Never Trust Me

Chapter 7

The Survey corp returned to Wall Rose, with the dead bodies of many soldiers who died in carts, but Crystal intended to pull Erwin with his horse, by himself. She was denying anyone else to pull him back into safety, and Hanji couldn't help but sympathize with her, the girl gave up her freedom to become a soldier, merely to protect Levi and the scouts.

"It's her!" A small child ran up to the horse, "Crystallina!" All of the scouts stopped, Levi and Hanji were put on edge by the shout of her name.

"Lily..." Crystal stopped the horse, looking upon the small girl in fear, "You shouldn't be near me, you know what your father will do if he finds out I'm here. Now run along and don't tell anyone."

"But I've missed you so much!"

"Lily! Back away from the dangerous scouts!" A man ran out of the crowd to grab his child and looked up at the woman, "You-!"

"Get out of our way." Levi suddenly got in between the two and glared toward the man, warning him that if he advanced he would get hit.

"I'll tell your father! I swear it! He'll have you murdered! So keep your eyes open at night Crystallina! We're all coming after you-!" Suddenly Hanji walked up to the man and pushed the young girl away before grabbing him by the neck.

"You just threatened my soldier, I'll have you arrested quicker than anything and you'll be slowly tortured for answers, so I suggest you run." She glared evilly up at the man who then responded by spitting her in the face, and then he was dropped harshly on the ground, "Let's get to the castle."

"Alright." Crystal looked on with an unfazed expression, even as she pulled Erwin's dead corpse past the little girl who seemed to care about her. Levi huffed at the man who looked at them in anger but with a smirk on his face, which unnerved Levi and Hanji, but they followed Crystal's example, letting it seems as though they weren't fazed by it. When they arrived, they led Crystal to the place where she could bury Erwin, and soon they had a small funeral to bid him into the ground. Connie and Jean were both digging the grave as Crystal put her hand over Erwin's to start her speech.

"Erwin wasn't the perfect leader, he made mistakes, and he fought to improve them. He saved many from the life of horrid and possible jail time, he continued to give the advice needed to assist them to choose the path they desired. As a loving cousin who never knew the dangers his cousin was in and if he did, he would have personally gotten her out of that basement. I know I don't say this for just myself, but I believe everyone has been moved by Commander Erwin. Let us salute to bid him farewell." Crystal's posture was strong, and the rain hitting her back made her feel secure as her fist went over her heart. The others around her did the same as Mikasa and Levi put Erwin's coffin into the grave.

"Crystal... This must be really hard..." Eren walked up to her and she looked at him for a moment before huffing.

"We brought back his body, that's enough for me to remember he lived a brave life." Crystal pushed past Eren and walked off towards the castle, where they were staying until the morning's court process. Once behind closed doors, she collapsed on the floor next to the doors that hid her shame.

Tears slowly filled the echo of the hall she was in, as she sobbed lightly into her arms, asking herself over and over, "Why did I come back? Why did I have to come back?"

Levi looked around and sighed, when Hanji spoke up, "That man, he's going to tell the underground gangs that she's back inside the walls."

"Well, if anybody tries to hurt her, it'll look better on us in court."

"That's true, shouldn't someone go with her to make sure she's safe at all times?" Hanji asked quietly, and then looked at Levi seriously, "I wouldn't entrust someone with no experience with shady people, I want to entrust her safety with you."