Hey all, just wanted to say that I'm not use to this website uploading system so updates may be slow. However, if you fancy reading ahead I just uploaded chapter 20 on Ao3 (Same fic name under the same username without the 1)
And an extra thank you for the reviews, likes and follows!
In the end they had decided that waiting until winter training was not feasible, they wouldn't leave for the northern training course for several months and once they were there, they would be closely watched by both the northern and southern training instructors to make sure no one wandered off into the snow and froze to death.
Armin had calculated that even if they could get a strong horse to carry them, they could travel to the Chapel and back in about 16 hours if they rode with only minimal stops. That would give them several hours to rest the horse while they infiltrate and searched the chapel and its crystal cave for the spinal fluid. If they leave on the right day and at the right time, they could complete their mission without their absence being noted.
There were three annual holidays celebrate across the walls: Maria's Remembrance, Day of the Rose and Saint Sina. On these days everyone, even the cadets, was given the day off to do as they please. Normally the 104th cadets would either visit family, spend the day in Trost or just catch up on some much-needed sleep.
The next such holiday was Maria's Remembrance, which was only a week away. This gave Armin and Mikasa time to gather the supplies needed for their mission; Armin would get food and water for the trip, along with some hooded cloaks to obscure their identities, while Mikasa had told Armin she would get the horse and a weapon.
Despite them being the most difficult things to obtain Armin didn't doubt her for a second, he had learnt long ago that when Mikasa was determined to do something, she would do it, regardless of how impossible such a thing should be for mere mortals.
The cloaks had been easy to get, he found some old, unmarked cloaks in an old storage hut. He quickly 'borrowed' them and hid under his bed. The food had been more of a challenge, food supplies were stored in a locked pantry attached to the kitchen, he decided that rather than trying his luck with sneaking in he would go to the resident expert in the 104th.
He found her, naturally walking back from the kitchen towards the girl's barracks, steamed potato in hand.
"Hey, Sasha." The grief he felt when seeing and talking to her had started to fade since they had 'returned', the knowledge that they could save her had given him hope "I have a favour to ask. You know how to get into the kitchen pantry right?"
She wiped specks of food off her mouth before unashamedly looking around making sure Shadis wasn't in earshot. "I might do, depends on what you need?" she replied with a sly smile. Armin felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards at Sasha easy go lucky behaviour "I need enough to fill this." He passed a small basket over to her Sasha.
She took the basket and looked over it, assessing how much food it could hold. "Yeah, I can do that, but on one condition." She stepped forward, leaning over him "Are you, Mr Arlert, taking someone out for a picnic?"
Armin may have been a battle-hardened soldier, he had seen death and destruction on a scale unimaginable, and yet a 12-year-old Sasha asking him if he's taking someone on a date completely breaks his composure. "W…what?! No, no I…" he stammers and splutters out, blushing like a tomato.
Sasha breaks into laughter, clutching her stomach. "Oh Armin, you're so cute when you're embarrassed. Calm down, I'm only teasing." Wiping away her tears of laughter, "I'll get you the food. When do you need it for?"
Still flustered from Sasha's teasing Armin quickly replied, "I need it for Remembrance Day."
Sasha nodded still smiling before they parted ways.
A few days later - Night before Maria's Remembrance
They could feel the excitement in the air as the other cadets prepared for their day off; Connie, Reiner and Jean had basically press-ganged/challenged Eren into joining them for a trip to Trost, to prove his manliness by seeing who can drink the most alcohol, apparently Jean knew a place where the acceptable drinking age was anyone who had cash to spend. Eren had asked them both to come along but they had declined, saying they had other things planned, this had clearly upset Eren as he had walked off in a huff.
They didn't like having to push Eren away, but everything they were doing what for him. They knew Eren wouldn't understand, he was so passionate and headstrong, if they told him the truth about the shifter trio, he would probably throw himself at them with whatever he could reach trying to kill them.
They watched him jump into the wagon leaving for Trost with heavy hearts, they didn't want to hurt him, but they knew that if he stayed at the training ground, he would notice their absence which would have led to many difficult questions being asked.
As the wagon passed through the boundary fence they turned and walked towards the boy's barracks, where they would undertake one final inventory check as they waited for the cover of night. When the sun finally dipped below the horizon, they donned their cloaks and headed towards the nearby forest, where the horse was being kept.
Mikasa climbed onto the horse and took the reins, offering a hand to help Armin up. "Ready Armin?" Armin settled behind her after securing the supplies, giving her a nod "Let's go."
Several hours later
They had ridden mostly in silence; only stopping once to switch positions giving Mikasa a chance to rest from guiding the horse. The gravity of the situation was immense, if they succeeded in this, it would be the first step in changing the future for the better.
While the silence wasn't awkward or oppressive Armin still felt the need to break it, he needed to ask a question which had been on his mind for a while.
"Mikasa," he said softly "we need to talk about what we are going after we get the fluid. Before we go after the traitors, we need to decide who will inherit their powers?"
Mikasa didn't reply immediately, he hadn't expected her to, after all, he had basically asked her who was going to inherit a 13-year long death sentence.
Armin looked over his shoulder at her seeing her staring at the moonlit sky clearly deep in thought, the quiet of the night only disturbed by the horse's galloping.
In a quiet, slow voice she eventually answered "We will. We are the only ones strong enough."
He knew what she meant; they would have to plot, murder, assassinate and lie. They would have to abandon their very humanity to save the people they loved.
Armin hadn't been surprised, he had also come to that conclusion, but he had wanted to know what she thought.
Swallowing the lump in his throat he asked, "You know what that means right, what we would have to do and what we would give up?" his tone wasn't dissuasive or accusatory, he just wanted to make sure she understood what they would be doing.
Slowly, she looked away from the night sky and looked directly at Armin.
"When we found out about the curse, after Shiganshina, I was distraught. No matter how hard I fought, how many people or titans I killed, I wouldn't be able to keep you and Eren save. You were both going to die and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I would have lost my family for the third time."
She was quiet for a few moments before she started again "Even if we do everything right; stopping the traitors, defeating Marley and finally achieving peace, Eren will still die."
"Even after what he said to me, to us, I can't imagine a future without him by our side or ours at his."
Armin saw a pained smile peak above her scarf, "Hannes told us we would always be at his side, always there for him even when he didn't want us to be. He was right, we should be at his side, no matter what."
"Even to the end."