Unwanted Power: An Armin Arlert Love Story

29. Ambush

They used a moonless night to move. Lexie was to stay close to Eren, not because Armin was there too, but because she would use her ability to not be harmed by a titan to keep Eren safe, just in case. Everyone had their hood up. Lexie was walking in front of Eren. Mikasa was at his right and Armin at his left. They had used the glowing gems from the underground chapel to generate light and they each had a lantern. Suddenly they came across a titan. As soon as they spotted it, Lexie put herself in front of Eren, but it wasn't needed, since the titan seemed to be asleep. So they continued walking.

"I feel bad for making you put yourself in danger." Eren said to Lexie.

"Please, I'm the least one facing danger in here." Lexie said as they continued walking.

"Are you ok?" Mikasa then asked Eren.

"Fine." Eren replied.

"But you are shaking, are you scared?" Armin wondered.

"No."

"It's ok of you are. I'm scared too." Armin comforted him. Lexie couldn't exactly leave them alone to talk as she had to stay close, but she didn't interfere with their talk. Only listening in. "I always wondered if you were scared of titans. It tends to be a paralyzing fear. I was frozen myself when I first saw a titan, and it almost ate me, but you managed to pull me out. How did you do it?"

"I remembered when you told me about the life outside the walls." Eren admitted. "That was the day I realized we were caged, not really free. And I remembered you wanted to see the outside world, and I wanted to see it with you too." Lexie was touched by these friends talk. "One day, we'll see the sea, all of us."

"I recognize this place. We used to get firewood from here." Mikasa said.

"I can hear the river." Armin agreed too. "We are here. After all these years. We're back home."

**********

The operation started. Eren was to go and plug the outer wall first. Everyone had to wear a scouts' uniform with a cape and put their hood on so Eren wouldn't be easily recognized. Before Armin could follow Eren and Mikasa, he noticed Lexie looking at something.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Does that look like ashes to you?" Lexie wondered and Armin saw the black spot on the wall. The called Commander Erwin and carefully went together down the wall to confirm their suspicious. They were right. There were dishes, firewood and a kettle. Armin and Lexie examined everything closely.

"Three cups." Armin said, showing the cups to her.

"Same liquid inside, that means there were three people here." Lexie said.

"Ymir?" Armin asked.

"Unlikely, she did betray them before. I believe it is that other titan we hadn't seen, the one that looks like a monkey." Lexie answered with grabbing her chin in thought.

"We have to tell the Commander."

And so the two of them reported their findings to Erwin.

"Was the kettle cold at the touch?" Erwin asked.

"Yes, sir." Armin replied.

"That's troubling."

"I agree."

"Why is it troubling?" Another soldier asked.

"It means they had time to plan and to hide. They have been expecting us, but there are no titans around, which means there's something else going on here." Lexie explained.

"That's impossible, how did they know?" The soldier asked.

"Maybe they have a scout of their own. We have to assume we have more than three enemies." Armin guessed.

"Let's focus on the enemies nearby." Erwin said, he then faced Armin. "I trust you. That mind of yours has saved us countless times. I need you to do it again. Take as many soldiers as you need." Erwin called some soldiers over and they gathered around them. "As of now, you follow Armin Arlert's commands. He'll tell you how to proceed to find the enemy."

"Understood!" All of the said.

"We searched the perimeter thoroughly."

"What are your instructions, Arlert?" Some soldiers started asking. Armin was nervous, he had never led so many people before. Seeing his nervousness. Lexie grabbed his hand, he looked at her and she nodded. He squeezed her hand before letting go and started giving the needed orders.

"We'll search one group to each side of the wall. Search the interiors of any buildings near the gate. If you find something, fire off an acoustic shell. Does... that work for you?" He ordered sheepishly at the end.

"Understood!" All the soldiers replied and following his instructions. He sighed in relief and felt a hand on his shoulder, it was Lexie with a proud smile.

"Well done, sir." She said with a smirk and a wink. Hearing her call him that had a previously unknown effect on his body, he tried to hide his blush, but she was still able to see some of it. She only smiled and kissed his cheek, making the effect even worse. She walked some steps away and watched the wall. Armin jumped down to cool himself and also to focus on the search, they hadn't found anything, so Armin had to think again. After overthinking the situation he fired a sonic shell and the search party returned.

"The walls. Everyone scour the walls." Armin said.

"But we've already search all round them." A soldier said.

"Not outside. We have to search inside." Everyone gasped at that.

"Inside the walls?"

"Yes, look for a small cavity that someone could hide out in. It may be covered."

"How do you know it exists?

"... it's a hunch." Armin admitted.

"Dammint, do you know what kind of position we're in?" A soldier grabbed Armin roughly by the shoulders. Lexie took a step forward to defend him, but he explained his case himself.

"Don't you get it? If we keep thinking as we usually do, they'll keep getting the upper hand. They know more than us, so we have to make assumptions." Armin defended his point.

And then Erwin shot red smoke, signaling everyone to halt the mission.

"There are times to be strict and times to be flexible. Follow the chain of command." Erwin said. Armin took courage from that.

"For two groups again and search the wall's surface. Start your search above the gate. Move, quickly!"

"Right!" And again, everyone did as Armin said. From the distance, Lexie looked at him with adoration, she knew he'd come through eventually. She joined the team searching for the wall. She still kept close to Armin.

Finally, a soldier found them, a hollow part of the wall, he was right next to Lexie. He called everyone and then the piece of the wall moved and Reiner appeared, killing the scout that had found him. Levi was quick to try to kill Reiner, stabbing his blade on Reiner's neck, but Reiner was able to transform. Just as Reiner transformed inside the city, countless titans inside the wall transformed too. It was an ambush.