"It's time, Karma."
She blinked, adjusting to the dim light. She was still in the cell, but Eren was no longer holding her from behind. She sat up, creaking the mattress. Eren was dressed in his slacks and handing her a stack of folded clothes.
"Get dressed. We're leaving."
Karma clasped her bra and fastened her buttons and pulled up her pants. Eren all the while kept his eyes sharp and his ears perked toward the ceiling. His gaze slid back to her.
"Ready?" he said. Karma nodded. "Come here." He secured his arms around her. "Just relax. Close your eyes if you need to." His murmured instructions made her eager to keep her eyes open.
The cement around them groaned. The iron bars vibrated so that one bar turned to three. Loose dust and rocks crumbled from the ceiling. Eren's arms tightened. There was a bright flash. The wall in front of them exploded, ringing Karma's ears and suffocating her in a cloud of debris.
Her feet were lifted off the ground and Eren was ducking and running through the narrow opening he'd created. Karma could sense a tunnel around them from the smell of soil and the strange moisture in the air. It was dark and even colder than the cell that was now meters back.
Then there was another explosion and more coughing and throbbing ears. But the air was warm and soil wasn't enclosing them anymore. Her eyelids were red and she opened them to see that they'd made it outside.
It could've been dawn or dusk, she couldn't tell. The sky was lilac and daffodil. It cast a strange orange glow on Eren's arms, tight around her waist. He settled her to her feet.
"We're here."
They were on the top ridge of some hill. A cluster of people crested, emerging from the top of their heads down. Some of them were familiar to Karma, though she didn't immediately recognize them as military soldiers since they weren't in uniform.
These must be the Yeagerists.
"Is this everyone?" Eren said, addressing the front man with a bowl of red hair. Karma recognized him from their cadet class. Floch.
"There's more," Floch said. He presented Eren with a folded black jacket.
Eren unfurled it and slid his arms through the sleeves, leaving it opened in the front. He was breathtaking. Karma blushed when he wrapped an arm around her. "We fight to save the Eldian Empire. This is your Queen, Karma."
The word Queen was too significant. It didn't fit. Karma shrank into her shoulders, hiding from the pointy glares of the Yeagerists, who seemed to agree about her unworthiness.
"Floch, you know our arrangements," Eren continued. "Ensure my Karma makes it safely." He turned to Karma and held her shoulders. "I'll be with you soon, my gem. You'll be safe with Floch."
He kissed her with firm lips for longer than was comfortable with an audience, but Karma still wished it would've been longer. His hands slid off her shoulders and down her sleeves. He turned to lead the crowd further along the ridge of the hill, clinging to the tips of Karma's fingers until she was out of his reach.
Her hand fell back to her side. She watched Eren's black coat swat in the wind and disappear with the Yeagerists. Once he was out of her sight and she found herself alone with Floch, a gaping dread hollowed her gut.
"Where's he going?" she said to the red haired man, who was still saluting in Eren's direction. He dropped his fist and looked at her from the corner of his squinted eye.
"He and the others are going to locate Zeke."
"But why is he leaving me behind? I can help."
This earned her a snide laugh from Floch, like she was missing something stupidly obvious. "You're far too valuable to him, Karma. This is for your own protection. Not to worry though, you'll be kept at a secure location Eren has set aside—fit for a Queen. He'll visit when it suits him."
"Protection from what?" Karma said with obvious skepticism. Was the euthanasia plan more dangerous than they had realized?
Or was Floch suggesting that the threat was Eren himself? Otherwise, if she was so valuable, wouldn't he want to keep her closer? It didn't make sense until the last phrase echoed through her ears.
He'll visit when it suits him.
She was Eren's gem. He'd polished and studied her in awe, twirling her in his hands while rainbows danced across his cheeks. But now he was stuffing her in a jewelry box for safe keeping. When it suited him, he'd peel the lid to admire the edges sparkle in the light before tucking her back into a drawer.
Gems were not meant for drawers. Why would he hide her away?
Floch's smirk darkened. He clearly enjoyed the feeling of the words on his lips as he said, "He hasn't told you? He's protecting you from The Rumbling."
"The bastard took her."
Captain Levi struck the bed frame with his foot. It screeched across the cement until one of the legs wedged into a crack.
Crystal pillars spiderwebbed the far wall where Eren had made his escape. The ice-colored rods sprouted from ceiling to floor and wall to wall.
"Dammit. Dammit!" His foot skidded the bed frame again until it collided against the spiderweb. He strangled a pillar with two hands, imagining it shattering in his grasp like sugar glass. But despite having enough rage in his fists to crunch bone, he was no match against Titan hardening.
Hange was leaned against the iron bars, keeping a wary distance from his meltdown. "Eren didn't take her—she went willingly. Otherwise, there'd be signs of struggle and we would've heard her scream," she said.
Levi's arms dropped back to his sides. He turned toward her with sharp eyes. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"Of course not. You just need to think rationally." Hange shifted her shoulder blades on the bars. "It's not easy to hear, and I'm sorry. I know how you feel about her."
"What?"
"You two made out right in front of my office—it was sort of hard to miss."
"Damn nosey four eyes." Levi pressed his back against the crystal to face Hange. He crossed his arms. "If she went with Eren willingly, then my feelings don't matter."
"Don't say that; I'm sure she still likes you. Eren's just manipulating her."
"That's not comforting."
"I'm serious—Karma's in danger. Who knows what Eren has planned for her?"
"The hell are we supposed to do about it? He blocked off our only hope of tracking them." Levi nodded back at the web. "They could be anywhere."
"Whether or not Eren's planning to stop the euthanasia plan, he needs Zeke. I'd bet my good eye he's looking for him."
"So, what? We hunt down that monkey and find Eren and Karma on the way? Where the hell do we even start?"
"I don't know. But if we find Zeke, Eren will come to us."
"Then what? We trade Zeke for Karma? That's a terrible idea," Levi said, shaking his head, eyes tracking the cracks on the ceiling. "We can't thwart whatever they're planning if he and Zeke meet."
"Then you better think of some other way to save Karma cause that's all I got." Hange mirrored his crossed arms with exaggerated gruffness.
"Dammit…" Levi scanned the cell. The lanterns they brought cast orange semi-circles across the walls. He watched the semi-circles warble with the flick of the flames. He pictured the cloud of orange flames that erupted from HQ. "That wasn't some random terrorist attack. Eren had something to do with the bomb that killed Zachary," he said.
"I thought it was a little too coincidental. If he used it as a distraction, it sure as hell worked. So, what, you think there's a rat in the military?"
"Not one of those Yeagerist bastards are clever enough to pull off a coup on their own—I guarantee we're dealing with a whole lab of rats. Find them, we find out Eren's plans."
Hange faced her tapping foot, contemplating. Her glasses slipped toward the tip of her nose. She shoved them back, nodding at Levi. "It's definitely a step in the right direction. I'll conduct interviews and narrow down the suspects."
"Good. I'll take care of the rest."
"Shit, Levi. Don't kill anyone, alright?"
"Relax. I'll do everything but that."