ArtMoonSon-sama! Thankyou so much for saying you love my stories! seriously it means a lot! Also for telling me about Rico's name! I just couldn't find it...
I own nothing except the story and Alex at this point!
Usagi sneezed:
"What is the matter Usagi?" Ami asked sitting across from her on the seat of the carriage a book on physics that Alex had given him/her in her hands.
"Someone must be talking about me." Usagi said rubbing his/her nose.
Pixis raised an eyebrow smiling at the old legend.
"That's just a child's tale." Seto muttered dully from beside her near the window seeing as the sun slowly sank down before it basically vanished under the wall.
"Is that so..." Pixis said, smiling softly thoroughly enjoying his time spent with these fascinating people looking over at the boy called Athoris who glanced at him before going back to look out the window looking slightly lonely. He was sure that girl Alex would have been better company then him.
"So anyway... Pixis-ojiisan," Ami looking up from her book to look at him. "Where are we heading again?"
"It was actual my intention to introduce you to a friend of mine lord Balto. He is a fat rich aristocrat from a very secluded area of Wall Rose who I play chess with from time to time. He is a very pathetic man really... one of the hopeless upper class." he sighed shrugging slightly looking very disgusted. "To tell the truth miss Ami I was actually hoping that with your IQ level and If you worded it careful, that is. You could play him in a friendly game of chess with a a bet on the line. See he will probably be too stupid and lazy to realize that he will give half his vast fortune away to the troops until he is too late.." he finished smiling at her.
"If you just wanted her to come." Athoris said, finally turning his face away from the fading sun to glare at him before Ami could say anything. "Why did you bring us here and leave the others at the border of wall Rose?"
"Yes..." Seto said darkly for his side of the cart. "Why is that?"
Pixis stiffened slightly looking at the young mans sharp face and cold calculating blue eyes before him as if he was looking at him from the inside out. This had not been his best plan at all.
"You see," he said finally rubbing his bald head. "We could not trust you so blindly and..."
"In other words," Seto stated arms crossed glaring at him from his seat, "You split us up in order to use us as leverage just in case that dog and the others wanted to act up for whatever reason..."
Pixis remained silent.
"You bastard..." he hissed as the carriage rode on.
... ... ... ... ...
Night came fast around the surrounding area as the rode around the outside perimeter of the wall not once seeing a titan, unless you were to count the one in Connes deserted home town, not once seeing a breach in the hard structured upon the smoother grey flat surface.
Nora frowned looking up at the wall as they road past it.
"What's up?" Kazuma asked from the saddle.
"I heard hollow movements... like something was walking inside the wall," he muttered, eyes flashing slightly and nose twitching.
"Strange I can't smell the usually stench of concert from it just..." his voice trailed off as they road on and pretty soon a new smell reached him and out of the darkness a few pinpricks of light could be seen supported by people supported by horses.
"It's nothing to worry about!" Nora said dully, looking at some who had reached for their weapons. "Its just them!" and sure enough out of the darkness came the ones who had gone south. there was a pause as they came within hearing distance of them none of them looking any worse for wear, expect maybe Connie who had an odd look in his eye.
"So... you guys were running along the wall as well?" Nanaba asked Gerger from his horse who nodded to him as they came to a halt.
"So where's the breech located?"
Gerger looked confused and said that he had met with no sign of a breach anywhere an odd silence fell over them as the rest of them said they hadn't seen any either.
"Could we... have overlooked it somehow?" a young woman with a ponytail called Rene asked looking worried face half hidden in the darkness.
"Impossible," Henning said firmly. "We're talking about a hole big enough for a 15m titan could squeeze through after all."
"Then... what now?" Gerger asked, hidden in the shadows his voice low.
At that moment the light of the silverly light of the full moon lit us the surrounding area and the outline of a castle appeared in the darkness... it was risky but they decided, for now at least, it would be safer then out in the open where titans could get them at any moment. The castle was in ruins rubble was everywhere and aged wood creaked and broke under their feet outside there was a single turret connected to another by a stone was evident that someone had once lived here because on the inside it was fairly intact with fully intact rooms and staircases that led down to cellars chairs and tables and crates lined the floor that they were currently sitting around a fire while Gerger went to search for more supplies.
"What's this castle called anyway?" Nora asked, leaning against the wall.
"Its called castle Utgard," Ymir said plainly, sitting next to Christa. "Can't you read?"
"I don't read German!" Nora said fiercely, and at that moment a strange sound reverberated around the room making everyone turn to see where it was coming from fast so no titans could hear it.
"Hey..." Ymir said picking something on the ground. "What the hell is this?
She was holding up a plain cell phone with a strange mascot on the antenna that she was looking at annoyed.
"That's... Oh thank whatever!" Nora said snatching it from her hands. "That old hag finally called us!"
"You guys have a ferby mascot on your phone antenna?" Jonouchi asked, smirking at Kazuma.
"Its not my phone," he said plainly, to as Nora opened the phone.
"Hello there Nora and Kazuma!" said a voice that basically blew Nora's sensitive ears clean off and rocketed around the room. It sounded like someone's old grandmother or mother, if you wanted to keep your tongue, that has forgotten how old she actually was in her half senile mind but it had a slightly darkly sweet tone deep inside her vocal cords. Almost like a mother bear's roar when talking to her young.
"Quite down you old hag!" Nora shouted, in the phone a vane throbbing in his temple and hand. "About time you finally got off your ass and contacted us!"
"Really Nora, such language!" came the voice. "And for your information I have not as you say done it on purpose!" she said while at this moment she is in her human form lying in a bubble bath with sweet small rose petals.
"Are you kidding we've been stuck in this hell hole of a dump for a good few months now!?" came his furious response.
"Now now... calm down my dear puppy! Look... the thing is it wasn't easy for me to bring that phone to that world after all!" came the sweet as cake response.
"F^^ing bull^&^t!" Nora shouted. throwing the phone on the ground and stomping on it.
"Umm... what was that?" Rene asked, pointing at Kazuma as he continued to stomp on the phone.
"That was the Dark Liege something or other. Its thanks to her I got stuck with that mutt..."
"Kazuma-chan ^.^! Pick up the phone dear!" said a cheery voice from the inside of Kazuma's pocket. Kazuma sighed and pulled the phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear.
"I do apologize in advance for the the inconvenience." she said her voice suddenly getting a lot more serious. "But right now there is no way for you lot to get back to your own world. At this time we can only send people to you from our world... Furthermore I do not have the go from the ones who sign my paychecks to allow it yet!"
"People who sigh... The hell are you talking about?" Kazuma demanded.
"Excuse me," Nanaba said putting a hand on Kazuma's shoulder. "May I please speak to... her?"
"Here," Kazuma said putting it in his hand glad to have his ears stop ringing. "Hold the part with the antenna to your ear and speak into the other end." he instructed.
Nanaba frowned deciding not to question how such a small device can transmit voices and did as he was told.
"Hello? Dark... legion?" he asked slowly into the end of the phone.
"Ah... you must be someone new?" came the voice at the other end of the phone.
"Yes... would you mind telling us what you met by... worlds?"
"...I am sorry dear." she said after a short pause, "But I cannot give you that information and the rest of them don't know it either." and the phone clicked off.
"GAAAA! the old hags talking crap. Again!" Nora shouted, throwing his hands up in the air throughly pissed off now.
"Dark legion... did you say?" Atem asked leaning forward from the staircase his eyes wide.
"What's all this noise?" Gargar asked suddenly coming in from the doorway holding something in his hands. "Anyway, more importantly look what I found!" he said, holding out a dark bottle that looked a lot like beer but it was darker and had a strange label on it.
"Gerger... Don't tell me you're seriously going to drink that vine?" Rene asked looking at him.
"No! Not at a time at this at least..." he said quickly, as he tried to make out what was on the bottle.
Nanaba sighed picking up his gear.
"You rookies and others make sure you get some rest..." he said, as he walked past them. "Daylight has ended some time ago rendering the titans weak and vulnerable. But... we should at least play it safe and take turns on look out. Be up in four hours sharp"
"Okay... so we're dealing with solar powered naked giants... delightful." Nora muttered sitting on the ground with his arms on his legs.
"Excuse me," Christa said softly against the wall next to Ymir. "I-if the wall has really been breached, from where could they have infiltrated?"
The mood somehow got more somber.
"We're looking into it tomorrow. Right now your orders are to rest." Nanaba told her plainly before he disappeared up the stairs leaving them in silence.
"...Hey... do you think that.. the situation is all most interlay different then what he first generally assumed?" Christa asked in a small voice while next to Ymir on the wall.
"Its just that..."
"Yeah... there were too few titans out there." Gargar said looking worried.
"Does it make you think that the wall has truly been breached then?" Mamoru asked from beside him.
"That maybe true..." Rene said slowly. "The only ones we saw were the ones from the very begging..."
Ymir looked up looking at if she wanted to turn this conversation around and her eyes focused on watched her closely.
"Connie, what became out your village?" she asked quickly.
"It was destroyed..." he said slowly looking grave. "We had come there after the titans trampled over it... However no one was eaten... they all managed to escape it seems that I can find some relief in that." he sighed.
Ymir looked grave her eyes to the ground but then thought of something.
"But, didn't you say it was destroyed?"
"No, he said flatly, at least only the building were. After all titans usually leave blood and carcasses whenever they attack but we saw nothing... so the only logical assumption was they all managed to escape before the titans arrived there."
A short silence filled the room.
"Only." Connie said again. "Something been bothering me ever since we left. There was this titan with these dead looking arms and legs on top of my house. The strange thing about it was... it looking and talked... like my mother..."
"Connie," Reiner said slowly though he looked a little worried about something. "If you continue to say suck things like that... I'll be forced to think that you're a blithering idiot!"
"Hey! I heard it too!" Jonouch said quickly.
"...And you're the other blithering idiot..."
"Hey... where's that girl, Alex anyway? Kazuma asked suddenly as the three of them fought looking around.
Everyone stiffened at that reliving for the first time the small dark haired girl was missing.
"She wasn't with you?" Junouchi asked, sitting up a little straighter.
"How the hell could we lose her? She only slightly taller then Christa and we could still keep an eye on her!"
"She was too quite that's why."
"You know... I'm pretty sure I saw a horse with two riders going off in the direction of a town..." said Ymir, frowning slightly. "But it was too far away for anyone to see who they were."
"Geez! Whoever her mother is must have about a dozen heart attacks trying to keep her in check!"
... ... ... ...
And so the night wore in the moon in the dark sky above them weaved in and out by the clouds. Wind whistled through the cracks in the castle walls nearly causing the fire to burn to an ember on the floor around them Nora groaned sitting up from his place on the floor clutching his stomach which felt like it was tying itself into thousands of knots inside him. He glanced up to see Ymir quietly get up from her place next to Christa and sneaked up the stairs and instant later Reiner follow her up. Nora sighed rubbing the back of his head and made to go join them. He crept up beside Reiner and looked in to see Ymir looking through a crate of something holding a candle in one hand and then turned sharply to see who had followed her.
"Oh! its just you two. What do you think you lot are doing sneaking up with possible dirty intentions on a girl in the middle of the night, huh? What a shocker. And here I thought that neither of you seem like the type who are interested in woman!" she said slyly, watching as Nora gnashed his teeth together.
"Well since we're being honest here you never seemed like the type either." Reiner said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Oh really?" she asked, before returning to the crate. "At any rate, this may just be our last supper and I really need to fill my stomach," she said, going back to her work and then pulled out a small can saying something about not liking herring. Reiner came into the room taking the can out of her outstretched hands and frowned his eyes widened slightly.
"You said... herring right?" he asked slowly. "You can sure read them well can't you?"
Ymir froze silently cursing herself for making such a stupid mistake as Nora kneeled next to her.
"You know..." Nora said slowly, eyeing her closely. "Ever since I was next to you on the horse... I've noticed this strange stench on you... Almost like..."
"EVERYONE, GET UP NOW!" came a voice form the stairs. "GET TO THE ROOF! ON THE DOUBLE."
... ... ...
several hours away the sound of about a dozen horses could be heard galloping at full speed across the outside of the walls under the moonlight headed by Hanji with Alex her own horse. Eren, Mikasa and Armin holding a torch to light the way and some other member of the scouting legion.
"Listen carefully!" Hanji began, "we will head to the southwest. Where an old castle is located very close to the wall. We should be able to see where the break in the wall is from its tower! Castle Utgard."
They road on in relative silence for quite a while before Hanji's eyes turned to the strange thing located around Alex's belt loop.
"H-hey, Alex?" Hanji said softly.
Alex turned to look into Hanji's dark brown ones.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"This maybe a bad time but... I've been wondering for a while now. Could you tell me what that purple thing on your pants?"
Alex blinked, but then her fingers traveled down to her waist fingering the hard plastic.
"Oh... that's just a Buddhist keychain!" I wore it to piss my father off! Along with many other things... You should have seen his face!" she said smirking, at the memory. "It represents courage by the way! You can have it if you like!" she said carefully taking it off her person and holding it out to the person before her.
Hanji took it carefully making sure the horse was steady while inspecting strange mold type thing in the darkness. It had a strange all most squashed in round face as if someone had stomped on it. curly looking hair with something attached to it that made a rather curious sound. It was sitting in some sort of strange style Hanji was unfamiliar to and Hanji saw that it was holding up two finger. It was hard to tell but there was a strange pear shaped mark on its forehead.
"Hanji-san... if you continue to stare at it in this darkness your eyes will get even worse... even if you're wearing glasses!" Alex said, smiling at the person next to her in a friendly manner.
Agh... next chapter's gonna be a bitch...