Crystallized (Aruani)

Chapter 9: For Humanity!

C h a p t e r 9 : F o r H u m a n i t y

"Annie, can you tell me anything about your village?" Hange asked as the group had finally reached their horses.

"Don't overwhelm her, Hange. I doubt she's in the mood for one of your lectures." Levi said as he mounted his horse.

"No one is ever in the mood for one of her lectures." Scarlet remarked, patting her horse.

"They're interesting. Eren was curious, and he received that information! And he was glad he did." Hange protested.

"You kept me up all night.." Eren mumbled.

"He doesn't sound glad." Levi said, amused.

"Eren enjoyed it." Hange grumbled.

"riiiiight..." Scarlet smirked.

"Yeah! Right Eren!" Hange cried.

"Uh... Right.." Eren mumbled.

"See." Hange and Levi said at the same time. "W-"

"The Titans moved." Armin observed. It was true, they now had a clear sight of the plains.

Strange. Levi thought to himself. Why would the Titans leave as soon as they retrieved her? It was almost like they wanted Annie to be found...

"Look, that's the flare to meet up. We'll have to go there." Scarlet said, and the group veered to the right.

"Erwin," Levi greeted as everyone met up in a field, which, for the moment, was currently titan-less. 

"Levi. Have you...?"

"Yes. Yes. We've found it." Levi confirmed.

"Excellent. It'll be our next mission." Annie froze at these words, and then tried to make herself look more relaxed.
Next mission? That meant everyone at the village was in danger. I have to tell Reiner to get my father out of there...

"You have a problem with that?" Levi eyed Annie, and she shook her head no.

"..." Hange said nothing, but she had noticed how Annie stiffened up.

"How many casualties have we suffered?" Levi questioned.

"Not many, so we've decided to carry on the second part of this mission." Erwin replied.

"Alright. Now?"

"In about five minutes." Erwin answered. "I'll inform the others."

The group shuffled around as Erwin rode off.

In silence, Annie pondered the thought. How would she tell Reiner, or Bertolt? How would they warn the village? If it came down to it, she'd have to abandon her mission. And she would never do that. So what could she do? They had time, but who knows how long? It was going to be the next mission after this one, so... Who would warn the village? It was more dangerous for her to reveal herself, as she was surrounded by Levi, Hange, and the list goes on. But if Reiner did it, no one one probably even notice...

But that being said, how would she be able to tell Reiner? His squad leader would probably realize he was gone. There was no good way to proceed with this, someone was going to get found out.
The question was, which one of the Titan shifters was going to make the sacrifice.

"Move out!" Erwin shouted, and the group once again proceeded into their long distance formation.

"So, will your titan friend show up again?" Scarlet asked bitterly.

"Scarlet," Armin warned.

"Shut it, Coconut head." Scarlet snapped. "It's her fault Owen is dead."

"...." Annie stared off into the distance wistfully.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me!" Scarlet yelled at Annie.

"Enough." Levi dismissed. "We don't have time for bickering. This can wait till we're back home."

"Home." Scarlet noted. "Where is home..?"

"Where the heart is." Hange answered. "It's not a place, it's where you are with the people you love most."

Scarlet looked away. "Yeah, well he's dead."

A silence overtook the group, until Eren pointed to something in the distance.

"You've got to be kidding me." Eren groaned.

It was the Colossal Titan, once again.

"It's going to have a hard time catching us because it's so big." Armin observed. Sure enough, the Colossal Titan was not moving towards them quickly. Even so, the titan would still catch up to them eventually. It did have long strides.

"Let's get to the wall quickly then."

Hange noticed something amiss however- something was off. What was it, she couldn't figure it out.

"..." Annie shut her eyes, and pondered for a moment. Suddenly, her eyes shot open as she realized. "... He's headed for the wall! He's going to destroy it- look at all the Titans behind him!"

Levi eyed her suspiciously. "And you're so sure this isn't just a plot against us or a wild speculation because..."

"No, she's right. Notice how the colossal Titan's eyes aren't focused on us, rather the wall." Hange confirmed.

"So how do we stop it?" Eren asked desperately.

"We'll have to wait for it here. We could detain it while someone goes to tell the Garrison Regiment to prepare for a breakthrough." Armin stated.

"Tch. He's right- Eren, go back to the wall in your titan form as fast as possible. Warn the Garrison Regiment."

"You trust me?" Eren said, uncertain.

"No. But how else are we gonna do it?" Levi reminded him.

"But... You guys will be completely obliterated." Eren stated. "It's best if I stay-"

"That's an order. Follow it." Levi instructed. "Go."

"Haven't we taught you not to disobey orders?" Scarlet humphed.

Eren hesitated, then nodded his head. "O...okay." Then, he quickly bit his hand, turned into a titan, and left.

"Scarlet, you and I will take out the Colossal Titan." Annie's eyes widened at that- they were going to kill Bertolt? Was she really going to let this happen? This was her fault- why did she tell them Bertolt's plan? There was only one reason it could possibly be...
She was for real, working with humanity.