Utgard, outskirts
Eren trudged along the path. In the distance he could see the little fishing village that lay below the white cliffs. His train would be waiting there, the train which would take him back to Shiganshina, and back to his old life.
He could hear Historia's words in his head.
Forget about Laputa.
Do it for me.
When his father had returned from the expedition all those years ago, that grainy photograph of Laputa in his hand, he'd seemed so full of joy. So excited, so sure that his discovery would change the world. It was the first time he'd seen his father happy since his mom had died.
As the accusations had set in, fingers pointed and loose words thrown behind their backs, a weight had settled down on them. His father's face had grown shadowed, his eyes constantly downcast, and his words muttered. His insistences still rang in Eren's ears. He heard it every night as he tried to fall asleep.
It's real. I swear it.
Liar.
Liar.
Liar.
He'd woken one day to find his father gone, just a note left on the kitchen table. I'm sorry, it had read. They'd found the body three weeks later, fished out of the river. There'd been stones in his pockets.
Forget about Laputa.
How could he? The floating island had taken his father from him. Ever since that day, he'd dreamed of it. In his free time, when Mr. Hannes didn't need him at the mines, he'd worked on sketches of flying crafts, a personal airplane which he'd build one day. He'd find Laputa himself, or die trying. He'd do it whether Historia wanted him there or not. He didn't need her. He'd been perfectly fine before her. She'd come tumbling into his life, like a helpless bird waylaid by storms. So what if she didn't want him? He didn't care. He didn't care at all.
He continued telling himself that as he walked to the train station, tears stinging the corners of his eyes.
A couple blocks from the station, they ambushed him.
A figure, walking behind him, shuffled in close. Eren barely had time to register as a sharp point pressed against the back of his spine. He arched his back, trying to get away, but a strong arm clamped around him. "Don't move or say anything," whispered a voice in his ear. A girl's voice. "Keep walking normally. Try anything, you're dead."
Eren struggled, but the girl had a viselike grip. He scanned the streets, desperate, but no one was close. The knife digging into his back froze his words. Within seconds, the girl had steered him into an alley, then shoved him roughly against a wall. The knife was up by his throat now.
He finally got a look at the girl's face—and recognition dawned.
"You!"
The black-haired girl from the Ackerman gang stared him down. "Where's my crystal?" she asked, the edge of her knife pressing against his neck, hard enough to draw a thin line of blood.
Utgard, outskirts
Readers, let us zoom out from this dusty alleyway, where Mikasa Ackerman holds a knife to Eren's throat. Imagine now we are looking down on that scene as if directly from above. Zoom further out, further out, until we can see the nearby buildings of this fishing village they call Ut-by-the-sea. Now, let us move, the camera sliding only a couple of streets to the west, until we are above the thatched, pointed roof of a tavern. The same tavern where Rico Brzenska gambles on the good faith of two strangers.
Yes, readers. The disparate parts of our story, once separated by months and miles, are now only streets and moments apart.
In the tavern with the thatched, pointed roof, Rico laid a hand on the arm of the woman next to her, and said. "I think I might be able to help you."
Sasha, Rico thought. The man had called her Sasha. The woman stared at her. For a moment they both remained shock-still.
"Who are you?" the grey-haired man asked in a cautious, low tone.
Jean. The woman's name is Sasha, and she called him Jean. Rico wasn't sure why her brain was repeating this information. She opened her mouth and tried not to stammer. "My name is Rico," she said. "I'm trying to get into Utgard."
"Sorry, think you have the wrong idea," Jean said. His voice was flat. "Maybe you misheard us."
"Wait," said Sasha. She was searching Rico's face with her eyes. "I want to hear what the lady has to say."
"Sash—" Jean started.
"Please," Rico said. She was surprised at the desperation in her voice. "I'm looking for someone, someone who's been taken. I need to get him back."
"Me too." Sasha said. She hadn't moved.
"Okay, can we at least, you know, move this conversation somewhere more private?" Jean said. A note of exasperation betrayed his calm demeanor. "At this rate, half the village is going to know we're—"
"JEAN-BOY!" a voice rang out across the tavern, booming and strident.
"Oh, great," Jean muttered.
A thick-set man with short blond hair had just entered the tavern, and was walking over towards them. He was trailed by a taller, dark-haired man who sported a bandage around his head. Both men were in military uniform, and wore the emblems of the Military Police on their jackets. Rico shrunk back against the bar-top.
"Hey, Reiner. Hey, Bertholdt," Jean said.
"Didn't expect to see you at the pub!" Reiner said, clapping a hand on Jean's soldier. "Entertaining two ladies, I see."
"Ah… yeah," Jean glanced over at Sasha and Rico. "This is my friend Sasha, we go way back. And this is, uh… Rico. We just met her. We were all just… chatting."
"Well, hope you don't mind if I join you." The blond man, Reiner, shot them a wide smile. The other one, Bertholdt, had slid onto a bar stool to their left, quiet.
"Sure, yeah," Jean said, making room. "Uh—"
"Don't let me interrupt your conversation. What were you chatting about?" Reiner asked.
Rico, so normally poised, found herself paralyzed. Maybe the stakes of the situation were finally getting to her. Think of something to say, she thought. Act normal before they get suspicious. Come on!
Luckily, Sasha was a step ahead of her. "Ah, we were just talkin' about seein' the sights. Rico and I here are just visitin', and there's not too much to do in this little village." She was speaking now with a bit more cadence, bringing out her drawl. And was she… was she batting her eyes? "Now, you look like a man who's been around the block a few times," she said to Reiner. Her hand slid across the bar counter, coming to a rest by his elbow. "Maybe you could show us around?"
Reiner swallowed, some pink rising to his cheeks.
"There's not much to do around here," he admitted. "The village is pretty small, and half the population is Marleyan—they most keep to themselves, in their own district. The fortress is nice, though. Normally, I'd show you around, but it's on lock-down."
"Oh yeah?" Sasha asked. "Why's that?"
"Eh." Reiner leaned over the counter, raising two fingers to flag the bartender. "There's a big meeting going on," he said. "Air Brigade, Garrison, Military Police. All the top brass of the Eldian miliary are meeting for the next few days."
"Reiner…" cautioned the other man, Bertholdt.
Reiner rolled his eyes. "Oh, relax, Bert. Everyone knows. It's not exactly a well-kept secret."
"And which one are you?" Sasha asked, lavender in her tone. "Air Brigade, Garrison, or Military Police? Oh, it's all so exciting. Jean's the only army man I know."
"Well…" Reiner sat up straighter. "Technically, Bert and I are members of the Military Police, like Jean here. But things are actually a bit different for us. See, most of the Military Police report to Niles Dok. But we're actually members of a separate branch, the Interior Military Police. We're independent from—"
"Reiner!" Bertholdt cut him off, indignant.
"Oh my gosh, like secret agents?" Sasha cried. She was brushing Reiner's arm now with her hand.
Reiner glanced at Bertholdt, looked back at Sasha, and after a second, said, "Yeah, I mean, sort of. Ha-ha."
"You have to tell me more," Sasha said, leaning in. She was practically draped over him. "I think secret-agent men are so attractive."
Utgard, outskirts
Eren winced against the bite of the knife. "I don't have the crystal," he said. "It's not mine, anyway."
"I know it's not yours," the girl replied. Her voice was soft but sharp, like a tea-kettle hiss. "Where's your friend? I know it's hers."
Eren laughed. Bitterness crept into his voice. "I don't know where she is anymore. She told me to get lost." Technically, she was in Utgard, but he saw no reason to tell that to the pirate.
"Hey. Mikasa," a new, but familiar voice interrupted them. Eren turned his head as much as he could manage. Levi Ackerman looked at them from the open door of the alleyway. Directly beside him on the alley wall hung a ratty, moth-eaten poster. It was a wanted poster, with Levi's name and exact likeness. "Stop messing around and get the boy inside before we're spotted," Levi said.
"Fine," Mikasa huffed. She grabbed Eren by the arm and shoved him forward, through the open door. It swung shut behind them with a clang.
"So. We meet again, brat." Levi said, staring down. His eyes were cold. In the room, sitting at benches around a table, Eren could see other pirates, maybe a dozen of them.
"I don't have your stupid crystal," said Eren.
"Yeah. I guess not." Levi shrugged. "Tie his hands," he commanded.
Eren struggled as his arms were shoved behind him, and a rope tightened around his wrists. "Get off!" he said. "I'll kill you. Once I'm out of here I'll kill all of you!"
Levi snorted. "Kill us? How are you going to do that, when you can't even protect one little girl?"
"Hey, Levi, can I keep this money?" one of the pirates asked. She was a slender, freckled woman, and she'd found the coin purse that Zeke had given him.
Levi's eyes narrowed. "Sold the girl, then, did you? Figures you'd be that type."
Eren strained against the ropes, useless. "You don't know what you're talking about!"
"They offered you money and you took it, didn't you?"
"I only left because Historia told me to!" Eren shouted, realizing too late that he'd slipped her true name. "She told me to, that's why." His voice caught.
Levi rubbed his fingers together and made a sound in the back of his throat. "Tch. I see. So you believed her, then," he said. "Do you really not get it, boy? She cut a deal to save your life."
Eren opened his mouth, then closed it. Suddenly, it was obvious.
"Yeah." Levi began walking towards the far side of the room. "Come on," he said to the others. "He's no use to us. We're wasting time here."
"Wait!" Eren said. "Where are you going?"
"Can't you guess?" Levi asked. "We're going to rescue the girl and get the crystal."
The freckled pirate cleared her throat. "So, can I have his money?" she asked again.
Levi turned, assessed Eren with those cold eyes. "No. Give it back. He sold his friend, might as well keep a few cents."
The freckled pirate grumbled, but put the coin purse back in Eren's pocket. Around the room, the other pirates were gathering their equipment, preparing to leave.
"Wait. Levi," Eren called out. His head was pounding. "You need Krista in order for the crystal to work. It's useless without her."
"Yeah, figured." Levi said. "Your point?"
"Let me help you rescue her," Eren said. "Please." Somewhere in his mind he knew he was begging a criminal, and yet. Something about the way Levi was acting was different than what he'd expected.
Levi pulled a cloak from where it hung on the wall. He gathered his bags, as the rest of the pirate crew gathered by the door. "I suppose you'll be helpful in getting the girl to cooperate," he said. "Still. If you join us, you'll become an outlaw. You know that, right? It's not an idle choice. They'll put wanted posters up for you, just as they did for me."
"I…" Eren faltered. He hadn't considered that.
Levi walked back over. He held something glinting—a knife. "Choose to do the right thing, and become a criminal. Or stand by and let evil ."
Eren looked up at him, from where he was kneeling on the floor, arms tied behind his back.
"I don't know the answer," Levi said. "I never have. Sacrifice yourself for a cause or don't, no one knows what the outcome will be. So, as much as you can… just make the decision you'll regret the least." He leaned down and cut the ropes that bound Eren's hands.
Eren got to his feet, shaky. He rubbed the tender red marks where the rope had dug into his wrists. After a moment, he knew his answer.
"I'm ready," he said. "Let me come with you. I want to rescue Krista."
