Outside world
YEAR 1982 P.A.
The sun burned the same way she remembered.
Tress were intimidating the same, wind blew her hair everywhere the same, Scouts were exploring the outside the same way they did seven years ago. Annie was afraid, the same way she was seven years ago.
As she walked around the forest, keeping a small distance between her and the rest of the group, she was eight again. It felt like in just any moment Petra could come back to save her from that hole she passed out. That small little cave under the tree, Annie saw it everywhere. Outside world seemed like an endless maze of green.
Everyone was amazed.
Armin's expression looked like he just won a lottery, Eren stared the same way as him at the world around them. Jean, Sasha, Connie and Marco laughed quietly at every new thing they noticed. Even Mikasa, normally introverted and not showing much emotions like Annie, smiled at what she saw. The veterans seemed to enjoy the warm air too.
But for Annie, it was like being forced to relive her biggest nightmare. She was escaping from THAT day from seven years ago her whole life in Paradis, she didn't let it cross her mind too much, didn't let any provocating reflections about murdering them reach her. Yes, they always found their way back to her, but she taught herself an art of ingorance.
Here, she couldn't. Everything reminded her of it. For the past two years she tried to not care about any lifes she took. Outside world seemed like it is created to remind her with its every sound.
Guilt ate her alive. It always did and it always will. No matter how hard she tries to forget about it.
The loudest, the most exited scream woke her up. This and also the worst smell she ever smelt.
"EREN!" That was Armin. "DO YOU SEE THAT?"
"Quiet, boy, we don't want any predators here." Erwin commanded and Armin grew silent, but he still whispered something to Eren's ear.
Annie raised her eyes and she saw the largest mass of water in the whole world. What was it called? An ocean? She thinks so. In someone's eyes, this endless mass of water, quiet humming caused by waves and cliffs being shaped from the impact of the inflow might be appealing. In someone else's eyes it brought uneasy feeling of being choked somewhere deep into it or shattered by whatever creatures hid there.
Annie, the pessimist she is, identified as closer to the second option.
Second thing that brought her attention back to the real world, the smell. It was the most disgusting smell that could easily make everyone around her, including her, throw up everything they ate in the past year or more.
"Eugh, last time I smelt something like that when I ate those extra spicy chips..." Connie began, blocking off his nose with his fingers, every young Scout did the same.
"I know this isn't the most pleasant experience but you have to understand that this is a necessity." Erwin reminded.
Lastly, their society grew a problem of clogging canalisation. Everyone complained about bad scent coming from their bathrooms, water almost not dripping from showers and toilets not plugging like they should have. It was no hard guess that they had to fix the problem and who would do it better than suicidal idiots wandering around the outside world?
"Where is that famous exit of shit?" Connie asked their commander. "Famous exit of shit" was his favourite way to call the end of canalisation where all of the urines went.
Annie caught something with the corner of her eye. Oh, Armin is going it hate whatever is happening on their left... The exit was there, all of shit and everything else went to the ocean.
"It looks like an asshole of a titan." Sasha commented. "He must eaten those extra spicy chips too."
"How do you even unplug it?!" Connie joined Sasha and they began to share a very detailed conversation about bathroom stuff. Annie chose to deny that she heard anything coming from their highly-educated in-that-topic mouths.
Veterans, which were Hange, Levi, Erwin and Moblit, whispered to each other, probably something about their upcoming assignment. After few minutes or so, Hange turned around to the rest of them.
"We are doing a huge ka-booms!" She started proudly. "Mission is, place some dynamites in old ventilation system that are already blocked off from our society. We will connect those fresh tunnels with shitted ones and it should help our urines flow. You have everything?"
They nodded. "Okay, so, join into groups of two." Hange ordered.
Eren and Armin were already holding hands, marking their teamwork. It was obvious for Connie and Sasha to chose each other and it wasn't much suprise for Jean and Marco to cling into each other tightly. Annie was the only one... No. Unfortunately or not, she wasn't the only one without pair. Mikasa got left behind too.
They shared horrified, shocked gazes before Hange pushed Mikasa into Annie. "We don't have time for problems like this." She stated, giving girls no room for arguing and begging for different partner, or none at all. "Erwin and me are staying over there to look over you all. Moblit with Levi are going to the farthest hole, the rest of you have it all closer to us, we will help you if needed. One, two, three, start!"
They weren't kids who waited for someone else to start, they already got used to following orders without batting an eye, working quickly and efficient. Mikasa and Annie ran towards the closest ventilation hole, keeping their distant, hating and idea of being forced to talk again. No, worse, to WORK together.
Since the tournament, they barely spoke. It was a miracle when one of them walked to the another to announce that lessons tomorrow day are cancelled because older Scouts have a mission. They only spoke when necessary, and when they did, it was short, cold conversation, tension crushing everyone around them.
Except for their hand-to-hand combat. When those lessons happened and they were paired up, they teased each other, showed off, laughed into each other faces. It didn't matter how hurt their souls where from past feeling, when their bodies destroyed one another, it was all that mattered. Their perfect way of showing how they felt, Annie usually whispering some bitter-sweet, sarcastic comment into Mikasa's ear to make her loose control over herself. Mikasa threating her out loud when she got mad, it was different when they fought.
And now they need to find a way to make it work? Annie got fluent in Paradisian but she never learnt words good enough to fix whatever was between her and Mikasa.
Mikasa laid on the grass and peaked over the edge of the cliff. "I won't fit there." She murmed, more to herself than to Annie before turning around to face the girl. She scanned her body up and down before speaking again. "But you will, you are going down, I am staying here. Got ka-booms and strings?"
She wants to get over it fast, Annie noticed, she doesn't want to spend any time around Annie. Viceversa, Annie almost spat out towards Mikasa but then she remembered that Mikasa actually didn't say anything harmful towards her. Yet.
Annie reached her hand towards her partner. Mikasa passed her a line for Annie to tangle up around herself so she can climb down to the entry. After few moment, Annie was ready, line around her waist while the other end of it is held by Mikasa. For the last time she checked if she has everything and went down.
Dirt on the cliff was hard, some stones were sticking out, helping Annie to lower herself. The metal, ventilation crate was something around five meters down, counting from the top. From time to time, Annie felt the line tighten up when Mikasa didn't let go a bit of it in the right time. She ignored it and kept sliding down.
She kicked something metalic and she knew she finally reached there. Few more steps down, this time on flatter and more steady crate and her body was clenching tight into the entry. Mikasa was right, she wouldn't fit there. One hole in the crate had width of something around 35 centimetres. Mikasa would have a hard time fitting herself into it, she probably would succeed, but it would take way too much time.
The crate was rusty. First later of it covered in muddy colour. It was also very sticky against Annie's hand as she began to push herself through the hole. There was almost no place to move around her arms. The blockade from the outside world reached meter deep into the cliff. After some minutes, Annie felt her feet hanging out freely. Few more and she was in the tunnel.
She pulled the line, informing Mikasa that she got in, before untangling herself and leaving the rope behind. The tunnel was dark, only source of light being that insufferable sun. Annie went into the shadows. It was hard to tell what distance she traveled before reaching the end.
The end was three kilometres from Paradis, freshly thrown dirt exposing the fact that the ventilation is freshly blocked off. Annie grabbed the dynamites, colloquially called "ka-booms" by the Scouts, and placed them in the wall that was to the left. Then, she put around them strings like Hange told her, made sure she did it right, and headed towards the exit slowly, unrolling the long string connected to dynamites. On the ground they will all connect the lines to one and fire them, causing an explosion in every tunnel, expanding their canalisation.
As Annie almost reached the crate, she stopped. Something was wrong. Or maybe Mikasa decided to leave her alone here which was also very wrong. Rope she left behind was gone, how would she get out? What happened?
Did something attacked them?
Answer came quicker than Annie had expected.
Giant bird clenched its claws into the crate. The monter was mostly orange, some parts yellow. Its bill bloody red, with teeth, yes, that bird had fucking teeth, sticking out from it. Enormous, dirty fangs. Black eyes small, eyes of the most horrifying predator Annie has ever seen. Those eyes drilled into her, making her paralyzed.
The way it looked wasn't the worst thing, it was the person he held in his mouth. It was Hange Zoë. She passed out, her goggles shattered, blood dripping from her chest.
The monster leaned it's head back. Annie prayed for it to being a sign that it is flying away from her. Oh, how wrong she was. The predator did that, just to hit his bill against the metal crate, over and over again. Hange's skull getting crashed from the impact, her once beautiful face unrecognisable anymore.
Then it hit her.
What she touched before wasn't rust.
It was dried off blood.
This bird used their ventilation to crack its victims skulls like fucking nuts.
Hange became one of those victims.
And Annie couldn't do anything more than watching as her mentor is getting crashed to death. As her foot grew rots into the ground, as she dropped the previously important string, as she had to stare at it all... She begged herself to move, to do something, to be the hero she always wanted to be. A perfect soldier that will help everyone, that will be better than everyone, that everyone would wish to be like.
She can't be a perfect soldier. Annie is a fucking coward. After all, she isn't anything more. She won't attempt any suicidal plan to sacrifice herself to an idea. After all, she is just a selfish teenage girl. She always had this thought, somewhere deep in the back of her brain, that all of her actions are selfish, that she won't actually give up her life for something. She always denied that, dreams of becoming unstoppable warrior beneath Erwin Smith's orders never considered her being not good enough.
Annie was supposed to be good.
Annie promised herself that.
Why can't she do this one thing soldiers are meant for? Why can't she protect Hange? Why can't she turn off her fear of dying to give her heart and soul for a matter?
Move, move, move...!
She ordered herself manically. Why is she not moving? This should be her chance to prove how strong she truly is, that all of her lessons meant something, that she is useful, important for them. That without her it wouldn't be the same.
Annie from her dreams would save Hange. Real Annie didn't. Real Annie never accepted what she had done, or to be exact, what she hadn't.
The monter flew away. Is she safe now? She hoped so. She waited, countless amount of time, to collect herself and leave the tunnel. Then she saw the massive body of the predator falling. Blood dripping from its wings and head. It disappeared loudly into the waves of the ocean.
Annie attached the string to her hips and began to roll out. Hands trembling, eyes watery. Why is it still so easy to make her cry? Shrivers all around her body, large gulp at the back of her throat. Then she reached the spot.
The warm, bloody, fresh spot where minutes ago was Hange's head.
She couldn't bear the sticky, dirty feeling it gave her, but she knew it was her only way out. Her hands got dry and ragged from squeezing through the crate. Fresh wounds on the surface of her hands getting filled by Hange's blood.
Hange's blood was everywhere. It dried through her clothing, it got into her eyes, it soaked through her hair and filled her wounds. Her head reached the outside, eyelids closed tightly, fighting herself not to throw up, scream or throwing herself off this cliff.
She clenched desperately into the crate as her life depended on it for how long she can hold into it. She was not ready to climb back. She was still so very afraid. She blinked in the tears, opened her eyes to face her fear the best way she can...
But another monster appeared.
The Hange's murderer wasn't the only one and now, the second one trapped Annie between its claws and ventilation and was getting prepared to crash Annie's skull with its bill.
It was already opened, those horrifying fangs sticking out, long tongue rolling around its mouth as if it saw the tastiest meal it ever seen.
Annie was getting ready to die. After all she's been through, she is going to be murdered by a fucking bird. Does this means she's done all of this for... Nothing? After all of those hours wasted to train, people she lost and killed, betrayals she caused and promises she made, she will just die like this?
It happened so fast Annie thought she was already dead and now, her mind is playing tricks on her to soothe her aching soul, imagining that she survived. But it wasn't a dream, it was reality. Someone did, in fact, shoot this bird right in the eye, making it fall off the cliff and drown in the same spot as the previous one.
Her fingers still clenched harshly into the metal crates, she was sweating. If wind would get a bit stronger, it would blow her away. Then she felt blood falling from her back, this time it was her own. As the bird fell its claws must hook up a little on her body.
Military uniform she wore was already dirty, now, it was also torn apart in the back. The only thing that kept her black, tight shirt to her was sweat and every other liquid coming from her body. Her hands were getting tired, she knew she has to begin climbing up but her mind was still frozen.
Then the line appeared, half a meter from her. Annie collected all the strength she had and grabbed it with one of her hand. She no longer cared about the string, bombs or mission, she just wanted to get back to her room and sleep. The rope was like a cold bucket of water, it helped her to regain her will to live and to come back to Paradis. Breathing heavily, she got up. Step by step, slowly.
As she was almost there, her foot tripped over loose stone that couldn't hold her weight. She had to work faster, her muscles immediately tightened to cling into the rope tighter, causing another blood flow from her new wound. When her eyes reached grass of the cliff, someone helped her.
Mikasa. It was Mikasa Ackermann that grabbed her by her shoulders and helped her got up to the surface. Mikasa made Annie sit at the edge of the cliff, their arms still in touch as Annie was stabilising.
Fuck, Annie was really touch starved. The way Mikasa decided to save her, after all they've been through. The way she was making sure Annie is well enough to sit down on her own. Even after she decided to take off her hands of Annie, she still had them close, few centimeters from her weakened body. She wanted to catch her if she fell. Annie missed it, Annie missed the feeling of someone caring about her like that.
She missed Mikasa.
Only her had that specific way of caring. Quietly, slowly, carefully... Yes, Annie didn't meet a lot of people but in her small world, Mikasa was the only one to be this casually lovely about supporting someone.
No questions were asked. No "Are you okay?", "Do you need help?" or anything else, the answers was obvious. Of course it wasn't okay.
Annie stared at the horizon, almost unconscious. When the presence of Mikasa got further every moment, she was getting further as well. Million thoughts crossing her brain at second, she had no idea which one she should focus on. As she considered staying at the cliff and wait for her to rot to death, she felt being pushed onto the ground by someone's feet.
No, not someone, there was only one person she could get the worst of this easily.
Annie looked into Levi's full of suffering eyes and didn't know what to choose, to laugh or to escape.
Of course, she was the only person who could drive Levi mad, only two of them shared that specific story. There was nobody else to understand that love-hate relationship they always lived in. Annie decided to smile lightly, she closed her eyes. With Levi's shoe crashing her throat, it almost felt like home. Tall, shape grass and pebbles cut deep into the wound at her back, she ignored them, she only focused on Levi's next words.
"What happened?" Blind people would say his voice is calm, he didn't put anger into his words, he put it in his actions. Annie could never guess what answers he expected, it was another mystery about Levi Ackermann.
Her mouth shut, is this a rhetorical question? He knows, only a fool wouldn't deduct the course of events that happened. People on the surface of earth, two predators noticing them...
"Don't act like you don't understand me." He spat out.
"Ask them." She wanted to point at the rest of the group, but her head was locked into one place by his leg. "Some of them saw more than I did."
"Hange."
One name, and world began to spiral again. Flashbacks of her skull crashed in front of Annie's eyes, Hange and Levi's friendship, Hange's lessons with them. Hange, Hange, Hange...
It was all about her. She was Levi's new Petra, and the same way it happened with Petra, Annie was involved as well. Differently, but she was always there when something horrible reached Levi. It is like this every time when he thinks he can afford luxury of admitting, his life is good, that there is nothing to fix... Then things happen, and Annie is always somewhere in the background of those events.
Then it her her. Annie was fixated on three people: Mikasa, Erwin and Levi. There was nobody else, she thought they were only people that might care for her, that might be good enough for her. They were people she found worthy enough to prove to them how good she is. No matter how much she hurt them, or they hurt her, she still had hope.
That day Annie gave up on one of those three people.
She realised Levi wouldn't react the same to her death as he does with Hange, or anyone else.
It always was there, deep in her heart, she always knew. But as Levi pushed his feet harder into her neck, making her choke, the realisation flown into her mind. He wouldn't act the same for you. There was never a point where he would and there will never be a point where he will. Annie swallowed that poisonous thought to where it came from.
"Dead." She responded to him, almost no air in her lungs. "Any more details, captain?" She breathed out heavily, her lips curving upwards. They will all find it horrifying, uneasy, unethical... But maybe, in that moment, it was the way Annie wanted tor them to see her.
Maybe it was the way she wanted for them to portrait her her whole life.
"Levi, how many time I have to explain to you to stop attacking... our soldiers." Annie's hero came, Erwin Smith in all his glory stopped Levi, as always. It was hard not to notice how he froze for a moment, he never did that, but it was no hard guess that he wanted to say her name, instead of "our soldiers". Levi never attacked anyone else, only Annie.
The man let go her, but she still laid there, letting grass stab her opened wound on her back. She faced Erwin and lifted her eyelids tired. Her eyebrows went up as well, when the commander said no words and stared at her back. Annie waited for orders. Now, the one she wanted to hear was "Lay there and look pretty, we will take care of the rest and eventually come back to you." The hardest part would be looking pretty, Annie never found herself attractive with her Roman nose, restrained colour of blonde and apathetic way of communicating with others.
"Get up." She heard less wanted command from his mouth. It was hard to stop herself from groaning loudly as she did so, she was so tired, her dirty gash aching more every moment.
Her legs were made of out jelly, she could barely keep her balance. She'll loose the balance a bit too much and she is falling off the cliff. Maybe, this is exactly what she needs to make herself feel alive again.
"Clean yourself. We don't need for you to get any infection." Erwin continued and then Annie noticed, he had no arm. His whole left arm was gone. It got bitten off by their attacker. She guessed they took care of Erwin's wounds first, after all, he was the most important person for the Scouts.
She headed towards where he pointed, walking like a drunk man for few first steps before getting used the her headache and, well, everyache. She looked for a person who has any material to dry herself off from sweat or bandages, or anything helpful. It was Eren, he was in the middle of group of wounded, scared soldiers and was trying hard to help them in any way.
Her "favourite" boy will take care of her, how lovely.
As she was near him, she reached out her hand to grab something remotely close to a towel. Eren grabbed her wrist harshly.
"You are not allowed to just take what you want." He spat out, and Annie knew it wouldn't be his last words if she hadn't twisted his hand.
They shared eye contact, fighting. Annie could think of countless of ways to riposte, but she didn't have an energy to do so. After few long moments, Eren gave up and passed her bandages. She walked away from the group, as always. Silence haunted them all, no one found right words to describe whatever they survived. Annie didn't mind, she preferred it quiet like that.
She knew that without a proper cleaning bandages wouldn't heal anything and she might still get some infections, but what professional medical help could she expect from that primitive Eren's equipment? Her hands brushed lightly over the wound at her back, she flinched with every contact. She also knew that to bandage herself properly, she would need to take off her shirt, but she didn't feel like showing the Scouts her half nude body.
Her fingers pulled out little pebbles that got into it and some strands of grass. Then she, as gently as she could, tangled the bandage around her torso. She covered most of her wound when Erwin stood in front of them and began summary of their mission.
"Out of all entries we targeted, only one didn't work the way we wanted to." He said, side-eyeing Annie. Great, now, she is the only one who failed in, what will happen next? She will sneeze and the ceiling of their society will fall on everyone's head? No, stop, she can't jinx it. "This mission would be a full succes if it..."
Erwin fell first.
Then was Levi, and everyone else. Only by pure luck Annie noticed red little thing sticking out their necks. It must be it, it is the reason why they fell. Annie's survival instinct took over, she knew that if she would stand there, she will get shoot too. She acted like she is slowly loosing her balance, the same way the previous ones did and collapsed onto the ground.
What the fuck is going on? What are those red, little arrows in their necks? Who is shooting them?
Wait. Who? Shouldn't they be the only people on the outside? No, it can't be...
Annie had hard time controlling her breath as panic took over her body. Her lungs were to small, she needed to breathe, but she knew that her raising chest would draw unwanted attention. This day could get worse, she jinxed it.
For uncountable amount of time she laid down there, thanking whoever was over her that her wound doesn't have any direct contact with the ground, she doesn't need anything more to get into it. But it started to bleed again, a little, but it still did. She wanted to scream, but under those circumstances, it would be a suicide. My whole life is under those circumstances, she thought.
Annie needs a plan. No footsteps came from anywhere, they are still unconscious bodies laying by the edge of the cliff, no predators appeared, yet. What would happen if another birds or whatever else lived there appeared? Then, the idea of their oppressors being humans, actually made Annie feel better. At least she has experience with killing people.
There was a gun a meter from her. She glanced at it desperately like she was trying to move it thelepaticaly. Wait, but how much would it help her? She didn't know how many people attacked them, what could she do against hypothetical ten of them? But she would still prefer to hold any type of weapon in her hands.
Only if she could move a bit...
Sound of footsteps reached her ears. She closed her eyes, if they find out she is conscious, she's dead. Her heartbeat got loud, this loud that she could swear their enemies can hear it. One step lasted hours, two steps years, and they were still out of her sight. Or she guessed so as she lightly lifted her eyelids to scan her surroundings and she saw nothing new.
They began to speak, it was hard to recognise words. They must still be far away or were whispering to each other. At least two men, she noticed from short conversation. Someone step over her feet, are they really this close? One of the strangers almost screamed something to the other one, he was happy. Annie knew why couldn't she understand those words, no, she could understand them, she just wasn't used to hear them anymore.
Their oppression spoke Marleyan.
Annie swore she no longer cared for her nationality, but the memory of it still hurt. Her father still abused her after all of those years, he still was there, somewhere in the back of her mind. Sometimes she had days when she forgot about Marley wholely, those were good days, one of her favourite days to ever exist. She felt a bit of her freedom regained as nationalities seemed like a stupid concept with no meaning. Those days were rare, maybe one in a half year when she had free time from serving military for some shitty festivals and could walk around them anonymously.
She craved attention, she craved to be seen, but there was this odd, different part of her brain, the one that told her to stay in the corner, watch and wait for a right occasion for... What, exactly? She could never figure out, but her introverted nature took control often and she couldn't help but want to be unknown.
Men laughed at each other, celebrating their triumph. Shrivers controlled Annie's body again, but strangers were to occupied sharing jokes to notice trembling Annie right beneath their feet. She risked raising her eyelids, they were very busy fooling around.
Both of them were tall, almost the same height. One was blonde and more muscular than his company, that was skinny and brunette. Annie noticed that they might be the same age, around 15. The blonde stranger shout something at top of his lungs and kicked a gun towards his friend. Annie wished for him to kick it towards her instead, maybe he needs more time to think clearly and do something useful for her.
"Berthold!" Boy yelled and Annie recognised it as name. The rest of the words became a mess, like her mind is rusty mechanism trying to work again.
Blonde guy continued his joyful speech. "Marley" and "zucexsa" were the only sounds Annie could tell apart from the rest of nonsense monologue. "Marley" and "succes" weren't good clues to give Annie any hypothesis on what they are doing here. But her own zucexsa came, Annie had to lock in and stop analysing their intentions and origin story for a moment.
Stranger was kicking their guns around their bodies, as he was trying to symbolise his victory over them. It was a tough metaphor to get through, blonde guy wouldn't be a good poet. But he is a good help, Annie stated as he kicked the weapon she was staring at from the beginning. He pushed it hard enough it landed maybe three centimeters from her fingers.
If she won't be fast, they will.
With her closer hand she grabbed the gun and adjusted it to sit in her arms right. Except she didn't do it as to shoot, she grabbed the gunpoint. The place to grip the pistol pointing at the blonde boy closer to her. She stood up. Brunette noticed her, he tried to scream as Annie hit the attacker with the gun, making him land harshly on the glass.
She put her feet at his nape and pushed, another one crashing one of his hands. What did she do this? Why didn't she just kill him? Annie never knew. At that moment, deeply rotten instinct spoke to her for few seconds, just to disappear for the next few years.
Her and Berthold locked eye contact. Plan to defeat them seemed clear just now. As she is holding one of them under the weight of her body, the other one is threatened, being held at the gunpoint. She will do this as long as someone else will eventually wake up. Annie figured out their oppressors might be more relevant alive, they might haveany useful informations, plans...
Didn't Erwin Smith think of her the same way?
No, she doesn't have time for any doubts and reflections, she has to survive. Boy held at her target was afraid, sweat dipping from his forehead, gluing together his hair. But he still reached for his own gun. She adjust her gunpoint at his hand, what the fuck is he doing? Shouldn't he be too bothered about cost of his life and just give up?
Body beneath her moved, blonde tried to stand up. Instinct told her to target at him for him to stop, she listened to it again. It helped her, again. As her finger was on the trigger, gunpoint at the back of the stranger head, she noticed the tall boy horrified even more than before. You truly care for him, don't you? Annie wanted to ask, but knew it was pointless, they don't speak Paradisian.
Annie spoke Marleyan...
She hadn't for a long time but she sometimes still used it. In her thoughts, when she forgot how to say something in her new language. In her thoughts when none of Paradisian words seemed to give the same essence as Marleyan one.
"Neie! Blisse!" Brunette begged, person entrapped by her cursing under his breath at him. He probably cared for whatever mission they had more than anything. Annie didn't understand any of slurs, but it wasn't hard to deduct his deal.
"... shina neie heirma mi...!" Whatever he was saying, it seemed to get into his friend head. Berthold looked at her, still unsure, but with a shadow of a plan. For a moment, he looked at her like he is doubting the efficiency of her threats.
Annie needs to fix this, why can't they just believe about how much harm she can cause? Do they not know her? She decided to go for an arm of blonde, hurt him a bit to prove that she is no afraid and that they are not that important. Gun was pointed at his biceps, she decided to look at the laying one's face. Then she froze.
She recognised him from somewhere...
Her finger grew loose around the trigger, she almost dropped her weapon. Who was he? Her age, blonde hair, Marleyan boy with his brown-haired, tall company? Weren't they those rich, chubby kids she once played with, right before her banishment?
Flashbacks about her past appeared, and she cursed at her weak mind for not stopping them. She doesn't have time to pity herself. She can't relive this all now that her life is at risk. But her father came, unlocking all of right memories to make her heart ache. His voice working just fine for her to remember all of those Marleyan words shout at her...
Something fell. Annie glanced at whatever happened while she was distracted and she saw blood. Berthold was bleeding, his shirt turned red, his eyes grew dreamy, empty. He was dying. Blonde boy screamed, this time in despair, not anger.
Annie scanned her surroundings, it was Armin that pulled the trigger. His gun letting out smoke and his face terrified, as he was the dead one.