Hello my lovely readers! I welcome you to Chapter 86 (can you BELIEVE IT?!) of the tales of Squad Leader Rina Hazura! As always, thank you so much for reading this far and enjoying it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also again, apologies for the inconsistent updates - life is going to be life :D I love all your views, follows, favourites and reviews - keep them coming! As a very late afterthought, I will most likely begin replying to such reviews to let you guys know that I am alive ahahaha
And as always,
Enjoy!
As I watched the last of Levi's squad disappear into the tiny hidden hole, my group began to trudge out way back to the entrance. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a ways to go – up the rest of the slope, out of the chapel and far away enough in case the whole thing goes down. With Steve and Armin hoisting Hanji on each of her sides, we slowly made our way through the crumbling cavern.
"Do you think they'll be all right, Rina?" wheezed Hanji, wincing with every step we took. I led them from the front, both weapons out in case we ran into trouble.
"Let's hope so. That Titan did not sound good, by all means. Besides, they're a talented group of soldiers, I'm sure they will find a way out before shit goes down."
I smiled bravely, despite a nagging thought in the back of my mind repeating the worst.
Still stumbling along, we soon made it to the original entrance and pulled our way out and into the chapel room. Out here, the earthquake was even more obvious, with the wooden benches rattling in their places and the stone walls beginning to crumble. Dust rained down on us and tiny rocks started to fly out from the walls.
"Watch your step here. Follow me and I'll keep an eye out for falling debris." I winked over my shoulder, trying to keep the atmosphere light.
"Hazura, in front of you!"
I grunted and instinctively swung back around, my blade arcing through the air. My eyes registered the last few seconds of an MP standing right in front of me before the body swayed and he fell onto his backside. Blood slowly oozed from the massive cut I had inflicted, dyeing the white uniform red. I calmed my racing heart, taking in deep breaths.
"Let's go. The thought of being crushed to death is not pleasing." I grunted and stepped around the body.
"That's what you're worried about?" teased Steve and we continued to struggle out. The ground rocked beneath our feet and a deep crack startled us all into a jog. It was only when we reached the edge of the chapel grounds did the floor give way. I shrieked as my balance left me sprawling on my stomach. Armin, Hanji and Steve also fell into a pile right behind me. A deep echoing sound rumbled through the area and we turned back to see the most horrifying vision ever to scar our minds.
Out of the giant sink hole in the ground, rose a colossal skeletal spine, rapidly being surrounded by the usual Titan muscle. Steam continued to rise from the depths, giving the entire spectacle something worth a horror play. As the four of us watched in terror, the bones began to curve and within a few seconds, shockingly transformed into a massive rib cage.
My heart was pounding in my own chest, almost hard enough to break through. As I mentally panicked, a ghastly long Titan limb ascended into the sky, before slamming its palm on a patch of trees several metres away, easily crushing them into dust. The ground shook from the sheer impact. This was followed by another boom and to my disgust, the humungous body shifted forward.
"Impossible…it's dragging itself along the ground." Hanji murmured, before coughing in pain.
"Oh, fuck." I swore, realising she was right. Two more limbs emerged from what once the chapel and heaved the rest of the gigantic body from the hole. We watched in a mixture of shock and dread as the hulk of a Titan began to slowly make its' way into the wilderness.
"Eren! Mikasa!"
At the yell, I spotted young Armin struggling to his feet. I leapt onto my own and grabbed onto his arm.
"It's too dangerous, Armin!" I shouted over the noise, "We need to get out of range – the Titan sets fire to everything it touches!"
"But inside-!"
My grip tightened considerably. Levi was in there, along with the rest of his squad.
"I don't like it anymore than you do but what use is it if there's no one to help them once they come up?"
The blonde freezes, still staring at the steaming hole in front of us.
"Once the steam dies down, we'll go in and see what we can do. In the meantime, we have to get out of here and to a safer spot in case reinforcements arrive."
With another tug, I pulled him back to Hanji and we all lifted her up. She moaned in pain but bit her lip to prevent more noises. With that size of a Titan crawling out like the dead, the MP were the least of my problems now. With a flick of my head, we moved out towards the horses together.
"How do you know reinforcements are coming?" Armin questioned, still anxious.
"Hanji would have let the Commander know her destination. Once he's freed, Commander Erwin would be out of the Walls in no time. Besides, if a giant, steaming, glowing Titan isn't enough of a survival flare – I don't know what is."
"The Walls don't stand a chance against something that big."
I gritted my teeth.
"I know. Hopefully Commander Erwin figures something out."
It felt like a full hour before Armin and I decided to approach what remained of the chapel grounds. It was now all a pile of rubble and dirt which had fallen in, to fill the hole that the Titan had emerged from.
"Take the left, Armin. I'll take the right. Keep searching the rubble until we can find a loose spot!"
"Yes sir!" and he flew off, determined. Smiling in amusement, I turned my own attentions to the rocks and dirt and began ploughing through it. Unfortunately, a lot of places were still too hot to touch, steam still lingering heavily in the area. I resorted to randomly kicking whatever stones came in my way and if the earth moved, then there was a chance it was loose enough to dig through. Fifteen more minutes passed and no luck. I paused, rubbing my forehead as the worry built up.
Until Armin's relived voice cut through the silence.
"Conny! Sasha!"
"Where?!" I frantically searched for Armin and spied his mop of blonde hair in the distance. My feet sprinted me over to him in no time and I grabbed one of Conny's arms as he tried to pull the rest of his body out. Heaving, we eventually collapsed onto flat land and the dirt crumbled away to reveal a small crevice. Looking further down, a maze of criss-crossed Titan ice layered the space.
What the hell?
"Are you guys all right?" Armin questioned, worry still evident on his face. Sasha nodded and brushed away the excess soil in her hair.
"We're all okay. Eren managed to create some spooky crystal cage and saved us from all the falling debris."
My eyes widened and I moved my gaze back to the mysterious crystal labyrinth.
"That's all Eren?"
"Yeah. Now that we need to go back in and let the others know how to get out." Conny stood up and stretched, preparing himself. "Thanks for helping us out."
I waved a dismissive hand.
"I'm just glad everyone's alive."
The two cadets jumped back down and Armin raced to the horses to spread the good news. Alone for a few minutes, I took in a few deep breaths and found my eyes wet. As the silent tears ran down my face, I gingerly wiped them away.
Why was I crying?
More streamed down my cheeks and I pressed my head against my arm. A massive wave of relief swept over me and it was then that it hit me. We had faced a small army of MPs and survived the creation of what had to be the largest Titan of all time. Bruised, battered and in Hanji's case, severely hurt but alive. The worry for the immediate safety of my fellow soldiers lifted off my shoulders and even with a huge Titan burning the world to flames, I could breathe a little more easy.
"Oi, Hazura."
Gasping, I looked down at the crevice and was met with the shade of gray I was longing for. Levi stared up at me, an eyebrow raised.
"Are you helping me out of this shithole or not?"
This pulled a smile out of me and I reached down, grasping tightly onto his arm. Yanking him out, I quickly surveyed him over.
"Are you hurt? Broken bones?"
Levi shook his head.
"No. Are you?"
"No, fit as a fiddle."
We fell silent and quietly appreciated the fact that we were both unhurt. My fingers instinctively buried themselves further into his sleeve, pulling at the fabric.
"Eren!"
Armin's relieved exclamation broke our moment.
"Go check on Hanji." I suggested, "We'll pull the rest of them up and then you'll give us the story."
The Corporal nodded in acknowledgement. I turned back to pulling the cadets out while Levi went to check on Hanji. If Levi was anything like me, I already knew what we would do next.
We would be going after that big ass Titan with a vengeance.