angelic | jean kirstein

chapter twenty three

ANGELIC – CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

"The MPs were handing out these flyers," Armin announced as he looked down to the piece of paper he held out for the captain, a terrible sketch of the man printed at the centre - as terrible as it was, if someone were to spot captain Levi in the open he'd have been recognised straight away. "If this is true, the scouts will be disbanded. They say they will be hunting for us in the mountains tonight. They're also posting guards on all the vital roads, nobody can get through them without a pass. So, Captain, what now?"

Isabel stared down at the sheet of paper Jean had handed her smugly before heading towards the captain, another terrible drawing covered the page but instead of the captain it was a picture of her. The artist had given her thick eyebrows like her father - something she had never picked up on before. She scrunched her nose up at the image, she looked over to Sasha on her right, "do my eyebrows really look that bad?" All Sasha could say in response was shake her head whilst stifling laughter.

"We need to hurry and find Eren."

"He'll be fine." Levi reasoned as he tore his eyes away from the paper, looking up at the worried girl. "They're taking him on a wagon that gives us one day before they reach Reis's estate. We need every second of it to come up with a plan."

Sasha's head darted towards the trees past Isabel's annoyed expression. "Captain, I hear footsteps." She whispered. The group turned to face the direction she was staring into, Connie raised his hands to cup his ears and Isabel had to bite back the comment she wanted to make about how silly he looked - it wasn't the time nor the place, she'd mock him later. "Sounds like they're approaching."

She had to give it to Sasha, she had never failed them before with her senses, she greatly admired how aware she was of her surroundings, something Isabel had always wanted to be able to do. It made her think of the simpler times when they were Cadets and they had hunted a hog for some cooking competition with Connie and... him. Isabel shook her head.

-

"Doesn't this seem odd to you? Why would the Scouts murder a civilian and run for the hills? This is the same group of soldiers who consistently risk their lives for the sake of humanity."

"Give me a break. Did you forget? Think about what they did to Stohess, the way they turned it into a battlefield. How many dead bodies do you think we carried? Annie's been missing ever since. They still haven't taken her junk out of my room, it's annoying."

"But in doing so, the Scouts also uncovered a titan in hiding and took it prisoner. I highly doubt the Military Police could've done that. How is disbanding the Scouts what's best for humanity?"

"Be quiet." She raised her gun. "Listen closely."

"Don't move." He threatened, both their guns pointed at Armin's cloaked back. "Turn around, slowly." Armin raised his hands in the air and stood to his feet, abandoning the two pails of water by his side. "You must be a Scout."

Armin turned to face the boy, "not a sound. Don't say a word. Now listen and do exactly as I instruct you-"

His words were cut short as Levi and Mikasa jumped down from the trees above, their swords held against their throats, both their guns now in the air by their sides. "Hand your guns to the one in front." Levi ordered.

As Armin collected the two guns, Isabel finally let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, releasing her vice-like grip on Jean's hand as the threat had now been neutralized. "Don't say a word, right?"

Isabel moved out from the tree and Jean had been hidden behind and moved towards the MPs, she nodded her head towards the man as she made her way towards the woman, Jean simply followed her muted order, knowing better than to not do as he was told.

Her fingers worked quickly to rid her of her gear, not looking up to meet her eyes once. The woman stared down at the silver head below her, eyes furrowed as she could do nothing about the gear being stripped from her, hazel eyes flickered over to her comrade only to see a look of defeat on his face as Jean took his gear.

"Isabel." Mikasa said quietly as she chucked the rope over to her, she caught it one handed and began to tie the woman's hands together.

Her eyes widened as she stared at Isabel. "You're Isabel?" She whispered quietly in realization as she tried to meet the jade eyes.

"What's it to you?" Isabel questioned sharply as they met eyes momentarily. The short-haired woman analysed her carefully - the silver hair, the deep green eyes, the sharp tongue, there was no mistake that this is who Annie had spoken about once.

"I - um, I was Annie's roommate." She said quietly. "She mentioned you -" Isabel clicked her tongue despite the hammering of her heart against her chest.

"So?"

"So, where is she? She only mentioned you one time but that was more than she ever mentioned anyone else, surely you would know." Isabel shook her head and moved on to tie her comrade's wrists as Jean had moved over to the captain, paper in his hands. "Are you going to -"

"What makes you think you have any right to be asking questions right now?" Isabel snapped, glaring up at the light-haired woman. "Last time I checked we were in charge, not you. Are we the ones tied up? No. You speak when you are spoken to, am I understood?" The woman simply nodded her head. "Good."

Levi placed a hand on Isabel's shoulder once she finished tying the knots, his eyes focused on the paper. "Now, you're Stohess district Military Police, Private Marlow Freudenberg, same assignment, Private Hitch Dreyse. We will need to dispose of you."

"Because of what you did, Stohess was a graveyard. Over a hundred people were killed." The words busted out of Hitch's mouth.

"What did I just say, Private?" Isabel said as she stood above her, arms folded over her chest. Hitch's lip quivered slightly, Isabel was a lot taller than she had expected her to be now she was standing above her, a lot more intimidating too. She understood why Annie was drawn to her.

Levi shot her a look as he shook his head. "Huh?"

"Hey..." Marlow whispered as his eyes flickered between the three.

"You bastards, I bet you all think you're some kind of heroes of justice but you're not! You dropped dozens of innocent families right into hell on that mission of yours!"

"Yeah." Levi answered lazily, "we did."

"You," She looked at Isabel. "You trained with Annie Leonhardt in the Southern Cadet Corps, you must've been a friend of hers, she never spoke about anyone yet she told me about you. She didn't make friends with the other MPs so why were you so special? Why did she choose you?! I'll never get the chance to learn anything about her now, she's officially listed as missing, you know why? It's because one of your titans turned her into an ugly red stain on the street!"

Isabel let out a snigger, her eyebrow raised. "You're not serious right?"

"Why are you laughing?!"

She bent down to eye level, her face stone cold. "Because. . . She's not an 'ugly red stain on the street'," Isabel mocked her tone, a slight smirk playing on her lips, "the titan we captured was Annie Leonhardt."