How incredibly cute and small Levi was! Zoë clapped her hands together in glee, feeling a swell of affection bubble up inside of her.
"Open your mouth wide, Levi!" she cooed, "that's a good boy!"
She scooped up a bit of the nutritious - yet arguably bland and semi-cold - potato-carrot mash from the bowl, offering the spoon to Levi. He opened his mouth wide.
"Yes, like this! A spoon for Uncle Erwin," Levi's top lip closed around the wooden utensil and he sucked off the mash with a look of utter concentration on his face just as Zoë pulled it out. What teamwork! Fascinated, she watched his mouth move in a circle - until Levi swallowed, his grey eyes solemnly searching her face as if looking for her approval.
"Well done!" she cheered, more than happy to give it. "Look at you eating mash so well! So adorable! A-doooorable!"
She scooped up some more and enthusiastically shoved the small wooden spoon towards his face. But this time, Levi clamped his mouth shut, forcing Zoë's hand to halt in mid-air.
"No, you have to open your mouth, like this… ahhh!"
She demonstrated how it was done. Biiiiig mouth. Biiiiiig eyes. She smiled encouragingly.
"No? Will you not open for me? Ahhhh…. like this? A spoon for Auntie Hanji?"
But Levi kept his mouth shut. His lips became thinner and thinner and then disappeared entirely. Funny though, he still looked unbearably cute if not even cuter with his lips sucked in.
"Ohhhh," Zoë gushed, putting the spoon back down, "ohhhh, Levi, you are practicing how to be disobedient, are you? That's good! That's really good! Don't let anybody tell you how to lead your life! Don't eat mash if you don't want to!"
"Squad Leader Hange," a deep, commanding voice boomed behind her, "this is not how you talk to a child."
"Commander Erwin!" Zoë swiveled around on her chair, a mixture of guilt and elation bringing blood rushing to her cheeks. "You're back!"
"Yes," Erwin took off his green coat with flourish, flung it on a hook, grabbed a chair, swiveled it around so he could sit on it backwards, his massive arms crossed on top of the backrest. "How were things going here in my absence?"
"Oh, you know," she began haltingly, avoiding his eyes, "same same."
Damn, she would get a harsh scolding.
"Is he growing at all?" Commander Erwin leaned forward a little, his huge eyebrows moving up and then even further up as he stared at little Levi intently. "Doesn't look like it. Are you feeding him enough?"
"Oh yes, yes!" she cried. "I'm feeding him all the time, isn't that so, Levi?"
Levi pouted - then the little traitor shook his head and began to bawl.
"Doesn't seem to be the case," Erwin turned his stern face in her direction. "Really, Hange, you had one job!"
"But Erwin…!"
"One job!"
"Yes, you already said so. But listen, Levi is…"
"I asked you to nurture and cherish him! And this is what you do!"
Levi's bawling intensified. His little face was screwed up, red like a tomato, and snot and tears were dripping everywhere.
"Oh boy," she breathed. "How can someone so little be such a handful?"
She grabbed the spoon again, filled it with mash and shoved it into Levi's open mouth.
Spit, splash! - and strike! Gnashing her teeth, she used her sleeve to wipe her face. The victorious mouth was clamped shut again, the eyes blazing gleefully.
"You little shit," she grumbled. "Open that fucking mouth!"
"Hanji? What are you doing?"
"No, not now," she answered distractedly, trying to pry the stubborn mouth open with the help of the spoon. How was it possible little kids had such strong jaw muscles?!
"That's not how it is done," Erwin remarked disapprovingly. "And whatever you do, you mustn't touch Levi's asshole!"
"Ex...cuse me?!" she sputtered. "You didn't just say… asshole?!"
"Yes I did, he doesn't like it," Erwin shrugged and got up. "It's a well known fact."
"Hanji, stop babbling nonsense and wake the fuck up."
"Huh?"
For a moment, she felt like she was falling… because she was. Then, parts of her body hit solid stone. Pain shot up her back and into her head.
"Ouch!" she cried, opening her undamaged eye wide, "shit!"
She looked straight into grownup Levi's disapproving eyes of grey doom. It seemed he had tried to prevent her fall but had only managed to grab her belt and put a hand underneath her head to prevent the worst. Now that she was on the ground despite his gallant efforts, he let go of her with an angry "tch".
"Hahahaha," wincing, Zoë pushed herself in a sitting position, "Levi, I just had the weirdest dream."
"Something tells me I don't want to know why you were mumbling 'asshole' just now," he grumbled, sitting back on his haunches. He had changed his clothes, she noticed. He was now wearing his clean Survey Corps uniform.
"You were a baby!" she beamed at him, feeling a warm, fuzzy buzz inside, "so cute! And so difficult! I was trying to feed you but you wouldn't do what I told you, hahahaha! And Erwin said not to, hahahahaha, imagine! Not to touch your…"
She faltered when she became aware of a set of puzzled faces peering her way from behind Levi. Ah, his brat squad was here too, looking groomed and proper! And "here" was… with a bit of difficulty, she turned her head to the other side: the garden of her parents' country estate. She must have fallen asleep on the stone bench after...
"Oh," she smiled, waving at the kiddos, fidgeting with her slightly askew glasses, trying to hide her blush as she remembered the activities she and Levi had previously indulged in right here, "hiiiiii! How is everyone doing?"
"Tybur is arriving as we speak," Levi's eyes swept over her and she looked down at herself: Buttons undone, clothes rumpled and dirty, and her head… she reached up to massage her temples. It felt like more pressure was building with every breath she took.
"We were looking for you," Levi said with a frown. "I didn't think you'd still be here."
"Sorry," she winced again when she tried to stand up. She was so goddamn tense everywhere! "I fell asleep."
"You fell asleep?!" Levi looked her over again, obviously not liking what he was seeing. "Alright," he turned his head to address the 104th ex-cadets, "you go back to the house but wait for us there. Don't do anything. That includes not letting yourself be drawn into any conversation and not reacting to provocations, you hear me? Yes, I mean you Eren. And you too, Jean. Armin and Mikasa: I'm counting on you to keep those two idiots in check."
"Yes, Captain Levi," the kids saluted and turned away, shooting them furtive glances as they ambled away.
"Can you stand?" Levi asked gruffly.
"Of course," she gave it another try and finally managed with his help.
"Damn, Hanji," he peered at her face up close, his hands gripping her upper arms hard. "You should have told me to stay with you if you're this unwell."
"Ack," she was fighting for balance, why was it so difficult? The ground felt strangely uneven. "Don't you already know I always want you to stay? That doesn't mean you always can, I know that."
He cleared his throat, looking a little shy - and for a moment, she wanted to ruffle his hair and shower kisses all upon his little dark face but - this was no weirdass dream, this was their stark reality and in this reality, the man who had tortured Levi to the brink of insanity was coming for a visit. She had to get a grip on herself fast.
"This will have to do," Levi murmured and plucked at her hair, wiped his fingers over her face, and righted her attire by pulling this and that here and there.
"I was worried when you didn't come back," he frowned, flicking something off her sleeve. "Was I… you know…"
"Hm?" She smiled at him. He was incredibly cute when flustered. "You were… what?"
"Rough," he pressed out, avoiding her eyes. "Was I too rough? I should have noticed you're not well. I mean… I did notice. But then I… hm. Was I selfish?"
"Oh!" she laughed, feeling a tell tale flutter in her nether regions at the memory of just how rough he'd been. "Hahaha, no, Levi. It was… mhhhh, I liked it. Having sex with you is pretty much the greatest thing in my life right now."
"Ah," he said, still scowling but his face relaxed a little and she thought she saw a faint blush color his cheekbones for a few seconds.
"I guess I slept for quite a bit, you even got changed in the meantime," she nodded, "thank you. I appreciate you looking like you belong to me and not my father."
"Like I could get away from you even if I wanted to," he grumbled.
That again? Time to put an end to it. Zoë put her hand into her pocket and pulled out the slip of paper. "You know that this means nothing between us, right?" she asked, lifting her second hand to rip the slip apart.
"What are you doing?" Levi tried to grab her hand but she evaded him.
"Putting an end to this shit," she said, stuffing all the snippets into her mouth, chewing, and swallowing. "So, there."
"You're a lunatic," Levi huffed, but he didn't quite manage not to look a little impressed. "That was stupid. And useless. I'm sure your father still has it written down in other places."
"Yes, but he needs me for it to be effective," she felt smug. "Let's go."
"You still look like you slept on a park bench," he murmured, his critical eye moving over her body, face and hair again. "But you have to dominate Tybur from the moment he steps into your father's house until the moment he leaves it."
"We've got this," Zoë smiled at him. "You and I together are unbeatable, Levi, don't you know?"
###
Levi could not keep his hand by his side. He simply had to take Hanji's into his when they walked to the house together, the gravel underneath their feet crunching rhythmically when their steps fell in sync. Her hand was warm and a bit calloused in places, the feeling of her fingers in his something he never wanted to forget.
What he also wanted was to express how much he appreciated her grand gesture of eating a slip of paper just now. So what if there was a word that she could use to control him? She didn't want to control him. No, she wanted his loyalty, freely given. She also wanted his best as a soldier and - the thought made him freakishly warm inside - as a friend. And he would give her that, always. And more, if she wanted more.
Like sex.
She had said that sex with him was the greatest thing in her life right now and, hmmmmm, more sex was definitely going to happen because for him, sex with her was pretty much everything he wanted these days.
Feeling unusually soft and mellow because these kinds of thoughts turned his brain to mush, he almost told her where he had gone this morning.
Almost.
But he didn't. Not because he still didn't know how to trust another human being. And certainly not because he lacked courage and was certain she'd be furious again: Hanji furious was a turn on. No - it was because there was no time for a heated discussion and Hanji was in no shape to have one. She was walking steadily next to him now, but there was an ever so slight hesitance in her steps, as if she couldn't quite trust her legs.
Was her condition getting worse? He feared so. And he had to ask himself: What if she never got better?
Levi pressed her hand a little bit more and felt her tighten her grip in response. From the corner of his eyes he noticed that she turned her head to look at him but he kept his eyes straight ahead.
I'm worrying too much. I cannot let this cloud my judgment. No regrets, Erwin, isn't that right? But how can you protect someone like Hanji who would climb into a Titan's mouth to study its teeth? I never managed to protect anyone I cared for. All my people are dead. Dust and bones.
"We've got this," Hanji repeated, pressing his hand once more. "Stop fretting."
"Fret? Bullshit," he complained. "I never fret."
"Sure," she chuckled.
Levi only let go of Hanji's hand when they reached the front of the house with its big open space, kept free from weeds by an army of gardeners tending to the purity of the white pebble stones in the mornings and evenings. In the middle of the expanse, the big fountain depicting one of Hanji's forefather's staring pensively into the distance gurgled in wasteful splendor.
They were right on time - Tybur and a group of people were just becoming visible at the gates at the end of the parkway. The brat squad and the few MPs and Garrison soldiers that had come out here with them were standing to the side and in the background, with the entire force of the Hange houseguards assembled on the opposite side of them, an intimidating human wall of tall, broad muscle, their firearms slung over their shoulders.
Council Hange stood at the top of the large stairs in a tailor-made suit that probably cost the equivalent of one person's yearly food supply in the Underground. He had arranged Historia to his right, then his son Frederick next to Historia, and his wife to his left. Hanji's mother was a frail and nervous woman who was incessantly knotting and unknotting her hands. She was the first to notice them when they came up the garden path but quickly looked away when her and Levi's eyes met. Maybe she didn't approve of someone like him ravishing her daughter? She had successfully avoided him ever since Levi had arrived at Hange Estate. He had heard from Erwin though that she had helped them, back when Council Hange had tried to force Zoë to leave the Survey Corps.
"Zoë, I want you here with us," her father's voice whipped across the courtyard. Expecting Hanji to comply, Frederick moved a little to the side.
Hanji just snorted. "Yeah, right. Not gonna happen."
And that certainty about who she was and what she wanted from the world was why Levi had been so fucking impressed with Hanji from the very beginning. His chest swelled with pride as they strode over to stand with Eren and the gang, just as Tybur and a group of ten people arrived.
"Oliver," Hanji hissed but Levi had already spotted the white haired man himself - and vice versa. Oliver, who was dressed in expensive, new clothes, ducked his head and shrunk in the saddle under Levi's death stare. For an apothecary barely making a living in the Underground, the old man had made quite an impressive career: first he had become the poison-specialist for whoever paid money for his services, often earning double by selling poisons as well as antidotes. Though Levi didn't know all the details, he had learned from Annika that Renzo and Oliver had then made a deal with "the Panther" during the time of the Underground Uprising, which had led to Oliver subjecting Levi to all kinds of unpleasant things in order to find a way to control the Ackermans. Apparently, Tybur haf found his services useful enough to keep him.
All the better. Revenge was a sweet, sweet thing. Levi could almost taste it in his mouth.
"Be welcome," Council Hange smiled icily, "Appius Tybur. Even if you come here unannounced."
"Ah, but then I was sure I was expected," Tybur smiled, his eyes sweeping over the Queen, then to the side where Eren stood, finally coming to rest on Levi.
"You followed my daughter here, I understand."
"Hm, that's one way to put it," the Panther's eyes kept fixating on Levi. Then, they moved away, searching… and finding Mikasa. "This is the other Ackerman, I take it?" He said, and dismounted smoothly, throwing the reins to one of the grooms that came running.
"Why, do you want to check her teeth?" Hanji asked amiably. "Be careful, she bites."
"Ha, you jest," Tybur smiled, his eyes cold and measuring behind his spectacles. He looked a lot like another blond man with a beard that Levi hated with a burning passion. Oh yes… revenge was going to be sweet.
"Why don't we have some refreshments inside?" Council Hange offered. "I am so very curious to find out why you're here."
"Of course, of course," Tybur said, waving to his own guards to dismount. "Is she coming too?" He pointed his chin at Hanji.
Levi itched to knock out the rude bastard's teeth - right after breaking his fingers, arms, legs, etc. He knew how to prolong a human's agony. All the tricks. But timing was essential.
"And him," he pointed at Levi. "The Ackerman who is looking at me like he cannot wait to kill me." He laughed. "And… the boy," he made a few steps in Eren's direction. Levi tensed, but the Panther stopped a safe distance away, his eyes gliding over Eren's body greedily. "Eren Yeager. Marley talks about you a lot."
"I tell you what," Hanji's voice was chipper, belying the tension all around, "why don't we do the meet and greet later? There's nothing else to do around here. Besides, I think you forgot to properly greet the Queen."
"The Queen?" Tybur feigned surprise but did not try overly hard to come across as sincere. "The Queen is here?"
He turned and made a spectacle searching the crowd, finally honing in on Historia who stood on the stairs frowning.
"Oh. You are the Queen? I heard that you are young but…"
"Uncle," Historia pressed out. "I looked forward to meeting you."
"Ah, yes," his fake smile widened. "We are that, are we not? Uncle and niece. Two bastards of the Reiss family. I cannot wait to get better acquainted."
Council Hange snapped a few orders to the left and right and they went into the house, one after the other, with Tybur in the middle. Oliver had miraculously disappeared, the gutter rat was probably hiding in a dark, humid space right now. Which would just slightly prolong the inevitable.
"Captain Levi," Armin asked, "why is he interested in you and Mikasa?"
"He has an Ackerman fetish," Levi answered with a sneer, "tell Eren and Jean to protect Mikasa even if she thinks it's not necessary. I don't like the way he looks at her."
"Is he seeking to use the mysterious Ackerman powers for his own ambitions?" Armin asked.
"Indeed so," Levi said. "He once got his hands on me and I can tell you, it wasn't pleasant."
"He is of the royal bloodline," Armin noted. "The Ackermans were known to serve the King, right?"
"I wish I understood my own family's role in the history of Eldia," Levi grumbled, "but frankly, I don't. Yes, we were the King's warriors but then, something went wrong and ever since, we're not."
"You said to be careful."
"Yes, and I meant it," Levi said with emphasis. "Expect the worst of this man."
###
They went to the pink frilly drawing room, which was similar to the one at the Hange's city estate in its pompous, grand tastelessness. A flock of servants milled around them, hastening to and fro while trying to be as invisible as possible. They had never been invisible to Zoë though. In her youth, the staff at her father's house had been the only friendly faces. Everybody here seemed exceptionally nervous and she wanted to tell them not to worry too much - granted, Tybur looked and behaved like a very important lord, but just like every human being, he also had to go shit and of course, his shit stank like everybody else's.
Council Hange and Lord Tybur sat down on silk cushioned chairs, bowing to Historia who took a seat on the settee. Zoë's mother lowered herself next to her, but she looked like she wanted to be somewhere else, far away. Zoë herself decided to sit with her brother on another settee. Tea trays were brought in, her mother poured the hot liquid into filigree cups herself, her hands shaking. It was excellent tea, of course. It was unlikely Levi and the others outside would get a cup too but he'd like this, very much so. Zoë decided to take him to the kitchen later, to make sure he'd get to try it.
"Right," Tybur put down his cup and looked at everyone in the room, one after the other. "Here we are. I want to be frank, Council Hange, if I may?"
"By all means, Lord Tybur," Council Hange replied. "The older I get, the less time I seem to have for pleasantries. A meeting between us has become inevitable for a while."
Tybur nodded. "Quite so. Let me say that I consider what happened to Paradis Island five years ago unfortunate - for the many Eldian lives that were lost. On the other hand…," he let his eyes move over Zoë creepily, "...those sacrifices give us a real chance at turning the tide of history."
"If you say 'us', what exactly do you refer to?" Council Hange asked, sipping a bit of tea.
"Eldia, of course," Tybur's lips curled. "The Great Eldian Empire."
He made an artful pause before continuing.
"But let me explain in more detail. I have a brother, well, half-brother from the Tybur family - his name is Willy. He is everybody's darling - and by everybody, I mean the entire civilized world. He is helping the Marleys control the Eldians on the continent. He is a traitor to our people. He needs to die. That is step number one."
"And what is that to us?" Zoë's father asked. "We have the Founder, the Attack Titan and the Colossal Titan."
"Marley will come. They are preparing for it as we speak. You'd be fools to think you stand a chance against their armies if they launch a serious attack - they are about one hundred years more developed than you."
"But you have access to modern weaponry?" Zoë interjected at this point.
"I do," Tybur nodded. "I have built up a private arsenal over the years that I am willing to share. It's sufficient for a surprise attack."
"And you can't find people elsewhere to fight your brother?"
Tybur's chair creaked when he leaned back to sip from his tea. Then, he placed the cup down carefully on the saucer.
"Well," he linked his fingers. "You are one of a kind. Eldians on the continent are greatly decimated, existing only at the mercy of Marley if they dance to the subjugators tune. I don't see why a nation as grand as ours should be reduced to being slaves. Removing my brother is only the first step. The next one is to once again rule the world."
"How?" Council Hange's voice was hard and cold but Zoë heard it anyway: an undertone of excitement.
"We release the Wall Titans," Tybur said. "And we kill everyone who isn't on our side."
Zoë felt a cold dread inside, crippling in its potential to overwhelm her. Beside her, Freddie had forgotten to breathe. Ask yourself what the price of freedom is and whether you are ready to pay it, Levi had said not too long ago. She should have listened. Because it might be far too high.
"You must ask yourselves how that is possible," Tybur continued into the heavy silence that had descended over everyone. "The King's blood isn't free to act against King Fritz' will. And yet, the King's blood is needed to use the power of the Founder properly. A conundrum, don't you think?"
"One that you have found a solution to, I take it?" Council Hange smiled coldly.
Tybur made a sour face. "Partially. I have found documents that claim that the power of the Founder can be temporarily used by someone without royal blood if the owner touches a Titan with royal blood."
Oh shit. Zoë's eyes snapped to Historia, who grew very pale about what that meant.
"I take it you have Titan serum?" Zoë's father asked, coming to the same conclusion.
"I do," Tybur nodded. "But frankly only a limited stock. We are working on a solution to create our own but it has proven very difficult."
"Marley has their own, isn't that so?" Zoë asked. "Do they know how to make it?"
"No," Tybur answered grimly. "They're going to run out soon as well. But they have the Beast Titan. For reasons nobody quite understands, the current owner can turn Eldians that ingest his spinal fluid into Pure Titans that have to obey them."
Oh, but that was interesting! Zoë's brain began churning quickly. It might explain what had happened at Ragako,m. And since it was mainly the royal bloodline who developed or wielded exceptional Titan powers… she narrowed her eyes at Lord Tybur.
"Are you related to the owner of the Beast Titan?" she asked.
"What?" Tybur pulled a disgusted face. "That's an absurd idea."
Is it? Zoë decided not to press the point but her conclusion was solid. The Beast Titan had royal blood. And that was probably bad news.
"So you don't have much Titan serum and the royal line isn't exactly thriving either," Council Hange smiled icily. "If you mean to control the Wall Titans at all, that needs to change."
"You are correct," Tybur nodded. "But there are other people who can control Titans. Including the Founder."
"The Ackermans?" Zoë's father asked. "That's why you want them."
"Yes," Tybur nodded again. "The Ackermans. But I'll need more than the two you have for this to work. They tend to die too early because they are just too reckless. The good thing is: I have labs. I just need them in there. Willing, if I may say. Or at least not able to fight back."
"So you came here."
"Yes," Tybur smiled. "I heard it is happening again? A Hange woman and an Ackerman man forged an unbreakable bond. I have to say, Council Hange, this little aberration in the Ackermans' programming is a source of great wonderment and amusement to me. I can tell you, I have studied all the existing documents for years but I did not find an explanation."
"All the documents?" Council Hange scoffed and pulled out the red book from the inner pocket of his elegant pocket with flourish. "I doubt that."
Tybur narrowed his eyes at the time-worn volume in Council Hange's hand. "What is this?"
"Firsthand knowledge about the Ackermans."
"What do you want for it?"
"Hmmm," Council Hange leaned back on his chair, a finger against his lips as if he had not already made lists of demands in his head hours ago. "It's a little more complicated than that. See, my daughter here is the one with the ability to control the male Ackerman. The female, however…," his gaze moved to his son. "I have told my son here to try and win the woman's favor but we do not know whether it works the other way round."
Good luck, Freddie, Zoë thought, feeling disgust at the thought of her 30-something brother trying to woo a fifteen year old. Mikasa will gut you if you try anything on her. With my blessing.
"My daughter," Council Hange continued, his voice taking on a somewhat amused tone, "is a little hard to control, I have to admit. But you see, she is a scientist first and foremost. Giving her access to your previous research results and your lab infrastructure might sway her to help you. Let her be the one to conduct the experiments on the Ackerman. He's imprinted on her, he'll do anything she tells him to do."
"I see," Tybur's expression turned pensive. "That could be arranged. Yes, that might even be useful. But…," he held up a finger, "I rarely trust in just one plan. I would like to propose a different route in parallel."
"I'm listening."
"Breeding."
"Huh?" Zoë blurted out.
"Get that woman pregnant as soon as you can", Tybur said coldly and pointed at Historia. "The biggest threat to us down the line is the extinction of the royal line. Why not try to breed her with the Ackerman? We've never crossed those bloodlines before. I'm assuming it will be interesting."
"Hm," Council Hange said, turning his head to look at Historia.
"Am I to assume you are serious?" Zoë was failing to wrap her head about the possibility that he really was, fighting a revulsion that was going to have her do something rash in a short time.
"Of course I am," Tybur narrowed his eyes at her belligerently. "As I said, the extinction of the royal bloodline is the biggest threat to us. We would no longer be able to control the Titans! I still believe we can find out how the Ackermans were made and recreate those experiments. But here, too, I suggest breeding, just to be on the safe side. The female Ackerman should be impregnated as soon as possible too. And if that male Ackerman could do his d…"
"His name is Levi," Zoë jumped up, her hands reaching for the weapons she was not even carrying. "And his duty is to make sure people like you have no influence over the fate of humanity!"
"If you people are too squeamish, I will just do it myself," Tybur got up as well. "Give me a room. Put little Miss Reiss in it. It cannot hurt to combine two bastard bloodlines to make the royal blood stronger."
Historia made a pitiful, outraged sound. Zoë saw her mother's hand shoot forward to press Historia's reassuringly. We need to get her out and away, Zoë thought. I never thought anyone could be quite this vile. Wake up, Hanji. Wake up. This is the man who tortured Levi. He'll stick at nothing.
"Hm," Council Hange stood up too. "What needs to be done needs to be done. I hear that the Ackerman is quite virile? I'm sure we'll find enough volunteers for his seed, my own mother keeps ogling him like she cannot wait to find out what's in his trousers."
There was a noise in Zoë's head, a distant banging and shouting that grew louder. Please no, she thought, feeling a horrible, sinking feeling. Not another attack, please, no.
But then she realized that the others heard the noise too.
"What nonsense is that?" Council Hange swiveled around to frown at the door, his head cocked to the side.
The door burst open.
"Flee!" one of Tybur's guards stumbled over the threshold, dripping blood on the expensive carpet from an ugly gash in his head, "My Lord, flee! It's an uprising! They came from everywhere at the same time, we stood no chance!"
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" a large crowd yelled outside. "Away with the nobility!"
Within an instant, the pink drawing room filled with screaming bodies swinging kitchen knives and other makeshift tools, rushing forward. China shattered. Small tables were toppled. One of the large images on the wall fell down.
"Fuck," Zoë exclaimed and moved towards her mother - but not fast enough. Strong arms grabbed her from behind and she had to struggle to stay upright. Her eyes huge in her pale face, her mother was ripped backwards by the hair and disappeared from Zoë's sight. She didn't make a single sound. Historia got in a few hits but soon, she was on the floor.
There were just too many. Staff. Servants.
Undergrounders.
It was over quickly. A knife was pressed against Zoë's throat by a trembling hand. She could have overpowered whoever held it easily but she did not want to risk the lives of her mother or Historia. Okay, Freddie, who was kept down by three men, didn't deserve to die either.
A strange kind of silence fell when assertive steps outside heralded the arrival of the person who had called the shots.
"Hi there," Annika grinned, cleaning a red dripping blade with a dirty rag as she stepped over the sprawled body of the guard who had tried to warn his master. "Look at you scumbags plotting to make the world an even shittier place. Enough is enough."
Behind her, Esmelda entered the room, looking fierce and dangerous. And trailing after her with a trademark scowl on his face: Levi. His uniform was no longer clean. Neither was his face. Looking annoyed, he tried to clean off the blood with his sleeve but the only thing he managed was to smear it all over himself.
"Ackerman!" Council Hange snapped, "what is the meaning of this?"
"He is mine," Levi said, pointing his chin at Tybur. "Like you promised. Oh wait," he sneered. "Don't tell me you wanted to sell me out?"
"You will regret this," Council Hange raged until Annika slammed her fist into his stomach and he doubled over.
"Shut up," she hissed. "Every single person you enslaved and used to labor for you on this estate will make you regret you were ever born. Should we get started?"