Krista

| Paradi |

Volume 3

Ch. 38 Krista

I head out where I found the three stooges at the dining table

"C'mon"

"Ugh" she groans before the three joined me Odin with

"You know, what you're doing is illegal" Isabel grumbles

"What, taking you alive? You're right" I lay back and close my eyes

Several hours later we were on the final stretch to Trost District

"What is it, boy?" I ask Levi who had been awake this entire time as well

"Waiting for you to fall asleep so I can slit your throat"

"That right?" I smile, "if anything you should be thanking me for taking you out of that shithole"

"That shithole is our home" Isabel grumbles "you were born on the luxuries of the surface, so what would you know about that kind of struggle to survive"

"You're right… what would I know?" I smile

…

The sun rose by the time we got back to Trost

"It's done" Erwin holds up a fake document

for Levi and his gang to see

He told me after my visit to the capital I'd come back with three assassins that were plotting to take his head

I'm guessing it's the three I picked up from the underground

"How'd you know I'd bring them here?"

"I've heard their technique with the three dimensional gear isn't too different from your own. I knew you wouldn't be able to help yourself"

"Right.." he hands me the documents

He said in doing so they'll be switching their target onto me

"Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Not like it matters, they're already out for my head anyways"

"Right, would you at least care for some bodyguards?"

…

"You're joking, right?"

"I guess I am" he chuckles

"I'll be fine." I smile "you go on with your business. I'll keep these chumps busy"

I stayed up for a couple days

At least until they figured their best shot at beating me was on an expedition

A month later the day finally arrived where they could make their move

"Eld, Gunther" I call them out as a 14 meter approached from southeast

"Right!" They ride off

"We got fog up ahead, Captain" Petra calls out

"Yeah.." I look over my shoulder

Levi..

I told him to ride with Furlans squad so he'd only stand by and watch for his first expedition

If he still plans of killing me theres no doubt on my mind he'll make his move

"The two of you join Erwin in the middle rank, I'll hold this position"

"Sir!" Oluo responds before they do as they were told

The fog was so thick I couldn't see or smell a thing

Odin slowed, he began sniffing around towards the right wing until the fog began clearing out just a bit

"What the hell is this?"

The entire right wing had been slaughtered

An abnormal, it has to be

I follow its tracks that lead straight for…

I hold still waiting for him to reveal himself

After a couple seconds Levi rides out of the fog

"There you are," he draws his blades

"Can't you follow orders?"

"Of Course I can, that's why I'm here to kill…"

He looks around

"What the hell happened?"

"You ran right past the abnormal, didn't you?"

"Wh-what?"

"The Titan that was heading your way"

"Wh-which Titan?" His eyes widen

"You fool" I pull Odin back

Levi quickly turns his horse around and raced to Furlans aid

I gathered all the corpses that were mostly in one piece

If they were unrecognizable I ripped their forearm off or I took a piece of their uniforms for their families

…

-1 year later-

"I told you I brush my teeth every day" I say as Isabel goes through my mouth

"I'm telling you, smoking all those cigars every day is gonna give you bad breath one day" she backs off

"Is that what Levi told you?"

They aren't wrong, ever since what happened with Carla I've been taking two to three daily

Then ever since…

Ever since last month, I've been overdoing it

…

-1 month prior

Frieda Reiss…

After 3 years I finally found her

I flick my cigar out the window

But.. What am I even supposed to do?

How am I supposed to take this power of hers?

Damn it

That stupid old man

"Kenny, Ackerman" someone says just outside the door

Ackerman?

"Yeah," they headed down stairs "we're lucky she decided to join the survey corps"

"Waiting for her death by a titans hand may be too risky, so he went off to seek the best assassin on the market"

"Yeah, that's what he said"

"Then there's that stupid alias, Krista Lenz. Could you believe that? Someone was trying to hide her existence from us"

Krista Lenz?

That's..

That's my Krista…

I open the door

I carefully head down stairs

What the hell are they talking about?

Who wants to kill Krista?

"You," I whisper "stand up"

They both stand up as I hold my blade up to his throat

"Who the…" his eyes widen "those eyes.. you are"

"Why do you want to murder Krista?"

…

They just stood still

"Speak!" I growl

'She is of royal blood. Her mere existence is a danger to the throne'

"Danger to the throne?"

They look at each other

"Wh-what? No, who told you that?!" He growls

"You did"

"What? You're crazy, I didn't say anything!"

What the hell do I do?

Can I save her?

How?

"Who gave these orders?"

'Rod Reiss'

"Rod Reiss?"

"Wh-what?"

"Stop talking you idiot!"

"I'm not saying anything!" They argue "It's like he's reading my m-"

"Where can I find him?"

"Wh-who? Rod?"

"Where?" I ask again

"He's long gone. He should be inside the capital by now. Look, even if you did find him he's protected by a hundred men armed to the teeth, there's no way you can lay a finger on him"

Is he bluffing?

No…

One-hundred men..

I can't.. I can't compete with that

'She's as good as dead'

What should I do?

Krista.. how can I save her?

"Tell me, this power that resides inside Frieda. How do I take it?"

'No dammit, how does he know? It had to be that doctor and that stupid rat. If he takes her power and wastes the rest of his family Rod can't afford to kill Historia just yet'

"Is that right?"

'No, that's exactly what he's going to do!'

"You bet your ass"

He opens his mouth to shout for help but I pierce my blade through his throat before he could

His brother lounges at me but I slice his head in two

Krista..

I can't lose you

That only means one thing…

"Papa? Is that you? Are you home, papa?" A child shouts from her bedroom

…

-present-

A devil, huh?

Is that..

Is that what I am?

"Hey, are you even listening to me?" Isabel flips around "I'm trying to save your life here"

"Yeah-yeah, I'll try to tone it down a bit" I wrap my arms around her waist before I finally manage to get some rest

~

| Kara's Past | Ch. 5 |

"Y-you okay big bro?"

Asura.. she's finally awake…

"I-I'm fine" I barely manage

"Great!" Lucifer slams the door shut

"Are you going to beg today?"

…

"Good"

He slowly began sharpening his knife

Once he was convinced it had enough edge he began

"Th-three"

I could feel the sharpness of his blade before he began peeling my skin off

"Six" I sniff

"Good"

"Stop it, leave him alone!" Asura shouts, "Kara!"

"Kara!" Another voice overlaps hers

~

"Kara!" Isabel shakes me violently "wake up you imbecile!"

"What?" I look around

"Titans have compromised Karanes District"

"Karanes?!" I reach for my things

"First it was the colossal then the armored Titan like 5 years ago"

Why Karanes?

"How long ago?"

"10 hours ago communication had been lost until now"

I hurry to Odin and I get my ODM gear

"We leave at once!" Erwin shouts as everyone scrambled around

"Where's Levi?"

"He took off with the rest of your squad the moment we got the notice"

I strap on two spare tanks of gas to my back

"C'mon boy" I hop back on his back after I loaded him up with gas and spare blades

"I'll catch up to Levi" I let Erwin know

"Right" He nods before I take off on Odin

I hurry down the empty streets to the inner wall Rose

But as I made my way I could hear guards shouting from the top

"What?"

That's when the ground began shaking

"CLEAR THE WALL!" They shout as the Garrison beside the wall scattered

…

They're coming from the inside?

"Get back Odin!" I switch to ODM and Odin retreats as ordered

I land on top a building as the rumbling turned into an earthquake that caught the attention of the citizens

"Everyone back in your homes!" Erwin shouts before he lands beside me

"What is this?" Erwin asks

"It isn't good"

We stand still as the longest minute of silence dawned over the city

Just before all hell broke loose

The inner wall Rose was obliterated like wall Maria 5 years ago

It was the armored Titan

Only he wasn't alone

He had dozens of titans with him

"They're planning to trap us inside" Erwin says

"So what now ?" I ask as there was an explosion by the outer wall

The colossal titan

Seconds after, it blows a hole right through the wall letting the Titans outside flood in

"Why is this happening?"

Where do I even begin?

North?

Or South?

There are Titans everywhere

There's nowhere to run

"They're intelligent" Erwin says

"Odin and some horses are already being hoisted onto the wall"

"What do you mean? Are we going to leave all these people behind?"

"We don't know Karaness' situation, but by now the titans may be deep into our territory. So try to protect the west side of Trost for our retreat"

"What the hell are you thinking?!"

"We have to survive this, we will plan our attack on the titans as soon as we reach safety

"Attack?"

He nods

"Heh" I smile as a 10 meter approached from the north

This crazy bastard

"Send them back to hell, Kara"

"With pleasure" I draw my blades as the 10 meter reached for me

I take his fingers out

I step back as a smaller titan jumped on its head and lounges at me

I step aside, slicing its foot off before taking it out

The armored Titan…

He was standing still, as if waiting for someone

I tear the nape off of the 10 meter before launching at the armored Titan

-to be continued