Answers

Chapter 2

"Annie..."

Her ice cold blue eyes are on me for a mere second before she looks away. Does she feel ashamed? No, that can't be it. Not Annie. She doesn't care about anybody or anything and she certainly doesn't feel guilt...

"What do you want?" she asks.

Her blunt question feels like a slap to the face. Despite everything that's happened, she's still as cold as ever.

"I came here for answers," I reply bluntly, trying to sound confident.

"I have nothing to tell you... besides, it sounds like you've already learned much over this past year," she answers.

She's barely audible and still won't look at me.

"I'm not talking about your bullshit mission with Reiner and Bertholdt... I want to know your reasons for doing this, I want to understand."

"...why?" she asks, glancing at me momentarily.

For a moment, I'm stunned. For this question, I have no answer. Knowing and understanding why she did it will change nothing now, her fate is sealed anyway.

"Honestly... I don't know."

Why do I feel so uncomfortable?

"I owe you nothing. We're enemies," she states coldly.

A sudden surge of anger shoots through my body.

"Did you ever care about any of us!?"

Did you ever care about me?

"How did you feel about us in those three years we all spent together as trainees!?"

How did you feel about me?

"What did you feel when we were clearing up the bodies after the battle of Trost!?"

"The lives that you had a hand in taking!"

I'm physically shaking now. The fury that I once felt has returned and I can barely contain myself.

"ANSWER ME!"

She winces when I shout. She's still silent.

"What do you want me to say?" she pipes up meekly.

"That I felt nothing? That I felt remorse? Does it really matter? I did what I did and there's no taking it back," she croaks.

Her voice is wavering. I feel conflicted, unsure whether I should feel glad about this or guilty. However, I need to keep pushing. If I can come away with one answer from this, it has to be...

"What happened to Marco?"

At the sudden mention of Marco, her eyes widen and she looks at the floor.

"Annie, tell me. Tell me about Marcos final moments."

No response. I'll keep pushing. I owe Marco that much.

"You know, I believe that Marco was the best of us. He was a kind and gentle soul, always willing to lend a hand and risk his life for his friends. There wasn't a single person that didn't like Marco."

Still nothing from her.

"The fact that Marco died alone and with nobody to witness it, haunts us all. I heard that there was only half of his body left... he deserved better than that. As you know, it even pushed Jean into joining the Survey Corps, he didn't want to disappoint his best friend. If you feel anything at all, please tell me what happened..."

I can feel a tightness in my chest as I'm pleading with her. Silently I wait for a response until...

"Marco... overheard Reiner and Bertholdt talking about being titans," she whispers.

Reiner and Bertholdt. So those traitors were involved too.

"I arrived later when Reiner had restrained Marco. He ordered me to take his ODM gear... I didn't want to do it but we didn't have a choice. We left him defenseless on a rooftop to be devoured by a titan," she continues.

I feel sick. I'm gonna throw up. But it seems she hasn't finished...

"When I first came upon them, Marco pleaded with me to save him. The look on his face when he realized I was with them, you have no idea... how I felt in that moment," she stops herself there, silently weeping.

I find myself starting to feel sorry for her. NO. That's not right, she's not the victim here. Marco is. He was killed... no, murdered... in a horrific way.

I have to get out of here. My mind is spinning. I'll come back tomorrow for more answers.

"How do you think Marco felt?" I ask, before turning to leave.

Those are my parting words. One last glance over my shoulder and she is curled up in the fetal position, sobbing to herself uncontrollably.

Is this the real Annie Leonhardt?