IN WHICH ARAMINTA CUTS HER FINGER!
*ೃ༄
ARMS TONITE ∕ CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

ARAMINTA HOLM WAS A GOOD SOLDIER. During Eren's recovery mission, she had earned herself three kills, and ten assists. And, she was number six in her class, which was a very impressive number. She was disciplined, and followed orders, and not to mention very skilled with ODM gear and killing things. On top of all of that, she had been recently selected to join the new Levi Squad, which was a huge accomplishment for a Scout.

And how did they put her skills to use?

By making her do household chores. Like the ones she used to do when she was a little kid.

"Do you think I could sneak some of this to my room?" Sasha asked, licking her lips as she looked at all of the food laid out on the cart in front of them. She reached out to grab a sack, but Jean was quick to smack her fingers away.

          "Don't." Was all he said, as he lifted a bag up over his shoulder. Sasha made a whine, but didn't reply, picking up a basket full of fruit. Araminta smiled at the interaction, grabbing onto another sack to hold in her arms.

            "Are you sure you should be lifting that?" Jean asked, giving Araminta a suspicious look. She rolled her eyes.

            "Actually, the doctor told me I'm just about all healed up. So I don't need you to do all my heavy lifting anymore." She said, and then it was Jean's turn to roll his eyes.

   "I feel like you're lying, but who am I to stop you." He sighed, picking up the last sack before heading inside. It was all true, the doctor did say her wrist looked surprisingly great for someone who had definitely overused it. But as much fun as it was, she didn't want to argue with Jean.

Ever since they had returned to Trost District after rescuing Eren, Araminta had felt a blissful happiness she had never felt before. Reiner and Bertholdt were (hopefully) dead, all of her friends had survived, and she had finally accepted the things she had been trying so hard to keep mashed down and out of sight. There was no more anger left in her, which was something of a miracle.

            "Don't these potatoes just look so... So..." Sasha stared at the basket she held, her mouth practically drooling all over them.

"Sasha, No." Armin said.

"I swear to god, if you steal any of that food, I'm telling Levi so he will chop you up into a million little pieces." Jean said as the four walked in through the door of the small cottage they were staying at.

"Okay, okay, I won't!" Sasha replied, though her tone wasn't very convincing.

"Hey! Did you guys remember to wipe the dirt off your shoes before you came in?!" Araminta perked up to see Eren looking at them frantically, his broom gripped tightly in his hands. His eyes met her own, and unsurprisingly, her cheeks went hot.

Eren and Araminta were in a very weird place. He liked her, and she liked him, but she wasn't sure he was aware of the second part--especially after she had panicked and stopped him from kissing her. But if he did know, he had not made any effort to bring it up a single time. She couldn't blame him, since she hadn't brought it up either. How was she supposed to bring that up, though? Sometimes, when they were working on something together, she considered just grabbing his face and kissing him, screaming hey dummy! I like you too! But she had made a vow she would have a romantic first kiss with him, so there was no way she would do that.

Instead of staring at him any longer, and possibly causing someone to notice, her eyes darted to her feet. Well, at least she had remembered to wipe her feet on the rug before coming in. Unfortunately, she couldn't say the same for the rest of her friends.

"Huh? No! Didn't you see how full my arms were when I walked in? I was busy!" Jean shouted, setting all of the bags he was carrying down.

"You really think that excuse is gonna work on Captain Levi?" Eren asked, pointing the mop tip aggressively at Jean. "If I hadn't personally tucked in the corners of your sheets this morning--"

         "Quit nagging me! Who are you, my mother?!" Jean snapped, and Araminta couldn't help but chuckle at the little dispute. It took her back to the dinner room in the Training Corps, when they would fight nearly every night.

          The door opened, reveal Mikasa and Christa--or Historia, Araminta always forgot her real name--with chopped wood in both of their arms. "We're back." Mikasa announced.

           "Wait, were you just chopping wood?" Armin asked incredulously.

"Gotta stay in shape." Mikasa replied with a shrug.

"You got grabbed by a Titan! You should be in bed!"

"Hey, if Mikasa says she's feeling better, she's feeling better. Okay?" Araminta told them, putting her hand on Mikasa's shoulder. "It's sweet that you guys worry, but nobody knows their own body better than themselves."

"Neither of you should be doing any heavy lifting yet! You're not fully healed!" Armin pressed, but Eren shook his head.

"Believe me, I tried stopping them, but they don't listen. I saw Mikasa doing sit ups earlier." He grumbled as the two of them walked away.

"What?! How dare you, you Peeping Tom!" Jean shouted.

"Anyone else having a little bit of deja vu right now?" Araminta asked, leaning back against the table. "It feels like we're back in the Cadet Corps." She let out a soft sigh, allowing her muscles the chance to relax.

"Yeah." Armin replied. "But... Why do you think we were chosen for the new Levi Squad? Protecting Eren and Historia is such an important mission..."

"Because we're talented, I assume." Sasha said, and then stuffed a potato in her bag pocket.

"Sasha... What did you just put in your bag?" Armin asked slowly.

"Nothing food related."

"Why you--! Give it back!" Jean yelled, moving across the room towards her.

"Hey, focus!" Eren shouted over the chaos--though really he was just adding to the chaos. "We gotta finish cleaning before Captain Levi gets back!"

"Put the potato back!"

"You always do this!"

"Our food reserves are precious!"

Araminta giggled, and subconsciously her gaze went to Eren to see his reaction. But his attention was elsewhere, and she followed his eyes to see Captain Levi had already returned. Her smile instantly dropped. She watched as he slid his hand under the table, and lifted it to see a thin layer of dust on his fingertips.

"I'm quite sure I have you enough time." He said lowly, his eyes narrowed at them. "Anyways. We'll discuss your lax cleaning job later. Eren. Hange is itching to get their experiment started."

"R-Right."

Araminta gasped quietly, clasping her hands together. Hange's experiment. She has almost forgotten they were doing that. But now that she had remembered, she was overwhelmed with excitement.

"What? Did you hurt yourself?" Sasha whispered, grabbing Araminta's arm to inspect her wrist.

         "Huh?"

        "You gasped, like you were in pain or something."

         "No, I'm just excited." Araminta whispered back, snatching her arm away from Sasha.

          "Oh. I don't think I've ever seen you excited for something." Sasha replied in full seriousness, her words causing Araminta to frown.

"What do you mean? I get excited for things all the time."

          "Oh, you're right. I forgot, you always get so excited to be around Eren." Sasha giggled, and Araminta panicked, knowing she had said his name entirely too loud.

           "Shut up, Sasha!" She hissed, and she must have been much louder than Sasha ever was because Eren turned back to look at them, a suspicious look drawn across his features. Araminta's eyes widened, and Sasha began to giggle wildly beside her.

         "Sasha. What's so funny?" Levi asked, stepping over towards them, causing Sasha's laughter to immediately cease.

         "Nothing, Captain Levi! I wasn't even laughing, I was, uh, coughing. Hay fever." She straightened up, slapping her hands down by her side. Then she let out a fake cough, hoping to sell her excuse.

          "Mhmm..." He hummed, then turned his attention to Araminta. "Araminta. Hange wants to see you before the experiment starts, so you should probably get down there soon."

"Yes, sir." Araminta replied, giving him a quick salute before scurrying away.

      ARAMINTA NEVER WOULD HAVE CONSIDERED HERSELF TO BE INTO SCIENCE. Before she met Hange, she had mostly stayed away from the subject outside of what they were doing in class. But in the last few weeks, she had been assisting them on all kinds of experiments, and now her mind was practically consumed with science. In fact, she kept a notebook and pencil in the pocket of her skirt to write down any interesting ideas she had throughout her day.

           And Hange had come to really appreciate Araminta's presence. Anytime they were planning a new experiment, they would hunt her down and fill her in, getting any ideas they could from her. It was really clear they really liked having someone other than Moblit to talk to about these things.

          They had even discussed going out together to capture some wild Titans to experiment on so they could have more test subjects besides just Eren. If Sasha had never seen Araminta excited before, she should have seen her reaction to that proposition.

           For now, though, they were quietly doing experiments in an open area they had found near the cottage they were staying in. This has been the third day in a row they had done experiments with Eren, and it was really starting to show. He had transformed into his Titan form, but it did not look like how it usually looked. It wasn't even ten meters tall, and there were absolutely no muscles from his waist down.

          Araminta cringed at the sight.

           "What's wrong with you, Eren?! Get up!" Hange began yelling as Eren fell face first into the dirt. "The future of humanity is riding on you!"

           "Uh, Hange, I think something is wrong." Araminta told them with a frown. "Maybe we should let him rest?" She suggested.

           "Rest? We don't have time for him to rest!" Hange practically barked back.

           "Look at him, Hange." Levi said, folding his arms across his chest. "He's smaller than usual, and he can't even support himself because he's so skinny. Plus, Eren's ass is hanging out." He shrugged.

            "I can see that!" Hange snapped. "Eren! Can you move? Give us a signal or something!"

"Eren!" Mikasa leapt off her horse, running toward the boy who was half hanging out of his Titan form. Suddenly the smile Araminta had been wearing most of the day dropped.

          "Look, the gloomy brat is doing shit without orders again." Levi said with a sigh, folding his arms across his chest. "Should we come up with a punishment for her?"

          As Mikasa ran up to Eren, Araminta felt her stomach twist. Something weird was happening to her, and she had no idea what this feeling was. All she knew was she did not like the way Mikasa was acting.

            "No, we're done here." Hange said, then used their gear to propel down the side of the cliff. Araminta stood for a moment, clenching up her fists tightly as she stared at Mikasa and Eren.

           "Aren't you going to follow them?" Levi asked her, and his words made her snap her attention back to reality.

           "Hm? Oh. Yeah." She gave him a weak smile then followed after her mentor, trying to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach.

              Hange was already on top of the small titan body, prying Eren from its grip. "Hot! Hot damn, you are hot!" They yelled, pulling on him with all their might.

             "Hange, wait! He's bleeding!" Mikasa yelled, but it was too late as Hange already broke part of his face free from the titan muscle. Only they really hadn't. Half of his skin was gone from his face, and Titan muscle was still attached to the upper half of him. And his eye was missing.

             "Woah! Check it out, Araminta! His face, hurry up and sketch it!" They yelled, and the girl scrambled to pull out her notebook and flip to an empty page. Oh, she definitely wasn't an artist, she had no idea where to begin.

            "Captain! Do you seriously lack human compassion so bad you're going to let him suffer?!" Moblit yelled.

            Before she even had the chance, though, Mikasa sliced through the muscle connecting him to the Titan, freeing him from its grasp so he and Hange fell backwards.

Araminta snapped her pencil in half.

           "Sorry... I guess I got carried away..." Hange said quietly, looking down at their feet. "Don't worry about sketching him, let's try and help him first."

           Araminta stuffed her notebook away and moved to help, but Mikasa was quicker than her. She frowned as she watched the other girl kneel down, tending to Eren while the Titan's body began to evaporate. It looked as though Eren didn't need her.

      EVER SINCE THAT LITTLE EXPERIMENT, ARAMINTA HAD FOUND HERSELF IN A BAD MOOD--WHICH MADE HER EVEN MORE UPSET. For the last few weeks, she had been so full of joy, with her friends all around her and a high ranking Scout taking her in as their apprentice, she had nothing to be upset about. But now she did.

         Before, when they were out in the field, Araminta didn't know what was bothering her so much. But it didn't take her long to figure out what it was.

She was jealous.

She hated herself for being jealous. She knew Eren and Mikasa were just friends, right? Right? Honestly, she wasn't sure. Eren told her he liked her, which must have meant he couldn't like Mikasa. But then again, she knew it was possible to like two people at the same time, since she had been in the same boat. She just never realized she liked Eren until recently.

          What if she was Eren's Reiner, the one who he thought he liked, and Mikasa was the one he really liked, and he just didn't realize it? Oh god, Araminta knew she sounded crazy right now, but she couldn't help herself. Mikasa was so pretty, and cool, who wouldn't like her--?

         Chop.

         Oh. The carrot she just chopped wasn't a carrot at all, was it?

She slowly looked down to see she had nipped the very end of her pinky, and the carrots she had been working so hard on for the last half hour were now drenched in her own blood. She cursed under her breath, desperately searching for some kind of cloth to wrap around her finger.

"Araminta! You're bleeding!" Connie exclaimed loudly, dropping the knife he had been using. "Chris--I mean, Historia! Throw me that cloth!" He yelled, and now the blonde was looking panicked as well.

"Why didn't you say anything?" She asked as she began to wrap the cloth around Araminta's finger. Judging by the amount of blood that was seeping into it, she had done more damage than she thought.

"Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick--" Connie bent over the edge of the counter, holding up a hand to cover his mouth.

Araminta rolled her eyes. "Come on, you've seen people get eaten alive, a tiny piece of my pinky is making you sick?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No! It's the fact that now all the carrots are covered in blood, and now they look like little bloody finger bits, too!" He snapped.

"You're so gross, Connie."

"What's going on?" Araminta looked up to see Eren had finally woken up, and was now standing in front of the three of them. His eyes drifted to Historia's hands applying pressure to her finger, and the blood soaked cloth. "What the--?! What happened?!" He asked in a panic, running around the side of the counter.

"Nothing, I just wasn't paying attention and nipped myself with a knife." Araminta told him, trying to ignore the sounds of Connie gagging.

"You did a lot more than nip yourself." Historia said lowly. "You're probably going to have to get stitches. Connie, go get the first aid kit."

"But, we need to go switch guard positions soon!" He whined at her.

"It's fine, Jean and Sasha can wait just a little bit longer. Besides, Mikasa isn't even back from chopping wood yet."

"Okay, you're right, I'll go get it." Connie sighed, then practically ran out of the room.

Araminta frowned. "Really? Stitches? Can't we just wrap it up and call it good?" She asked.

"No, just let her do what she thinks is best. You know she was one of the top in our class with medicine." Eren told her.

Embarrassed was an understatement for how Araminta felt. Mortified was probably a better word. How stupid do you have to be to cut yourself while chopping carrots? Her eyes drifted to the cutting board, which really did look like she had been chopping up fingers rather than carrots.

"Here, let me clean these up first." Araminta tried to pick up the cutting board with her other hand, but Eren stopped her, pushing her hand away.

"It's fine, I'll get it." He reassured her.

"Um, are you sure you should be awake yet?" She asked, attempting to divert the subject away from herself. "You seemed really worn out the other day."

            "It's fine. I've already slept a whole day, anyway." Eren replied with a shrug. "Besides, it's my fault the plan to retake Wall Maria got shelved."

             "Hey, don't say that. It's not your fault, nobody is blaming you." Araminta tried to reassure him. "You know, as long as we can retake our home someday, that's all that matters to me."

              "Hey guys! I'm back with the med kit!" Connie suddenly yelled, sliding into the room and nearly tripping over himself.

"Here, open it up and get the disinfectant." Historia instructed, slowly lifting the cloth from Araminta's pinky, and the bleeding seemed to be slowing.

It was strange, the girl in front of her seemed completely different than the girl Araminta had known during training, but she couldn't blame her. Araminta never really liked Ymir, but she could see that Historia cared deeply for her. It must be heartbreaking not knowing where she was, or if she was even alive.

           She began to disinfect the wound, and Araminta sucked in a breath and tightened her hand around the edge of the countertop. "Why were you so distracted, anyway?" Historia asked, looking up at her as she dabbed the cotton against her finger gently.

            "Uhh, it was nothing." Araminta replied, her cheeks going hot. "I was just daydreaming about Titans. And killing them." She lied, though it must have been believable since nobody questioned it.

            "Maybe next time don't think about Titans while you have a knife!" Connie practically screamed at her.

          Mikasa finally returned, opening the door with her arms full of a fresh stack of firewood. "Woah. What happened here?" She asked.

           "Araminta cut herself." Connie said with a shrug. "Are you ready to go switch with Jean and Sasha?"

           "Yeah. Good luck with that, 'Minta." Mikasa told Araminta, giving her a sympathetic smile before walking out with Connie.

This was the problem. Araminta didn't want to be jealous of Mikasa. She really admired her as a peer and as a friend, she didn't want something as stupid as a boy to come between them.

"You guys are lucky." Historia said quietly. "You all have these goals you're working towards... But now that Ymir is gone, I have no idea what I'm doing with myself."

"What about saving Ymir? Isn't that a goal for you?" Araminta asked, narrowing her eyes at the blonde.

"Yeah, but... Back then, I really couldn't believe what she had done. I wanted to save her, but... Now I'm thinking differently. Ymir chose her own path in life, I have no right or need to change that."

And while she spoke, she finally broke the needle through Araminta's skin, causing her to let out a yelp. Eren rushed over to her side, taking her other hand in his own. "Here, just squeeze me when it hurts."

"Y-You know, it's nice you're talking again, Historia." Araminta tried to continue the conversation, ignoring the severe pain she was undergoing.

"Huh?"

"Yeah... When we first came here, you told us all about your true self, but haven't spoken a word since." Eren told her.

"Because it's a pain." Historia replied. "Sorry. That good girl Christa who was nice to everyone is gone now."

"Good riddance." Araminta muttered, her words seemingly confusing the girl in front of her. "I just mean, I think we could all tell it was mostly a facade. It was kind of tiring watching you put on this show, and we never got to know the real you. But now--" she sucked in a breath as Historia did the last stitch, and tightened her grip on Eren's hand, "--but now, we get to know the real you. And I'm really looking forward to that."

Historia nodded, tying the end of the stitch off to close up the wound. "Thank you for saying that..."

"HANGE AND THE OTHERS HAVE ARRIVED!" Sasha announced, her voice booming through the room as she poked her head through the door. "They want us all to meet up in the main room!"

"Here, just take this and finish wrapping up your finger in there." Historia instructed, and and handed Araminta a small roll of medical wrap. "You should have a full range of motion, just be careful with your fingertip."

Araminta nodded, and glanced down at the roll. "Thank you, Historia. Let's get going, I guess." And as the three of them walked out of the kitchen, Araminta didn't even notice her hand was still linked together with Eren's.

      "PASTOR NICK IS DEAD. HE WAS MURDERED."

The room fell silent after Hange delivered the news. Pastor Nick... The leader of the followers of the walls or whatever, was dead. Honestly, from what Araminta remembered of him back at Eren's trial, she never liked him that much anyway, but he was a very important person in their quest to learn all about the walls and what's beyond them. And now that someone had killed him, it made things uneasy.

"This morning. In the Trost District barracks... I figured maybe the church had wanted to deal with Nick since he was working with the Scouts. That's why I hid his identity and snuck him into the barracks. But... To think they would use soldiers to kill him... I was too careless. This is all my fault."

           Araminta stared down at her cup of tea, unsure how she should react. She wanted to assure Hange it wasn't their fault, but that wasn't really going to help with anything. She knew better than anyone there was no point in dwelling on what happened, all they could really do was move forward.

           "The Military Police... Do you think they tortured Pastor Nick just to figure out what he told us?" Armin asked.

          "Most likely." Levi replied. "But it was the interior Military Police, which means there's much more behind it than that. So, how many nails did he have ripped off?" He asked, turning to look at Hange. "You saw, right? How many?"

            "I only caught a glimpse of him, but all the nails were gone from what I could see." Hange told him.

            "People that talk will talk after one. Pulling all ten won't make a difference. Pastor Nick... I thought he was an idiot, but... He stood by what he believed, all the way until the end. In other words, they have no idea that we've caught wind of the Reiss family. But, someone in the government is up to no good, and has their sights set on us."

             The door opened, revealing a red haired scout Araminta couldn't remember the name of. "Captain Levi. I have a message from Commander Erwin." She informed the captain, striding to his end of the table to hand him a piece of paper. "I went to tell him about Pastor Nick, and he sent me off with this."

            Levi's gray eyes scanned the letter, and he looked up, a bothered look on his features. "Everyone out. We're leaving, now. Leave no trace we were here."

             They left in a hurry, with all of their belongings so nobody would be able to tell they had been staying there. Araminta wasn't sure what was happening, but she had an idea it had something to do with the same Military Police that killed Pastor Nick. And she had been right, as all of Levi Squad stood atop the cliffside overlooking the cottage, they watched as a group of military officers raided the cottage, searching for any sign of where they had gone off to.

           "Shit, that was close..." Connie mumbled. "If we hadn't left when we did, we'd probably either be dead or on our way to jail right now."

           "But why? How did Commander Erwin...?"

           "New orders from the government." Levi said lowly. "There's been a freeze on all Scout Regiment activity beyond the walls. They're telling us to hand over Eren and Historia."

             "What?!" Araminta looked to Eren, her eyes widened at the thought of having to turn him in. She made a silent vow that there was no way she was going to let that happen.

             "By the way, right after he gave me the message, the Military Police came for him." The red haired girl informed them.

           "Ridiculous! They're treating him like some sort of criminal!" Hange exclaimed.

          "Someone's not working from the shadows anymore." Levi said. "They're moving for all eyes to see."

omg yasss slay!! act 3 is here!!! i already
know i'm gonna struggle so hard writing
this part of the season so i apologize in
advance el oh el. thank you sm for almost
10k reads, i appreciate all the support so
much <333 this project is my baby tbh so
thank you all for reading!!