Remember Your Promise - Levi Ackerman

Chapter 37

Dedicated Chapter Song: Cold-blooded - The Pretty Reckless

You can't trust a cold-blooded woman.
(Anna)

"This doesn't make any goddamn sense," Anna twiddled a braid around her finger. "So you're saying that- first off- Cullen is a filthy traitor who was willing to sell me out, and secondly that my mother- who I saw get beaten to death- is still fucking alive?"

"Perhaps your young mind perceived it as though she'd died." Levi suggested. "Then where the fuck has she been for a century?! If she's alive then why haven't I seen her?!" Ruby bit her lip. "Maybe she's been captured and held captive?"

"By who? And for what purpose? What would my mother have that's so valuable?" Anna tried to think back but nothing came to mind. "Well, this is just fantastic. We've hit a fucking dead end. I'm no closer to finding out the truth about myself and we haven't even found evidence of the Ripper nearby. Face it. We're screwed." she sat down on the desk, putting her head into her hands.

"Not exactly..." Ruby exchanged glances with Levi, then stood up straight. "There's still one place we haven't checked." Anna lifted her head, waiting for Ruby to continue. "Our old headquarters. There might be something in the archives. Maybe an old teammate might be lingering around." Ruby suggested. "If we go back there there's a chance someone will be waiting to ambush us." Anna pointed out.

"There's a chance we'll be ambushed regardless of where we go," Levi objected. "In any case, if you're so keen on finding out the truth then we need to check every nook and cranny we can find information in." Ruby nodded in agreement. "Levi is right- you don't mind me calling you that, do you?" she kindly asked. "It doesn't matter to me."

"'Kay," she smiled. Anna sighed and left the office. "Then I guess we know where we're heading. Come on. HQ isn't too far from this place. I know the route back amongst the shadows. We won't be trailed. At least not easily." She waltzed down the hallway with Levi and Ruby trailing behind her. "Kore wa yokunai," Anna mumbled to herself, her eyes glancing about the lair as she tried to find any other signs of life. "Anata wa dokodesu ka...?" This is bad. Where are you...?

Ruby chuckled lightly. "I haven't heard you speak Japanese in decades. Wish I understood but I'm more fluent in French." Anna glanced over her shoulder. "À cause de ta soeur." She simply stated. Because of your sister. Ruby's gaze saddened but a smile remained on her face. "Oui, à cause d'elle," her eyes raised. "Et mon père." Yes, because of her. And my father.

"Ton père?" Levi chimed in. "Est-il toujours vivant?" Anna froze, spinning on her heel to face him. "When in the hell did you learn to speak French?!" she exclaimed. "I always knew how to speak it, though Rosaline had a preference of her native language." Levi simply replied. "Yeah..." Anna had to agree, remembering the constant confusing conversations she'd had when she was learning French with Rose. "That's kinda how and why I learned it."

"Do you think Eren would be willing to learn it?" Ruby suddenly asked. Anna turned back around and hopped out of the sewers. "Well, that's out of the blue. Why do you ask such a thing?" Ruby's face flushed red. "N-No reason!" Ruby defended. "I just...want others to learn the language and we'll Eren is so dedicated to fighting who knows? Maybe he'll enjoy another language." she spoke quickly so as to get her point over with.

"That reminds me," Levi spoke up as the trio ducked around the back corner of a building. "Ruby, you claim you're only 15 yet Anna has expressed that she's known you for decades. Why lie?" Ruby sighed, then smiled kindly. "Oh, Levi, didn't anyone ever tell you it was rude to ask a lady her age?" a small giggled erupted from within her. "I'm joking of course. The real reason is that all of us- the Elites, I mean- were given the same kind of 'century serum'. Anna was the first one tested on, therefore she had a stronger dosage which resulted in her golden eye. Rose ended up with her pink hair and I ended up with the two-tone hair. I was injected when I was 15 so... I still like to think that when it wears off- which is this year- that I'll go back to being a normal 15-year old."

"So how old are you now? Technically speaking." Levi asked. Ruby bit her lip. "Somewhere around 90. I don't know my real birthday. Rose never really told me. But for the longest time I've just been in the background of everything, checking maps, making plans, and doing everything but fighting."

"Why don't you fight?" Ruby laughed. "You sure ask a lot of questions. Well...I don't fight because it's against my morals. You see, I'm from Shinganshina. Like Eren, Armin, and Mikasa. Only I wasn't really...born there. When my father left for the Survey Corps my mother went into debt. I think Rose mentioned this before but she owed a great deal of money to the bank. Instead of paying it off she took the remaining money she had and stuffed us down here in this dirty place." Ruby sneered as she looked up at the ceiling of the Underground.

"As much as I'd wish to hate her, I can't. Not like Rose did. I do forgive her for what she'd done because my sister was no different. She raised me for years until we managed to make enough money for a citizenship document for Shinganshina. You know expensive those are." Ruby explained. Levi knew exactly how expensive they were when he spent his time down there. "We lived there in peace for a few years until Bertolt and Reiner decided they wanted to Hulk smash the Wall open. Rose and I knew they were Shifters so we were the first ones on the boat to Wall Rose."

Anna lead them through a back alleyway towards a brothel. "We enlisted in the 99th Cadet Corps that year and were top of the class. Though I graduated early and joined the Garrison when Commander Pyxis witnessed me stand up to a Military Police guard who was abusing civilians. Rose wasn't informed of my departure and believed I'd perished in an Expedition. That drove her back to the Underground where she led her own Division for a few years."

"So that's the full story..." Anna muttered as she faced the front door to the brothel. "Hush!" she warned. "Someone's inside." Ruby attempted to get a reading but only saw the wall. "Weapons at the ready." Anna warned, pulling a gun from her holster. Levi cocked his gun and held it firmly in his hands. Ruby stayed behind the two and kept her ODM gear handy.

Anna kicked open the door and pointed her gun at the first person she saw. Her lips parted in shock. "Wh...what the hell...?"