Dispute (1)

Mina's POV

Nightmares are not unusual. Memories of my nauseating experiences would come and visit every time I slept, making sure to haunt every sanity that remained within me. However, the day that I asked Ymir to give some of my memories back from the rumbling, what haunted me instead was a memory of a young girl with a man hugging her.

Upon seeing her blonde hair and hairstyle, I instantly realized who this young lass was. It didn't take me a second to also realize who was hugging her small frame.

It must be her father, I thought to myself as I continued to watch their interaction.

All this time, Annie Leonhart is fighting for the sake of coming back to him. It was her motivation to keep her sanity intact while murdering countless Eldians. To her, no matter how much bloodshed she makes, it was all for the sake of coming back to her home – to her father. 

How sweet… how sickeningly sweet, Annie. 

"H-How," Her eyes began to tremble as I removed my blade from her shoulder. Blood instantly gushed out, something that I could ignore due to how fast her healing process was. So, instead of prioritizing her wound, I removed my cape and draped it over her body. In addition, I also lifted the hood to cover her face. "How did you," 

I hummed. "That's not important right now, is it, Annie?"

She visibly gulped, showing her true emotions. In an attempt to eradicate someone who knows their existence, she immediately lifted her hand, one that contains a ring. 

I chuckled at how predictable she was acting as I immediately attacked her nape, taking her consciousness away in the process. 

"Rest well, Annie," I whispered to her ear and took her ring just when her body fell limp into my arms. "Because I'll show you the true meaning of hell once you wake up." 

Now, after dealing with the female titan, all that was left for me was to tackle my concern about keeping the information of our successful capture a secret. I can't have the Military Police and the Survey Corps personally decide what to do with her because I have something I need to accomplish.

And I can't do it without Annie Leonhart's help. 

After lifting her unconscious body and placing it over my shoulder, it was then that I noticed how severely my hand got burned. I still couldn't feel any pain from it, but it looked so ghastly! Nonetheless, I finally stepped outside the mist, making us visible to everyone present.

"Mina!" Captain Hange's voice called out to me as they jogged their way toward my figure. I took a step forward as a compromise to meet them in between. "You reckless brat, come here!" 

"You're becoming like Captain Levi, captain."

She groans. "Never mind that, let me see your hand!" 

With a harsh pull, my right hand, which got severely burned, continued to gush out blood, making the other soldiers who saw it pale. However, my wound wasn't my priority, so as loudly as I could, I spoke. "Captain, the female titan froze her heart. She won't be able to wake up any time soon." 

"What?" It was then that our gazes connected, letting me see the confusion in her expression. "Didn't you,"

But before she could say anything else, I intervened. "She's not going to wake up, captain. Instead of crystallizing herself on the outside, due to my interference, she was pushed to crystalize her heart instead. You all saw the blue light, right? I verified it earlier. It isn't beating." 

Please, Captain.

Using my wounded hand, I slightly gripped her arm and pleaded. 

Please notice what I'm trying to do.

Using my last resort, I leaned forward so that only Captain Hange and I could hear my next words. "Remember Sawney and Bean, captain." 

Upon hearing the names she had bestowed on the previous experimental titans, her eyes widened in the realization of where I was coming from. Hange Zoe is an intelligent and beautiful woman, so there's no way she won't understand what I was trying to say.

She then turned her back on me and issued her next orders. "Moblit, accompany Mina and bring the female titan to a dungeon deep underground. We've failed to capture her alive." 

Inwardly, I smiled as I ignored the sudden clamor brought by the soldiers after hearing such dreadful news. Some were asking how it happened, and most were complaining that they saw me pulling out the body, so how could I tell if she was dead or alive? Such a question, however, can easily be answered if the captain herself would verify if Annie's heart was truly beating or not. So, I pray to Ymir that they'll try to understand my reasoning for doing this.

In my peripheral vision, I can see Jean making his way toward me. So, as quickly as I could, I ushered Moblit to fasten his pace as we made our way toward the dungeon.

But not until I remember the very scene that left everyone in the vicinity gasping in terror. Upon taking one last step before turning back to look at the man who was supposed to accompany me, I spoke. "I think you should stay here, Moblit."

"Huh?" The right-hand man of the 4th squad's captain narrowed his eyes, his expression muddled and disoriented. "What do you mean?"

Strengthening my will, I tilted my chin upwards as my gaze landed on the wall where the huge and lazy eye of a titan had appeared. It took a while for Moblit to notice it as well, but once he did, his face instantly paled.

"A titan?"

"In the wall?!"

With all the whispers being heard by everyone present, Moblit wasted no time running toward his captain, leaving me to my own devices. After taking one last look at the broken wall, I turned to my heels and finally left. I was about to think about my next actions, but somebody decided to ruin my rare and peaceful silence.

"Where do you think you're going, brat?" 

I should have known.

With a sigh, I can't help but think of the reason why he followed me instead of staying beside the commander. However, upon landing my gaze on his curious eyes, I spoke with a decision set in mind. "Captain Levi, can you tell the commander that Annie froze herself… Wait, sir, why are you limping?" 

"Ha?" He looked over my shoulder and scowled. "How gallant of you to notice, but never mind that. Explain." 

I eventually felt my lips becoming dry after realizing the reason why he was behaving like that. The attitude and carelessness I committed from the last expedition are truly unforgivable. To think that I forgot one of the most important scenarios during that round, with the captain attaining a wound that may or may not be the cause of his future affliction, left me infuriated. Captain Levi may not mind it much, but I made sure to take a mental note to look into this matter as soon as possible. 

However, as much as I want to prioritize his wound, many more pressing matters need to be attended to.

"You saw the blue light earlier, right?" After seeing him nod his head, I continued. "She was about to freeze her entire body, like what she does when she covers her nape."

"A defense mechanism," he intervenes, one that made me nod in approval. "Keep going."

And so, I did. "If we tell the public that we have successfully captured the female titan, then our enemies inside this wall would do their damnedest to kidnap her, or worse, to take her life. It's like Sawney and Bean all over again." 

And it would cost the lives of the soldiers who are 'protecting' her frozen state.

Captain Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance as we took another turn in an abandoned street. "And you want me to tell Erwin that? The scout regiment would lose everything."

With a hum, I begged to differ. "We won't lose everything. I mean, defeating the female titan only proves Eren's worth, right? So, even if we show that we 'failed' in gathering more information, the military police will have no choice but to approve the continuation of the Survey Corps even after the deaths of so many citizens." 

"And?"

I tilted my head in confusion. And what?

The captain probably saw my confused expression, so he irritably defined what he meant to say. "What about her?"

Oh.

While shrugging my shoulders, I answered. "She'll probably wake up once the sun has fallen. We can question her then." 

Not that she's going to answer them. Even if they torture her, Annie is still a warrior. 

Captain Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance, deciding whether or not to accept my proposal. His eyes narrowed, and within them, I noticed how serious he was in contemplating it. I could only bite the inside of my mouth, praying to that horrendous being for the captain to even consider doing it. 

And finally, after a grueling seconds of silence, he spoke, "I'll tell Erwin about your plan. So, for fuck's sake," He then reached to grab my wounded arm and lifted it for us to see how my skin was starting to darken. "Treat your goddamn hand. I'm not going to carry a dead person back."

Inwardly, I chuckled. "You too, captain. We better start applying medication to your leg." 

"Stop screwing around and prioritize yourself. Go."

After ordering me with a tone filled with vileness, Captain Levi eventually took off, leaving me with a small smile plastered on my face. 

***

An hour passed before Moblit finally caught up to me as we had successfully locked Annie in a dungeon where she couldn't hurt herself. My original plan would be to stay with her until she woke up, but my superior had to forcibly push my whole body just to persuade me to leave and treat my hand. 

"There's no way I'll be able to treat that kind of wound," The mother hen spoke as he pushed my body out of the dungeon. "Now go back up and treat your arm. I'll stay and guard her." 

I swear, leaving Annie vulnerable like that brings anxiety within my heart as I continue to walk in an empty hallway to look for a doctor to help in treating my wound.

And upon finding him, he almost fainted. 

"Doesn't it hurt?" He asks me while bandaging the newly cleaned wound.

However, there was nothing to say as I simply shrugged my shoulders. "I can't feel pain." 

And thank goodness for that because if I could feel it, then I wouldn't be able to do my job that requires bloodshed and discomfort properly. 

With one last reminder from the doctor, he finally allowed me to leave as I once again passed through an empty hallway. This time, however, there was a sound coming out from a certain room, one that contained a group of soldiers. 

Seeing that I had time until Annie woke up, I made my way toward that room, surprised to hear Mikasa's voice that was asking Eren if he was doing okay. 

"Yeah…" The sound of moving bedsheets signifies how he got up from the bed, as I could only imagine how wounded he must have been. "I've healed so fast. It's almost creepy." 

I grinned while placing my back against the wall. Eren continued to speak as he told the group how Annie was still frozen, making me feel a bit guilty for lying to them. However, I've got to hand it to my captain - she spreads information at a fast pace.

A voice of another man spoke as he muttered a curse. It didn't take me a second to realize that Jean was with them; how surprising. Are they in one room because they will be interrogated later? 

"We got nothing from that massive operation!" Jean angrily states. "And what's up with Mina? She can't just declare that Annie is frozen and leaves us in turmoil!" 

Ah.

I suppose so.

Then, the next person to speak was Armin, who told the whole group how Annie was willing to go that far to protect the information that she had.

I hummed before realizing that the only people right now who knew of her true state were me, Moblit, Captain Hange, Captain Levi, and lastly, the commander. Having only a few people who know the truth will help hide the fact that I prevented Annie from freezing herself. It would also help in preventing Reiner and Bertolt from ever finding out about what truly happened. 

Lest, they might commit a more evil act similar to what they sis to the test subjects.

"Yeah, she got away from us," Jean says, but another voice continues. 

"Eren's the one who allowed it."

"…"

I blinked. 

What?

Did I just… did I hear that coming directly from Armin's mouth? 

In disbelief, I pulled my relaxed state from the wall just when Armin continued his statement. "Right, Eren? Without that one instant…" 

In a rage, I stepped inside the room and finally saw four people who were simply wearing white button-up shirts. However, instead of gazing at the boy who was sitting on a bed, I made my way toward the human who claimed that it was Eren's fault that she got away.

"Mina?" 

Just before he could continue to speak, I lifted my wounded hand and used it to slap his face. 

Silence.

Everything went silent after hearing the slap that I'd done in a fit of rage. 

"How dare you," My lips trembled as blood once again seeped out of the bandages that had just been wrapped around my wound. "Accuse Eren of that. You, of all people, Armin." 

***