I gave him an incredulous eye over my shoulder as he finished speaking. My mind whirled from the multiple crazy things that just came out of his mouth.

"A maze of ice pillars? A hidden cavern? Some ancient Titan sacrificing ritual? Do you hear yourself Levi?" I scoffed and turned back to the road.

"Hanji did most of that type of research. It fits with the situation at the moment, Rina." Levi leaned in closer, pressing against my backside. Just that action has enough to show that the situation was desperate. "Kenny and his group are there and are willing to kill us to get what they want. Word has spread that the Corps are innocent, but only within the cities and districts. Nothing would have gotten out to here yet so we're still on the wanted list."

"On the wanted dead list." I corrected. "But we'll be still going in blind and surely they're expecting us. They'll shoot us the second we rush through the door."

"Which is why we roll the barrels in first. The second their eyes are off, we barge in. Sasha and Armin give us the cover to get off the ground. Steve watches our backs in case of an attack from behind and keeps the escape route open. The rest of us clear out the cavern. With the smoke covering their line of sight, our 3DMG gives us the advantage. I've already explained what Armin noted as the ODM's weaknesses."

"Mono-directional and slow in reloading. Smart kid."

"So are you in?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I'm in. You're growing soft if you're suddenly asking to make sure I'm fine with a plan, Ackermann."

"We have no way of knowing how this is going to go. I fucking hate this feeling." His hands gripped my sides tighter. A hint of a smile quirked my lips and I let go of the reins with one hand, reaching back and patting his hand reassuringly.

"If it makes you feel any better, I have your back."

"Captain! Chapel ahead!" called Sasha.

We disembark on the chapel grounds, guards up. We knew that the MP were just waiting for us, the question was – when were they expecting us to barge in? Levi instructed for the team to prepare for the ambush and they began rolling the barrels off the cart. Signalling to myself and Hanji, the three of us took a tour of the rebuilt chapel. As expected, inside was dark, damp and terribly empty. There was only a single row of wooden benches at the front, facing the small alter at the head of the chapel. Apart from a tiny mosaic window, nothing else decorated the space.

"And they used to gather and pray here?" I murmured, eyes roaming the place. Creepy.

"I agree, it's the perfect place for a secret entrance to some giant Titan-made cavern!" Hanji exclaimed with glee, throwing her arms out wide. Her voice echoed through the silence. "Who would have thought that Humanity's demise was kept under a chapel of all things?!"

I casually stepped away from her, shooting her a sidelong look. "Clearly, we're not even on the same book, let alone the same page."

"Shut up and start looking for anything suspicious. We need to get Eren and Historia out before anything happens." Levi scowled at the both of us.

I nodded in acknowledgement and wandered the chapel floor, kicking up the stones as I went. With it only being a small family chapel, there were only two further rooms branching off from the main hall. Bracing myself with one sword out, I broke the doorknob off one and kicked the wooden door open. It opened into what seemed like a study. Although, it was incredibly sparse. One desk, one bookshelf and one lantern hanging from the wall. Deciding to check the desk drawers, I cautiously moved forward. Hanji's voice filtered in from outside.

"Levi, what I told you was a theory. Wall Rose forbid, but what if-"

"Urgh!" I yelled and promptly tripped over the unseen rug on the floor. I was sent sprawling over the desk, somehow knocking all the drawers open and sending their contents raining over me. If the desk itself had not been pushed against the wall, I would have taken it down with me.

"Hazura!" Levi rushed into the room, crouching by my side as I groaned. "Are you hurt?"

"Only my pride." I slowly pushed myself onto my knees and rubbed a hand over my face. "What in the world did I trip on?"

"A trapdoor. Apparently." Hanji answered. I whirled around, and sure enough, a wooden square door had been cut into the ground, with a simple black handle attached to one side.

"Not exactly the most creative hiding spot." Levi muttered and carefully creaked open the hatch, sliding one of his blades in. Tilting it at a specific angle, he got a glimpse of what was inside before gently closing the trapdoor again. His face said it all.

"Hanji was right, from what I could glimpse, the floor was of Titan glass. Also, it's lit up like it's the King's damn coronation. With all the lights, we won't have a problem seeing. However, they won't either. We go in as planned and then wait for my call for any changes."

With a nod, we split up to get ready. I headed out for Steve and caught him tying up his horse with the rest of our transport, hidden in some trees nearby.

"Steve." I called and joined him under the leaves.

"Leader Hazura." He teased. I rolled my eyes.

"You know what you're doing?"

"Of course." He grinned and tapped his chest lightly. "You can count on me."

I smiled. "I know I can. I just want to make sure you're okay with this. Do you need someone else to help you? I feel uneasy without anyone purely watching your back."

He chuckled and patted me on my shoulder assuredly.

"I'll be fine. Besides, I won't be too far from Armin and Sasha. You watch the Captain's back. I'm sure only you can keep up with him." He nudged his elbow into my side and gave me a wink. I instantly blushed and smacked him hard on the back of the head.

"I take back my words of worry for you." And dramatically stalked off, hiding my own smile as he howled in laughter. That idiot would be fine.

As we headed back to the chapel, everyone else was already in place. Hanji held the latch, twitching to rip it open and send her brilliant barrel bombs down the runway. I easily grabbed my weapons and unsheathed them from my hips, flicking my head at Levi.

"Apologies for the delay. Let's roll?"

He eyed the opening. "Let's go."