Underground Beauty to Survey Corps - Attack on Titan

#16 The Female Titan

The Special Operations Squad got farther in the forest as they were told. When the coast was clear, they tied their horses to the tree and got onto the branches, keeping themselves off the ground in case of any surrounding Titans. At that moment, Orabelle heard the faint sound of cannons being fired, and she looked towards the source with her brows furrowed.

'Something has happened, and I think I have got a good idea what it is.' she thought. 'They lured the Female Titan all the way out here in order to capture it. Well, more precisely, to capture the person inside of it.'

"So that was his plan from the start!" said Eren, who came to the same conclusion as her, though he voiced it out to the other soldiers. "That's it, right? I can see why he kept it a secret from us new recruits, but why he wouldn't tell you, when you've all been with the Survey Corps for so long?"

"Shut up!" snapped Oluo, who didn't take it nicely.

"Are you implying the Commander and the Captain don't trust us?" asked the angered Petra.

"B-But that's exactly what this means." defended Eren.

"Petra, rip out his teeth, then swap the incisors with the molars and shove 'em back in!" added Oluo, pointing his sword at him.

"No, Eren's right on the mark." intercepted Eren, catching him by surprise. "I think the Commander kept this from us for a reason."

"Like what?" asked Gunther.

"There's only one reason he wouldn't trust his fellow soldiers." he began. "A person who can become a Titan, or a spy working for such people, has infiltrated our ranks."

"A spy?" repeated Gunther questioningly. "You really think so?"

"At any rate, the Commander has suspicions of his own." said Eld. "I'd imagine the only soldiers who knew of the plan were those who survived with him from five years ago."

"I see." said the former. "So that's it."

"No doubt." scoffed Oluo. "Understand, Eren? That's how it is."

"If that's the case, then it does make sense." sighed Petra. She then looked at Eren and explained, "He's assuming that five years ago, when the first Wall fell, a spy managed to slip in amongst us. And he narrowed down the possibilities from there."

"Then, this spy killed Sawney and Bean?" guessed Eld.

Orabelle's eyes narrowed at this. 'So that was what the question was about.' she thought, recalling the sudden question he asked her and Eren at the scene when the two Titans' carcasses were discovered.

"If we could've answered him then, maybe we could've been there for him." he continued before placing a finger on his chin to ponder. "I doubt that anyone could've known back then, though."

"I knew." said Oluo proudly. "But I didn't say anything. Do you know why?" When Petra asked, he merely sighed. "What, can't you tell? Well, I guess I shouldn't expect much from the likes of you. You have yet to reach my level."

"Hey, are you trying to imitate Captain Levi again?" she questioned, clearly annoyed by his act. "The Captain would never say anything as dumb as that."

'If we succeed, I'll be that much closer to the truth of this world.' thought Eren. 'Even still... Regardless of our cause, too many people have died.'

"Do you think the Commander was wrong?" asked Eld while looking at him.

'I cannot say he was right.' thought Orabelle, keeping her answers to herself. 'If we had known there was a spy around in amongst us, we could have handled it differently. But then again, it is easy to look back in hindsight and say, "We could have done something else." However, no one knows how things will turn out. And yet, we still have to make a choice. It is inevitable. The lives of a hundred fellow soldiers, or the lives of everyone within the Walls; the Commander still made his choice. He chose to sacrifice those hundred. I haven not lived that long, but I am certain of one thing - If there is anyone who can bring about change, it will be someone willing to sacrifice everything they care for. It will be someone who can set aside even their humanity, in order to defeat the monsters. A person who cannot sacrifice everything will not be able to change anything!'