Chapter 24: Set in Motion
Just hours after the expedition the Scout Regiment settled into the Military HQ of Karanes; a message was passed around asking for information about the Female Titan from those Scouts, specifically any of the recent recruits, who might have encountered her to head to Hange Zoe's office. In the dimly lit corridor within the Karanes military headquarters Armin sat outside the door to Hange's office, waiting for his turn; he thought back to his encounter with the Female Titan and the more he thought about it the clearer it was to him who the shifter was.
I don't want to believe it... he thought to himself and if I do this then... Annie might be as good as dead... he clenched his gist tightly as he waited in anticipation for the door to open, his mind now racing with different thoughts but if Annie's a shifter then does that mean there are spies in the 104th?
Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door opening; he looked to the side to see Reiner leaving the room
"How was it?" he asked
"She just asked a few questions" replied Reiner "then asked whether there might have been any kind of indication on who it might be."
"What did you say?" asked Armin
"The truth, I have no idea who it is" said Reiner "I was lucky to escape the bitch before she could have killed me, anyway Armin I'm heading off, Hange would like to see you now." Reiner walked off down the hallway and Armin entered the room; it was a large office with book shelves covering the walls, a red rug covering the floor and nicely designed candle holders lighting up the Pom in a warm glow. He saw Hange sitting behind a desk with a stack of papers to her left, a blank piece of paper in front of her and a pen in hand.
"Come in Armin, take a seat" Armin approached her and sat on the chair opposite "You're Eren's friend, yes?"
"That's right." he replied
"He talks about you some times, all good things of course" she said with a smile on her face, her expression then quickly turned stern "Now Armin, I'm going to be straight forward with you, during your encounter with the Female Titan was there anything at all which might have given away her identity? You see we were hoping to capture the enemy shifter however whoever it was managed to escape from us."
Why…It… it didn't kill me, it just looked at my face… but why?
Don't let that suicidal blockhead's death be in vain!
"I may know who the Female Titan is..." said Armin, Hange stared intently at him, before he could answer She quickly left her seat and walked up to the door, she checked outside quickly, turning head from side to side, before closing it shut and taking her place in her seat.
"Go on" she said
"Annie Leonhart" said Armin "she's a graduate of the Southern 104th Cadet Corps and the only one to join the Military Police."
"What gives you the idea that its her?" asked Hange
"During the expedition I watched her kill Squad Leader Ness and another Scout, she then had the opportunity to kill me but she didn't; she just left me when she saw my face and when Jean, Reiner and I confronted her I yelled out Eren's nickname among our class 'suicidal blockhead' and tricked her for a second in believing she'd killed him during the attack on the right-wing who I'm guessing was her target." Hange listened carefully to Armin as he told her about her encounter; she had heard the same account of the event from Jean and Reiner but listening to Armin put it into a whole new perspective.
"Armin, what I'm about to tell is classified information concerning the Female Titan" said Hange "however you must know that once you hear this, there is no going back, so I'll give you an out; you can leave now and forget that we had the last part of this conversation or you can stay and listen but in doing so you'll end up being a part of an operation crucial to Humanity's survival outside of our regular military operations." Armin eyes widen and he suddenly felt nervous at the prospect of him, a recent graduate and Scout recruit, being let in on something far greater than his current responsibilities of being a soldier to Humanity.
"Okay" he said, trying to muster all the courage he had inside him "I want to listen."
"During the expedition, we had captured Annie Leonhart."
On the morning of the first day after the 57th expedition and the capture of Annie Leonhart, Commander Erwin was sent to the Capital to report the events and results of the expedition to a government jury, headed by Commander-in-chief Darius Zackly and attended by a number of Military officials, of which Commander Nile Dok was there, a select few Merchants, Noble men, some central government officials and Religious representatives such as Minister Nick. Erwin sat on the end of a long table facing Darius. He would usually feel exhausted and perturbed when attending these meetings, not that his face would ever show it, in the past he would usually report on the achieving little to no success and the high causalities that had been incurred upon them. But not today, today they had just struck the biggest blow to their enemy since Trost and took a large step forward in finding out the truth. He felt confident in the faces of those who had usually doubted him and the Scout Regiment and after this meeting he knew that his own authority and influence within the military and political structure was now greater than any Scout Commander had ever possessed.
"Commander Erwin Smith" announced Darius "As per the agreement that was discussed at the military tribunal of Eren Yeager and the Elric brothers, you'd show us the results of the mission."
"Of course, premier" replied Erwin "Though our mission for the 57th expedition was to monitor Titan movements in the vicinity of Karanes; the Survey Crops had another objective; capture the enemy shifter within the ranks of the military." There was a collective gasp in the room.
"So Yeager was working for the Titans?" asked one of the Noblemen
"No" responded Erwin "Cadet Yeager served as bait to lure in the enemy shifter for the trap we had prepared, however the enemy shifter had surprised us with an unknown ability, which was being able to summon Titans to her location, we had believed her to have escaped however the enemy shifter had then engaged in combat against Eren Yeager and Edward Elric, they managed to hold her off long enough for Captain Levi to apprehend the shifter; from this its shown that Eren Yeager and the Elric brothers are both assets to efforts of the Scout Regiment and in turn key individuals in the war against the Titans."
"And just who is this enemy shifter?" asked Darius
"It has been made privy to us that the shifter is one Annie Leonhart" revealed Erwin "a former graduate of the 104th Cadet Crops southern division, like Eren, and the only graduate to be a member of the Military Police."
Nile's eyes widen "What? You're telling me the enemy shifter was one of my own soldiers?"
"Yes" replied Erwin "One of the graduates of the 104th who had recently joined the Scouts was there when she was apprehended and was quickly able to identify her to Captain Levi."
"Where exactly are you holding this enemy shifter?" asked Darius "and how sure are you that you can contain her?"
"We have her underground in an undisclosed location, she is being kept under constant supervision and we have only just begun to interrogate her for information." That's when Erwin noticed it… some of the noble men and clergy looked very uneasy, as if they weren't pleased that she had been captured how odd… "You can be assured; we will gather as much information from her as possible." Some of the noblemen and religious clerks began to shift uncomfortable in their seats.
"I propose you hand her over to the central government for execution" said one of the Noblemen to a small choir of yeses from others "She is a traitor to humanity and as such should be dealt with accordingly."
"With all due respect lord" replied Erwin "It would be beyond foolish to execute miss Leonhart; she will provide us with valuable information about the Titans and also the identities of the Colossal and the Armoured Titan, also it isn't your decision to make; it's the Premier's decision on whose jurisdiction she falls under and if I may speak freely."
"Go on…" replied Darius
"It's very likely that whoever the Armoured and the Colossal Titans are, they've likely slipped into these walls during the fall of Shiganshina and the breach of Wall Maria and have infiltrated the ranks of the Military; it is with grave matter and threat to humanity that I ask you to give me the due powers to act accordingly to the threat of the remaining shifters and uncover the truth about our sworn enemy and that we may continue launching expedition beyond the walls from Trost with the aid of Eren Yeager and the Elrics." There was a moment of silence in the room as everyone thought about Erwin's proposal, he observed the nervous faces of the clergy and the noblemen, he knew what he was asking was a tall order but if he were given anything close to what he asked for it would be a victory within itself… if they challenge this then at least I know they have something to hide about the truth within and outside these walls…
"Thank you, Commander Erwin" said Zackly "We shall discuss your proposal…"
I really hate this guy…
"Oomph!" Annie was again punched in the gut by Levi as he continued beating her; partly for payback for killing his squad members and comrades but mainly for getting information out her like Erwin asked. Her breathing had become wheezy, her vision was blurry and a river of blood continued to fall from her broken nose and onto the floor.
"If you're thinking about escaping, don't bother; I had the Elrics mess with the walls of the dungeon to make sure you couldn't escape even if you transformed; you'll be trapped like canned meat if you try anything." Said Levi as he looked down on her "You know I can make this a lot easier on you if you just start talking or I can make this even worse, the choice is yours, so tell me; who are the Colossal and the Armoured Titans?" Annie lifted her head up to face him and opened her mouth slightly as if to say something, Levi leaned forward expecting to hear words come out of her mouth, instead Annie used the opportunity to spit blood on his face; the thick red liquid hit just above his left eye and ran down his face, he backed away from her face, still keeping a stone-wall expression all while Annie started to laugh, he walked over to small tray with an array of knifes and surgery equipment and wiped his face with some cloth. "You really shouldn't have done that." Said Levi as he picked up a small surgeon's cutting knife and turned to face Annie "let's see how human you are on the inside…" he said menacingly.
Even from outside the basement door and across the mess hall of the former Scout HQ Hange could still hear the cries of agony from Annie as Levi continued to torture her. A small part of her felt sorry for the young girl and what she was going through, of course every other part of her remembered that she had summarily massacred at least a few dozen Scouts and was very likely the culprit responsible for the death of Sonny and Bean.
She had sent Moblit out to the capital to retrieve some paperwork concerning Annie Leonhart recruitment and the documents of anyone else who might of come from the same district, town or village as her; she had deduced that if she was posing as citizen from Wall Maria then it must be the case that the Colossal and Armoured Titans come from the same area. Suddenly the screaming came to an abrupt end, Hange turned to face the door as Levi walked out of the basement, wiping his hands with a damp blood stain white cloth.
"The little shit passed out from the pain." He remarked "Still refuses to talk about anything; the other shifters, whose she working for, her own Intel on us… we might of hit a dead end with this one."
"Don't give up yet Levi" replied Hange "she's probably assuming that her counterparts will notice her absence and come to her aid, speaking of the other shifters I've asked for the paperwork on Annie and anyone who comes from the same area as her, Moblit should be coming back with Erwin from the capital after his meeting with the government jury."
"If we manage to find out the other two without her help it would at least knock one thing off the list of questions, Erwin said that when he gets back from the meeting with the pigs we'll plan our next steps; which could mean setting up an ambush for the other shifters" said Levi "and hell we can always go with psychological torture if the physical one doesn't work out; name them and trick her into believing her comrades abandoned her." He suggested.
"That's absolutely diabolical, Levi" replied Hange "I like it…"
"So what are the little brats doing?" asked Levi
"They're off duty for now; Ed, Eren and Mikasa are training in the yard last I checked and Armin and Alphonse were there watching them, Ed said something about taking Eren's mind off of Annie."
"And you're not watching them over? And remind me, why we brought the other brat into the fold?" asked Levi about Armin becoming a member to the inner circle, they had to let Mikasa in as she was there during the capture.
"Mike's got an eye on them and the whole castle has a garrison of Scouts now, so they'll be fine" Hange reminded Levi "Also Armin was among the three of the 104th graduates to come into contact with Annie Leonhart, I told them each that the mission was a failure and that the Female Titan go away and then I ask them if they knew who the shifter could be, and out of the three of them, Armin was the only one who knew the answer and brought forth his reasoning, from there I briefed him on what really happened." Informed Hange "He's an incredibly clever individual; could prove useful in the future."
Outside in the courtyard Eren launched a barrage of blows towards Ed while Ed seemingly danced around Eren's attacks; he ducked under as Eren leaned forward and threw a punch straight at him, when he reeled back Ed performed a backwards roll off the ground putting distance between him and Eren. Both of them were breathing heavy as they stared at each other.
"You're pretty fast Ed" commented Eren
"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't." replied Ed with a proud smile "Now it's your turn to go on the defensive."
Eren raised his arms forward and waited for Ed to charge at him "Ready when you are." Ed ran forward and threw first hits; Eren blocked his attacks using his arms, only trying to dodge an attack once in a while. However Ed was able to pick out openings in Eren's defense and threw some light punches in them. Mikasa watched observing Ed's fighting style; it was similar to Annie's in that it incorporated kicks as well as punches but the movements were more fluid as he made a seamless transition from the throw of a fist to the swing of a leg. While the two of them continued to spar, Alphonse answered Armin's questions about their world; asking all about the different types of environments, the people, the kind of technology, it was an endless barrage of questions.
"The north is the coldest region in Amestris; it snows there often and the environment there is mainly just icy mountains" said Alphonse, pointing it out on a crudely drawn map of Amestris and its five regions "and between the mountains is a valley blocked off by this massive wall fortress made of metal which is meant to keep out an attack from Drachma."
"So have you ever been on top of this massive wall? Is it like our walls?" who's in charge of the wall? Asked Armin
"We've been inside the Wall and I'd say it's about as tall as your walls though not as long" replied Alphonse "The woman in charge is General Olivia Armstrong, she's in charge of all military matters in the North and some people call her the 'Ice Queen'"
"Can she do Alchemy?" asked Armin
"No, but she doesn't need to; I heard she beat her brother, who is a skilled Alchemist, over who would be the head of their family."
"What about the East?" asked Armin, what kind of climate is there and what is the environment like?"
"The east is mainly desert and the climate can be really hot" replied Alphonse "But once you go south you get fields and grasslands which is where the town Ed and I grew up in is; it's a place called Resembool."
"Is there a general in the area too?" asked Armin
"Yeah, we know him" replied Alphonse "he was Ed's superior, back when he was still a State Alchemist. His name was Roy Mustang, he's a State Alchemist too and people call him the 'Flame Alchemist' he could manipulate the density of oxygen in the air and then using a spark from what he called his ignition gloves he could either focus a burst of flames at a target or create an explosion." Armin sat staring at Alphonse, amazed by what he had heard; someone was able to make explosions using Alchemy, this science gave people a huge advantage, it may be one of the main reasons they were able to defeat Annie even when she was in Titan form, this was something useful…and he wanted to be useful.
"Alphonse…" said Armin.
"What is it Armin?" Alphonse asked.
"I'm sorry if I'm asking for too much, but do you think it would be possible if you could teach me how to perform Alchemy? He asked
"Of course Armin" replied Alphonse, smiling at him "I'd he more than happy to." Suddenly the sound of Eren hitting the ground caught their attention; Ed leaned down and offered Eren a hand to get him back on his feet.
"You're pretty good" commented Ed "you managed to hold your own for quite a while."
"Huh, thanks" replied Eren
Mikasa then walked up to the two of them "Hey Ed" she said in tone similar to Captain Levi "mind if you spar against me?"
"Yeah, sure" replied Ed "I'll go on the defensive"
"Fine by me" replied Mikasa
Ed gave her a cocky smile "Hope you're not gonna hold back" he said as he took up his fighting stance "Alright, come at me with everything you've got-" next thing he knew he was lying flat on his back staring up into the sky and Mikasa walking away. It was insane; it was almost like at that exact moment she went to strike him she knew exactly what to do and when to do it and on top of that she was crazy strong, the kind of strength Captain Levi had.
"Hey!" called out Mike who was watching the group from the castle walls "Commander Erwin's back" Alphonse walked over to Ed and helped him up onto his feet as Eren, Mikasa and Armin walked around to the entrance of the castle's main building.
"So, has Miss Leonhart said anything of interest yet?" asked Erwin as he walked up to their table
"Nothing so far" replied Levi "I'll keep trying but we may have to shift to other methods at some point."
"So be it." Responded Erwin
"So did you end up getting what you wanted?" asked Levi as Erwin sat down in the same table as him, Hange and Moblit in the large hall "Or did the central government blue ball you?"
Erwin smirked at Levi's remark "It's a bit of a mixed bag, but there is more good news than bad" he replied "Good news is I've managed to get more funding both from the central government and from some of the merchants."
"I imagine the reason why some of the merchants now support us is because with the news of our latest victory it would be a boon to them to say that they backed the Scouts when we defeated the Titans and with the prospect of retaking Wall Maria looking more realistic they'll be able to do business back in the lost land; they see us as an investment." Theorized Hange
"I don't care if they see us as a means to making more money" said Levi "More funds for us means better equipment which means less dead men."
"One of them has also given us access to their R&D department, which means you'll get the support and resources to create that prototype Automail, Hange" continued Erwin "Of course it was on the condition that they'd get to be the sole producers." There was a twinkle in Hange's eyes and a small smile on her lips as Erwin told her. "On the powers grant; I can't act with impunity and there is a limit to who I have the authority to apprehend; the central government, the noble lords, the aristocrats, the military brass and the more high ranking members of the Wall cultists are off limits under the reasoning that the shifters haven't infiltrated the highest levels of government but I suspect there's another reasoning behind it and I do have the power to act above local authority but not the central government and that's only in the case of apprehending the shifters, this all does however depend on whether I can justify using it for the good of humanity."
"They probably know about the Wall Titans." Replied Hange "But I guess this means Minister Nick is off limits then."
"Less we can find a way for him to say it out in the open which would justify a possible apprehension of someone outside my boundaries, then I'm afraid so." said Erwin "We'll have to work our way through the hierarchy of the church and find someone who has the relevant information while being in my jurisdiction."
"That'll take too long" said Levi "By the time we do find this person they'd already of caught on to what we're doing and strip you of your powers."
"Which is why I'd advise we exercise extreme caution going forward" replied Erwin "Now, was there anything else?"
She then turned to her assistant "Moblit, do you have the papers I asked for?"
"Right here, squad leader" he replied as he handed her an envelope containing the documents. Hange opened the envelope to reveal three pieces of documents; she flicked through the first one which was Annie Leonhart and focused her attention of the names of the next two
"Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover, recent former graduates and members of the 104th Scout Regiment" said Hange as she read their names from their enlistment papers "these two could be the other shifters."The creak of the door caught their attention as Mike, followed by Eren. Armin, Mikasa, Ed and Alphonse entered the hall.
"Welcome." greeted Erwin "have a seat around the table, there is much to discuss." Eren, Mikasa and Armin sat down, Ed and Alphonse grabbed some spare chairs and stood over them. "Let's get straight to business, shall we? It looks as though we may have uncovered the identities of the Armoured and Colossal Titans." He declared
The three members of the 104th and the Elric brothers gasped "Who?" asked Eren impatiently, eager to discover the names of those who pushed humanity to the brink, who drove him out of his home and killed his mother. He was going to make them pay.
Erwin looked over to Hange to deliver the news "We suspect that the other shifters who were in league with Annie Leonhart are Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover" Eren's face turned white as the blood quickly drained from his face and like Armin his eyes had widen and mouths had dropped in shock, the only ones who kept a stoic look were the senior officers and Mikasa.
Ed and Alphonse who were trying to remember who the two were; their names sounded familiar and they were sure they'd met the two at some point, that's when Ed remembered they were those tall Cadets they'd met at the HQ and during that meeting. "It seems there wasn't much in terms of records about them so strictly speaking we know little to nothing about them before their enlistment" Hange added as she looked over their file "No birth certificate, no addresses from their village, no health or other information which isn't dated prior to them joining the cadets."
"But the important thing we do know that during the expedition those two were among the ones told that Eren, Ed and Alphonse were stationed in the right-wing."
"That's the section where Annie led the Titan ambush!" exclaimed Armin "They could have told Annie about his position."
"That would explain a lot like the lack of paper work on the three of them and the ambush on the right side." commented Ed.
"Wait just a minute!" yelled Eren in defence of his now accused comrades "we can't just jump to conclusions like that!"
"You're right, Eren" replied Hange "so with that in mind, I'm curious about the relationship between the three of them."
"I knew those two came from the same hometown as Annie, but they never looked to be particularly close." Replied Armin
"Same, I don't remember them talking to Annie much either, then again Annie usually tried to keep to herself." Added Eren "But I don't believe we have any reason to suspect them; Bertholdt was always someone quiet but Reiner has always been our friend, the guy's been like a big brother to us since the Cadet Corps, he'd never lie to us!"
"Reiner is indeed someone who can be relied on; when he, Jean and I encountered Annie's Titan he survived being crushed… by… her" Armin had come to a sudden realization about that day.
"What's wrong, Armin?" asked Alphonse
"When Reiner escaped from Annie, she changed her direction and ran straight for Levi squad's position." replied Armin, "I may have said that you were in rear of the centre-rank, but there's no way she could have hear me."
"Did Reiner seem, in anyway, interested in Eren's position? Asked Erwin
Armin thought back to that day 'So where would they be?' "I… I talked about their position because Reiner asked me…" stammered Armin, all eyes were on him "And when we made a run for it I saw Annie staring at her hand before running off; as if she was reading something… Reiner must have carved out your position on her hand…"
"Guess that solves it…" Ed said "we have our guys…"
"What the hell" exclaimed Eren, still in denial about his comrades' betrayal "The guy's been with us from the beginning, we can't just start treating him like the enemy?"
"Eren, can you just wake up and smell the coffee?" replied Ed; a little frustrated by Eren's refusal to see the evidence in front of them "This all adds up just too well for it to be some huge coincidence."
"What a coffee?" Hange muttered.
"Shut up Ed!" responded Eren "You don't know them we do, like I do, Reiner would never betray his comrades or humanity!"
"I'm here to save humanity." Reiner's words echoed in Eren's mind.
"Enough" said Erwin, intervening before things could get even more heated, he had only needed to raise his voice slightly to gain control of the discussion "From what we've gathered it's clear that both Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover are the likely suspects which means they should be apprehended and detained until proven otherwise." Eren bit down on his lower lip; trying to stop himself from arguing with the commander while everyone else nodded and accepted Erwin's final say on the matter. "Right now we need to come up with a plan to bring them underground so that we can safely apprehend them without also raising any suspicion from them"
"We could fool them with a fake training exercise" suggested Armin "You could frame it as a kind of experimentation of Scout manpower combined with Alchemy." Ed and Alphonse were listening carefully to Armin's plan.
"An interesting proposal" remarked Erwin "proceed."
"I'll need a map" Armin asked, Moblit quickly handed him one from his pocket "Well we have to fool them into believing that this is just a training exercise, we'll have them go through different stages; first on a open field where they'll face off against dummy Titans while being aided by their Alchemy, the same will go for the second stage set in a forest and the third and final stage could be a fake evacuation training we'll just have a group of Scouts act as volunteer evacuees from there we'll have led them underground and that where we'll spring an ambush on them, hopefully by then they'd have completely bought into the idea of the training exercises." Armin explained as he pointed towards different locations.
"My concern is that we'd have to give them their ODM gear" said Mike "If they find out we're playing them it wouldn't be hard for them to make a quick getaway."
"I acknowledge that we do run the risk of that happening" replied Armin "That's why we need to act as if we're not on to them, denying them their ODM gear would only raise suspicions."
"Fair point" Replied Mike.
"We could distribute schedules to the 104th to add validity to the ruse." added Hange.
"There is another problem" said Levi "if Eren and the Elrics are all near them they could just decide that this would be their best chance to kidnap them and if we split those two up they could start asking questions."
"We could just say that they're training with different divisions of the 104th Scout Regiment" suggested Hange "I doubt they'll act if they believe their main targets are out of reach." This seemed to satisfy Levi's concern as he nodded his head.
"We can have Ed and Eren wait in Stohess as backup" suggested Armin "We'll have to quickly apprehend them, and Eren could act as support in case they transform, hopefully being underground will restrict the Colossal Titan's transformation."
"A clever ruse, Armin Arlert though I would make some changes." Erwin stated "Levi, Eren and Edward should remain here with Leonhart during the operation; we shouldn't give up the possibility of Leonhart surrendering information and continued monitoring of her could still be invaluable. Also should anything happen they'd be nicely position to move around the southern area and towards Stohess." Erwin placed his finger on the map and traced an outline of their route. "We can start from here and move onwards towards Stohess."
"Yes, commander" Armin agreed.
"Are we all in agreement with the plan outline?" Erwin asked everyone nodded their heads; Eren just looked to ground with sad eyes as his head slightly moved. "Mike, I'm putting you and your squad in charge of the southern division of the 104th Scouts with Alphonse Elric, Hange you'll organise the trap in the underground of Stohess district and Levi you'll remain here to provide assistance and monitor Leonhart.
"Sir" said Eren "With permission, can I see Annie Leonhart?"
"Granted" replied Erwin, Eren quickly walked to the basement door, Armin and Mikasa followed him, Ed and Alphonse walked to the exit of the mess hall, Ed turned back to see Eren entering the basement while Armin and Mikasa waited outside the door for him.
Eren walked down the steps of the dimly lit large dungeon, he turned the corner to see the cell which he had slept in had now housed another occupant; a traitor who killed countless Scouts and an enemy of humanity chained up against a wall, Eren watched the steam pouring out of her arms as he waited for her to take notice of him. Annie slowly raised her head to see the face of a betrayed comrade glaring at her; she stared back at him with a stony expression. It was now clear to Eren why Annie was so distant from everyone during the Training years.
"I'm guessing you're here to yell at me" said Annie
"Why?" asked Eren, his voice was a mixture of anger and sadness "Why Annie? Why would you do all this, do you know how many people you've killed, what can be worth all this?"
"Why? Why should I tell you?" replied Annie "Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand; it's not like you could ever look past your goal to kill all Titans."
"Don't give me that crap!" yelled Eren angrily, slamming his hand on one of the cold metal bars, he gripped it tightly till his knuckles were white "You're gonna answer my questions or I swear I'm going to kill you myself!"
"Eren!" yell someone from his left side; he turned his head to see it was Mikasa and Armin who had come downstairs after they heard him yell. They both looked at Annie, Mikasa glared at her while Armin looked at Annie with a feeling of great sadness, when he saw her with Marco's ODM gear back in the inspection he knew something was amiss, he just didn't want to believe his own conclusion until he now saw it with his own eyes.
"Annie…" said Armin "I just have one question for you, who are the Colossal and the Armoured Titans?"
"Armin, do you honestly believe I would just tell you after I endured hours of torture to keep such a secret?" replied Annie.
"It's Reiner and Bertholdt, isn't it?" stated Armin, Annie didn't say anything at first, remaining silent for a few seconds, to many they wouldn't have been able to notice this or would have probably dismissed it, but for Armin this and all the evidence discussed before was all he needed to confirm their identities.
"Those two?" replied Annie in mocking tone "don't make me laugh; Bertholdt too timid to anything like that and Reiner doesn't seem the type to betray his comrades."
You're a terrible liar, Annie.
"Worth a shot." Replied Armin putting on an exhausted tone of voice, he then tapped Eren's arm "C'mon you two lets go." As Mikasa followed Armin, Eren continued to glare at Annie before looking away to follow Armin.
Armin led the trio out of the basement, all the while thinking to himself about the day he saw Bertholdt look at them from beyond the wall five years ago.