Torture

"Pastor Nick is dead," said Hange, at one day she went to the Squad's cabin.

Pastor Nick was one of the most important members of the Church of the Walls and knew about the secret of the Titans. But after an attempt by Hange and Levi to convince him, he didn't want to reveal anything about his organization's secrets. However, Nick was responsible for revealing that Historia Reiss was someone very important to the kingdom. To keep him safe, Hange placed him in a room in a Military Headquarters of the Trost District.

After an investigation, Hange concluded that he had been tortured and beaten to death by the Military Police, especially by a man named Sannes. Furthermore, Hange and Levi suspected a conspiracy within the interior, involving members of the Military Police. Thus, they came to the conclusion that Nick was tortured to give information about the Survey Corps and Historia, but as he refused to betray them, he was eventually killed, which left Hange feeling very guilty about it.

At the same moment Hange gave them the news, Levi received a message from Erwin. They needed to get out of there immediately, leaving no trace behind. The government's conspiracy reached such a high level that they forbade the members of the Survey Corps to even leave the Walls and that they would have to hand over Eren and Historia, which no one understood why. Commander Erwin himself was arrested. The government wanted to protect the secret of the Walls and the Titans at all costs.

Levi then said that it was no longer safe to stay in the interior and that they should go to Trost with Historia and Eren, for the city was in such chaos, that they could walk undercover and even use their ODM gears. They urgently needed to find out who was behind all these conspiracies. Lara would accompany Levi and the Squad, while Hange would go after Erwin.

When they were in Trost, they came up with a plan to prevent Eren and Historia from being kidnapped and ended up catching some merchants who, in fact, made an attempt to kidnap them both. But behind it all, there was a much worse group, led by a man named Kenny Ackerman, a terrible serial killer.

Unfortunately, Eren and Historia were eventually kidnapped by Kenny's group. Lara's Squad mood was very tense, because Armin had to shoot a woman to save Jean's life. Lara tried to help him as best she could, but the boy was just broken inside. She began to wonder why the humans were fighting each other… How had they gotten to this point?

At night, while they were at a certain Military HQ, Lara was sitting at a table with what was left of her Squad: Armin, Mikasa, Sasha, Connie, and Jean. Everyone was crestfallen. The reason for this was because, just a floor below, in the dungeons of that HQ, Hange and Levi were torturing Sannes for information about where Eren and Historia were, and why they were after her.

The screams of pain of that man were coming into Lara's ears like the sound of a very out-of-tune violin, and she stared at a fixed point, wide-eyed. She was squeezing her hands so hard, that they were turning white.

"Not again…" said Jean.

"It seems like the screams are getting louder and louder…" completed Sasha.

"Even though I know it's to save Eren and Historia, it makes me sick…" said Connie.

"We're all criminals now," said Armin, in a grim way. "We are no longer fighting or killing someone who wants to devour us, like the Titans, but someone who thinks differently than we do."

Lara's chin was shaking and she felt her eyes burn. Her heart was beating very fast.

"That's because they belong to another group," continued Armin. "And they'll pay with their lives." He leaned his arms on the table and rested his head.

"Armin…" called Mikasa.

"We can't say we're good people anymore," he finished, at last.

They remained silent for a long time, listening to Sannes' screams. Lara could hear her parents' voices questioning him. Was she hearing it right or did their voice tone reveal a certain... Delight while they tortured that man? Lara felt her stomach churn and it felt like something was tightening her heart in such a way, that she felt physical pain.

For a brief second, she thought that, at this moment, she no longer wanted to be their daughter.

"Lara…" Connie called her slowly. "Are you okay? You're very pale…"

She slightly opened her mouth, still staring at a fixed point with wide eyes. Her entire body was shaking.

"No..." she replied, almost in a whisper. "No, Connie... I'm not okay..."