Kenny Ackerman barged into the royal office.
"What is up with you people not knocking?" Frieda angrily asked, while looking up at the man.
"Just droppin' here to tell you they've finally come…" the old captain exclaimed, trying to catch his breath.
"What?!" The queen jolted up, as if a current ran through her "so soon?"
"Ya know…" Kenny started with a small smile "five years isn't really soon…"
This report was something that most of the MPs dreaded, ever since they've found out about Marley. To think that they've come here at last, was extremely frightening, since they still didn't know much about their enemy.
"Where?" Frieda simply asked, before walking up to the older man.
"Down south, an airship was sighted" the old Ackerman exclaimed "they're heading towards Ragako, and they are several hours from there…"
This was partially good news. A single airship meant that there would be no mass invasion, and their mission was most likely supposed to be one of recon nature.
"I'll get there first" the queen exclaimed, before running past him, out of the room.
The chaos that ensued within the capital after that news broke was beyond comprehension. The policemen were running around, relaying orders, the engineers were hurriedly starting up the airships and even regular civilians could soon notice that something was going on.
"The titans have attacked wall Rose!" The heralds yelled everywhere across the city "the military policemen will be launching a counterattack shortly! Please, do not panic!"
Panic was the word that was very fitting in regard to the state of the interior right now. People were looking for shelter, the soldiers were readying themselves, and only one Kenny Ackerman was relatively calm.
You could say that this was all due to his past in the underground. The violent environment of the criminal circles, the MPs lurking everywhere to cut him down and literally no person of trust could drive anyone crazy.
'But not an Ackerman' he thought to himself, as he was walking to the hangar.
The queen rushed out of the palace earlier, and he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do right now. Of course, she told him that he was in charge, but what exactly did she mean by that?
The Ackermans were a very important family within the walls. Being immune to the mind control provided them with a lot of counterplay against the power of the coordinate. Essentially, he would serve the government and Frieda, yet Kenny never truly gave up on his lifegoal.
'Hope the others are fine…' he thought about the other members of his bloodline, as he was approaching the queen, standing next to the airship which appeared almost ready to fly.
"Never liked those" Kenny exclaimed, watching the build hover above the ground "too much wobbling…"
"Do you need anything?" Frieda asked in an annoyed voice.
The man scratched his head at that. She really seemed on edge today, for some reason.
"Nothin' really" he replied.
"You know what to do" the woman spoke, before stepping her foot onto the ladder.
Suddenly, she turned around to face him.
"Actually, I may just tell you right now…"
Kenny widened his eyes at her action. Just what on earth was she talking about?
"I think you've earned it by being so loyal to me" Frieda continued "there is no way that your dream would be fulfilled."
"Huh?"
"Relax, I know all about it. If you had taken my power, the only thing that would result in it would be you not being able to use it, as only the members of the royal bloodline can utilize the coordinate."
"What the…?"
But this was the moment that the airship would take off. As he was dully looking at the flying machine, void was the only thing that filled his mind.
Could this be true? Was that dream of his, really impossible? Frieda seemed to be sure of that. And even though he didn't really trust her, she would never lie to him. If this was some inside knowledge of the Reiss family, then basically, for the last few years, he had been making a fool out of himself.
While other people around him were running for their lives, Kenny was slowly walking back to the palace. With his dream crushed, there really was nothing else for him. It turned out that this new lifestyle that he had given so much effort into was no better than his past.
It wasn't Uri's fault. It wasn't even Frieda's fault, really. He was the one that needed to pay for his own stupidity.
His men were away from the island, on a covert operation. His only friend was long gone. Now that his goal had no point anymore, what else did he have?
"Kenny!" He suddenly heard from behind.
Upon turning around, the old Ackerman saw a person he was expecting the least.
"I need your help!" Ymir yelled, as she approached him.
"Oh really?" He asked her, with a raised eyebrow "and why do you think I'd help, huh?"
The two of them weren't really friends. Nevertheless, he always felt somewhat connected to her. Both of them have been employed by the royal family, pretty much against their will, not to mention the rough exterior and straightforward character they seemed to be sharing.
"Frieda's gone crazy!" The freckled female cried out "she screwed with Eren's mind for some reason."
"Yeah, wouldn't be the first time" Kenny responded, not really caring that what he was telling her was top secret knowledge.
At that, the girl's eyes widened.
"What else do you know?" She asked with apprehension.
"Oh, the boy was an orphan, so I wouldn't blame her too much for that" he explained carelessly "really gave him a better life."
"You're telling me that she also kidnapped him from somewhere?!" Ymir yelled, losing her cool.
It seemed as if abducting an orphan was one of the worst offenses in the girl's books. Amused by this, Kenny continued on.
"She did that, alright. But really, he had nowhere else to go…"
"It doesn't matter" the freckled female uttered "this was his life…"
"Yeah, a life of poverty and loneliness" the old Ackerman spoke, waving his hand "you'd better tell me what she did this time."
"I think she might've forced herself on him…"
This was most certainly interesting. Why would the queen do something like that?
"Like…?" Kenny expressed, urging for the female to elaborate.
"You know what I'm talking about!" Ymir rebutted "when I confronted her, she wouldn't budge on that, but I'm sure of it!"
It did sound like something the queen would do. Have fun with some random boy she found attractive, then wipe his mind.
"Please, Kenny, help me get us out of here…" the freckled female pleaded with a sincere tone.
"Ya know" he started "I don't care about you, nor do I care about your boyfriend and your little feud over him with the queen. But right now, I'm pissed off and I don't care about anything else as well."
This kind of answer, Ymir didn't understand. Why would the queen's right-hand man behave like this?
"I'll help you, alright" he exclaimed "it just so happens that I know what to do to restore the little guy's memories, so you'll have to come with me."
The look of gratitude he got from the girl meant nothing to him. Right now, the only thing that could fill that void within him was watching the world burn, so spicing some affairs up would most certainly do the trick.
In the next few minutes, Kenny ran into the empty magazine in the palace's basement. After a quick search, he finally took a few vials of strange clear liquid, along with some syringes.
This was the titan serum. Aside from the Ackermans, only those who possessed the ability to shift into titans were immune to mind control, so giving the boy a nice power up could provide Kenny with much needed entertainment for the following days.
"Alright!" He cried out, once he joined the three kids, waiting in the garden.
Upon arriving, he unexpectedly noticed that among them was Historia, the princess. This was very weird, considering that she was related to the very person they were currently conspiring against. Deciding to push some buttons here and there, Kenny started speaking again.
"And what are you doing here, princess?" He asked.
The blonde looked at him with hurt.
"Ymir told me about everything" the girl spoke "and I don't believe it."
Then, she turned to look at Eren, who was visibly troubled.
"However," she continued "Eren believes her, and I trust his judgement."
This was a nice development. As the old Ackerman spurted a wide grin, he picked up his bag of supplies.
"So, what's the plan?" Ymir asked, after he motioned for the three to follow his lead.
"Oh, ya know" he replied "we're just going to have a little prayer in a very special, abandoned chapel…"