Anastasya
Anya's heart thundered along with the cannon fire. She and the others stood atop the wall of Orvud District just as the sun was beginning to rouge the sky and gild the lush green hills in the distance. However the pleasantness of the morning was decidedly forgotten as they all watched the monstrous Titan slowly but steadily dragging its hulking, stinking body towards them. Anya turned to look behind her at the sleepy city below, its residents blissfully unaware of the steaming-hot Titan coming to devour them. She frowned, wondering if they would, in fact, be able to save everyone should their plan fail, or whether they'd have to carry the guilt of a whole city's worth of lives upon their already-sagging shoulders. The cannons stopped and she turned back, realising that Erwin was studying her. Determination shone in his icy-blue eyes but, underneath it, she could see his own angst. To anyone else, it would've been impossible to detect. He shifted to look at the Titan.
"Well, how's that...?"
Anya grimaced and peered down at it.
"I don't think so."
It seemed to have stopped, but things were never so easy for the Scouts. Sure enough, almost immediately after she'd spoken, a massive hand shot up through the smoke before slamming down onto a cluster of trees. They burst into flames, and Anya sighed. At ground level, the Garrison captain ordered the other cannons to be fired.
"The ground cannons seem even less effective," Erwin remarked.
"Of course they are," Levi scoffed, arms folded. "The wall cannons barely hit the nape, even with the better angle. What's the problem?"
"It's a mishmash of soldiers. Cannons they scraped together. Superficial leadership. To top it off, this is a Northern region. Unlike troops on the front lines, they have no battle experience. However this is the best we're going to get, and that's a fact."
"Yeah, that much is painfully obvious. Yet again, your strategy for the Scouts boils down to another gamble. Just like everything else you conjure up."
Anya bristled. Erwin had not devised the plan alone, and although they all knew that Levi would do whatever Erwin asked of him and there was no doubt as to their friendship, she disliked seeing him questioning their commander in front of the others, especially at such a crucial time when morale was in short supply. She placed a hand on Levi's shoulder and leaned forward so that her face was next to his, though she never took her eyes from the Titan.
"Do you have a better plan?" she purred. "All of life's a gamble."
Levi closed his eyes and tsked, just as Hange arrived.
"Erwin! I brought the goodies!" she called. "All the gunpowder, ropes and netting I could find! We'll have to assemble it ourselves, though." One of Hange's squad wheeled forward a massive barrel with two bayonets on either side. "Oh, and this! There's another on the opposite side. The trigger's held in place, so when it fires, it'll wind itself back up, just like ODM gear. So, is the artillery doing any damage?"
"Slightly more than a pissing insect," Levi said dryly.
"Then we're really planning on using this?"
Erwin nodded and faced Squad Anvi.
"Levi, Jean, Sasha, Conny; take care of that side."
"Roger!" they chorused, before jogging off to help assemble the bombs further along the wall.
"How should we do this? Let's see..." said Hange, tapping a finger to her lips. "Try to imagine we're wrapping up a nice gift for someone special. Although Anya... your wrapping is terrible."
"Well you're not going back on my presents list any time soon," she replied.
"Eh? You have a list?!"
"Lists are everything," she said, poking her friend's good arm.
However her frivolity faded when she saw Erwin approach Historia. She knew he wasn't happy with her involvement on the front line and before long, the young queen had stopped helping to prepare the bomb and was passionately pleading her case. She glanced over at Anya, a desperate look in her eyes.
"Jeez...Anya, you need a holiday," she muttered as she strode over. "What's going on?"
"Historia wants to fight. She's told me you approved it earlier," said Erwin.
"That's right," she said dismissively. "I've been thinking, Historia. You need to be the one to land the killing blow."
"Um...Captain Anya...are you sure?" she stammered.
"Think about it. You're not even eighteen. No-one knows you. Not only do we have to convince everyone that the Reiss family is the true royal family, but we also have to convince them that you belong to it, and that you're going to be a capable ruler. If everyone in Orvud sees you kill this Titan, well... That's certainly going to earn the peoples' trust and respect. The ultimate PR move! Think you can do it?"
"I..." She paused, then clenched her fist at her chest. "Yes, Captain!"
"Excellent. Well, we'll see how it plays out. I mean, if you're nowhere near the key area when it presents itself, then don't worry. Don't put yourself in an impossible situation. You're more useful alive than dead and I think Squad Anvi would be pretty gutted if anything happened to you. I'll be nearby, okay?"
"Yes, Captain!"
Anya met Erwin's eyes, and she could tell he was searching for her conviction. Her absolute faith in what she was allowing. When he found it, he nodded.
"With my body as it is, I can't exactly stop you."
He turned and walked away and after a nod to Historia, Anya followed after him.
"If she dies-" he began.
"And there was me thinking you liked to gamble," she cut in.
"Anastasya..."
"Erwin."
Adrenaline was beginning to flood her body, giving her a nervous, buoyant energy that made her come across as almost playful, but she knew that Erwin would recognise it for what it truly was. Before they could say anything else they heard Armin and Mikasa shouting at Eren, who for whatever bizarre, no doubt exasperating reason was punching himself in the face.
"Oh, that kid," Anya sighed. "Oi, cut that out!"
Eren stopped, though whether or not it was because he'd heard her or because Mikasa had grabbed him, it wasn't clear. She rolled her eyes at Erwin and went to check on the progress of the Titan. It was right by the wall now, and she could feel the heat radiating off it in sickening waves. The Garrison fired a round of cannons straight at the nape of its neck and were preparing to go again when a huge eruption of steam stopped them in their tracks.
"Shit, not good," she heard Levi say from somewhere in the haze.
"Captain! I can't see!" a woman called.
"Doesn't matter! Fire anyway, it's right beneath us!" the Garrison captain ordered.
They followed their orders, but it made no difference. Moments later, the Titan reached up with an impossibly long arm and grabbed the top of the wall.
"Are we too late?" Erwin wondered.
Next came the other hand, and at last, the Titan reared its grotesque head to peer over the wall. Anya gaped at it with wide eyes. It was like a scene from one of her many nightmares, and easily the most hideous Titan she'd ever seen. Because it had been scraping itself along the ground, mile after mile, half of its face had been shaved away as though someone had neatly sliced it off, providing an unfortunately perfect cross-section into its grisly anatomy. Where its eyes should have been were instead two pitch-black holes leaking blood and its nose was a cartilaginous cavern. Its huge, stumpy tongue flapped up and down, and at the top of its head, what was left of its brain was on full display. It dragged itself to its full height and thick, boiling-hot intestines oozed from its stomach and slithered down the wall. The Garrison soldiers shouted and jumped out of the way.
"Disgusting," Anya and Levi said in unison.
They turned and dumped a bucket of ice water over each other. It would offer them some small protection from the searing heat. The Garrison had done their best. It was the Scouts' turn now.
***
Erwin
Erwin grimaced at the Titan. It was easily double the height of the walls, and it was truly repulsive. He checked that the Scouts were ready and doused with water. To his right, Eren had transformed and was preparing himself. He studied Rod Reiss' Titan, glanced at Anya and Levi, and then produced the flare gun he had attached to his belt. It was now or never.
"Let the attack... commence!" he yelled as he pulled the trigger.
Sasha and Conny fired the custom, ODM gear-assisted gunpowder barrels at each of the Titan's hands. As they ignited they blasted off a few of the monster's fingers, destabilising it.
"Yes! It's losing balance!" cried Armin.
The Titan began sinking, its horrific head crashing onto the top of wall.
"EREN!" Erwin called.
Eren sprinted through the smoke towards the Titan, thundering over Erwin's head with the bomb they'd prepared slung over his shoulder. The Titan roared, opening what was left of its mouth, and Eren flung the bomb in as far as he could. Seconds later, boil-like blisters bubbled and rippled under the Titan's skin before its body exploded, blowing it to pieces and spraying scalding-hot blood in every direction. Huge chunks of burning flesh flew through the sky. There wasn't a moment to lose.
"All troops!" Erwin yelled. "Finish it off with ODM gear!"
They absolutely had to find the nape where Rod Reiss was embedded, or else he would simply reform with another shield of heat. Erwin watched, heart in his mouth, as Anastasya and Levi took off with the others. Now that he wasn't distracted by fighting alongside them, he could fully appreciate just how impressively deadly they both were, so alike and yet so different in their use of ODM gear. Levi was perhaps faster, but Anastasya soared, twirled, and almost danced through the air like a bird, expert in using momentum and lift in order to conserve gas. She moved with graceful intent, as though she was enjoying it and knew exactly where to go without worrying about being hit by the Titan's flesh or colliding with anyone else. It was why he'd let Historia do as she and Anastasya wanted. He knew that she would protect the young queen with ease. He watched as Historia located the piece Rod Reiss was in and hurtled after it. Seconds later, Anastasya began to follow. Historia screamed and sliced the tattered nape apart but to everyone's shock, it was followed by an explosive, blinding flash of orange-red light. When the glare faded, Anastasya and Historia were nowhere to be seen. Erwin's eyes widened as he desperately searched for them in the city below, praying that they had not become Rod Reiss' final victims.
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The Path Back to You | Levi x OC
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