longer continue climbing, and began to fall.
"This is the end, Annie." Mikasa landed on Annie's face, "Now fall." She pushed off her face as Annie finally began to fall, right into Eren's awaiting attack,
'Is this...really it?' Annie wondered. 'The sky...it's so beautiful.'
As she fell flat on her back, Eren dived onto her, ripping off her left arm and sending it flying over the heads of some nearby MPs.
"Annie. I was wrong."
"I̶͍̐ ̴̪͝w̶̫͊i̸̩̐l̷̀͜l̷̨͠ ̴̯́k̶̦͌i̸̜̕l̴͎͌l̴͈͗ ̶̟͐y̵͇̅o̸͖̽ú̵̝!̶̙͑"
Eren tore off her other arm.
"I know it's too late to ask for forgiveness."
"B̵̩͘e̸̞̊g̴̻̅ ̶̖̆f̶̮̈́o̵͚̍r̵͇̓ ̶̠͋ẏ̴͙o̴͔̿û̸͙r̵͎̊ ̶͓͛l̶̟̀ï̶͖f̴̫̑ê̶͓!̶̙̅"
He threw a punch straight at her face, obliterating it.
"Just promise me one thing…"
"Y̴̜̌o̶̱̿ù̷͙'̸̨͆r̷̛̼e̸̝͝ ̷̥̿ä̷̖́ ̸͇̏l̵̫͗ị̶̅a̸̡̕r̵̛̭!̶̼̀"
He tore off what remained of her head,
"Even if the whole world hates you!"
"I̶͖͈͋̂'̴͈͌͝l̷̛̒ͅl̷̲͘ ̶̣̖͆͑d̷̤͕͋͑ë̴̮s̸̞̬̆͋t̵͎͍̿̅r̵̗̿ö̵̙̗y̸̦̳͂ ̷͉͠t̶̜̓ḧ̶̺͗e̶̞͚̾͆ ̸̭͓̀w̴͉̘̏͌ḧ̸͎́͂o̸̟͖̓̈́l̴̼͐͝e̴͔͠ ̵̟̺̃̀ŵ̶̭͙o̶̺̘̐r̴͉̋̕l̶̙̞̅ḏ̴͆̀!̵͙̜͌"
He bit the exterior of her nape, revealing Annie inside
"Please, I beg you, come back alive!"
"D̵̬̩̃̋I̸̗̭͛E̷͔̰̕!̴͔̗͊̐"
In that moment, right as Eren was about to eat her, Annie acted, a bright cold blue light radiated from her body, stunning and blinding Eren as she created a protective crystal shell around herself, simultaneously her flesh began to crawl up and merge with Eren's.
He tried to pull free to no avail, in a flash, Levi sliced Eren out of the nape, "Good lord brat, try not to eat the culprit." He pulled him free as both bodies began to dissolve.
Wall Rose
"There shouldn't be any villages this close to the wall. We need to head South."
"Uh, what for?" Ymir asked, "There aren't any villages South of here."
"We need to find where the breach occurred!" Evangelica warned, "Thousands of lives depend on us sealing that breach."
"But Christa and I don't have our ODM Gear!" Ymir said,
"We won't be engaging. We'll find the breach, and then report it to the nearest forces." Petra said to them,
"Piece of cake! Don't worry about it!" Isabel chirped with her usual attitude.
"Still! Titans will be crawling all over the South. It's all too likely we'll become Titan fodder, allow us to withdraw!"
"You can't. Someone needs to relay a report."
"Still-"
"I know how you feel." Evangelica kept riding, "But you're a soldier. This is what you signed on for."
"Ymir. Why?" Historia asked, "Why do you keep sacrificing for me? I chose to join the Scouts. But not you,"
"Hah! You think it was for you, sweet cheeks?" Ymir scoffed,
"Hide behind sarcasm and mockery all you want. I know you don't want to be here. But you went ahead and joined with me. Not to mention you were always pressing for me to join the MPs. I know I couldn't join the MPs on my own, anyone else would agree you obviously deserved the spot. So why? Why go that far?"
Ymir looked back ahead, "Does it...have to do with my family?" She asked,
Ymir shrugged, "Yeah, it does."
Historia looked down, and Historia looked back and her and smiled a bit, "Don't worry about it too much Krista. I'm only here for myself, and no one else."
Historia smiled, "I'm...really glad that's the case."
When Ymir looked at that smile, everything just seemed to light up for her.
She'd never admit it, not even to herself. But she'd do anything to protect that.
Eastern Defensive Line
"Here it comes!" Hannah shouted as a Garrison soldier came riding on horseback, chasing him was a 5-meter titan.
"Alright. All cannons!" Franz shouted,
"Hold it!" Woerman raised his hand, "Fire!" He shouted, and on order, a dozen cannons all blasted the five meter before Rico finished it off with ODM gear.
"Alright!" Franz cheered, "The Titans will never break through this line!"
"Not quite." Rico landed next to him, "If the Titans came en-force this defensive line won't stand a snowball's chance in hell. Speaking off...for a breach this is too few titans." She noted, "Normally, we would've been swarmed by titans by now…"
Stohess District
Alto and the Scouts surrounded Annie's titan crystal as Eren finally began to wake up.
"Damn it!" Jean slammed the remains of his ODM blade into Annie's crystal, only for it to break further. "Hey! Annie! What the hell is this?! Face the music you fucking owe us!"
"That's enough." Levi said coldly, "It's over."
"Yeah." Hanji nodded, "Get me a wire net! This thing goes deep underground!"
'Annie...what the hell was the point?' Alto wondered, 'You've killed hundreds of men and women you lived and breathed alongside for three years...for what? What are you fighting for?'
It was a complete mystery, and it scared Annie couldn't - or rather, won't - give them answers. The MPs and Scouts were left with nothing but countless casualties from this battle.
Alto approached Commander Dawk, "Sir!" He saluted,
"Do you have any idea what has happened today?" He began harshly, "Over one hundred MPs are dead, you went behind my back and cooperated with violators of Humanities Charter and roped in most of the Regiment in your scheme-"
"I have no excuse sir. My actions saved lives-" Alto began,
"-however." Nile cut him off, "As you pointed out, your actions have saved hundreds more civilian lives. As well as helped expose a traitor within our own ranks. Which is why I'm promoting you to Sergeant."
"S-sir?" Alto raised an eyebrow.
Nile nodded "You heard me, It's very likely the Crown will see fit to award you a medal."
Alto nodded, 'This is so. Very. bad.'
Eren slowly began to stir from his bed, "How long have I been out?"
"Just a few hours." Mikasa says, "How do you feel?"
"Okay...in fact. Almost too okay." He turned to Jean, "Is...Annie still stuck in the shell?"
"Yeah. And you'd think we'd get some slack." Jean scoffed
"It's humbling knowing how far she'd go to keep her secrets." Armin said quietly,
"What the hell is she trying to protect though?" Alto asked, "As far as we are aware, humans are dead beyond the walls."
"Speaking of- Eren, you had the perfect chance to kill Annie, and you didn't. Why?" Armin asked,
He looked down, "I...don't know." He shrugged at last, "I just saw her face...and froze." He looked up "Well. There was one thing.
"What's that?"
"When I looked at her face…Annie was crying."
Northern Wall Rose, South of Utopia District
An inconspicuous carriage pulled up to the front of a relatively small manse.
A man of short stature stepped out of the carriage, his eyes covered by a small hat. Another man came out with a wide-brimmed fedora and a double barreled pistol at his waist
"Ah, Lord Reiss. It is very good to see you here." A bejeweled priest from the Order of the Walls stepped out to greet the man. "Lord Gwendal has already settled in." He looked towards the other man as well,
"Your presence is...also desired Mr. Ackermann."
"Yeah yeah." He waved the priest off, "What are we here for anyway, Roddy?"
"I'd prefer it if you didn't refer to me in such a manner." Rod glanced at the man with one eye,
"Such a stiff attitude. Did anyone tell ya it'd be the death of ya someday?" He said mockingly,
Reiss ignored him, "We have a problem. It has to do with a job you failed to finish five years ago." He said with a disguised bite.
"Hmm...I dunno. Lot's of unfinished business we can talk about." Kenny said to him innocently,
They proceeded inside to a dining table, where Gwendal, the lawyer from Eren's trial, was sitting. With him were four other men. One of them was Pope Roderich, the current Paspt or Pope of the Order of the Walls.
Another was Lord Deltoff, a successful merchant and cunning businessman. As well as the unofficial overseer of several lords and their activities, including Elliott Stratmann. Effectively, he controlled the Walls' economy.
The third was Duke Aurille Marinn, from a noble family existing almost since the Walls themselves. It was no understatement to say he was the most powerful of the assembly aside from Lord Reiss himself. If he wanted someone dead, hundreds of mercenaries and MP officers would trip over their own feet to kill them.
The last one was Generalfeldmarshall Gerald. Despite Zachary being the official Premier of the Military, Gerald wielded enough to challenge and even overturn or downright nullify any decision the former made.
These men, including Lord Reiss, ran every aspect of life within the walls. From business, to religion, to the very survival of humanity.
So when they all agreed that something was a threat, it was no small matter.
"Gwendal. Why don't you start with what you found?" Reiss began,
"Yes sir." He pulled out a small leather bound folder, he was the unofficial spymaster for the assembly, as well as - along with Aurille - a driving force in the Judicial system of the walls. "Our spy in the Survey Corps has positively identified it. Alto Burke has resurfaced once again, and our fear has been confirmed as well. He has the Flare Titan." Gwendal says to Rod Reiss.
Several gasps were heard all around, "Wasn't this matter...resolved?" Gerald looks at Kenny Ackermann,
"The brat transformed at the last second. You've all seen what the Coordinate was capable of. It may not be as powerful, but my men sure as hell couldn't take him on."
"Then you should've waited for him to exhaust himself and taken him out then-"
"The place was collapsing as we acted, so unless we wanted to trap ourselves in there - with a bunch of mercenaries to boot…" Kenny let the silence hang,
"The past has passed. That is absolute." Reiss said, "All that matters is our next course of action. Do we have any idea at all of where Burke is?"
"So far, we have two sightings, and one may be unfounded." Gwendal says.
"The first one." Reiss nods,
"The first occurred some two years ago. At the training camp for the 104th Southern Division, we can confirm there was a transformation there. But the titan body had decomposed by the time we got to it, and there were hundreds of cadets camping in the area and there are four shifters at minimum, any one of them could have taken the liberty of transforming." Gwendal explains
"Noted, next."
"This is more recent and proven. Our spy says a mysterious fire-wielding titan matching the description of the current Flare - shaggy black hair, 15-meters, red eyes, - aided the Scout Regiment and Jaeger in their battle against the Female and Warhammer Titans."
"Is that all we know?" Rod asks
"Unfortunately, yes."
"There is another thing." Deltoff said, "Recently, right before the 57th Expedition, one of my subordinates, Eliott Stratmann was murdered."
"Noted, what about Rivers? How is your surveillance on her going?" Rod asked,
"She's been behaving suspiciously lately, but not enough to signify contact with Burke."
"Any detail is important." Aurille nodded, "This is something we need to snip at the bud - and fast."
"She's just more social with her associates. Meeting with them more often and so on,"
Reiss nodded. "At any rate, we can't afford to chase shadows. Our resources need to go to recovering the Power and my daughter as well as dealing with the Scout Regiment. Preferably getting rid of Commander Erwin, he's too curious for his own good."
"The runt won't like that much." Kenny placed his feet up on the table,
"You mean your nephew, Captain Levi? He's one man." Roderich scoffed,
"That'll cut anyone you send after him to ribbons in a heartbeat. I raised the kid myself, I know how he thinks and acts." Kenny shot back
"We'll worry about that when we come to it. Right now, focus on undermining the Scouts and preparing for the seizure of Eren Jaeger and my daughter."
"Right." The men agreed,
As Kenny and Rod left the manse, Reiss approached the carriage and paused.
"Are you prepared to see this through?" He asked,
"Of course, Your Majesty, why do you ask?" Kenny asked.
"I'm aware the late Dante Burke was a friend of yours. He took you in along with my brother Uri. And you trained Alto Burke and his siblings for a time, did you not?"
"Yes I did, but my loyalties are set in stone." Kenny bowed deeply.
"They better be," Something flashed in Rod's eyes, was it contempt? For once, Kenny couldn't tell.