The Path Back to You | Levi x OC

Chapter 80 - The Letter

Anastasya

Anya looked up from the report she was reading as Floch burst into her tent.
"Captain Anya! A ship's been spotted! It's coming this way!"
She dropped the document onto her desk and went to retrieve her coat from the back of a chair.
"How far is it?"
"At the moment, we guess around thirty minutes away."
"Any sign of smaller vessels?"
"None as of yet," Floch replied.
There was excitement blazing in his eyes, and Anya indulged him with a smile.
"Keep your mind clear now, Floch. We want to make a good first impression."
"Yes, Captain!"
"Where're Levi and Hange?"
"Preparing Eren near the shore," he replied.
"All right; lead the way."
Anya followed Floch to where Levi and the others were waiting on a slope concealed by large boulders at its summit.
"Updates?" she asked by way of greeting.
"A boat's just left the main ship. It's heading straight for us," said Hange, passing her a telescope.
Sure enough, a team of people were rowing towards the island. They wore padded, sleeveless jackets over white uniforms, and didn't appear to be armed. Not that they could rely on that, of course.
"Are we going ahead as planned?" she asked. "Secure this lot first, then bring the others ashore?"
"Yeah," said Hange, a tremor of excitement to her voice. "Let's do it."

***

Levi

The earth rumbled as Eren hefted the Marleyan's ship out of the sea and dumped it onto the shore. Like an overexcited puppy, Hange rocketed past Levi and Anya, and the prisoner standing between them, to greet the terrified soldiers as they gawped down at them.
"Hello, friends from Marley!" Hange called, throwing her arms wide. "Welcome to Paradis Island!"
Levi shot an exasperated look at Anya. She and Hange couldn't be any more different in that moment. While Hange acted the over-the-top fool, Anya stood so still she was like an ice sculpture, her gaze hard-set as she analysed whom they were dealing with. She did, however, return Levi's look with a faint smirk.
"I'm Hange, here to greet our guests who've come so far across the sea!" Hange went on, bowing. "Now, step this way and join us for some tea! By the way, we're already friends with this guest that arrived before you! Isn't that right, Nicolo?"
As Hange threw an arm around the trembling, blonde-haired Marleyan, Levi shoved the flat tip of his blade deeper into his back in warning. The guy had been completely useless at providing information, despite their threats.
"Captain! Forget about me and shoot these devils!" Nicolo yelled.
"Wh-What are you saying, Nicolo?!" Hange cried.
"He's tired of your shitty skit," Levi remarked dryly.
"Nicolo!" the Marleyan captain ground out, standing up from where he'd been crouched on the deck of the ship. "Understand this, you devils! Marley doesn't mingle with filthy blood! Go drink your pig piss with your filthy friends!"
"Aww! Hey! You sure you wanna be rude to us?!" Hange yelled back. "Can't you see the Titan behind you?!"
The soldiers turned to stare up at Eren, but the captain quickly recovered from his fear and ran to the edge of the deck, brandishing his gun.
"We'll never yield to you devils! Say hello to this!"
Hange squealed just as a shot rang out through the night, the sound ricocheting off the surrounding rocks. With an impassive expression Anya twizzled the smoking pistol in her hand, just once, in warning to anyone else who fancied their chances. There was a moment in which no-one moved, simply staring at the dead Marleyan captain, and then chaos erupted on the ship. A group of soldiers pulled their guns upon their comrades, and a blonde woman who had no damn business being as tall as she was stepped forward and removed her helmet.
"Hange, I'd be happy to accept your invitation. Let's have tea."
After recovering from her shock, Hange beamed and set about getting the Marleyans off the ship. Levi passed Nicolo into the care of some other soldiers and went to wait with Anya in the designated tent.
"You okay?" he asked, keeping his voice low as he shrugged off his cloak.
"Mm," she replied. "It was either him or Hange."
Levi nodded before glancing to the entrance of the tent.
"That woman... She's so damn tall."
Anya's eyes widened, and he took her cloak from her to hang next to his own.
"I know! I feel like I need to stand on a table to talk to her properly."
Levi was about to reply when Hange's voice filtered in from outside.
"Here goes nothing," he murmured.
They went to sit down, leaving the seat between them free for Hange. She led the tall woman, and a man with dark skin, into the tent. The two Marleyans took the seats on the other side of the table. Hange poured tea for them all and then began inspecting the tall woman's gun, clearly more concerned with new toys than their guests. Levi folded his arms, keeping his expression neutral as he studied the pair. He was about to give Hange a kick to get her talking when Anya took the lead.
"As Hange has already said, welcome to our island," she said, pausing to take a sip of tea. "Your names?"
"I am Yelena, and this is Onyankopon," the woman replied. "Do you mind if I ask yours?"
"This is Captain Levi Ackerman," Anya replied, gesturing to him. "I'm Captain Anastasya Morozova."
There was no doubt about it. Both Yelena and Onyankopon's eyes widened upon hearing their names.
"It is an honour to meet you both," said Yelena. "We have come here to share information about Marley."
"Ah, so that's how it shoots a bunch!" said Hange, pointing Yelena's gun at her remaining eye.
"That's standard-issue in Marley," said Yelena. "The Marley army has 20,000 soldiers per division. With 50 divisions, that's 1,000,000 soldiers. There's also the navy with three fleets, each comprised of 21 battleships. They've made tremendous progress in new weapons and aerial warfare as well."
"Aerial...?" Hange leaned forward, admiration plain as day on her face.
"Tch."
Levi kicked her beneath the table and shot her a sideways glare. If she started freaking out, they'd view them as weak.
"In other words, vehicles allowing one to attack the enemy from the sky," Onyankopon explained.
Hange shot from her seat, unable to hold back.
"Huh?! From the sky?!"
"Hey!" Levi warned.
"If Marley have such capabilities, why haven't they attacked in over a year?" Anya asked.
Levi was glad that she, at least, was keeping a clear head.
"There are two main reasons," said Yelena. "One being the Pure Titans released here. Even with the latest weapons, they would hinder a land assault. They were used as a tool to confine Eldians within the walls but in turn, they've protected Eldia from invasion."
"Yeah. Well, ain't that funny?" Levi commented.
"Though dawn is coming soon, and that's when Titans are active. But if we're way out here, sipping on tea outside the walls, you must have killed all the Titans roaming around. Is that true?"
"So what if it is?" Levi demanded. "You gonna report it to Marley?"
Yelena and Onyankopon looked awestruck, and it took them a moment to respond.
"No, it blows away my expectations," Yelena confessed.
"And the second reason?" Anya asked, studying her nails.
"Currently, Marley is at war with multiple nations. They can't be bothered with Paradis. You defeated the Warrior Unit, the pride of Marley, and captured two of their main weapons, the Female and Colossal Titans. Marley's many enemies took notice and were quick to unite and declare war."
"If you guys are secret agents who infiltrated Marley, I'm guessing you came from conquered nations?" Hange asked.
Onyankopon's expression was answer enough, and Hange clicked her fingers.
"Oh, I'm right?! If you're going up against Marley, I bet you've got big backers!"
Yelena placed her cup and saucer back on the table a little harder than was necessary.
"We're not secret agents or anything of the sort," she said quietly. "We were powerless. Marley took our homes and forced us to be soldiers. We were close to losing hope at ever striking back. Until we met him. A Titan that people of the world feared, calling it a devil. But I saw something completely different: a god. One that gave hope to the powerless."
A strange, fanatical look had overcome Yelena as she delved back into her memories, but she returned to lucidity as she spoke her next words.
"Under Zeke Jaeger's command, we shot our superiors. We're the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers. Our goal: to free the Eldian people."
Not even Anya was able to keep her poker face upon hearing the monkey bastard's name again, much less at the news that he was apparently working to help them.
"Zeke asked me to deliver this to you," Yelena said, pulling a document from her jacket pocket. "He has a secret plan in which to end the suffering of Eldians, but he will not reveal it until certain conditions have been met."
"Why," said Anya, the hostility in her voice unmistakable, "would he want to help us, considering what he did the last time he was on our island?"
Something that looked like genuine sorrow clouded Yelena's dark grey eyes.
"Zeke had to act for the greater good. The last thing he wanted was for so many fellow Eldians to lose their lives, but securing the Founding Titan is essential if Eldians, and all those subjected to Marley's brutal rule, are to ever have a chance at freedom."
Levi didn't buy it for a second. Images of the shithead ape's laughing, smiling face as he'd hurled boulder after boulder at their comrades flashed through his mind. As did the damage done to Erwin's body. Even Hange had fallen silent, apparently unsure of how to proceed. Anya got to her feet, staring down at Yelena and Onyankopon.
"For now, you and the rest of the soldiers with you will remain under arrest. Regardless of what Zeke Jaeger wants from us, I'm sure we have lots to learn from one another."
Yelena dipped her head.
"Thank you for listening to us. I hope that, with time, relations between us will grow stronger as we work towards our mutual goal."
"Thank you for sharing your information," Hange replied, at last all business. "We'll discuss it with our fellow officials and go from there."

***

Anastasya

Yelena was trying to attract Anya's attention as she sat waiting in the tent. Levi had left to give orders to the Scouts concerning what they'd be doing with the detained Marleyan soldiers, and Hange was chatting excitedly to Onyankopon in the corner about flying ships. Anya frowned and against her better judgement, she strode over to the giant woman.
"What is it?" she demanded.
The woman winced and glanced at Hange and Onyankopon. Clearly, she didn't want anyone to overhear.
"I have a message," she murmured, reaching into a pocket.
Anya tensed, ready to react should a weapon be produced, though both Yelena and Onyankopon had already been searched for anything offensive. Instead, she pulled out a sealed envelope and quickly pressed it into Anya's hand.
"I recommend you open it when alone."
Anya's curiosity was well and truly piqued, despite her ire. She tucked the envelope into her jacket, already feeling it burning a hole through her clothing, aching for its contents to be read. She didn't spare so much as another glance at Yelena as Levi returned with the Scouts he'd deemed competent enough to guard her and Onyankopon. Anya placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned in close.
"I'm going to our tent," she said. "Get me if you need me."
Anya left before Levi could reply, though he didn't seem concerned about her wanting to put distance between herself and their prisoners. She was sure that Levi was just as pissed off and confused as she was, and she decided she'd tell him about the letter when they had a chance to talk uninterrupted. As soon as Anya reached their tent, she retrieved the envelope and held it up to the candle burning on the desk, checking it for anything suspicious. Her full name, minus any of her titles, was written neatly on the front, and the browned paper was sealed with red wax. Deeming it safe, she opened the envelope and unfolded the lengthy letter inside. Without even needing to read the charming sign-off at the end, Anya knew that it had been written by none other than Zeke Jaeger. Her blood ran cold, and she made as if to thrust the letter into the flame of the candle, wanting nothing to do with him whatsoever. However she inadvertently caught sight of some of what he'd written and, pulled in by the eloquence of his words, Anya couldn't help but devour the letter in its entirety. As she continued reading dread twisted her gut and, upon reaching the end, she let the paper fall to the desk before bracing both hands upon the wooden surface and squeezing her eyes shut, already wishing she'd simply burnt the damned thing for, just like that, the man she hated most in the world had got inside her head.