...Revealing...
Eren woke up to your head laying on the bed.
He sat up, careful not to move around too much to wake you. He brushed your hair strands out of your face, fingers softly stroking your cheek like feathers. Only one thought present in his mind: How is she always so beautiful?
No matter what the hell you did or say, crazy or not crazy, he could never rip his eyes off of you. And deep down, he probably knew what that meant. How he truly felt.
When the others would tease him about you, he'd play dumb, and to some extent he probably was, but he knew he was fooling no one except himself. But when people would tease you about him, you were much more defensive than he was. Which made him unsure if you were also playing dumb or you just genuinely didn't see him in any way beyond a friend. Keeping quiet was simple enough. Having you as his best friend was more than he could ask for. There was no need to be too selfish.
"Are you ever going to confess to her?"
Eren jumped a little, nearly forgetting that Mikasa was also in the room. But his hand never left your face. "Is it that obvious?"
"Obvious? When people look at the two of you, they immediately assume you've been dating for five years or something. And you wonder if it's 'obvious.' Goodness."
"I mean is it obvious to her?"
"Believe me, it can be much, much more obvious." Because she's denser than a rock, she thought.
"But I don't want to ruin anything between us."
"Eren, you won't."
"But what if I do? I mean, I don't even know how she feels."
Mikasa grumbled under her breath and rested her head back against the wall. "Stop complicating it. Suck it up and tell her. Then after that, remember to thank Armin and me. That's all."
The door slammed open and you jolted up, bonking your head with Eren's. "Ow!" "Fuck!"
"Eren! Mikasa! Y/n!" Armin was at the door. "Wall Rose has been breached!"
Mikasa was up on her feet in an instant.
"What?!" Eren got off the bed.
You rubbed your eyes. "Can't we get a day of peace? Maybe even half a day?"
* . * .
"Sorry to keep you guys waiting," said Hange, walking over with Levi and another man behind her. "Took a bit longer to prepare." It was night, and the L/n Quartet had already been waiting in the cart.
"Who's this guy?" you asked. Maybe you were just imagining it, but there was a brief glint of recognition in his eyes. And a hitched breath.
"He's a priest from the Order of the Walls, I think," said Armin. He sat on the other side of Eren. You sat in-between him and Mikasa.
"Indeed he is!" Hange put an arm around his neck. "Nick is a new friend of mine! Makes sense for him to be here as the rest of us, right? Such a random assigned seating."
"No. Erwin's assigned us all together for a reason," said Levi. "Just don't know for what."
As the Scouts proceeded out the gates into Wall Rose, Hange explained that this whole time, the walls were made out of titans themselves. But as she talked, this Nick guy kept on sneaking nervous glances at you. You'd stare back until he get embarrassed, but once you look away, his eyes were back on you.
"Wait, what? You've got to be joking!" Eren pointed at Nick. "This guy knew the whole time and kept quiet?"
"Pretty much. That's all we were able to get out of him so far," said Hange. "He's not willing to talk yet, but let's see if he opens his mouth after seeing a glimpse of reality. Faith keeps him quiet."
"Why should it?!" Eren rested his hands on the wooden table in the center of the cart. "If this son of a bitch knows something, he needs to come out with it! Humanity's going extinct and all you care is being faithful?!"
"Hey." Mikasa pulled him back down. "Save up your temper. You're still recovering."
"Well there's more than one way to get the truth," said Levi, resting a gun at Nick's rib. "But I'm hoping you don't want to get a hole blown through you in order to open your mouth."
"Threatening him doesn't work, I tried that already," said Hange. "At least he's a man of principle. Makes me wonder what he's so eager on keeping a secret that he'd risk all of humanity."
"If you're not willing to talk, at least stop staring at a girl younger than half your age," said Levi, eyes flickering to you. "It's quite alarming."
Nick closed his eyes. For the rest of the ride, he spoke of nothing. Didn't look at you anymore, which was quite the relief. Then Hange shared her discovery about a hardened piece of skin left by the Female Titan that was identical to a fragment of the wall. Which led to her hypothesis that if Eren could master that ability, he could plug up the hole in Shiganshina.
Once you guys arrived in Ehrmich, you were helping out with carrying the crates from the carts to the buildings. Then Levi arrived with Nick, who looked like he had just seen a ghost. Yet his mouth still didn't move.
"Goddamn it, make up your mind!" scolded Hange. "No one gives a shit about which wall's which god! Lives are on the line!"
"I have no choice," he pleaded. "Neither of us believers have the liberty to release the truth."
"Thank you so much for your help, Nick! Now go jump off the wall or something!"
"I wish that I can help, but this duty is far above anything this world has to offer. The Order of the Walls obeys the sacred will."
"Sacred will? From God or something?'
"I can't answer that," he said. "But...what I can do is provide you with two names. Two individuals that the sacred will instructed us to monitor. One we have lost trace, up until now. Two girls who enlisted with the Scout Regiment as of this year. One, is a child under the name of Krista Lenz."
All of you were stunned. "Krista? Like the sweetheart Krista?" you asked particularly to no one.
"You must find her with all haste. She is the key! She may know things we understand, but poorly! And I'm afraid that's all I am able to share about her."
"And the other girl?"
A beat of silence passed. Nick carefully slid his eyes to you. "She's standing in this room right now."
Didn't register to you what he'd said until every pair of eyes had fallen onto you. You glanced over your shoulder, but no one was behind you. Then finally, you pointed to yourself. "Me?!"
Hange suddenly grabbed you by your collar, pulling you in. "Tell me what you know right now, Y/n! Spit it out!" She had this crazed look in her eye that honestly surprised you too much to be able to say anything.
Eren pulled on her arm but she wouldn't let go. "Commander Hange! Y/n doesn't know anything!"
"Then why is Nick bringing her up?!"
"Hange." Levi yanked her back by her jacket. "Calm down. She was raised in an orphanage. She wouldn't know shit."
Hange squeezed her eyes shut. Her hands loosened. "I'm sorry, Y/n. I just lost my cool."
"...Yeah, no worries," you said, buttoning up the top of your shirt that she had accidentally pulled open.
"You said that Krista Lenz is the key," said Levi. "What has Y/n got to do with this?"
Nick looked at you with a sudden spark of hatred, as if you were his mortal enemy. As if you had murdered his family or something. "That other girl is the key. But this girl, she will only bring ruin. She has nothing to offer the world except for ruin. I eagerly suggest you get rid of her while you can."
Levi pushed the gun into his back. "No one's getting rid of anyone, not yet. What's so dangerous about her?"
"She shares a birthright with the other girl. The same bloodline. But she has a second birthright," he said. "Her father is of the Ackerman Clan."
Mikasa gasped. Levi was also staring at you, wide-eyed. You were frozen in place, barely able to process what you've just heard. "Uh...Levi...you didn't happen to have had a lover in your youth, did you-"
"I'm not your father."
"Okay, uh.." You turned to Mikasa. "Your dad never...had another wife before your mom, did he?"
She shook her head, but still in shock. "He was never unfaithful, no."
"Um, alright. But hey, I guess I'm one of you now, right?" You awkwardly smiled. Then Mikasa jumped on you with a hug, making you take a few steps back.
"This girl who was sent to the L/n Orphanage has not done anything purposely that offended our sacred will. All except being born. If she had only been born an Ackerman, then perhaps she could've lived a life with her father instead. But luck was not on her side for her creation. Commander, Captain, I am telling you that her existence alone threatens the peace of the walls. I urge you to do what must be done."
"Wow, really? My existence threatens peace? So I'm important important."
"Y/n, not really the time," muttered Armin.
"Wait, but if Krista's from the 104th Corps, she's at the front lines by now," said Hange.
"Then come on! No time to lose!" Eren turned around and then bumped into someone, causing them to fall to the ground.
"Sasha? Where'd you come from?" You offered out a hand and she took it. "Did you hear all of that just now?"
She gasped and snatched the scroll from the ground. "I was sent to give a message to Commander Erwin! Who then entrusted me to deliver this to you, Section Commander!" She presented it for Hange to take.
"Oh! Uh, okay. Excellent work." She took the scroll, gave Sasha a steamed potato, and fled out.
As you followed the rest of them out, Nick put a firm hand on your shoulder. "Child, I pity you for being born into this world with your unnatural, mixed-blood. But for the sake of all people in the walls, I beg of you to muster up the bravery and end your life while you can-"
Levi wrenched his hand off of your shoulder. "You have done enough for us, Pastor Nick. Y/n, go suit up."
"Yes sir." You took one more glance at the both of them and followed your friends.
As you all helped each other put on your ODM Gears, Hange questioned you all about Krista's physical appearance, and you guys told her everything you knew. "You know, now that I think of it, I can sort of see the resemblance between you and Krista, Y/n," said Armin.
You furrowed your eyebrows. "Really?"
Eren scoffed. "Be for real, Armin. They look nothing alike."
"Well, they're both really caring. That counts for something."
Hange then gathered you all into an office and shared with you Annie's background report. "There were two others from the 104th who haled from the same region."
You sighed. "It's Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover, isn't it?"
Hange nodded."Yes. Y/n is right."
As they talked back to the 57th Recon Mission, every piece was slowly falling into place. The biggest guess was that the both of them were the Armored and Colossal Titan. Your attention completely tapped out during this conversation, letting the rest of them feed into it. After the whole ordeal with Annie, you weren't in a rush to be sort of betrayed again. But it seemed that these days, avoiding it was impossible. Made you wonder who the hell was next.
"He was like our big brother!" argued Eren. "There's no way they could be the traitors!"
"That's what you thought about Annie too, at first," you reminded him. "When the facts show, Eren, we just have to accept it." Accept it and move on.
Hange soon moved away from this topic and told you about the plan she mapped out. "Clear?"
"Clear!" all of you answered.
"Before you go, I need you all to listen," said Levi, who wasn't suited up because he was still injured. "We're going our separate ways and that's how it's going to be for now. Erwin had his reasons for throwing this random as hell squad together, but now it's all riding on you. Armin and Hange are the brain trust, so combine your knowledge and cook up some solution."
"Yes sir," said Armin.
"Mikasa and Y/n, you're the man-power, or, the woman-power. And Y/n, though I'll never get what the hell you see in this guy, protect Eren at all costs."
Mikasa nodded. You smiled. "Moral Support's on it!"
"And Eren, don't fuck this up. Don't let blind rage get a hold of you. Learn a little from Y/n. She's better than any of you at staying calm and logical under pressure."
Eren flinched but nodded. "Yes, sir! I will!"
"No mistakes this time."
With that, all of you got on your horses and rode off into Wall Rose, torches in hand. The next destination would be Utgard Castle.
. * . *
At daytime, you were all still on horseback. The destination was getting nearer and nearer.
"My parents told me we had no extended-family outside the three of us," said Mikasa, the first to break the few hours of silence. "They said they were all hunted-down. And for the past few years, after their deaths, I thought the chance of finding the rest of our family was gone forever. But now I realize that she's been with me this entire time." She was smiling at you. A true, genuine smile, unlike her typical shy ones.
Obviously you smiled back. "Goddamn, Mikasa. Who knew you had a way with words? Watch it or else you might make me finally cry."
"I've never seen you cry," pointed out Eren.
"That's because I never do."
Armin coughed. "Liar." He coughed again.
"Who're you calling liar?"
"Remember the Battle of Trost?"
The scene clicked into your mind. You had slipped out a few tears when Eren came out of his titan for the first time. "Whatever you saw, Armin, you were just imagining it. All delusions."
"Whatever you say, Y/n."
"How come I didn't see you cry then?" asked Eren.
"Use your brain a little," said Mikasa. "Using it properly may surprise you sometimes." He furrowed his eyebrows and entered a pensive state of mind.
"Hey, since I'm technically an Ackerman now...that makes the two of us one step closer to becoming sisters, right?"
"Becoming? We've always been sisters."
"Alright, not funny anymore. I might actually tear up."
"I wonder who your mother's side of the family are, though," said Armin. "Nick said that their blood mixed with Ackerman blood makes you dangerous. But how?"
"Imagine if you're secretly an illegitimate princess," joked Eren.
You laughed. "Then no wonder they'd want me dead. Imagine a princess who kills little animals. Usually in the storybooks, she befriends them. That's why I'm perfectly labeled as a witch and I'd gladly stay in that role."
"Plus, a princess is supposed to be regal and kind. Seeing that you're none of those things..."
You swatted at him but he led his horse out of the way.
When you neared the remains of Utgard Castle, all of you Scouts got off of your horses and swung to slaughter all remaining titans. From the corner of your eye, you saw Eren finally kill one.
"Y/n! Did you see that?! My first titan kill!" Then he accidentally tripped and fell, eating dirt.
"Yeah, no wonder."
You joined the others who were watching Ymir and Krista. Ymir looked gravely injured, but she had marks under her eyes. And her wounds were steaming up Damn, another titan human? You wondered if this counted as the fourth betrayal. And then Krista revealed her real name to be Historia. Which made you wonder if you also had a real name too that you didn't know or something.
This day had been full of surprises. But for the time being, all of you let Krista, or now Historia, have her well-deserved moment with Ymir.