So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down
I'll never wear your broken crown
I can take the road and I can fuck it all away
But in this twilight, our choices seal our fate
Broken Crown - Mumford & Sons
"Bertholdt... Bertholdt! Hey, Bertl!"
A hand clamped down on my arm and my eyes immediately opened. My whole body moved with instinct, twisting away and covering my face in defense. The chains around my wrists caught and tugged on the tender flesh, making me wince. The hand that had grabbed me quickly pulled away.
"I'm not going to hurt you." They insisted softly. My eyes adjusted as my breathing calmed and I noticed a wisp of blonde hair, barely illuminated by the lamp on the far side of the cell's hallway.
Fair skin, blonde hair. This must be a dream.
"We don't have much time." It wasn't Annie's voice. It was... Christa? Why was she here? Where were the soldiers who were guarding my cell?
Her small hands took my wrists very delicately and she worked at the locks with a key. With a quiet clink the cuffs came loose. I quickly sat up, sliding out of the shallow cot and shifting to my feet. My body ached with soreness, as if I had just practiced with maneuver gear for the first time. My hands immediately went to my wrists, massaging the tender flesh.
Christa took a step back and our eyes met. She was so damn short. She pushed back the strands of blonde in her face. My mouth was suddenly very dry.
"Annie is in the last cell on this hall, frozen in crystal." She snapped her fingers, bringing me back from my shock. "I don't know how much time we have. Levi is meeting Erwin on the surface. This is the only chance you'll get." Christa walked to the front of the cell and I followed. She pulled an object from her back pocket, obscured by the dark. The moment the cool metal touched my hands I knew what it was. I tucked the object securely in the waist of my pants.
It was a dagger. This was really happening.
"Once you get Annie, follow this hallway back out and stick to the left. It should lead you to the back staircase and from there, with no detours, straight to the surface." Christa's tone was urgent as she gave that very hallway an apprehensive glace. I tried to visualize the route, committing it to memory.
"Wait, what about the guards?" I inquired, my mind trying to keep up. "Won't the stairwells be locked?"
Christa was silent for a moment, her eyes flickering towards the hall. I followed her gaze and noticed the guard's bodies slumped against the far wall.
This was really happening.
Our eyes met again.
"The back staircase should be unlocked. There are two sets of maneuver gear stashed behind the panel next to the stairway's door. We're on the outskirts of the Karanese District, so the two of you should have enough fuel to get to the edge of Maria, at the least, but that's all the help I can offer." Her eyes flashed something. Regret maybe.
Only two? Christa wasn't coming as well? That made no sense. She would be prosecuted if she stayed.
"Why are you doing this?" My voice was dark.
"Ymir is dead," Christa's voice had a bitterness that, previously, I'd only heard from Eren. "I have no loyalty to the people who killed her."
"So, Reiner is really...?" I asked quietly, moving closer to the cell's door.
Christa's face darkened and she looked towards the ground, drawing the shadows further down her face. "He fell with Ymir."
This time something inside me shifted. This time I felt the words and I understood what they really meant.
I'd never see him again. Never.
Oh.
Oh.
My hand slipped from the cold bars and I gripped the front of my shirt. My mouth was so dry. I couldn't speak. There was a deep pressure behind my eyes, but I couldn't fall apart. Not here... not with Annie so close.
"You're not coming?" I asked, choked, feeling my frown deepen. Christa shook her head wistfully, silently opening the door of my cell. I stepped to the side as Christa moved out into the hall. She gave me one more silent glance before turning and quickly jogging away.
I waited until I couldn't hear her, feeling my heart pound in my chest, before stepping out of my cell. I ran in the opposite direction, my grimy feet pounding against the smooth cobblestone. The other end of the hallway was just as dimly lit as my portion and eerily empty.
The only thing at the end of the hall was a thick wooden door. The cell was unlike any of the others. It didn't even look like a cell. I hesitated for half a second before pressing my shoulder against the cold surface and pushing. The door was unlocked and heavy, but it opened easily.
The room inside was nearly three times the size of my cell, with high ceilings and benches built against the far side of the wall. There was a dim oil lamp bolted to the wall in the corner. The place seemed like a storage unit converted into a cell. Every sound I made echoed across the room as I walked up to Annie's suspended, crystallized form.
For a moment, I didn't want to wake her. I'd never seen her features so relaxed, so innocent. I didn't want to be the one to bring her back into this world of suffering.
The hesitation didn't last long.
I tapped against the dull crystal lightly and glanced up at Annie's sleeping face. "Hey, wake up. It's time to go." I murmured, although I knew my words were completely unnecessary.
The crystal silently broke apart and began dissolving into steam. I leaned towards her as her limp body pitched forward. Her petite form felt almost weightless in my arms. Annie's eyelids fluttered momentarily before weakly opening. Her blue eyes peered up at mine for only a second, recognition flashing. She curled up slightly, barely able hold the weight of her own head. I tucked her up so Annie could lean her head against my throat as she recovered.
It was like cradling a baby.
"Bert..." She managed to whisper, gripping the collar of my shirt with her arm draped around my neck. Hearing her voice again brought goosebumps to my skin.
There were little things that I'd already started to forget about her, just like my mother, Marcel... and now Reiner. Except now Annie was no longer a memory I'd have to work at conjuring up. She was alive. She was here. I wouldn't be forgetting her angry smirk or her deep, apathetic eyes.
I felt that pressure behind my eyelids again and allowed myself to hold her. My stomach twisted and my eyes stung. Annie smelled like sweat and the military's cheap standard issue lavender soap.
She was alive. Annie was alive.
She was getting out of this hell hole. She would survive. And if I somehow did as well, maybe we could... Maybe we could go somewhere secluded, like the villages in the mountain's forests.
In my imagination, we were already huddled beside a camp fire, cold but happy. We were already hunting a rabbit's trail through the underbrush of the woods, knives poised low.
Life would be difficult, but we could survive. If anyone, we could survive. And if Annie didn't want to run... If she wanted to keep fighting, that would be okay too. She was all I had left.
I opened my eyes.
We had to move. My fantasies didn't matter if we didn't make it out. If Annie didn't make it.
Fighting would be nearly impossible with Annie in my arms and there was no way she'd be walking out of this underground fortress, she was too weak. I would just have to be quick. I was our only chance.
I moved out of the cell and started bolting down the hallway, sticking to the left like Christa had instructed. We were only a few yards from my cell when humming and approaching footsteps caught my attention. It didn't sound like many people. Maybe only one.
I gingerly set Annie inside my cell and rushed back into the hall. I made note of where the guard's bodies were, put out the nearest lamp and pressed myself against the cold wall, slowing my breathing and attempting to blend into the shadows.
The footsteps came closer and then paused. I held my breath, feeling my heart pound. There was a heavy sigh not far from me. "This isn't very funny. Or did you idiots forget to replace the oil again?" There was a slight chuckle and then Hanji was coming closer.
"Marc? Gerdo?" They called.
Hanji hadn't been the only one testing and observing. I guess all that time locked in a cell wasn't for nothing. I knew their weak side. I knew their most recent injury. I knew exactly where they were standing. I finally had an advantage. Their guard was down and I was ready.
I slipped the knife from the waist of my pants and rolled up onto the balls of my feet. This was so easy. Hanji took another step and I could barely contain the exhilaration bubbling up inside me.
When they were two paces away, I lunged forward, grabbing them by their left side and slicing upwards with my knife against their skin. They jerked in my grip and I felt the blade carve around to the underside of their collarbone.
Before they could retaliate I was slamming them into the wall and rutting the knife into them again and again. Thick, warm blood splattered against my skin and dripped from my hand. I could feel Hanji's hand limply grip my shirt. I exhaled shakily, suddenly glad I couldn't see anything, glad Hanji had remained silent, glad they didn't fight back.
Strange that they had come here alone, but I guess Hanji had always been reckless
I let go of Hanji and took a few steps back, pulling my blade from their flesh. I heard their body slowly slide down the wall, falling stiffly to their side once they hit the floor. I took a quick moment to wipe my hands and the knife on my shirt. Then I was reaching for the lamp and illuminating the hall once again.
Hanji's eyes were wide, but empty. Blood was oozing through the fabric of their uniform. I noticed a deep gash on the side of their jugular and a puncture straight through their windpipe. I hadn't realized...
Numb. That's the only way to describe it.
Looking away, I crouched and unhooked the ring of keys attached to their belt. Then I was up and rushing to my cell, careful not to look at Hanji's body.
Annie was still crumpled just as I'd left her. I reached down, hoisting her up, noticing the red staining my hands.
We didn't have long now.