Chapter 47: This Moment
"In other words, Eren's father, Grisha Yeager, may very well have been a human from outside the walls." Erwin summarised to the group of officers, both the scout officers and the garrison officers inside the room, they all sat around a small wooden table with Erwin himself sitting at the head of the table.
"Yes… and he had possessed the power of the titans much like the 'warriors' Annie, Bertholdt and Reiner." Hange added "But unlike those three he wanted to help us rather than push us to the brink."
"It would have been nice if he told us this before he got himself eaten by his kid." One of the scout officers commented.
"But considering everything we know now, its possible Dr Yeager even knew the truth about the ideology and the Reiss family; he might have chosen to stay silent in fear of the government finding out about him." Hange observed "However from Eren's memory it's possible he was pushed to the edge because of the fall of Maria and… committed the unthinkable." Hange turned her head towards Erwin "The resolve he needed to carry out what he had done must have been great, he had entrusted his memories to his then ten year old son about the secret he hid inside his basement before his death, what do you think is in there?"
Erwin stared blankly into the table in front of him as his mind wondered back to that class room, a map of the walls covering the blackboard as his father taught about the history of walled humanity to a class. "Something that he was forbidden to say." Hange added
"No" Erwin replied "Something that he couldn't say, even if he wanted to. The memories of this world, the memories which the First king erased from our minds, may be what is in that basement… But we will never know if we continue to sit here." Erwin looked up to his officers, a stern expression on his face matching his resolve "As of today we are ready, the operation to retake wall Maria will take place two days from now. If we want to know whats in the basement then let's go see." A soft smile quickly adorned his face "Isn't that why the Scout regiment was formed?" The rest of the room smiled at him, barring Levi who sat on the edges of the group watching him "That will be all for now, you're all relieved."
"Should we tell those garrison officers about any of this?" asked one of the scout officers.
"No, for now this shouldn't concern the garrison contingent of the operation." Erwin replied "I'll brief them on the details of the operation later today; the late addition to the operation will hopefully be arriving today."
"Could we have some red meat today?" asked one of the officers.
"Not yet, we gotta wait for those garrison troops to all arrive first, last thing we need is for those guys to be bitter about something like that." Replied another.
"What about commander Shadis, didn't he withhold important information?" pointed out one the officers as they left the room.
"Leave him." Hange replied slightly annoyed "He's not worth our time."
"How cold Hange, I remember you use to have quite the crush on him." Teased another.
"You shut up." Hange replied half serious. As they walked out of the room, Levi trailing behind them. He turned around to face Erwin, with his head looking towards the ground. "Huh?" Hange muttered as the door was closed on them leaving only Levi and Erwin in the room.
A tense silence shrouded the room as the two face each other. "What is it, Levi?" Erwin asked.
"This might be impatient but… what do you plan on doing after we take back wall Maria?" Levi asked "I assume that coming up with a defence plan will come first but after that?"
"That is important but assuming we are successful we would also need to prepare for a future in which the Elrics leave us." Erwin replied as he looked off away from Levi "Hopefully they'll stay long enough to finish development on new weaponry and upgrading our current arsenals. From there it'll be about eliminating threats and the only way we can do that is by going after the basement-"
"You realise I'm asking you because I don't think you're in any shape to join us?" Levi questioned "Erwin… I know that the rehabilitation phase of that metal arm is meant to be a bitch and a long one too, Ed told us as much and those other guys know that all too well… but you… you act like you're fine and that you've gotten use to thing the moment you got it." Erwin looked down at his right arm, the dying sunlight gleaming off of the metal as the fingers clanked slightly from moving. "That when I realised… you never did, am I right? And don't lie, I know you well enough now to know when you're bullshitting people."
Erwin clenched his automail arm into a fist "It doesn't matter; I've been able to lead the regiment through the revolution and now." Erwin countered "Whatever discomfort I feel is irrelevant."
Levi sighed "I knew it… figures, you're a real stubborn piece of work, Let Hange lead the troops on the ground, I don't want to be looking after your ass on the battlefield. I'll tell the others that I complained until you gave in because that's exactly what I'm going to do. Is that good with you?"
For a split second, Erwin contemplated it… memories of his father quickly infected his mind… for a split second he thought about staying. "No." Erwin replied confidently and to Levi's stony dismay "I don't care what becomes of me, if I die then the chain of command will fall to Hange, then Nanaba and then someone else. I know this operation will be difficult but it will be one of humanity's most critical moments and I will give everything I can to it, this was my plan and it is less likely to succeed if I'm not there."
"Maybe you're right; maybe the Beast titan outsmarts us without you." Levi contemplated "But you said it yourself, we need to think about a time when those two smart brats are gone and if you're not the person planning it then humanity will be in the shit. All you need to do is use that head of yours, that's enough to beat the titans."
"No, you're wrong." Erwin replied "I need to be there for this, I'm the one who organised this operation and-"
"Stop stop." Levi interjected as he raised his arm up "If you give me some noble sounding excuse… then I'll break your legs." He threatened softly "I'll do it so they'll be easy to put back together again and keep you here… but going to the bathroom will be a bitch for a while."
Erwin shut his eyes softly as he began to laugh at Levi's remark. "No… that just can't happen." He said completely unfazed by the threat "Maybe you're right, the whole point of getting the garrison troops on side was so soldiers like me wouldn't be used to fill empty gaps in the ranks but…." Erwin turned to face Levi a look of determination on his face and steel in his voice "I have to be there… for the moment we learn the truth about humanity on this world."
Levi leaned forward "Is it that important to you?" he asked "More than your legs?"
"Yes." Erwin replied resolutely.
"More than humanity's victory?" Levi questioned further.
"Yes."
Levi remained silent for a few seconds "Fine…" Levi replied as he turned towards the door, Levi turned his head slightly back to Erwin "Erwin… I trust your judgement." Levi said as he walked through the door and closed it.
Ed looked outside the window of the carriage, his hand holding his head as his elbow rested on the window sill, as they rode through the main gate of Trost, horses and people moving passed them as they slowly moved passed the buildings of the district, the dying sunlight casting faded shadows. Ed shifted his eyes back to Alphonse who was once again reading through the proposal given to them by Darius.
"Are you still thinking about that?" Ed asked. "We've not gonna do it." Ed sounded exhausted; he and Alphonse had spent the last few days travelling around doing different tasks and projects and now had this bomb shell placed on them.
"I told you brother; I just want us to think about it." Alphonse replied. "If there's anything more we can do to help them then we should at least think about it."
"Al… I'll still be worried about them after we head home too." Ed said solemnly, he turned his body towards Alphonse "But if we sink more and more time here just to make sure they're okay then we'll be here forever."
"A powerful force they do not yet fully understand…" Alphonse muttered, he looked up to Edward "What do you think the Truth meant when he said that?"
"Probably just the titans." Ed replied, trying to sound confident "We don't know that much about the titans so I guess they're the 'force we don't fully understand.'" It sounded like a reasonable conclusion to reach… but even Ed knew that the Truth was never that straight forward.
"When I was captured with Eren and Ymir, she said that both us and Eren we're in over our heads about our goals to beat the titans, like we weren't looking at the bigger picture. But that's all she said." Alphonse said "What if there's something we're missing? We didn't catch onto what Father and the Homunculi were up to until they were almost complete… or what our dad was up to until that day. What if it's the same here?"
Ed gripped his knees as he sighed heavily "Then I don't know what we'll do." Edward confessed "But until we know that for sure, our goal remains the same; we close the hole in Wall Maria and head home." The cart grounded to a halt as they arrived at a building, a long line of three steps led to double doors with a line of windows running along it. Ed opened the door, stepping out onto the step connected to the cart. "Hey…" he said as he turned his head towards the driver who was climbing out "This isn't the barracks."
"Mr Reeves has arranged with your officers to stay here until the day you go out." The driver said "Think of it as a thank you from the company." The driver approached Ed "I'll show you around." Ed looked back at Alphonse who shrugged his shoulders. The driver pushed the double doors of the building; the inside was cosy but well kept similar to the hotels that they use to stay in when they travelled around Amestris. "Reeves company workers stay here sometimes." The driver said "Well the bosses do on this side anyways; regular guys stay on the opposite side, that side probably look like your barracks." The driver pointed them towards the staircase "rooms up here." He said leading the two up the stairs; the corridor was lit up with the bright stones which were mined from the First King's cavern as a short line of wooden doors lined a corridor. "Choose whatever room you like."
Ed opened the first door to revel a small room with a single bed with a small nightstand and an office desk pushed up against the wall next to the door.
"I'll leave you to it then." The driver said "Cleaners come by every so often but other than that the place is yours for next few days." He waved them off as he walked down the stairs.
Ed looked back to Alphonse who stood by the open door of a room near the other end of the corridor "I'll take this one…" he said. Ed looked back to the first door.
"I'll take this one then…" he muttered under his breath as he walked into the room, closing the door before falling into the bed and staring at the ceiling.
In a brightly lit hall, rows of tables with people crammed into them chatted idly as servers from the Reeves Company placed plates of food on the table, the air was warm inside the hall and the smell of soup and meat filled the air.
There were a couple of gasps and shocked faces as wooden trays filled with meat were placed on the table.
"Tonight may be a special night, but you can't let the civilians know that." Said one the scout officers "You're soldiers so this isn't a party but a chance to relax a bit."
"Sasha… are you okay?" Ed asked as he watched her eyeing up the tray of sliced meat with wide unblinking eyes.
"I'm fine… I'm fine…" she replied not breaking her gaze "it's not like I've hadn't gotten to eat meat for a while or anything…"
"Yeah so there's no reason for you to go crazy." Jean added almost sternly.
"Here's to recapturing Wall Maria!" The scout officers said with his large cup in the air "Cheers!" Not a second later did the hall erupt into a chaotic mess as everyone scrambled for the food.
Sasha tried to grab the chunk of sliced meat with her hands like a starving animal when the tray was lifted up from the table by a small elevating platform "Not so fast!" Ed yelled. Sasha tried to get out of her chair when Alphonse and Connie quickly held her to her seat.
"Potato girl, calm down will you?" Jean demanded.
"Sasha!" Alphonse yelled "Sasha are you still in there?" he said clicking his fingers in front of her face. She quickly calmed down as she sat still in her seat. The platform which lifted the meat up slowly began to lower to the table until in settled down completely.
"Okay…" Connie said as both he and Alphonse took their hands from her. "Now let's just ea-" Sasha quickly grabbed hold of the meat. "Sasha, no!"
"Please forgive me!" Alphonse yelled before pinching the space between her neck and shoulder. Sasha dropped the meat onto the table sloppily as her body went limp and fell back to be caught by Connie.
"What did you do?" Jean asked.
"Just something Ed and I learnt from our teacher." Alphonse replied.
"I'll go look after her." Connie said as he began to lift her from her seat.
"I'll help you." Eren said as he got up from his.
Ed looked at the sloppy slices of meat lying on the table; he shrugged his shoulders as he picked up a piece and placed it on his plate. Everyone else followed along, enjoying themselves.
Ed placed his hands together as he then picked up his empty wooden bowl, transforming it into a large pair of fake glasses "Hey guess who I am." He said as he tried to show off his ponytail.
"Hange!" Connie replied.
"Correct." Ed said smiling; he transmuted the object once again to the shape of two large rectangles. He held them over his eyes "Who am I now?"
"Is that meant to the Commander?" Mina giggled, sitting closely next to Alphonse.
"Commander Erwin's eyebrows aren't that big." Alphonse laughed slightly.
Ed placed them back onto the table, ready to transmute the objects further when both Eren and Jean burst up from their seats grabbing each other collars "What the hell?" Ed exclaimed.
"You think you're so cool, jackass?" Jean yelled.
"Well whats with your long mane, Jean?" Eren shot back.
"Hey you guys, not the face okay." Connie remarked as the two began to swing at each other.
"Someone should stop them-" Alphonse was about to get up from his seat when Mina placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Anyone gonna stop them?" Marlowe asked.
"They always did this back during the cadets." Mina commented as Eren threw a soft punch into Jean's gut. "It was more intense than this."
"Should we intervene or…" Ed said still watching the fight.
"It's fine…" Mikasa replied calmly as she watched too "They'll be fine." The two began to heavily breathe from the exhaustion as they tried to continue the fight.
"Hey." Came a voice from their side, not a second later did a forceful kick strike Eren's stomach and onto the ground before Levi kneed Jean in the gut, chunks of meat and soup spilling from his mouth. "All of you go to bed." Levi ordered in his usual stony calm tone. "You've gotten too rowdy. And clean up this mess."
"Yes sir!" said the ranks of troops in the hall. The crowd of troops quickly began to clean up; taking their plates and cleaning the mess of spills and crumbs.
Ed turned his head towards the sound of violent tapping to see Sasha tied to a wooded poll with her mouth gagged. He rushed over to her and quickly untied her. She quickly leapt up to her feet "Is there any left?" she asked with an urgency fit for life or death situations.
"Any- any meat left?" Ed asked. "Yeah there's like a few slices around-" Sasha quickly rushed off before he could finish his sentence. Ed looked around at a hall with less people than before "Where's Alphonse?" he muttered to himself. "Must have gone off to bed now…" He spotted Armin trying to carry Eren off the ground, he quickly jogged over to them, "Hey Let me help you." he said as he pulled Armin pull Eren up as Mikasa watched.
Ed and Armin carried Eren towards the step of a nearby building along an empty street as Mikasa flicked her scarf over his other shoulder; they set him down onto the steps gently as they themselves sat down. "Why didn't anyone stop me?" Eren asked them as he tried to resist the urge to realized his dinner from his stomach.
"Were we suppose to?" Ed asked "Al and I were told not to."
"Why…" Eren replied weakly.
"We knew you could take it." Mikasa replied "You can heal your body after all."
"I can't believe you." Eren remarked. Ed stood up walked a bit and faced them with a hand on his back and one at his side.
"You started it." Mikasa replied matter of factly.
The group were silent for a while as they soaked in the quiet night.
"Hey Ed, where's Alphonse?" Armin asked.
"I don't know, I think he went back to our rooms." Ed replied.
"You guys have your own rooms?" Eren asked. "Lucky…"
"Yeah, Flegel let us have the higher ups rooms for his workers." Ed stated. "It's a thank you for the stuff we did for him."
"Makes sense." Armin replied.
"You guys feeling alright?" Ed asked. "You nervous for the operation?"
"No… I don't feel nervous." Eren replied.
"I am a bit anxious." Armin stated "Despite everything we learned and can do… we just don't know how it will all end."
"We'll be fine, Armin." Mikasa reassured him.
"What about you, Ed?" Eren asked.
"I'm not too worried." Ed replied "Honestly the titans are a challenge but I have a good feeling we can handle them." He sounded so sure of himself.
"After we take back Wall Maria, are you and Alphonse heading straight home?" Armin asked.
Ed was silent for a few seconds, his eyes wondered to the ground "Not straight away…" he replied "Al and I have some loose ends to tie up first, probably have to go through more paper work with the army, Flegel will want some last minute help with some tech ideas and then we have to say goodbye to everyone" Ed looked up back to them "Not holding my breath but I'm hoping Captain Levi throws some kind of leaving party for us." They chuckled at the thought "Our priority will be to head home, that's the important thing."
"Yeah you're right." Eren said "There's no point getting caught up in all the small stuff. I use to envy you guys; You, Alphonse and even you Mikasa for being so strong and knowing what to do but I know now that we're only good when we have each other."
"Couldn't agree more." Said a familiar voice approaching them, they all turned their heads to the side to see Hannes dressed in his long brown Garrison jacket and uniform.
"Captain Hannes!" Eren exclaimed "What are you doing here?"
"Guess you guys never heard, I'm coming with you." he told them with a small smile and soft voice "We're all going back home. Together."
"You're going with the Garrison?" Armin asked "But I thought Captain Ian was leading the Garrison troops?"
"He is, I had a talk with Erwin and Ian about it and we agreed that I'd take a demotion to be a part of the captain's battalion for the operation." Hannes explained
"Commander Erwin asked you to join us?" Mikasa asked further.
"He did, sent me this letter asking." Hannes said as he reached into his pocket to take out a folded piece of paper "I still remember that day… when we were run out of our home by the titans…" he voice became a lot more sombre "I told you kids I'd follow you into hell if I had to…but I think home is a lot better." He turned to face Ed next to him "Hoping you help with most of the heavy lifting though." He joked.
"Hey that's what we're here for." Ed replied with a smile and playful tone.
"It was nice seeing you kids again, before the big mission." Hannes said turning his head back "Take care of yourselves and watch out for each other, I'll do my best make sure we win." Hannes declared, the three saluted him as Ed nodded. Hannes then walked off into the night.
"Hey" Ed said catching their attention "When all this is done, what are you guys gonna do?" he asked.
"I guess our work doesn't end after we retake wall Maria." Eren said "Still have titans to fight and maybe we'll find that hometown of the shifters."
"We'll get to travel the world outside while we're at it." Armin said, his eyes lighting up like the bright moon against the dark sky. "Think about it, that endless lake outside the walls, the lands of ice and endless sand, we'll finally be able to discover all of it." Armin stood up from the step as he spoke passionately about the world outside the walls.
"You sound pretty excited for that, I'm happy for you." Ed said watching Armin with a smile "Shame we won't be there with you to see it but I hope you remember Al and I when you guys are there."
Alphonse sat at the desk of his room; the single candle illuminated the wooden surface as the light from the moon still flooded his room. There was a small stack of envelopes, each with a different name written on it, sitting just by his hand as he stared at a blank piece of paper with the words 'Dear Mina,' written at the top. He tapped his pen on his desk as his eyes continued to stare blankly at it.
"Dear Mina…" he muttered "I…" he paused for a few seconds "Dear Mina… Thank you for…" he stopped again. "Dear Mina… I l-" There was a knock on his door; he turned his head towards it as he sat up on his chair.
Must be Ed.
"The door's open." Alphonse said as he flipped the piece of paper over. The door open as a person stepped into his room. "Mina…" he said slightly surprised. "Um- Hey, what are you doing here?"
"I just heard you guys were staying here now and I thought about talking to you a bit more." Mina replied she said, her eyes moving from Alphonse to the floor a few times. She looked around his room "It's nice, must be nice having your own room for a little bit."
"Yeah, I guess some privacy is nice." Alphonse said smiling. There was a long silence between the two as Alphonse tried to find something else to say. "Are you nervous?" he asked.
"Nervous for what?" she blurted out quickly.
"The operation" Alphonse clarified "Going to Shiganshina, we have to get up early tomorrow for it." He jokingly reminded her, of course none of them could forget.
"Right no… um… I'm not nervous for it." Mina answered. "At least I don't think so, might be a bit jittery but I wouldn't call it nerves." She seemed to fidget as she said that "I'm not nervous for the operation."
"You're okay?" Alphonse asked, he began to fiddle around with the pen in his hand, impatiently waiting for something.
"Yeah… Yeah…" Mina replied looking at the ground. She looked up at him warily "Alphonse I… I want to say, I want to tell you…" she stuttered, fumbling on her words.
"It's okay, you can tell me anything." His hand twitched slightly forward as if to reach out to her. Stopping himself.
"I- I… I'm trying to tell you that…" Mina tried desperately. She suddenly placed her hands on her face "Whats wrong with me." She said through the palms of her hands "I put my life on the line, I can save you, I can kiss you but I can't-"
"You can't…" Alphonse repeated. Even he was hesitant to say it. "It's okay…"
"It's not, if I can't do this, if I don't have the guts to do this then can I really be the Female titan? She questioned.
"Don't say that." Alphonse said as he stood up from his seat and walked up to her.
"Why was it me?" Mina said, she placed her head on his chest as he stood close to her. "I'm not someone special, I shouldn't have become the Female titan, I shouldn't be here with you guys, I shouldn't have survived Trost… I shouldn't have gotten so close to you-"
"Stop…" Alphonse said as he gently placed his arms around her, resting his chin on her head as he pulled her in. "You are someone special; you're special to your family, to your team, to your friends and to me. I feel lucky to have met you."
Mina lifted her head up, Alphonse moved his head back, as the two looked at each other. Alphonse moved his head towards her slowly, stopping slightly as Mina lifted her head up a bit more to meet him. He softly pressed his lips against hers.
She wrapped her arms around his neck as she pulled his head closer to her while Alphonse pulled her in further, their breathing frantic as they latched onto each other tightly as if afraid to let go. Alphonse broke off from her, the two still holding each other.
The two looked at each other for a few seconds before he turned his head towards the open door. He looked back to her, Mina nodded her head.
Alphonse stretched his leg out, his foot reaching the open door, before swinging her foot against the door closing it shut.
It was chilly. That was the first thought that Ed had when he stepped outside of the Reeves company lodge, the cold air running through his nose harshly as if inhaled the dying afternoon breeze. He tugged on his cloak slightly as he tried to cover himself more. He turned his head back towards the door.
Alphonse's not in his room… must have left earlier… Ed looked up to the sky, the orange rays of the sunset gleaming off of the wall and the buildings nearby, painting a silhouette before him.
Ed began to walk towards the HQ, his boots tapping onto the quiet cobblestone road, as he walked past he saw some of the labourers and workers pass by.
"Good luck." Said one as they nodded towards him.
"We'll all praying for your success." Said another.
"Give those titans a damn good kicking." Said a third.
Ed smiled and thanked them as he walked by. As he passed by the barracks he saw other soldiers, garrison and scouts, all making their way towards the HQ. Some were already dressed with their ODM gear as they headed for the stables. Just outside the HQ, ODM gear was being handed to the soldiers waiting in a few lines along a row of tables arranged in alphabetical order.
Ed walked towards the line labelled 'A-F' he looked around, to his sides and behind him checking if Alphonse was around. He got up to the end of the line, a staff member dressed in garrison uniform held a clipboard and a pen.
"First and last name?" the person asked.
"Edward Elric."
"Edward, good to see you." they responded as they ticked him off the list, another staff member behind them then began to hand Ed the scarabs and ODM gear as he quickly placed them onto the leather belts strapped around him.
"Have you seen Alphonse?" he asked.
"Yes, he came here maybe a couple minutes earlier; he should be at the stables, if not then he must already be with the others." They replied. Ed thanked them as he quickly headed off.
He jogged along the road, groups of troops riding horses passing him by as they joined the rest of the column. "Ed!" came a voice from among the crowds; he turned his head to see Alphonse standing by a lamppost holding the reins of two horses. He didn't notice it at first but Alphonse was smiling at him. Ed smiled back as he jogged over to him. Alphonse reached out with the reins of Ed's horse when Ed pulled him in to hug him.
"You got here early." Ed remarked as he pulled away.
"Yeah, sorry I didn't wake you up too." Alphonse said.
"It's fine." Edward said as he took the reins of his horse from Alphonse "C'mon lets meet up with the others." A long column of horses, carts and wagons lined the main road to the gate. They walked their way through the mass of horses and people.
"Oi" said a familiar voice close to them. They both turned their head to see Captain Levi on his horse. "Good to see your slacking asses up." Levi remarked "I was hoping to see you here earlier."
"We're here now." Ed replied cheekily "Not like we're late."
"No but one of you is gonna have to haul their ass to the back of the column." Levi said, Ed looked a bit dumbstruck "Erwin wants all points of the formation covered; Eren and Mina are posted at the sides of the formation so one of you either has to be at the front or the back.
Ed sighed; Alphonse placed his hand on Ed's shoulder "I'll head back." Alphonse volunteered.
"Alright then, I'll see you up top, Edward." Levi said as he rode away.
Ed turned back to Alphonse and the two embraced once again. "This is it, Alphonse." Ed said as he pulled away, keeping his hand on Alphonse's shoulder "All that work we did… it'll be over and we'll be back home in no time."
"Yeah, we'll be home again." Alphonse said as he pulled the reins of his horse towards the direction of the back.
"And we'll back everyone too." Ed added lightly pointing at him.
"And that too." Alphonse replied as he walked away with a thumb up. Ed climbed up onto the saddle of his horse as he rode it through the column. As he walked past he noticed the looks the other soldiers gave him; some patted him on the back giving him words of encouragement.
"We're gonna win!"
"Titans don't stand a chance against you!"
"You'll bring us to victory!"
Others… some glanced at him before looking away, not contempt but weary. Perhaps he never noticed it before, the endless praise and work had blinded him to animosity. Not everyone's expectations can be met.
His horse stopped just behind the Commander, who turned his head slightly to Ed "Edward, good to see you." next to him was Captain Ian and Levi.
"Commander Erwin, you too." Ed replied. Ian turned his body slightly to look at Ed, the two nodded at each other as they caught each other's gaze.
"Last expedition before you leave." Levi said, shifting his head to the side. "If either of us don't make it then let me say this, working with you and your brother was interesting. But I'm proud to have done so."
Ed smiled slightly as he exhaled some air from his nose at the remark. "Thanks Captain, it was 'interesting' working with you too." He replied jokingly. "But don't start with the goodbyes just yet."
There was a rumble of voices around them as a crowd of people began to form on the pavements and watch them from outside the windows of houses that lined the road leading to the massive gate.
"Hey!" yelled a person from a rooftop window; they turned their heads to see Flegel "Take back wall Maria!"
"The future of mankind is in your hands!"
"Please come back home safely!"
"Retake our land from the titans!"
There was a massive cheer from the back; Ed turned his head slightly in the direction, the voices sounded a bit familiar.
"Has the scout regiment ever gotten a send off like this?" Ian asked Erwin.
"No… this is a first." Erwin, he stared that the roaring crowds for a few sounds before he grabbed the handle of his ODM gear, shoved it into his scarab and pulled out a blade towards the sky. "RAAAAAAAAAA!" Erwin cheered, a deep and passionate roar catching his subordinates off guard but fuelled the crowd further.
The large gate to the lands of Wall Maria rose from the ground, a rumbling of giant chains and a slab of rock mixed into the noise as the path to Shiganshina lay before them from a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
"Commence the final operation to retake Wall Maria!" Erwin declared, his voice booming over everyone else's. He whipped the reins of his horse "Charge!" A long mass of horse, carts and wagons charged through the gate over a deafening wall of noise.
Reiner sipped on the bitter coffee from his metal mug as he, Bertholdt, Porco and Zeke sat around a small fire on top of the entrance to Shiganshina which pushed back the darkness of the pre-dawn. Bertholdt sat hugging his legs as he held his metal mug as Porco sat relaxed as he listened to Zeke.
"Like I told you, little Annie should be fine." Zeke told them in a calm tone "Trust me, she's not being tortured."
"What about what Edward Elric told me?" Bertholdt responded weakly "He said that 'she was paying for her crimes.'"
"Could you really see that happening?" Zeke questioned as if stating the obvious. "Consider our abilities, one cut and the scales tip in our favour almost instantly. That aside, this is Annie we're talking about; she can take care of herself."
"But they know her identity." Reiner interjected. "We got lucky in our encounters against them, I don't think even Annie could-"
"Huh." Zeke said interrupting them. "So you're saying not committed to the cause?" he questioned, his eyes narrowed as he looked at them. "I see. What exactly was that decision we made the other day?" Both Reiner and Bertholdt looked at him with apprehension, much to Porco's slight enjoyment. "I don't mind doing it again, Reiner. But if you lose next time, then you'll have to give your armour to a warrior more worthy of it."
"That a good idea." Porco commented "Should do it anyways, we've got some time."
"Shut up, Porco." Reiner said through his anxious state with a trembling voice as he tried his best to remain calm.
"Make me, armoured failure." Porco encouraged as he sat up slightly.
"That's enough." Zeke stamped his authority on them "We need to focus on the task at hand. The coordinate, we're here to capture Eren Yeager."
"What about those alchemist brothers?" Porco said "If what half of those two said about them is true then they might be a bigger prize than the founding titan."
"Or a bigger threat." Zeke replied. "If their goals are tied to the devils then there's no way in hell they'll surrender their abilities to us." He glared over to all three of them before focusing on Reiner and Bertholdt "Beside what you told us about their alchemy, what can you tell us about them? The people behind the magic tricks."
"They're smart." Reiner started.
"Pretty sure everyone is smart compared to you." Porco remarked offhandedly.
"They're intelligent." Reiner continued, ignoring Porco. "I've seen them help organise strategy during our attack on Trost, they were able to learned how to use ODM gear within two months when it took us over a year and they're both crafty, more so the elder brother, Edward Elric." Reiner stated "I've gone up against it him; he managed to break through my armour which almost led to Eren Yeager killing me."
"If those two know how to break our armour than whats the point of having… them…" Bertholdt said as he tilted his head off to the side. It was dim and barely noticeable but on the edge of the village which was grown out of the entrance to Shiganshina. A light could be seen through the window of a house. "If the Elrics know how to break a titan's armour then wouldn't all our titans be useless in a fight?"
"Then we play… to OUR strengths… while minimizing theirs." Zeke "We just have to use our ace in the cards more cleverly."
"Shame they won't stick around for the entire battle." Porco whined slightly.
"This is already a massive step out of their strict policy." Zeke stated "If the Elrics and Eren Yeager become a threat we couldn't handle then we'll play our hand."
Bertholdt asked "What do we do about them if we win, capture them?"
"As I said their goals are tied to the fate of this island." Zeke stated. "Kill them on sight." Zeke paused for a second "We have one goal, regain the coordinate and end this cursed history."
In the distance Ed could see it, the long wall of Maria stretching out across the landscape for miles. He pulled down on his hood as the formation grew near.
A green flare was shot nearby, trailing into the sky. "Garrison, break!" came the order as dozens of horse, carts and wagons began to peel off from the formation on both sides. They drew closer to the wall and to the ruins of the town just outside the entrance to Shiganshina. The details of its desolation became clearer by the second.
"Squads Nanaba, Marlene and Klaus, secure the town!" Erwin ordered, his voice travelling for miles it seemed. "The rest of you, onwards into Shiganshina!" the formation quickly began to merge into a crammed line as they flooded into the town, dozen more horses and their riders peeled off into the abandoned and broken streets and building corners of the ruins as the main column rode towards the gaping hole in Wall Maria. "Begin the operation! All remaining squads, switch to vertical manoeuvring!"
Ed pulled out the handles to his gear and aimed them for the top of the wall. His, alongside a web of other metal wires and hooks struck the wall as it reeled him up. He climbed up onto the wall, small plants and cracks littered this unattended and ancient stretch as he ran forward to the other side of the edge.
Another district, a city enclosed within the half oval of the fifty meter walls that surrounded it. Even from up upon the heavens it was clear the city was devastated. He continued his run to the stretch of wall that surrounded the district itself.
"Don't stop!" someone yelled behind him "Get into position!" he turned his head to see someone standing still and observing the district as others ran by them. Ed fired the cables of his ODM gear onto the walls as he swung his way towards the outer entrance of the district, tens of other hooded figures in front and behind him.
Despite being surrounded by his allies and the lack of resistance both to and arriving to the district, he felt uneasy. Three flares had gone off, green trails of smoke touching the clouds over the entrance into Shiganshina from the outside. Ed burst forward, the large hole in the wall seemingly staring at him. Despite the hissing of gas and small pings of metal hitting the wall, it was quiet. He landed onto the wall, a small team of scouts following him, he looked off to his side to see another small group just standing off the edge of the wall facing inside of the district.
"We're in position." whispered one of the scouts. Ed stood on the edge of the wall facing beyond the wall. Another scout peered over their shoulder as they counted down using the hand.
Three…
Two…
One…
"Jump."
The two groups stepped off the edge of the wall and descended onto the ground, using the gas from their ODM gear to slow their fall. Ed landed onto the ground kneeling, he quickly shifted his head left and right as he watched his surroundings. He turned to face the hole in the wall, towering over him.
Just like the one in Trost… he thought as he placed his blades back into the scarabs.
Through the tunnel he could see the other team. And Alphonse facing him, Ed nodded at him as they both ran up to their side of the hole with their hands clasped together, sparks of blue electricity flickering around them. As they came to the open wound of the wall they planted their hands onto the ground as large grey rock walls began rose from the ground and shielded the tunnel. Sealing the wall.
Erwin watched, standing over the entrance into Shiganshina, as two green pillars of smoke climbed into the sky, its trail just in front of the outer gate of the district. A familiar zipping sound and clinking of metal hooks caught his attention; Erwin turned his head to see Nanaba and Gelgar behind him.
"Whats the situation?" Erwin asked as he turned to face them.
"Garrison soldiers are now moving into the town as we speak, if the enemy does try to launch an attack from behind us then we'll be in a position." Nanaba informed him "Artillery cannons are being positioned and our horses are being grouped together as we speak."
"Good, the Elrics have succeeded on their end." Erwin replied. "No sign of the enemy?"
"Not that we could find." Gelgar replied "whole place looked empty, what about in the district?"
"Nothing." Erwin replied.
"Strange…" Nanaba commented.
"Maybe they forfeited beforehand." Gelgar joked.
"Commander!" yelled a person to their side; they all turned to see Armin rush towards them "I have something to report!"
"Go on, Arlert." Erwin replied.
"I found a full set of camping equipment scattered on the ground." Armin explained "contents of the cups smelled like coffee, something that couldn't be found or made inside the walls, and there were traces of it from a metal pot along with four mugs."
"Four mugs?" Nanaba repeated "Must be the Armoured, Colossal, the Beast Titan but another one?"
"We got another shifter to deal with…" Gelgar muttered angrily.
"Was the metal pot cold?" Erwin asked.
"Yes, commander." Armin replied.
"Odd…" Erwin remarked as he stared off into the territory of Wall Maria.
"What it's just a pot?" Gelgar commented.
"Our speed reaching the district was at full pelt, they should have had possibly two minutes at most between when they saw us and when we arrived." Erwin explained "A fresh pot wouldn't have cooled off in two minutes, meaning they knew we were coming possibly five minutes beforehand and were able to prepare for our arrival."
"So- So we should assume they had scouts watching us?" Armin asked "There are more enemies waiting for us?"
"If that is the case then our priority will be to locate our enemies." Erwin stated. "Arlert, you've managed to devise strategies for us before; I'm asking you to do this now again." Arlert looked at him with wide eyes and mouth slight agape, Erwin waved forward more scouts "Take as many men as you need." He turned to face the scouts approaching them "All squads continue your search under the command of Armin Arlert."
Erwin watched as Armin began to brief the squad leaders on their next moves.
"Another big gamble." Commented one of the scout leaders.
"No, Armin's judgement is a safe bet." Erwin remarked. "He is one of our greatest assets."
"Eren and Mina's teams are in position on both sides of the district and it looks like the Elrics are heading back to us." Informed one of the scouts "What's our next move, do we continue with the operation or put it on hold until we find our enemies?"
Erwin shut his eyes for a second as he exhaled through his nose. "We must continue." He watched as the scout regiment began to comb through the houses of the district. "To our own knowledge we should have the advantage in terms of our manpower, weapons and abilities to win any kind of battle." He explained "However that being said we have to assume our enemy is thinking the same way; assault or siege we just have to brace ourselves and hope we're one's with the better cards."
Alphonse lands onto the wall, his boots sliding slightly as he came to a halt as a group of scouts following behind him. Commander Erwin stands on the edge of the wall, watching below along with other groups of scouts. Out of the corner of his eye, Alphonse spots another group of scouts landing on the opposite end of the commander.
That must be Ed's team.
"Commander Erwin." Alphonse said as he ran up to them, he then saw Ed coming up from the side. "Br-" Ed placed his finger on his mouth. There was a messy chorus of clanging on both sides of the wall.
"What's going on?" said one of the hooded scouts, it sounded like Connie.
"Whats happening?" Jean asked.
"Armin has a hunch." Erwin stated "That they're hiding in the walls." Alphonse ran towards the edge and looked down, a row of scouts tapping their swords onto the wall.
That's right, without the colossal titans the walls are hollow.
Suddenly a flare was shot off from the inside wall of the district. "Here!" yelled one of the scouts "There's a hollow point here!" Alphonse turned his head to the direction of the smoke as others ran up the edge.
A chip of the wall was quickly lifted, like someone on the other side of the wall was pushing outwards on it and suddenly a blade stabbed the scout through their stomach, their hooks detaching as they fell to the ground.
A person quickly crawled from the cracks. "Reiner!" Armin yelled.
"They're here!" yelled another scout.
It must have happened in a less than a second, because all of a sudden Reiner was out in the open and Levi falling towards them, his blade piercing Reiner's neck as they both free fell to the ground. Levi kicked Reiner in mid air as he fired his cables onto the walls.
"Captain Levi!" Armin yelled.
"Dammit!" Levi yelled his voice heavy in both anger and frustration "How the hell did he survive? I was so close… but I couldn't kill him."
Reiner lay on the ground seemingly lifeless until his body was consumed in an explosion of light, illuminating the wall and the area around him. A mass cloud of smoke hid the ground below; as the smoke cleared the fifteen meter body of the armoured titan lay before them motionless.
"All units, check all around us!" Erwin commanded stretching out his arm. "Focus your attention within the district-" Suddenly there was chain reactions of explosions just behind them, like a rapid chain of cannons shot each less than a second before the other, Alphonse and the others on the wall quickly turned towards the connecting town as they witnessed a line of explosions surround the town.
A tall barrier of smoke encircled the town, as the clouds below lifted a blockade of titans was revealed with the Beast titan standing at the centre of the siege.
"It's him!" Gelgar yelled. Even from up here, Alphonse could hear the yelling and shouts from the garrison below. Even if he was a small figure on the horizon, Alphonse could tell it was him.
"The Beast titan…" he muttered.
He noticed it, everyone else did too. There was something from the sky just falling towards them. It was a large boulder.
"Incoming!" Erwin warned. "Take cover!"
The boulder fell just short of the top of the wall, crashing into the entrance of Shiganshina.
BOOM!
"He missed us?" Nanaba exclaimed.
"No, it hit their target, blocking our entrance." Erwin stated. "Cutting off our paths and forcing us into one spot, they want to wipe us out here."
"It's a similar strategy to Utgard castle." Nanaba stated anxiety and anger in her voice as she gripped the handles of her ODM tighter.
"The armored titan is getting up!" yelled Sasha watching from the other side.
"Looks like we've both getting the battle we're hoping for." Erwin proclaimed as he watched the Beast titan "Let's put an end to this here, Humanity… or those damned titans."
Hello everyone,
Sorry for the wait, I've been focused on my dissertation as of late, however I was able to finish writing this and hopefully I'll find more time in between my work and this story.
Anyway, thank you for the over 400 followers and 380 favourites, I truly appreciate it.