Attack On Titan 4 (aot x oc)

23- Sunset

--- Trost District ---

"Good grief. What are they doing in Shiganshina?" Hitch asks as she walks into Trost headquarters, only to spot water on the ground in front of her, "it's from... the basement?".

She follows the water to a room as she opens the door and steps inside.

"If you scream... I'll cut your throat" Annie says as she puts her hand over Hitch's mouth and kicks the door closed with her foot, "first, take off the jacket".

Hitch grabs Annie and throws her over and pushes her into the wall.

"You're so weak I thought you were a granny" Hitch says as she grabs Annie by her collar, "to think there'd be a day where I'd toss you around, Annie".

"It's you, out of all people, Hitch?" Annie asks as she looks at Hitch.

I've got to get her into the basement before it's too late.

Hitch says as she rolls Annie onto her front.

"Help!" Hitch yells as she pins Annie's arms behind her back.

"It's no use" Annie says as she looks at Hitch, "I already cut myself, so I can transform whenever. You'll just have to do as I say".

"Oh yeah? If you're this weak, you won't have the enemy to transform" Hitch says as she looks at the blood on her hand.

"You might be right. Guess we won't know until I try" Annie says menacingly.

"Dreyse! Are you alright?" someone asks from outside the room, "Dreyse! I'm coming in! Dreyse?".

Hitch rolls her eyes as she helps Annie up and takes her out of the room through another door, leading Annie to the stables.

"You're smarter than I thought, Hitch" Annie says as she looks at Hitch.

"Shut up. If you're skipping town, I've got no reason to stop you" Hitch says as she prepares a horse, "besides, I won't have to stare at your face in the basement anymore".

"That's good. I won't have to listen to your endless talks about lousy men anymore" Annie says as she watches Hitch.

"How do you know about that?" Hitch asks as she looks back at Annie, "were you... conscious the whole time?".

"For four years, it was like I was watching some distant dream" Annie says as she leans against the wall of the barn, "the only thing I could hear way you and Armin talking from far away. And when I couldn't, it was always the same-- pure darkness. So thanks to you guys talking, I always knew what was going on. But then, I was suddenly thrown back into the world... and I heard Eren's voice. Is he actually serious about destroying the world?".

Hitch and Annie make it outside as they see all of the Wall titans on the move.

"The Wall titans really are marching..." Annie says in shock.

"Look beneath their feet" Hitch says as she looks ahead, "the only meaningful job I've had as a soldier is picking up bodies and debris-- cleaning up after you and Eren. Maybe now you can answer me. How does it feel to see all the bodies crushed for your grand mission?".

"Yeah... since you asked a lot, I mulled it over a lot as well--" Annie says as she looks down, "how we gave no thought. Killing people was something we were praised for. Outside our lands, we were taught it was fine to kill soldiers and civilians alike. Since we were atoning for Eldia's sins and saving the world, anything we did was justified".

"Armin told me about your situation" Hitch says as she looks up at the sky, "in short, you guys were trying to stop that. You thought all the dead were a small price to pay?".