"Hmm? Is that it?" Zachary, the old man questions from his post at the front of the room.
"Yes," Erwin responds. "With their assistance, sir, I'm certain we can reclaim wall Maria. Ergo, I believe our top priority is perfectly clear."
"Quite bold. Assuming you were given clearance, where do you plan to launch this operation from? Commander Pyxis," Zachary looks over. "The Wall in Trost district has been completely sealed, is that correct?"
"Yes," Pyxis speaks up. "I doubt it's gate will ever open again."
"We'll depart from Calaneth District, to the east. From there, we'll make for Shiganshina. A new route can be established as we proceed," Erwin explains.
"But that's ridiculous!" A man next to the religious guy yells, slamming his hands on the wood stand in front of him. "Our time and money would be better spent sealing up all the gates! They're the only parts of the Wall that the Colossal Titan can break, right? Let's reinforce the blasted things and wash our hands of the entire affair!
I hang my head, disappointed with everyone's bickering. This isn't getting us anywhere at all. How can my life be put into the hands of men who've never left the inside of Wall Sina before.
"Shut your mouth, you spineless merchant dog!" A scout yells at him. "With two Titans on our side, we can finally return to wall Maria!"
The merchant doesn't take to kindly to the soldiers words; "We can't afford any more of your childish antics, or your delusional of grandeur!"
I stay staring at the ground, thinking about how I'm probably going to end up dying along side my brother if this argument continues.
"Squealing louder won't help your case, pig." I look up when I hear the familiar cold voice of Levi. "While we're bolstering our defenses, do you think the Titans are going to stand idly by? And when you say 'we can't afford,' do you speak for anyone other than your fat merchant friends?"
A small smile finds its way onto my lips as I stare up at Levi. He's saying exactly what I'm thinking. A merchant in Wall Sina shouldn't be speaking on this matter.
"Do you pigs even realize, that most of our people are struggling just to survive off of what little land we have left?" Levi's arms are crossed over his chest.
"I'm simply saying that sealing the gates is the only guaranteed protection we've got," the merchant defends.
I watch as the crazy religious man turns towards the merchant; "Hold your tongue, you vile, belligerent heretic! Are you really suggesting that we lowly humans metal with Wall Rose, a gift to us from the higher being? The wall is a miracle! And it's divinity transcends human comprehension. Don't you understand?"
I tilt my head up to the ceiling, closing my eyes as I try to tune out the merchant and crazy guy argue. Part of me wants to transform and grab both of them, chucking them out of the wall and into Titan territory, but that would be wrong...
Zachary slaps his hand on his table and quiets everyone down. "Order! I asked that you save your personal sentiments for a more appropriate venue. Now then, Mr and Ms. Jaeger, I have a question for you two."
Eren and I both focus on the man, waiting to hear what he has to say. I'm curious if we'll get an opinion in the decision of our livelihood.
"As soldiers, both of you have made a solemn pledge to answer humanities call. Can you guys still serve by controlling your abilities?"
"Yes!" Eren answers quickly. "We will, sir!"
"Oh? Is that so?" Zachary sounds skeptical. "But this report from the Battle of Trost contradicts that statement." He then proceeds to look at the paper in front of him. "Just after transforming, Eren, it seems you made an attempt to crush Mikasa Ackerman and you tore your sisters legs of her body."
Eren gasps and whips his head towards me and I look away. He then turns to our friends. Did he not know he did that? Does he remember anything from when he lost control? I look and watch as Mikasa glares at Rico. I guess the report was done by her. Not surprising.
"And who is this Mikasa Ackerman?" Zachary asks.
"Me," Mikasa speaks up in the quite room. "That would be me, sir."
"Alright, then. Is it true Eren Jeager assaulted you while he was in Titan form?"
She doesn't say anything. Instead she looks ahead at Eren. She doesn't want to make this worse for him, but she needs to be honest. Eren just stares at her.
"Yes. All of that's true."
"Sophie Jeager, is it also true he attacked you as you tried to protect Mikasa?"
I nod.
Everyone begins gasping and whispering again. This trial is going to turn against us again. But it's not like he didn't do any of it. He did.
"I knew it! He's a wolf in sheep's clothing! Both of them!" The merchant comments.
I turn and glare at him. What does he know? He wasn't there. He's probably never seen a Titan in his life!
"However," Mikasa speaks up again. "He also saved my life twice before. And in bath circumstances he was using his Titan ability. The first: Shortly after Trost fell. I was nearly killed by a Titan. But then Eren came. He stepped in and protected me."
That's when she fell after her gas tank ran out. When we were heading to HQ... I had no idea she was almost killed.
"The second time: he transformed to shield Armin and me from cannon fire. Also there is Sophie, she remained in control when she turned. In fact, she tried to protect me from Eren like what was reported. I implore you to take these facts into consideration."
"Objection!" Nile, the commander of the Military police interrupts. "I have reason to believe that personal feelings play a large part in her testimony. Let the record show that Mikasa Ackerman was orphaned at a young age and was subsequently taken in by the Jeager family. What's more, our own internal investigation into the matter led to a most shocking discovery."
Crap... well this isn't good. Nile reads from a paper.
"Eren Jeager and Mikasa Ackerman, at the tender age of nine, dealt with three adult kidnappers by stabbing all of them to death." Commotion erupts in the room again, but Nile raises his voice over them to continue. "Granted, this was done in self-defense. All the same, one cannot help but question the violent nature of the act. Knowing all of this, should we really invest in them? Money, manpower. Perhaps the very fate of us all?"
Everyone starts shouting around us. This isn't fair! Were they supposed to just let those men kill them? I wasn't there that day, but Eren told me all about it.
"Maybe she's one!" The merchant points at Mikasa. "I bet she's not human either!"
"Yeah you're right!" Another man agrees. "Dissect her too, just to be safe!"
"Now wait a second!" Eren screams. "Maybe I'm a monster that you want dead, but leave her out of this! She's innocent!"
"Like we'd trust you?" The man scoffs.
"It's the truth!" My voice speaks out, finding the confidence. "She's a great assets to the soldiers that protect all of you!"
"It must be true if you guys will protect her," the merchant glares at Eren and I.
"Stop it!" Eren yells as loud as he can over everyone's voices. I hear his handcuffs clank against the metal pole as he gets aggravated. Everyone in the room gasps and becomes guarded.
"You're wrong. About it all," I say quietly. Don't worry Eren, I'll do the talking. We all know you're too emotional... "But you're so intent on pushing selfish agendas, you're blind to what's in front of you."
Nile looks at me, his eyes staring into mine; "Wait, what do you mean?"
"What does it even matter? None of you have even seen a Titan, so what are you all afraid of, huh?" I should stop now... this isn't going to help anyone, specially not Eren and I.
No... they're going to kill us anyways. I might as well speak my mind. If they don't like it they can execute me like they originally planned. I look at Eren for the go ahead... It's his life too after all. Eren nods.
"There's no sense in having power if you're not going to use it to fight! If you're too scared to fight for your life, fine. Let us do it!" I yell louder, trying to get my point across. "You- you're all just cowards!"
I look at their faces, all eyes are on me now. My wrist are starting to burn from me pulling on them as I try to plead my case. A couple guys start to defend themselves, but I'm not having it.
"Just shut up. And put all your faith in us!"
With my last plea, I see Nile order his partner to point their gun at me and Eren. From the corner of my eye, I can see steam coming from behind me. The cuts in my wrist from the shackles are healing... I guess I can heal even in human form.
My eyes widen as the barrel of the gun is aimed at me. So I'm going to go out with a gun shot to the head... I go to close my eyes, but I feel something collide with my stomach.
I grunt, then see Levi in front of me. He just kicked me in the stomach... Before I can recover, his knee drives into my chin.
What the hell?
"Stop it!" Eren yells.
Levi steps aside and goes over to Eren, hitting him harder than he did me. I pull at my shackles wanting to help my brother. Levi kicks him in the face and I see a tooth land in front of me.
I pull harder, grunting. Levi takes notice and walks back over to me, pulling my hair up along with my body. He brings his face closer to mine, his eyes seem to pierce into my soul. Within a second, he lets me go and places his foot on my head, forcing my face into the concrete.
"You know, personally, I think pain is the best discipline. You both don't need a good 'talking to'. What you're in need of, brats, is to be taught a lesson."
Levi's foot doesn't let up. I try to look at him, but my eyes can't see past my hair that has fallen into my face. His voice speaks for his expression though. Bored and annoyed.
"I don't normally hit girls, but you just look so much like this punk next to you, I don't mind. You just so happen to be in perfect kicking position too."
His foot eases off and I flip my head to the side, watching as he does the same to Eren. However he gives my brother much more strength. I see Eren's head get bashed into the ground. My eyes flutter open and close, my breath weak.
I see what he's doing though... at first I was confused as to why he was beating us up, but I realize that he's proving a point. We aren't shifting even though we're being kicked the crap out of. He's letting us prove that we aren't a threat. Although his methods aren't necessarily... sane... It's doing the trick.
I hear Eren groan next to me as Levi kicks him. Just endure it a little longer, Eren. He's doing this to save our lives, we actually owe him.
My eyes travel to Mikasa and Armin. Armin is holding her back. You can see the anger in her face. She's really scary when she's mad... but she just wants to help Eren and I. I see that Armin knows what Levi is doing too, that's why he's holding on to her.
The two of them look at me and I smile reassuringly. They relax a little, but the sound of Eren being beat up makes everyone uncomfortable.
"N-now hold on Levi," Nile brings his hand up in shock.
"What is it?" Levi pulls his leg away from Erens face.
"It's dangerous," Niles face turns dark and nervous. "What if they get angry and turn into Titans? There's two of them! We can't defend ourselves from that."
"Don't be silly," Levi kicks Eren again and comes back over to me. I tense my muscles to prepare myself for whatever he has in store for me.
His hand grabs a fist full of my hair and lifts me up again, my neck strained. Levi's eyes stare into my swollen ones. I feel blood dripping down my face.
"After all, you guys just want to dissect them, don't you? During the time that they were transformed, it was said Eren was able to kill twenty Titans while Sophie killed thirty two before they both ran out of strength. As an enemy, their intelligence makes them all the more dangerous. But I could still take them down without a problem."
I feel Levi's breath on my face as he speaks. He then releases my hair and steps back. I lean against the metal pole behind me, trying to keep my breath under control. When he kicked me in the stomach earlier, I wasn't able to inhale. I'm still struggling.
"How many of you can say the same? Before you torment the beasts, you'd better think. Can you actually kill them?"
Levi's voice is intimidating... it's ice cold and chills me to the bone. I wouldn't want him as my enemy, but if I were to be killed by anyone, I'd want it to be him. He wouldn't hesitate.
"Sir," I look up and see Erwin raising his hand. "I have a proposition."
"Proceed," Zachary folds his hands on the desk.
"There's still too much we don't know. And no doubt, their danger will be ever present. As such, I suggest this: Sophie and Eren Jeager will be placed under captain Levi's supervision. And we'll conduct a recon mission outside of the wall."
"The Jeagers will join you in this excursion?" Zachary questions.
"Yes sir," Erwin states. "Then you can look upon the missions results yourself. And if they successfully control their abilities, they will have proved their value to mankind."
"Sophie and Eren will be closely supervised?" Zachary narrows his eyes. "And if they should lose control?"
"I can definitely kill them, if it comes to that," Levi turns around to face the old man.
"The only downside is there's absolutely no middle ground," Erwins voice steady and fierce.
My shoulders ache from being held behind my back for so long. I wince as I try to adjust my position. My eyes lift to the old man in front of us, his face calm and collected.
"Hm... then I have made my choice..."
I close my eyes and clench my fists as I wait for the decision that decides whether I live or die. My heart is ready to jump out of my chest.
"Eren and Sophie Jeager are to join Levi's squad... If anything were to go wrong, they will be put down immediately."
~•~
I want Levi to beat me up so bad ☺️
Reference photo made by my lovely reader
@sanasul