-Nora POV-
Armin was coughing, there was fire around us...
"Armin, Nora. Are you okay?" asked Mikasa.
"I'm fine, Nora?" asked Armin.
"I'll live" I said and he helped me stand up.
We ran outside and saw the people, cheering...
"Hey! Are you three alright?" asked Hitch.
"Hitch! What was that?" asked Mikasa.
"The premier's office just exploded" said Hitch.
"Has anyone seen him?" asked Mikasa.
We looked at how someone covered the remains of Zachery's body...
"Give your hearts and soul!" shouted someone.
"Our anger has finally reached them! The time has come for us to fight!"
"I'll fight right beside you!"
'What the...'
"Our hearts and soul to the cause! Our hearts and soul to the cause!"
~
"Premier Zachery had his custom chair brought to his room today. We believe that whoever delivered the chair must've planted a bomb in it" said someone from the MP's. "In addition to the premier himself, the explosion killed 3 soldiers. We don't know who's behind this or what their motives are"
"All but one of the volunteers have been on house arrest. And Onyankopon here was with me all day" said Hanji.
"Then can you think of anyone else who might have been responsible?" asked the officer.
"Before he died" said Armin. "Premier Zachery said that a group of recruits brought the chair to his office"
"Where were these recruits from?" asked Nile Dock.
"He never told us what branch they were with" said Armin.
"But, as we were headed to his room for our appointment, we happened to notice a group of recruits leaving HQ in a rush" I said. "And those recruits were Scouts"
"Speaking of your regiment" said Dock. "I hear that a few of you Scouts were arrested and charged with leaking information about Eren to the public"
Someone charged in...
"There's some news!" he shouted. "Eren Yeager escaped! He broke out of his underground cell!"
"Mobilize all troops and track him down!" shouted Dock.
"Armin, Nora" said Mikasa quietly. "What the hell is going on right now?"
I laid a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
"It's okay, Mikasa" said Armin when we drove out of HQ. "Eren will understand. If we can just talk to him. Then... he'll understand"
But Armin was trying to convince himself... he held my hand tightly, I'm sure his handprint would stay on it for a few days...
~
Kiyomi arrived, and Dock was scolding us in front of her. I hoped that my grandfather got my message in time, before it got really out of hand...
"Floch Forster and his cohorts have vanished from prison. Along with some one hundred soldiers and guards" said Dock. "It's apparent that they plan for this mass desertion to match the timing of Eren's escape. And for the record I have no doubt that they perpetrated the Premier's murder. This group needs a name, from this point onwards let us refer to this anti-military bunch as 'The Yeageristst'. I can think of no one better than Commander Hanji to tell us of their goal"
"In the short term, their goal is to ensure that Eren meets with his brother. And in the long term, they intend to reform the military with Eren at its head. They demonstrated their resolve by assassinating our premier. It's obvious what provoked them to act as they have. They must've learned about the military's plan to transfer the Founder. Even though you kept it secret from us Scouts" said Hanji.
"Only because we knew exactly what would happen if we did tell you" said Dock.
"Ass" I whispered under my breath.
"In any case" said Dock and looked angry at me. I think he never got over how I insulted him during Eren's court... "Many of these Yeagerists are from the Scouts. How will you take responsibility for their actions, Hanji?"
"I'm willing to accept any punishment" said Hanji. "But I won't resign from my post. That would be the hight of irresponsibility. And there's a lot we don't know yet. These Yeagerists, could have hidden members anywhere in any branch"
"That's quite true. In fact I might be looking at some now" said the officer from the MP's and looked straight at Hanji. "Perhaps one of you will turn out to be a suicide bomber"
"Oh, please" I said and rolled with my eyes. "Don't be ridiculous"
"We've been played for fools once, Officer Ackerman. So why should we trust you now?" he asked. "Until the Scouts prove themselves, they must be contained!"
"That's enough!" shouted grandpa who threw the doors open. "Remember that we have a guest here. And even if that weren't the case, now is not the time to be bickering amongst ourselves"
"Oh, hey grandpa" I said and smiled. "I see you got my message"
"Hello, Nora" he said friendly. "Yes, I got it just in time. Hanji, how many soldiers know where Zeke is confined?"
"Captain Levi is guarding him with an escort of 30 soldiers. Then there are the three soldiers who deliver supplies to them. And aside from myself and Officer Eleanor Ackerman, that's it" answered Hanji.
"Please have those three brought here" said grandpa and Hanji told Connie to get them. "Nile, is the Queen's residence secure?"
"It's location is a well-kept secret. But I'll look into it anyway" said Dock.
"We know what Eren wants. He'll seek out Zeke first and Historia if that fails" said grandpa. "So we must keep both of them out of his reach at all costs"
"Excuse me, sir" said Armin. "You're our most senior Commander. So now that the Premier has been assassinated, the only person who can lead us is you"
"That'll make it harder on you if you want to ask me for Nora's hand in marriage, won't it?" joked grandpa making me and Armin blush.
"Really, grandpa? Now is not the time" I complained.
"What kind of strategy do you think we should use?" asked Armin.
"Well..." said grandpa. "It seems to me they've got us beat. So I was thinking we'd surrender"
"Grandpa, what did I tell you about jokes?" I said.
"No, Nora. Against enemies mixed within our ranks we have no other recourse. Even if we did somehow manage to smoke all of them out, imagine how much blood we would have to spill" said grandpa. "We don't have the time or the numbers to waste on such folly. It's the decisions we made as leaders that caused these soldiers to desert us. That's what brought about our defeat"
"But, sir. You can't actually intend to bow down to the people who murdered the premier?" asked a woman from the MP.
"I knew Zachery for many years. To live and die by revolution was something I think he would've wanted. And regardless... I don't think any of the four soldiers who were killed would've wanted their deaths to be the cause of Eldia's downfall" said grandpa.
"So instead you want us to submit to the Yeager brothers?" asked Dock.
"No, not entirely" said grandpa. "We'll use Zeke's location to negotiate with Eren and trust him to accept that he has other enemies. Once we have re-established peace, we'll once again stake Eldia's survival on a test run of the Rumbling. However, we will not bring up the subject of how our leader was murdered. We'll look past it. If that is the price to save hundreds or even thousands of our comrades. Then we'll pay it... We've talked long enough, now get to work!"
"Yes, Commander" we all said and saluted to him.
"I'll see you soon, grandpa" I said and quickly kissed his cheek.
"See you soon, my little angel" he said and I left with the other Scouts.
YOU ARE READING
The Grey Angel (Attack on Titan x OC)
Fanfiction"See the sea together. That sounds nice" he said. "Then let's make a promise" I said and he looked at me. "That we're going to see the sea together" At 4 years old, Nora was left alone by her father at an orphanage. She got adopted by Marie Sato, a...
