Disclaimer: We don't own any of these characters and no one pays us for writing shitty fanfics. Yet. We hope that time will come soon. Feel free to send us money.

AN: This chapter is dedicated fully for building up the plot. We will focus more on the characters and their relationships on the next one, so prepare your panties. Once again if you spot any major mistakes please tell us!

To be honest, Eren didn't even know where he wanted to go and what he was going to achieve by it. At the moment the only thing that mattered was to get away, really. The brunet's face felt so hot, like it would melt at any second. So he shoved his way through the crowd.

I fucked up, I fucked up kept repeating over in his head. Why had he opened his stupid mouth and almost spilled his stupid feelings to Armin, who had just sat there looking even more kissable than usual? Eren had just almost kissed a prince, for Christ's sake! And he was his servant and a friend. A friend! Even that was too much: the fact that Armin had befriended him and Mikasa just days after Rivaille had found them on the streets and convinced the King to take them in was something that didn't happen to everyone. And here he was, taking advance of Armin and his friendliness.

Light but determinant footsteps caught up to Eren's. Either Mikasa was completely oblivious to when Eren needed some space or just elected to ignore it.

"Eren," she said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "What's wrong?" Eren knew better than to try and shake his friend off. Instead he stepped aside from the moving crowd, leaning to a wall. He rubbed the back of his (most likely blushing) neck.

"I just… I just needed moment to cool off that's all."

"Did something happen with Armin?"

"I said something… Inappropriate. Well, kind of."

"Did you confess to him?" Mikasa's expression was stoic.

"You knew?! For how long?"

"How could I not? It's pretty obvious from the way you can't keep your hands to yourself."

Eren felt like jumping off a cliff. Something occurred to him, however.

"Hey. Did you leave Armin alone?"

"..."

Suddenly the image of Armin, all by himself in a crowd, filled Eren's mind. Something moved uncomfortably in the bottom of his stomach.

"Let's head back." His uneasiness affected Mikasa, and before Eren took a step she was already running to the direction where they had came. The closer they came to the spot they had left the Prince, the faster they ran.

"Armin!" Eren yelled as he came around the corner. He expected to see Armin, eating the food Mikasa had left behind, sitting on the step without a worry in the world. The truth wasn't that, though, since the Prince was nowhere to be seen.

"Armin?" this time it was Mikasa who said the name out loud. Anxiety settled in Eren's heart and he started to pace around the place, desperately trying to find the boy. Some of the food had been eaten, he noticed and took couple of steps to peek at an alley next to the house where a little wellwas located, needing to see Armin there, drinking or washing his hands. Nothing. When he looked back he saw Mikasa walking away, also looking for the Prince.

"This can't be happening," he muttered under his breath, "Where are you, Armin?"

They were walking away from the festival, Armin noted. He couldn't hear the music in the distance anymore and the only sounds that reached his ears were his and his captor'sfootsteps and breathing. He had tried his best to analyze the situation, and after going through all the possible plans he could've thought of he had decided to do as the man behind him had told him, so he kept walking without any resistance. He couldhavescreamed, yes, or even tried to escape, but the man behind him was much bigger than him and would have caught him with ease. The screamingalso could've made the situation worse because Armin didn't know if there was anyone else around.

But the thing that confused him the most was that who his kidnapper was. He had recognized the voice, but he couldn't remember who it belonged to. It had been deep and gruff, clearly a male. Armin associated it with the smell of horses and sweat. It was either a servant or a guard, that was for sure.

They came to a halt, and the blade on his back dug a little deeper. "There's steps ahead of you," the man said. The more he talked the more it irked Armin he couldn't place the person. He raised his leg tentatively until it hit the first step.

"Hey!" Someone shouted behind them, "Where are you taking the Prince, Braun?"

Braun! That was the name Armin had been looking for. Reiner Braun, one of the soldiers that worked with Mikasa.

"Nowhere in particular. I think you should leave, Kierstein."

Yes, the other speaker was Jean. Armin knew the guard vaguely, even though he and Eren didn't get along. Reiner's grip on Armin's shoulder tightened.

"Gee, I wonder what the King would think about your little walk with his nephew. I bet Mikasa would be thrilled too," Jean's voice approached them. The tall man behind Armin turned his torso and Armin readied himself. If the two guards would begin a fight he might be able to make a run for it.

"You really don't want to do that. This is the last warning you'll get Kierstein."

There was a pause.

"I won't if you take me with you."

Another pause. Armin tried to process what Jean had just said. He was siding with his captors?

"Why?" Reiner said warily.

"Let's just say I'm getting sick of this shitty little village. I didn't get the top ranks from the Military so I could rot in the middle of nowhere, babysitting a blind kid."

Ouch. Armin's intuition told him he would need to give Jean's words a little more consideration when the time would be appropriate.

"So how's it gonna be?"

There were noises approaching from an alley nearby.

"Reiner, what the hell are you waiting for?" a voice asked from inside a carriagethey were about to enter. This one Armin recognized straight away. Annie. Wow, the betrayals just kept piling up. Well, Armin had anticipated this one though, since they were part of the same gang with Reiner. Berthold was very likely with them too.

"Fine, get on both of you," Reiner huffed. He grabbed Armin's waist, making the younger boy yelp and gently but firmly put lifted inside the carriage.

As soon as everyone was onboard the horses pulling the carriages set off.

Armin, who had been sat between Reiner and Annie, folded his hands onto his lap and bit down to his lower lip. His chances of escaping were narrowing down with every passing moment.

For the second time that day he felt like crying.

They hadn't said a word since their search for Armin had failed. Mikasa sat on the step where they had left Armin, and Eren paced back and forth, sometimes stopping to kick a stone or hit something to let his anger and worry out.

"We should tell the King," Mikasa said calmly, but knowing her for years the brunet could tell that she too was really worried.

"Yeah, and then we would end up dead or worse, in the dungeon. This was my fault!"

"It was our fault," the girl said and stood up. She didn't say it to make Eren feel better, no. She said it because it was true.

They kept on searching the areas nearby, questioning everyone who might have seen something. Unfortunately Armin wasn't a figure that stood out - that had been their goal fromthe beginning - so no one around had really seen anything noteworthy.

Just as Eren started to seriously consider just running around, yelling Armin's name like a lunatic, his sleeve was tugged. A dirt-covered little boy, who could have been a younger version of Eren, handed him a little crumpled piece of paper and ran off, merging into the crowd.

"He-hey!" Eren tried to shout after him, but the boy was already gone.

"Do you want me to go get him?" Mikasa questioned. Her words barely registered to Eren, who read the text on the note over and over. The female soldier reached over his friends shoulder to read it. She gasped silently.

"We won't have time to go to the castle if we don't want to lose them," she said quickly.

"The King needs to know! I'll go after them, you go tell Erwin about this."

"No. I'm going with you," Mikasa stated.

"But…"

"Eren, You're wasting our time. What you are about to do can be considered treason. I'll come with you. I'll protect you."

There was no time for arguing or getting annoyed at Mikasa's mother hen-attitude, and to be honest, Eren had to acknowledge the fact that Mikasa would most likely prove helpful. Eren didn't even have a proper sword on him, only a portable dagger. He sighed.

"Fine. But if the situation requires it, we will part. For Armin. You got that?" Mikasa cast her eyes down, which meant she agreed reluctantly.

"Let's get the message to the palace first."

They nodded in a mutual agreement and started to run. In his mind Eren tugged his guilt away, to make way to the anger and determination. They had a goal, a direction. That was all that mattered in the long run.

The little piece of paper was tugged carefully into Eren's pocket. The writer hadn't signed it, but the tone was ridiculously easy to recognize and it made Eren's blood boil. What the hell is that bastard up to?

While running, they collided with one of the soldier of Mikasa's troop,Connie Springer, who was spending his well earned day off. He quickly found himself with a foldedpaper in hand and one, clearly urgentEren in front of him.

"You! I need you to take this paper to the King, okay?" Eren all but yelled, trying to leave as soon as possible after Armin.

"W-wait, what?"

Mikasa came to stand over Eren.

"Take the note to the King. You don't have to do anything else. Go."

Connie nodded slowly and started to walk away, glazing behind him couple of times before speeding up to a run. Mikasa was ranked high in the army, so Connie had no other choice than to follow her order.

"Will Erwin understand the message?" Eren wondered aloud. Mikasa turned around, patted him on the shoulder and lifted her scarf to her mouth, showing just how nervous she was too.

"He's a wise man. Let's hope so."

Erwin was signing important papers when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," he muttered while reading a letter from one of the embassadors.

A soldier stumbled in, breathing heavily. Erwin set the papers down. This kind of entrance was rarely a good sign. The young man gave his king a hasty salute.

"My apologies Your Highness! Ackerman ordered me to transmit this message at once. He handed Erwin a crumbled piece of paper. The king concealed his bafflement. This was very uncharacteristic from the stoic troop leader.

"I see. You are dismissed."

Once the office was empty Erwin smoothed the paper piece over, scanning the words that had clearly been scribbled in haste, for a few times.

As soon as the implications sank in the King stood up and strode out of his office. He made his way determinately towards his nephew's sleeping chambers, making sure not to look too alarmed.

Erwin's relief upon seeing the bulge on Armin's bed was short lived as he noticed it was just a faux and the Prince was nowhere to be seen. I got fooled by a blind kid. This would take a while to live down.

Well, there was definitely no time to dwell on it. Erwin stormed into the entrance hall, where Rivaille could be found as usual. As soon as the King saw the irritated crease over his employee's brow, he knew the answer to the question he was about to ask.

"Rivaille."

"Your Highness?"

"Where's the boy who works for you?"

"Jaeger-brat? He went missing a few hours ago."

Erwin's shoulders sagged a bit as he nodded. "I see."

Armin, Eren Jaeger and Mikasa Ackerman were missing. That fact combined to the message Erwin had received made it pretty clear what had happened. He could do the math.

good job jaeger

heading north with the prince

"Come help me get the horses ready."

The night had fallen over them. Eren had tried to continue, to get the horse go faster, but eventually Mikasa had forcefully got him to stop. After getting Connie to take the message they had used the money Armin had given earlier to "buy" a horse (Mikasa had used her power as a soldier too, but hey, desperate times) and some supplies before taking off.

"We need sleep, Eren," she had whispered, "it's no good if we find Armin but are too tired to fight."

"Just a while longer, we might be near!"

"Eren. We're stopping now."

That's how they ended up in a old barn in the middle of the fields surrounding the village, taking shelter from the cold night. Now they regretted the choice of not buying some more clothes to keep them warm. They were sitting in a corner, side by side, like they used when they were small. Mikasa was resting her eyes, ready to react if something was about to happen while Eren, on the other hand, had tried to get some sleep, but Armin's disappearance haunted him. Minutes passed, turning into hours, and he was still awake. Eventually he got too tired and closed his eyes, his mind drifting to the time when Mikasa and he had met the Prince the first time.

It had felt strange to wear clean clothes and not to have dirt all over their bodies. Rivaille (he was the castle's "housemaid," but Eren had quickly learned not to call him that after getting hit by a wet rag) had given Mikasa and him a room and a lot of food, and even though he had looked like a scary guy he got a softer side in him, too.

"You're doing it wrong," the short man said. It had taken ten minutes to get Eren to stay in place and another five to get the concept of mopping into the boy's head. "Here, hold it like this. No, not like… okay, go help Mikasa, I'm getting a headache because of this." One wouldn't think mobbing would have been so hard, but for that brat…

Eren ran away to where Mikasa was dusting a shelf full of old and boring looking books. She was trying to reach to the books that were on top, but she was too short.

"Wait a second," Eren laughed and went to pick up a nearby chair. It had books on top of it - well, yeah, the place was a library, but still there were way too many books for Eren's comprehension- and to get the chair Eren had to lift them down, right in front of the door frame. Well, he thought, we're gonna put them back soon enough. That in mind Eren took the chair to the bookshelf and stood on it, taking the dusterfrom Mikasa and holding it so that she couldn't reach it. She was just about to hit Eren and the boy was readying himself for war when Rivaille gave them a side glance.

"Oi, no fighting when I'm in charge," he said and gestured Mikasa to come to mop the floor, muttering "I should have known that she's the smarter one," probably not caring if the kids heard it or not.

Eren grinned and experimentally wiped the covers of the books. Putting this much effort into keeping a book tidy didn't really make sense to him. However as long as Eren was fed on a regular bases and wasn't in a constant danger of getting robbed or beaten up, he was content.

He stopped wiping when he saw a small, blond boy get closer to the door. He was about the same age as he and Mikasa, and was dressed in a tidy, silky shirt and a vest. The boy was getting scarily close to the pile of books on the floor. Why isn't he dodging the already?

Before Eren had time to yell a warning to the boy he had already tripped over the books, landing on his side on the ground.

"Hey!" Eren yelled, got down from the chair and ran over to the boy, "Are you okay? How couldn't you see th…"

Eren had lifted the boy in a sitting posture, and he was staring the boy straight into the light blue eyes that seemed to look through him. The boy didn't have time to answer, though, because in seconds Rivaille was crouched next to them, gently checking that the blond boy was okay.

"Does it hurt anywhere, Prince Arlert?"

Wait, a prince?!

"No, I'm fine," the Prince said with a gentle voice.

"We're cleaning the library and I forgot to tell the brats not to leave anything on the floor. It's my bad."

"It's understandable."

Rivaille helped the blond boy to his feet and glanced around. Because of the cleaning there was stuff all around, and it would have been nearly impossible for the Prince to get to his reading corner without hurting himself.

"Eren, take the Prince to that corner there," the man said and gestured toward a corner which had a sofa in it.

Eren went next to the Prince, unsure how he should lead the boy. Rivaille took the Prince's hand and placed it on Eren's shoulder, making him jump.

"Umm…"

"Get going."

Eren took couple of tentativesteps forward and the other boy followed him. Slowly they started to make their way through all the stuff on the floor. While walking, Eren looked over his shoulder, and the light blue eyes looked back, not actually seeing anything. Eren had to look away. He hadn't met a blind person before, and wasn't entirely sure how to deal with it. Once they had reached the corner Eren guided the boy to sit on the couch.

"What is your name?"

The question startled Eren, but he managed to say his name.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Armin. You can call me like that or use something else, I don't mind."

Eren relaxed a bit and smiled, but then, remembering that Armin couldn't see, quickly made a sound of agreement.A comfortable silence fell over them.

"Can you read?" Armin finally asked. Eren shook his head.

"I can recognize letters but…" There really hadn't been a reason for him to know how to read. Armin reached towards a table and grabbed the first book that hit his hand.

"If you read out the letters I'll tell what the word is." Eren looked at Rivaille who gave him a curt nod.

"O-okay."

Mikasa's voice was what woke Eren up. Rays of sunlight seeped through the roof of the barn and the air was cold and fresh.

"We're leaving in an hour," she said after Eren had sat up and gave him an apple to eat.

"Did you sleep at all?" Eren asked her, taking a bite.

"A little," she answered as she hid a yawn into her scarf.

"You know, I saw the weirdest dream…"

AN: A few things about this AU (in case anyone cares): We call it a "historical" AU even though it's not entirely (or even closely) accurate. The country this story takes place in is made up, we won't probably even name it. The time period is somewhere between 1700 and 1800 since that's around when Braille was invented. Things aren't still quite as developed as during the Renaissance - that's partly because Armin lives at the countryside - but are still a bit more advanced than during the Middle Ages. A few small things were added to the first chapter to support this. We try to be somewhat accurate (Armin's way of experiencing the world through smell and touch helps this a lot). Some things are a bit inaccurate for the sake of the characters and the plot though, like the fact that Mikasa is able to be a soldier.

There won't probably be another chapter before the 24th so have a great Christmas/Hanukkah/holidays/whatever you are about to do, our amazing readers! Look out for people stalking behind your windows & stuff. It could be us

~Jazzy & Janice