Chapter 38: The Powerless Elite
"C'mon, c'mon." Marlowe urged Hitch as the hastily rushed through the corridors of the Stohess military headquarters.
"How about you keep your voice down" Hitch snapped in a hushed tone "You trying to draw attention to us?" Ever since they stepped inside the building Marlowe had been on edge; changing their allegiances to the rogue soldiers and now having to act as spies. "Stop looking so damn tense, we were here like a few hours ago."
"Hannes is waiting for us." Marlowe reminded "And we're running against the clock here." He moved his hand slightly in a waving motion; trying to spur Hitch on to jog.
"Private Freudenberg." Called out an officer, both Marlowe and Hitch came to an abrupt halt and their bodies immediately tensed up at the sound of the officer's voice. "And Private Dreyse, you're back and you seem to be in a rush; where are you heading?"
"Well ah… I-"
"Well you know Marlowe, always wanting to get work done ahead of schedule." Hitch quickly interjected followed with a light laugh and a soft punch to Marlowe arm "I'm just tagging along to make sure he isn't lonely."
"Straight to work after the patrol?" the Officer asked perplexed "You're a pretty serious guy." The officer waved them off "Alright, get on with it then." He said as they walked away.
Marlowe let out a deep sigh "I thought we were done for."
"Just stop freaking out" Hitch pushed him forward slightly "now c'mon, the archives remember?" they hastily moved forward and found the door to the Military Police's archives; Marlowe opened the door and scanned the inside before stepping inside.
"Looks clear." He said as he made his way in, Hitch walked in and quietly closed the door behind them. "We're looking for anything related to the Reiss family." Marlowe said as he began pulling books from the shelves and flicking through them in a speedy rush. They were taking sections of books off the shelves looking for something that they could use.
"I think I found something!" Hitch exclaimed, she was waving the book at Marlowe.
"What'd you find?" Marlowe asked as he jogged towards her.
"It's a report from five years ago about the Reiss family, says here that most of the family had died in a bandit attack." Hitched handed the book to Marlowe.
"They died on the same day Wall Maria fell." Marlowe pointed out.
"That can't just be a coincidence." Hitch said.
"I think you're right." Marlowe said, he continued to scan read the report "Only Rod Reiss survived the attack and spent his time and money rebuilding the church his family died in."
"Yeesh… that's kind of grim." Hitch commented.
"Church was practically demolished, foundations and all, if the reading is correct." Marlowe added. "What kinds of bandits have weapons that can destroy an entire building?"
"Maybe it wasn't a bandit." Hitch suggested "Maybe it was a Titan…" it was said almost half jokingly…
Marlowe's eyes widen slightly at the sudden realization "Holy shit… it had to have been a shifter like Annie!" he exclaimed before quickly lowering his voice. "C'mon let's get this book to Hannes." They quickly rushed out of the archives and through the headquarters. Outside the night air was cold and the tension thick; the city still reeling from the riot and battle that had just commenced not so long ago.
Everywhere it seemed that Military police officers and garrison soldiers were on patrol; both Marlowe and Hitch walked as calmly as they could away from the building and towards the public stables where Hannes and his men were.
They cut into the alleyway where the smell of hay and manure lingered in the air "Hey kids." Waved a hooded figure, it was Hannes. The two jogged towards him "You got the information?"
"Yeah, right here." Marlowe said as he handed him the book "We may have a good first location on where Eren and the others might be."
"A chapel huh?" Hannes said as he read through the report "Alright, let's get this back to Levi and the others then."
Kenny sat on front row of benches that faced a stone alter in the chapel of the Reiss family, sat up against the alter was Ed still tied up but still giving Kenny a look like he wanted to both punch and kick his teeth in.
"Tell me Ed, you and your brother, ya believe in a God?" Kenny asked him. "I mean ya must have heard about the stories from the town folk about how's ya been sent from heaven to save us."
Ed was quiet for a few seconds; perhaps he didn't want to humour Kenny… "I don't believe… I know. I've seen the bastard; stories about us being sent by God aren't all bullshit but most of it is." Kenny's interest spiked a bit as he continued to listen "It was a deal; we'd help this world and in exchange we got whatever we wanted."
"Sounds like the best kind of deal." Kenny remarked "Ya know… I think I've met God too, probably not your one, some kind of God at least. Guy was the kindest but strongest son of a bitch I've seen; I'd never seen a titan before he had me in his grasp but looking at him… I knew this guy was something else… something above human."
"You're talking about the coordinate… Eren's titan." Ed said "you think that thing is a God."
"Yep, I heard about all that shit like how it can control all of humanity; someone with that kind of power would probably be the toughest son of bitch in the world… of course the problem is they might be second only to the God that gave you ya alchemy." Kenny began to smile at Ed; there was an overtly sinister feeling to his expression of happiness. "I wonder... if ya got a way of meeting God, perhaps the coordinate and it could meet face to face one day."
Ed sneered at him "You're insane."
"For someone so smart ya really are closed minded." Kenny commented. "Don't cha wanna see something like that? Who'd ya think would win in a fight, ya God or the coordinate? Now that's something I want to find out."
"They wouldn't last five seconds…" Ed muttered to himself. Kenny ignored Ed and kept going with his train of thought.
"Let's talk about something else, shall we?" Kenny stood up from the chapel bench and walked towards Ed; he knelt down, coming face to face with him, before laying out some papers they stole from the castle raid. "How about telling us how alchemy works? My guys probably gone over it a couple times and I can't make sense of it myself but I'm sure you can."
"I keep telling you… not gonna happen, I'll die before I teach you pathetic murders."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Kenny walked over from the stone alter towards the chapel door; he opened the door to find found Traute and some of his men. She nodded at him, signalling that they got it.
"I know ya willing to die for ya principles and all." Kenny replied he turned his head back to his men; Traute and the others then barged through the entrance dragging to two people with them. A woman and a little girl. "But what about if other people have to die cus' of ya principles?" Ed looked completely dumbstruck at what he was seeing. "So… you gotta choose; either helps us make sense of this" he pointed to the stolen papers laying in front of Ed "or…" the Anti-personal squad members cocked their guns and aimed it at the woman and child's heads, both of them were crying rivers of tears as they flinched at the sound. "They die and it will be your fault."
"Sick bastard, leave them alone." Ed growled as he struggled to get up.
"Choose brat, what will it be." Kenny repeated, this time more impatient.
"Fuck you, I'm not playing your sick games and I'm not helping you." Ed yelled.
"You know what Ed; I've been real patient with ya." Kenny pushed one of his men who were standing behind the captives to the side and pulled out his knife "Think I'm just about done." He placed the knife to the neck of the girl; she looked to be about eleven or twelve… it didn't matter to Kenny anyways…
"No please!" the mother begged "please don't let them do this!" Kenny pressed the edge to the side of the neck, the blade cut in slightly as a drop of blood down her skin.
"Wait!" Ed yelled catching Kenny's attention; Kenny looked up to see Ed, looking at the ground in an almost defeated manner. "I'll do it…"
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Kenny asked in a mocking tone as he placed his hand at the back of his ear.
"I said I'll fucking do it!" Ed repeated.
"That's what I like to hear." Kenny said with a toothy smile. "You guys, start learning from him and make sure to keep the gun to those two's heads if he starts acting up again." He took the knife from the girl's neck and placed it back into his pocket as his men dragged them towards Ed. Kenny walked away and stepped outside of the chapel.
A grand dream… he thought as he looked up to the sky. It hurts to know just how small we really are…
"Sir" Traute said "You think this is going to work?"
"Beats me" Kenny replied "but we're kind of out of options at this point; can't exactly replace the guys we lost so we'll just have to beef up the ones we got left, if only by a little."
"They're no match for the younger Elric or that other kid who can burn people; it wouldn't even be a fight between novices and experts." Traute stated.
"They didn't have a chance even without it." Kenny pointed out "All they got to do hold them off long enough for rest of the plan to go into motion."
"This is a completely desperate move." Traute added.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Kenny replied.
"After you get the coordinate, do you still plan on keeping Ed alive?" Traute asked.
"There's still one more thing I want to use him for, once I get the coordinate" Kenny paused for a second and looked up at the stars once more "Ya know something I always wanted to know what it was like for Uri to look at us but now I wanna know what's it like… for the God that sent them to look down at everyone from up there."
It must be nice… to be so powerful…
The undisputed power in this world and beyond…
A couple hours after the attack…
"This is the place, squad leader." Moblit said as he pointed to the bronze plaque on the wall which read 'Berg Newspapers'. Hange knocked on the door. "It's going to be a risky move, squad leader."
"I know, Moblit." Hange responded "Let's hope I'm able to convince them." She said with a wry smile.
The door opened to reveal a young man with short black hair underneath a black cap, wearing smart clothes and thick rimmed glasses. "Hello, you must be squad leader Hange Zoe and her second in command, Moblit Berner. Please come in." he said. The two entered into the building; there were two floors, a downstairs where the printing presses were and an upstairs which held a small office filled with old desks and stacks of paper and two open windows. Sitting at one of the desks was a portly old man.
"Please make yourself comfortable." The young man said. Moblit sat down while Hange continued to stand.
"I'm more comfortable standing if that's alright." She said as she looked around the room.
Wood; carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, calcium…
She closed the office door and leaned her back up against it.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves, my names Peaure and Roy here is the chief journalist." The young man said as he sat down. "It's very nice of you to talk about Captain Levi's betrayal with us; I know it must be difficult for you considering that some of your own comrades were among them during the attack recently."
"Yes… traitors of humanity, that's what they're being called now." Hange said as she looked at her feet. "I guess that's how they'll be portrayed to the public after years of devotion to advancing humanity."
"It's a shame but raising arms against the king is a crime against humanity." Roy said, looking disinterested.
Hange reached into the pocket of her jacket and pull out a piece of chalk "You wouldn't mind if I do something quickly, for science?" Hange said with an innocent enough smile on her face.
"Uh… yeah, go ahead." Peaure said, he looked perplexed as to why Hange had the chalk in her hand.
Hange turned around to face the wall, she turned her head back "This office wall is entirely wood, right?" she asked.
"Yeah why?" Peaure asked.
"Just want to test something, you can ask us questions while I do this." She said as she began to scribble on the walls of the office, starting with drawing a circle.
"Um…okay…" Peaure and Roy watched her with confused looks on their faces while Moblit just sat with a neutral expression. "So your comrades, how close were you two to them."
"Very close." Hange replied as she began to draw some details "When you're in the scout regiment you learn to trust your comrades with your life; we were like family." Hange stepped back slightly as she tried to admire her work "We would do almost anything for each other."
The two looked confused as to what Hange had drawn on the wall of their office. They didn't know.
It was a transmutation circle.
"Like making sure their names are cleared." Hange said as she placed her hand on the transmutation circle; a bright sky blue light emanated from the circle. Roy and Peaure looked confused and scared at the sight before them, when the walls began to overlap over the windows and door did they suddenly start to panic.
The room was quickly consumed by the darkness, blocking their vision but not before the two saw the wooden hands reaching out to hold them in place.
Moblit lit a match to light some candles as a dim light breached through the pitch black room; the two struggled in vain to break free from the wooden hands sprouting up from the ground, like something out of a nightmare. Hange grabbed and empty chair, placed it down facing them and sat down. "Gentlemen, tell me, why do intend on slandering the names of my subordinates?" she asked in a subdued angered tone. "I can make the grip of these hands tighter if you want; all you have to do is not comply."
"Please you have to understand, we the king and the royal government have had control over us since the beginning." Roy explained "We print only what we're told to."
"I see and if you don't comply then you'll face repercussions?" Hange asked.
"Yes." Roy replied. "I have a family to think about; I can't let anything happen to them."
"I understand." Hange replied "But Roy, continuing to follow the royal government's orders won't keep your family safe forever."
"What do you mean?" Roy asked.
"Hear me out, Roy." Hange asked "I may have the biggest story you'll ever publish in your life."
One day after the attack…
"Commander Pixis, it's a pleasure to meet you again." Erwin said as he shook his hand.
"Likewise" Pixis said, he pulled Erwin slightly closer "Is everything set on your end?" he asked in a hushed tone, the scout officers accompanying Erwin huddle around the two commanders as if to hid their conversation.
"If Hange can successful leak the information about the coordinate to the public then yes." Erwin replied. "Does the Premier know?"
"I informed Darius a few days ago about what we know, it's now up to him on how he'd act on it." Pixis replied.
"So we just have to stall for time then until everything falls into place." Erwin responded, Pixis nodded in agreement.
Pixis began to loudly laugh "You really should relax once in a while, please join me for a drink today" he caught the attention of everyone waiting speaking as loudly as he did, Pixis then walked away with his delegation.
Erwin stood in the hallway of the chancellery as he and the other scout officers waited to be summoned by the king and his council. Dressed all formally in their long brown coats to denounce Levi squad and commit themselves to hunting down their former comrades. He looked down at the marble floor, polished to a mirror shine, his reflection staring back at him with the same serious expression.
"Talk about being in an unfriendly environment." Gelgar commented as he looked around at the MPs glaring at them.
"Our divisions haven't been on friendly terms since the battle, word is many of them blame you for the attack." Nanaba added, looking at Erwin.
"It doesn't matter if they do." Erwin replied "This will all change soon, we just have to place our hope in commander Pixis for now."
"Here's hoping nothing fucks up." Gelgar added "Though given our track record that might be asking for too much."
"This feels like a set up." Nanaba commented "Like were walking into an ambush."
"Like trying to force us to talk shit about our comrades." Gelgar replied.
"Erwin!" someone called out, the sound of footsteps marching towards them grew louder, Erwin turned his head in its direction and saw Nile walking up to them. "Erwin, what the hell are you planning?" he said, his tone was hushed yet it wasn't hard to tell he was agitated.
"Don't know what you mean, Nile." Gelgar interjected.
"Don't butt into this; this is between me and Erwin." Nile replied.
"You're going to have to be more specific, Nile." Erwin asked.
"Why the hell has it taken you this long to condemn your former subordinates' actions?" Nile questioned. "You may have allowed Levi the opportunity to gain more followers from your ranks."
"I was informed that I and the other officers of the scout regiment were to present ourselves to the king and his assembly in due time." Erwin explained.
"You should have denounced him sooner yet you stalled, you only scheduled the meeting with the king and the assembly now when the rouge soldiers burnt down a section of Stohess." Nile stepped a bit closer, moving past Gelgar and Nanaba, their faces only a couple inches away from each other "So what the hell are you planning?"
Erwin didn't say anything at first "You're right Nile; you've always known what kind of person I was ever since we were I the cadets." Erwin responded. "But I'm not the one who's going to act, that will be up to others. And possibly you, should you decide to."
Nile looked as though he was about to respond when the large grand white doors of the chancellery hall opened, catching everyone's attention, as a soldier bearing the symbol of the royal government on his uniform welcomed them. "Commanders, please enter, the king and his assembly will see you now."
They moved in the grand hall and at the head of was a platform where a large throne was place; a tired old man sat with his head resting on his clenched fist as four other men sitting on smaller chairs flanked him on both sides. Erwin, flanked by his subordinate officers, approached the platform; their heads tilted up slightly to look at the men seated at their thrones as military police officers carrying muskets surrounded them.
"Commander Erwin, it's a pleasure to meet you again." Said an old man said, dressed in the clothes of the clergy with his necklace decorated with the faces of Maria, Rose and Sina.
"As you know we are living in turbulent times; the fall of Wall Maria and the treachery of Captain Levi along with rogue elements of the military who seek to threaten the peace and overthrow the king." Another one of the men added, a portly fellow dressed in fancy clothes. "We had hoped that you would denounce this treachery to discourage more of your subordinates from joining these criminals but its better now than never I suppose, even if your hesitance could be responsible for the attack on Stohess quite recently."
"Commander Erwin, we're waiting to hear your denouncement of your former subordinate and what you plan to do about the situation." said another, an old lanky looking man.
All while the assembly were talking at Erwin, the king hadn't said a word; instead he continued to watch Erwin in a disinterested manner. A false king.
"Before I do so I must ask; what do you intend on doing with the Elrics and Eren Yeager as they are currently affiliated with the rogue elements of the military?" Erwin asked.
"If they are to be captured alive then they'll face trial and sentenced." The assembly member stated clearly. Erwin knew that Eren wouldn't get a trial; he'd be eaten by their chosen successor instead and manipulate the memories of humanity for their purposes, whatever they were, but what he did want to know was how they'd treat both Ed and Alphonse.
"And if the sentence is death?" Erwin asked.
"Then so be it." That was all Erwin needed to know.
"My King, royal assembly, I do not think that denouncing captain Levi and the rouge soldiers now would be a wise decision." Erwin announced. There were gasps among some of the other military figures and royal government officials present. The assembly looked at Erwin shocked and confused, while the king still watched him, disinterested.
"You're not here to denounce your traitorous comrades?" questioned one of the members "Why is that then?"
"Captain Levi has dedicated himself to humanity for half a decade now." Erwin stated "He and his second in command Petra Ral have constantly risked their lives for the good of humanity time after time; to question them is to question their dedication to humanity and to denounce them would be to disregard all the sacrifices they've made for the cause. His skill and strength has given hope to those in the walls that the Titans can be beaten; it's why the people have given him the mantle of 'Humanity's strongest soldier.'" Erwin argued, his voice was commanding as ever "That's not to mention to immense contribution of the Elrics and Eren Yeager towards humanity's survival and its victory over our foes; to denounce and hunt them down could only damage humanity and ruin our plans to retake wall Maria."
"You dare to stand before your king and his assembly to argue in favour of these traitors?" questioned one of the members "Tell us, are you in league with the traitors?"
"I'm telling you that to lose such important members would be a crushing loss for humanity as a whole; they're irreplaceable to our success." Erwin stated. "Surely you of all people, whom are privy to a wide range of knowledge, know this."
"I know the Elrics very well." Said the portly assembly member, distain in his voice "I remember our encounter with the eldest and how he questioned our devotion to humanity, the sheer arrogance; an outsider questioning the loyalty of us. And now he and his brother might as well be in open rebellion against the crown."
"Then you would also know the level of support they hold among the people; if you were to sentence them to death then you'd risk as mass rebellion from the people." Erwin said, changing the subject slightly. "It would be foolish to allow them to die when they hold so much favour with the public; the best solution would be to negotiate with both sides to maintain the social fabric of the walls… unless you have a way of changing that."
"You're aware that Levi and his men are responsible for multiple deaths involved in a fight at Stohess, correct?" questioned one of the members. "There's evidence that the Elrics were involved in said battle."
"I'm very aware of that" Erwin replied.
"Do you believe that the people will continue to support them if they learn that they're responsible the damage to the city?" questioned another member "As an advocate for the people in these Walls it's of my opinion that they and Levi's squad are a threat to the peace."
"Commander Pixis, what is your opinion on this matter?" asked another assembly member.
"Humans killing other humans is sheer madness." Pixis stated clearly "If a conflict were to ignite in our world then surely all of humanity would be doomed; this I've told to the men and women under my command during the battle for Trost."
"Tell me, honorable member, how can you call yourself an advocate for the people when they are so starkly divided?" Erwin challenged.
"The people are divided because of the mass misinformation being spread." countered the assembly member. "All of which tried to paint the scout regiment in a positive light; strange, don't you think, would it be wrong to assume the scout regiment has been involved somehow?"
"Perhaps it isn't Levi and his band of rogue criminals we should be worried about, maybe the real problem is right in front of us." Another assembly member commented the surrounding military police began to stare at Erwin and the other scout officers.
Suddenly the double doors to the hall burst open as commander-in-chief Darius entered followed by dozens of armed soldiers filling the hall; he assembly members got off their seats while the king remained in his with his expression remaining disinterested by the sudden state of affairs.
"I've just been informed of some very interesting news; it seems that Yeager's titan has the ability to manipulate walled humanity's memories and that he's now been apprehended by the interior police whom respond only to the King." Darius stated "Of course the King isn't this old bastard sitting on that gilded throne but instead Rod Reiss, an assembly member who just so happens to not be here in this important meeting, what a strange coincidence."
"Darius, what is the meaning of this?" an assembly member questioned.
"If you're asking who organised this, it was me." Pixis declared.
"Pixis!"
"Erwin had told me about your proposal to Edward Elric; you were to use them solely as an enforcer to your will." Pixis stated "It wasn't hard to piece to together that you intend to do the same using Eren Yeager's titan, humanity's greatest assets to its survival and future and you all wish to use them to solidify your own power. Nothing short of pure selfishness."
"You bastards, you think the people will just follow you because you have your guns pointed at us?" one of the members shot back defensively "There are still masses of people who will support the king over anyone else."
"Of course people support the king, it's just now they know that a false king sits on the throne." Darius said, in his hands was a roll of newspaper "New edition of the Berg; says here that the deaths of Dimo Reeves and his men were at the hands of the First interior squad along with the kidnapping of Eren Yeager and information about the coordinate and the true king." Darius handed Nile the newspaper, scan reading it as a look of shock became more apparent as he went on.
"Commander Dok, do something about this!" ordered one of the assembly members.
The MPs in the room had their guns lowered slightly as they waited for orders; members of the garrison who accompanied Darius did the same. Both sides were waiting for the other to make a move.
"Is all this true?" Nile questioned, he looked directly at Erwin.
"Yes but you're going to have to trust me." Erwin replied calmly, like the whole room wasn't about to erupt into a bloodbath.
"Damn it" Nile muttered "Officers, stand down!" he ordered. "Help the garrison to arrest these men."
One day after the attack…
The moonlight seeped through the cracks left between the leaves in the dense forest; hidden under the darkness of the thick shadows was a worn and abandoned stable where Levi squad hid and waited for news by the others.
Most of the team appeared to be resting while Alphonse huddled Levi and Mikasa together by a corner, the three sat on small crates as they huddled around to form a small circle "What is it?" Levi asked.
"Captain, I'm sorry I didn't tell you this sooner, I didn't tell both of you" Alphonse said "So much had happened that it just slipped my mind but you deserve to know. Back during our ambush Dimo Reeves was talking to Kenny and he mentioned that your full name was Levi Ackerman." Mikasa's eyes widen immediately while Levi raised his eyebrows up slightly "It might be a complete coincidence but I just thought you two should know, you two might be related somehow."
"Thank you for telling us, Alphonse." Levi turned to Mikasa "Mikasa, can I ask you something?"
"What?" Mikasa replied
"Your parents, was there anything usually that you remember about them?" Levi asked.
"My parents were exiled for some reason; we had to live in the mountains away from everyone." Mikasa stated "We don't remember why it was but that for a while but the only thing my dad knew was that anyone with the name Ackerman was hunted and so was my mother but that was because she was an Asian, for some reason that must have ended."
"Was there ever a moment where you suddenly felt a sudden rush of power?" Levi asked.
Mikasa was silent for a second, a look of realization appeared on her face "Yes, years ago."
"Kenny told me he once had a moment like that; all at once he suddenly felt a ridiculous amount of strong and he suddenly knew what to do at any given moment when his life was on the line." Levi explained "I had a moment like that."
Alphonse listened to them; in his mind he was piecing together his memories of both of them and their seemingly super human abilities; it was beginning to make sense. There was clearly something special about the Ackerman family.
"Kenny's in league with the royal government so that must be why we're weren't immediately killed for stepping out of the shadows." Levi stated "If anyone knows about all this shit then Kenny must be the guy."
"Should we capture him then?" Alphonse asked.
Levi was silent for a few seconds, likely pondering on the suggestion "No… we can't risk it; if you see him, kill him on sight." He said looking at both Mikasa and Alphonse "Out of everyone in this squad, if we're going to take that bastard down then it most likely will have to fall on us."
Alphonse felt an immense feeling of uneasy at the suggestion that the burden of killing Kenny could fall on him; he felt sick to his stomach when he helped Mikasa kill that antipersonnel squad member. A migraine began to flare up as the memories of the battle flooded his mind.
I didn't do it
I wasn't the one
I didn't do it
I wasn't the one
I didn't kill that person
I wasn't the one that killed them
I only just helped…
Alphonse placed his elbow on his leg as he held his thumping head "You think you can do that, Alphonse?" Levi asked. "Your comrades will be counting on you."
Ed will be counting on you
Suddenly there was a knock on the large double doors to the stable; everyone shot up from the ground, quickly picked up their weapons and pointed it towards the doors while taking cover behind some boxes lying around. Levi approached the door, a handcannon in his hand, as he slowly opened the left door as Mikasa held a gun towards the widen gap.
"Not the welcome I was expecting." Hange said as she waved at Mikasa through the crack between the doors. Behind her were Hannes, Hitch and Marlowe.
Levi opened the door as everyone in the barn lowered their weapons as the others outside entered the stable. "What's the news?"
Hange smiled at Levi and then looked at everyone else "Ladies and gentlemen, we got him; the royal government has effectively been placed under Darius command for now and the crimes associated with Levi squad have been cleared, you are no longer criminals."
The barn erupted into a loud cheer as everyone celebrated their victory; Sasha embraced Hitch while Connie and Jean celebrate with Marlowe. "Mikasa, Armin, come here." Hannes said with his arms open, he gave them a wide hug and held them tight. Alphonse smiled as he caught sight of that.
In the moment he felt happy yet still a linger feeling of grief hung over him as he knew he couldn't celebrate the moment with his brother Ed, please, just hang on he then felt someone hug and squeeze him from the side, trapping his left arm, he looked down to see Mina.
"We did Al." Mina said smiling at him.
"Yeah, we did." He replied.
"Captain Levi." Hannes called out "Marlowe and Hitch may have a lead on where to find Eren and the others." Marlowe pulled out a book and handed it to Levi, pointing him to a specific page.
"The Reiss family chapel is where they're hiding them?" Levi asked.
"It's probably our best lead." Hannes said "I've sent runners to Ian and his men; hopefully they'd be heading there right now."
"Good to hear." Levi turned back to his squad "Squad, we're moving out now."
Annie opened her eyes and a blinding white light struck her eyes; it was light staring straight at the sun. She immediately closed her eyes once more before slowly opening them, trying to get use to the light. As her eyes adjusted she was astounded to find herself inside a cave like structure; pillars of shining diamond rose from a floor polished to a mirror shine which held up the ceiling.
She found herself sat up against one of the pillars and next to her was Ed, sitting next to her and tied up, looking completely miserable. She tried to say something only to quickly realize that a metal rod had been tied into her mouth. She looked straight ahead to see what looked like an elevated platform and on the edge was Eren, chained to the spot like a sacrificial lamb.
Clever, very clever she thought.
Below that platform were two people talking to each other; she immediately recognized one of them as Historia, dressed in a white gown, while the other was a short man she'd never seen before.
"How ya doing, Ed, still got that shitty expression to match your attitude?" Said a voice around the pillar, a tall figure appeared before them; Annie's eyes widen as she felt an intense rush of anxiety run through her. "Still pissed off about that whole thing still?"
No…no… not you!
"Looks like ya awake now, Annie?" said the tall man looking down at her "Been awhile since we seen each other, what kind a daughter doesn't visit her father?" he said in a mocking tone.
"Daughter, you're related to her?" Ed questioned.
"Nah, she just tried to pull a fast one on me when I caught her once." Kenny replied "Never thought you'd see me again huh? Next time get a better hobby than stalking old men at night." He laughed. He turned to the short man "Hey Rod, what ya planning on doing with the girl brat?"
"I haven't decided anything yet." Rod replied "Possibly have her titan transferred to someone loyal, perhaps your subordinate, Traute was it?"
"You're an idiot if you plan on handing a titan power to someone working with Kenny." Ed commented. "Course I really not surprised at this point."
"You think I'm foolish because you are ignorant of what is to come." Rod replied.
Suddenly the long chains that held Eren began to rattle as Eren became conscious.
"Eren!" Historia yelled "Just hold on a little longer; my father explained everything to me, he's not an enemy of humanity, we misunderstood him."
"Bullshit!" Ed yelled "Whatever he told you Historia its lies, that guy's looking out for one person and it's himself."
"No Ed you're wrong, he is working for humanity." Historia argued. Rod placed his hand on Historia's shoulder.
"Historia, I'll explain the rest and don't let this immature child provoke you any further." He said looking at Ed. Ed growled at Rod as they approached Eren, climbing the curving stairs which led to the platform. "What's wrong? This is your first time here. But it wouldn't be odd if you remembered it." Rod's words bounced off the gleaming walls of the large cave.
Memories, he's talking about the memories of the other shifter Annie deduced but if Eren wasn't didn't take the coordinate then who did?
Rod and Historia were now standing over Eren; they stretched their hands out and placed it on Eren's back. Eren began to shake, his chains rattling, as he let out a muffled scream through the metal rod in his mouth.
"What the hell are they doing?" Ed muttered.
They're doing something up there…
They stepped back "Do you remember your father's sin?" Rod asked.
They've awaken the memories of the other shifters just by touching him, that would mean they're the Fritz family, the royal family.
"Historia, what is it?" Rod asked as Historia clutched her head.
"How have I forgotten all this time…" Historia said "I wasn't alone, I had her; she taught me how to read and write, she was so kind to me, how could I have forgotten her?"
"Are you talking about Frieda?"
"Frieda?"
"A young girl with long black hair, Frieda Reiss, she was your half sister." Rod explained. "She must have worried about you, went to check you from time to time and erased your memories as a way of protecting you."
"Erase my- you're talking about the coordinate." Historia said "But I thought only Eren's titan… Frieda was a titan shifter?" Rod nodded his head "Eren has Frieda's titan…why?"
Rod held Historia "Because… she, her siblings, my children and my wife were all killed in this place, five years ago by Grisha Yeager." He then began to explain it; the story of his family's death, how Grisha had his own titan power and defeated Frieda in combat before mercilessly killing everyone else.
Ed looked horrified by the story while Annie was caught up on one detail Eren possesses both the Coordinate… and the Attack titan.
"How could he do such a terrible thing?" Historia wondered aloud.
"Oi, Oi, Oi have you forgotten about the whole revolution" Kenny called out "They'll be knocking down the doors to ya church soon, get on what ya need to do"
"I know, I will, but weren't you and the anti-personnel squad members asked to leave?"
"I'm sorry for sticking around ya majesty." Kenny replied in a mocking tone "I was only lookin' to take shit."
"It's alright, Kenny" Rod replied "I trust you."
Why does that sound so untrue?
There was a scattered hail of gun fire as members of the anti-personnel squad tried to hold off the garrison soldiers descending onto the chapel. As the sound of bullets hitting the stone walls of the chapel, Traute looked around; there were maybe ten people in the chapel itself shooting at the incoming attackers through the windows, members of Kenny's squad, some were covered in bandages after their previous battles with the scouts. The place had been made into a mini fort; Traute knew however that if they wanted to the garrison soldiers laying siege to them could easily take it; they would just have to bleed themselves to do it. If things stayed like this then they could hold on until Kenny achieved his goal.
Of course, there was one worry on her mind "Any sign of Levi squad yet?"
"No, not of yet." Her subordinate answered "The circles are ready if he arrives though."
"Good, get ready for the moment they arrive, we may only have a small window of time to do this." many of the men and women of the anti-personnel squad were intelligent; the top of their class in their respective cadet corps and handpicked from the military police, she trusted them to carry out the impossible.
"They're here!" yelled another subordinate peering through one of the windows; Traute ran up to a nearby window and saw an unnatural rising wall of dirt in the nearby distance which shielded the garrison troops they've been shooting at.
"Anna, Bertha, Ernest and Paul, get out there!" Traute ordered. The doors to the chapel were thrown open and the four anti-personnel members ran out under the hail of fire coming from the chapel and towards it.
She watched as they ran towards the circle drawn outside the entrance of the church and placed their hands onto it.
This is desperate stuff but if it can throw them off for just a little while…
There was a small flash of lightening surround them, a similar to the Elrics, the ground around them began to rumble and stone and dirt began to elevate. But then something happened. The lightening and around them became erratic and ground shook as the rising dirt around them looked as though it began to consume them; their limbs and bodies breaking down before her eyes.
"What the hell?" she gasped. There was a final flash of light and all that was left was one member left mutilated and the rest were…consumed into the dirt. Traute dragged the survivor inside and slammed the doors.
This doesn't make any sense; they followed Ed's instructions- It immediately hit her "That brat! He tricked us!"
"They're coming towards us!" yelled one of the anti-personnel members.
"Everyone, get back underground now!" she ordered. They flung open the hatch to the underground.
Ed began trying to find a rationale as to why Grisha would murder an entire family; he thought back to his dad, Hohenheim had left his family and spent years and used thousands of souls in his quest to fight the homunculus but, as far as Ed knew, he never killed felt it necessary to kill an entire family of people.
Grisha wanted to take the coordinate and he gave it to Eren Ed thought But if he already had a titan power then why steal theirs, did he need the coordinate's power but all we've been able to use it for was fighting and heavy lifting.
"Nothing clever to say?" Rod asked as he pasted by Ed and Annie, holding a black bag in one hand. "Historia, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." He knelt down and searched through a black bag. He pulled out a black case and picked out a syringe and a small labelled glass container.
"Father?" Historia jogged towards him "What's this?" Rod stood up and placed a hand on Historia's shoulder.
"Historia, I know this sounds ridiculous but Frieda hasn't died yet."
"What?" Historia asked
"Her memories live on and they can live on through you, do you want to see her again?" Rod asked.
The look of happiness on Historia's face at the idea that she could once again see her sister was a look that Ed was all too familiar with.
'This says how to do it! We can bring mom back from the dead!'
Of course like most good things, it comes with a catch.
"No…" Ed muttered "Something's wrong…" why would Grisha find it necessary to kill Historia's siblings what was it about them that made it so crucial to stop them from having the coordinate and go that far? All the while a sinking feeling set inside Ed about the idea that the only way to transfer the power was to consume a shifter.
Suddenly the chains that held Eren began to rattle violently as a muffled scream caught everyone's attention; it was like he was trying desperately to break free.
Where the hell are you guys? Ed thought, hoping that the team will get here in time to stop this.
Levi squad quickly approached the chapel door; at the very front were a large transmutation circle and a few dismembered bodies.
"What happened here?" Jean gasped as they came up to it.
"They tried to transmute the earth; does that mean Ed taught them?" Hange asked as they quickly examined the corpses.
Alphonse stared at the scene completely speechless as a sinister thought came to mind. He had seen this kind of sight once before… that time they were just little kids.
"It's like parts of their cleanly sliced off." Levi said, adding his own observation.
"Their alchemy rebounded." Armin said "The alchemic forces were imbalanced and this must be the result."
"This is what happens when you mess up? No way I'm learning alchemy any time soon then." Connie commented.
"But if Ed taught them how to perform alchemy then why did-" Hange was quickly interrupted by Alphonse.
"We should head inside now and get the others quickly." Alphonse said as he quickly walked into the chapel. He didn't want to hear it; he didn't want that idea out in the open and have to confront it… at least not now while Ed's life may still hang in the balance.
As everyone walked in both Alphonse and Armin caught each other glances as the other's prepared themselves; Armin looked as though he knew why Alphonse was in such as rush that he didn't want to spend a second speculating on what happened. The inside of the chapel was messy; sasses of gunpowder and used muskets were left on the floor with a trail of blood leading to a hatch.
Several members of the garrison soon entered into the chapel "We've gotten rid of those bodies on the front door." said one.
"Good, we'll check that out later." Levi replied.
"A secret door, this must be where they're hiding." Hange said as she knelt down to look
"We don't know what were getting into." Levi said "It could be up close quarters or some huge ass cave, so be prepared for anything." Levi looked back at his squad; attaching their blades to their handles and loading their muskets. Sasha pulled out an arrow from quiver while Armin picked out a match from his small match box.
Alphonse attached the handle of his ODM gear to one of the blades in his scarab and pulled it out. For a second he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror surface of the blade.
Am I the same person I was back home? How much of me have changed since I got here?
He didn't know the answer.
But what he did know was simple; if he was going back home then Ed was coming home with him.
It's been a while and happy New Year! Thank you all for the follows, favorites and reviews.
It took a while to get back into it, busy with university and all, hopefully I'll find time to write the next chapter but please be prepared for another long wait.
Sorry that nothing too much happened in this chapter, the next one will be more action oriented.
Only two more chapter of the Uprising arc left.