Unwavering | Annie Leonhart x Male Reader

21. Spiral

"It just can't be... I would've known, she-she wouldn't have killed all of those people..." Even after hours of the same internal war you hadn't come any closer to accepting what you knew in your heart to be true "How did she even become a Titan and why would she do any of this..?"

Following Eren's successful retrieval from the Female Titan, things had moved quickly over the next day as the Scouts made their way back to Kalanes, defeated, before being summoned to Mitras. News of the Female's escape had traveled fast, word coming back from the capital that Eren had been deemed too much of a threat and was to be turned over to the Royal Government at once.

"Premier Zachary has demanded that Commander Erwin report to the capital with Eren at once, they've deemed our failure as proof of the threat he could pose." Miche's words from earlier that morning came back to you as you blankly stared out cabin window "I've been tasked with watching over you recruits while they're away. We'll receive further instruction with a day, but for now the Scouts' future is uncertain."

"What's gonna happen to him, to Eren?" Reiner said, his voice panic stricken as a sadness fell over the group "He didn't do anything wrong, why the hell are they blaming him?"

"We're not sure exactly, all we do know is that we lost custody of him..." Miche's tone soured a bit, his face contorting into a weak frown "What comes next... Well, only the Premier can say."

"If they're taking him from us, then they're probably going with the MP's original plan..." You muttered over to Reiner, his brow furrowing in confusion as his mind began to race "Back at the trial that plan was execution... I can't imagine that changed much."

"No fuckin' way, you've got to be kidding. He's too much of an asset!" Reiner growled back as his face started turning a deep red "Did they forget that he was the one that sealed up Trost? Or took down dozens of Titans by himself? That can't be real Y/N... Y/N..."

"Y/N, dude are you awake?" Reiner's voice boomed in your ear causing you to lurch forward and out of your daydream "Are you ok man, you've been a wreck since you guys came out of the forest yesterday... What the hell happened in there?"

"Fuck, I must've fallen asleep..." Your eyes began to rapidly blink a few times before you pulled your head off of the cabin wall that you'd accidentally dozed off against "I didn't sleep a bit last night, I shouldn't be surprised."

"I'm just... Shaken up I guess. I'll be fine though." You tried to force a smile as you looked over at him, but had to have failed miserably judging by his reaction "A lot. A whole lot."

"A whole lot of what?" He asked curiously as Bertolt took a seat across from him "I don't think I've ever seen you rattled this bad, not even after Trost."

"There's another one, another intelligent Titan just like Eren, the Colossal, and the Armored. This one was a female and it could harden its skin and call in other Titans with its scream. We tried to capture it, but it got free and took Eren." Both of the boys eyes widened as you went over the details of the fight "In the end it took me, Mikasa, and Levi to just get Eren back... Whoever was in there, they're way more skilled than Eren. He didn't stand a chance."

"Shit... So there's three of them then. That's not good odds." Bertolt mumbled "Who do they think it is?"

"No idea. We weren't allowed to be around for the conversations Erwin had after we got back to Kalanes." You felt a guilty pang in your stomach lying to your friends, but your theory was too much to share without any kind of certainty "They had access to our flares, Scout cloaks, and seemed aware of our tactics... It could be anyone."

"I wish it could be someone else, literally anyone else. I-I don't know what to even do." Images of Annie emerging from the Titan rushed into your head, causing the pit in your stomach to expand farther "How the fuck could she have been a monster this whole time..."