CHAPTER 9
Today was the day. I chewed on my lip as I pulled my shirt over my head. After a moment's hesitation I decided to wear the necklace under my clothes, though I left the pocket watch behind. The pendant was cold against my skin and I inhaled sharply.
Maybe I'll remember how I got this today, I thought, hopping as I put on trousers. Yesterday seemed like a blur to me. After I had told Armin what I knew as my life story, I had been dragged out by Levi to work with the ODM gear. Little by little, I had gotten more confidant, and I hadn't fallen that time so I felt fairly good about it.
I raced downstairs, necklace bouncing rhythmically against my chest. I tried to focus on it, thinking of every detail it possessed, trying to glean some strand of memory from that single obscure object. The thought hit me, at one point, that I might not have a memory attached to it. It was entirely possible that I had picked it up off of the streets or simply bought it from somewhere. I desperately hoped not-that would be boring.
It was still dark outside when I arrived, and the wagons were already loaded with Eren inside one of them. Jean was holding a wig and arguing with Reiner about something. He looked pretty heated about it, and Reiner seemed about ready to start a fist-fight. I felt myself smile. I had become very close to the people of the Survey Corps and though I didn't consider most of them actual friends, I was glad to be around them. I pushed away the nagging sensation that something was going to go terribly wrong.
I glanced over at Levi and, doing my best to ignore the snakes in my stomach, began going over the plan again. Trying to convince as many people as I could within that big of a vicinity was not going to be anywhere near easy. Especially when, because my trial had been made public, people knew who I was. The last time We had ridden through town, I had gotten a lot of dirty looks and many children were pulled away by their mothers.
I noticed that my quick glance had turned into prolonged staring just as Levi looked me right in the eye. Embarrassed, I quickly saluted, and without a word mounted a spare horse and rode off toward the wall. Using the darkness as my cover, I found the hole and slid through easily, leaving the horse behind. Having a smaller body really helped sometimes.
Once in, I raced down the darkened street until I found where I was supposed to start. My impossible mission set out in front of me, I knocked loudly on the door of a house. A few moments later, I was greeted by an angry-looking man.
"What do you want at this hour?" he growled. I did my best to keep my hand off of my dagger, though it became harder when I noticed that he was hiding a hand behind his door.
"My name is Axis and I'm with the Scouts," I explained, "There's going to be a lot of trouble around this area today, so I'm going to ask you to grab your family and come with me, please," I said, cursing myself. There had to be at least five ways I could've phrased that whole thing better.
"Wait a minute," the man said, his bushy mustache getting bushier, "I know you. Aren't you the murderer that escaped Death Row? Keep away!" I took a step back as he revealed the knife he'd been holding out of sight. I held up my hands.
"Mister," I said, not bothering to mask my exasperation, "There really is no time for this. Something bad is probably going to happen today and if you want to live I suggest you grab your family and follow me to safety. Also, if you could help me warn the others, that's be great."
The man looked furious.
"You think I'm just going to believe that, killer?" he snarled, brandishing his knife, "I'm not going to play in whatever little psycho game, and neither will my family. Now leave , or I'll alert the town!"
I flicked my blade out just as he lunged at me unsteadily and parried a blow that wouldn't've hit me anyway. I flipped the man onto his back and planted my foot on his chest, sheathing my dagger.
"Listen," I sighed, "Don't be stupid. Later today two titans will be in the area and, let me tell you, there will be much damage. That'll really suck for you if you or someone you love dies because they were stepped on, or crushed under a broken house, wouldn't it? Well, that won't have to happen if you follow me now."
His every move screaming reluctance, he got up and awoke his family. His wife walked out, carrying a very young little girl. A boy about twelve years in age was by her side, and I recruited him to help carry out my message. Most of my encounters were very similar to the first, though almost all the families were soon behind me as we made our way through the streets. The few that refused to come had all agreed to stay indoors. This would work perfectly.
We made it to the underground entrance just as dawn began to break over the wall. With a lot more noise than I would've liked, I somehow got everyone in. About halfway down the corridor that would lead to the city ruins, Levi greeted us with his usual indifferent manner.
"Is everyone here?" he asked. He looked around me at the group of people. Most were women and kids, as many of the men had been enlisted to restrain Annie when the time came. Mothers shushed their crying children and siblings huddled together in scared bunches. I felt a twinge of pity.
"All that would come," I answered, "There were a few families that wouldn't, no matter who spoke to them, and you did say not to push them too hard, so..."
"They'll be fine," Levi turned on his heels and beckoned without looking back, "Keep up. We'll need to travel far and quickly if we want to make it to the designated area. And stay in a group. It's like a maze down there, and if you don't know where you're going, you'll never make it out."
With that, he began walking. I ushered everyone to follow, noticing that they seemed more nervous than before. Though I understood how important it was that they stay close, Levi really could've been a little more gentle with the delivery.
"Is everyone here?" he asked. He looked around me at the group of people. Most were women and kids, as many of the men had been enlisted to restrain Annie when the time came. Mothers shushed their crying children and siblings huddled together in scared bunches. I felt a twinge of pity.
"All that would come," I answered, "There were a few families that wouldn't, no matter who spoke to them, and you did say not to push them too hard, so..."
"They'll be fine," Levi turned on his heels and beckoned without looking back, "Keep up. We'll need to travel far and quickly if we want to make it to the designated area. And stay in a group. It's like a maze down there, and if you don't know where you're going, you'll never make it out."
With that, he began walking. I ushered everyone to follow, noticing that they seemed more nervous than before. Though I understood how important it was that they stay close, Levi really could've been a little more gentle with the delivery.
We walked for a while down the low corridor, with Levi in front to lead and myself bringing up the rear, mostly to catch wanderers and stragglers, but also in case we were ambushed from behind.
As we walked, the young boy from the first house fell behind and began walking by my side. He looked to be about nineteen, with ginger hair and freckles scattered across his face. He kept glancing at me, though he didn't speak, and I became uncomfortable.
"Did you need something?" I asked testily. The boy jumped, as though he hadn't expected me to notice.
"Uh, yeah," the boy scratched his neck, "You're that killer from before, right? The one who was supposed to be killed by the titans."
"Yeah, that's me," I said, biting back a sigh, "what of it?"
"Well, you're working with the Scouts, right?" he continued, "under Captain Levi himself is what I heard. He chose you specifically because the titans ignored you, or so the rumors say."
"Oh?" I cocked an eyebrow, "And what else do these rumors say?"
"That you can control the titans," he said, getting more and more excited, "You can control their minds and that's why they passed you and attacked everyone else, so you could grab the attention of the Scouts and get inside!"
I cut the kid off as I let out a deep, loud laugh. A few people turned back to look at me, pulling their children closer to them. The boy gave me a startled look.
"So, what?" he said, "Is that true?"
"Kid." I said, rubbing my eyes, "If that were the case, don't you think that I'd've used that to my advantage before then? Think about it: you said it yourself, I'm a killer-a trained assassin, to be precise; bathed in blood since I can remember. If I had the ability to mind-control titans, I could've had all of my targets get eaten instead and I would've never made it into court to begin with! Besides," I sniffed, "If I'd wanted to join the Survey Corps, I could've simply become a soldier. That would be ten-times simpler."
"Yeah, okay," the boy gave me a sheepish grin, "I guess you're right, that doesn't make much sense. But everyone else has been saying it, too!" he added defensively, "My whole district has been talking about it, even the kids!"
"Oh, fantastic," I muttered, "Just what I wanted."
"I'm Darrin, by the way," The kid raised his hand a bit and then quickly lowered it again, as though he had wanted to shake hands but had decided against it. Just as well: I disliked any physical contact that I could avoid. Perks of living in solitude for most of my life, I suppose.
Darrin looked at me expectantly, and I ignored him, getting more and more irritated by the second. I guess he had less patience than I had originally given him credit for, because he broke the silence after about thirty seconds.
"Aren't you going to tell me your name?" he prompted. I scoffed.
"You already know my name," I said, "Your father didn't seem too upset to see me until I had introduced myself, and then he had gotten scared. That means that he wasn't in court the day of my trial-too far, I suppose-but he must know someone who was. That was how he learned my name, and therefore how you know it as well. Am I wrong?"
Darrin blinked, eyes wide with surprise.
"Do you make a habit of doing that?" he asked, squinting, "Of guessing things like that just because you can, or are you trying to show off for me?"
"Kid," I laughed, "I am ten years older than you, I have no need to impress. Second of all, observation and deduction came with the training. So, yeah, I guess it's a habit, but more out of a sense of survival rather than 'because I can'."
The boy tried and failed to hide the disappointment on his face, and I gave him a half-hearted smile. Poor kid was awkward, and my direct rejection to his indirect hinting was not going to help him at all. Oh, well. It wasn't my problem anyway.
"Keep close!" Levi's voice echoed back to me, and as I peered around the crowd, I caught my first glimpse of the underground city. It was vast and full of variety, with many buildings all over the place. Whoever had built it had gotten pretty far along. It would have been a safe sanctuary, so why had it been abandoned?
We walked on, taking turns here and there until, try as I might, I couldn't keep track of the directions anymore. Thankfully, Levi seemed to know where he was going. For a brief moment, I wondered why he was so familiar with the area, but I pushed that away as quickly as it had come. I was not concerned with the past of other people, especially when I was still trying to figure out my own.
We finally came to a large, round building and Levi and I ushered everyone inside, checking again and again to make sure no one had been left behind. Once we were sure everyone was with us, Levi turned to me.
"I left written directions on how to get back out under the third stone to the left from the back right corner," he said, "If I don't give the all clear, you will then be responsible for going up to the surface and checking on matters there. Don't do that until six hours have passed, alright?"
"Gotcha," I saluted, and Levi dipped his head in acknowledgment. I turned around to leave when I heard a scuffing noise off to my left, just behind a house. I froze, and noticed that Levi, after glancing at me, put a hand on his blade. We looked at each other, and he motioned towards the noise with his head. Taking that as a go-ahead, I stalked towards the dwelling and scaled the wall with ease. Below me, three people were gathered, all with their backs turned to me. The youngest one seemed to be talking frantically to the others.
I had learned long ago to trust my gut, and right now it was telling me that whoever these people were, they meant trouble for our little tour group. I leapt from the rooftop, ducking into a roll, and unsheathing my blade just as I came back up.
I crept up behind them, heart racing. Something about the two older ones seemed familiar somehow, and I couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong.
Just as I was about three steps away from reaching them, they all three turned around, weapons drawn and hatred in their eyes. My blood ran cold.
"Axis," Sabina greeted me, voice dripping with poison, "Welcome back."