A/N: Morning, afternoon, or evening folks, back here with another chapter for you guys. Definitely a shorter one this time around but I hope you guys enjoy it all the same. The feedback from last chapter being the start of the action in Trost was incredible so I hope I can follow it up half as decently. Either way enjoy and I'll see you next time. ~Scipias
CHAPTER 13 – THE BATTLE FOR TROST: UNEASE
Unflinching. Composed. Steady.
To Mikasa Ackerman the physical aspects of soldiering came to her as easy as breathing, the cold fire that had ignited long ago within her continuing to burn despite the situation. The teen's body flew down the main avenue of the district of Trost, an unnatural grace about it as she passed members of the Garrison's Elite squad, soldiers who by all rights should have been more capable than her. This did not trouble the girl though as she shot one of the hooks of her ODM gear into the shoulder of an abnormal titan quickly bearing down on the mass of people trying to escape through the rear gate of the city. Mikasa reeled into the beast at breakneck speed and without a second thought sliced into the abnormal's nape with a clean and precise strike, riding the titans falling corpse as gravity took it to the street floor. One more step closer to finishing this day, to getting back to Eren, her family. That was her main focus, but given the crazed events of the day, that wasn't the only thing on her mind.
Those thoughts would have to wait though, the massive crowd of Trost's populace now staring at the girl in awe having momentarily forgotten their dire predicament.
"What are you looking at?" Mikasa asked generally to the crowd.
A loud single reply came from the rear of the formation where the head of the 104th's class saw a troubling site. A large, covered wagon, filled to the brim with who knows what, blocked the gate and thus the only thing stopping this throng of innocent people from escaping this bloodbath. In front of the blockage stood a middle-aged man, flanked by another two younger looking adults, the former being the source of the reply.
"Good timing!" the balding man bellowed, "Order them to help us! I'll make it worth your while!"
The black-haired girl couldn't believe the gall of this man, the apparent owner of the wagon.
"My comrades are dying…" she uttered a reply, "…They're dying fighting titans because the evacuation isn't complete."
"As it should be!" the man didn't budge an inch, "It's your duty to give your hearts to protect the lives and property of the citizens! After a century of freeloading, don't go sounding so high and mighty!"
The balding mans response did not sit well with Mikasa as the girl jumped down from the decaying titan, the crowd clearing a path for the soldier as she approached the man. She had had enough.
"Someone who feels it's natural for people to die to save others will surely understand…" she announced loud enough for the crowd to hear, "How sacrificing one precious life can save many."
The two younger men flanking the culprit, identified now as his bodyguards went to block their master who cockily spat out an "I dare you! Your boss and I go back a long way! I could have you busted just by joking about it!"
Mikasa continued her approach, not fazed by the man's threats or the charging of his two cronies who she easily dispatched with the blunt ends of her still unsheathed blades.
"Dead men don't talk…" she replied coldly raising her blade to the man's throat.
The man almost uttered a semblance of a response before the girl noticed his eyes track quickly to something behind her. A moment later she sensed another man rushing her from behind, most likely one of the bodyguards from before who'd manage to get up. Mikasa barely had time to turn her head towards the assailant who seemed to have a glint resembling a knife in his hand before she saw another figure appear from the crowd cutting off the man's approach. With one smooth and steady motion the figure, barely shorter than herself, used speed and momentum to quickly flip the assailant over them and onto the ground. The figure, with a mess of black hair, didn't follow the man to the ground instead isolating his weapon bearing arm from a standing position using a precise twist of the appendage to cause enough pain for the man to drop the knife into the figures waiting hand.
"Dimo…" the figure spoke with a coarse yet feminine tone, "you had to pick today of all days to be a complete dick, didn't you?"
"Schmidt!" the man said still in shock, "What the hell are you doing! I'll ruin you for this!"
Mikasa perked up at the mention of the surname of her comrade, the girls brief suspicion proving true when Rhia Schmidt turned to face her the man she still had at sword point. She had only met the woman once, briefly when they had visited Trost for a training exercise about a year back, but the likeness was uncanny. Minus the nose and the color of her eyes, Rhia Schmidt had many of the same facial features as her son despite being significantly more feminine in nature.
"Then maybe I'll just let her kill you…" the older woman nodded to Mikasa darkly as she approached the man now identified as Dimo, "Or maybe she'd be so kind as to let me do the honors…" Rhia fiddled with the goon's knife, a devilish smile adorning her face as she softly tapped the weapon near Dimo's private area.
The balding man, who now looked dangerously close to pissing himself blurted out a muffled, "Pull back the cart!" to his associate.
…
The deed was done with a breakneck pace, and as soon as the cart cleared the entranceway, the thralls of people rushed through the gate to safety eagerly forgetting the recent exchange. After graciously receiving praise from a woman and her daughter which provided a small bit of pride and joy to the black-haired girl, Mikasa spotted Lukas's mother speaking with another older woman near to the gate. Wanting to thank the person who sought to help her when no one else in that crowd did, she approached.
"They're strong boys, I'm sure they'll be fine" Mikasa heard Rhia mention to the other woman before taking notice of her approach, "Now go, I'll meet you on the other side here in a moment."
The other woman nodded at Rhia's statement, taking a moment to give Mikasa a thankful nod before walking through the threshold of the gate. The older woman, sporting a mess of black hair styled into a bun, turned to her with a smile.
"Thank you dear…" the woman spoke first, "first and foremost for killing that beast but also damn near giving ol' Dimo a heart attack. Fucker sure as hell deserved it…"
Mikasa gave the woman a quiet nod of approval at her statement, "Thank you…" she replied softly, "for stepping in when you did."
"Not a problem, not a problem…" the older woman held out her hand, "Rhia Schmidt."
The black-haired girl reciprocated the gesture, "You're Lukas's mother?"
"Yes…I knew I recognized you…" Rhia nodded approvingly then turning somber, "I'd hate to bother you, seeing as I just met you but…was he alright when you last saw him?"
The class leader of the 104th thought back to only a couple hours before. Had the situation of the day been any less a chaotic hell, the fact that her comrade had seemingly had a nasty physical reaction forewarning of the colossal titan breaking through the wall would have been forefront in her mind. Even despite her worry for the common people, her comrades, and most especially Eren and Armin, that image of Lukas writhing on the ground haunted the back of her mind. This wasn't because the display scared her necessarily, although it had been strange and she did care about Lukas as he was an exceptional comrade and pleasant person despite a couple spats the teen had had with Eren; no, the scene had haunted her because it seemed familiar. Although Lukas's reaction was nye completely different from the one Mikasa had experienced as a child, the fact that there was a reaction at all, something that completely infused the body with some sort of foreign feeling struck home with the girl. Mikasa didn't know if the teen's mother would understand it if she explained it to her, or if it would even make sense coming out of her own mouth, but the black-haired girl felt that it was Rhia's right, as Lukas's mother to know.
"Right before the break in…" Mikasa started slowly, the older woman looking up at her, "Lukas had this sort of reaction…"
The girl paused for a moment trying to find her words, Rhia patiently waiting for her to continue.
"His body was almost convulsing, and he seemed to be in a lot of pain…" the black-haired girl added, "Lukas mentioned that something horrible was about to happen as if his body had been warning him. It couldn't have been long after that that the wall was broken into and he seemed to recover after that."
Mikasa didn't know what the woman's reaction would be as the two stood there in silence for what seemed to be a very long moment. For the longest time, Rhia Schmidt had her head down seemingly contemplating the words the girl had just told her, when finally, the former looked back up to her.
She sighed, "Dear, have you ever felt completely helpless to help someone that matters the world to you?"
Mikasa looked somberly downward, "Yes…" she replied, the feeling actually being one she was currently feeling.
"You'd make a good mother then…" Rhia gave a small weak smile, "A few months after Wall Maria fell, a rampant disease started spreading like wildfire throughout Trost. No one knew where it came from but since the district was so inundated with refugees it started infecting and killing a lot of people."
The girl listened as the prideful woman struggled through her story.
"Lukas ended up catching it and he was bedridden for days. His father was away for work, so I was at my boy's bedside day and night…not that I wanted to be anywhere else. He is my only son, my sweet boy, and when his health didn't improve, and the doctor said there was a slight chance of him living I was beside myself like any mother would be."
Rhia paused, wiping some moisture from her eyes and continued, "I'm not one for believing in a higher power, those loonies in Sina can hug the walls all they want, but damn if I wasn't praying to them and anyone else who would listen. I don't know if it was that or my son's will to live or…something else and I don't really care…"
Mikasa caught the almost miniscule pause in the woman's voice before the latter continued.
"…All I know is that Lukas started to get better and that there are some things, some things we can't understand and somethings we can't really help." The woman glanced up, "no matter how much we try…"
The girl reflected briefly on the mother's words, they seemed rushed but no less insightful. Rhia Schmidt seemed to be wise if not a bit abrasive but at the end of the day gave the impression of a caring parent and reminded the black-haired girl of both her own mother and her adopted one.
"So, I figure Lukas is somewhere out there holding his own?" the elder Schmidt questioned her.
"To my knowledge yes…" Mikasa quietly replied.
Rhia nodded at that, an odd mix of anxiety and pride adorning her older features, "And that person who matters the world to you?" she questioned, "Is he out there?"
The black-haired girl looked down almost embarrassed, "Yes…"
The older woman gave a small chuckle, "Always a boy…"
"He's family…" Mikasa replied almost instinctually.
The girl still looking down felt a soft hand on her shoulder, "If I might be so bold to give you some advice…" Rhia posited, "You can care and worry about people all you want, but make sure to care about yourself occasionally too because at the end of the day those people will follow their own paths whether you want them too or not."
Once again Mikasa was struck with another question to ponder and as she reflected on the older woman's words her hand unconsciously started to rise to her scarf as it was like to do in these situations. As it did though, it brushed up against a thin object presently residing in her breast pocket, her fingers immediately registering the piece of paper that she had forgotten was folded up in said pocket at the moment.
"Also…" Rhia Schmidt unknowingly startled the girl out of her thoughts, "If you happen to see Jean Kirschtein, let him know his mom made it out of the city ok…"
"Oh, ok…" Mikasa replied, oblivious to the slightest hint of red gracing her cheeks, "Should I not tell Lukas you're ok as well?"
"Don't worry too much about that…" the older woman answered, "He should know that already, and if he doesn't Jeanie-Weanie will tell him."
Mikasa nodded, allowing an internal chuckle on this horrible day as she thought about her comrade's nickname. As she was about to turn around though, the older woman spat out one final topic.
"How rude of me!" she exclaimed, "I never caught your name dear?"
The girl let out a small smile, walking away "Mikasa…Mikasa Ackerman."
Mikasa shot out back down the street not hearing the final words the mother had to say.
"Ackerman? Hey, I know an Ackerman!"
…
"Rhia…what's that vial…what did you do?!"
"Danny…the doctor said that Lukas would die!"
"Where did you get that vial Rhia?"
"What are you talking about! I got it from the doctor!"
"DON'T LIE TO ME! I've seen both doctors in the city and with the military treat people for the plague, no one had anything like that! Please don't tell me you feed our son some snake oil potion!
"NO! It's nothing like that! This will make him better! It has too!
…
"LUKAS!" a scream fast approaching the teen brought him back to his senses, his eyes not closed but his sight focusing back to a normal level.
The black-haired teen looked down at his hands, he held the controls to his ODM gear with blades attached, and both his blades and hands had spackles of steaming blood on them. His heart raced as he noticed the appendages start to shake slightly, not of any special feeling now but of fear and confusion. Lukas attempted to control himself when he glanced to the side to see the steaming decaying remains of a titan on the street next to him, the 10-meter he had prevented from catching Connie and Marco not moments before, the one that had been at least a block down the street from last he remembered. Did he blackout, and if he did, how did he seemingly kill a titan? The teen should've felt jubilant, even triumphant, but all he felt now was confused…and scared.
"Lukas, that was incredible!" the sound of Connie behind him broke the teen out of his trance as he turned around, "Your first titan kill!"
"Yeah…" Marco spoke from beside the shorter teen, "Good thing it got distracted for some reason! Gave you just enough time to finish it!"
"Yeah…just enough time…" Lukas mumbled a reply looking down at the ground.
"What the hell is happening to me?"