It was inevitable… but even so… Eren Jaeger being carted off to the innermost sanctums of Sina for his 'trial' came much sooner than expected.
Mikazuki himself had nothing to really say to him as he watched the young man being carted off without a second thought. The various members of Squad Levi expressed their concerns for the whole issue as they escorted the Titan Shifter to the innermost sanctums, though overall, their words meant nothing in the grand scheme of things as, to the other military brigades, they were nothing more than lambs to the slaughter, nothing more.
Petra did seem rather torn up about the whole thing, as did Eld and, to a lesser extent, Gunther, though they said nothing as they loaded Eren into a cage and mounted their horses to escort the Titan Shifter to his destination. Oruo appeared to be the least torn up about the whole ordeal, especially when compared to his fellow Elites, though the likes of Levi and Mikazuki could see the mild tremors in his lips as he did his best to not voice out his opposition to this whole thing. Like it or not, Bazad did still see Jaeger as a decent superweapon, though his pride made him say otherwise.
"Good luck, Eren," was all Mikazuki had bothered to say as the cage that held the aforementioned shifter rolled onwards. Eren responded to him with a mild grunt of acknowledgement as he waved one of his manacled hands at his fellow abnormality. The smile he had on was shaky, and there was no real happiness hidden behind it… but even so, Augus could respect it. Jaeger was doing his best to remain strong, even in his dire situation… and that in itself took a lot of strength to accomplish.
Regardless, Eren had been taken out of sight within moments, and once that was over and done with, Mikazuki had been brought back into the confines of the Trost refueling station within moments by Lynne. Strangely enough, she seemed to be the only member of Squad Mike present at the moment, as everyone else was missing, strangely enough, though Augus never cared to question it as he sat in the cafeteria with a bored look on his face. Lynne stood close by, with her staring out a window pointed towards the Wall of Rose as she hummed to herself in silence.
The mild silence shared between the two was quickly broken, however, when Lynne abruptly asked for Mikazuki to follow her to an unspecified location, and though he was confused at first, the pilot didn't have enough care in him to say no to her as he followed her wordlessly. He said nothing as the two of them got their Maneuver Gear on and rode to the neighboring district of Karanses, though he did spare a few words on why they were doing this in the first place.
"Just some orders. You'll get it when we get there," stated Lynne with a smile as she and Mikazuki were cleared to enter Karanses, eliciting a somewhat confused but still compliant nod from him all the while. He's long since decided to stop questioning the weird ways of the Survey Corps and just go with the flow.
The 'elevator' ride up to the top was spent in silence, and before long, the duo were at the top of Wall Karanses, with Lynne smiling a fair bit as she led the pilot on. Mikazuki remained passively silent as they trudged onwards, moving to the center of the Wall, though as they got closer and closer to that point, the pilot found himself growing confused… and then delighted when he saw who was present as well.
The first person that ne noticed was Luke Sys, standing rather lackadaisical beside a Garrison soldier that he was conversing with. As for the other two, however… well, the pilot ended up doubling his walk speed a little when he saw them standing shoulder-to-head beside one another, seeming rather confused at why they were there, though as soon as the two junior soldiers saw their shared friend… well, their confused looks quickly gave way for a delighted one as they began beaming at him happily.
"Mika?!"
"Nac. Mina."
The surprise was kept to a minimum in the pilot's tone of voice, but it was still there. He was happy to see them, even if for the last time, as he jogged up to them and accepted a crushing hug from the two. That in itself could've been considered an overreaction, but even so, the small group of three had not been reunited for quite some time. After Mikazuki had told them portions of Annie's darkest secret, he was abruptly barred from visiting his friends until further notice. Erwin had said that the Military Tribunal was getting a bit wary about them being given 'free reign' before their trials, though Augus had a feeling that it was because of something else…
Regardless of what that something else was, however, the pilot honestly didn't care about it at the moment as he broke away from his friends rather quickly and watched as Nac leaned against him, propping his elbow up atop his shoulder in a friendly manner whilst Mina simply smiled at him.
"So this was why we were told to come up to Karanses, huh?" laughed Nac as Lynne moved to stand with Sys, who waved at her as she approached. "Had I known, I would've just flown up here for all I care, gravity be damned!"
"Heh, same… it's been a while, Mika," added Mina as she smiled at her pal and twirled one of her twintails around in her index finger, eliciting a nod from the pilot in question as he gently elbowed Nac in the ribs. His definition of 'gentle' ended up making the guy's ribcage shudder a fair bit, however, as he winced and staggered back, much to everyone's chagrin.
"W-Well, if anything, you haven't lost your touch just yet!" joked Nac as he recovered from that 'attack' from his friend, and Mikazuki had the decency to appear sheepish as he nodded in mild agreement. Thereafter, the three of them went silent as they simply basked in each other's presence for the time being, though not long after, Augus asked the most obvious question that was currently on his mind.
"Erwin… sent you up here?" asked Mikazuki, confused as he tilted his head at his closest friends curiously. In response to this, Mina simply nodded, equally as unsure, while Nac spoke up.
"Huh? Erwin…? No, not really… it was actually Lynne that wanted us to come here, actually" saidd Nac as he shrugged somewhat dramatically, eliciting a nod from the pilot before him all the while. In all honesty, he was rather confused as to why Mike had called them up here in the first place, but to be frank, he honestly didn't care to think about any of the specifics as he was just happy to see his friends again, and with a gentle wave of his hand, he motioned for them to follow him to the edge of the Wall so that they could converse over the view.
"Mike is weird, so it's not much of a surprise to me," stated Mikazuki blandly as he sat down by the edge of Karanses' Wall, eliciting a wince from Nac while Mina snickered a little at his words.
"Well, the Survey Corps as a whole are rather weird, but that's part of the charm, dontcha think?" laughed Mina as she moved to sit next to Augus. Mikazuki raised a brow at her choice of words, with him wondering if she had meant to phrase it that way, whilst Nac simply grinned at her in bemusement.
"Oh, so we're weird as well, huh?" inquired Nac, to which Mina stared up at him with a challenging smirk.
"Duh. Of course we are! Mika's got a Gundam, you've got your weird friendship aura and I've got my guts! I'd say we're all weird as fuck!" snickered Mina as she flicked her hair back dramatically, surprising the taller guy with how she had swore with very little recourse. Mikazuki said nothing about it, however, as he snorted and nodded in apparent agreement, and shortly thereafter, the trio simply basked in silence as they stared out into the distance.
"So… Eren…" muttered Nac awkwardly as he rubbed his upper arm, saddened by what he knew was about to happen to him as he spoke. Mikazuki didn't let him finish that statement, however, as he grunted in confirmation. Neither Jaeger nor Tias had interacted too much with one another in the past, but even so, the two soldiers still placed their faith in one another, and they had no small amount of respect for each other. And, with Nac being the kind of person that he was, Mika knew full well that, even if someone he didn't like had died on his watch, he'd still mourn their passing.
"Ah. He's… not coming back," stated Mikazuki, with his words growing rather sour as he spoke, though it wasn't for the reason that his friends had assumed as his gaze became a little colder than usual, and in response to this, Mina raised an arm up and gently placed it atop her friend's shoulder.
"Yeah… but… what about y-you…?" inquired Mina, with her voice growing rather stiff as she spoke, to which the pilot frowned as he looked away from either one of his friends and lowered his shoulders in dismay.
He… knew the answer to that question, but he didn't wish to say it out loud. He knew that, even with the full backing of the Survey Corps and the approval of Nile and Annie, he would not be able to combat the power that the general public held over Zachary. The pilot knew that he would die soon, and it wasn't even going to be in a blaze of glory. It was going to be with a wet fart, one that came in the form of him being shot to death in a shooting range.
It was certainly not the death he had envisioned for himself back in the day, but even so… the fact that his friends, Annie included, and mother would mourn him when he was lost didn't do anything to really soothe his worries.
"... I'll be fine," was all Mikazuki could say at this point as he turned towards Mina and offered her the gentlest smile he could muster, one that made her cheeks flare up as she abruptly looked away from him and gulped. She clearly didn't believe him, but even so… she still nodded, with her wishing for the best as she removed her hand from his shoulder and placed it by her side.
Mikazuki caught onto her worries in an instant, as he slouched his shoulders a little in dismay whilst frowning just that much deeper. He… didn't like it. He didn't like it when the ever optimistic Mina Carolina lost her faith… and had he been five years younger, he would've ignored her for being so foolish… but even so, he wasn't the same person as he was half a decade ago, and in an attempt to cheer her up, the pilot did the first thing that came to mind without giving it a second thought.
Almost instantly, and doing so with such speed that almost no one saw him move until the act was complete, Mikazuki swung his arm around Mina's smaller frame and gently pulled her in for a one armed hug. Widening her eyes at the act, Carolina stiffened her entire body as she gave a soft eep that Augus thought to be adorable, and seconds later, she snapped her head towards her friend's and gave him a look that was somewhere between bewildered, ecstatic, embarrassed and disbelieved. Embarrassment ended up becoming the dominant emotion, however, when she realized just how close her face was to Mika's, and in less than a second, her face exploded into a sea of red that reached all the way down to her neck.
"M-Mika?!" proclaimed Mina as she stared up at the aforementioned pilot in shock, to which he raised a brow in confusion. Though his social skills have certainly increased over the past few years, the pilot was still below average when it came to comforting others, and though what he did wasn't exactly the best, he honestly thought that it could be worse.
He had almost kissed Mina like how he had done so with Atra back then, though he didn't think that it would've been a smart move on his part, especially now, when she was already freaking out from being in such close proximity to him.
"You… looked sad. And sad people need hugs to stop being sad," blurted out Mikazuki as he averted his gaze, however briefly, as Nac widened his eyes in immense amusement at the sight before him, and seconds later, he brought the side of his fist up to his mouth to cover up to shit-eating grin he was sporting as he silently congratulated Mina for what she had managed to accomplish. Likewise, Sys and Lynne, in spite of their initial shock, eventually smiled widely as well, with them happy to see those two bonding in such a manner all the while.
The one that was closest to Mikazuki in that very moment, however, ended up finding herself unable to form any proper words as she began blurting out random sentences with nothing to connect them together with. Augus watched on in mild worry as her hands flailed around in a panic, only to end up on either side of her face, squishing her cheeks together, as she did her best to hide her red face.
"... do you want me to-" began Mika, with him worrying that he's done more harm than good as he spoke, only to pause when Mina abruptly lowered her arms and grabbed onto the hand wrapped around her waist with her own, suddenly determined as all Hell all the while.
"NO!" proclaimed Mina boldly, only to pause as she somehow blushed an even deeper shade of red before continuing. "I… don't mind it… so just… keep your arm there… alright…?"
"... alright," was the only response that Mikazuki could give at that moment as he felt Mina shift her head onto his shoulder, with her leaning against it nervously all the while. It took a few moments, but before long, the pilot felt himself growing accustomed to her being as close as she currently was to him, and before long, he found himself enjoying her presence beside him as he offered a ghost of a smile and nudged the top of her head with his cheek, "...things will be alright, Mina. I promise you that much."
"... you'd best keep that promise… M-Mika…" muttered Mina fondly as she tried to squeeze herself closer against her friend, who didn't budge as she did so. If anything, he very much welcomed her attempts at getting closer as he patted her head with his free hand before turning his attention back ahead of himself…
… and all the while, both Luke and Lynne simply smiled as they watched the interaction unfold before them. Nac had saw it best to not interrupt their little bonding experience as he backed away and watched from a distance, and thereafter, Lynne couldn't help but speak up.
"So, you ain't jealous that he's getting the girl?" asked Lynne sarcastically, with her keeping her voice soft enough that neither Mina nor Mika could hear her. In response to this, Nac simply stretched his arms and winked at Lynne.
"Nah. I don't swing that way," answered Tias with a cheeky grin, to which Lynne immediately understood as she nodded in acknowledgement.
"Oh? I see. Same," smiled Lynne with a wink, and upon learning of this, Nac widened his eyes in surprise and laughed, with him offering his senior a two fingered salute of solidarity, one that she readily returned, before turning away from her with a smile, though as soon as his attention was off them, the Elite found herself sighing as she turned towards Sys sadly. "They're good kids… all of them… but even so…"
"I know, Lynne. They won't like what's to come," muttered Sys, with him grimacing in sadness as he knew just what was going on as they were spending time here. In truth, Mina and Nac's visitation of Mikazuki atop this Wall was not an act of kindness on Erwin's part. There was a reason as to why Smith had asked for them to meet atop the Wall that Gundam Barbatos was situated in front of, after all, and there was also an ulterior reason as to why Mina and Nac were here in the first place. "Even if things go according to plan, Erwin wants the pilot taken in alive… and I know he was lying because of his faith in his friend… but a part of me still can't believe that he kept this info away from us."
"Hmph. Friendship is an incredibly important thing for that kid. Trust me, I would know. I just hope that she comes in quietly… if she even is who we think she is," muttered Lynne sadly as she crossed her arms, to which Sys grimaced as he placed a hand atop his friend's shoulder.
"If she's as good a person as Mikazuki claims she is, she will."
"And if she isn't?"
"Then we'll have to move onto Plan B… and by God, I hope that we don't have to go that far…"
Sina
It was… difficult for her to do this, but even so, Annie Leonhardt didn't wish to blow this chance of hers, and now, as she stood by the sidelines and watched as the wooden cage holding Eren Jaeger's kneeling form passed her by.
She knew of the route the MPB were going to take in order to get Eren into the innermost sanctums of Sina, to his doom no doubt, though that was less of her wanting to know about it and more of her having been forced to.
She still recalled how a fellow Brigadier of hers, Marlow Freudenberg, had more or less pulled her and fellow MPB junior, Hitch Dreyse, into this mess of a situation. The guy had a good heart, something that Annie had to begrudgingly respect him for, but his lack of self control had more or less caused one of their senior soldiers to hand the task of escorting Eren to the innermost sanctums of Sina down to them… and for that, Leonhardt decided that she would forever hate Marlow's guts.
They weren't the only ones present, of course. Several other, harder working members of the MPB were also on site, with all of them armed with musket rifles and/or Maneuver Gear, with the former category of soldiers marching or riding by the cage that held Eren whilst the latter remained atop the buildings, shadowing the convoy as it rode onwards. Annie was amidst the former category, with her own musket slung over her shoulder as she kept guard around the area perimeter.
"..." Leonhardt's gaze ended up glazing over as she watched Eren's cart roll out of eyeshot, with her frown deepening all the while. It was… difficult to choose between loyalty and love, as the brain and heart couldn't decide between logic and emotion more times than not. Mikazuki's confidence in her choosing the correct option was flattering, to say the least, and it was one of the reasons behind why she didn't wish to capture Eren in the first place. Augus had put a lot of faith in her, and she didn't wish to go and ruin it.
Likewise, Annie was also not keen on the idea of Mina, Nac and their shared mother learning about her true self. Though she had considered revealing herself to them, especially when she told Mikazuki about her initial plan of carting all of them to Marley, Leonhardt has since decided that it wasn't worth it. They would never forgive her if she were to show herself, one way or another, and though it didn't sound like a bad thing, especially to any of the other Warriors that were more loyal to Marley than the blonde ever could be, Leonhardt cherished their friendship, even if it had started off as a fake one, more than anything else in the world.
It just felt… normal, in a way, to have friends, and Annie wanted that feeling to last forever. Even more so than her returning to Marley, she wanted the feeling of friendship to last until her dying moments…
"Hey, Annie! We're moving up!" came the voice of another Military Police Brigadier, alerting the aforementioned blonde to how the cart was leaving her behind all the while. Blinking a little at this, she found herself nodding in response to her fellow soldier before she began jogging after the cart. Her thoughts could wait, she had a job to do… and just this once, she wouldn't mess it up.
Or so she thought, as, after she had ran a mere twenty metres away from her previous position, a strange, hooded figure standing in an alleyway caught the blonde's attention. She wouldn't have paid it any mind were it not for those familiar blue eyes and blonde patch of hair atop the hooded figure's barely visible head, and upon noticing this, if only for a moment, Annie stopped dead in her tracks and took a double take.
"... Armin…?" muttered Annie in mild recognition as she turned back towards the alley, only to see that the blonde was already gone. A part of her had dismissed the sighting as nothing more than her stressed mind seeing things that weren't there… but even so, Leonhardt, somewhat foolishly, decided to act on her curiosities and moved to investigate the area. Jogging into the alleyway, the blonde took note of how there was a corner around its center, and without much hesitation, even if she did move one of her hands onto the stock of her musket rifle, ready to swing it up and take aim with it at a moment's notice, she moved to check on that area as well.
As soon as she stepped in front of the aforementioned corner, the blonde MPB soldier found her brows raising, if only by a little, when she saw that the person she had seen prior was, in fact, Armin Arlert, albeit with his entire body draped in a cloak and wore a backpack that hid the aforementioned cloak's symbol from the public. It was, admittedly, somewhat amusing to see the young man dressed in such a way, though Annie said nothing of it as she watched the other blonde eye her from head to toe.
"It's been a while, Annie," greeted Armin, smiling as he spoke. Annie felt a shudder go up her spine at his words. She knew that being a Survey Corp has undoubtedly toughened him up, but damn… he sounded a lot colder than she remembered. It was almost enough to raise some suspicions…
"Likewise, Armin," responded Annie blankly as she removed her hand from the stock of her rifle and loosened up a bit. Not wishing to beat around the bush any more than necessary, she added: "Why are you dressed like that?"
"I'm a Pack Bearer," explained Armin, short and simple as always, something that Annie nodded at. Pack Bearers… they weren't a common sight in the Military Brigade, but they did still exist here and there. They were soldiers assigned to hold equipment in those backpacks of theirs for emergency reasons, with the aforementioned packs typically holding rations, reserve ammo or even blades and gas canisters at times. It was a mystery what Armin's was currently holding, though. "I've got my Maneuver Gear hidden beneath my coat."
As he said this, Armin raised both edges of his coat up in a somewhat scandalous manner to show that, yes, he did indeed have his Maneuver Gear on hand. Annie had to keep her lip from twitching a little as she recalled Mina making a particularly ridiculous joke about this back during their Trainee days, and thereafter, she nodded in mild confusion.
"I see… did Erwin ask you to be a Pack Bearer for this…?" asked Annie, confused as she didn't think that the aforementioned Commander would bother doing such a thing. In response to this, Armin shook his head, confusing her further. "Then… what's going on, Armin?"
"I'm not willing to beat around the bush, so I'll just get straight to it. Annie, may you help me free Eren?" requested Armin as he pulled back his cloak, revealing his blonde mop of hair all the while. In response to this, Annie had to hold back a scoff as she realized the irony in Arlert asking for her help to do such a thing… but even so…
"Escape?" echoed Annie, confused, as she eyed Armin closely, examining him for any hint of sarcasm… only to find none. This was just a tiny bit worrying to her, though she didn't show it as she continued to speak. "Escape to where? If you go against the monarchy, then you'd be considered a traitor. Where will you go to then?"
"I… don't know. We'll just lay low for a while and disappear, hopefully. We don't intend on fighting the Monarchy, not head-on at least. In the grand scheme of things, this will be reported as a rebellion by a small portion of the Survey Corps, which will buy us some time. We'll use that time to find ammo to counter the other factions at the Tribunal," answered Armin, impressing Annie with just how far ahead he's thought of as he spoke. "And we will find it."
"Enough ammunition, you say?" muttered Annie, bemused at Armin's little plan as she spoke. His unique phrasing of certain words had not gone over her head, and upon acknowledging this, she began to bring up her guarded persona. "I doubt that ammo of any caliber will be enough to help you with your case, Armin."
"I know, Annie… but there's always a reason to at least try. We just… we need your help. That's all," pleaded Armin as he bowed his head sadly, almost as though the success of his little operation hinged on Leonhardt's cooperation.
And, in a way, it did.
The desperation in Armin's tone of voice did not escape Annie's notice, and by all means, it did make her feel just the tiniest bit guilty as she took note of the mild tremble in his shoulders. He was genuinely putting everything on the line right now, and though respectable, Leonhardt saw no reason to help him in this pointless crusade as she shook her head and backed away from him uncertainly.
"I'm sorry, but I can't help you. There's too much risk involved," apologised Annie blandly as she glanced away from her fellow 104th graduate. She noticed how his shoulders slumped a little as she spoke, though she said nothing of it as she turned away from him. "I won't tell anyone about this, but from here on out, you're on your own."
And with that, she went on her merry way. She wasn't a fan of this, to turn her back on a fellow 104th, but even so… the Shifter knew better than to dabble with things that were beyond her expertise. That, and she also reckoned that not getting up close to Eren was a good thing as well, as she'd rather not instinctively try and capture him by accident.
Before the blonde could make it more than a few steps away from Armin, however, the shorter blonde took one step forwards and began speaking in a desperate tone of voice.
"Annie… please! If you don't help us, then Eren… Eren will be killed! He'll be killed by clueless people that only care about saving their own skin!" pleaded Armin, with her words sparking some curiosity in Annie as she stopped in her tracks to hear him out. "The same people who intend on killing Mikazuki! The people who are unwittingly setting humanity on a path of self-destruction!"
"..." not a word was uttered in response to Armin as Annie wished to let the issue go, but even so… she couldn't help but tense up at the thought of Mikazuki dying. Though she knew that there was a chance of it not happening, there was an even higher chance of him being shot several times over within the next twenty four hours, and the thought of that infuriated Leonhardt to the point of her clenching her fists tightly, and Arlert took note of this and used it to his advantage.
"I know that I can't exactly change your mind on this… but even so… it… it could benefit you as well… Mikazuki could benefit from this as well," stated Armin carefully, with him speculating that, at the moment, Annie's relationship with her fellow top 10 graduate was rather strained at the moment, and as if to confirm his suspicions, Leonhardt ended up clenching her fist tighter at the mention of her fellow blue eyed soldier, eliciting a wince from the shorter blonde all the while.
"How?" demanded Annie coldly as she turned around to give Armin her full attention, sounding a little on board with his plan, now that it could potentially benefit her in some way. To this, Arlert nodded uneasily and elaborated.
"In the chaos of the Tribunal trying to find Eren, you can slip in to snatch Mikazuki out of the Survey Corps' grasp. You can bring Mina and Nac as well, if you want too," stated Armin, with him adding Annie's other two friends into the mix as a precautionary extra. It seemed to work, however, as Leonhardt's mask of uncertainty faded, if only by a little, as she rubbed her chin at that prospect. "We can all lay low together, and when the time comes, we can use our… ammo to strike back at the Tribunal Factions."
"..."
Not much of a response from Annie at first, with the slightly taller blonde remaining unreadable as she stared away from Armin. The shorter blonde was getting a little worried at that point, with him genuinely wondering if she was going to deny him once more. He had done everything that he could to sway her, with him having brought up not just Mikazuki, someone that she was close to on a level that far surpassed anyone else, but Mina and Nac as well. Outside of those three, he wasn't sure who else he could bring up to change her mind…
Much to his surprise, however, after a few moments of consideration, moments that felt like hours to Armin, Annie eventually turned her head to look the shorter blonde in the eye. Arlert winced a little when he saw just how… uncertain Leonhardt seemed to be as she glared at him in annoyance, though not long after, she sighed and turned to face him fully.
Blue eyes met one another for a tense few seconds as Annie glared at Armin in annoyance, and vice versa, Arlert felt himself growing slightly concerned that she might actually shoot him right there and then… a concern that grew quite a bit when he saw her reach for her rifle's handle. Gulping to himself, the shorter blonde watched as she unhooked the musket from her arm and held it in an offensive-esc stance… and moments later, he found himself calming down, if only by a little, when he saw her lift the barrel upwards before setting the weapon down against the wall beside them.
"What do you need me to do?" asked Annie, with some hints of uncertainty still floating around in her voice, though it was practically replaced with steely determination as she eyed Armin down in irritation. Vice versa, however, Arlert's gaze became rather surprised for a bit, though seconds later, he allowed himself to smile as he bowed his head down as thanks, eliciting an eye roll from Leonhardt all the while.
"We… we just need to know the route the caravan is taking! That's all! The stop points most of all!" responded Armin after a few moments required to get over his initial shock. Upon hearing this, Annie, after a few seconds of reluctance, nodded and reached into her MPB jacket and pulled out a map and handed it off to Arlert, who wasted no time in unfolding and scanning through it in record time.
"Thirty kilometers away from the southernmost gates of Sina is where the convoy will stop for about two hours to rest. They are expected to get there within the next hour or so," stated Annie disinterestedly as she picked her rifle up and slung it over her shoulder. "The soldiers 'guarding' Eren will likely be drinking during their break, so there'll be a lag in security at around the hour mark."
"I see…! Well, I have a distraction planned either way, so it shouldn't be much of a problem!" stated Armin with a smile, with him sliding the map into his jacket as he spoke. Annie responded to this with a nod, and at that, she turned away from him and sighed.
"I expect to see you there when the sun is at its peak," said Leonhardt coldly as she began marching away. "If you're even a minute too late, I'll consider this 'operation' of yours called off, am I understood?"
"Y-Yeah! We'll be there!" stated Armin with a smile, eliciting a raised brow from Annie as she moved to leave. This was the first time he had mentioned someone else, so who else could've been with him? Mikasa? That was the most likely candidate at the moment, but even so, she couldn't be too sure about it, not that she really cared, anyways, as she left the area within a handful of moments.
And once she was gone, Armin, despite his suspicions and guilt at doing such a thing, found himself sighing in relief as he stared up at the roof closest to him, where he saw a pair of figures standing atop it in stoic silence.
'Phase one… complete!' thought Armin stoically as he nodded up at the duo, receiving nods back before they departed.
Some time later
As Annie had predicted, the convoy had stopped its advance near the southernmost region of Sina, approximately thirty kilometers away from the gates leading into the innermost Wall, and in an attempt to conceal Eren away from the prying eyes of the public, which were all naturally drawn to a wooden cage atop a carriage, the MPB had moved the cart holding him into a building to seclude him until their break was over.
Annie, alongside Hitch, Marlow and a few other juniors, were all standing guard outside the building they were using to hide Eren from the general public, and as for their seniors, they were off doing… whatever at this point as they left their juniors to do the busywork. Leonhardt would've felt insulted by this, had it not been like the fiftieth time this has happened, more or less, and as such, by now she could barely even care anymore as she sighed and held onto her rifle lazily whilst scanning the rooftops above them.
After a good hour or so, however, Annie's observant gaze took note of movement coming from another nearby alley, prompting her to narrow her eyes towards its general direction as she honed in on sharply. Her gaze eventually went back to normal, however, when she realized that it was Armin that had caught her attention on the first place, and upon noticing this, Leonhardt stepped forwards, mixing in with the crowd of people in front of her, before Marlow could step forward to stop her.
"Anni-" was all Marlow could manage before the aforementioned blonde was lost in an ocean of bodies, with her elbowing her way through the obstructions around her as she got to the alleyway that Armin was at. Once she got there, however, she saw that he was already gone, though she wasn't perturbed by this, as she simply ventured deeper into the alleyway and took a sharp turn at the first corner she saw.
The first person that she saw was Armin, unsurprisingly, with the blonde smiling rather gratefully when he saw his ally veer in as quickly as he did. His hood had been thrown back, something that wasn't a smart move, in her honest opinion, but she didn't care enough to call him out on that when she saw that there were two others present alongside Arlert. One of the two was Mikasa Ackerman, whose presence didn't really surprise Leonhardt as she was always a protective elder sibling to Eren. Honestly it would've been weirder had she not been here.
Conversely, however, it was certainly strange to see that Jean Kirstein was present as well, with the aforementioned ash blonde soldier looking somewhat uncomfortable with his current situation as he fiddled with his coat in a somewhat uncertain manner. Annie's expression faltered briefly when she saw him at first, though she regained it relatively swiftly as she motioned towards the Horsed Faced soldier curiously.
"What's he doing here?" asked Annie, getting straight to the point as Jean winced at her straightforwardness. In response to this, Armin chuckled awkwardly while Mikasa rolled her eyes, with neither willing to state that Jean, alongside someone else, had eavesdropped on their conversation to save Eren not more than a few days prior.
It had been one of Jaeger's last, if not his actual last, visit when they had discussed the issue in private. They had formed the plan to cut and run on the spot, and they had been struggling to figure out how to get it to work… but then, they had a sudden stroke of luck when Jean, of all people, plus one other person, was caught eavesdropping on them, and more so because Mikasa would actually neuter him on the spot if he told anyone, Kirstein and the other soldier had reluctantly joined in on their plan.
"He's… Jean's here to help. We're going to try and swap him out for Eren. If we just take him, then we'll be found out in no time," stated Armin, with Mikasa wordlessly pulling a somewhat convincing looking brown wig out from beneath her coat and slapping it onto Jean's head. The thing slapped onto the top of his head with a mild thump and almost perfectly covered all of his ash brown hair, much to Annie's amusement.
"I see… it must've been difficult, convincing him to do this," snarked Annie, with her rolling her eyes just a tiny bit as she recalled how self-centered Kirstein used to be back during their trainee days. Much to her surprise, however, Armin shook his head as he responded.
"Jean actually volunteered for the role without us asking," stated Armin helpfully, surprising Annie further as he spoke. Thereafter, she stared up at Kirstein with an expression that more or less demanded for him to spill the beans, to which he reddened in embarrassment and looked away meekly.
In truth, Jean himself wasn't 100% sure on why he had agreed to do this as well. He knew just as well as everyone else that, should he be caught (and let's face it, he will be caught eventually), he'd find himself in front of a firing squad within seconds. It was essentially a death sentence for him, whichever way he swung it… but with that being said…
"Back during the Trost issue… and even during the Expedition… I always felt so… helpless," stated Jean, with him clenching his fist whilst lifting his other arm up to grab onto the brown wig that was atop it. Pulling it off, he brought it down to stomach-level and stared at it whilst tightening his grip on the damn thing. "I could've saved so many lives if I had just been better… but I wasn't."
Annie's stomach flipped a little out of guilt as her eyes instinctively darted away from Jean as he said this, though seconds later, they darted back once more as he continued to speak.
"But Mikazuki and Eren? They had the power to save others whenever they wished for it… and they did. Mikazuki never left any of us behind… and Eren… he did the best that he could and saved a lot of people with his transformation at the end," continued Jean sadly as he shut his eyes and exhaled sharply, disappointed in himself, among other things. "I can't match up to them in any way shape or form… they're just… brilliant.
"And now, people want them dead. I may not be the brightest lamp in the shade, but even I know that it's a stupid decision, to kill even one of them, and I wanted in on at least trying to save them. It's the least I could do to pull my weight around here, to repay them for saving as many lives as they did."
With his little speech over and done with, Jean went silent as he stared down at the ground in a somewhat self-loathing manner. Before him, both Mikasa and Armin remained stoically silent as they had already heard him say this days prior, but as for Annie, she found herself taken aback by his words. This wasn't the cocky and brash Jean Kirstein that she knew from their trainee days… this was someone else… and for all it was worth, Leonhardt could respect that.
Trauma changes people, some liked to say, and it was clear that the Trost incident had changed Jean for the better. He had matured intensely due to the whole ordeal, and for all it was worth, Annie was impressed.
But even so… even she could never resist a good jab.
"So you're saying that you're throwing your life away because you feel inadequate?" deadpanned Annie, with there being a tiny hint of snark in her voice as she spoke, to which the ash blonde reddened in embarrassment. Armin seemed appalled at the notion whilst Mikasa's stone cold facade faltered, however briefly, as she pursed her lips together to hold back a scoff.
"... that's one way to put it, I guess," grunted Jean as he bowed his head and allowed a comical tick mark to appear on his forehead. To this, Annie simply snorted before shaking her head.
"Whatever. Point is we have a substitute for Eren. Now, we just need to figure out how to swap them out. There're a few juniors stationed around the building, both inside and out. Five in total, not including me. I should be able to lie my way into the building and dismiss the guards, but you guys will have to follow my lead," stated Annie, eliciting a nod from the three soldiers before her, to which she scoffed. "Don't do anything stupid, you got that?"
"We got it."
Entry into the building that held Eren's caged carriage was… surprisingly simple, all things considered, with Annie leading the hooded trio in through an inconspicuous backdoor.
Once they were inside, Leonhardt found herself coming face to face with three other MPB soldiers, all of whom looked overworked and halfway dead as they did their best to remain vigilant. It… wasn't going all that well, and upon noticing this, Jean, who had been aiming to be an MPB more than the other three present here, was quick to give Annie a surprised expression, eliciting a look of bemusement from her in return.
"You really thought that the Military Police life is all about luxury, didn't you?" mused Annie as she gaze Jean the side eye, and the awkward glance to the side more or less told her all that she needed to know as Kirstein offered her a mild pout of annoyance in return. "Hmph…"
Without another word, Annie waved at her fellow 104th graduates, ordering for them to remain where they were, before she marched up to her overworked peers. As soon as she was in front of them, she spoke to the one that looked more awake than the others, and after exchanging pleasantries, she dismissed them in short order, something that took less convincing than any of the Survey Corps had expected as, within two minutes of them entering the building, they had found themselves to be the only occupants present and accounted for.
Huh… security was shockingly lax, even for junior standards, but Annie decided not to think about it for now.
"They were overworked. Good men and women, and they were taken advantage of," stated Annie as she turned to stare at her temporary allies. As she did so, the young woman waited for about thirty seconds to make sure that the coast was clear before she moved towards the door of Eren's cage, and once she was there, she reached into her jacket and pulled a key out of a hidden pocket.
By then, Eren had noticed that his friends (plus Jean and Annie) were present, though he didn't acknowledge them all that much, outside of a mild smile and him widening his eyes in relief, and by the time Annie had unlocked the door to his cage, Mikasa wasted no time in reaching in and yanking her little brother out. She stopped, however, when she noticed how Jaeger's hands were restrained by solid metal manacles that had been welded together, and the aforementioned manacles were also chained to the bottom of the cage he was stuck in, something that annoyed Ackerman, to say the least.
Thankfully enough, however, Annie had yet another key on her person, and she made use of it to unshackle both of Eren's hands, thus allowing Mikasa and Armin to pull him out of the cage. Thereafter, the Titan Shifter fell to his knees on the ground, something that was expected by everyone present as he had been kneeling inside that cage for hours on end. His legs turning into jelly was not the worst outcome imaginable.
Whilst Eren was being taken care of by Mikasa and Armin, however, Jean wasted no time in crawling into the cage to play his part in the mission. Annie remained stoically silent as she watched him do this, with her still impressed by his bravery all the while. She said nothing of it, however, as she clamped the manacles down onto his wrists, something that hurt him more than he had expected as his wrists were just a tiny bit larger than the metal clasps themselves, though he didn't complain about it as Leonhardt shut the gate quietly and locked it back up.
"You're brave for doing this, Jean," stated Annie bluntly as she nodded at him in respect, to which the wig-wearing soldier chuckled darkly.
"I just hope that Marco agrees with me when I see him in the afterlife…" responded Jean with just as much grimness in his voice, with his words serving to make the blonde flinch as she nodded stoically, not exactly liking to remember the fate of the late Marco Bolt as she bit her lower lip sadly.
"I'm sure he would consider it a respectable move on your part," assured Annie as she turned to face Mikasa, Armin and Eren, with her having noticed how Jaeger was now draped in Jean's coat all the while. The brunette pulled his hood up as he gave the blonde a meaningful look, one that… didn't sit well with her as she nodded at him in silence, and shortly thereafter, Kirstein chuckled as he waved his shackled hands, creating a mild jingle with the chains all the while.
"Yeah, whatever. Don't bother about me now, you guys. Just head out and survive. I'll… hopefully not see any of you on the other side," urged Jean as he smiled sadly at his allies, to which they nodded at him in respect.
And within seconds, the four of them left the premises, though as Armin turned to shut the door behind them, Annie, as an act of caution, reached into her coat and pulled out a ring-like object and slid it over her index finger.
She… really didn't wish to make use of her power, but even so… that look that Eren had given her moments prior… it didn't sit well with her, and though she was probably just being paranoid, it didn't hurt to come prepared, she reckoned.
"It still feels too easy, in a way…"
Annie, for her part, couldn't help but snort in bemusement at Eren's words. The young soldier was still rather naive, and as such, he saw things too much in black and white rather than in varying shades of grey, and as such, he still thought that the concept of soldiers as grand-standing as the MPB would slack off. She couldn't really blame him for thinking that way, though.
She had been like him, once upon a time, but that was back then, and this was now.
Currently, the four 104th graduates were walking down a less populated side of Sina, with Annie leading the way forwards all the while. About twenty minutes prior, after they had gotten clear of the building Eren's cage had been held in, Armin had handed Annie back the map she had given him when they first met up, and upon reading it once more, she noticed how a specific point had been highlighted on it. An old maintenance tunnel that connected Sina to Rose… interesting. It was a good way to get from one place to another, Leonhardt reckoned… but even so…
… there had to be faster ways to get out of Sina… yes? The maintenance tunnel was no doubt crawling with vagabonds and criminals. If they went down there, they risked much more than just… well, walking through the gates. Annie had official records here to validate her claims of being an MPB, and no one would question Pack Bearers beyond what their titles were, and as such, one had to wonder why they chose to use such a hazardous path to freedom in the first place…
She had to remain on guard…
"I wonder how long until they realize that I'm not there, though… Jean and I look nothing alike," stated Eren direly, with him frowning as, despite their differences, Jaeger still respected Kirstein enough to feel worried for him. Annie felt her heart dipping a little at that notion, with her finding the ash blonde's conviction to be envious as well, though, in an attempt to lighten the mood, Armin ended up making a half-assed attempt at a joke whilst staring back at his friend.
"Well, both of you do look like criminals. You two have the same, nasty look in your eyes," stated Armin, a notion that made Mikasa twitch one of her eyelids as one corner of her lip threatened to shift upwards in amusement while Annie looked away in mild amusement. Meanwhile, Eren only frowned and defended himself by stating that he didn't have a horse face, something that bemused both stone cold soldiers more than anything.
"I presume that the fifth person of your merry band is waiting for us over by the tunnel?" asked Annie, with her hoping to get Eren to stop his whining with her words. In response to this, Armin nodded firmly and held a fist up to his chest.
"Yeah. She's waiting for us there. In fact, she was the one that suggested that area in the first place," stated Armin with a smile, eliciting a raised brow from Annie all the while. Noticing this, Arlert decided to elaborate. "Apparently, the tunnel leads to an area close to her hometown in Rose. We can use this to our advantage and bunker down there until it's safe to leave."
"Hometown… who-" began Annie, only for, surprisingly enough, Mikasa to cut her off in a somewhat uncharacteristically defensive manner.
"Don't ask. Just walk," growled Mikasa, with her narrowing her eyes at Annie all the while. Strange… this hostility was never present between either of them before. Just something more to take note of for now, she reckoned, as she nodded in acknowledgement.
"Hmph. Say, had this fifth person not suggested it, how were the lot of you going to even escape Sina?" inquired Annie, with her changing the subject for now as she walked onwards. Conversation wasn't her strongest point, but damn, she really did miss conversing with Mina and Nac, or at the very least listen to them speak. From time to time, she did silently wonder how things would be, had she not met those two lovable dunces, but she didn't like to think about that more than necessary.
Eren, Mikasa and Armin… were similar to Mina, Mikazuki and Nac in some ways, but they could never replace them, even if they tried their hardest. They didn't even pass for acceptable substitutes… but even so, they could act as temporary stand-ins until this all blew over…
"We had planned on… u-using our Maneuver Gear to get out?" stated Armin shyly as he avoided direct eye contact with Annie and drummed his fingers along the surface of his hand, eliciting a deadpanned expression from the blonde as she tried to figure out the logic behind that. It was amusing, how someone as bright as Arlert could think of a plan that was as… simple as that. Though then again, considering their limited options… making use of the Maneuver Gear might have been one of their better options…
Not that she'd tell that to him, of course.
"You're insane," Armin muttered an I'll try to take that as a compliment when he heard that, "Wouldn't it have been easier to intercept the convoy before it got through Stohess?" inquired Annie, eliciting a mild blush from Armin all the while. The other blonde was not stupid, and Leonhardt knew this.
She knew that Armin was well aware of the fact that the security in Stohess, Sina's southernmost district, was more lax due to how they were further away from the crown, and as a result, the Wall security was not as top notch as what they had to deal with here. Had they done this whilst they were there, they could've very well just marched out of there with minimal issue and be on their merry way.
But no… they had seemingly deliberately marched into the innermost sanctums of Sina and sought her out for assistance, and though she was partially to blame for agreeing to all this in the first place, something about all this just didn't sit right with Leonhardt as she stared back at Armin suspiciously.
It was almost as though they wanted to get her on board… but why? There was no reason for them to seek her out so deliberately… unless…
"... and buy us more time."
Blinking a little at that, Annie swiftly snapped out of her thoughts as she turned to glance back at Armin, who had finished explaining why they had chosen Sina over Stohess for this mission, and though she had heard none of it, in order to keep up appearances, Leonhardt ended up nodding and turning back ahead in silence.
"I see," muttered Annie out of necessity more so than understanding as she squared her shoulders tightly and narrowed her eyes in acknowledgement. Armin was smart… he had come up with a plan to maneuver both Eren and herself into their hands… and she had to admit, she could respect the Hell outta him for being so thoughtful. But even so, Annie was still a Warrior at heart.
And if they were anything, Warriors were incredibly insightful, and though Armin was smart, Annie was more calculated than he could ever hope to be, and as a result, with the few slip-ups and irregularities that had presented themselves before her over the course of the past hour, she had realized what he had been planning all along.
Both Eren and Mikasa tensed a little when they saw Annie's posture abruptly stiffen, and likewise, Armin seemed perturbed by this, just not enough to mention it as they continued on walking. Before long, however, they found themselves coming to a stop when they saw the tunnel system that Armin had described mere minutes prior, and standing by its entrance was…
'Sasha Braus…?' thought Annie in surprise as she watched the aforementioned Dauper resident turn and spot the quadruple, with her waving at them all the while. As she waved, however, she quickly realized that doing so would draw attention to herself as she quickly stopped doing so, and seconds later, they regrouped with one another, with the bumpkin smiling just a bit when she noticed that Eren was with them.
"You guys did it…! You got Eren!" cheered Sasha in a subdued manner, eliciting a nod from Mikasa whilst Armin grinned in agreement. Annie chose to say nothing as she watched Braus offer her a quick nod as thanks for her assistance. So she was the one that suggested this to be their escape route, huh? Well, Leonhardt reckoned that it was her fault for not realizing it in the first place. There were only so few soldiers that knew about these abandoned connectors between Walls, and considering how Sasha was a country bumpkin, it did make sense that she would know of these lesser known places of interest.
"We did say we would," stated Mikasa blandly as she motioned for Sasha to follow them down. Annie acknowledged how the scarf-wearing young woman sounded just a bit gentler when speaking to Braus, though she said nothing of it as she watched the group of four descend the stairwell into the tunnel below, and all the while, she found herself frozen in place as she stared down at them in silence.
It didn't take the Survey Corps too long to notice that Annie was not following them, and once they did, the four turned to stare up at their fellow 104th, who stared right back at them, unamused. Sensing some form of trepidation, Sasha decided to speak up, following her instincts all the while.
"Hey Annie, what's the hold up! Don't tell me you're afraid of dark, cramped spaces!" called out Sasha as she stared up at Annie in faux confusion, eliciting a frown from Leonhardt all the while. Even so, she didn't let her stone cold facade falter just yet as she responded accordingly.
"Yes. I am," stated Annie… something that wasn't particularly a lie as she stared between the soldiers before her uncertainly. Eren was… he was right there. Oh, how easy it could've been to just… snatch him up… but no. She wasn't going to… not if she could do something about it.
Not if her friendship was on the line.
"I'm not as brave as the rest of you, so you guys can just… go on ahead. I'll… catch up…" continued Annie, with her doing her best to keep herself composed as her stone cold facade faltered. The fear that came with her secret, possibly having been found out by the people standing before her… terrified her to no end, and the fact that, unlike Mikazuki, they had no reason to spare here only served to agitate her further, so much so that she began to speak without thinking.
"Annie, I'm sure that-" tried Armin, only for the aforementioned blonde to cut him off.
"No, Armin. You don't. None of you would understand how a weak girl like me feels," stated Annie, with her stumbling back a fair bit as she spoke. Armin's gaze was shockingly unreadable as he stared up at her silently, silently judging her for her actions… though as for Eren, he simply turned back down and continued walking onwards.
"I don't know about you, but being able to spin a man around in mid-air isn't what I'd consider weak. So stop being stupid and let's get moving," grumbled Eren, wishing to leave the area all the while. His voice was firm, but even so, he didn't have the same level of emotional restraint as Annie did, and as such, it was easy to spot the cracks in his voice as he tried to conceal his panic beneath his words, and as soon as she acknowledged it, Leonhardt responded accordingly.
"I won't. It scares me… it… scares me…"
Staring past the four soldiers standing beneath her, Annie's gaze intensified as she stared down into the darkness. To these four, it would've been a safe haven. But to Annie, it was hostile, oppressive and, in her honest opinion, an incredibly obvious place for a trap. She's been in areas like that in the past, courtesy of her old Warrior trainers, and she didn't want to go through that horrific experience yet again. That, combined with her suspicions of the for before her, only added to her reluctance to enter.
"What are you talking about, Annie?! Just get your ass down here and we'll blitz through the damn place!" barked Eren in annoyance, eliciting a wince from his pals as they turned to face him. As he yelled, the hood covering his head flew backwards and rested itself against his back, and seconds later, Mikasa lightly reprimanded him for shouting, though upon doing so, she inadvertently redirected Leonhardt's suspicions towards her in an instant.
"Say, Mikasa, I did actually wonder… the security back at where we rescued Eren from seemed rather lax, and likewise, there seems to be a lot less people here than expected. I know that this is a mostly secluded route… but even so…"
As she said this, Annie's ears perked up. A benefit of being partially Titan was an enhancement to all human capabilities, and she could pick up on the faint sound of hidden entities rustling around in the background. She couldn't hear anything they were saying, though, but even so, she could hear their presence, and though it put her on edge, she knew that showing off her agitation would only goad them into attacking.
"You know, don't you? You know about… everything," accused Annie, with her staring up at the sky as she spoke. Armin flinched a little at her words, with him gulping as he felt his knees quivering beneath him. Off to the side, Sasha, having gone pale at those words, gripped her Flare Gun tightly as she got ready to let off a shot, though before she could do so, Mikasa gently bumped the back of her hand against hers, a sign for her to relax a little for now as they needed to wait for the perfect time to fire their one shot.
"Yes… y-yes I do. We do, Annie Leonhardt," confirmed Armin as he grit his teeth in dismay. Annie didn't react to this as she kept her eyes glued to the sky above her, seeming rather disinterested in the whole thing as she spoke, though what Arlert said next certainly caught her attention. "And so does Mikazuki, right?"
"..."
"We overheard him talking to Mina and Nac about it a few days ago," stated Armin desperately, making Annie panic briefly as she heard this, though she swiftly calmed down, if only by a little, as he continued to speak. "He said that you got into trouble… and by his standards, you would've gotten into a lot of trouble… and we connected the dots between everything that we know of. You were the most likely candidate… and we had you pinned down…"
"So why didn't you just come for me outright?" inquired Annie as she placed a hand on her hip, seeming… bewildered by all this extra effort as she spoke. "It seems rather… illogical to waste so much effort for someone like me."
"Because the few of us that knew about this… had hope. We held onto hope for you not being our target! We hoped, we prayed that you weren't our enemy! Mikazuki always spoke so highly of you whenever you came up in conversation, so we had put our faith in you until the very last moment!" stated Armin rather mindlessly as he took a step up to look Annie a little closer in the eyes, and for as minute as it was, the young woman did feel a tiny pang of appreciation towards Augus for putting a few good words in on her behalf. "You were always our ally, Annie! And to Mikazuki, Mina and Nac, you were their friend! A part of their family!
"How could you throw your family away without so much as a second thought?!"
… silence.
That was the only thing that followed as Annie lowered her gaze down to the point where her golden locks covered her eyes, and at the same time, the soldiers beneath (and around) her all felt tense as they noticed a dark aura surrounding their former ally. They tensed up on instinct, with Mikasa stepping forwards, in front of Sasha, who was now shakily aiming her Flare Gun at Leonhardt out of instinctual fear, as they stood against one another. Ackerman unsheathed one of her blades in anticipation for something happening as she stood in front of Braus whilst also holding an arm out in front of her little brother protectively, though at the same time, Armin remained completely defenseless as he stared up at the blonde above them, awaiting an answer.
And after about ten seconds of silence… Annie did something… unthinkable.
She giggled.
The sound of her giggles… caught everyone present off guard, primarily because they had never heard her laugh prior to now. Not genuinely, anyways, and it left them speechless as they watched her shoulders bounce up and down as she shared a laugh to herself. Seconds later, her right arm went limp as it dangled by Annie's side uselessly whilst her left arm darted up to grasp onto her right upper arm tightly. She squeezed her tricep tightly as her laughter became more intense, and as the seconds ticked by, the soldiers all around her felt more… confused at this.
That was fine.
It wasn't as though they would understand, after all.
They would never understand how it felt, to be groomed into becoming a Warrior…
"Annie… I… I'm sorry for… I'm sorry for everything! I… I-I…"
Her father's words fell on deaf ears. Annie had long since stopped caring about his honeyed words ever since she began training to be a Warrior
How it felt to lose everything…
"We should return to Marley…"
"If we do, they'll kill us!"
"Yeah, and?! Well we'll still die if we remain out here! At least if we go home, we can have a shot at staying alive! We've already lost one of our own! Do you want to wager for another?!"
"IF ONLY TO COMPLETE OUR MISSION, ANNIE LEONHARDT!"
The ensuing brawl between Warriors was… hard to watch, with Annie making use of her opponent's size against them. But even so, her smaller frame worked against her for once, as she was pinned beneath her sizable 'ally' in record time.
"We… are going to complete our mission, as Warriors of Marley, whether you like it or not…"
And as her 'ally' got off her, Annie needed everything inside of her to keep herself from breaking down into an angry sob.
… to gradually gain it all back…
"Hey, what's your name?"
"..."
"Well… I'm Mina! Mina Carolina!"
"..."
"I… hope we can be friends?"
"..."
She was annoying, but she kept coming back day after day, week after week. This… Mina girl was… nice to Annie, even more so than her 'allies', anyways, and she… liked her. Her other friend, Nac, was much more annoying, but he never yelled at her for getting something wrong. They were… nice to her, and she liked that.
And she hated that she liked them. But at the same time… she couldn't be happier to be with these two dimwits.
Only to have it all threatened to be taken away at a moment's notice…
"My old family welcomed people who tried to kill them as well. We don't hold grudges unless absolutely necessary. And holding a grudge against you? It's… not easy. "But if you even think about doing anything funny…
"I'll make you wish that I killed you back in the forest. Do you understand?"
Had it been from anyone else, that threat would've been nothing to Annie Leonhardt, but by virtue of it being from Mikazuki Augus, she took it incredibly seriously as she nodded in acknowledgement of his words.
She would not let him down… not a third time in a row…
"I… understand, Mika. Thanks for at least listening to what I had to say,"
They would never understand it. They would never understand her, unlike any of her other peers… unlike Mikazuki.
Both she and the pilot were almost like two peas in a pod in their own unique ways. Monsters in more ways than one from a foreign land, their shared origins, origins which were so different yet so similar in various ways, allowed her to feel a connection with him even more so than anyone else, though the main difference between the two of them was that the pilot was a good person. Annie was not, and right now, she was alright with that.
It wasn't as though her definition of the term 'good' would be alright to these Eldian descendants, anyways. She had been taught that the term referred to her being a good soldier, one that followed orders and nothing more, but now that she's… in a word, softened up, she realized that the term 'good' would never apply to her, not in an Eldianstate. She had long since stopped being 'good' after partaking in the Fall of Maria, and her breaking up the 57th Expedition formation was just the final nail needed in the coffin that was to bury the notion of her ever being able to be 'good', forever.
And by all means, it seemed as though her revealing the truth to Mikazuki had begun the burial process, as it had all spiralled into this mess of a scenario, one where she would have to inevitably betray his faith in her, whether she liked it or not.
Slowly but surely, the laughter began to find itself getting caught in the blonde's throat, and the soldiers beneath, and to an extent around, her widened their eyes when they saw and heard that she had begun sobbing a fair bit amidst her laughter. Her tears mixed in with her laughter almost frighteningly well as her knees wobbled beneath her, seeming barely able to keep her body up as she threw her head back and laughed harder, to the point where Eren wondered if she would tear her vocal cords.
"Do… d-do you really think that I wanted to throw them away, Armin?"
Those words rang hollow to Arlert's ears as the blonde stared down at him with those piercing blue eyes, and as she spoke, wispy clouds of steam began emerging from her lips as she breathed in and out deeply. Her gaze held an emptiness that made even Mikasa flinch, albeit just a little, as she glared down at the shorter blonde in abject disgust, and in response to this, Armin would have given her some facts regarding the issue… but before he could do so, she continued.
"I spent days thinking about what I would do. How much I would hurt them. Months, even. I kept telling myself not to, that I would be betraying their trust. But in the end, I went with it. I am a failure, Armin. I failed as a Soldier. I failed as a Warrior," stated Annie, with tears subconsciously falling down her face as she spoke. The four soldiers below her were taken aback when they heard her otherwise hollow voice crackle with emotion with each word spoken. This was not the Annie Leonhardt that they knew, nor was it the one that they had expected to confront.
This wasn't the stone cold facade that Annie had made use of in the past five years…
"I've failed them as a friend."
This… was nothing more than a broken child.
"I took their trust in me and twisted it in my hands. Choked it, tore it apart, ate it and spat it back out like it was nothing. I did that, Armin Arlert, because I thought that I was strong enough to face the consequences. But I was not. When they appeared, I gave into my fear and showed who I really am.
"A weak, selfish, coward of a girl."
Tensing immensely as she spoke, Sasha nudged Mikasa lightly and got her to turn towards the Dauper resident with an uncertain look in her eyes, with the brunette motioning for them to perhaps back off, as she really didn't like how this conversation was going. Likewise, Eren and Armin appeared… stunned at what they had just heard, with them subconsciously backing away as they watched Annie's smile fade away into a sneer.
"But you know what? I may be all of those words, and then some… but there was one thing that I never was, and that was a quitter."
Raising their brows when they heard this, the Survey Corps all around perked up as they wondered what the young woman was getting at, only for the soldiers below to widen their eyes as they watched her shift her arm up towards her head.
"You've placed your bets on this, haven't you? You betted well… almost perfectly, I might add, but I've been betting on things with higher stakes," stated Annie, with all her previous bravado and 'enthusiasm' gone by now as she reverted back to her cold, calculating persona. The sudden change put everyone present on edge, though Sasha and Mikasa remained attentive as they waited for the perfect opportunity… "And I realized… that I've lost my bet. So there's no reason to play nice, not anymore."
She knew that she was a goner at this point. Her hopes of letting all this fly over her head had been squashed the moment she fell for Armin's ruse, and regardless of what happened from here on out, she would certainly perish. If she went along with these soldiers, she'd certainly be captured with minimal effort. If she stalled for any longer, those in hiding would undoubtedly burst out and restrain her within seconds. And if she transformed, either Eren or, much more likely, Barbatos, would take her down whilst working alongside the soldiers that were here in the first place.
With that being said, however, if Annie could just… get out of here in her Titan form before Barbatos could arrive… then she would stand a chance at escaping with her life. It would be difficult, but Leonhardt knew that nothing was impossible, and with that in mind, she began to bring her hand up to her lips and-
"Oi! An'ie Leon'ardt!"
-paused briefly when Sasha spoke, with the Dauper resident using her true accent to further throw Annie off. It seemed to work, as the blonde was momentarily caught off guard by her pronunciation of her name, and seconds later, she continued to speak.
"Don't ferget! A co'nered animals' always a dangerous un'!"
And, exploiting her brief pause, Sasha abruptly fired off the Flare Gun she had in her grip directly at the blonde, who widened her eyes and dodged swiftly to one side to avoid being struck by the flare. This proved to be her downfall, however, as, right as the flare passed her, the sound of footsteps emerging from all around her could be heard, and in an instant, Leonhardt felt one of her arms being pulled off to her side by a disguised Survey Corp.
Several more followed, doing the same with her other arm and both her legs as they fought tooth and nail to pin her down. One managed to get a gag over Annie's mouth for extra measure as the blonde did her best to break free, though against an entire ocean's worth of restrainers, she wouldn't be able to do much to wrest herself free, especially when they knew full well that they could break a limb or two without recourse.
Staring down into the tunnel entrance, Annie's desperate glare intensified as she took note of the relieved expressions on the 104th graduates down below. Eren in particular infuriated her to no end, as she knew that, in a way, he was the reason as to why she was in this situation in the first place, and she hated it.
She hated this… she hated her allies for dragging her into this mess… she hated Eldia for starting all this in the first place… she hated Marley for training her for this express purpose… she hated the soldiers that were slowly beginning to pile up around her… and in a moment of desperation, the young woman grimaced as she flicked her right thumb over her index finger ring.
In a split second, a hooked needle emerged from within the ring, and though it was barley visible to everyone present, Mikasa and Sasha's above average senses could make it out, and in an instant, the two grabbed onto Eren and Armin, respectively, and dashed down into the tunnels. When they had asked what they were doing, the girls said nothing as they stared back at where Leonhardt was at.
And not even a moment too soon, they found themselves temporarily blinded by a powerful surge of lightning that struck the spot where Annie used to be at.
(Optional OST: Yukiaru Tatakai (The Battle of Courage))
Things had been relatively peaceful up till that point… and that was probably the one thing that pissed Mikazuki off more than anything.
It felt nice to have his friends with him for a change. To have Mina so close whilst Nac remained at arm's reach… the only thing that stopped the situation from being perfect, in Augus' mind, was the lack of Annie to complete their little group, but even so, he knew that she had her duties to accomplish, and by all means, today was the day where her loyalties would be tested.
Would she choose them, or would she choose Marley?
Mikazuki bad the utmost confidence in what her choice would be.
Or at least he thought he did… as, right as the pilot was getting comfortable with the world around him, a sudden flash of light caught his and everyone else's attention, prompting them to widen their eyes in shock as they turned towards its source.
"What the?!" proclaimed Nac, with his initial shock only increasing drastically when he saw the flash of lightning off in the distance. It was a powerful bolt that struck a far-off spot in Sina, and upon putting two and two together, the young man gasped in horror. "No… did Eren-"
"That isn't Eren," said Mikazuki, with him almost snarling in rage as he got up to his feet in an instant. Mina did the same as she stared worriedly at where the lighting had struck, and without even waiting for their approval, the pilot turned on his heel and jumped straight off the edge of Wall Karanses, shocking everyone with just how instantaneous that act was.
""MIKA?!" proclaimed Mina as she instinctively dove after him, to which Nac gasped as his body moved towards the edge, though before he could get too close to it, he felt himself being held back by someone, prompting him to turn and spot Lynne holding him by the arm. "Ma'am! What's going on?!"
"Shit's going down, that's what, Nac! We can't explain it in its entirety, not right now, at least," responded Lynne as she turned towards the closest Garrison soldier atop the Walls, who appeared confused at what was happening, though not long after, she grimaced and yelled at him. "You! Have the guards open the gates of Karanses, NOW!"
"W-With all due respect, ma'am, but-"
"Listen here, soldier. Do you know what we're dealing with back there?!" proclaimed Lynne as she released Nac and marched up towards the Garrison, who flinched as he shook his head, no, and listened to her speak. "We're dealing with a traitor within our ranks, one that is currently within the confines of Wall Sina, and is capable of killing several soldiers within ten fucking seconds. So unless you want those deaths to be on your hands, then I suggest you get this gate open… or don't, because I'm sure that Gundam Barbatos will have more than enough power to destroy it if you delay any longer!"
"..." no words were spoken by the soldier as he stared over at Lynne uncertainly, though after a few seconds of silence, he eventually motioned for his fellow Garrison to raise the gates to Karanses, which they did, and at that, Lynne sighed and turned towards Nac and Sys, who were staring at her as though she had grown a second head, and moments later, she shook her head, offered the two a somewhat friendly, if a little forced, smile and gestured for them to move.
C'mon, let's not dilly dally! Let's move! And Nac, we'll explain what's going on along the way, alright?! C'mon, chop-chop!"
Mikazuki was no stranger to dive bombing, especially after the past four years of Maneuver Gear training, and as such, he was able to swiftly shift his hips and use a powerful burst of gas via his hip mounted equipment to swiftly slow his descent as he drew closer towards his deactivated Gundam.
Landing atop its chest with an unceremonious thump, Mikazuki wasted no time in unclasping his Maneuver Gear and shoving them into his unit's cockpit. Thereafter, he jumped in as well, with him pulling his Tekkadan jacket off and connecting to the unit's Alaya-Vijnana system shortly thereafter. With a simple flick of the cockpit monitor, he shut it and allowed the system to boot up relatively quickly.
'I trusted her… and she used my faith in her against me…' lamented Mikazuki sadly as he held onto the arm controllers of his unit tightly. He was incorrect on that assumption, but he was unaware of the truth behind what had happened in the first place, and as such, he was acting much more aggressively than he probably would've as he stood his unit upright with a grimace.
'I'm going to kill her!'
Right as that thought left him, however, Mikazuki felt the pressure sensors of his unit kick in, alerting him to a presence on his Gundam's cockpit. Curiously, he averted one of Barbatos' sub-optics towards the issue and raised his brows when he saw that it was Mina, standing atop his unit's chest as she placed a hand atop its centermost chest armour.
"Mika! What's gotten into you?! You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but at least just let me in!" urged Mina as Mikazuki grimaced and contemplated ignoring her. That thought didn't last long, however, as he ended up signing and opening the cockpit hatch anyways, and thereafter, he watched as Carolina jumped in, landing on his lap in an awkward manner thanks to her Maneuver Gear still being attached to her hips.
"Mika, what's going on?!" demanded Mina worriedly, with the adrenaline rush stopping her from realising that they were in a somewhat awkward position as she spoke. In response to this, the pilot simply grimaced as he began to move his unit onwards, with him focusing more on piloting than answering all the while.
"Do you remember the problem that Annie found herself in?" asked Mikazuki somewhat rhetorically as he boosted his unit through Karanses, ignoring the terrified screams of those around him as he boosted it towards the opened gates of Rose. In response to this, Mina appeared confused at first, though before long, her confusion became no small amount of shock, and then horror, as she let the implications set in.
"Y-Yeah… why are you-"
"Annie can't be helped. Not any more."
And based on just how… feral Mikazuki sounded when he said that, combined with his dilated pupils and overall enraged aura… Mina did seriously wonder if he even wanted to help her anymore.
Oh dear.
This chapter is subject to potential future edits, just so you know. I ended up writing a lot of this at midnight, spread out across about three days. It's not the best, but I hope it suffices!
starscreamer11: aye. 50 chapters... what is my life
Guest (Sauronwashere): I half expected to die before reaching 50 won't lie, but here I am, still writing on
Dead344156: shit is indeed about to get real. And regarding Barbatos being clustered, possibly. I'm sure we all agree that he has emotions in some strange way at this point
Touhoufanatic: ... you have a point there
ian12091995: personally speaking, calling my work hits is a bit too kind, but thank you regardless
CodeCipher: the battle will be... difficult to manage. And regarding Isurugi... *cough* give it about thirty more chapters idk
Excuse my lack of enthuasm it's like 1:30 in the morning and I got home not too long ago from a long walk around the country.
The next chapter will be in about a week or so due to me wanting to keep up some suspense. Gotta get some drama kicking!
Till then, expect an update on Iron Blooded Heroes soon.
Toodle pip~