Pixis watched from his office window as his soldiers marched the column of prisoners into their holding cells. The Garrison reserve headquarters had many functions, but one of those was to serve as a holding area for short term influxes of people before trials could be completed. It was set up for use in the event of riots and widespread dissidence, yet now it saw use with the widespread imprisonment of the Scout Regiment.
There were few who were not present, a handful of soldiers in medical care located elsewhere alongside some who were on leave that had warrants for their arrests in circulation. The most prominent were two groups however, Erwin Smith and his surviving entourage that had committed treason and murder in the capital, and the trio of Gohan, Mikasa, and Eren.
Additional persons of interest included Armin Arlert, Ymir, Historia Reiss though still being referred to under the name of Christa Lenz, and Dina Fritz. The details of the woman who had been pulled from a Titan had been kept largely secret to the public, and despite rumours beginning to circulate alongside the one's around the origin of the Titan threat, it was clear that such specifics had been provided directly by the most senior government officials. Supposedly she was to be questioned for her own safety, top determine if she had been mislead by the Scout Regiment prior to their bloody attempt at a coup.
The story was of course, utter bullshit.
The official line was that Erwin had rather brazenly attempted to convince Darius Zackly and Nile Dok that they should overthrow the government and take command, using their current popularity to secure the will of the people. When they had refused, Erwin and his team had executed them and their staff, before fleeing Mitras under attack. Both Premier Zackly and Commander Dok were being posthumously honoured for their sacrifice and loyalty to humanity, as brave soldiers who had fought for the greater good of all instead of personal power as Erwin Smith had done so.
Complete bullshit.
Not only did Dok know that Erwin simply was not the kind of man to do anything like what he was alleged to have done so, the rather convenient arrival of a team of elite Military Police waging war through the city had been rather unsubtle in their actions. Dot had requested a report of the civilian casualties caused by their fight, and it was grim indeed. The sudden ruling to arrest the Scouts had been signed by the King himself and had been delivered to one of his own sub-commanders who had of course obeyed and arrested the regiment to determine how many of them had been privy to the plans.
The message was not very subtle. Either Dot Pixis complied with the official story, or his commanders would follow their orders instead and Pixis would likely be implicated by whatever evidence was being 'found'. The Military Police had been quick to cordon off the headquarters from the Garrison once the arrests had been completed, supposedly as part of their investigation and avoid any interference.
Dot sighed, the weight of the situation wearing on him heavily. He was truly beginning to miss the days when his hardest task was entertaining fat nobles and arguing with merchants, men who always wanted better treatment and took every opportunity to tell him how powerful they were. Since Trost, every day had been more complicated than the last.
But now he knew the truth, the origin of the Titans and the world beyond the walls. He would never return to those days of old, of ignorance and boredom.
"Commander." Entering into his office from behind him, Ian Dietrich snapped into a smart salute as he waited for acknowledgment. Pixis merely waved a hand and beckoned him forwards. "The processing is almost complete, the rest of the Garrison forces are returning to their relevant districts."
"Good work Ian." Pixis rubbed at his eyes in frustration. "I don't know how you're so quick to move when these orders came through. Perks of youth I suppose. Despite the urgency of it, this old man's body is still waking up."
"I'm sure your mind is still as sharp as ever Commander." Pixis waved off the false pleasantries, Ian should know by now he didn't care for them. Force of habit he supposed, Ian had always been an overly respectful sort. "Commander…"
"You want to know if I agree with this?" Ian had been present like so many other trusted personnel to Ymir's confession and the truth of their world. He knew a great deal more than most, and even if he didn't it was readily apparent that the justifications for their orders were nonsense. "I haven't yet decided frankly."
"The Scouts are innocent, you can't really believe what's been said about them right?"
"Of course not, but what I think and believe doesn't matter right now. What matters is what I do." He walked away from the window, he didn't want to watch as the last of his fellow soldiers were marched into their cells. "Should I refuse or speak out against the current action, then I will be replaced or arrested along with the others. Another commander will be named, one who will be appropriately loyal to the government as they desire."
"We wouldn't let that happen sir." Ian spoke honestly, knowing that the others under his command may grumble and complain about it, but they truly would protect the commander.
"I know, and therein lies the problem. Should I take any other action than the current, I show myself as untrustworthy. If I am untrustworthy, then these actions shall lead us to a civil war. Many will die, more so than the number of the Scout Regiment. Civilians caught in the fighting will suffer, trust in the government will be broken and public order will break down. Theft, assaults, murder…"
He remembered the suffering that had followed the fall of Shiganshina, the sudden influx of refugees without resources had been years of suffering. Hospitals overflowed with the wounded and the ill, sickness spread wild through the districts and pushed struggling medical relief further, the number of dead had caused problems with burial and further disease.
People had starved to death in the streets. Petty and organised crime had run rampant. Woman had sold themselves and their daughters into sexual slavery to survive, the criminal organisations that ran underground brothels had thrived and were still prevalent to this day. It had been largely up to the Garrison to keep the peace and Pixis had spent a long time reviewing reports on exactly how much they had failed.
It had taken a mass culling to stem the rising wave of suffering in the remaining walls. The chosen few of special skills or those who had gained personal favour with important members had managed to survive, at the cost of so many fed to the Titans. If a civil war broke out, if the government broke down and the suffering returned, what would it take to bring back peace again?
It had been hours of travelling Historia and Ymir neared their destination. Riding in a fancy looking carriage, Historia had sat cradling Ymir and routinely checking her wound as they rode through the streets and the countryside. They had wrapped it tightly, one of the MPs even producing a small medical kit to stitch up parts of her hand after the bleeding had stopped. Despite their questions, Frieda had pointedly refused to answer just what had happened to stop Ymir's transformation or healing, instead she had always forced to conversation back towards Historia, asking her endless questions about her time in the Cadets and all the years since they'd last seen each other.
How had she been, how many good friends did she have, had they taken care of her. There had also of course been a great many questions about herself and Ymir, when had the two of them become a couple, was Ymir treating her well, what dates had they been on. The questions had all been so… sisterly. The level of familiarity from Frieda had been very uncomfortable for Ymir, but Historia had taken the time to explain their shared past, how Frieda had looked after her as a child especially when her mother hadn't.
Of course, Historia's questions about how Frieda had removed the memories from Historia's head had also not been answered. Until Ymir had figured it out, that was.
"The Founding Titan…"
Frieda had looked at the girl with a curiously raised eyebrow, no sign of anger of satisfaction at Ymir's deduction. Instead, she remained silent and allowed her to continue trying to fill in the details.
"The Founding Titan is said to have been able to control people, that in the right hands it had the powers of a god. You have it don't you? That's how you warped her memories, that's how you took away my Titan powers."
"Suppressed." Frieda had corrected, but otherwise admitted to everything else. "Only suppressed Ymir, when I'm convinced you won't transform and try to attack me, I'll let you have your powers back."
"You can let me have them back right now." She growled. "I'll behave, promise."
Frieda smirked at the obvious lie, but a small series of lightning sparks burst into life around her body as she returned Ymir's powers. Steam immediately rose from her hand, the small bits of thread used to stitch her hand popped free and fell loose with the bandage as Ymir removed it to check.
"You're a terrible liar Ymir, but maybe you should consider making that the truth. We're all friends here, let's not start turning into Titan's so close to one another."
Ymir sneered, but backed down as Historia placed a calming hand on her knee. Historia knew she had to take the lead, as she was the only one that Frieda seemed to be willing to open up to.
"Frieda… what is happening? Why are the Scouts being arrested? Why were Mrs Jaeger and Hannes kidnapped? Why are these MPs working for you?"
Frieda actually looked away for a moment, the flash of shame being quick but not fast enough that Historia didn't see it. She was conflicted about whatever was happening, that much was clear.
"What is happening is what is necessary. We need to return to order, to bring the Scout regiment and your friends under control. Those who have died so far have been… regrettable, but necessary. If Gohan and the others fall in line, then no more will die."
"That's horrible. Frieda you don't have to do this! I know you, you're a kind person, why are you doing this? If you have these powers then you could help them, you could have stopped the Titans-"
"NO!" Frieda's eyes were wild, a fury behind them which did not belong to the woman Historia knew. It was as if there was someone else behind those eyes, someone else taking in control of Frieda's body. But slowly, it faded away. Frieda blinked back into control and averted her eyes once again.
"No…" She said it more softly this time, but with just as much conviction. "Five years ago, someone came to me asking the same question, and I told them the same answer. They were a Titan Shifter as well, I could see it in their eyes. They knew too much, knew who we were, and yet they came anyway, wanting me to fight, to use my powers. When I told them no, I was sure they were going to try and take it by force. But instead, they didn't. They walked away.
"Since that day, I've been wary. I knew that some day someone might come to challenge me again. So I studied, I learned, I learned more about these powers than I ever thought was possible before. Then when Gohan came along…" She looked at her hands in wonder, remembering a world changing moment known only to her. "When he came a long, I learned so much more."
"Then why not help? Why are the MPs following you?"
"It's the sad facts of leadership… we must make the hard decisions that nobody else can. We lead from the shadows as that is what I must do, such is the will of the crown. Such is… my will, as the true Queen of the walls." She fixed Historia with a stare, one that seemed so focused and determined yet… so fragile as well. "I am the Queen of the walls Historia, and this is what I must do. None can be allowed to stop me."
The carriage came to a halt as Ymir and Historia were left in silence following her declaration. The door was opened quickly, and Frieda did not wait for them as she stepped out, a line of MPs standing guard to lead her towards a chapel.
The two of them were frozen until Historia took the first step, moving to follow her half-sister into the chapel. Ymir's hand caught her before she could step out, looking at her with concern.
"Historia… are you sure about this? I know she's your sister but what she's talking about…"
"I know. Something's wrong with her… but it's not like we have a choice to be here." She flicked her eyes towards the MPs and Frieda, who had turned to wait for them outside.
Begrudgingly, Ymir relented and allowed Historia to leave the carriage. Following behind her and flexing her hand as she walked. She felt back to normal, even if she could still feel the previous pain in her palm. She hadn't felt such lingering pain in a long time.
Ymir watched the MPs as she followed Historia and Frieda towards the chapel. They watched her in return, none too subtly flexing their trigger fingers on their strange ODM gear. She'd never seen anything like it before, but it was obvious that it was meant for fighting human enemies, not Titans.
There was a half dozen of them, stood in a flanking row that followed them as they all proceeded inside of the chapel. There were a handful of others inside, stewards and various attendants mostly, but other nobility were waiting there, most likely family. That was all but confirmed by the older man and woman standing together, the man anxious but seeming relieved, while the woman held a look of disdain she wasn't even attempting to hide.
"Historia…" The man greeted her. He stepped forwards as Frieda moved away and allowed them to meet. He was awkward, unsure of whether to embrace her or not. As Ymir stepped closer to her, he chose not to, instead he clapped his hands together to busy himself. "It's so good to see you."
"You must be my father." There was no excitement in her voice, her tone flat and simply accepting which took away much of his nervous joy.
"Yes." He cleared his throat and waved his hand out, pointing to the rest of the nobility who were stood around. "These are your half siblings; Urklyn, Florian, Abel, and Dirk."
Each of them gave a nod in acknowledgement as their names were called out. They were all dressed in fancy clothes and if Ymir looked carefully she could see some familial similarities between them and Historia, however there was no familiar love on display. For them, it seemed clear that being shown the living proof of their fathers infidelity was not something they were particularly joyous about.
"And of course, this is my wife; Marti." The woman's scowl only grew firmer as she looked at Historia.
"It's good to meet you all." A lie obviously, neither Historia nor Ymir had been given a true choice in coming to the chapel of course, but minor pleasantries were likely expected of the upper class.
"You don't need to lie Historia," Frieda cut in, smiling in amusement at their mutual awkwardness, "this is uncomfortable. Don't feel ashamed, we'll all get over it in time."
Frieda walked between them all and headed towards one of the furthest doorways, an attendant opening it as she neared.
"Let's all return to the cave, we will discuss the past and the future there together. As a family."
She stood to the side as she motioned for the others to go through first. Her family, her real family went through while Ymir and Historia hesitated to move. Frieda watched them, but as she opened her mouth to speak another figure entered the chapel from behind them.
"Your majesty, the interior team has returned."
"Thank you Caven. Please, resume your guard stations."
Caven snapped off a salute as she motioned for her team to follow through. Most of them would follow them down into the cave, whilst a handful would remain up top to patrol the area and act as sentries.
"Historia, please," Frieda motioned for her to follow, "come join us."
With a last glance to Ymir, she took her hand in support as the two of them took their first steps through the doorway and began to descend down into the cave.
Hannes awoke some time during their journey, blind to the rest of the world by a cloth over his eyes and bag over his head. He wasn't fully lucid until the carriage they were in came to a halt and he and Carla were dragged from the back of it. Two men carried them inside of some type of building and threw them to the floor of one of the rooms. Carla's yelp of pain had his teeth bared, but there was nothing he could do as the two of them were tied up inside.
"Anybody see you on the way in?" One of the voices asked, a gruff older male that had apparently been waiting in the building already.
"None." The other voice was a younger man and belonged to the one who had carried Hannes inside. "But it's busy out there. Why so many moving about? They seem spooked."
"They are. You weren't here when the attack happened but it was messy, lots of locals are riled up about what happened?"
"At the Scouts?"
"Some… but not all of it. Could hear them complaining on the way in, not a lot of them are buying the story."
The older man grumbled something under his breath but kept silent as the men began to leave the room. The voices continued out the door, too muffled to make out at first before Hannes shuffled across the floor and placed his ear against the wood. Through the bag and what he assumed was the door, the words were still quite the muffled mess, but he managed to pick up enough to make sense of it all.
"…running through the streets yet, but they're starting to get riled up."
"It's those Angel cultists, the white headband ones. They keep spouting about how Gohan supports the Scouts so it can't be true."
Hannes furrowed his brow. He didn't know what had supposedly happened, but he had seen plenty of his supporters who liked to mark themselves with the white headband. If they were beginning to cause a scene in support of Gohan, then that could be very good news for them. Or, very bad…
"More MPs are being drawn into the capital. Supposedly as part of the manhunt, but I've heard they think these complaints might end up boiling into something more, they'll need to strike hard to keep the crowd under control. The way these people are starting to gather… I don't like it."
Hannes heard one of the men grumble an agreement as they pulled out a chair to take a seat.
"Me neither. I heard some rumours are already starting to spread that it's a setup, that the MPs orchestrated the attack."
"How are people jumping to conclusions that quickly? Something isn't right…"
"If a riot starts, it'll spread to us here."
"No it won't. We're in one of the safe zones they'll establish, quarantine us off from everyone else as they form barricades and lines. Keep the doors locked from any nosy locals and we'll be fine, they'll be too distracted elsewhere."
"If you guys really think a riot might happen, then I'm going to get something to eat while I still can." There was rustling and the opening of a door as someone began to leave.
"Bring me something back too you- OH YOU BASTARD. He's not bringing me anything…"
"We have supplies, we'll be fine."
"It's shit food down here and you know it. What I want is…"
Hannes tuned the men out as he shuffled towards where he could hear Carla groaning.
"Carla!" He hissed her name, careful not to raise his voice too much and attract the attention of his awaiting guards. "Can you hear me?"
He heard a soft sniffle in response and he could almost imagine the tears she had underneath her hood. "I hear you Hannes…"
"Are you okay? They didn't hurt you too much did they?"
"They're going to use me against them." She struggled to move herself along, with long made useless legs and bound hands she only managed to roll herself slightly. "My son, my daughter, Gohan… they're going to use me to get to them. They're going to use both of us…"
Hannes didn't deny it. She had never cared for coddling, not before Shiganshina and especially not after it. Carla was a remarkably strong woman for all that she had been through, doing everything she could to support her children. But being used as her children's weakness? Being used as a tool to control them? It was too much for her to consider, as she cursed her weak body. She'd had years to adjust, to grow accustomed to relying on others for help, yet it never was any easier.
"Carla…" He considered lying still, but decided to go with the truth, something she would actually latch onto. "I know this looks bad but have faith. If not in us, then in your children. They're strong, incredibly so. Eren will never give up at anything and Mikasa won't ever let him get hurt, and Gohan… well he's Gohan. They won't be turned into puppets, and they won't leave us here to suffer. They'll help us, I'm sure of it."
Her sniffles continued and she responded with only silence. Hannes wished he could hold her, embrace her tightly and keep her warm and safe, but all he could give her was words. The words that she simply had to believe.
"Okay…" She at long last whispered.
Dawn was beginning to crest as horses galloped across the countryside. Three teams that had broken off in their separate directions as they rode at the fastest pace they could.
Eren and Mikasa rode hard towards the capital, they had passed through Ehrmich district without issue thanks to the heads up from Armin and Dina, disguising themselves and removing their uniforms. Keeping clear of the scout headquarters had taken them on a more circuitous route, but it had kept them safe and unharried as they rode towards their target.
The Underground City had many entrances, but each was guarded by Military Police or Garrison soldiers around the clock. They could bribe their way past if they had money, but the plan was to simply blend in with the morning crowd and make their way through. From there, they would need to move quickly as they travelled around with their Ki sensing abilities to locate Mrs Jaeger and Hannes. Amongst so many people, it would be difficult, but they would force themselves to find a way.
Armin and Dina's task would be a little more complicated to accomplish. They had a reasonable expectation of where to find Commander Pixis, but if they were wrong then things would only get harder for them. Armin planned to use their shared experience during the reclaiming of Trost to gain trust, while Dina hoped if need be she could come up with some kind of leverage to help force the issue if need be.
For both of them to have a chance however, they would need to get to Commander Pixis in time to help. Sneaking past the guards would be needed, neither of them fancied their chances at forcing their way through. Thankfully, Dina had experience, and Armin had cunning.
Alone, Gohan galloped in silent contemplation. The rage within him still burned, but forced inaction had let it settle and allow him time to think. He did not need to plan, when the time came he would need his instincts and to adjust in the moment. No, what Gohan contemplated was what he would do when the moment came to truly unleash it all.
Did he dare let loose his anger? It had been his greatest source of power for so much of his life, the Saiyan and Human halves of him combining to unleash a near endless well of rage and power. But that power came at a cost, a cost to himself and his reason. What he had done against Cell was foolish, it had been dangerous. But he had done it under the blinding crimson fury he had seen, no other option available to him.
Now, did he do it again? Unleash all the rage he felt?
He would.
He knew it before he had truly realised it, but his anger was too great to ignore. His anger… and his shame. The skills he had taught to save humanity were being bastardised and perverted into ways to control and bully. This would not be the legacy he left this land, this would not be the legacy of his father. A great hero, who's son had armed terrible people.
No, no he would not allow it. He would correct his mistake. And that meant when he arrived, he would likely need to kill every one of them. With gritted determination, he knew that he would.