Awakened

Chapter 32

WOW. The amount of love this book has received recently is incredible, and it makes me so happy my cheeks hurt from reading all the comments from smiling so much. Thank you guys so much. Im happy you're enjoying it thus far, and I can't wait for you guys to see the rest of the story unfold :)

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Armin and Eren walked through the stone halls to Commander Pixis's chambers. Armin seemed calm and collected. Relaxed even, but Eren knew it was all a front. They had to put on a show for everyone not to know what was really going on through their minds.

Yes, it was true they were there on a mission from Erwin to collect data on the person who might have let Titans in. It was in everyone's best interest to know, however, Eren and Armin were also planning their escape that very day. As soon as they got what they needed, and reported back, they were going to use the distraction of all the Scouts undoubtedly- and albeit traditionally- getting drunk at whatever tavern they found themselves housed in that night.

Eren and Armin had already made their way into the tavern Mikasa always stayed at, and they both had breathed a sigh of relief when they found out she was not there.

"At least she knows she has to lay low, and not be seen by others," Armin had commented then.

Eren agreed with him, and while it was good Mikasa had yet to be spotted it had also meant that finding her would much more difficult Armin and him.

It was for the best, Eren had convinced himself. His sister's safety was his top priority at the moment, and if that safety made him his quest to find her more difficult then so be it.

As long as Erwin didn't get to her.

"Here we are," Pixis said, opening the doors to his office chamber and letting them both inside. "Now, remind me. What was it that we were discussing?"

"A break-in," Armin answered, and he handed over the papers Hange had arranged for Pixis to read. Armin had briefed the commander in the beginning of their walk, before all three of them fell into silence. Pixis scanned the reports quickly, his only reaction the raise on a singular brow. After a minute, Pixis looked up with a skeptical look on his face.

"You think one of my soldiers is a Shifter?" Pixis asked.

"No," Armin replied easily. "I never said that. For all we know, they could very well be non-Shifter helping out the others."

Pixis narrowed his eyes. "Do you believe that?"

Armin frowned. "Why does that matter?"

"Because you are a smart lad," Pixis said honestly. "Ive seen your work with the Scout Regiment since you have come in, and the regular reports I get from there always somehow include you deducing or concocting some sort of plan that manages to work somehow. With that sort of intelligence, I most certainly want to hear what kind of theories you have of this."

Armin regarded Pixis for a moment, slightly narrowing his blue eyes. He contemplated telling Pixis what he truly thought on the matter. On what he was pretty sure about the person who let the Titans in. He was pretty sure they were a Shifter, and that they were with the group Annie used to be a part of.

However, he did not want to let his speculations get the better of him. He needed to make sure first, and so instead of telling Pixis what he thought he simply sighed and said, "Do you have anything that can help us find out who they were?"

Pixis quirked a smile at the dodge of his question, knowing Armin did not want to seem like a fool or a sympathizer if he was wrong. Respect shone in Pixis's eyes, and the Commander went around to one of his bookshelves and pulled out a codex of schedules.

"This is the Wall Shift Schedules for the past two weeks. If you happen to know the time, you'll be able to find your person." Pixis handed over the book, and the boys sat down near the desk and began to flip through.

"Its been four days since you went to that village," Eren reminded.

"And the villagers were asleep for three days by the time I came there," Armin noted, flipping through some pages. "If I were to be on a mission to let Titans in, it would be at night. Ill look at night shifts first."

"Those are on the back of each page," Pixis noted. "Day shifts are at the front."

It took Armin a bit of flipping to find the right time, but he finally found the correct date of the break-in.

"Karan Leonhardt," Armin read out loud, his fingers reading the lines of her hours on wall duty. "Looking at the other shift checks for them, they have not checked in on any other date past this one."

Pixis frowned. "How many days did she work that week?"

Armin flipped through several pages back to see Karan's other shifts. After finding nothing, Armin frowned as well. "None. That was their first and last day they worked."

"Its most certainly not their rest day then. Every Garrison Regiment member is allowed one day to not work every week. If they didn't clock in for another day, then something is off. This might be the person who must have let the Titans in."

"Hang on," Eren came closer to the book. "Isn't Leonhardt the last name of Annie?" Eren asked, a bit curious.

Armin nodded, suddenly growing nervous. "Are there files on Karan Leonhardt's familial background?"

Pixis raised a brow in question, but nodded nonetheless. He went silently back to his shelf, and searching for file son his solider. A minute later the Commander had tossed over a crisp and untouched folder to them.

Armin was on it instantly, practically tearing it open in haste. His eyes scoured the papers quickly, darting this way and that. "She grew up in the same village Reiner and Bertolt did." He said, putting the paper down in a state of shock.

Realization dawned on Eren.

Pixis furrowed his brows. "Who are Reiner and Bertolt?"

"They're the Armored and Colossal Titan," Armin explained. "They grew up in the same village as Annie when they were younger. I had thought it was just them three, but if the person who had happened to let the titans in was also from the same village as them...."

The Garrison Commander then began to understand their train of thought. "Then that means there's a high chance Karan Leonhardt is a Titan Shifter like them."

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Sorry for the short chapter, but I'm trying this out for the time being so updates can be faster :)