Chapter Text
What was supposed to be a normal Monday morning—although "normal" by the Survey Corps' standards usually meant either death or paperwork—had turned into an emergency meeting to analyze the situation involving the newly discovered Titan shifter from the Training Corps.
Despite the fact that the Commander and the squad leaders—known as "crazy Titan-obsessive" and "weird sense of smell guy"—were already in the office, the raven-haired soldier prioritized finishing his task. All the revelations from the past few days were starting to give him a headache,the last thing he needed was to skip his morning tea.
He assumed she was waiting with the rest of the veterans to start the meeting, but as he poured the hot water over the herbs, a figure caught his eye.
"Levi! I guessed you'd be here. Mike, Erwin, and Hange are already in the office! Aren't you coming?"
And there she was, the same person who always came to find him if he was missing from the room. Not that he was annoyed—or that he'll admit that out loud.
"I just need to finish this. You go ahead—I'll catch up."
When he began to open his eyes, his vision was blurred by unfamiliar surroundings. He wasn’t in his home, or running toward the tree with Mikasa and Armin—no, he was in a cell. And not just any cell, but one he had been thrown into because, suddenly, he was considered a threat to humanity.
However, standing in front of him weren’t the usual guards assigned to watch him. As his vision adjusted, he could make out their uniforms—bearing the symbol of the Wings of Freedom.
"Uh, what…?" Eren murmured, trying to grasp what was happening. Just then, the blond man with very large eyebrows began to speak.
"Eren, it’s really good to see you awake. Let me introduce myself—I'm Erwin Smith, Commander of the Survey Corps." As he finished, Eren noticed the short, black-haired man standing beside him, who looked far less pleased to be there.
Before Eren could ask any questions, Erwin continued. "You likely already know who we are, so I’ll get straight to the point. Over the past few days, your existence has been heavily debated. While the Military Police sees you as a threat, we see you as an asset."
"An... asset?" Eren echoed, confused.
"Yes. Not only because of your inexplicable Titan abilities but—" he paused, reaching into his pocket, "—because of this as well. I’m assuming this is the key to your father’s basement?"
Eren stared at the object in Erwin’s hand, the memories slowly coming back. "Yes, sir. Although... I have no memory of how I ended up with it."
As soon as he finished speaking, the shorter man spoke for the first time—though his silence until now had already been intimidating.
"Tch. Memory loss, huh? How convenient."
Before the tension could rise, Erwin intervened. "Levi, we’ve already proven he has no reason to lie." Then he turned his attention back to Eren. "As I was saying, we need just one answer from you—what is your purpose?"
Those words struck him like lightning. Flashbacks surged through his mind: his mother’s death, the comrades he’d seen fall, and those yet to fall. Anger and determination built inside him as he clenched his fists and raised his head to meet their eyes.
"I…"
"I want to join the Survey Corps and kill all the Titans—no matter the cost!"
The room fell into silence after his declaration. The two men looked at the supposed Titan shifter—the one whose life was under question. But when he spoke, Levi didn’t see a threat.
He saw what someone else had seen first. What she had seen before.
"What makes you trust him?"
"I don’t trust him. I just don’t judge a person before I’ve met them—especially if it’s a 15-year-old kid who’s just as confused as the rest of us."
Levi pushed off the wall and straightened up. "Not bad." He turned to Erwin. "I’ll take care of him. And you—"
He walked toward the cell bars, stopping directly in front of Eren, his eyes never leaving his.
"Don’t get this wrong. This doesn’t mean I trust you. I trust her. If you betray us in any way, I’ll kill you without hesitation."
Eren nodded quickly, anxiety running through his body. "Yes, sir! I’ll do my best!"
But even as the fear of humanity’s strongest soldier settled in, one question wouldn’t leave his mind.
"Who is she?"
"Auh—!"
"Sorry, Eren! I’m trying my best to treat all your injuries! Though, while we’re at it—could you describe in detail the pain you’re feeling?"
"When you think about it, this is better than being dissected by them."
"Rude, Levi!"
Eren didn’t know what to feel. On one hand, he wasn’t going to be executed—at least not yet. On the other, he was now in a room with one of the most powerful veterans of the Survey Corps, being questioned about how his body responded to pain.
But hey—on the bright side, he got beat up by humanity’s strongest soldier. That had to be someone’s dream, right?
Just as he was about to clarify to Hange that he wasn’t raised by Titans in the woods, they turned to Erwin with a question on their face.
"Hey, Erwin! When is she getting here? She was with Mike and me at the hearing."
"She’ll be here soon. She stayed behind to speak with Pixis."
Mike, silent until now, finally spoke. "She’s probably already listening to this conversation." He stared out the window as he said it.
"Tch. She’s basically a cat with those damn abilities of hers," Levi muttered.
That earned a quiet chuckle from the blue-eyed commander, his serious expression softening for a moment. "Probably. But a useful one."
Hange, who had resumed inspecting Eren like a test subject, chimed in with their usual banter. "Hah? Are you saying normal cats aren’t useful, Erwin? You can’t deny their cuteness brings light to this cruel world!" They flung their arms into the air dramatically.
Levi rolled his eyes. "We’re not talking about cat rights. I already suffered through your useless presentation last month about ‘How horses may be the key to a better world.’ "
"Hey! Moblit thought it was adorable."
Eren, who had been listening to all of this, couldn’t shake that one detail: She. Who was she?
"Um... I’m sorry for asking, but... who is she, exactly?"
At his question, all eyes turned toward him.
Levi, seated beside him while Hange bombarded him with questions, turned his head slightly to meet Eren’s gaze.
"She’s the reason I went to see you in your cell."
Before Eren could respond, the door creaked open.
"Sorry I’m late! I got caught up talking with Commander Pixis! Though I probably could’ve summarized everything that happened in the past two weeks in five minutes. I’ll save the details for our next tea session."
That’s when Eren finally understood who she was.
Standing at the door was a girl with shoulder-length, light brown hair, half-tied with an antique hairpin. She was apparently the same height as Levi.
But what struck Eren the most wasn’t her height, or her necklace—a delicate gold chain holding a ruby—it was her eyes.
The right one: deep blue like the dusk.
The left: dark brown like the dawn.
He had never seen anything like it. He hadn’t even known something like that was possible.
His thoughts were interrupted by her voice.
"You must be Eren! It’s so nice to finally meet you." She smiled gently. "I’m sorry you had to deal with all this mess. I hope it wasn’t for nothing."
She noticed the question in his expression and added, "Oh, right! My apologies. Let me properly introduce myself."
She walked over and stood in front of him.
"My name is Siete. I’m the head medic—and also a soldier—of the Survey Corps. I hope we get along."