Chapter 31: The Aftermath
Under the darkness of the night sky, a small section of Wall Rose was dotted with faint orange lights; a squad of Garrison soldiers manned the walls keeping a watchful eye on the gigantic ramp before them and the wide open spaces of Wall Maria for both the formation and wandering Titans.
"Team leader!" called out one of the Garrison soldiers, riding up onto the Wall "reinforcements have arrived and medical teams are on standby."
"Get more troops on the wall and have them on lookout" ordered Rico
"See anything yet?" asked Rico to her subordinate peering into a their telescope
"Nothing yet, sir" responded the Garrison soldier "no sign of the expedition or any Titans"
"Team leader" called out another Garrison soldier "the formation's been gone for a while now, should we send a recon team to search for them?"
Rico took out a silver pocket watch from her side, she checked her watch and watched as the hand drew closer to twelve o'clock close to midnight… she thought; she looked off to the side, into Wall Maria, a feeling of dread slowly began to consume her "Have a few teams ready to move-" without warning a muffled bang caught their attention; the watchers rushed over to the edge and caught sight of a green line of smoke overlaying the distant moon.
"Formation's back" muttered Rico with a sigh of relief "Everyone into position, watchers continue to keep an eye out for any Titans!" she ordered as the sound of dozens of horses galloping towards them grew closer and closer.
"Hurry up!" yelled the Garrison soldiers waving his hand towards the soldiers rushing over to the other side, over the enormous ramp "Get to the other side; we got medical teams on standby for the injured!" a large flood of horses and men scrambled down into Wall Rose's interior. A disorganised mass of people congregated at the foot of the ramp as medical teams urgently tended to the wounded soldiers falling off their horses.
"Captain!" yelled Rico as she spotted Ian riding up the ramp; she lifted her torch up, signalling her location. Ian rode up to Rico, there was a blank look on his face as he climbed down his horse, Rico looked him concerned "What happened?" she asked
Ian sighed heavily "where to start…"
As his feet touched the ground from his saddle, Connie's fell to his knees and began sobbing; overwhelmed by a feeling of shock and happiness over being alive he quickly began sob into his hands. "Fucking hell…" he muttered
Nanaba quickly caught Historia as she collapsed from her horse "Historia!" she yelled, Historia was limp in her arms, breathing heavily "I need some water!" she called out to one of the medical teams
Edward slid off the saddle of his horse, his legs shook slightly as they touched the ground; he turned towards Alphonse and extended his hand out, Alphonse grabbed Ed and slid off the horse. Immediately Ed pulled in Alphonse for a hug; Al smelt terrible but Edward didn't care because in this moment he was happy that he and Alphonse were alive.
Mina collapsed onto the ground, sitting down while clutching the bloody piece of cloth wrapped around her arm. Ed and Alphonse walked up to her; Alphonse knelt down "Can I see the wound?" he asked, Mina removed her jacket and then the bloody cloth covering her wound; Al clapped his hands together and gently placed his hands over the wound, thinking back to Mai's lessons and his own research, he sealed the wound; stopping the bleeding. "I stopped the bleeding but you should still check with the medical team, just in case."
"Thanks, Al" said Mina
Ed extended his hand out to her, pulling her off the ground and onto her feet "Thanks back there" he said
Alphonse wrapped his arms around Mina, hugging her tightly "Thank you" he said, Mina hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulder.
Armin stood next to Jean, staring blankly at the ground, while Jean sat down on the ground wiping the blood from his face with a wet piece of cloth "The 104th has some fickle luck" he commented "first we evacuate Wall Rose without casualties, then we get suddenly attacked by a Titan horde and now all of us make it from an impromptu expedition…" he looked down at the blood stained cloth "Don't know what the hell was up with those Titans."
Hannes carried Mikasa towards the stretcher, Eren following closely behind, he laid her down gently "Here's something for that cut" said Hannes handing her a piece of cloth, Mikasa placed the cloth on the cut below right eye. Armin walked up to them and knelt beside Eren, placing his hand on Eren's shoulder. A single tear fell from Hannes' eye "You kids…" he said smiling "I'm so glad you made it."
"Erwin!" yelled Hange as the Commander fell to his knees, his body going limp.
"C'mon you bastard, don't go dying on me now!" yelled Levi, his face shared the same look of panic as Hange, he quickly placed himself at Erwin's arm and tried to lift him up "where's the damn medic?" a small group from the medical team raced towards Erwin; they carried him off onto one of the carts.
Injured soldiers were quickly hurried into carts; most had bandages over different parts of their body while others either had to limp over or be carried towards the carts, missing either an arm or a leg.
"Get moving!" yelled the driver "we have to head to Trost, pronto!"
Sasha walked up to Connie and knelt beside him "we made it…" she muttered as she placed her arm around him, comforting him
"C'mon you two" said Jean standing over them "get up." he helped them both off the ground and onto their feet as the group of friends began to huddle together.
Ed and Alphonse walked over to the 104th; Eren looked around watching the carts full of injured soldiers being carried off to the districts and towards Historia who was being tended to by Nanaba. A feeling of immense guilt began to creep up on him as the full weight of the sacrifice made in his and Alphonse name bared down on him. "I got taken again…" he said solemnly "People had to die again because of me…"
"No" injected Alphonse, staring at the ground feeling ashamed "This is my fault; I could have prevented this back at the house…" he thought back to when he had his blade pointed at Reiner should I have done it? "Those men charged into the fray to save me…" Ed placed his hand on Alphonse's shoulder, gripping it reassuringly.
"How many people died?" asked Eren, silently dreading the answer
"There was a bit over a hundred of us, that's including the MPs, in the beginning" Said Hange, as she walked up to them "one fifth of our forces were injured or killed during Ymir's surprise attack and a further thirty percent were killed during the actual rescue and charge towards the Armoured Titan." Hange paused for a second, allowing them to digest the information "About half of our forces made it back and of that half about less than a third got back unharmed; the Scout Regiment lost almost half of our veterans which means, going forward, the bulk of our forces will have to be made up from the fresh recruits of the 104th intake." Both Eren and Alphonse looked mortified at what Hange was saying "Had it not been for Levi, Team one and you, Eren, covering the charge we may have suffered more casualties."
"Are we really worth all these sacrifices?" muttered Alphonse as he held his head in his hand
"The Titans didn't attack us on the way back" Armin mentioned "they all just converged on Reiner; it's like Annie's Titan ability but her scream only lured them towards her, this time it's as if something made them attack that Titan and Reiner… was that you Eren?"
Hange stood a step forward and grabbed Eren's shoulders "Tell. Me. Everything." said asked with child like curiosity in her eyes.
"Eren… you can control the Titans?" asked Edward
"Like the Beast Titan?" added Alphonse, looking up to face them.
"I…I… have no idea" stammered Eren "All I did was punch a Titan in the face…"
"But you were fighting a whole bunch of them before" added Sasha "Why's that Titan different?"
"Listen, Eren, Alphonse, Ed… I know it must be shitty to have the burdens of the world placed on your back but in order to rescue Eren and Alphonse a little more than fifty people died in the process and both the commander and Mikasa were gravely injured; you have to make sure that those sacrifices weren't in vain." declared Jean to the shocked faces of the 104th, as Jean gave a speech reminiscent of Eren during the Training years.
"Erwin's attitude has really been rubbing off on the new recruits" remarked Hange
"Ever since you joined the Scouts, Jean, you've been real preachy, ya know?" added Eren, a small smile on his face
"Well at least I didn't turn into a wavering cry baby" retorted Jean, slightly annoyed
"Yeah, are you really the same guy who wanted to throw in the towel back at Trost?" said Ed with a smirk on his face
"Are you really the same Jean who wanted to join the MPs?" added Sasha
"You really turned all serious and shit, Jean, its kinda weird." Commented Connie
"Still got that villainous look on your face though." Added Armin
"Hey you guys, this is serious." Replied Jean
"Don't worry, we get where you're coming from" said Ed as he bumped his fist onto Jean's arm reassuringly "No matter how difficult things get, no matter how foolish we'll look struggling under the weight of our burdens, we have to keep living…" he said, reciting Riza's words …for the people you love "For the people who gave everything in our name."
"You're right, Jean" declared Eren, much to the surprise of the 104th "We can't hesitate, I can't hesitate; I'll control the Titans and I'll make Reiner and Bertholdt and do my part to make sure the deaths of our comrades help Humanity survival."
"Seal Wall Maria?" asked Edward "if you can control the Titans you could give Humanity the world." He jokingly suggested
"Some people would call you greedy, Ed" remarked Armin
"A guy Al and I knew would say greed is just another form of hope" replied Ed "it should be said he had a warped sense of ethics though."
"Well the guy was the literally called Greed" added Alphonse, smiling as he thought back to the only homunculi they befriended
"Heh, well let's get moving" said Hange "Edward, Alphonse could you get rid of those ramps and-"
"No!" yelled Historia stumbling towards them deliriously "Don't get rid of them… we still need to get..."
"Historia!" yelled Nanaba, reaching out to her
"Hey, you shouldn't exert yourself" stated Sasha, concerned for Historia's well being
"Kris- Historia" Armin corrected himself "Are you-"
"We have to go to Wall Maria…" she said, ignoring Armin
"Historia, you shouldn't be standin-" before Eren could finish his sentence, Historia grabs his shoulders
"Don't worry about me!" she yells, a look of panic on her face "we have to go back for Ymir before she gets taken far away; you can do it, can't you? You can save her!" her head then snapped towards Edward and Alphonse "you two, you can save her too, right? I saw you fight Reiner too, Ed, you both could-" she let go of Eren as she turned to grab onto Ed and Al instead she only collapsed onto her knees.
"Take it easy" advised Nanaba "You're exhausted."
"Historia, we just got back after taking heavy casualties" explained Hange "we don't have the manpower for another expedition nor can we risk the very people we all put our lives on the line to save just a couple minutes ago; I'm sorry but there's nothing we can do for Ymir."
"This may not count for much but Ymir did seem to care about you a lot" said Alphonse as he thought back to Reiner's offer to her about Historia's protection "the reason she joined Reiner and Bertholdt in the beginning was solely because they promised to protect you."
"It was all she could think about, what was best was for you" added Eren "but I can't understand why she would ever run off with them…"
"Even in the end, Ymir was a difficult person to understand…" added Jean
Historia began to weep, tears rolling down her cheeks "How could she? Chose them over me" she cried "she told me we'd live for ourselves… that bitch; I can never forget her…" the last comment caught her friends off guard
"Was she always like this or…" whispered Ed to Connie
"No…" replied Connie
"Krist- Historia? You're not acting like yourself…" said Jean, concerned
Historia began to giggle softly but very quickly she began to laugh uncontrollably "Myself!" she laughed "that good girl Krista, I was never really her; she was just an act I made up to go along with the name they gave me."
In the large stone hall of the Military HQ in Hermina, the Scout Regiment held a memorial for their comrades who died during the Titan attack inside Wall Rose and the expedition outside into Wall Maria a week after the incident. They were all dressed in their long brown coats; those surviving members of the Southern Division of 104th Scout Regiment who were able to attend were there, many of whom were still covered in bandages, walking on crutches or being pushed on wheelchairs, some were missing an arm and others their legs. The sound of weeping filled the hall as the people held each other looking at a large shrine adorned with the drawn portraits of their loved ones, among the crowd of framed drawings and candles was a beautifully drawin portrait of Mike Zacharias, commissioned by Moblit.
"Your daughter was brave" said Nanaba to the weeping parents "she fought to the end and because of that she saved her comrades." It was the same speech but with different words to tens of families wanting to hear about their child's final moments Mike was always better at this… she thought, thinking back to his last speech, she wondered whether she could live up to his legacy and make sure her comrades all stayed alive under her watch. But now there were family members who needed to be comforted.
"You were there, my son; was he brave?" asked crying mother
"My brother did well, right?" asked the little sister
"My sister helped humanity, didn't she?" asked an older brother
Edward and Alphonse stood with their back against the wall watching as the memorial carried on; Ed watched as a single Scout who looked to be average height with blond and extremely curly hair wept over the portraits of some of his friends while being comforted by Jean.
"Hey, you two." Called Hange, catching their attention
"Oh hey, Hange." replied Edward "How's the Commander?"
"We had to keep him under for little while longer after the surgery "replied Hange "Thanks for the guidance of what kind of equipment we'd need."
"Don't mention it." Edward responded "Though once he awakes you should tell him that the rehabilitation phase is going to be painful."
"I'll keep that in mind" said Hange, before she then walked off over to Levi, Lynne and Gelgar "How's Nanaba holding up?" she asked
"She keeps telling us she's alright but I think with Mike's death and the suddenly becoming Squad Leader, she might just be holding it in." Replied Lynne
"Did they find the body?" asked Hange
"What was left of it…" said Levi grimly "A team found an arm and a mangled torso, it was near the training facility where the 104th rode off from; though they found the horse also, mangled as hell as well like it was thrown at the building."
"So it's likely that hairy Titan did it then?" asked Lynne
"The bastard that led the attack on the castle." Added Gelgar
"Whoever this guy is, we need to take him down and soon." Said Levi
Levi flicked through the paper work on Erwin's desk; with the Commander still out of action, he took it upon himself to sort through Erwin's paper work and documents. Ever since Wall Rose was secured a week ago a pile of documents and reports continued to fill the desk; Levi took out a report from the folder, Eren and Alphonse's reports, he skim read through the reports detailing the events during their capture, the death of the family and the possible revelation of a civilisation outside the Walls.
He placed the report over to the side and picked up a new folder; the Regiment's budget from the central government and its allies, Levi expected to quickly read through the pages and expected to see the rise in funds after their promised increase from the government and their new merchant supporters.
What the hell?
Funding for the Regiment seemed to have been decreased by the Central government; he lowered the report and picked up one of the letters by one of their merchant supporters, Levi skim read the contents
Dear Commander Erwin smith, it is with great sadness that…
To the Honourable Erwin Smith, I deeply regret to inform you…
To the Valliant Commander, I must inform you that I'm withdrawing my support…
Different words yet they all contained the same message; the Scout Regiment's new allies were withdrawing their support. This wouldn't have been a surprised to Levi; in the past the Regiment's high mortality rate and lack of success had starved them of investment and funding but they'd only recently scored a victory against the Titans by capturing one of their shifters, the introduction of Eren, Edward and Alphonse into their ranks and still retaining the path to Wall Maria; the Regiment was closer to victory than ever before… so why were they suddenly walking away?
Without warning there was a knock on the door, disrupting Levi from his thoughts "Come in." he said, the door gently open allowing Petra to walk into the office; she walked up to the desk and saluted Levi
"At ease, Petra." said Levi "did your family make it into Wall Sina ok?"
"They did, thank you for asking, Captain" replied Petra "I'm sorry I couldn't be there to help you and the others during the attack, sir."
"Don't be sorry, you were injured" Levi responded "but you're here now and ready to help; that's what's important." Levi places down the budget report, picks up another folder from the side and hands it to Petra "I'm reforming the team; these are the new members of our squad."
Petra briefly read through the profiles of each squad mate "lot of young members, Captain" noticing their ages.
"Fresh out of the Cadet Corps but they've all got combat experience and most were among the top ten of their class" said Levi
Petra closed the folder and looked upon it with a glum expression on her face "I'm sure Gunter and Eld would have tried to joke around and make them feel as welcome as possible and Oluo would have tried to show off his kill count to them whenever he could." She smiled slightly, thinking about her former comrades.
Levi looked off to the side, though he didn't show it, he felt the same way "Yeah…" he then turned to Petra "That reminds me, I'm gonna need a new second in command to help manage these unruly brats; Erwin's not here but I'm sure he'll agree, I'm promoting you to the rank of Lieutenant and from here on out you're my second in command."
Petra looked at Levi, overwhelmed by a feeling of shock and pride at the news, she wanted to cry and go on an entire spiel about how much of an honour it is to be assigned as his 2IC, instead she decided to stand tall and place her clenched fist onto her heart "I won't let you down! She declared with a voice filled with resolve
"You never have" replied Levi "Your first task is to make sure our new squad members get to the former Scout castle, seeing as it's turned into our base of operations, make sure they help tidy up the place."
"Everyone got a first-hand reminder" said Pixis to Erwin who was still lying down on his bed with a pillow forcing his head up to face the people in the room "If Wall Rose really did fall; they would have at least a week of peace before Mankind turned on itself."
Erwin turned from Pixis and to his right side; beside him were a few mechanical contraptions, a metal tray with surgical tools and a small table right next to his bed where his new metal arm lay.
"Sorry if you feel uncomfortable, Erwin" said Levi "Hange said they had to keep you like that while they continue to work on attaching that prototype."
"That's perfectly fine" replied Erwin "In fact I see it as a great privilege to be the first person to benefit from this."
"We can only hope it gets mass produced and soon" added Pixis
"Hange also mentioned that the rehabilitation is gonna be a shitty process." Said Levi
Erwin glanced at his new arm and smiled slightly before turning back to Levi "It's quite alright" he replied "The pain I'll experience won't be enough to make up for the hundreds of men and women I've sent out to die; consider it a small token for my sins until I can pay back the rest in full when I finally end up in Hell."
"Sounds good" laughed Pixis "Mind if I come with you?"
"What's wrong old man?" asked Levi "Throwing in the towel already? Maybe you need another drink"
"Believe me, I would" said Pixis, slightly annoyed turning to Anka who was standing off to the side "But this one won't let me, treats me like a baby without any of the care."
Erwin laughed lightly "You have an dutiful advisor." He commented
There was a knock on the door "That must be Hange" said Levi "come in."
Hange entered the room along with Connie and Armin "Good to see you're awake, Commander" the three of them lined up before the bed and saluted Erwin. "Good to see you here, Commander Pixis, allow me to introduce you to Armin Arlert and-"
"Connie Springer, 104th Scout Regiment, Sir!" said Connie
"These two came with me to the Ragako, its Connie's hometown; Connie witnessed the incident and Armin came up with the theory about the Titans."
"Good job, you two" complemented Levi
"Thank you, Captain" replied Connie and Armin
"We're here to report about the incident." Said Hange
Under a clear blue sky, Armin surveyed the small village around him; the village of Ragako was in complete ruins with entire houses either demolished or with gaping holes in them. There were chucks of bricks, planks of wood and broken roof tiles scatter across the ground, the stone paths were cracked by the footsteps of the Titans who came here and entire trees were uprooted from the dirt.
The sound of muffled chatter among the Scouts and the loud bangs of a hammer hitting metal filled his ears as Armin knelt down examining the large hole inside the house; he looked down to see a large footprint, possibly from a seven or eight meter Titan, facing away from the house.
Looks as if the Titan was inside the house and then walked out… thought Armin Had someone been in that house during the Titan attack then it's highly unlikely they'd get out and yet there's not a drop of blood anywhere…
"Found any bodies yet?" asked one of the Scouts
"Nothing so far." Armin replied, Armin go up from the ground and headed towards the sound of the hammer hitting metal; A group of Scouts hammered stakes into the ground with long strains of rope holding the skinny Titan to the ground. Armin observed the Titan lying on the rubble of Connie's house; its head was almost the size of its body and its arms and legs were too skinny to support its body.
"Squad Leader Hange!" called out Connie, holding a picture frame in his hands "this is a drawing of my parents." They noticed Armin walking towards them
"Armin, come take a look at this." Said Hange, waving him towards them; the three huddled together and compared the face of Connie's mother and the Titan lying on top of his house. A chill ran down their spines as their eyes shifted from the picture to the Titan "This is… incredible…." Remarked Hange "Looks like your theory was right, Armin"
Armin didn't thank her, instead he looked towards Connie, who was still staring at his mother; Armin placed his hand on Connie's shoulder "I'm so sorry, Connie…"
"Why are you sorry, Armin?" replied Connie, still staring blankly at his now Titanized mother "You're not the one who transformed my family into Titans, you just tried to tell me the truth" he looked down onto the ground, his face darkening as he turned from the sunlight "Reiner… Ymir… they were trying to convince me it was crazy… they knew about it all…" he gritted his teeth together as his anger began to consume him in that moment "They tricked us, they tried to play us for fools…" both Armin and Hange looked at Connie, concerned for him.
"Remove the nails" ordered Hange to the Scouts
"Are you sure, Squad Leader?" asked the Scout
"I'm sure, that Titan's not going anywhere, just tie it down instead" replied Hange "Thank you, Connie, you can have this back" she said handing the picture frame back to Connie
"Thank you, Squad Leader…" said Connie as he stared wide eyed at his parent's picture "All I have left of my family is this picture… and my mother…" Connie turned to look at his mother once more; he felt tears welling up in his eyes and running down his cheeks "who did this… why? If I find out who did this… I won't let them get away with this."
"So it's confirmed then" said Levi "The Titans that attacked us were from Ragako."
"Having seen the evidence and adding to that the theory on the Titan's weak spot and why, it's all fairly conclusive." replied Hange "Of course there's still some unanswered question such as how they became Titans."
"Perhaps there's a reason behind why Eren and the other shifters can transform from their Titans while every other Titan can't" added Pixis
"That reminds me, the reports from Eren and Alphonse" said Levi "during their captivity, Alphonse questioned Reiner and Bertholdt on their supposed 'hometown' he believes that their hesitation towards his question could either mean two things; A, there's a civilisation beyond the Walls which has it in for us or B, Humanity might not be far gone as we believed." The room quickly fell silent after the last statement; some looked a Levi in disbelief, Pixis kept a plain expression yet, nonetheless, he too was shocked and Erwin…
Why is the Commander… thought Armin staring at Erwin
"Hey Erwin-" Levi stopped, catching the expression on Erwin's face; he was smiling to himself. "Hey… what the hell are you smiling for?" questioned Levi
Erwin didn't respond as first; instead he looked a Levi for a second, staring at his disgusted expression, and turned away "Oh, it's nothing…"
"That look on your face makes me want to vomit." Said Levi, somewhat disturbed at Erwin could be smiling after these revelations
"I've been told that numerous times." Replied Erwin
"Is this why you joined the Scout Regiment?" questioned Levi
"Huh?" said Hange
Does the Commander have ulterior motives for leading the Scouts? Thought Armin
"Knock it off, Levi" said Erwin, slightly irritated "the right side of my body hurts and I'm physically and emotionally exhausted, where's your pity?"
"Well, you are pitiful…" Levi jabbed
"Your Automail, which reminds me" said Hange, she turned to Armin and Connie "You two are dismissed" both Armin and Connie saluted the Officers before leaving the room.
"Oh, you two" said Levi, catching their attention "Hang around Trost for a bit then head to base, leave only when absolutely sure you aren't being followed, Petra will give you new orders from there."
"The company that originally helped my team to design the prototypes has suddenly just stopped and destroyed the other designs; luckily I kept some in my research lab back at the former HQ, one of which you're currently using, sorry for using you as a test subject."
"That's perfectly fine" Erwin replied "But it is odd that they'd drop the research; that merchant wanted their company to be the sole producer of it."
"I suspect there must be foul play involved." Remarked Pixis
"That's not all, I had a look over our budget report and found that our funding has decreased from the Central government and a few letter from our allies in the merchant association withdrawing their support." Added Levi "Looks like someone's trying to pull us back to square one."
"No doubt they'll be after the powers granted to me by Darius next" said Erwin "There's a powerful organisation out there that doesn't want us to find out the truth and after capturing the Female Titan it looks like they're now hoping to hinder us and by the looks of it, it appears they have control over the Central government; we should act quickly if we are to maintain what semblance of power we have within the Walls, where's the Elrics currently?" asked Erwin
"They're still inside Trost; they're staying in the barracks for now" replied Hange "They promised to help run you through some general info on Automail maintenance."
"Good, send them here as soon as possible." ordered Erwin "Also where are Eren Yeager and Historia Reiss? Has she uncovered her secret yet?"
"Not yet, she's still tight lipped about it but she'll talk eventually." Said Levi
"We've got them in a guarded location along with Annie Leonhart" added Hange "we're keeping quiet until things settle down."
"Its better we keep everything discussed here to ourselves" advised Pixis "best not to kick the hornet's nest"
"Indeed, we can't afford to lose; Historia's secret and whatever Intel Annie Leonhart has may offer us insight to the organisation which is trying to undermine us as well as information on the Titans, also we'll need the Elrics and Eren for our mission to recapture Wall Maria" declared Erwin "It's vital that our assets are in a secure location and are well guarded."
"Don't worry about it" said Levi "While you were physically and emotionally exhausted I took the liberty of taking some decisions, namely my squad who'll be guarding our assets' asses; if we're to help Eren reach his full potential and get Leonhart to surrender whatever Intel she has then we'll need to push them into total desperation."
"Come in" said Levi as he closed the curtains in Erwin's room, blocking out the night sky and any prying eyes; both Edward and Alphonse entered into the room; they lined up along the bed and saluted the Commander.
"At ease, please take a seat" said Erwin, the two moved over to the side and sat down on the sofa to his left "Levi can you help move my arm onto the bed?"As Erwin began to sit up Levi grabbed his Automail right arm and gently placed it on his lap. "Thank you, Levi."
"How's the new arm?" asked Edward
"I'm still getting use to it, it's rather heavy and will need continuous work." Replied Erwin "Elrics, I have a few questions that I'd like you to answer."
"Of course, Commander" replied Alphonse, politely
"Alphonse, I read your report and I must ask, was there anything else you could add? Anything conclusive at all?" asked Erwin, it was small at first but the curiosity and excitement in his voice wasn't hard to pick up on
"When I questioned them they seemed shocked" replied Alphonse "both of them refused to answer my question and insisted that I'd find out anyway about their hometown."
"So some shocked faces, anything else?" asked Levi
"No, that's all I have Captain, sorry" apologised
"So it's all circumstantial then, no hard proof or confession." stated Levi
From the look on Erwin's face it wasn't hard for anyone in the room to tell that Erwin was visibly upset, Erwin face quickly formed to a more blank face expression as he looked up to face them "That's fine… anyway there was another thing I'd like to ask of you two; a while back you mentioned that there was a significant change in leadership back in your world, care to elaborate?"
"There was a coup in our country's leadership; we were run by a military dictatorship which was controlled by the Homunculi, a group with its own insidious agenda, our own head of state at the time was one of them." said Ed "With the help of various groups, Military officers and soldiers and our dad, we were able to beat them during a time known as 'the Promised Day'."Erwin listened intently to Ed.
"It almost went wrong but everyone was able to pull together and carry out their part, we managed to beat them" added Alphonse "the country is still a mainly controlled by the Military however the person currently in charge, Furher Grumman, is a good man and helped in overthrowing the past government and its possible that a man called Colonel Roy Mustang, who Ed was a subordinate of, could assume power afterwards and shift the country towards a democracy."
"Hmm, not bad…" remarked Levi, noticing the parallels between the events of their world and Edward and Alphonse's.
Erwin had noticed it too "Thank you, Elrics" he said, with a sly smile on his face "Now if you don't mind I'd like you to run me through the events of the 'Promised Day', more importantly…"
"What was the first step towards that change?"