"Hanji, hurry up, we've got to go." I stood at her lab door, "We leave in five minutes." Levi leans on the doorframe, "Just gimme a moment!" She was examining something under her microscope, earlier, when we beat Annie, we found a titan trapped in the walls, we covered it in a cloth so it wouldn't be exposed to sunlight, that's what Hanji was examining, "How's our special guest?" She asks, "He's rearing up and ready to go," I grinned, "Perfect." She picks up the sample and follows us out. "Sorry to keep you waiting! Took longer to prepare than we thought!" Hanji waves as we walk to the cart, Armin gasped, "I know! He's a priest from the order of the walls!" Hanji grins, I grabbed a flame torch and waved it around, watching the flame dance in the night sky, "Brat, stop that, you'll light us all on fire." Levi snatches it from my hand, "Stupid idiot." I huffed and slopped into the bench, Hanji kept blabbering about how the wall cultist and her were 'best buddies', "On the contrary Erwin's thrown us together for a reason." Levi says and wraps his black blazer over me, "OPEN THE GATE!" We heard someone yell up front, Erwin was ready to lead an expedition out.
"Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me this guy knew and he kept quiet about it!" Eren shouts, we nod, "Just about sums up what we're dealing with." I look at the wall cultist, "Cat's out of the bag now of course, he's not willing to talk yet but let's see how be does after a harsh dose of reality. First hand experience though," Hanji glares at him, "Like hell we are! We're doing this backwards! This son of a bitch knows something and he needs to come out with it! Humanity is on the brink of extinction and all you care about it keeping your oath!" Eren slams his hands on the wooden platform on the cart we were sitting in, "Take it easy." I use my feet and push his shoulders back, I was almost lying down in my seat, "Nat's right, you're not fully recovered." Mikasa nods, there was a click of a pistol, "There's still one way to get out the truth, granted I may not be in top form at the moment but it doesn't take my strength to pull a trigger." Levi shows the gun he held in his right hand, "Then again, I hope I don't need to blow a hole through your head to settle this, how about you?" Levi sneers, "Threatening him doesn't work honey, agree with him or not, our priest here is a man of principle, which leads me to wonder if he's so unwilling to talk what in heaven's name do you think he's putting above the fate of humanity?" I glare at the man and whip his face with one of the empty sleeves of Levi's blazer I had around me, "Sorry about that, she's a child." Levi looks the other direction, I huff.
"Since when were you a geologist? Or are rocks that fascinating, you look like you're about to drool." Levi looks at Hanji who was inspecting the crystal, "This is no rock, it's a piece of the hardened skin left behind from the female titan," She says, Armin gasped, "It didn't vanish!" He was shocked, "No, this random fragment broke off when Annie reverted back to her human form it didn't evaporate, it didn't simply go poof. So that got me thinking, I compared it to the sliver in the wall, it's components and structure were for all intents and purposes, identical. Essentially, we're held in by a large barricade of titans, if my hypothesis is correct the surface was constructed by using consolidated titan skin," Hanji explains, "You're kidding, that's what Armin was trying to explain." Mikasa's eyes were wide, Armin gasped, "So then-!" Hanji slaps her hand over my mouth, "Easy! It's rude to steal someone else's thunder!" She drools, "Hands off Hanji." Levi glares at her, "It stands by that there's a rock big enough to plug Wall Rose it'd have to be just the right shape and size, we don't have specifics yet, on the other hand, where there's a will, there's a way." She still had her hand clamped over my mouth, "Picture this, Eren hardening in his titan form." Hanji looks at Eren, Eren looked at his hands, "I could plug up the wall." He was shocked, "The seal would be composed of the same material and the hardened bit won't dissolve once you change back this may be less of a long shot as it sounds, thoughts?" Hanji looks at the three of them, "Four eyes." Levi slaps her hand off my mouth, "Well anything worthwhile considers some risk. If we manage to plug up Wall Rose Wall Maria starts to look more promising. Vital as it is the outpost infrastructure slows us down to a crawl, the time and resources needed to transport materials are immense. But, if supply wagons don't have to be accommodated we can make our way to Shiganshina much faster, and, what if we conducted this in the dead of night, when the titans are essentially motionless." Armin smiles, "That's genius, if a small group can slip by unnoticed. There might just be the teeniest bit of slack," Hanji looks at the piece of hardened skin, "Yeah, just remember this whole mission is hinged on whether Eren can master his titan form and hardening skill." Armin looks at Eren, "I know this is unfair of me to ask but do you think you could do it?" Hanji looks at him, we all stare at him, he was silent, "What he thinks isn't really the issue, you either will or you won't." Levi says, "That's the reality, our comrades are breaking their backs but without you, it's nothing. Failure isn't an option," Levi sighs, "Sir! I know, I'm prepared to do whatever it takes! That's a promise." Eren nods, "My father's cellar, that's where the answers are, if there's a grain of truth in what he told me everything depends on us getting there." He grips on the key around his neck.
Once we reached the destination, everyone split off, Levi and I took the priest with us to show him the horrors of loosing a wall, his eyes widened and he stopped, "No one told you to stop, a rolling stone gathers no moss." Levi kicks his back, he stumbles forwards, "This is..." His face darkened, "You expected to see something quaint? This is what happens when the walls give," Levi says, we saw an orphan crying for his parents, the priest tried to walk forward, "No. Take it in holy man, these are the faces of human beings that have lost everything they've ever had, human beings you and your kind abandoned incidentally, hard to look at it I imagine, but if the church had it's way I assume this would be all of us, titans would pour in and have what's left, shovelling man, woman and child down it's putrescent throat, all humanity digested as one. Frankly I don't care what they do to you, it's the lives of people like these and the people who I love that I fight for, for the rest of my life. If I give up my life to my wife or my future children, so be it, but you'd be damned if I wasted my life on a measly wall cultist like you." Levi scoffs as he pushes him forward, we met up with the rest of the squad after Levi and I showed him the horrors he saw, the priest was in absolute pain, "So, seemed to like it by any chance?" Hanji walks over to us, he stayed silent and looked down, "Oh god damn it! Make up your mind! This isn't some spiritual test! Live are on the line!" Hanji shouts at his face, "Alas I have no choice, neither myself or the others would leave the truth," He closes his eyes and dips his head, "Some load of help you are! Thanks for keeping us company, it's been fun!" Hanji yells and scoffs as she walks off, "I'd offer my help if I could but duty as great as that is beyond me, the order of the walls abide by the sacred they command us to obey," He says, Hanji stops, "Who's law do you obey? You mean like God or something?" She growls, "I can't answer that, but what I can do is provide you with a name, an individual the sacred will and it's divine wisdom instructing us to monitor." He says, "Monitor?" I walk over, "It's a person you know, someone who enlisted with the Scout Regiment as of this year. A child by the name of-" He sweats, "Important message! I'm with the hundred and fourth cadet core, oh and my name is Sasha Braus. Sorry, this is for you section commander." She walks over to me, I ignore her, "You must find her with haste, she is the key. She may know things we understand but poorly, and with that, I come to the end of what I can share, the rest I leave in your capable hands." He takes a deep breath in, "But if she's in the hundred and forth, she's at the front lines by now." My eyes widen, "Then let's go. Come on, there's no time to lose." Eren turns on his heel and runs out, bashing into Sasha and she falls over, "Watch where you're going!" Hanji looks at him, "Sasha?!" Eren bends down, "Just where did you come from all of a sudden?" Mikasa asks, "I was entrusted by commander Erwin to pass this onto you section commander Natalie." She bows and hands me a scroll, "Thanks." I pet her head and exchange it for a potato, she quickly gobbles it up with a happy look on her face, "So who is she? Krista Lenz?" Hanji asks, "Short, blond hair and blue eyes. Graceful in the air too with her ODM." I stand still while Levi tightens my straps, "Not as graceful as you, you look like a ballerina in the air, you're like one with the wind." Armin says as Eren checks his ODM functions, "She didn't get her nickname the Gliding Dragon from no where." Levi says monotony, "You have a nickname, that's so cool." Eren lights up, "Shut up, no one actually uses it, it's just what the scouts call me when they see me." I wince, "Too tight." I slap Levi's shoulder and he locks the buckle around my thigh one hole less, "Make sure to double check your gear then get another to check." Levi stands up, they all nod. "So the plan, are we clear?" Hanji bends over a table, everyone nods, "Right, we have to go. Now." Eren grabs the door handle, "Calm down Eren, I need you all to listen. We're going our seperate ways, it's how it has to be, Erwin had his reasons in throwing this ragtag squad together but right now this is all riding on you. Armin, you and Hanji are the brains of this, use your combined knowledge to cook up some kind of solution. Mikasa, I won't really ever know why you're so attached to the guy but put your skills to good use, protect Eren at all costs. Nat will act as leading captain and you." Levi looks at Eren, "Don't screw this up. If you let yourself succumb to blind rage all hope is lost. I can't afford another mistake." He says, Eren stiffened, "Sir." He nods, we were all going out, "Don't pull another stupid stunt like last time, I can't come save you like last time cause of you stupid ankle that I sprained while fighting a damn titan, I'm not at full strength so I can't go out in the field yet but you are coming back home to me, you swear." Levi grabs my face, I smile, "I swear." I closed my eyes, "Stay safe sweetheart and don't let a damned titan lay a finger on your hair." He kisses my forehead.
