The 5th Ackermann

AOT Short!

Written: 11/21/24 & 11/28/24

Published: 11/29/24

Based on the extra chapter of AOT recently released by Isayama. 139.6

Warning: Violence, discussed assault

The two of us were born in the underground. It was all we'd known. I had thought there was no such thing as something clean or pure. Except for our mom. She was exquisite. Graceful. Even though I was so young, I remember solely that with great clarity. I was thinking, I'll do anything to keep things this way! So that's why... It's strange it turned out like this.

KAPOW

"Well, ain't you a bunch of tenacious brats?" A man panted, bringing his foot back after brutally kicking a young boy. The undercut boy clenched his chest, unable to move and blood streaming down his nose.

"LEVI!" A youthful girl screamed. She tried to rush toward her brother, but a man grabbed her by the hair, yanking her toward him, releasing a yelp. The other men surrounding them roared with laughter.

"Where you going, little missy?" He asked, bringing his face close to hers, earning a wince from her due to his proximity. "Hey, you're kind of cute! What do you say we get away from here for a bit, hmm?"

Y/n involuntarily gagged, revolted by the thought. Unfortunately, her reaction caused the man to growl and throw her to the floor.

"Sorry... I shouldn't have asked." He said, reaching out to grab her again. "This time, I'll just do it."

The two were struggling to keep getting back up in the face of at least seven men out for their blood. They were so close. The rocky ceiling above them was almost going to be a distant memory. The two of them had nearly made it to the surface with their mother's belongings. A river below, off the side of the road was raging.

"Idiot!!" Another man with spectacles yelled, throwing his arm in front of the man. "Don't you know who these brats are? These are the little rats Kenny the Ripper's looking after! We're dead meat if he sees this!"

The man who kicked Levi shrugged. "Alls we gotta do is not get caught, then. We'll mince this boy up into bits and feed him to the hogs like we usually do. And we treat the little missy with our best courtesy of course, give her the finest time, and then get a nice price. No problem."

Y/n's brows furrowed as she took out her Kenny knife sneakily. Gritting her teeth, she leapt toward one of the men, knife drawn back.

Another man grabbed her midair, pushing and pinning her to the ground. "Tch..! This rat is insane!" Her knife clattered to the side.

"Y/n..!" Levi croaked out.

One of the men kneeled in front of Levi, grabbing a fist full of his dark hair. "Who cares who's lookin' after him anyway? They put their grubby little hands on our goods. Underestimatin' the gangs down here, now that's what'll really turn you to dead meat."

"Give it back..." Levi growled through his beat in face. "That's our mom's..."

"It's ours!" Y/n snarled.

"It's not." The spectacled man cut off. "These are the goods the ill Olympia pawned off for good. It's become quite a hot commodity. The boss is taking it above to sell. Some dirty, petty little thieves like you sneaking onto our carriage to the surface... You knew what would happen if you were found out, didn't you? Or perhaps it was unfair of me to expect that sort of proactive thinking from the children of a whore born underground."