50.
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CHAPTER FIFTY — Portent
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-Unspecified Location; Wall Rose Territory-
"Got room for one more?" Rosalie calls out questioningly; her green eyes peeking out over the landing once her climb to the top of the lookout post slows to a stop. She, however, waits for no answer as she continues her ascent.
Turning his head, Jean can only silently watch as the brunette approaches and lifts herself atop the railing beside him with a small hop.
His heart skips a beat when she wobbles precariously on her chosen perch, and he scrambles forward to close the small distance between them to grab hold of her wrists to steady her. "Will you get down from there…?! You're gonna fall!"
"…Someone's in a cranky mood…" Rosalie huffs, trailing off as she offers him a small smile of reassurance. "I'm fine. You can let go of me now."
Jean flushes and releases his hold. "Sorry…" He murmurs, bashfully averting his gaze to scan the area. And a moment passes before he speaks again. "What are you doing out here anyway? I thought you were helping Eren and the others?"
Rosalie snorts, bristling slightly at the inquiry. "I grew tired of him following along behind just to redo everything we had already taken care of. So, I told him to take care of it himself, since we apparently aren't up to par." She informs, rolling her eyes. "Asshole…"
Jean chuckles to himself at that. And from the corner of his eye, he watches as the brunette removes the article of fabric that was thrown over her shoulder. "What's that?"
"What else? It's Eren's shirt." Rosalie informs— though her tone is anything but annoyed as she continues where she left off in mending the hem. "He's always getting them snagged on something… Although, he was worse about it when we were younger. All of the fights he got himself into didn't help his closet in the slightest. It drove his mama up the wall most days. 'kasa and I had to learn pretty quickly how to fix things so she wouldn't find out half of the time."
Despite the fizzy warmth he felt from learning something new about her childhood, Jean couldn't stop his eyebrow from twitching. "Why not make him do it, himself?" He grumbles, somewhat annoyed at the brunette's fussing— something she and Mikasa seemed to do extremely well nowadays.
(He wasn't jealous of the attention Eren received. No, he was just annoyed at the notion of him constantly being coddled— even as a child. (At least, that's what he told himself, anyway.))
Rosalie doesn't seem to notice his irritated intonation as she stays focused on her task. "And have him go full Titan mode in the only place we have to sleep? No thanks!" She replies, bemused at the thought of Eren accidentally pricking his finger with a needle and losing control.
When Jean stays silent, she looks up and immediately clocks his (jealous) annoyed disposition as his eyes trailed the perimeter. Endeared, Rosalie smiles. "I've already finished yours and the others. Don't worry…!~"
Jean's head whips around at that. "Wha…" He begins, trailing off when he sees her teasing grin. "W-What are you talking about?! I'm not worried about anything…!"
"You were making that face again." Rosalie informs fondly, snickering as she playfully nudges his calf with the toe of her boot. "So silly.~"
"Shut up…" Jean grunts, looking away flustered.
Rosalie, however, wasn't finished. "If it'll make you feel even better to know… I even did yours first!"
In an instant, Jean responds to her taunting by lunging forward; latching his hands around the brunette's waist as he gently digs his fingers into her ribs. "That's it—! You wanna make jokes, huh? You wanna laugh?! I'll give you somethin' to laugh about!"
Rosalie's yelp of surprise bleeds into boisterous peals of laughter. Eren's shirt now long forgotten on the floor as she struggles in Jean's hold; unable to escape due to her spot on top of the railing. "I'm—! I'm sorry!" She wheezes, face turning red from exertion. "Fold…! I— I fOLD! Uncle! U-UNCLE…!"
Having mercy, Jean stops his ministrations; laughing when Rosalie slouches dramatically against his chest— breathless but giggling all the same.
The two are so nearly lost in the moment, the sound of approaching horses is as daunting as it is sobering.
Springing apart as if they had been doused with a bucket of ice-cold water, the duo turns their gazes southward. Both grew apprehensive at the realization that the setting sun shadowed the new arrivals, making identification nigh impossible.
Jean steps forward and picks up his rifle.
Rosalie lowers herself from the railing and onto her feet; her hand reaching underneath her trench coat to rest upon the holstered gun strapped to her thigh— a weapon of which Levi temporarily granted her whilst he was away.
A moment of tense silence passes as they wait for the small group to close in, however, their worries are quickly quelled as a sense of recognition washes over them. It was none other than their Captain, with Hange and her squad in tow.
Slowing to a halt, Levi's gaze immediately latches onto the duo as he begins to dismount. "Oi, brats! Stop making moon-eyes at each other and get inside. We're having a meeting!"
Rosalie— now mid-stoop, bent at the waist to reclaim Eren's shirt— freezes in place at the taunt; growing wide-eyed and red-faced as her head snaps up to meet his gaze. "Tha—That's not what we're doing at all!"
Levi says nothing in response, and his silence does nothing but embarrass the brunette further as she quickly descends from the lookout post to follow him inside. "…Levi…!"
Feeling bashful, Jean keeps his gaze lowered to the ground as he too descends and begins to make his way towards the cottage. His flush darkening when Hange claps him lightly on the shoulder and winks as she trots past.
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"Pastor Nick is dead."
The information is bluntly stated, but the despondency in Hange's voice gave plenty of insight into how she felt on the matter.
All activity in the room ceases as all eyes turn to her in surprise.
"Huh? What was that?" Levi questions, obvious in his hope of simply mishearing what it was that she said.
Unfortunately, he didn't.
"He's dead… Pastor Nick. He was murdered this morning in the Trost District Barracks." Hange reiterates, just as crestfallen as when she began speaking the first time around.
She leans forward in her seat, guilt marring her features as she stares down at her lap; her hands clasped loosely together as they hung between her knees. "I figured the Church would want to deal with Nick since he was operating with the Scouts. That's why I hid his identity and had him stay in the Barracks." She informs, pausing momentarily to shake her head and sigh. "But, to think they would use soldiers to kill him…! I was too careless. It's entirely my fault."
Rosalie huffs, her chair creaking as she slumps further into the seat. "Ever since Eren's tribunal, I suspected the Church had some kind of pull in the government… But this takes the cake if it's true."
Armin nods in agreement as his gaze slides down the table to Levi. "The Military Police…" He begins, trailing off only for a moment. "Did they torture Pastor Nick just to find out what information he spilled to us?"
"Most likely. But it was the Interior Police, which means there's something more behind it." Levi answers, staring thoughtfully at the quickly cooling tea in his hands. His narrowed gaze then finds Hange's once more. "So, how many nails did Nick have ripped off?"
Stumped at the sudden shift in topic, Hange can only voice everyone's collective confusion. "Huh…?"
Unperturbed, Levi presses further. "You saw, right? How many?"
Looking off to the side, Hange ponders the question as she recalled the fleeting memory. "…I only caught a glimpse of him, but all of the nails that I could see were gone."
Levi nods, seeming to find the answer he needed. "People that talk, talk after one. If they don't, peeling more won't make a difference." He informs, his expression softening somewhat. "Pastor Nick… I thought he was an idiot, but… He didn't turn away from what he believed, to the end."
His gaze then snaps up, latching onto Historia's sullen form. "In other words, they have no idea we've caught wind of the Reiss family. Though, someone in the government is up to no good, and their eyes are fixed on us."
The room is quiet for a moment at his supposition; everyone feeling as if another weight has been added to their already burdened shoulders. The silence, however, is broken when the door opens.
"Captain Levi…! A message from Commander Erwin!" Nifa— a member of Hange's squad— informs as she enters. Not bothering to wait for further prompting as she approaches and rounds the table in a quick stride to give the male a small white note. "I went to tell him about Pastor Nick, but he sent me off with this." She elaborates further as he gently takes the parchment from her hand.
Levi is silent as he reads the message— although everyone can surmise from the look on his face that it's nothing good.
"Well? What is it?" Rosalie inquires as his expression hardens. "What does it say?"
Instead of giving a proper answer, Levi rises from his seat. "Everyone out. We leave now." He orders, sending the room into an immediate, unquestioned scramble. "Leave no trace that we were here."
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The splintering sound of a door being kicked in practically echoed across the fields, resonating up to the cliffs overlooking the small cottage; loud and clear to those watching the spectacle from above.
Night had quickly fallen following their flight from the abode, shrouding them all in a veil of shadow as they ascended the ridge and made for the tree line just beyond its rocky edge.
"That was close. If he hadn't left right then, what would've happened to us?" Connie questions lowly as he peeked over, watching as a unit of Military Police surrounded the cottage from all directions and began scouring the grounds; their torches resembling fireflies as they lit up the quickly darkening area.
"I wouldn't want to know." Rosalie replies in turn, her voice just as soft.
Armin spares the duo a passing glance as he looks to Levi for an answer. "But why? What would make Commander Erwin—?"
Levi, knowing where the inquiry was going, waves him off to finally explain. "New orders from the government. There's been a freeze on all Scout activity outside the Wall. They're telling us to hand over Eren and Historia."
"By the way, right after he gave me the message, the Military Police came for him." Nifa informs, drawing attention her way. "Squad Leader Turner hasn't been detained yet, but he's being closely watched alongside the rest of the Scouts being sequestered in the Barracks. It'll be difficult getting information in and out."
Rosalie whirls around to look at her, a lump forming in her throat as her insides turn to ice. "What?!"
"That's treating them like criminals!" Hange exclaims in disbelief.
Nifa nods but says nothing else on the matter. It's then that a look of remembrance flashes across her face, prompting her to step closer to Rosalie. "Squad Leader sent this by me, as well…" She trails off, reaching into her pocket to pull out a small parcel.
Shakily, Rosalie takes the bundle of cloth and unravels the twine tying it together; revealing a small box with a note attached. Her breath hitches and her stomach churns with dread, however, before she could investigate further, Jean places a comforting hand on her shoulder— redirecting her attention.
"Someone's not working from the shadows anymore. They're moving for all eyes to see." Levi mutters, looking away from the younger girl and to Hange— who meets his steely gaze evenly.
"To go that far to protect the Wall's secrets…" Hange muses, cupping her chin thoughtfully. "What's more— Why do they want us to hand over Eren and Historia? Not to kill, but for them to obtain?"
"Who knows?" Levi scoffs. "Anyways, it's clear now that the enemy is after these two. Loitering around here is dangerous… We're moving her and Eren to Trost District."
"Why? That's the same place Pastor Nick was killed." Moblit inquires, uncertain of the plan now laid out.
Levi looks at him. "It's worse to head towards the Interior. With Trost in a panic, it should be easy to slip in… And if it somehow comes down to it, we can use these in the city." He answers, pulling back the edge of his cloak to reveal his gear for emphasis.
He then turns to Hange. "Plus, not knowing the enemy puts us in a tough spot. We need to find who's behind this… Hange, lend me some of your squad."
"Of course." Hange nods, instantly conceding to the request. She then looks down at her scuffed boots, thoughtful for a moment. And when she finally raises her head, her eyes are set with determination. "All right. I'm going after Erwin and James. Moblit's with me." She announces before turning to address the rest of her squadron. "The rest of you will follow Levi!"
"Roger!"
With their answer, Hange pivots on her heels and begins to make her way towards her horse; Moblit hot on her tail.
However, before the two could get too far, Eren jolts forward. "Hange!" He calls out, stopping her right before she could mount the steed as he holds out a piece of paper. "Here! I remembered a conversation between Ymir and Bertolt… Didn't get time to tell you, but it's there."
Hange stares at the paper for a second before taking it. "Alright, I'll take a look at it later." She assures with a nod, turning and mounting her horse. Then, with a fleeting glance toward Moblit to ensure he was ready, she urges her steed forward with a flick of her reigns. "Hiyaah…!"
They all stand off to the side quietly, watching as she and Moblit disappear into the thick foliage. That is, until Levi turns to them.
"Let's get going. We'll make a plan on the way."
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