Mask-An Attack on Titan Fan Fiction

Chapter Thirty-Three

Jean and Armin were not far ahead of me. They turned as I approached, breathless from running.

"Sorry," I said, "I got caught up in my thoughts."

"That's not the best idea," Armin admonished, "If you do that too often, you'll be kicked out."

"No she won't, Armin," Jean said, "Ilsa's smart. She'll be fine."

"Thanks for the affirmation, Jean," I answered, "But Armin's right. I can't let my mind run off. That could be dangerous on a mission."

"Whatever," Jean huffed.

We walked on in silence, occasionally hearing the rhythmic whiz of gear to the right or left above us. I doubted that many people were actually practicing. So many had realized that this night was to be a waste, and so decided not to bother with training.

Armin stopped walking, causing me and Jean to pause.

"This is the place, Jean," Armin said firmly.

By the dim glow of the lantern, I saw Jean give a short nod.

Both boys sat down on the floor of the forest, and I joined them, uneasiness bubbling in my stomach.

"What are we doing?" I asked, "Aren't we supposed to be training?"

Armin sighed, moving his lantern to the middle of our little circle.

"Yes," Armin said, "But for once, I don't think it really matters. You wanted to know about the spy and how I figured it out, correct?"

I nodded slowly, shifting slightly as a cool breeze ruffled my hair. A shudder scuttled down my spine.

"Yeah," I answered, drawing my jacket closer to my body.

Armin drew in a deep draught of air, then began to speak. He unfolded everything to me, every detail of the mission from his perspective. He told of his encounter with the Female Titan and its odd behavior; how it did not kill him, but rather seemed to be searching.

"Searching for what?" I asked incredulously.

"Or who," Jean added quickly.

"Whom," Armin corrected, "But my best guess is that the Female Titan was looking for Eren."

He continued to explain how he began to piece together his conclusion that there was a spy among the ranks of the military.

"I remembered back to the days when Sonny and Bean were killed," Armin explained.

"Who are Sonny and Bean?" I asked in confusion.

"Oh, I forgot," Jean cut in, "You were in the infirmary when this happened, so you probably didn't hear about it. Sonny and Bean were two Titans that the Survey Corps captured for Hanji to study, but they were killed by an unknown soldier before we had much chance to study them. Because of that, we were all subjected to rigorous questioning. Our gear was checked regularly as well."

I nodded to confirm that I understood, and Armin continued.

"Eren told me about an event that happened shortly after the 'murder' of Sonny and Bean. He was asked a very odd question by Commander Erwin. The Commander asked him 'Do you know who the enemy is?'"

"And then you reached a conclusion because of that?" I shifted slightly in the grass again, moving closer to the warmth of the lantern.

"That was a contributing factor, yes," Armin replied, "But also, the Commander withheld vital information from the troops during the mission. None of us knew about the cannons that they brought with them into the forest. We also had little background on the goal of the mission. This demonstrates the Commander's suspicion because he refused to trust anyone but his closest colleagues with vital information. If he hadn't been worried about traitors, then I'm sure we would have been given more information about the mission."