Our Last Hope (From MyLoveEren)

Chapter 24

Published Monday June 14, 2021
Word Count: 1380

"Good, you guys are cleaned up. Time for lunch, and to talk further about plans. One way or another, you guys are getting out of here."

Vin walked the three of them through a hallway, turning to the right and through a door. When Eren went through the door, he saw that it was a dining room, a secluded one, but just over the wall there was a loud commotion, like a big crowd or people talking amongst themselves just beyond the wall. Probably exactly what it is. Eren hesitated as he stood over one of the chairs at the table, Vin sitting across from that exact seat. Farlan and Levi hesitated as well. "This whole situation is much too suspicious" Farlan said outright. Eren mentally facepalmed. Vin just shrugged and said, "We've already kidnapped you for about 5 days. And you two have already been in mental turmoil for 3 of them. There's hardly much worse that could happen here, even if you did get killed." Hah, he's not wrong, but that was severely blunt. Levi glared at Vin, but sat down at Eren's left anyway.

Eren flinched slightly when he sat down, green eyes wide but not daring to even glance in his direction. Eren stayed in his tense state even after Farlan sat at Levi's other side.

The meal had begun.

The atmosphere was tense. Something much sharper than a butter knife would be needed to cut the dense air. Levi only continued to glare at Vin mistrustfully, as did Farlan, and Vin only glanced back at them with tired, calm eyes, almost bored by the situation. Eren was calm too, almost apprehensive to hear the plan for their escape. The sooner they got out of there, the sooner Eren could stop worrying about sleeping in the same room as Levi and getting... awkward dreams about him. As he ate, he glanced at Levi. The scowling expression seemingly permanent on his face only made him look more rugged. Hot. HOT?!?! Ugh, Eren, pull yourself together. Eren looked away, shaking all the stupid thoughts out of his head. Vin coughed to break the silence in the room. "No point beating around the bush now. Let's get started." he said.

"Rezrik Hawkspan, chief of the Strays clan, holds a gathering every month, presenting all of the prisoners he has kept alive to that point. He will either sell them to anyone in the crowd willing to pay, or he will kill them right after, on the very stage, in front of the crowd. Then is when you will have a chance to escape."

"Hold on a second, why do we need a fancy title for the same sociopath that forced us to stay awake without food or water for three days?" Farlan asked. Levi only soured his expression. "Because it tells us more important information than anything else in that sentence." Levi said. Vin smiled, Eren saw a similarity in the same, barely noticeable smile that Levi has. "That's right," Vin said. "Rez sells those prisoners to visitors from other clans. That gathering is a meeting for the leaders of every clan in the valley. Now, this is especially important because, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you this before Eren, but too many things have happened in the last few days that it almost seemed unjust to stack this on top." Eren scoffed and said, "Just get it over with." Vin sighed. "This is why the gathering of the clans is so important. One of the more...humane leaders, Chief Frieda Reiss, had taken in three travelers passing through their territory. They were coming from our boarders, so they assumed the travelers were scavengers of ours, and after some interrogation, they reported that the travelers have been repeatedly begging for information on some friends, three men and a wolf, and that one was...special in certain ways..." Vin eyed Eren's figure with a hungry gaze for a moment, then went back to his serious, grim, business look.

Both Farlan and Levi saw the look and growled, Levi leaping out of his chair and into a ready position, his fist slammed into the table. "You do not get to look at Eren like that." Levi growled, his voice so deep and dark, it rumbled through the floor with murderous intent. Eren stood up as well, grabbing Levi's shoulders and forcing him to look in his eyes, motioning for Farlan to pay attention to0 "Levi, Farlan, calm down for a second. Remember that... you two have your moments with that too. You can't completely vilify him without being hypocrites yourselves. Also, who do you two think you are and who do you think I am for you two to feel the need to fight for me? Honestly, Vin here knows what I'm capable of, and you two should as well since I'm the reason why you're out of that cell in the first place. And Vin, watch it from now on. God..." Eren sat back down, breathless after that rant, huffing angrily and glaring at everyone in the room. Levi, Farlan, and Vin all stood dumbfounded. Levi sat back down in his chair, staring at Eren. The other two barely blinked. "You can continue now." Eren murmured in his seat, having calmed down after his little outburst. Vin blinked, not having registered what Eren said, then "O-Oh, oh right of course..." he paused, staring back at Eren surprised, "Right, well, these travelers were asking for you obviously, so do you guys have companions or is this another -" "Nope! Companions!" Eren cut off. He then gave Vin a nasty look, trying to convey his thoughts through them. Don't you DARE tell these two about Zeke, you idiot! Don't mention the encounter! Farlan looked Levi in the eyes and said, "Oh my god, the others. I forgot about the others. Oh my god Isabel must be worried sick, not to mention Hanji's habit of making things worse." "And Erwin's probably pacing right now with that grim look in his eye. Hah." Levi cut in. "We have to get to them, regroup." Eren said finally.

"Well, I was just getting to that. See, the leader took them in, gave them food and shelter for nothing in return. The clan she leads also happens to be one of our allies, so at the meeting, she can either buy all three of you out, and just in case we can plan a big escape and she'll give you the same treatment she gave your friends." Eren sat puzzled. "Hold on a second," he said, "Isn't there a big hole in the middle of that plan? How can you expect someone to say yes to that sort of favor? The whole plan hinges on someone we're not even sure will agree to doing this."

"We do actually." Vin said. "Why else do you think she still keeps your friends as company?"

"Ok, so we have this woman to help us, but what if General Dick Biscuit sees through this plan? I mean, getting sold all to the same person, who obviously has a softer reputation, seems like it would arouse at least a fair bit of suspicion." Levi explained. Eren nodded. "He's got a fair point, you know. I think we have a better chance escaping before then."

"Well..." Vin started, "Eren, you know Rezrik wants to keep you like his personal doll, a showpiece, a trophy. I doubt he's going to give you the same security as other prisoners. The upside is that I know for certain that you won't be sold or killed at the auction, but the downside is that you'll probably never get a chance at freedom after that gathering. An escape plan gone wrong will not only get your friends here killed, it'll also get me killed, and a bounty among all Strays for Frieda Reiss's head will be put out if Rez found out about her involvement. No one will be able to help you after this."

Eren's eyes went wide as he looked around at his friend. Will someone really go that far just to keep me prisoner?! Eren then remembered about Zeke and his father and the lab experiments.