The Path Back to You | Levi x OC

Chapter 77 - The Long Game

Anastasya

Anya lounged against the doorframe to the bathroom, watching Levi as he cleaned his boots.
"I want to speak to Historia first."
"Before Zachary?" he asked.
"Yes. From... Well, from one queen to another, I suppose."
He arched an eyebrow.
"You're not going to let this new-found power go to your head, are you?"
She scowled at him, but she appreciated the normalcy he was trying to tease out.
"Are you going to come with me?"
"To Mitras?"
"That's where the Queen is, last time I checked."
It was Levi's turn to glower.
"Fine," he replied. "Not like I have anything better to be doing right now."
"Evidently," she replied, nodding to his boots. "If you scrub any harder, you'll be making holes in them."
"Want me to do yours?"
"Later. I'm going to get breakfast."
"I'll meet you down there."
Anya didn't miss the perplexed look that crossed Levi's face. Just a few days ago she'd been sobbing her heart out and now she was all action. She barely understood it herself, but something had stirred within. She had to make her family proud. She was sure that somehow, her mother had known of their lineage and had been waiting for the right moment to tell her and her sister. The fact that Anya was now the only one of their family left... She had to make her survival mean something in the wake of death.

***

A thick and heavy silence smothered all those gathered in the meeting room. Anya refused to move so much as a muscle under the weight of everyone's scrutiny. The first to speak was Nile.
"Is there any chance that Sannes is lying?"
"I don't think so," she replied. "Everything fits, and why would he make all of this up after following his beloved King for so long?"
"That's a very good point," Pyxis agreed, his expression thoughtful.
Zachary propped his head up upon clasped hands as he leant his elbows on the polished table.
"What do you want to do?" he asked.
Anya turned to him, surprised. She'd fully expected her fate to be determined for her, despite Historia's support. It still might, but at least she had the chance to plead her case.
"I believe this information could be extremely advantageous, but it has to be wielded correctly."
"What are your thoughts?" Pyxis asked.
"For the time being, this needs to stay between the upper ranks of the military and Queen Historia. People are fickle and despite spending my life killing Titans, they may lose trust in me and, by default, the Scouts. That's the last thing we want, especially now considering our numbers. My identity should be used against Marley. Specifically the next Marleyans who come here. Based on what we then discover, I could potentially make contact with their officials and use my status to talk them out of waging war here."
"Hmm. How do we know they'll accept you? Or that they'll listen to what you say? They might have realised that they don't need a monarch, and hold its royal family in little regard as a result."
"That's what we have to gauge from our future captives. The fact that Zeke Jaeger seemed so interested in Shiganshina indicates that someone in Marley sees some use for me."
She ignored Levi as he tensed beside her, instead watching for the others' reactions.
"There's certainly sense in what you're saying," said Zachary. "It could become exceedingly dangerous, though."
"Dangerous for me, yes. However if I'm able to avert future attacks, it'd be far safer for everyone else."
A wry smile twisted Pyxis' mouth.
"We don't expect you to carry the fate of the island alone, Anya."
"I know," she replied. "I just don't want such a golden opportunity to pass us by. Anyway, none of this is going to happen overnight. We need to play the long game, and there are many moves to be made."

***

"It seems they're going to trust us, at least for the time being," said Hange.
Anya watched from the carriage window as the vast jade fields of the countryside between Mitras and Trost rolled past. After a further hour of discussing strategy, the meeting with the other officials had finished and she, Hange and Levi were making their way back to HQ.
"Fancy that, letting Scouts decide what's best for the Scouts," Levi remarked dryly.
Anya knew he felt uneasy about what her identity could mean for their future, but in her mind there was no need to worry. Not yet, anyway.
"I wonder what they're really thinking," she mused. "They didn't seem to doubt my loyalty even once."
"They'd be nothing more than damned idiots if they had," Levi replied.
She shifted her attention from the scenery outside and shot him a smile.
"They have their moments." She fidgeted with one of the hoops in her left ear. "I suppose I should finally clear the air, when we get back."
"You mean you're going to talk to Eren, Armin and Mikasa?" Hange asked.
"Mm. I want to do it before we tell them all about who I apparently am at dinner later."
She didn't miss the glance that Hange and Levi exchanged, but she pretended not to notice and instead went back to gazing out of the window and planning just how she was going to talk to the brats. By the time they reached Trost, she felt as prepared as she'd ever be.
"I've got to carry on making copies of Grisha's books," Hange announced around a yawn. "I'll see you two later."
"See you," Anya replied.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Levi asked, once Hange was out of earshot.
"No, it's all right. I promise I won't explode on them. I'll find you when it's done."
Anya pressed her lips together and strode into HQ.
"Captain Anya."
She turned to see Floch approaching. He stopped and saluted, and she nodded back to him.
"Floch. How's your day been?"
"Captain... Please give me something to do," he asked, determination burning brightly in his eyes.
She rested a hand upon her hip, and he shifted from foot to foot under her icy stare.
"What are the others doing?"
"Talking. I feel like we're wasting time. We need to prepare to defend ourselves, for when Marley comes! Otherwise it'll all have been for nothing, won't it?"
Floch was adrift, there was no doubt about it. He had trauma to work through, and the others still hadn't accepted him. Every time she saw him, Anya was reminded of her guilt at having persuaded so many to sign up for the Scouts. For their own deaths. Her expression softened, and she placed a hand upon his shoulder.
"Things will be back on track soon. I promise. Did Jean tell you about dinner later?"
Floch's brow furrowed beneath a sweep of auburn hair.
"Yes. He said something about an announcement..."
"That's right. Make sure you're there for that, all right?"
"Of course. But what do I do until then?"
Anya clicked her tongue whilst she thought.
"I want you to start working on ideas for how we're going to recruit new members. Write me a strategy plan and we'll discuss it after dinner."
"Consider it done," he replied, saluting again.
"Good. Do you know where Eren is?"
"He's in the courtyard with Mikasa and Armin."
Sure enough, the trio were deep in conversation when Anya found them sitting on the low wall outside.
"Captain Anya," said Eren, getting to his feet. He looked vaguely guilty, and she wondered if it was because of what he knew about her, or the fact they'd just been talking about her.
Sat beside a steely-eyed Mikasa, Armin had cast his gaze to the ground. She didn't think she'd spoken to him at all since Shiganshina.
"Armin."
The blonde-haired teen jumped and raised his head, bright blue eyes wide with shock.
"Y-Yes, Captain?"
"It's time to stop feeling like shit, now. That goes for everyone, but for you especially."
Armin's eyes filled with tears, and there was a tense moment in which no-one uttered a word. Then the dam broke.
"I'm so sorry! I'm sorry you lost the Commander because of me! I stayed too long trying to exhaust Bertholdt instead of getting away from there like you told me to and as a result, Commander Erwin-"
"We all know what happened," she interrupted. "If you hadn't done that, we might have lost entirely. You made the right choice."
"But now we're at a huge disadvantage without the Commander here to-"
"What did Levi tell you about regret? What's done is done."
"You must hate me," he sniffed.
"No, I don't hate you. Any of you," she added, looking at Eren and Mikasa. "I'm still grieving and in one way or another, I probably always will be. It was a horrible situation, one I never imagined having to face but at the end of the day, for all my talk and resistance back on that rooftop, I agreed with Levi. I don't know if we were right, but I think Erwin would've been more than satisfied that you were the one that was saved. He saw potential in you, Armin. As do I. You have a responsibility now to do him proud."
To Anya's surprise, Armin rushed forward and hugged her. She swallowed down the sudden lump in her throat and patted his back as she addressed Eren and Mikasa.
"As for you two, don't for a second think that I wouldn't have reacted as you did, were our places reversed. I don't resent you for that at all."
Armin lowered his arms and stepped back, the first genuine, albeit tearful, smile to grace his face since Shiganshina making an appearance.
"Thank you, Captain."
"Thank you," Mikasa echoed.
"There's nothing to thank me for. We're a family. We forgive each other." She glanced skywards, noting that the sun was beginning to set. "There's not much time before dinner, but I have a favour to ask. There are a lot of unoccupied rooms here now, but I haven't had a chance to empty them yet. We're going to be recruiting soon and those rooms need to be cleared and cleaned. Mikasa and Armin, I want you to check the rooms on the Eastern side and tell me how many need seeing to. Eren and I will take the Western wing."
They split off and went inside. Anya let Eren lead the way, and once they were in the first bedroom, she shut the door and faced him.
"Captain?"
"Have you told them what we discovered last night?"
"No," he replied. "I didn't think there was much point, considering you're going to tell them yourself later."
"Good. There's something you're not telling anyone, though, isn't there? What is it, Eren? I saw how you reacted when you touched Historia at the ceremony."
He flinched and looked away.
"Nothing."
"You're going to have to get a lot better at lying if you want to convince me," she replied.
"I just saw one of my dad's memories. A bad one. It's nothing to worry about."
She narrowed her eyes. The kid was still lying, but there was no point trying to push him too much. There would be time enough for that in the months to come.
"Eren, just remember that you need to be able to trust people," she said. "The fate of Eldia doesn't rest entirely upon your shoulders. We're about to start a very long, very complicated game with Marley and the rest of the world and if we want to win at the end with as few sacrifices as possible along the way, you need to let other people share the burden. Don't try and do it alone."
Eren seemed as though he wanted to tell her something but then a shadow flickered across his face, and he closed his mouth and nodded.
"You're right. Captain, I think we'll be fine as long as we just keep moving forward."
Although he appeared enthusiastic once again, there was a ghost haunting the depths of his teal irisis and Anya feared that Eren might just end up making the biggest sacrifice of all.