CHAPTER 19

"Gloria! There are customers at the door. Do not keep them waiting." A female voice announced.

Gloria puffed up her curly brown hair, admiring herself in the mirror. She went to quickly put on a fresh coat of ruby red lipstick, "Just a moment."

"GLORIA! NOW!" The old hag screamed.

The young woman huffed. By the Gods, how she hated that woman sometimes. She gave herself a wink, hurrying off through the pink hallways. When she got to the door, she peaked through the small opening to see who was on the other side. Two young men. She cupped her breasts and lifted them up. Her low-cut corset did a fine job in supporting them high on her chest. She opened the door with a sexy smirk.

"Hello boys, how can I be of assistance?"

Gloria looked up at the tall one, who in turn searched for the shorter male's eyes for an answer. She couldn't see their complete faces as they wore facemasks; something not too uncommon in her line of work. All she could see was their eyes, both which were very beautiful. The tall one had gorgeous eyes, mostly green though a swirl of blues and yellows gave uniqueness to them. The other one was the complete opposite. His eyes lacked any color since they were a solid grey. Still, the manner in which they glistened was as quietly charming as the moonlight. Gloria wanted to see more of them.

The one with grey eyes spoke up, "We're looking for a room."

Gloria bit her lip, "Excellent! Would you like some company?"

Gloria stepped closer to the taller boy and swirled a finger around on his chest, "Or are you boys planning on playing all by your lonely selves?" She pouted playfully.

The boy jittered back like a scared deer, abruptly bumping into the other man as he did so. Gloria bit back her giggle. She liked it when they were shy. Annoyed, the raven harshly grabbed his companion by the sides and put the boy behind him. It appeared this one was a lot less jumpy.

"We'll be joining a room that's already rented."

Gloria's pout was no longer playful. In a disappointed voice she said, "Oh, yes of course. What room will that be?"

"Room S."

Her flirtatious act dropped immediately. Room S was a third level room. Every worker there knew that any room above Q meant ugly business. She tried to hide her frightfulness as best as she could, though she was sure that the grey-eyed one noticed it. For her own safety, she took a step back and grabbed her tablet. Searching for Room S, she found all the information given about said room.

Gloria cleared her throat, "Code?"

"EX3416."

It was correct.

"Very well. A moment please."

Gloria shut the door for a split second to extract the key to said room. Once in her hand, she returned to the boys. She hung the keys out for the raven. Before giving them away she warned, "The room is three stories down. Please note that trifling with other rooms will get you in serious trouble. And remember, no one will disturb you no matter what so long as so it is kept inside the room. If anything sour occurs inside these rooms we are not kept responsible."

The girl realized that the tall boy was more frightened than she was. What could a boy like him be doing in places like these?

The raven took the keys, nodding in response. He was surely a lot more gentle-mannered that a lot of clients that swung by. Gloria stepped aside to let the boys in, offering them a warm -though fake- smile as they walked away. Once they were a good distance away, she ran back to her room, not wanting to know any more of those two men.

"Stop being so tense. You're putting me on edge." Levi complained.

Eren tensed up more, "Sorry, I wasn't expecting a brothel. I would think Annie would be working in an abandoned warehouse or sumthin'."

They got in an elevator going down.

The bodyguard eyed the boy, "You're new to this aren't you? This isn't a normal brothel. These are whorehouses perfect for shady business. They offer rooms where you can do anything- no questions asked. These types of rooms have thick walls. If you pay enough money, nothing could interrupt whatever it is you're doing in there."

Eren took a deep breath. All he wanted was to get to Mikasa already. However, a voice deep inside his mind told Eren he should be careful for what he wished for.

"Listen. I know Annie can be... challenging. But promise me you won't... you know, kill her." Eren shivered.

"You two have a weird relationship, you know that?"

Eren almost laughed. 'Weird' didn't even begin to cover it. Sometimes, even Eren didn't understand it. He loved the girl so much, yet she damaged him to the point where Eren wanted to let go but couldn't. No one - NO one- understood Eren like Annie did.

"I know... I just hope she's actually there. Are you sure it's a good idea to get here earlier than when she told us?"

Levi sighed, "I already told you brat. We got the element of surprise this way. It's-" Levi checked his watch, "20 minutes before 9:00 pm. She'll be there but I don't want her to have time to plan things before we get there. It's better to catch her off guard like this."

Eren nodded. His doubt remained but if Levi said so then he would follow through. Once the elevator door opened, they were presented with a similar hallway to the one they had been in before. The walls were a pale pink and the floors black. Rows of pink neon lights were placed up above where the walls connected to the ceiling, showering the entire place in a fairy-like ambience. Loud pop music played throughout, so loud in fact that Eren could hardly hear his own thoughts. The two men walked out.

The rooms separated long ways from each other. They stopped at the third room that had an "S" painted on it. Eren looked at Levi, unsure on what to do next. The raven gently positioned himself between Eren and the door. With one hand he took out his gun which he hid behind his back. Meanwhile, the other hand inched closer to the doorknob, unsure of whether it would even be open or not. While busting through the door would make a great dramatic entrance, Levi wasn't sure how kindly it would be looked upon by the owners of the building. After all, only what happened 'inside' was ignored.

Click.

It was open.

The door creaked as it slowly let way into the room. A couple of low-hanging lightbulb brightened the place up. The main room was medium sized though with a high ceiling. A rectangular diner table was pushed to the far right. On top of it were stacked various chairs. To their immediate left there was a blue love couch, a table, and a TV also pushed up against the wall.

On the wall opposite to Levi and Eren there was a banner hanging which read WELCOME, EREN. One corner had already fallen off so the last two letters couldn't be made out. Right below it was a big wooden chair. It was so fancy that it almost looked like a throne: a throne on which Annie sat upon. She looked at the boys with indifferent eyes, though a devilish smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. She had an elbow on one of the arms of the chair that led to a fist she used to rest her head upon. Though Annie wore that tight bun she always had, her hair was more tangled than usual. Dark circles below her eyes gave her a much more menacing gaze.

"Hello Eren. You're here early." She stood up and strolled forward, "Plus, you brought a friend!"

The green-eyed boy swallowed hard. He peeled off his face mask. Levi did the same.

"We're not here to hurt you Annie. Just give us Mikasa and we'll go."

Annie laughed, "Why are you here?"

Eren was confused, "F-For Mikasa."

"NO!" Annie yelled, "Why are you here, right now?! I told you to get here at 9 PM, Eren. 9 PM! I had a whole thing planned out you know. You're so incredibly rude to get here early. Mikasa was going to be the one seated there when you got here and it would've been a fun little family reunion!"

Annie clapped her hands together, staring off into a reality were the events she described were taking place. It didn't last long however as she dropped her smile in an instant, "But you ruined it. Like you ruin everything."

The brunet was exasperated, "You sent me a picture of Mikasa beat up!-"

"What does that matter Ereeenn?!"

Eren continued, "How was that going to be a 'fun family reunion'?! Where is she? Where is Mikasa?!"

Annie pouted, "You only care about her, don't you? What about me- what about us? Do I matter to you at all?!"

"Of course you do b-"

"Then why didn't you follow my instructions?!"

The brunet rubbed his head. When Annie got in a mood, it was impossible to get her out of it.

"Please, let me see her. I need to know she's okay." He practically whispered.

The girl's eyes went blank when he said this. Levi was perturbed by the way her eyes switched to those of a doll; glossy but with no emotion behind them.

"Ok. You want to see her. You need to know she's okay, yeah. HANJI! BRING MIKASA OUT. EREN WANTS TO SEE HER."

Eren felt his blood run cold at the sound of that name. From an opening on the left side of the main room appeared Hanji Zoe pushing forward an unconscious Mikasa in a wheel chair. Hanji Zoe had been one of Grisha's brains. After all, his experiments required advanced sciences for them to work. Hanji was quite an enigma, both in body and mind as Eren never knew with certainty if they were male or female, nor did the boy ever understand the strange ramblings they would go into when discussing complicated topics with Grisha. The scientist wouldn't appear frequently before Eren, but when they did he knew it was bad news. While Eren had suppressed various memories from those days, one thing he remembered clearly was that Hanji Zoe was batshit crazy.

From a first glance, Hanji appeared to be an average person. They were of average height, they had common brown hair and eyes with simple glasses adorning their face. They were the type of person that would walk down the street and few people would take a second glance. What those people didn't know was that behind those simple glasses and common eyes was a genius mind that had the capability of breaking the world.

"There she is, are you happy?" Annie teased.

Eren's eyes slithered down to Mikasa. Her eye was still swollen. It filled the boy with anger. Her porcelain skin clashed with those ugly blue and purple hues. They had no business being there. Her eyes were closed shut, her mouth slightly hanging open. She had a long white robe on her. It had some stains, mostly blood. He instinctually stepped forward.

"Woah, woah, woah. Where do you think you're going?" Annie took out a gun without hesitation. Though Eren had initially thought she would point it at him, she pointed it at the unconscious girl. Eren tensed so much he could barely breath.

"You might want to second guess that action." From behind of Eren, Levi pulled out his own gun and pointed it at the blonde.

"OOuuuhhhh," Annie hummed, "I see you want to die first." She changed the position of the gun so it would now point at the bodyguard.

In an instant, the girl threw a hidden knife with her free hand, simultaneously shooting a gun to try at trap the bodyguard. Levi read her well however as he hurled himself to the ground and rolled forward to avoid both of them. He cut the gap between them so they were now face-to-face. Shocked, Annie quickly knocked the gun out of Levi's hand to which he responded by stealing hers in a moment of confusion. Quick on her feet, Annie took Levi's gun that had been dropping to the ground and in just a few moments they had suddenly exchanged guns.

They began fighting with the quickened pace and grace of a jaguar but Eren didn't stay to watch. He had other things on his mind. Amidst the streperous sound of bullets, the brunet fell to the floor with his hands protecting his head. Seeing as Annie was concentrated in other matters, he crawled his way to Mikasa. He was weary of Hanji and any attempt they would make in stopping him but they looked between the fight and Eren with indifference.

"Hi, Eren!" They said as if the two were pals before returning their attention to the fight.

Eren shivered.

Once he was close enough, he looked at the girl with better eyes. Though out of it, her eyebrows were knitted together, the corners of her mouth pulling downward as if she were having a nightmare. Eren looked up at Hanji who was well focused on Annie despite them knowing very well he was right there.

"Mikasa! Psst! Mikasa!" He whispered loudly.

If only for a second, she fluttered her eyes half-open. A couple more attempts were made in opening her eyes but they ultimately fell back to a close. She muttered incoherent phrases. Among all the nonsense the green-eyed boy could make out a few words.

"Eren... is that you?"

Desperate to get her out of there, he stretched out a hand. He wanted to caress her face, wake her up properly and tell her everything would be alright. Plans changed as his hand abruptly exploded into a bloody mess.

It took him a while to understand what had happened. His hand dripped thick streams of blood, his bones, now visible to the eye, failed to do as he instructed. Shocked, he gradually shifted his vision to the cause of it. Annie looked at him with hard eyes. The barrel of the gun faced him fully. It was obvious to Eren that she hadn't even hesitated in shooting his hand.

"Hanji." Annie said roughly, "Plan 6."

"On it!" Said scientist gave Eren a last curious glance before disappearing off into another room.

Levi -who at some point had been hurt to the point of kneeling to the ground- took the same knife Annie had thrown at him some time ago and flung it right at her face. Only barely did the blonde girl escape a grim fate. The cool air whipped past her as the steel blade missed. She felt a sharp sting on her left cheek. When she touched the sore spot, her fingers covered themselves in blood. She looked back at Levi like he was a maniac.

"Y-You cut me!" She said as if not five seconds ago the girl had tried to kill him in cold blood, "You monster, you fucking freakshow!"

Annie had been caught so off guard that she hadn't noticed she dropped her gun when evading the knife. It wasn't until the bodyguard stole the weapon, now having a gun for each hand and both pointed at her, that she realized what had happened. The girl laughed.

"You're a slimy one, aren'tcha? That's fine." She raised her empty arms, "I don't need a gun to slaughter you anyway."

Eren -who hadn't felt pain yet because of the adrenaline- shrieked, "Annie! No! Don't hurt him. He's not an enemy, he's an ally!"

Annie's smile dropped, "No. No he's NOT! Eren, why do you even want him around anymore? I'm here now, see? We don't need him! We'll kill him off and it'll be you and me like it should always be!"

"But-"

"We are one and the same! Two parts that make a whole. You don't need Mikasa either. She's nothing but extra garbage to lug around."

From a mix of pain finally settling in and genuine hurt from the words, he frowned, "How could you say that?"

Annie looked at the boy like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Don't you get it, Eren? That's why I did all of this in the first place! You need to realize that we don't need her! Not permanently anyway."

"Wha-What's that supposed to mean?"

The girl was exasperated, "Grisha wants you back. That's why he kidnapped Mikasa in the first place. He knew that you would come back for her. Grisha also knows that I would never sell you off to him but if- if I stole Mikasa from him, I could lure him somewhere with the promise of giving her back and BAM! We kill him. Slowly. So slow that he'll beg of us to stop but I won't listen… if anything I'd enjoy the screams even more… then once his heart gives out we can finally be free, Eren! To do whatever we want. Don't you want that?"

Eren stared back in horror. It took him a while to regain his ability to form words.

"I would never do that."

Annie took the news surprisingly well. She simply nodded.

"Ok, then."

Without a second warning, she swooped a kick right into Levi's legs. He fell back forward, pushing the triggers too late for the bullet to accurately hit its target. Annie took deep, long breaths. Her upper body swelled and shriveled with each gasp for air.

"I'll have to kill all of you too."

Levi attempted staggering to an upright position but fell back onto the ground. It had been a simple kick from a small girl yet it had felt like much more. To say Annie was strong would be an understatement. His eyes glazed over the girl, stopping when he saw something that confused him. From her body, smoke was erupting. She looked like she was burning but without any fire. Her skin glistened with sweat, her chest heaving with strength. Her eyes twinkled in the light of the bulbs; blue and bold, like a tsunami rising to its highest before erasing an entire city.

"ANNIE-!"

WHOOSH!

A hot stream of vapor birthed out of nowhere. The heat stung Levi's hands and face, forcing him to blink away tears. The thick gas made it hard for him to breath and it eerily reminded him of that gas he had been trapped with when he was stuck in the warehouse. He coughed a couple of times and flailed an arm to try dispersing the gas from his nostrils. The vapor soon settled revealing the girl once again, only Annie... wasn't Annie anymore.

In her place stood a large -no, a gigantic woman twice Annie's size. Her head was but an inch away from the ceiling. The haunting eyes were the same as was the color of the hair though shorter than what Levi had remembered. The body, however, caused Levi to shiver. There was no skin. Her muscles and tissue were exposed from head to toe except for a couple patches of skin on the face. She opened her mouth as wide as she could from which fell a couple of Infants. It was in that moment of Levi watching this grotesque scene unfold that the dots connected in his brain and he realized Annie was another experiment of Grisha's.

Author's Note

Oh snap, only one more chapter to finish ACT 1! He, he. Side note, I decided to keep Hanji¡ as nonbinary both because it's something you don't see often and because I wanted to try my hand at writing a nonbinary character. That being said, my native tongue is a gendered language so I get the feeling I'm gonna fuck up eventually and use she/her like in the anime so, if you spot any errors feel free to mention it and I'll fix it! XD

Also, wasn't one-shot character Gloria the cutest? I had fun writing her little intro sequence.

~Gum