Crystallized (Aruani)

Chapter 7: Confusing Titans

C h a p t e r  7 :  C o n f u s i n g  T i t a n s

If Annie could've spoke in her titan form, she would've. She would've yelled, and yelled. Right now, she just had to focus on getting out of Bertolt's grip. Focusing, she subtly exited her titan body from the nape, and began to make her getaway.

Bertolt, in his Titan form, did not realize... At least, not yet. Annie knew she had to get away... And quickly. Or else they would really suspect her.
Well, Annie hadn't made such a quick getaway after all. Bertolt grabbed her, despite her insistent struggling.

"Can we talk about this!?" Annie exclaimed, frustrated.
Soon enough, Bertolt put her down, and emerged from his Titan form.

"Bertolt.. What were you thinking." Annie asked exasperated.

"Reiner and I... We were trying to think of a way to get you free. This was the only thing we could think of." Bertolt responded shyly.

"Nice going... Now they probably will not trust me." Annie narrowed her eyes. "I need to get back."

"Get back!? No, we're not going to let you go back, that'll look more suspicious. Look, we'll figure out a way to get you back without it looking suspicious."

"Riiight." Annie was unimpressed. "You could've captured Eren there."

"I know, but... Priorities first?"

"He was the priority. Never mind... Ugh. Well, at least I can visit the village for a bit."

"Sorry." Bertolt apologized, as the two made their way over to the village.

"whatever." Annie muttered.

There it was. A river flowing nearby, the greenery was blooming. Or, well, it used to be. Now, the plants were beginning to shrivel up. The place didn't hold the same happiness it once did for Annie.

"Nanitorakin..." Annie whispered. 

"Your father's waiting for you."

The group headed back to the place filled with Titans. However, no Titans were there anymore.

"That's strange." Hange commented, before zooming over to Scarlet.

"Does she have a pulse?" Levi questioned.

"Yes, she's just passed out. I checked w while ago. But.. Owen." Eren paused.

"We'll... We'll bring his body back."

"I don't have my gear." Eren said.

"Take his." Levi responded, gesturing to Owen.

"O...okay."

The group trudged back, with no words spoken. They were all grieving the loss of Owen... And possibly, Annie.

"Why would the colossal Titan come after only us.. After Annie?" Armin questioned.

"To retrieve her, Duh. Although it seems Annie really... Rehabilitated, or something like that. She was fighting back." Hange frowned.

"We'll focus on getting her back." Levi said. "Just not now."

"Then when, Huh!? Every minute we speak, she could be in trouble!" Eren protested.

"We can't, we don't have enough people." Levi responded.

"But- but-!"

"Trust in us. It'll get you places." Hange winked. Honestly, no one was exactly sure how Hange was so cheery right now.

"We can't just leave her to fend for herself."  Armin pointed out. "No matter how powerful Annie is, she's much smaller than the Colossal Titan."

"Yes, but-"

"Titans!" Hange pointed in front of them. The Titans made a wall, blocking their way out of the forest. They landed on a nearby branch.

"We're not going to be able to maneuver out, on flat ground..." Armin realized.

"We'll go around." Levi stated.

"Yeah, around..." Hange frowned. She wasn't sure if there was an around. "I don't think there is a way around... This is a good time to look for Annie."

"You're right." Armin realized.

"Well, what are we waiting for!?" Eren exclaimed.

"Someone's antsy. Then what, we leave Scarlet here to die?" Levi pointed out.

"Well erm- Uh-"

"Oh right. You didn't think that far." Levi said.

"Hey!" Eren snarled. "She's a valuable asset to our team, we should be risking everything to go rescue her!"

"without her, we'll learn less about Titans! If we don't have her, we'll suffer way more casualties!" Armin supported.

"Levi, you know they're right." Hange said. "But we can't leave Scarlet here.."

"She'd understand." Levi responded stiffly. "But we're still not leaving her. She doesn't deserve that."

"Who doesn't... Deserve what?" Scarlet asked weakly.

"Scarlet... We're not going to leave you here to die." Hange stated.

"Oh, I know. If you were, I'd be fairly upset," Scarlet bit her lip, before standing up. "Are we going now? As you said, we kinda need the Female Titan on our side." She wiped the blood from her nose.

"What about Owen?" Hange looked at Levi.

"We haven't been able to recover a lot of other bodies.. What makes his any different?" Levi responded with the answer he always replied with.

"Levi.." Eren started, but Scarlet interrupted.

"We should go."

"Yeah, let's leave." Levi said distantly.

The group turned around and started to head back. It was a while back to where they had been, and the group was silent.
No one attempted to make conversation. Armin and Eren knew better than that. They knew Hange, Scarlet, and Levi were all mourning Owen, but on varying levels.

"We're back to where we started." Levi announced as they continued to move.

"Great..." Scarlet mumbled.

The group went forward, until suddenly...

Eren started to fall to the ground, Levi barely catching him.

"I'm out of gas." Eren cursed as the group landed.

"Well, we're in luck! I see something up ahead." Hange exclaimed.

"Hmm, I didn't see that before..." Scarlet frowned.

"Whatever. Let's just move." Eren said, and they walked towards the thing.
Once they saw, they saw a river. Shriveled up plants were everywhere, and Scarlet was sure that this had once been a happy place.

"This is it... This is Nanitorakin village."