In Between The Ends

Chapter Four

The sun was shining brightly overhead in the Capitol when Arya took up her post at the main entrance leading into the compound's designated courthouse. The flags erected on the high poles on either side of the door snapped and wriggled in the warm breeze. The outer-most sentries in the city had only just spotted their expected company a few minutes ago, but already the entire Jaegerist military force was on high alert. Invisible to the naked eye, trained marksmen were stationed at intervals along the high outer ramparts. Armed elites were tucked behind supply wagons positioned at strategic points along the edge of the walls and, though she couldn't see them from where she now stood, she suspected that behind every glazed window facing out towards the courtyard's main gates was the muzzle of a gun.

The tension in the air was palpable as the minutes dragged on; every face she saw contained a mixture of both immense suspicion and burning curiosity. Before long, a clipped shout from atop the main gates announced the Allied Ambassador's arrival.

They're here.

Arya concentrated on keeping her face expressionless as the gates swung open to reveal six people on horseback, a small cart of supplies towed behind them and their accompanying military escort.

So, these were the faces that are said to have destroyed our future. She frantically studied each of them in turn as they made their slow progression to the shallow steps below her. She didn't know what she had been expecting to see but this certainly was not it. These were not ancient and grizzled demons, they were people; young people like her by the looks of them. At the head of the company was a lean blonde man whom she assumed to be the commanding officer.

Armin Arlert, the man who killed Eren Jaeger. Arya had made sure to memorize the names and descriptions listed on the initial assessment report from the harbor. She searched for any sign of malcontent in his delicate features that would betray his calm demeanor, but there were none. His face was sure and resolved.

Running through the names she had read, she matched each of them to the vague descriptions given to her regiment.

Behind and slightly to the right of the one called Armin was Jean Kirstein, long copper-brown hair framed an arrogant face and touched his wide shoulders. His mouth was set in a hard line as he kept his eyes forward towards the courthouse. To Armin's left was Connie Springer: a thin man with a near buzz cut whose eyes were darting back and forth constantly.

These were the people who were born and raised here just like her, behind the walls. The ones who, according to the government, had turned their back on Paradis and sided with the enemy.

In their wake was Reiner Braun, Annie Leonhart and Pieck Finger. Wait, that can't be right. Arya's eyes widened a fraction despite herself. If the stories were correct, the three of them had all possessed the power of the enemies' titans. Reiner, blonde and built like an ox, had been directly responsible for the first breach of wall Maria in Shinganshina 11 years ago, and Annie (another blonde with an unreadable stoic expression) the immense damage done to Stohess almost 6 years later. Pieck, her dark hair hanging in her strangely absence-minded face, was accomplice to just as many deaths of Eldian people in the last days before the Rumbling.

As they reached the base of the courthouse and began to dismount, Arya's mind was swimming. How could they stand together like this? So long they spent on opposite sides of a conflict that was built by thousands of years of war. Yet here they were, banded together in a mission to unite the nations of the world. How was that possible?

The party drew up close to one another, all eyes looking to their commander. He nodded once and, with armed soldiers covering the rear in a stiff semi-circle, he led his team up the stairs and across the small landing towards her. The massive oak doors to her right swung inward as they approached, General Loren stepped out into the high noon sunlight to meet them. He was flanked by several other members of the High Council, all with the same wary expression.