Chapter 28: Secrets
Ed placed his hands on the wall; all the while never taking his eyes off the Colossal Titan which lay dormant inside. On top of the wall Hange and Levi both watched as Ed covered up the hole, behind them was Minister Nick, sitting on the ground with his hands bound together by rope. Ed fires his cables onto the ledge of the wall and reels himself upwards to meet Levi and Hange.
"It's done." Says Ed, he then looked off into the distance of Wall Rose's interior; where the Reiner and Bertholdt ran off with Al, Eren and Ymir.
"Guess that confirms that all the walls have Titans in them then" remarked Hange
"Unbound me this instant!" demanded the Minister "You cannot hold me against my will, you have no right!"
"We have every right" replied Levi "Doesn't matter if we get confirmation from Erwin in the next ten minutes or ten days; you shouldn't have been so mouthy and now you get the pleasure of our company" Levi strolls up the minister and looks on him "Though I guess I should thank you; you've save us the trouble of combing through your congregation."
"You knew, about the Titans?" asks the Minister shocked
"For a few days now" Levi replied "so preacher man; why are there Titans in the walls and why all the hush about it?"
Minister Nick growls at Levi "You'll… You'll get nothing out of me!"
Levi turns his head back "Hange" he calls out, Hange lifts her goggles up to her forehead, she walks up to the Minister, grabs him by the collar and drags him over to the edge of the wall. Nick begins to struggle as Hange's intentions became clear to him; Hange lifts Nick onto his feet and dangles him over the edge while keeping his feet onto the wall just barely, Levi walks up next to them and sits over the edge of the wall watching them with a stone faced expression.
"Squad Leader!" exclaims Moblit
"Woah, Hange!" yells Ed, shocked by Hange threatening the man's life, he was about to step in when Levi turned to Ed and raised his hand up slightly to stop him.
"Do you know why we do it?" questioned Hange, from the tone of her voice and the look on her face it was clear was irate "Why we risk our lives to go outside the walls? Why the Regiment willingly spills so much blood? Because one day… one day… there will come a time when we're free of the Titans and if that meant giving our lives then we'd gladly do so." The Scouts and Edward all watched Hange; taking in her heart felt words about the dedication of the Scouts "Even if all we achieve is a step forward then we'll continue to give our lives for Humanity's future!" Hange grip on the Minister tightens "And you and God know how many others have been holding this information from us? For years you could afford to be silent, but not anymore; you're going to talk or you're going to fall."
"You…you wouldn't dare!" responded Minister Nick frightened
"People fall off the wall all the time" replied Levi "And I'm sure everyone here can attest to your sudden accidental demise."
"If- if... if that's how it is…" stuttered the Minister "then so be it! Release me then!" he proclaimed "I will not tell you a single thing and much like you I will gladly give my life!" Hange turned her head to Levi who responded with a shrug. Hange's grip on the Minister instantly loosens and the he fell back off the edge of the wall.
"Squad Leader!" shouts Moblit, looking distressed
"Levi?" asks Hange calmly
"Give it a second" replies Levi, after two seconds Levi pushes himself off the wall, pulling the triggers for his gas, he soars downwards and tackles the Minister in the air and safely lowers both of them onto the ground. Nick collapses onto the floor shaking. Hange, Ed and the rest of the Scouts lower themselves into the ground as well "Get up preacher" said Levi "I want to show you something."
"Commander, wake up" said Anka before slapping him on the head "If you're going to go to sleep then head back inside; the night air will kill you."
"Ugh… don't nag me" replied Pixis awakening from his drunk slumber "What's the situation?"
"Recon teams were sent to swept along the Walls between districts Trost and Chlorba" Anka informed "Though they have yet to report anymore Titan sightings; its been assumed that the main bulk, if not the entirety, of the Titan force was at the castle battle with the 104th Scout Regiment the night before and were all wiped out, Captain Ian Dietrich and Team Leader Rico Brzenska have arrived back with their company from the east and Captain Weilman and Team Leader Mitabi Jarnach are now moving the rest of the Elite Division westwards to sweep the area."
"That's good to hear" replied Pixis "Barring a surprise Titan horde the interior of Wall Rose should be clear, I can drink to that." said Pixis raising a green bottle in the air in celebration. Anka quickly snatches the bottle from Pixis.
"You shouldn't be drinking this much, commander; you aren't a young man." Said Anka, the sound of cables zipping catches their attention, they turn their heads to see Commander Erwin landing onto the ledge of the wall.
"Commander Pixis" calls Erwin
"Ah, Erwin" greets Pixis as he shook his hand "Congratulations on the new powers from the central government; I know from experience that trying to get those fat bureaucrats to compromise on their authority is like pulling out nails."
"The perks of capturing an infiltrator." replies Erwin "Though this latest Titan incursion had stalled our plans to capture the others."
"I'm sorry to hear that, though is does look like this latest attack has caused our friends in the interior to rethink their policy of isolation" says Pixis
"Indeed, looks like even the Military Police Brigade are making an appearance here." Replies Erwin as they look down off the wall observing the gathering of soldiers near the gate.
"So you're saying you hadn't encountered any Titans on your way to Trost" asked Rico
"Didn't see any Titans on the way here" said one of the Scouts to "weird, when I got word of that huge Titan battle in the west I thought all hell has broken loose, instead it's just quiet."
"104th were the ones who took the brunt of it?" asked Ian
"Yeah, southern division specifically" replied another Scout
"Damn, same ones who were at Trost" replied Ian in a grim tone "Poor kids can't catch a break."
"I thought we came down here for an emergency" laughed one of the MPs to their own group "A Titan attack without a single Titan?"
"We just come here to sit on our asses?" questioned a second "I'm itching to kill some Titans"
"Hah!" replied a third enthusiastically "I want a real challenge; I want to take on that Colossal Titan!" suddenly the sound of frantic running had caught their attention
"Somebody get the Commanders!" yelled the messenger, he was waiting a green cloak with the symbol of the Garrison rose on it; he then collapsed onto his knees in exhaustion. After about thirty seconds everyone huddled around the messenger, Commander Erwin and Pixis stood before him.
"Are you part of the recon teams?" asked Pixis
"No, sir" replied the messenger, still trying to catch his breath "I'm from the Stohess Garrison, it's an emergency; the Colossal and Armoured Titans have attacked the city!" there was a collective gasp among the crowd "The Scouts under the command of Squad Leader Hange Zoe and Captain Levi fought them while the Garrison evacuated the city."
"Was there anything else?" asked Erwin
"No sir, I was ordered to spread the word from Hermina then Trost just when the battle had started; I manage to notify Squad Leader Nanaba before I headed here."
"Good work soldier" replied Pixis placing his hand on the messenger's shoulder "head to the barracks and get some rest."
"Seems like the obvious course of action now is to move our forces to Stohess; let's hope we get there before the battle is over." said Erwin "All soldiers get on a horse; we leaving as soon as possible.
Back inside Stohess the 104th are huddled at the corner of an empty mess hall; tears were still being shed over the betrayal of their friends, the defeat they suffered at their hands and the kidnapping of Eren, Alphonse and Ymir. They were still dressed in their combat uniform as they sat on a bench table.
"This is… this is just so crazy." Said Connie looking at the floor "I just keep going back over my memories of them trying to find some kind of clue but…" he quickly places his hand over his eyes trying to stop the tears as the fond memories of Reiner and Bertholdt come back to him making their treachery that more depressing.
Sasha sat with her head resting on her folded arms "I still… I just can't believe it."
Jean stood leaning against the wall with his arms folded while looking at the ground; he was still sieving with anger over the betrayal, though a part of him still couldn't bring himself to totally hate them, not matter how much he wanted to.
Armin sat on a bench on the bench with one arm around Mikasa as she held the red scarf close to her; tears staining its colour. "Why Armin?" she asked choking on her own words "Why does he get so far away from us?"
Armin sighed "He just always does; whether if he chose to or not."
"They took her" whispered Historia, fighting back tears "I just want her back."
Mina was staring at the ground, a sad expression on her face, she turned her head to see the distraught faces of her friends and the only person not there with them was Ed. He must be devastated over Al she thought remembering the moment Ed called out for Alphonse when Bertholdt ate them. She looked back on the day they met in Trost; when he saved her life, when he almost started a fight with the Garrison over her, she thought back to when Al promised her dad they'd look out for her and the battle at the castle when he saved her life again. I thought I could protect Humanity and the people closest to me, but I can't do either.
"Hey" called out someone from the doorway, it was Edward "Armin, Hange wants to see you in her office." Armin stood up and walked over to the exit and left the mess hall
"I'm sorry about Alphonse…" said Armin
"Don't be; we're getting him, Eren and Ymir back" said Ed defiantly, Armin looked at Ed a bit perplexed by grit his voice had; he had thought Ed would have been distraught he walked off down the hallway to Hange wondering if Ed has something planned. "Mikasa" Ed called out "Captain Levi wanted to see you for a second." Mikasa got up and walked over to Ed who then began to walk off "Follow me" she followed him down the hallway and then turning the corner Ed stopped them.
"What is this, Ed?" questioned Mikasa
"Levi not the one who want to see you, I am" replied Edward "I'm going to go after Reiner and Bertholdt; I'm going to get them back." He said, his voice possessing a kind of fortitude. "But I'll need another person with me if I've got a hope of taking them on if Reiner still in his Titan form and having too many people would raise suspicions; so I'm asking you, you in?"
Mikasa looked at Ed wide eyed for a second before narrowing them and gritting her teeth "Count me in." she replied with a similar resolve.
Ed allowed himself a small smile "Alright, seeing as the only people there near the gate are Garrison troops we'll need to swap out our Scout uniform for the Garrison to avoid suspicion." Suggested Ed "Get the rest of your gear and I'll get a hold of some of their jackets, we'll meet back at the stables." Mikasa nodded and the two quickly went off in opposite directions. Unknown to them two people were standing at one of the other hallways and listening in on their conversation.
Ed approached the storage room, he turned the door handle "Locked" he muttered, he pressed his hands together and places them on the wall; creating an entrance for him to pass through. He quickly searched through the different crates "Cannonballs, gas canisters, blades… ah hah." He took out a light brown waist coat with the Garrison rose on it "gotcha" he took off his Scout coat as he placed it on the ground he couldn't help but stare at the symbol
Why we risk our lives to go outside the walls? Why the Regiment willingly spills so much blood? Because one day… one day… there will come a time when we're free of the Titans and if that meant giving our lives then we'd gladly do so
Ed sighed you're all in this for the greater good... and me? I'm only in this because it helps in getting something I want… He folded away the Scout coat, put on the Garrison one and took a spare one for Mikasa. He quickly rushed outside to the Military HQ stables.
Levi kicks Nick further down the corridor to the underground "Keep moving" the two of them walk further down until they reach an opening into a massive cavern which housed an underground city. Hundreds of torches illuminated the ground to show thousands of people, huddled together in the dirt looking completely miserable; MPs walked around handing out pieces of bread to people and administering beatings to those who tried to take more. They spotted a young man being beaten by two MPs with their rifles all while a young boy tried to stop them.
"Stop please!" cried the man "I just needed for my brother!"
"You'll get what you're given" replied one of the MPs who then kicked him in the ribs "this is the punishment for stealing"
"Leave him alone!" cried the little boy
"Get out of here kid" ordered the other as he pushed him away, the child falling into the muck. The Minister watched with a shocked expression on his face; he took a step forward towards them in the hope of intervening but was pulled back by Levi
"Take it in preacher." Said Levi "This is what happens when the Titans get inside the wall; thousands of people forced to pack up their lives and move into this shithole." Nick looked down onto the ground, guilt building up inside him "Keep looking those are the faces of the people who might of lost everything but if the church had its way then staying here would be the least of their problems; they'd devoured and forced into the unimaginable hell of the Titan's stomach, I've heard survivors accounts of what's it's like to be eaten and it's enough to give you nightmares, and all of humanity digested as one." Levi let his words stew on the Minister for a while before continuing "But it doesn't have to be this way; if we got the information we needed to beat them then Humanity might still have a chance and scenes like this" he said pointing to the injured young man on the floor being hugged by his crying brother "or worse wouldn't have to happen."
"Ready to go?" asked Mikasa as she untied the reins of her horse from one of the posts
"Hold on" said Ed, clapped his hands and placed them on a bowl holding some kind of black liquid, he dipped his ponytail in it, Mikasa watched as the black liquid travelled his long strains and turned his hair from its golden blond to a coal black. "Figured someone like me would stick out like a sore thumb." He tossed the bowl aside and walked their horses out of the stable and onto the street "Here's the cover; we're messengers being sent to the other districts, if anyone stops us let me do all the talking." Mikasa nodded her head. All around there were Garrison soldiers along with different workers clearing up the rubble from the battle; entire homes were destroyed and streets practically demolished it's a good thing everyone was evacuated before hand, couldn't imagine how many people could have been caught in the crossfire
They were now at the entrance into Wall Rose's interior; most of the rubble had been cleared and the workers had moved on to other streets; it looked like they were in the clear themselves when suddenly someone stopped them "Hey stop right there!" yelled a person off to their side. They both looked over to see a fairly tall guy with short black hair done in a bowl cut, there was an almost serious look about the guy and he had the unicorn symbol of the Military Police on his uniform
"We've got important business to attend to" said Ed "We got asked to send a message to the other districts in Wall Rose."
"Liar" said the guy, suddenly a bunch of other MPs rushed over and surrounds the two; they all had muskets pointed on them "We know you're with the Scouts and that you're defying the orders of your superiors!"
Mikasa glared at him, she took out her one of her handles and attached her blade to it, the MPs flinched at the sight, Ed examined them these guys look young; they must be new cadets.
"Look, this doesn't concern you" said Ed trying to reason with them "So why don't you just leave and we can forget this whole thing"
"I'm with him Marlowe" said one of the other MPs; she was slightly shorter than Ed and Mikasa, large amber eyes and wavy light brown hair. "This really isn't our problem."
"Damn it, Hitch!" replied Marlowe "It's about the principle; we can't let the command structure fall apart in any of the Military branches or else Humanity falls with it."
"Get out of our way" growled Mikasa taking out her blade
"Stand down all of you!" said a person from behind, they all turned back to see Captain Levi with Minister Nick, he walked up to Ed and Mikasa "Hey Ed, when and why did your hair change colour?"
Ed sighed "I thought it would better disguise me" he admitted
"You do realise you're travelling with the only Asian person left in the entire human race, right?" questioned Levi looking unimpressed "you stick out regardless."
"Captain Levi!" said Marlowe saluting him, the rest of the MPs followed suit
"At ease, tell me soldier what's your name?" asked Levi
"Private Marlowe Freudenberg, sir" he replied
"Thank you, showed some real initiative doing this" complemented Levi
"Thank you sir" said Marlowe, his face beaming
"Kissass much, Marlowe? …" muttered Hitch, teasing him.
"You two follow me" Levi said to Edward and Mikasa, they both walked over to Captain Levi, leaving their horses to the MPs
"So… you're not going to punish us?" asked Ed
"Oh no, I'm still going to beat your asses for stolen equipment and possible desertion at some point" replied Levi "right now we've got bigger things to worry about."
"Come in" said Hange standing behind a desk, to left end was Nanaba and to the right was Armin; the three of them were looking over a map of the area around Wall Rose trying to figure out where Reiner and Bertholdt would hid. The members of the 104th came into the office they all still looked miserable but formed up into a line before them.
Nanaba saluted them "Hello again, never thought we'd meet so soon again and like this"
"How are the other guys?" asked Mina
"They're getting treatment" replied Nanaba; she then looked away from their gaze "though some of them passed away on the way to Hermina." They all looked to the ground solemnly.
"There's some chairs around so take a seat if you want" said Hange "I know you must have plenty of questions to ask"
"Why aren't you going after them?" questioned Historia, walking up to her "Why aren't we going after them?"
"Believe me we are" replied Hange "I've already sent out what's left of our squad to scout out their position, the others are too injured to move forward and the reason I didn't want you to go out after them is because you're clearly in no emotional state to take them on again; I wanted to give you time to recover first, right now we're trying to figure out what their most likely possible location should be; with Reiner mostly likely being too worn out to make it into Wall Maria's interior."
"Also a messenger came our way and alerted me of the battle" added Nanaba "What was left of the squad and I came here as soon as possible, it's likely that the messenger is also heading to alert Commander Erwin who'll no doubt send reinforcements our way."
"Did you know?" asked Jean "that they were the shifters?"
"Yes, Jean" this time it was Armin who answered "The Scout leaders, Ed and Al, Mikasa and I; we knew."
"You knew Armin?" asked Connie, surprised
"You kept this from us?" asked Sasha
"We just had to keep as tight of a circle as possible and we didn't want it slipping out." Replied Armin "The whole training routine was meant to be a set up to capture them."
"Underground evacuation in Stohess…" said Jean, piecing it together.
"How'd you find out?" asked Connie
"During the 57th recon mission we were able to capture the Female Titan." said Hange to a choir of gasps and shocked faces "What little information about her connected them to her."
"Wait… who's the Female Titan?" asked Mina
Hange looked to Armin "should I?" she asked, feeling that she should be the one to break them the bad news on top of everything else
Armin sighed "No, I should be the one to do it…" they all waited in anticipation of the answer "Annie… Annie's the Female Titan." None of them made a sound but the looks on their faces showed they were aghast at the revelation
"Annie too…" muttered Sasha
"This is… this all just too heavy…" said Connie.
"No." said Mina "I...I don't believe it! Annie wouldn't betray us, she's our friend" she refused to believe that the person she'd known for three years and her best friend was the enemy.
"I'm sorry Mina, really I am, but I saw her in the cell and she never denied It." replied Armin "Also during the expedition Jean, Reiner and I had an encounter with her; I saw her respond to Eren's nickname something only people in our class would know." Armin paused for a second to allow everyone time to dwell on the information "But on the day we were inspected by the Military Police I saw her turning in Marco's ODM gear as her own to pass, it's all too likely that she's the one who killed the Titan test subjects."
Jean's eyes widen at Armin's last statement she had Marco's gear, she was with him when he died… he didn't have it on him when he died… she… took it from him and left him for dead… Jean felt an almost overwhelming feeling of grief and anger pour over him on top of almost everything he felt about Reiner and Bertholdt.
"No… It just can't be-" continued Mina, it felt as if the ground beneath her was collapsing; she couldn't face the truth and desperately tried to convince her otherwise, however Jean cut her off
"If you even think about continuing to defend her!" threaten Jean "I swear I'll-" the sound of the door opening caught their attention, they all turned to see; Captain Levi along with Ed, Mikasa and Minister Nick.
"Seems like you guys were in the midst of a heated discussion, if you were any louder you'd be heard from Utopia district." commented Levi "Also yes, Leonhart is the Female Titan; I pulled her out of that Titan body myself, these two were there." He said pointing at Ed and Mikasa
"Wait who's the other guy?" asked Connie, confused by the appearance of this strange guy with black hair and golden eyes wearing the Garrison jacket
"It's me, Connie" replied Ed
"Woah, Ed?" replied Connie a bit shocked "I didn't recognize you, what's with the get up?"
"I'll explain later" replied Ed "But yeah… Annie Leonhart is the Female Titan, look even Eren had a hard time believing it when we told him but I think on some level he did know; back when Eren and I were in the forest fighting her she did this fighting stance and suddenly Eren's Titan just froze up. It might be her signature move or something and it looked sort of like this." Ed then bent his knees, left leg forward and right leg back with his fist near his face. They all stared at Ed stunned; he wasn't with them during the Cadet Corps and he'd only met Annie back in Trost yet he'd mimicked Annie's fighting stance almost perfectly "He must of recognized it and froze up." Ed finished, moving out of Annie's fight stance. Mina collapsed onto the ground the truth she tried to look away from came down on her. Sasha and Historia rushed over to pick her up
"Hey, are you ok?" asked Sasha concerned as they got her back up to her feet
"I…" she said "I… just need a moment" Mina leaned back against the wall; a hundred thoughts ran through her head as an internal war was being fought over whether she should hate Annie or still try hold onto the person she thought she knew. Levi places his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry you guys had to find out this way, go sit down for a bit" he suggests, Levi then turns his attention to the Minister "Nick has something he's wants to share with us."
"So have you had a change in heart?" questioned Hange, impatiently.
"Through the many years we had resided in these walls we had created a firm covenant; I cannot tell you the secret or the walls and neither will my brothers, but we have entrusted that secret to a single family and I can tell you who."
"You'd try to get rid of the responsibility from yourself and pass it onto other?" questioned Hange
"Yes… there is a child who was caught up in a conflict involving the bloodline three years ago, she may know the answers." There was a tense silence "she goes under a false name, Krista Lenz." Without a second passing everyone's turns their attention to Historia, she looked at the Minister completely dumbfounded by what he was saying. Minister Nick's eyes widen; he didn't notice Historia when he entered the room.
"Recruit?" said Levi "Is there anything you'd like to tell us."
"I…I…I don't know what you mean" stuttered Historia
"Well then it looks like one of you isn't being honest with us." Levi replied before turning back to the Minister
Nick panicked "But you must know" said Nick "Your father must of told you"
"Ok, first start by telling us everything you know, Historia" asked Nanaba
"My dad is Rod Reiss; he was the lord of the land I lived in and I'd only met him once five years ago" Historia confessed "For some reason they wanted me dead but he convinced them to spare me if I went away, but that's it I swear." They turned back to the Minister who looked completely dumbfounded; Jean grabs Nick by his collar and quickly slams him up against the wall despite the height difference between the two.
"Listen you son of a bitch" threaten Jean, still angry about the recent revelation of Annie being involved in Marco's death "I've had a rough two nights so don't fuck with me!" Levi hand grips Jean's shoulder
"That's enough" he orders "You won't get through to him like that, believe me we've tried." Jean lets go Nick who then slumps to the ground. Historia walks up to Nick and kneels down in front of him.
"Please, I don't know anything" said Historia, Nick shifts his head upwards; the two of them are now looking at each other face to face. "All my life I've been treated like an outsider, like someone who no one, not even my own mother, wanted" tears began to well up in her eyes "And now I'm losing the people I care about and I don't know why… why me?" Nick eyes shifted to the floor; he was unable to look her in the eyes knowing the pain they've caused her
"Child, I am so sorry…" he whispered, he then brought Historia closer, as if to whisper something in her ear, the 104th flinched when he touched her but held back I've lived a wretched life and played my part in this terrible grand scheme of things but for once...I'm going to do something right "The family you belong to is a special one."
"They're the true royal bloodline."