"I'm merely of the opinion that it isn't tastier."
"Humph." Which roughly translated to; 'I respectfully disagree'. Grisha checked the landmark and moved even further into the unpatrolled area that most likely housed the rebel hideout. He'd been to Quinta before and pretending that he was checking on an old patient was the perfect excuse to get as close to the rebels as possible. Beside him Miche's eyes scanned shadow and ruin, his nose sniffing away every second. He grasped Grisha's arm and a pair of hooded forms came from their side. No doubt they'd been hoping to flank them. One of them removed his hood and raised his hands innocously.
"You must be the Survey Corps. You will have heard a great many things about me, they're not all true."
Grisha looked straight at him," We'll judge that for ourselves, Mathias Kramer."
"Incredible, so we're not really the last of humanity are we Erwin?"
"No sir, we are merely the last free remnants of that race." Commander Erwin Smith carefully considered the man in front of him as he turned the impossible painting (photograph it was called) in different directions. Premier Dhalis Zachary handed the picture back to Erwin and sighed,
"And what do you think our next step should be if this is all true? Beg the royalty to see reason?"
"Actually sir, it seems I neglected to mention another important fact."
"About our dear king? Please go on."
"It seems the king before our eyes is a mere puppet for-"
"Reiss? You were about to say Reiss weren't you?" Zachary interjected. Erwin tried, he really tried, not to show the dread on his face, if Zachary was in bed with the government, then Erwin had left himself unprotected to spill everything he knew.
"Don't be so surprised." Zachary laughed, misinterpreting the dread on Erwin's face for shock. "You mustn't forget I'm Premier of all four branches not just the scouts. The disappearance of a noble family is expected by their ilk to be as of equal import to me as the Breach. Not to mention I appear before the Assembly far more than you have to." His face tightened.
"If any one noble family has the power to tell me the decisions of the king without asking the napping fool then of course I'd expect them to be the royal pigs of the mud." Zachary's voice trembled in anger and his teeth grit beneath his lips. He released his remaining irritation in a breath.
"Report any other findings to me discreetly and try to keep the Jaegers under wrap. And send me a summary of those journals too." Zackly stood up from the empty bench in the courtyard. And he trudged back to his office as though they'd had no greater talk than the next expedition. What a year it was turning out to be.
Hange tossed another wad of paper into the fireplace considering Eren's newest proposal. A weapon based, as he so claimed, on the memories of a long passed inheritor of his titan that would allow them to pierce the armored titan.
"Our cannons had no effect on him, Eren." Hange had gently tried to explain struggling with the baskets of mattress stuffing for the glass decanters, flasks and ampoules of whatever medicine their good doctor had seen fit to stockpile in the basement.
"No, but that was a far range! What I'm telling you was close- it was in contact!" Eren was probably getting agitated that she wasn't taking his 'memory' seriously and why would she? Cannons fired at a close range didn't magically triple in effectiveness. Moblit had cleared his throat at her and looked over his boxes at Eren,
"Explain it again." He said.
"So, there was this mountain fort and back then even though they had cannons, none of it was getting through the Armored and he was charging at them."
"Wait, the armored titan, was 'charging' up a mountain?" Moblit asked.
"The fort wasn't that high up and I guess the mountain wasn't steep. It doesn't matter they're titans! Anyway, this shifter wasn't creative and he just rammed headfirst into the fort to bring it down."
"So, let me cut in here, this fort made to withstand titans and invasion was above the ground and the cannons supposed to shoot down the invaders below them were on top of the fort? Wouldn't that reduce their range?" Hange asked.
"I don't know! I'm just trying to fill in the blanks this is part of a memory from years ago! I'm almost done. So he brought down part of the fort and the guy manning one of the cannons up top just managed to fire it as his cannon slid against the back of the titan! It blew his back open!" He waved his hands around as they walked through Shiganshina, the air filled with the smell of ash and slight decomposition. Levi and Erwin who were also carrying boxes of Doctor Jaeger's maps and medicines behind them listened silently to their young shifter's tale.
"And why exactly is this all that you remember from that guy? Nothing else that's useful?" Levi asked, regarding Eren skeptically.
"It was the greatest thing my predecessor had ever seen! Seeing the armored get wrecked by the fort they were supposed to walk over! It scared him to death! Well not really." He finished weakly after Erwin cocked an eyebrow. When he looked down Erwin wordlessly signaled them to stop walking. Moblit started and gave a pointed look at the already brightening sky. Erwin glanced at him in acknowledgement and turned to face Eren;
"Would memories have anything to do with your outburst downstairs?"
"Or that whole 'I've won' thing that you did?" Levi added
"Oh. Well, uh, it wasn't me? It was me but Mr. Kruger-"
"Your father's direct predecessor?" Erwin gently prodded.
"Yeah him! His- uh- goal was to take the founding titan out of the hands of the Reiss family so I guess he was happy or something?"
"And your fake seizure?" Levi asked.
Sheesh
She wasn't going to say it but Levi could really learn to be easy with his words. Of course that was part of the charm.
"I felt his emotions and a bit of his pain when he was eaten by my dad…"
"That must have been painful. Levi will escort you home when we drop this off with Hange's squad. Farewell Eren." And without waiting for a reply Erwin walked around them to join the scouts waiting outside. Eren turned to Hange.
"Well what if it was something scouts could carry along with their gear and maybe stick it into the armored titan before it blows, like impaling him?"
"Like a lance or a spear huh? I'll think about it." And she had left him standing there.
What a wild imagination children have these days
"And this is the same Mikasa I've been training?" Levi asked.
"Yup!" Eren answered cheerfully.
"Drop the fake happiness act. It ain't gonn- going to get you any favors. I had my suspicions about it during training when she kept flipping you like a wet egg, always apologizing after."
"And one of my predecessors definitely remembers being afraid that the Ackerman guards would come for him. What could scare a titan shifter before ODM Gear was even conceived?"
"How reassuring." If Levi did in fact belong to this family then it would make sense why he was how he was, why Kenny came back.
If we're all one family could Kenny be my- Hell no. I got it from my mom, He's likely a cousin or some uncle of hers
"You are right about an awakening. Don't ask for details. Explains why her dad got shanked like an old woman when his family was being killed beside him."
"What a waste."
"Of lives, Sir?"
Of Potential
Growing tired of the conversation, Levi ignored him and urged his horse forward trailing closely after the formation in front of them keeping an eye for any titans they might have missed.
By the time Wall Rose was in sight, Levi was once grateful for Erwin's foresight. Having them ride directly behind the formation protected them from running into titans. And the flares were still visible at this range to allow them maneuver safely. The horses would be picked up by Hange Squad who'd ask no questions and do as they were told. Hange Squad came with a covered wagon and asked no questions on seeing Eren outside the Walls despite the suspicion in their faces. They eased them into the Wagon and rejoined the others to enter the wall.
Eren was once again quiet and pensive as they took a coach back to Ehrmich. Levi left him to stew in his own thoughts till he had enough courage to say what he wanted.
"So, uh your name would probably be Levi Ackerman, right?"
"And?"
"Is it alright if Mikasa came to live with you?" Levi was not expecting that. Now just why would he think it a brilli-
Family. She's your family. And she's way too attached to this rascal.
Levi shook his head, was he really so desperate for family that a ten year old kid could get into his mind so fast. He had family, and even if they kept trading jokes about cleanliness they had all shed blood together, Titan or otherwise. Still…
"That's not our decision to make." At that Eren looked down and finally shut up. Levi only made sure he entered the house.
After the exhausting hours of riding, he took a coach back to Wall Rose. Not Trost or any Walled City. Erwin had been kind enough to give him more than enough funds to choose their home and Levi certainly wasn't going to settle for living within walls. His home was on the edge of a quiet village. She'd insisted he get a double floor for some reason and standing under the window of his house he could see why. The view of the fields was nice from up high. He realized he was loitering in front of his own door and after the second maddest day of his life he finally arrived home.
"I'm home." He called out.
"Welcome back, Big brother."
A/N: Well that's my first plot twist. You may notice that Hange in Chapter 5 says that she saw Levi's first abnormal put up a better fight than Grisha, well if you watched A Choice with no Regrets, you'd know that Hange was not there. Well, in this canon-divergence Farlan and Isabel are alive! There are other smaller hints I dropped like in the last chapter. Try and hunt them down and watch for the other plot twists coming up!
Looking forward to that Bright Dawn!