Shingeki no Jiyu

XXII

     She sipped loudly at the cup to avoid conversation. Keith reclined in his chair, boots propped on the desk, whilst Neal leaned against the bookshelf.

     "An utter massacre," Neal announced, moreso to himself. "We played into their hands."

     Since returning to Trost, Adria's suspicions were confirmed—they'd been baited at Hana. Somehow, all of the residents had been turned into Titans, or at least that was their current hypothesis. There was no answer as to how or why, but the proof was undeniable.

     Neal's squad, along with Mike and Hanji exterminated the majority of the Titans which had fled the village in search of prey. One of them had been Susanne. Graham had also escaped the forest before the squad was crushed, he'd allowed the Titan form of his wife devour him. It seemed surreal to Adria; she'd seen them this morning—their mortality was harrowing.

     "He's alive," Adria whispered, staring into the reflection of the teacup.

      Keith rolled his neck, "Eh?"

       "Viktor," she bit her lip at the mention of his name. She could feel her heart beat harder against her sternum at the thought of his red hair. "Isn't it obvious?"

      "Adria," Keith guffawed. "Before your incident, you were the one parroting that he was killed. You denied the possibility and success of a search party even. You can't be serious."

      She averted her eyes back to the tea.

      "You were there when His Majesty revealed Viktor's identity. . .this all isn't a coincidence. Can't you see?"

        Neal raised an eyebrow, "You're talking nonsense 'Ria."

      Adria rested her head against the glass and sighed, "The man which posed as the fake King is Willy Tybur, Viktor's uncle. Yelts are Marlian. . .they served and protected the noble families of Marley who won majority of the Titan's from the Great War. I don't know if it was a memory. . .but I was told that my purpose is Marley and to serve Viktor. My father, Brant, seemed to break this mould and stole the Defence Titan from Marley. He also pissed off the Beast Titan, Zeke, which resulted in his death. It's simple really. . .Marley, whoever or whatever they are, seek my return now that they have Viktor. Next it will probably be a mission to reclaim the Defence Titan."

     "A compelling theory, but there are holes," Keith tipped a shot of bourbon into his cup. "One, Viktor has been raised behind these walls all of his life and has had no passion to reclaim his birthright even after being told. Two, Brant completely abandoned Marley prior to becoming Commander. Three, why now? If you both were such commodities, why not take you as children?"

     "Because you got to us first," Adria said "Perhaps they didn't have all the knowledge that they do now, or skill, who knows? But in the last few years we know that the Beast Titan is key. He murdered Brant, attempted to kill Viktor and orchestrated Willy Tybur's short rule in the palace."

      "And what will Marley do? Surely a Titan is far more valuable than you. I mean as in their strength and ability as you are limited to a human form," Keith frowned.

      "The Curse of Ymir," Neal looked at his shaking hands. "A Shifter is only good for thirteen years, whereas Adria can outlive most. Shifters also have to repeatedly change hands—Adria is an insurance policy; if she protects the Tybur's, Marley guarantee security of one of their Titans. This could then be transferred to whatever Shifters they have, reinforcing their strength. It makes sense actually. . .the Ackerman have practically died out, there are no rivals to Yelts. Even Jørgens are weak in comparison."