Ymir's Legacy

Ch. 29; Declaration of War

Weeks had passed since the discussion of who would inherit five of the ten titans Eldia has, and now Levi squad along with Hange and Moblit sailed across the sea to Marley with Onyonkapon as their guide. As they sailed on the ship, Annie leaned on the railing, gazing out at the ocean waters, she was lost in thought. Aila noticed, "Annie? You ok?", she asked, concerned for her wife, Annie looked up at her, "Yeah, these damn clothes are just not my style". Aila laughed a bit, walking up and hugging her from behind, "I think the skirt and shoes look cute on you, but I do agree, this suit is a bit too fancy for my liking", Annie spun around and tightened Aila's tie, "I think you look stunning", Aila smiled, leaning down and placing a kiss on her lips. She broke it after a few moments, "Come on, what's really bothering you?", Annie let out a sigh and turned towards the docks, looking out at the buildings, "I just... never imagined it'd take me so long to come back here, to Marley". Aila sighed, she tightened her embrace on Annie, "You'll see him again, I promise", Annie smiled, she was glad her wife understood what she meant before even saying anything. Mikasa walked over to Annie with a pair of glasses, "Letting your hair down isn't enough to hide your identity, here", Annie made a disgusted face but ultimately caved and put them on. Mikasa leaned on the rails as they grew closer to land, Sasha stood next to her, "At long last, we are the first humans from within the walls to step foot outside the walls". Everyone but Annie and Ymir stood with amazed eyes, "You could say this is a return to our original mission", Hange said as they began to dock. Once they let the ramp down, she said one more thing before taking her husband's hand, "Let the survey begin". Everyone was ordered to walk in couples if they were already together to seem less suspicious, Annie looped her arm through Aila's arm, walking down with poise. Sasha and Mikasa followed suit, same with Marco and Jean, this was to seem as if they were truly a group of friends and not spies from another nation. As they entered the city, Onyonkapon met with them, taking his hat off and bowing his head slightly, "Welcome to the continent of Marley, allow me to show you to lady Azumabito's estate", and with that, they were off.

Aila looked around stunned, she was amazed at how advanced Marley was compared to Eldia, Annie noticed and smiled, thinking it was cute seeing her wife so childlike for once. Suddenly, Connie shouted, "HUNH?! THAT HORSE! WHA...? IS THAT A HORSE?" "T-THERE ARE COWS LIKE THAT! YEAH A COW!", Sasha shouted after him. Mikasa squeezed her lover's arm that was hooked to hers, making her wince a bit, "You idiot... now we seem more suspicious". Annie began to laugh like never before, making everyone stare at her, "Haha! Wow, I-I'm sorry but that was too funny ahaha!", she wiped a tear from her eyes from laughing. "That my friends is a car, a vehicle that's motorized and can move without horses or anything pulling it", Annie stated, still smiling from the comment her two friends had made. Ymir snorted, face palming into her hand, "Wow, you two really are idiots", Aila smiled at her friends' excitement, but noticed Ymir was looking a bit down. She and Annie walked up to her, "Oi, Ymir, you ok?", Ymir jumped at her voice, "Geez! Don't sneak up on me like that, and yeah I'm fine or whatever I just miss my beloved Historia is all" "Uh-huh... you can tell me the truth y'know, we won't tell anyone", Aila responded with a raised eyebrow. Ymir let a sigh out, "I just... it's been over a decade since I've been in Marley, it feels weird and my memories of this place aren't exactly... happy", Annie frowned, she let go of Aila's arm for a moment, walking up to Ymir and hugging her, making Ymir blush a bit. "W-What the hell are you-?!" "I understand how you feel... but, know that we have your back now, ok?", Annie cut her off, Ymir relaxed a bit and backed away back to the others, "Y-Yeah whatever, you shouldn't be addressing your queen so casually y'know". Aila smiled, hooking her arm back with Annie's, "Shall we?", she said motioning to the group, Annie giggled and nodded, walking back to the others.

As they walked through the crowds of people, Sasha stopped at a stand with some kind of food, Mikasa groaned, "Honey you can't keep-" "I'll take this please!", Sasha said enthusiastically while pulling her coin purse out, paying for hers and Mikasa's food. She handed it to Mikasa, they started to lick it, their eyes shot open with delight, "NGH! This thinger's cold!?", the man at the stand chuckled, "First time having ice cream?", everyone freaked out with excitement as they ate the ice cream. Aila bought some and came back, handing a cone to Annie, "Here love, have you had this before?", Annie's face lit up, "Is that... ice cream?" "Yeah you've had it before?", Aila asked, sticking her cone in her mouth. Annie let out a small but sad smile, "I had it once.. when I was a kid", Aila hooked her arm back through Annie's, she bent down and took a bit of Annie's. "Hey! You've got your own you know!", Aila laughed, she knew Annie would have that reaction, after all, she loved sweets. As they ate, they walked up to Levi, and a weird man with paint on his face with candy came up from behind him, "Hey there son, you want some caaaandy?", everyone stood with their jaws agape, fearing for that man's life. Levi turned around with a glare, "Wow, what fun! Are you kiddos playing gangster?", Aila, Ymir, and Annie tried their hardest to hold in their laughs, letting out snorts here and there, nearly dropping their ice cream. Sasha ran around the stands, buying all sorts of food with Connie, Jean and Marco, Mikasa walked over to Eren who stood by the docks, gazing out at the ocean, "Here Eren, you should try this" "Is that ice cream?", Eren asked as Mikasa handed it to him. "You know what this is?", Mikasa asked as she handed the cone to him, "Only through my old man's memories, Eldian's in the internment zone rarely get to eat it", Eren said with a sad tone as he took the cone. Just as Annie and Aila were headed towards Sasha and Connie, they stopped when they noticed Levi, "Hey, that's not your coin purse", he said as he grabbed a hold of a kid's hand. The kid had taken Sasha's coin purse while she was looking at the food stands, Ymir noticed Levi, she tried to tell him to be quiet, but it was already too late.