"I've got it!" I yelled out as I continued to pull the wagon that held crates filled with water. We planned on dumping the water onto ourselves because when the titan finally reaches us – it'll give us some protection against the steam that's radiating off of him. When we made it back to the wall we devised a plan that was based on the titans movements – its mouth must be open completely or it wouldn't be dragging its face along the ground. Therefore, we planned on Eren throwing a ton of gunpowder into its open mouth and allowing it to explode while the rest of us go in and cut at the nape of his neck.
"Everyone get ready!" Erwin yelled over to us. The titan was now dangerously close, so we all began to pour the water over our heads. The titan grabbed onto the wall and pulled itself up. It towered over everyone, but Eren was already transformed into a titan and grabbed the gunpowder. He went and threw it into the titans mouth and then we all set off to go cut the nape of his neck. We only had one shot and it had to work.
After we defeated the titan the younger members of the squad went to go get some rest and Historia went to take her place as Queen. Levi and I were instructed to go look around the ground that the titan crawled out of. We needed to see if we could find anything else or any survivors that we could interrogate.
"Ryder, over here." I followed Levi as we approached a figure that was sitting up against the tree. His body was covered in burns that couldn't be fixed at this point and he was bleeding out. His hand was resting over his lower abdominal, probably to try to stop the bleeding and slow down the process of death.
"Kenny." I called his name. Even with the burns, I was able to recognize his black raven hair and his very distinguishable hat. I swear he hadn't aged under those burns of his, but it was the same with Levi – he still looks the same way when we were living underground.
"Serious burns and you're bleeding out. There's no saving you now." Levi told Kenny.
"You sure? I don't know about that." We looked down at what his hand was resting on and saw that he had grabbed one of the needles that held the serum to turn anyone into a titan. "I took one of these from Rod's bag because apparently taking one can turn you into a titan. Maybe I'll become a stupid one…I don't know, but at least it could keep me alive."
"You probably had a better chance when you were less messed up." Levi told him.
"Why didn't you?" I asked Kenny as I nodded towards the serum resting under his hand.
"Yeah…I wonder why. I have to make sure I do it right or I might turn out like him…some half-baked dumbass." Kenny made reference to Rod Reiss who became a titan that was only half made.
"There's no way you'll just sit here and wait for your death. C'mon, don't you have any better excuses?" Levi asked.
"Yeah…I don't want to die…and I wanted power, but I see…now I think I get why he did something like that." Kenny mumbled on without making any logical sense. "Everyone I saw was the same. Alcohol, women or even pretending to be God. Family, the king, dreams, children, power. They all had something drunk on them…it was what kept them moving. They were all slaves to something…even he was." Kenny then began to cough violently and blood began to fall from his lips. "W-what about you? Being a hero? Wanting a future with Ryder?" Levi bent down on his knees and grabbed hold of Kenny's shoulders.
"Kenny, tell me everything you know. Why didn't the previous king want mankind to survive?"
"I don't know, but that was why we Ackerman's went against the king." Kenny coughed again and blood flew onto Levi's cheek. I bent down on my knees and looked at Kenny.
"I was told that I was an Ackerman too…is that true? You…who were you to my mother?" Levi desperately asked Kenny for one of the missing pieces he had been searching for.
"Ha…idiot…just her…big brother." Kenny continued to cough.
"Then why did you leave me back then?" Levi asked.
"I was unfit to be a parent and you already had someone there for you." Kenny looked over to me and handed me the box with the titan serum. "Ryder, you never liked me…that was a good call. Please look after him for me. You were always the one he was meant to be with." I took the box and watched as Kenny looked back at Levi.
"You did good kid…you did good." Kenny's eyes finally shut as he stopped breathing. I held the box against my chest as Levi and I looked at him. This departure was almost too sad for the two of us, but when I looked at Levi, my heart went out to him. One of his only family members that he actually knew was now gone and he didn't know how to properly process this information. I stood up and placed the box in my pocket. I gently placed my hand onto Levi's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. His hand reached up and touched mine as we looked at Kenny.
"Levi, we have to go." I told him. The black haired man nodded his head before standing up and picking his gun up from the ground.
"Let's go give this to Erwin." He said in reference to the serum. I silently followed him as we headed back to the wall. I knew that he needed some time to process this. Levi was cold at the best of times, but he wasn't heartless.
Our world was now back in order with Historia as Queen and us now helping her with decisions. I would casually sit on decision meetings, but otherwise, I was told to rest due to pushing myself. I always cursed the fact that Levi always had this energy to keep going, but I felt useless next to him most of the time. I had voiced my concern to Levi a few days prior, but he just told me I was being stupid and sent me on my way. I knew they I was able to help the younger members and make them feel at ease, but I wanted to be even more useful, but a part of me knew I wouldn't be able to. It was just another thing I needed to accept on my own.
I decided to go for a walk and go see a certain someone that I hadn't seen since we captured her. I followed the instructions as to where we placed Annie Leonhardt. I walked down the stairs until I came in contact with a wood door.
I opened up the door and began to walk down the hall towards the open room made of grey bricks. The fire posts on the walls were light; someone was downstairs. When I walked into the open space I saw Annie cased in her crystal barrier. Levi stood in front of her. I walked over to him and stood beside him.
"You should be resting." He said.
"I wanted to come see her." I said. We stood there in silence. I looked over at Levi and saw that his jaw was clenched.
"She's the one who did this Ryder. She's the one who killed our teammates…she's the one who broke all your ribs." He said in his monotone voice.
"I know, Levi." I looked back at her. She looked so peaceful, so innocent. I would've never imagined that she would try to kill her fellow comrades.
"We can't break through her barrier. We've tried everything." I looked at him with a shocked expression.
"There's no way we can get her out?" He looked at me through the corner of his eye.
"Not without hurting her in the process, no. But we will Ryder…I promise." He looked back at Annie. My hand reached for his. I held his hand in mine as I waited for him to look at me.
"Take me back upstairs. I think I should go lie down again." I said lightly. He silently turned around and began to walk away. His hand slipped out of mine and I stood there and watched as he began to walk away. I noticed that his hands were clenched into fists and his shoulders were more broad than usual. He stopped walking.
"Come on then, I don't need you passing out here, you're heavy to carry."
"I am not!" I yelled as I walked over to him. I reached his side and he looked at me.
"I think we need to get you back to training as soon as possible. You look like you've gained a few pounds from sleeping all day." He teased.
"I have not! If anything you need to grow, you smurf!" I stomped my foot. He didn't reply. Instead he smirked at me and began to walk towards the door. I walked beside him and latched onto his arm.
Levi and I made our back to where the Survey Corps was now staying. Levi was being such a gentleman that it scared me a little bit. I teased him and asked if he was hit on the head without me knowing, but this resulted in me receiving another insult.
"Ryder! There you are!" I turned around to see the familiar blonde haired boy run up to me.
"Armin! Is something wrong?" I asked.
"No. I just wanted to come see how you were doing. Eren wants to come see you later on, if that's okay?"
"Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?"
"No reason, he just wants to come thank you for protecting him. He feels like he at least owes you his thanks." He said as he began to scratch the back of his blonde head. I smiled at him and nodded.
"He really doesn't need to. That's what any one of us would've done."
"But you and the rest of Squad Levi protected him and he's truly grateful and-"
"I think she needs to hear this from Eren, not you, Armin." Levi said coldly. Armin stood up even straighter.
"Y-Yes sir. I'm sorry. We will see you later, Ryder." Armin bowed before turning around and leaving. I lightly hit Levi on the chest.
"You didn't have to be rude about it." I said. He just shrugged and we continued to walk towards my room. Once we entered, Levi placed me back in bed. He lifted my covers over my body and tucked me in. "Thanks." He grunted at me before turning around, leaving the room. I smiled to myself.
That was the first time Levi didn't pull away from my grasp when someone saw us together.
"You're making progress Levi. You're making progress."
Woop Woop! I remembered to post up a chapter this morning! I think I deserve a high-five for that!