The Empire of Titans Chapter 65 ('Here's Kenny') (Patreon)

' At some point in the night, Annie realized that she could no longer stand the sound of her bedsheets rustling, as she kept switching from side to side atop her mattress, unable to get some proper sleep.

She had specifically avoided drinking any coffee that Warchief Zeke had made for them in the afternoon, his snide remark about her being "as cold as he had always known her to be" falling on deaf ears.

Ever since Annie had last seen her father, she had been having trouble sleeping. The last time she got a proper shut-eye was when she slept in Pieck's home when she had invited her.

Despite her bed feeling slightly cramped for her – yes, she hadn't grown that taller, unlike the way Bertholdt, Reiner, and, to a lesser extent, Porco shot up, but she was definitely bigger than she used to be – slumber easily claimed her drained body when her nose was met with the refreshing smell of clean sheets. A piece of home she had dreamed about for years.

Yet, it didn't help ease her into sleep for the following weeks. She desperately tried to hang onto the sense of contentment that had engulfed her on those memorable hours a month ago in an attempt to quell her rising anxiety and the dread that settled in the pit of her stomach whenever she thought about the looming war and the people she would have to kill to protect the one who's dear to her, to no avail.

She couldn't stop thinking about it despite how much she tried.

No matter how much she wanted, she couldn't turn off her brain and just sleep.

She briefly debated whether or not she should reach for the bottle of red wine sitting underneath her desk. She had swiped the spirits' bottle some days ago from some high-ranking officers' dinner table when they weren't paying attention. It had earned her a raised eyebrow from Porco, but he said nothing about it. He hadn't brought it up later, neither.

Deciding to throw caution to the wind, she swung her legs over the edge of the mattress before she stalked toward her desk in order to retrieve the required item.

For some reason, Annie was struck with the realization that she didn't want to be alone now, let alone drink on her own. So, she pondered which one of her warrior colleagues she could share with a drink or two.

A quick look at the clock hung on the wall told her that none of her peers would be awake at two in the morning except for one.

Reiner.

No.

He was most likely awake at this hour of the night. Annie believed he would be since he was the only one whose tired expression and dark bags under his eyes mirrored hers, but she didn't want to drink with him or talk to him. They had never been that close anyway, for reasons she didn't want to think about now, lest she got even angrier and hyper-agitated, thus making her chances to get some rest switch from slim to none.

Plus, she doubted Reiner would accept her offer anyway, not to her, not to anyone, not even to Bertholdt.

The latter was also out of the equation because he would be out like a light at this hour.

Porco, well, they weren't close, and she had never taken a liking to his brash personality. He was Marcel's brother, but they were nothing alike.

That left her with Pieck.

Pieck could be asleep, but for some reason, Annie couldn't grasp it; she doubted her only friend would tell her to go away. Pieck always cared for her, always telling her what to eat. Sometimes, it was annoying, but Annie secretly enjoyed how much Pieck cared for her, something her father failed to do. The way she would smile at her, her beautiful smile, always managed to make Annie feel funny, something that never happened with anyone else.

So, she decided to take her chances and knock on her colleague's wooden door at the end of the hallway. Annie swung the wine bottle back and forth in her hand, wincing when it slammed against her bare knee.

Annie knew she should've trudged back to her room and knocked a glass of two of the red liquid down her throat at the lack of answer behind the other side of the door. But she was too tired, inexplicably lonely, and upset to consider her ego. So, she weakly pushed the door in front of her open, the creaking noise it made with the motion sounding tenfold louder in the eerie silence of the corridor.

Annie fidgeted on her feet, feeling suddenly ridiculous, when she took in the girl's small frame curled underneath the thin blanket. It was her last chance to forget all about this and head back to her own bed, but Annie was adamant about having someone other than her own self to talk to or at least be with her.

"Pieck." Annie whispered. She tiptoed toward her bed before she hunched forward, hovering above the dark-haired girl's oblivious face.

She looked so...peaceful. Innocent even. Annie swallowed the growing lump in her throat when she thought how someone who looked just short of an angel took lives, just like she did.

"Pieck," Annie whispered again before gently shaking her colleague's shoulder.

"Annie?" Pieck croaked, voice heavy with sleep. "What are you doing here?" She asked, rising slightly and resting her upper body on her forearm.

"Um, I uh – do you want to drink with me? I've got some good red wine; thought I'd share with you." Annie's hands were suddenly clammy – what the hell was she even thinking? She couldn't just walk to someone's bed and rouse them from their sleep just to get wasted!

"It's the middle of the night." Pieck shoulders slumped.

"So?" Annie shrugged, willing her voice to sound as nonchalant as she could.

"Annie. What's going on?" Pieck's voice was soft yet undoubtedly laced with worry.

She couldn't lie to her face. She didn't deserve that.

"I can't sleep." Annie blurted before she could stop herself. "Haven't been able to since my last meeting with father."

"So, you thought you should drink yourself to oblivion, with me." Even tired and groggy from sleep, Pieck's tone was still playful. Teasing even.

"Basically." Annie shrugged again.

"Come here." Annie raised an eyebrow when Pieck moved back toward the opposing wall, patting the spot next to her on her bed.

"Um."

"We're not drinking ourselves to sleep. Neither of us need that." Pieck raised the blanket as if to reinforce her statement.

Annie nodded weakly before she set the bottle she was clutching down on the cold floor. She tentatively climbed on the old mattress, faintly registering it creaking under both of their weights when she was soon met with the welcoming warmth of Pieck's bed.

"Comfy?" Pieck asked, eyes already drooping.

"Comfy." Annie replied, voice barely above a whisper.

However, Annie didn't think she could sleep. Not yet. Yes, she was far more comfortable than she was in her own room. But it didn't make her feel relaxed enough to fall asleep.

Annie was squirming uncomfortably on her side of the bed before she almost yelped when a gentle arm rounded her back. She momentarily relaxed when Pieck's hand started rubbing soothing circles on her shoulders. Annie couldn't stop her body from sliding forward toward her companion, sighing in contentment when she instinctively inhaled the smell of lavender soap that coated the girl's skin.

The last thing Annie remembered was the tender press of Pieck's lips on her forehead before she drifted into a dreamless sleep. '

Pieck slowly, almost gently, closed the metallic door behind her, making sure no one would hear her. The new uniform didn't fit her as well as she had wished, but she had no time to complain about her uniform; her eyes looked down at the abyss below; she knew the cells were underground, but she didn't expect them to be so deep underground. The stairs led her downstairs to whatever awaited her at the end.

After knocking a female soldier unconscious, Pieck made sure to change clothes as soon as possible; she knew it would buy her time. Usually, she would have just killed her, but she needed her alive for the plan to work. Once changing uniforms, Pieck had stealthy infiltrated the Survey Corps Headquarters. Apparently, this branch of the military had that name.

Pieck thought it was a good name, but she wasted no time trying to gather information on the whereabouts of Reiner and Berthold; for a moment, Pieck had wanted to know about Annie's location, too.

But Pieck had reminded herself that Annie had betrayed them. She betrayed us, all the years we trained together, all the talk we had, all the moments together, Pieck thought, remembering the first time Annie had slept in her house.

She betrayed her friends, she betrayed Me, Pieck had reminded herself over and over again, her eyes welling up with tears, but Pieck had stopped herself from shedding tears; she wouldn't cry for a traitor, her face more often than not appearing before her eyes as if taunting her.

It didn't take long, listening to conversations and watching everyone's routes, for Pieck to find the best possible place where her friends could be imprisoned. She knew the chances were that this would lead to her getting captured, but the girl had mentioned something about a 'monster' being caged down below, so Pieck, knowing her time was limited, had decided to chase this chance and hopefully, she would find both Reiner and Bertholdt.

But Pieck couldn't help but feel as if someone was watching her. This feeling had resulted in her glancing furtively across the hall several times, but despite how much she felt as if someone was watching her, she could never see who exactly; eventually, she decided to ignore it, reasoning that it was just her being paranoid.

But now, as she cautiously descended the spiral staircase, the torches flickered, casting eerie shadows on the rugged stone walls. As her footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, she continued forward. At the bottom of the stairs, her eyes settled on a metal door. Pieck possessed a small iron ring with five intricately designed keys. She tried them one by one, the metallic jingle filling the air. Finally, the satisfying sound of a click resonated through the corridor.

Pieck pushed the door open, causing the aged metallic hinges to screech in protest, emanating an irritating sound that pierced through the silence of the corridor. As the door swung ajar, a pungent and repulsive odor assaulted Pieck's senses, infiltrating her nostrils and threatening to induce an involuntary urge to vomit. She resisted the nauseating effect and proceeded to step into the vast expanse of the square room.

Within this dimly lit chamber, two flickering torches emitting a feeble glow were securely fastened to the opposing walls, casting elongated shadows that danced along the worn stone floor. A jail was in front of her.

Pieck cautiously took cautious steps forward, her heart pounding against her ribcage as she approached the dimly lit cell. As she inched closer, her sharp eyes caught sight of a dark silhouette huddled against the solid wall. The stench was emanating from within the cell.

A surge of fear coursed through Pieck's veins, causing her grip on the torch to tighten. With each step taken, the flickering light guided her into the eerie depths of the cell.

Reiner, lying motionless on the cold floor, met her gaze. His torn clothing barely clung to his battered body, barely able to preserve what little modesty remained. An iron collar, ominously encircling his neck, secured him to the wall by chains.

"Reiner!!" Pieck almost shouted as she quickly tried to open the damn door; after four fails, the fifth key opened it; Pieck quickly ran inside, kneeling to his level; Pieck ignored the bad smell as she slapped Reiner in the face, trying to wake him up, he let out an exhausted groan, his eyes opening and closing, but he still seemed to be sleeping.

"Reiner!!!" Pieck shouted, this time slapping him much harder, leaving a red mark on his face. This jolted Reiner; his eyes opened fully, dark bags under his eyes. His entire body was smelling horrible, and a layer of dust covered him like a second skin; he looked much older than she remembered; he seemed as if he had suddenly aged twenty years from the last time she saw him; his skin was a pale white.

His eyes looked beyond exhausted, filled with a weariness. The fiery spark that she vividly remembered witnessing in his eyes had now vanished entirely as if it had been snuffed out like a flickering candle's flame. In its place remained a haunting emptiness, transforming his gaze into something akin to that of a lifeless corpse. The hollowness of his cheeks, while the presence of numerous marks scattered across his face. Pieck's discerning eyes immediately recognized the signs of a brutal beating.

"P-P-Pieck." He stuttered, his voice raspy, his lips seemed dry, and Pieck quickly noticed that he had lost weight.

Pieck wanted to stay and talk, but she knew she had no time. She quickly tried to unlock the collar around his neck and the iron plates on top of his stumps that used to be his limbs.

"Just stay awake!" Pieck told him with growing concern as she unlocked the collar; she knew once they reached the top, she would need to turn into her Titan form, put Reiner in her mouth, and just run for it. She couldn't carry him anywhere without anyone noticing; she hoped her plan would work.

"Pieck, P-Ple-Please tell Mom that I love her. Tell her that I tried-" "You tell her yourself!" Pieck almost shouted, her voice soft; as she unlocked the collar, his upper body fell forward, and she started working on the plates around his body.

"Pieck, why isn't mother here?" Pieck ignored him as she removed the first plate. She expected to see steam coming from his right arm, but she quickly noticed the lack of steam coming from his wound; she realized that Reiner had lost all the will to live.

"Pieck, shouldn't you be gone by now? Come now; you know how it goes, though the first to visit was always Berthold, but maybe you just missed me." Reiner continued talking, his voice almost a whisper, as Pieck unlocked the second iron plate. She didn't know what he was talking about, but again, she ignored him and started working on the third plate.

"Pieck, where's Gabi? Where's Falco?" Pieck was almost unlocking his third plate when Reiner suddenly lifted up his face, looking her dead in the eyes.

"W-Why aren't you going away? Why is mother not visiting? Do-does she hate me?" His voice cracked as tears rolled down from his red eyes like blood.

"She loves you, Reiner. They are all waiting for you." Pieck told him softly, trying to fill him with hope; her words seemed to work as a smile; a genuine smile returned on his face as more tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Thank you, Pieck. Th-this is the Best Dream, I had for so long." Reiner said, sounding relieved. Pieck's face fell as she unlocked his fourth plate, but despite being free now, the stumps weren't regrowing, and no steam was coming out. Pieck knew Reiner was too heavy to carry him upstairs by herself, and if she could carry him, it would take too much time.

"Reiner. This is not a Dream!" Pieck shouted, slapping him once again, this time much harder; a red print of her hand was on his cheek, and Reiner remained unmoving until he looked back at her, his eyes looking beyond her.

"Someone's coming in." The moment those words left his mouth, Pieck's blood turned cold as she heard the sound of the door opening; she quickly whirled around, her hand gripping a knife from her waist, and in front of her stood a man wearing a bowler hat, with the widest grin Pieck had ever seen. Pieck quickly rushed forward with the knife in hand; she was a Warrior, after all.

But the man gripped her hands hard enough for her knuckles to crack; Pieck winced in pain as he brought a knee to her stomach. Pieck gasped loudly, saliva escaping her mouth as did all the air inside her body; she dropped to the floor, struggling to breathe; she desperately tried to take deep breaths.

The man looked down at her, his gun aimed at her face, the tip pressing painfully against her forehead as she winced from the pain. She thought of transforming; this would be the only way out. Perhaps Reiner would get lucky and survive.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, girly. You can heal, but even you can't survive getting your head blown off, and I wouldn't want us to lose the Cart Titan." The man said with a growing smirk. His eyes glittered maniacally; Pieck felt a sudden cold shudder in her body; she felt as if she was freezing, and the way he looked at her made her shiver.

"Wait... this is not a Dream?!" Reiner's voice came; Pieck watched as steam started coming out of the stumps as he glared furiously at the man.

"Let Her Go!" Reiner suddenly shouted as he started crawling across the ground, using his chin to crawl forward as his limbs started regrowing.

"Ohh, don't worry. At first, when he told me, I thought he was lying, but imagine my surprise when I saw her crawling around the Headquarters. I have to be honest, he is far more interesting than Rod could ever hope to be even in his biggest wet dream." The man said with a sickening smile. Pieck didn't know what he was talking about, but suddenly the door opened again, and walking inside was a blonde woman.

"We are ready, Captain Ackerman." Ackerman, Pieck repeated the word, knowing she had heard that name before, but before she could try to think deeper about this, the man suddenly moved his gun away from her face; Pieck didn't see it coming but felt the kick against her head, as darkness embraced her.

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it. Thank you, everyone, for supporting me and reading my Stories. I hope you all have a Wonderful Day.

Chapter 66 and Chapter 67 will come out on 28-29 December.