C.1: Arrival
Interior of Wall Sina; 848 A.D.
Regan Nightingale took a deep breath. The lilting breeze mused the locks that fell in waves of burnished copper. Dawn was breaking, tainting the sky in soft orange and pink hues. Spirit neighed softly, shaking his head to catch her attention.
"Excited are we?" She smiled, leaning forward and caressing the jet black mane of her horse.
"Captain, we're all ready to move." Deus Sacks, the young lieutenant informed her.
Regan gave him a small smile and a nod acknowledging him. "Well done. We'll reach the HQ before lunch."
"Yes, Captain." He saluted, feeling a surge of pride and excitement at the quiet praise.
"Prepare to move!" he shouts over his shoulder to the men and women behind them—veterans and new blood—the expression on their faces as varied as the birdsong that filled the morning. Grim determination etched on the veterans faces contrasted with the wide and expectant faces of the new recruits. Deus wasn't an exception to the newbies.
As for the Captain herself, as always, she was calm and unruffled, a smile played on her lips but betrayed nothing with how she felt. Deus knew though, being her personal attendant for a year now—the Captain was itching with anticipation, if she can, she would have left them all to catch with the dust. She didn't turn to the group—there was no need to—just watching, as the sun dispersed the colourful tapestry of the dawn.
"Let's move!" Regan announced, kicking Spirit's side. The horse neighed and reared, setting the pace with a trot.
The rest of them followed suit- three seconds too slow- as the Captain rode in front. Leaving them watching as the wings of freedom flutter behind her.
.X.X.X.
The Scouting Legion Headquarters
BLAG!
The door blasted open sending the papers on his desk flying all over the place.
"Tsk!" Levi Ackerman clicked his tongue in extreme annoyance, not looking up from the report that he was trying to finish. He put his pen down.
"There you are!" Hange Zoe came in, slamming her hands on the table and leaning her face close to his, eyes crazy with excitement.
Levi sat unmoved, only conveying the extreme irritation in his grey eyes. He knew that showing even the slightest reaction to this person's antics was enough to trigger another round of it.
"What do you want?" he asked in a bored tone.
"Oh come on!" Hange sighed. "Don't you ever read the bulletin? Regan's coming back!"
"I don't know who you're talking about." Levi muttered crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back to his chair. Unless the Survey Corps bulletin contained any instructions about any upcoming expeditions, everything else on it was useless bullshit.
"You're Captain now. Why don't you make an effort of being more up-to-date with what's happening to the Legion." Hange lectured enthusiastically.
Levi raised an eyebrow. After Erwin got promoted as Commander, he was also promoted Captain and got his own squad. If he knew how much paperwork it meant, he could have told Eyebrows to shove the post up his ass. But the damage has been done.
"As if you cared about anything other than those fucktards you love so much."
"Not true! I care most about the knowledge that we get from them and Regan was part of the original research team." Hange countered. "Anyway, she's coming in today and Erwin's calling for everyone to his office."
At the mention of the Commander's name, his interest was piqued a bit. Levi stood and followed Hange but only after he finished rearranging the papers that fell on the floor in immaculate perfection and precision.
The act made Hange almost ready to tear her hair apart.
He walked keeping pace with the springing step of Four-Eyes.
"So who's this person?" Levi finally asked. He was only vaguely aware of a new arrival since he received an order from Erwin to clean up the spare rooms in the barracks they were residing. As if he needed such kind of reminders.
"Regan Nightingale, the Angel of the Survey Corps!" Hange announced and chuckled "Though I'm not surprised that you've never heard of her, she left the Royal Capital a year before you got recruited."
The name sounded vaguely familiar to Levi, but he cannot quite place it in his head where he had heard it.
"Anyway, Regan was also part of the research team. She became the Head Medic eventually. That's where she got the title and… well, you'll see." Hange blabbered, elbowing him when she said the last part.
Levi brushed her off with a click of his tongue.
"And arguably, she's the best soldier before you joined the Corps." Hange bragged, goading Levi.
He merely snorted at the comment not really caring. If Erwin wanted him in the room when this person arrives, then it simply means that this person is either instrumental to the Survey Corps or someone that they need to watch out for.
Hange continued to yammer pointlessly in the background as they neared Erwin's office. Judging by the way Four-Eyes talks about this person, they seem to be close—in that case, she is potentially as crazy as Hange. The thought made him cringe internally- if this was going to be another nutcase, he was staying out of the way.
"Is she here?" Hange yelled, flinging the Commander's door wide open. They were merely greeted by Erwin sitting calmly on his desk going over a pile of reports.
He turned, boring his eyes over the both of them.
"I asked Miche to pick her up as soon as she arrives," Erwin said simply.
Levi immediately plopped down the sofa, crossing his feet together and his arms, as Hange closed the door and headed straight for the windows looking for a sign of the person's arrival.
"You must be wondering who this person is." Erwin began, addressing Levi from his bundle of papers.
Levi shrugged. "The Head Medic."
Erwin rested his chin on his knuckles. "Not only that. How do you think the Legion survived in the past years with our heavy losses?"
Levi remained silent, so he continued. "Zackly was considering disbanding the Legion before. But the Corps was able to contest the best in medical research because of Regan. The previous commander exploited that in the epidemic outbreak within Wall Sina and rumors flying that the King was sick."
Levi remembered clearly the outbreak he was referring to. That was about three years ago. He was still in the Underground City, almost everyone he knew succumbed to the fever. He was literally surrounded by shit and vomit. Thinking about it, made him wrinkle his nose in disgust. It lasted for almost a year before the fever died down. But the population within the Capital City dropped by 15%. Titans were not the only ones who threatened humanity.
"Then she'd be of more use in the Capital than in active service then," Levi commented offhandedly.
"True." The Commander nodded gravely and sighed. "Unfortunately, I also have debts to pay."
Levi studied Erwin. Two years working under the man, he had come to trust his decisions when it comes to the Survey Corps. This one did not make any sense.
A third of the hour has already passed, Hange was already fidgeting with too much anticipation—while Levi took his sweet time preparing tea during the wait and was now calmly sipping on it.
"What's taking them so long?" Hange asked to no one in particular.
Erwin did not answer, only purposefully going over his papers and arranging them neatly in a folder. Levi clicked his tongue, thinking of the report he could have finished.
For the third time that day, the door was flung open. What the fuck was wrong with people and doors today?
"WHAT'S UP SURVEY CORPS?" A red-haired woman hollered stopping at the door frame with a wide grin plastered on her face. Standing behind her was Miche and a young blond soldier.
Hange leaped from where she was standing. "REGAN!"
The two women collided in a hug and boisterous laughter that rang in Levi's ears.
The men watched the commotion in silence. But there was a small smile in Erwin's face and Blondie was grinning widely.
Hange let go of her and the woman's attention caught Erwin who had moved away from his desk.
"Welcome ba-" Erwin began with a smile and before anyone knew it, he was reeling back from the impact of the woman's punch.
"Captain!" Blondie exclaimed, grabbing a hold of Regan immediately to pull her back. But she merely brushed it off.
"WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Hange burst in a fit of laughter.
Levi's eyes imperceptibly widened in surprise. Miche scoffed behind his hand.
"That's for taking so long in responding," Regan said looking down from her nose, her hands on her waist. Levi did not bother to conceal the smirk on his face. How many times had he held back from the punching the man?
"Yeah, I'm sorry," Erwin answered, straightening up, wiping the blood that oozed from the cut on his cheek. "That one's my fault."
She immediately made up for the heavy blow as she wrapped her arms around him and kissing lightly the place where she punched him.
Erwin gave her a small pat in the back and Levi did not miss the smile on his face. It was evident that the woman was not merely a part of the Survey Corps.
"You should have known better, Commander." She chided with an unapologetic grin.
They broke off from the hug and Hange finally stopped heaving in laughter, plopping beside him on the couch.
"How are you?" Erwin asked gesturing for everyone to seat as he took his behind the table.
"Fed up. Why do you think I'm here?" Regan answered nonchalantly and she sitting in the armchair across Levi. Miche closed the door after giving instructions to Blondie to stand guard outside it.
Settling his face again in a stony mask, he finally had the chance to focus on the new arrival. The woman was certainly attractive—anyone with half a mind can see that—a delicate face surrounded by copper-colored hair. There was a dignified air that surrounded her despite the antics earlier.
That's when their eyes met.
Everything fell away and his senses focused only at her.
The blue-violet eyes glinted in surprise as her handsome face clouded.
A dream. From a long time ago.
The sky didn't exist in the Underground City. Only the bleak lights gave off the penumbra of poverty and decay. But he saw it. Once. Twilight caught in the eyes of a little girl.
He held her gaze doing his best to keep his face neutral—noticing every minute change that passed over her.
As if realizing it, she immediately smoothed her face into an unreadable, pleasant expression, a polite smile directed towards him.
Erwin cleared his throat and they turned to him. "This is Levi Ackerman, Captain of the Special Forces. Levi, Regan Nightingale, the Corps' Head Medic." He introduced the both of them.
He gave a small nod while he took the hand she reluctantly held out. The redhead or Regan gave his hand a light squeeze for a brief second as if the touch stung her.
"And you've already met Miche." Erwin continued.
Regan simply nodded turning to him immediately. "Yeah."
The reaction confused Levi. Not taking his eyes off her, the change was dramatic from the exuberant entry earlier. As if his presence bothered her.
"So how did Zackly take your leave?" Erwin continued.
Regan glanced at him briefly and he didn't miss her apprehension. "He only threatened to cut the Corps off and my work. Not gonna happen. I'm here with strict conditions though."
Everyone remained silent, prompting her to continue.
"I'm currently researching a medical case for the aristocrats. Their breed is dying—apparently from just only getting cut and bruises." She waved her hand at Hange who had opened her mouth to interrupt. "I'll tell you later. I'm looking for a cure, as an excuse out of the capital I'm to report every six months for any progress of the research. Anyway, the Military Police are not so happy with our outpost there. All medical breakthroughs are controlled by our group and it helps with elevating the status of the Legion. You'll not believe how many times we've had to fend off thieves and fires at night. The hospital we've put up is built like a mini-fortress in itself."
She sighed with a tired shake of her head. "Never mind that, we get funding for expeditions as long as we have results."
"I see." Erwin nodded. "And your progress now?"
"Yeah… I have something in mind about it. I'm already working on the preliminary research." The Redhead brightened at the mention of her work.
"And the Capital?"
A deep frown creased her forehead—terribly out of place on her pretty face. She eyed everyone in the room. Before turning to Erwin who gave a slight raise of his eyebrows. "There's some kind of conspiracy brewing and I can bet the crown is involved. Zackly and Niles don't know shit or they're also into it."
"What do you mean?" Erwin asked, leaning forward soaking in every word.
"There's no conclusive proof but the king's a puppet." She paused briefly, frowning at the thought. "All other divisions of the government are irrelevant, the officials, the bureaucracy. They all serve as some sort of cover, like a cloud to confuse the real powers lie. There's another family in play—I think or organization. It's either the Wallists or this family Reiss who lives in isolation within Sina."
"And there's a buzz within the Merchant Guild, mainly supplies being routed to places they should not be—gunpowder, 3DM equipment, things like that. There's an increase of disappearances among the research community. Mostly by engineers who are working on developing weaponry, who turn up months later severely beaten up and giving up on their work. It's likely that someone's funding a private army."
A period of silence descended as they all absorbed the new information. All the while Levi has not taken his eyes off her as she seems to be hell-bent on avoiding his eyes while she told her story to Erwin and Hange.
But the Redhead can't just possibly ignore the intensity of his gaze and she finally allowed herself to stare back at him. There was a flicker of emotion on her face as their eyes met disappearing as soon as he recognizes it.
"And Zackly and Nile know nothing of these?" Erwin prodded.
Redhead broke her eyes from him to answer Erwin's question. "Those two only know shit."
"Hoooh. Sounds like conspiracy brewing. What are you gonna do about it, Commander?" Hange commented.
Everyone turned to Erwin for his decision. He responded by leaning back with a sigh.
"Nothing at the moment. In three months, we'll begin another expedition from Trost District to see if we can establish a base within Wall Maria. That's where our resources will focus mainly on. You have not shared this information with anyone?" to the beginning
The Redhead snorted as if that was the most stupid thing that happened throughout this whole meeting. "Only a fool will trust anyone from the Capital."
"Good. We don't know yet what implications this information is to our cause—if this is detrimental to the survival of humanity or not." Erwin said decisively. "If it proves to be damaging to all the work that we have done so far, we will take our own measures against it."
Hange let out an audible sigh.
"That's that then." Levi finally spoke darkly, not hiding the disgust from his tone. "Those fuckers in the Capital whoever they are would see the Walls burn than lose their profits."
"How many in your party can fight?" Erwin asked.
"All of them. 25 strong. Two veterans from my old team. The rest are new recruits. They're specially trained for both extensive medical response and combative positions. Endomol and Sabel remained in the Capital—they've taken part in training cadets and the medical rehab that we've built for soldiers." For the first time during their whole depressing talk, the Redhead smiled with pride.
Levi was mildly impressed and so was Erwin. "We'll divide your troop then and distribute them for reinforcements. In the meantime…" Erwin handed her a thick folder. "Here are the reports from the current medical team. Has your troop settled in the barracks?"
Regan took the file in both hands with a grimace. "Yeah, they're comfortable. Those idiots are probably having lunch right now. I'll handle dividing the team. You'll have it by the end of the day. The medical supplies and research are already deposited in the infirmary."
"Good. Tomorrow, I will introduce your squad to the Legion. Miche will help you with what you need." Erwin said, ending the meeting.
Taking a cue from the Commander, Hange stood. "Let's go see your babies."
Miche and Hange headed for the door. But Redhead did not move. For the third time, their gazes met. Her eyes flickered fleetingly with intense emotion. It was not difficult to recognize sadness.
It happened a long time ago. Even to this day, he was never quite sure if it really did.
"It's good to meet you, Levi." She said with a small smile, her face betrayed nothing but geniality.
"Likewise." He nodded curtly, donning his careful bored mask.
She stood and gave a salute to Erwin before following Miche and Hange out the door. "Commander."