I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin
"Reiner Braun? Ymir?"
No answer came from the holding cells.
A man garbed in black billowed by the occupied cells where the dead slept peacefully in their own blood. It was time to determine if the last two were Titans, they had to know; he feverishly brought himself down the hallway to find two, iron doors to be ajar. Both had locks busted and, what made matters worse, they were empty. He threw himself back against the wall in disbelief.
"Oh...oh no..." He scrambled to his feet and sprinted as fast as his legs could take him as he shouted at the top of his lungs,"E-escape! They escaped! Pastor Nick! They escaped!"
-...-
Rivaille laid in bed, his mind drifting in and out of consciousness as he lingered between the borders of dream and reality. He could have almost gone fast asleep until the door opened to Hanji's room. Light from the hallway candles poured into the darkened room (he had pulled the curtains over the window to block out the sun), his eyes slit open like a cats as he squinted, seeing a feminine form at the doorway.
"What?" He said.
"Oh, sorry, sir," came a voice. It was Petra. He sat up on the mattress. "I just...hadn't been able to sleep at all, only had an hour's rest."
"Here, take this," he said without putting up an argument or giving an explanation. He was well aware she had underwent great stresses for the day; the ranged from springing people from cells to finding more escapees to free. As a reward, he the least he could do was give her the bed. He rolled his shoulder to shake out a strain as he got to his feet.
He had gone to bed without a shirt, thus his bare skin was exposed.
The sound of her shuffling uncomfortably prompted him to put a clean shirt he had stolen from Tobias's quarters. While buttoning up the shirt, he neared Petra, saying with a slight yawn,"Go ahead, Hanji wouldn't mind."
He easily slipped by Petra and found himself in the hallway. From there, he stepped by Room 2 where the door was cracked between the frame and wood.
He nudged it open a bit to see Armin resting his head against Mikasa's arm, his back bent to lay by her. Next to him was Christa though she was resting her head against the wall. They weren't doing anything and both appeared to be sleeping, Rivaille closed the door completely and continued on, down the stairs. It had been an hour or so, i would be best to check on Hanji to see her progress. He found Tobias on the other side of the bar, hands busy at taking records on some ledger.
The man didn't look up at him and seemingly ignored him but words were passed on,"Zoe's in the restroom cleaning up."
So much tension from the man...
He passed by Bertolt and Reiner as they spoke in low voices. Something about going to their hometown? He'll deal with it later. He approached the restroom and entered, disregarding social norms. It wasn't a big deal or anything, none were there to point out his social faux pas. Upon entering he found Hanji sitting next to a bucket while wearing a tablecloth to conceal her body.
He approached her and knelt beside her as her hands were vigorously scrubbing away at something. He glanced over to see that she was washing her dress; the water was red with fresh blood and splotches of soap suds barely covered it all.
"Did you have fun?"
The scrubbing became more vicious at hearing him.
"Hanji," he addressed her carefully. She turned her head to face him directly.
"Hm?"
"What happened? I never seen you do laundry before."
That was a fact. She was so scattered brained when it came to organizing her life, clothes weren't an exception to it.
For a second she gave him this..unreadable look before letting out an uneasy smile while saying,"I just had a lot of blood from Annie. Thought I could clean it..."
Rivaille gave an obvious frown at her statement but, like always, he decided to let her cope with whatever she done on her own. His eyes drifted towards her work, then at her current outfit. The tablecloth was wrapped around her body like one would do with a towel. It looked so makeshift and, to his standards, pathetic. He rolled back his sleeves and gesticulated for her to give the dress to him.
"You're not doing it right. Go upstairs and get a different outfit, I'll do this," Rivaille sighed. Hanji reluctantly gave him the bloodstained cloth, he took that moment to sniff her. "While you're up there, take a bath. You smell like death."
She truly did considering the stench of blood was still on her. Hanji got up and readjusted the tablecloth; for a brief moment he saw that her hands were wrinkled, telling him she had been fruitlessly washing the damn thing for quite a while. As he set to work on the dress, she asked,"Had you ever...hacked away at someone's limb?"
Rivaille thought back to when he had to run interrogations on his own. Without hesitating, he replied,"A couple times."
"Alright...I left that girl down in the cellar with Annie." She was referring to Ymir. "Oh...and Tobias said dinner will be ready by sun down."
She was gone at the corner.
-...-
The clock read 1900.
"Reporting to Mike Zacharias," said one of the Scouts. The Military Police glowered at him, then stepped aside to allow the fellow entrance to Mike's office.
The former Squad Leader, now turned hunting dog, was given a large space where he can operate with the other MP units. Overall, his actions seemed reluctant as they had spent the entire morning and afternoon, yielding no results of the whereabouts of the runaway soldiers. The Scout, around his middle years, pushed by an MP officer so that he could reach the long table where Mike was given a detailed map of the Karanese.
"Sir!" He called out, the blond man straightened his back. "One of my escorts had gone missing throughout the search."
The bustle of the room went quiet as he began to retell his story.
First the report of two prisoners loose and now this. Mike knew of his responsibility for the first problem but the second was out of his hands.
"We were heading out this morning, I was given three MP escorts, just as everyone, and told to be one of the ground parties. Annie Leonhart was her name, she said she saw something suspicious and left for the South while we headed East...time struck after an hour and we began to head South to where she went. We scoured the streets for her more than the fugitives yet she hasn't turned up."
Mike have a nod, taking in his story. The second-in-command of the operation, a sour man by the name of Fritz Gervas of the Military Police, stated,"She must have been taken. Round up the escorts, I want a headcount of my men." He turned to Mike with a furious look. "We need to set up check-points now, Zacharias, already we have one of our women missing."
As the reporting Scout was dismissed, Mike poured himself over the map while the bustle returned to the room. His eyes flickered to the location of the Flora every so often that it gave the impression he was ignoring Fritz. He hated the way the brunette man carried himself; he was a shorter man by a few inches and, with his height, came a pushy personality. Only ten minutes with meeting the man, Mike had grown to despise him; his stench was so strong that he didn't even need to bother to smell him.
"Zacharias!" Fritz snapped.
Mike was given the bastard a few hours ago in replacement of his three escorts when they had finished surveying the Southern part of the Karanese. Already he wanted to smack him in the face. Without losing his temper, Mike calmly inquired,"Had there been any reports from the Garrison?"
"They've been the same, they hadn't spot anyone using Gears throughout the day."
"Alright, tell them to seal the Inner Gates of Wall Rose," he said finally, it made Fritz less antsy.
"And the check-points?"
Mike tiredly answered,"Anywhere near the Walls."
"The Underground Malls, what about those?"
"Those especially," he said,"we were ordered to not enter but you can set things around them...look, you take care of things here, I need to speak to Commander."
He heard Fritz utter,"Lazy dog," under his breath and turned away.
Mike rubbed his eyes and then pulled away from the desk. Fritz called up several men as Mike slipped away the the hubbub and entered the hallway. One of the MP guards spotted him and followed without question, as he was ordered to. He and his stalking escort traversed up the stairs and down many corridors until they reached Erwin's door.
The guard stopped by the door when Mike opened it.
At least they give privacy.
Upon stepping into the large yet simple office, he found Erwin standing by the window, his back facing another individual dressed in such finery that Mike interpreted him as a diplomat from the Inner District.
"...surely you're plotting something, Erwin," the finely dressed individual remarked. Within his hand was a glass goblet filled half way with vine, he was swishing it counterclockwise as it was the only thing he could play with. "As we speak, you're being decimated to nothing more than a dozen individuals in the Recon Corps. The poor souls in the cells below us- ah." He peered over his shoulder to see Mike advancing on the red carpet. "It's your tracking dog, he's here."
Erwin turned to see Mike, he rounded around the table to address him properly. "Did you find them?"
"No, instead, one escort from the ground team went missing," Mike reported, his eyes shifted to the fine man. His nose twitched at the heavy amount of cologne, he was tempted to rub his nose to be free of it. Instead, he scrunched his nose and dubiously asked,"Who's this?"
"Marquis Isidor von Hermiha, he's the current head of the Hermiha House," Erwin explained, Isidor gave a pleasant smile.
He was a shorter man by a hand though he held an air of elegance and extravagance. His front was embezzled with various medals to state his rank and traditional position in society, his clothes were embroidered in golden thread, and his face, well, it was horribly scarred, thus killing his outfit. Despite the nasty marks that dragged across his right eye, he held no effort to hide them as his luscious, brown hair was slicked back and tied off by a red bow.
As protocol, Mike gave a brief salute before bringing his focus to the Commander.
"Why isn't Marquis Klaus von Karanese present?"
A servant, one not familiar to Mike (he guessed the servant was one of Isidor's), came to offer the man a glass. Mike refused politely and the servant went off to the drinking rack to await any requests.
"He supported the Recon Corps's existence so then he was detained to the royal prison with Marquis Isaak von Trost," Isidor drawled out,"I only came here to bring in last orders from the capital...and my own, personal vendetta." Mike raised a brow but remained suspicious of him. "Just so you know, unlike those other Marquis who see the Recon Corps as a waste of men and taxes, I find Erwin to be useful in what he does.
"It strikes me the wrong way that the military is forcing him to execute his own men by...using his own men. Truly a way to break up the Recon Corps from the inside," he gave a chuckle, his disfigured face contorting grossly.
Mike tried to process the information. The bewildered look on his face prompted Erwin to explain,"The disbandment of the Recon Corps was issued three days after the raids of Hanji Zoe's laboratories. When the Military Police produced several documents that are rather upsetting myself, Commander Pixis, and Commander Dock held a private caucus with the Generalissimo, the rest of the District Marquis, and even the King himself. As this case involved the essential removal of the branch in the military, other officials had to be present so that proper judgement could be passed."
Isidor drank leisurely from his glass and strode to the desk so that he may lean against it. The smug face he had was too cocky for Mike's tastes. The Marquis pulled the rim of his glass away from his lips and lazily told him,"So, a vote was passed on whether to continue to let its existence go on or not; those who said anything against it were arrested, as was the King's order. Naturally, those who do not know the direct wrath of Titans were more inclined to care less of the Recon Corps.
"Giving you people the Titan boy, Eren Yaeger, had made the King uneasy for weeks. Hearing other news of your mishaps and then this whole issue with documents had thrown the government into fearing you, and that definitely didn't sway the King into your favor. A rather complicated matter, really, but I'm still here showing my support for you. I voted for your destruction to save my hide, but believe me when I tell you that I'm on your side."
He reached back and brought out several pieces of papers, he offered them to Mike.
"Squad Leader Petra Ral is to be found and killed on sight. Lance Corporal Rivaille, same orders," Isidor said, he mused before drinking once more,"hm, how does one kill the strongest soldier?"
"The same is for you," Erwin told Mike,"but I'm withholding that for now."
Mike remained silent as his eyes read over the profiles numerous times.
Isidor's characteristically distorted smile faded into a haggard frown when Erwin inquired,"Did you set up check-points yet?"
Mike remained quiet.
He, and numerous others, dedicated their lives to the military. It made little sense to him that their government would willingly overthrow their most active branch. As a man, he had his rights to speak out but, as property of the military, he should have consented to being thrown away so easily. Carefully, he thought of Isidor's words.
Killing us one by one...not even asking if anything's true...the government wanted a reason to overthrow us simply because we have a Titan? The Wall Occultists at Eren's trial were highly disagreeing with us...and they've been the ones authorized to hold interrogations. Maybe they had more pull with the King. He clenched the documents. It doesn't matter who did what, the military has issued my own execution...why aren't these two killing me now?
"Yes, I'm having Fritz Gervas situating troops near the Wall, by midnight they should be up," Mike finally answered, he placed down the papers by Isidor on the desk. "In all due respects, Commander, why are you informing me of this? Why hadn't it been Rivaille?"
"The man is deviant, no pun intended," Erwin began,"he would have figured out something's amiss the moment I gave him an order to kill Hanji Zoe. No doubt that he's gone into hiding after what I told him last night." He went to go sit on his chair. "Petra's gone missing as well, I've sent for her and yet she never comes."
Isidor had tipped the cup high so that the bottom danced in the air. He let out a disappointed sigh and then his servant immediately came to refill his glass. Smiling at the more vine he was given, he reasoned,"Perhaps this Pal girl fled with Rivaille." His eyes flickered over to Mike. "I arrived here in the Karanese around noon and I saw your men rushing about in random directions, almost like you're leading them to different places. Pray tell, are you averting them from a specific location on purpose? Obviously you hadn't yielded anything more than a soldier of the MP going missing."
Mike gave a near scowl. He tried to make his movements less obvious but the man seemed smarter than the apparent drunk persona he portrays. Bitterly, he responded,"I'm just following my nose."
Isidor let out a chuckle and then sighed as if reminiscing over a fond memory. Erwin gave a quiet hum as he was thrown into a deep consternation.
"Commander?"
"Yes?"
Mike cleared his throat. "On whose side are you on?"
"I only give the order, but...I wouldn't blame you if you've taken to hiding the locations of those trainees who have fled," he confessed heavily,"you've done that, haven't you?"
Reluctantly, Mike gave a slow nod and admitted,"Yes."
"You heard this from the horse's mouth. Having Scouts chase after Scouts, of course they would produce the results the government wouldn't want."
Isidor broke in with a chortle,"Whoever you had taken into hiding must leave the city soon. There's another reason why I'm here in person rather than having a messenger come. I'm to return to my own district of Hermiha after three days, only then will the Gates of Wall Rose open into the inner territory. By that chance, whoever you have hiding should take it and escape." He brought a finger to poke Mike's nose playfully. "How this will all play out for the surviving Scouts is on their own judgement."
"You couldn't have sent us away earlier?" Mike countered, highly irate that he had been chosen to operate an entire search party without knowing there was a way out.
"It would have made the government uncomfortable," the drunk shrugged,"also, with all these soldiers running around with less guards, it makes Yaeger less protected in his cell. I mean...what are a couple of poorly armed occultist freaks going to do should the boy manage to break free of his cell?"
"What are you getting at?"
"He's saying that we should release Eren on our own terms, not the government's," Erwin translated. "Rather than fleeing for the hills for our lives, we could turn Eren against them all, make them remember how much the Recon Corps is a needed asset to the military. While we barely have anyone left to call this a Legion, it's still something to show importance. I intend to remind them what we do and make the King regret disbanding us."
Mike let out a long, drawn out breath. It gave him comfort to know that Erwin never had, at all, any malicious intent towards his men. He was simply acting on order from a government holding a gun to his back. Better to sacrifice few to save more. But there was barely anyone left. Throughout the day, Mike's search parties of two dozen Scouts had been reduced to only a dozen.
As he stood there, lost in his thoughts, he was pulled out of it when he saw Erwin head to the bookshelf on the far side of the room. Isidor stayed on the desk unmoving, but his glass following Erwin's direction. The Commander made a gesture for Mike to draw near, so he did. His hands reached up to a black book and pulled it back.
The sound of gears shifting echoed behind an ancient mechanism that groaned from years of little use. Seconds later, the bookshelf pressed into the wall and then slid to the side to reveal an unused passage.
"The guard will follow you when you leave this room," Erwin noted,"instead, go through here and you'll find a trapdoor around the corner; open it. The stable is just underneath it at the bottom of a ladder. Go to wherever the last Scouts are and tell them that they have two days before the Gates open."
Mike stepped in without question, but he turned, telling him in a relieved voice,"It brings me reassurance that you aren't heartless."
Erwin gave him a somber smile before the hidden entrance concealed the passage. He was left in the silence of darkness but his hands felt the walls, guiding him to where he needed to be. It was only a few steps through the hall until he heard the dreadful crack of a gun.
"Erwin!"
Adrenaline kicked in and he whirled around, his hands fixating on the wooden panels of the bookshelf. Panic struck and he tried to find any lever or latch that can open the door, his efforts were in vain when he heard yelling from the other side. There was only Isidor's recognizable voice amongst the chaos beyond the shelves, but not of the Commander's.