Chapter 20
Levi unsheathes his swords, readying himself to dissect the bitch that stands before him. Erwin looks over at him and halts the captain from continuing. "Not quite yet, Levi. A little more insurance," he says knowing that she will not be as simple to take down as any other Titan. "Second and third waves, Fire!" he echoes out as more metal pins stab into the Female Titan. "All reserves!" he commands knowing that with all these pins in her, there is no way she will manage to escape them. She will be captured, and they will soon learn who she is.
The cannon fire echoes through the woods, catching the attention of Reiner and the others as they wait in the trees. Reiner holds himself back from visibly grinding his teeth at the sounds of the distant booms. They knew something was amiss when the caravan did not immediately fall back at the sight of the Female Titan, so that must mean that Erwin was aware of her presence all along, and this mission was a simple cover to lure her and take her out.
With the sounds of thunderous cannon fire in the distance, Reiner can't help but figure that she will soon be dead. He glances over at Bertolt who returns his worried look. She might have assumed they would lure her into a trap, but the Female Titan's armor is no match for cannons like Reiner's. He takes in a deep breath as he begins to come to the realization that they have lost another Titan. His only solace is the sound of the cannon fire; for as long as they continue shooting, the likelihood she is still alive. But for how long?
Reiner looks down at the approaching Titans as they begin climbing up the trees. Before the mission, they all agreed that at no circumstances would Bertolt or Reiner assume their Titan form, but as these things approach them, climbing up the trees, Reiner figures that he'd be better off as the Armored than he would be with his ODM gear. Like hell he would allow one of these morons to devour and inherit the Armored Titan.
He lifts himself to a higher branch, keeping up the charade while he is still able to, when he hears Jean speak up, "Hey Armin, they want us keeping these Titans out of the forest right? I think I just figured out why," Reiner strains his hearing to listen to Jean's assessment and if he comes to the same conclusion that Reiner has. "We're here to lure that Female Titan into a trap. Come on, what else could it be?" Armin widens his eyes, "It's like you said, there's a person inside it steering the thing. Commander Erwin wants to find out who."
Reiner tightens his jaw and looks away from him. Erwin knew all along that the Female Titan was coming and allowed all those people to die to get her into those woods and in front of those cannons. With that being the case, does he know that she can call onto the horde with her scream? Has he managed to muzzle her down so she can't call upon the other Titans she brought here? He groans, hating being left in the dark with this. They should have never allowed her to run point on this mission.
He glances over at Jean who continues his sentiments with Armin. Reiner strains his hearing again, trying to listen to their conversation over the sounds of scratching bark and the approaching Titans below. He cannot make out what either of them are saying, but whatever Jean mentions, it visibly distresses Armin.
Meanwhile, the Levi Squad comes to the same realization as Jean and Armin while they consider the plan and why they of all people were left out of the communication. Eld thinks about the Commander and how he has always been tightlipped about missions in the past, but this was beyond anything he has kept from them, especially with the instrumental role they were expected to play. It is beyond Erwin's normal means of commanding and the thought hits him like a brick wall.
"Look I hate to say it, but he has a point," Eld releases as Oruo threatens to knock Eren's teeth out. "For being as supposedly instrumental to the plan as we were, the captain didn't give us much to go on."
"So, what?" Gunther asks wondering what he is suggesting.
"That means he doesn't trust us, kind of a big deal," he grits his teeth and it's clear they don't want to allow the thought to breach their minds. "Come on you guys, think about it. Maybe Eren isn't the only one who can change. Maybe someone in the regiment's a Titan spy."
"A spy?" Gunther scoffs incredulously. "Are you sure about that?"
"Well, no," Eld grumbles thinking the idea might be ludicrous, but it is ludicrous enough for the Commander to think so. "But I am sure the Commander believes it. He'd have to. And I'd wager you anything the only people in the know on this are the survivors from five years ago," He thinks about them: Levi, Hange, Miche Squad, the Commander.
They begin to discuss how it all makes sense, feeding into the speculation of who this person may be. Whoever it was, undoubtedly killed Sawney and Bean and entered the city when Wall Maria fell. The idea that this person has been roaming their streets and infiltrating their camp for over five years brings a chill down their spine.
They begin to discuss the lives that were lost, and Eren questions if it was worth it all just to smoke out one spy. So many good lives were lost in the battle to trap the Female Titan. So many people were left out of the know in order to ensure she was not aware of the trap that was awaiting her. And though they have her now, waiting on her knees for extraction, was allowing all those lives to be lost truly worth entrapping her this way? There had to have been a better way to ensnare her.
Eld reads this confliction crashing into Eren and speaks up, "Eren, I can understand why you still have your doubts but in time, you will come to realize, just like we all did, why Erwin Smith was entrusted to lead the Scouts and carry humanity's hope."
"Or why someone as cagey as Captain Levi can trust him," Petra adds.
"Indeed," Oruo continues the sentiment. "Live long enough and you'll understand the weight of it."
During this, the Commander sends another round of hooks into the Female Titan, ensuring beyond a doubt that she will not be able to move from her ensnarement. Hange releases the pin, smiling at the sight of her new curious test subject. "Poor thing, can't so much as bat an eyelash, can we? Must be terribly frustrating," she laughs as the various potential experiments she will soon perform on the Titan flow through her mind. "Get used to it, my dear. Biology can often times be a curse. Case in point, the more your wounds heal, the stiffer your joints become!" Hange giggles eagerly waiting for them to extract her so she can get started.
Levi and Miche jump from their respective branches, shooting down to her with wild speed as they pull their swords back behind their heads and strike her nape under her hands. Levi looks down at her with wild hate in his eyes as her hands harden like crystals that shatter their swords on impact. Miche returns to the Commander shaking his head at the failed attack. This will not be as easy as they would like to think. Erwin looks down at her, impressed with the same hardening ability as the Armored Titan. He contemplates how many blades they will go through before they can chip away at the shell she has created. In any case, time is too short for that route and he needs to take a more direct approach.
He lifts his hand and calls on a soldier, "Prepare an artillery round. I want her hands blown off."
"With all due respect, Commander, there's a risk if we use the cannons," he informs the Commander. "The hands will get blown off, but whatever's beneath them will too, Sir."
"A fine point, Soldier. Which is why you will aim carefully and sever them at the wrist," Commander Erwin informs him. "On my signal I want an all-out salvo."
"Yes, Sir," he obeys as he prepares the cannon.
Levi approaches her, landing on her head as the Female Titan is frozen below him. "Knock, knock. We know you're in there," he teases the Female Titan, knowing whoever is in there can hear him. "Why don't you make this easy and come on out? Stop wasting our time," she does not respond and he continues, "Seriously, what can you gain by stalling? If you are thinking we will let you go, we won't. If you're thinking about trying to escape, don't." Levi grows cold as he speaks, "All you should be thinking about are the good men you killed today," he scoffs, "Not that you would, that's not your style is it; remorse. You enjoy killing." Levi smiles to himself, looking down at her, "Which means we have something in common; of course, I enjoy killing Titans. But it's a start. I am sure we can still find some middle ground," he teases her.
The Female Titan remains frozen underneath him, controlling her anger, wanting so desperately to attack him and kill him here, but she keeps her temperament at bay for now. She has already formulated her escape, and now only waits for the perfect moment before they can blow her hands off, while also waiting long enough to give them a false sense of hope that they have the upper hand on her.
"While we are on the subject, let me ask," Levi continues. "You're okay with me cutting your limbs off at the joints, right?" he teases her. "I mean they'll grow back. But I'm talking about your actual body. Don't want you dead just yet; timing wouldn't work."
The Female Titan doesn't listen to his dark words, and instead focuses on the forces that gather the artillery to shoot her hands off. She hears one of them calling out that the guns are aimed and in position. Now is a as good of a time as any, and with Captain Levi standing atop her, he can have the perfect view.
The Titan opens her mouth and releases the most woeful roar she can muster, calling upon all her awaiting Titans. The roar is undoubtedly heard all over the field and she waits patiently for them to come and devour the smug Captain.
"Nicely done," Levi chuckles atop her. "I almost lost my composure."
Miche watches in terror as the smell hits his nostrils. It cannot be, he thinks to himself as his heart races. The smell emanating from her, and the surrounding scents.
That's not possible.
He shoots over to Erwin, in hopes to warn him. "They are coming, I can smell them."
"From what direction?" Erwin presses.
"From every direction. Fast. Dozens." In an instant, dozens upon dozens of Pure Titans come running towards them with intent in their stride. Commander Erwin instructs the soldiers to prepare the artillery as Miche looks towards the approaching horde. The haunting floral smell still lingering in his nostrils as he tries to make sense of it. "Here they come; first wave's closing on the east and coming in fast."
Erwin orders the wagon defense squad to engage, but none of the Titans move to fight them. They all charge towards a singular purpose. Levi watches as the incoming Titans come in. He begins kicking the Female Titan's head, "Hey what did you do, called in some friends didn't you?" he groans knowing that he will need to engage and launches himself off of her to begin fighting the approaching Titans.
Erwin watches in shock as the Titans that break through their defense latch onto the Female and start eating her. They all ignore the Scouts and head straight for her. "All hands commence combat!" Erwin cries out as he realizes what she's done. "Defend the Female Titan at all cost!" she smiles to herself, remembering similar words once before.
Titan steam begins lifting and she pulls herself out of the body, tearing out of the nape by the cover of steam and Pure Titan bodies. She looks around as everyone panics and engages ODM gear near her. It is too easy. She is thankful that she asked Reiner for a full Scout uniform before the mission, tugging the hood over her head, taking hold of her swords, and in the cover of Titan steam, Titan bodies, and countless other Scouts in ODM gear, she leaps from the decaying corpse below her and launches herself from the scene.
"All hands withdraw!" she hears the Commander speak and a smile crosses her lips as it gets easier and easier. "Redeploy the formation! Return to Calaneth District!" he cries out, giving her more of a cover to retreat under.
Everyone pants at the sight before them, hearts racing from the fight. They all watch with dissatisfied looks on their faces, knowing that everything was for nothing in this moment. Erwin looks down at the carnage with helpless eyes. "We've been bested," he speaks dejectedly as he watches the Titan steam lift off the decaying carcass.
"Oh, don't give me that crap," Levi pants with heavy breaths. "Not now, not yet," he says not wanting to allow all those lives to be gone in vain.
"Think about it," Erwin challenges him, "The enemy was willing to make sacrifices; enormous ones. So committed to maintaining her secret she would rather let herself be cannibalized before exposed."
"That whole song and dance in the courtroom and this is what we got to show for it? We scurry back now with our tails between our legs, Eren's right back in chains or worse."
"We will jump off that bridge when we come to it. Right now, our only concern is to get back without further casualties… however we can." He shakes his head, looking up at the steam and hoping it will not muck up the smoke signals of retreat.
"I'll gather up my Squad," Levi murmurs, seeing the Commander lost in thought.
"Not yet, Levi. First replenish your blades and fuel," he says feeling a foreboding looming over him at the idea that she is not finished yet.
"I can deal with what I've got. We are running against the clock as it is. Why?"
"Because I said," he commands him sternly, knowing that if the Female Titan would go to this length to keep her identity and escape, it would not be out of the question to believe her adaptable enough to use this as a cover to commit further casualties against the Scouts. If she did in fact use the chaos of the scene to escape, it is only a matter of time before she reappears. "That's an order," he tells him sternly.
"Whatever you say, Sir," Levi responds in his snide tone that he can sometimes use on the Commander. "I trust you implicitly," he speaks offhandedly, knowing something is itching Erwin's mind and not keen on the fact that he is keeping it from Levi.
Erwin turns from his soldier, knowing that in time, despite their defeat, it is only a matter of time before she strikes against the Scouts again, and only then will they gather the Female Titan. Erwin shoots off the blue smoke signal to communicate a withdraw for now.
Reiner looks up to the sky to see the blue smoke, desperately holding back his smile at the idea that she did it. He heard the roar from his location, and it is without question that the Pure Titans were able to devour her and give her a cover for escape. Her crazed plan worked, and she was able to escape without capture. He has to say, despite how much of a pain in the ass she has been to him, that tiny little bitch knows what she is doing.
The blue smoke is seen by Levi Squad as Gunther looks up to the sky, "That's our que," he turns to the rest of the squad, "Alright, let's saddle up! We're going home."
"Chop-chop, runt," Oruo teases Eren. "One would think you'd be beside yourself to get an eyeful of who's driving that gargantuan harpy."
"You really think they found who it is?" Eren asks shocked that it was this easy.
"Of course, all thanks to you!" Petra beams. "You learned to trust the fellow members of your squad. That's big. The sort of thing turns out well for everyone involved actually," she says thinking of the many missions that were failures due to people's pride. "A lesser man in your dilemma probably would've buckled, then where would we be?" she asks, thinking about the many deaths they avoided not taking the Female Titan head on.
"Oh please, why don't you stroke his forehead while you're at it?" Oruo teases her, "We'd be exactly where we are now without of course having had endured his incessant whining." Oruo continues to insult Eren, not allowing anyone to praise him for a simple trick he can perform. "The mission isn't over until we return to those gates, you understand?"
"Yes, Sir, I understand," Eren groans.
The hooded blonde watches them carefully from a distance, seeing them talk to one another. She stands on her branch, waiting for them to take flight. She has enough in her to transform to the Female Titan again but bides her time. For now, she watches them quietly, jumping from branch to branch as the Levi Squad begins their return to base.
"Oruo, Petra! I got to hand it to you," Eld calls out as they ride. "For someone who wet themselves their first time out, you've come a long way!"
Petra wails at the mention as they push forward in ODM gear, with Oruo quick to follow. "I thought we agreed to never speak of it again!"
"Relax! Incidentally, I never once pissed myself!" Eld smiles.
"How dare you? I have the highest kill count of anyone in the damn squad!" Oruo counters, "Argh! Imbecile!"
"You want to hide that stain behind your kill count, be my guest!"
They jest and she finds herself smiling at their banter. They have not changed one bit over the years. Seems the deaths of their friends didn't change their outlook on life. It almost makes killing them harder for her.
Almost.
She releases a built-up sigh as golden strands of hair fly in front of her face. Her chest tightens as she pulls the hood over her head tightly. She takes a deep breath as she goes and engages them. For a moment she wonders if this constriction on her lungs is regret.
She can still back down.
She doesn't have to do this.
She shakes the idea from her head and launches herself towards them. Now is not the time to get sentimental. She approaches them from the left, and Gunther is the first to notice her.
"Captain Levi?" he questions, and her pride gets the better of her. She wants them to see her face before she strikes them down. She wants them to know who is responsible for their deaths as they were responsible for hers.
She turns to him, her curly golden hair peeking through her hood as her blue eyes land on his. Wild recognition takes over his eyes as he looks onto the face of a ghost. "Wait, that—that's not—" he tries to rationalize it, not seeing her. He can't be seeing her.
She's dead.
"Oh shit!" Gunther calls out as she changes her course, kicking off a tree to swing her swords at him. She strikes him quickly before he can say her name and warn the others, and his head slams into a tree, leaving him suspended in the air lifeless.
She launches herself away from the others, flying wildly from the scene with a grin on her face at the idea that the last thing Gunther saw before he died, was Willow's face.
A/N: Plot twist! So excited to have this chapter out and curious to see what you all think about this!
When I first saw the show and I didn't know Annie was the Female Titan, the way that she attacked the Levi Squad made me feel like she had a personal vendetta against them and the Scouts.
Then when Eld mentions that the only people who knew about the mission were the higher-ups from years ago, I kept thinking it was going to be someone from the past that we directly involved with the Scouts more. Or the way that Gunther reacts when he sees her face, he clearly recognizes her.
So I was disappointed when it was just Annie. So here we are! This is the initial inspiration of writing this story! Hope you all enjoy it and I am curious to see what you think of Willow now that she's done this!