In all her years, Jenny never thought she'd be sat before the Scout's Commander who sat tall and proud, expectantly awaiting her answer. Jenny tried her best not to fidget under his or his officers' gazes, but it was hard work, especially as she wanted nothing more than to tug on the hem of her corset or fix the skewed collar and so on. Her gaze kept drawing back to the large blonde caterpillars that were nestled upon the Commander's forehead and she had to scrunch up her toes or bite the inside of his cheek in an effort to not laugh as she watched them dance with each change of his expression.
Beside her, Captain Hanji—the Scout's resident scientist & self-proclaimed loon—was garbed in much a similar manner that had had the soldiers spare more than one odd glance her way, like it was strange that she would be seen wearing a woollen dress with corset & boots to match. Across the carriage, humanity's strongest sat sprawled out like a cat in the sun with a look of utter boredom upon his face that both irked her & intrigued her. What makes you tick, Sir Levi? What makes you ponder so?
Jenny's fingers ran through the woollen scratch of her Sunday best once more as she thought on what had transpired to get to this point. With sudden interest in the Church of the Walls and their goings on in relation to the dreaded Titans, she and several of the other wards had been approached about what information they knew. Not much, had been the prevailing answer and however frustrating it may have been, it was true. The Church—more specifically the Inner Walls—were very tight lipped when it came to more than just the usual offerings or services. In fact, it had gotten to the point where a few of the wards & patrons had made a game of trying to divulge their secrets. They didn't get very far, clearly, until one day Jenny & her best friend at the time—Mary—had found a hidden passage in the alcove they had dove into in a vain attempt at hiding from Sister Michael's vengeful wrath.
The passage itself was nothing to write home about, just bricks & mortar & dusty spiderwebs that had them tripping over each other in squeals & giggles. But it was what they found further in that had been the proverbial diamond in the rough. A small peephole that overlooked a secret room in which the Inner Walls often used to partake in the most bizarre of rituals. It was this specific passage that now had the young cadet returning to the Church with disguised Scouts at her side. The idea was that both women could slip away during or after the service to see what information could be dug up about the so-called 'Inner Walls'
The peephole, if you could call it that, was a small window that overlooked an ornate room & was hidden by a large portrait depicting the three ladies of the Walls. Originally, the passage & peephole had been used as servant's passages and then later on, to spy on unsuspecting nobles who strayed from their familial roles. Squashed in next to Captain Hanji who had a notebook & pencil at the ready, Jenny started pointing out each of the individuals whom she had indirectly met over the years.
"The man on the right is Pastor Nick" Jenny whispered as she pointed to an aged priest garbed in a long habit & adorned in golden chains. "He's the longest-serving member and the Inner Walls is everything to him. The man he's chatting to is Stewart Shaw, best-selling novelist"' The novelist in question was an awkward-looking man adorned in golden-framed glasses and ink-stained hands. Honestly, it looked like a good breeze could knock him off of his feet.
"The Lady standing on her own is Adelia Jones, wife of the late Baron of the Eastern Isles. Her attendance here is extremely confidential, in fact, I've never seen her arrive or depart when the other members were present—not even Pastor Nick!" The lady in question stood tall and proud, with shoulders back and her diamond goblet held delicately between her fingers.
"That gentleman is Norman Urry, a civic engineer" The engineer was a portly man, dressed sharply in a three-piece suit that did not suggest any type of affiliation to the occupation he was so well-known for. "You might recognise the name because he was the one who designed the gas intake & output for the ODM gear"
"The man on the left is Pastor Fredrick, he's supposed to inherit the Stohess Church after Nick dies" Jenny pointed to the second priest in the room who stood mulling over the buffet of wines laid out for their guests. The young man appeared to agonising over whether or not he could sneak more than just the communion wine into his goblet without Nick noticing.
"And last but not least, Alexandria Sellen-Fossey" She pointed to the only other woman in the room who lay sprawled upon the chaise lounge with a cigar in one hand and some bubbling goblet in the other. "She's an actress, and a very talented one at that—Her Meine Liebe, Meine Seele, Meine Maria at the palace was said to bring tears to the King's eyes"
"There was one more member—Lieutenant Nelson Harris—a Military Police officer who attended these meetings, but he's dead. S'posedly, his wife found him in bed with the scullery maid and she was not best pleased"
"Hm?" Hanji quirked a curious brow at the young woman, pencil pausing above the paper.
"Mixed rat poison in with his potatoes and took a musket to his crotch while he was dying"
"You sure know your stuff!" Hanji chirped, mindless of the noise she was making.
"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Jenny panicked, hands flapping as she worried that the occupants of the room had heard any of that. The walls weren't exactly made of steel and she didn't want to find out what would happen if they were discovered listening in.
"How d'you know all of this?" Hanji continued unabated by the cadet's pleas, but lowered her voice slightly nonetheless.
"Not much to do when you live in a Church" Jenny shrugged, "I've been watching 'em for a while and besides, everyone knows that the Walls have ears"
With that, she turned back to the task at hand and hoped against hope that the Captain wouldn't press the issue any further. It was sad enough that Jenny could count the number of friends she had on the one hand (and that included the ones that had already been injured, maimed or killed during training). Thankfully, Hanji seemed to let it go. For now.
"…If that isn't an attempt to send us all a message, then I don't know what is" Pastor Nick drawled as he fingered the bloody card which depicted the slave girl, Ymir, which had been found tucked into the lieutenant's breast pocket.
"It's completely terrifying!" Alexandria despaired, waving her goblet about and sloshing wine everywhere much to the dismay of Pastor Fredrick who despaired over the state of the carpets he would have to clean up later. "I'm no sleeping, not eating…"
"Well, at least it hasn't slowed down your drinking" Adelia sneered as Alexandria rose to refill her goblet.
"Ugh, everyone's got to have a hobby, m'lady"
"Turns out we have something in common, my dear" Norman toasted with a drunken chuckle as the pair of ladies shared flirtatious glances.
"Um, I've written a er, poem about Nelson for such an occasion that I'd like to read out—" Stewart awkwardly interceded under the almost carnivorous stares of his peers.
"—For Ymir's sake! Sit down Shaw! No one wants to hear your poetry! Especially at a time like this!" Norman snapped, making Stewart's expression fall.
"I rather like your poetry, Mr Shaw" Adelia persisted, more so she could piss off the engineer than anything else. That teasing smirk twitching at the corners of her lips was very telling. "Perhaps we could listen to it over supper?"
"When will we vote for the next Queen?" Pastor Nick interjected irritably as he shifted on his feet by the fireplace. "There's no point pretending that's not why we're all here. I'd like to put myself forward—"
"—I'd like to put myself forward!"
"I—I—"
"Surely—"
"Father, you cannot be serious—!"
"I wish to put my name in as well—"
"My claim is greater!" Pastor Nick asserted over the noise, slamming his goblet down onto the side table, making it wobble on its rickety legs.
"Aw, Walls, Nick!" Alexandria sighed through a plume of smoke. "At least wait until his body went cold!"
"No, no, he's right" Pastor Fredrick hastened to agree with his fellow priest. "I propose we do it now. Voting anonymously, of course"
With all of the furniture pushed aside and the lanterns dimmed down low so that they mirrored the stormy evening sky outside, the members of the Inner Walls soon reconvened around a large mural engraved onto the floor—something which had been hidden beneath the sherpa rug previously—adorned in black robes, save for Alexandria who bore a white robe.
"Welcome seekers of the light" Pastor Fredrick began, eyes roving over everyone to make sure they were stood in position with one hand over their hearts (much like the military's salute) and the other outstretched as if they were a child silently asking for something.
"Welcome all" The others chorused as their hands dropped from their chests and came to rest next to the other hand pointed up towards the ceiling. They curtsied once with hands aloft before they returned to their sides with fingers splayed, joining the concentric circle by barely brushing fingers.
Then Fredrick and Alexandria were moving forward, towards the fireplace where the side table lay waiting with a variety of strange items laid out upon it. Jenny caught Adelia's jealous stare trailing after the actress that was filled with so much hate, as if she could not believe how a younger, prettier woman got what she wanted most. Again. "You are Goddess, you are goodness and light" Fredrick placed a crown of golden thorns upon her head as he tried to play off the blush on his cheeks as a result of the blazing fire and not the deep plunging neckline of the woman's dress. "Without you, the dark does not exist"
"You are the Devil, you are chaos and dark" Alexandria moved next, picking up an old ram's skull that had been manufactured into a macabre head piece. She stood tall with a gentle smile on her lips as Fredrick bent slightly, allowing her to place it on his head. "Without you, we cannot understand the light"
As the two stepped back, newly crowned, Jenny wondered if they were going to start devouring each other's faces and she hoped that she wouldn't have to steel her stomach against that. She wasn't sure she would be able to look Pastor Fredrick in the eye again if he did. Instead, the young man turned to the bowl that contained the slips of paper which held the nominations for the next Queen. Jenny had no clue what that title was, or what it meant even after all these years of watching this manic group play out the most absurd fantasies. She could guess of course, but she'd probably be wrong.
"The new Queen of the Stohess Sector of the Illustrious Order of the Inner Walls is…" Fredrick began, building up the suspense as he fished out the name of the group's next 'Queen' You could see the hope blossoming through the faces of the members, there was tension hidden in their shoulders and eyes that gleamed with impatience by firelight. "Norman Urry"
"Mmmmm…" The members hummed harmoniously as they knelt in prayer to the new Queen. All except for Pastor Nick who looked like the world had fallen out from under him.
"Nick!" Adelia snapped from the ground. "Kneel!" Rather reluctantly the Pastor knelt as a wooden crown was placed atop Norman's head and prayers of blessing were given.
"…I offer myself to the ocean" Nick ground out as he rose and discarded his robe, letting it fall to the floor to reveal nothing but his birthday suit beneath.
"Oh Rose!" Jenny cursed, slapping a hand over her eyes as she tried to remove the image of the old man standing starkers before her. "I'm never eating sausages again!" Hanji snorted next to her.
"I offer myself to the earth" Adelia dropped her robes next.
"I offer myself to the skies" Alexandria was far more graceful in stepping out of hers.
"I offer myself to the fires" Fredrick more or less jumping out of his in his eagerness to move onto the next stage.
"I offer myself to the stars!" Stewart declared to the heavens as the last of the cloth fell to a heap on the floor at their feet and then they fell upon each other in carnivorous lust & vengeful jealousies.
"Well, that was…" Hanji blinked, finally stowing her pencil behind her ear as Jenny slid the tiny shutter closed on the orgastic scene before them.
"Yeah…"