The Story Of Daniella Schultz

Before:

"Gunther, why would you do this?!" Daniella screamed, lashing out to reach him, yet her arms stopped halfway and instead resigned to hang limply by her sides. This was going to be the final straw for her mother, she thought solemnly. Her mother had already lost a daughter to the Survey Corps, and now she was going to lose her son. Son, Gunther, the young boy who not so long ago was filled only with hatred and contempt for Daniella at her decision to join the maniacal titan killing force. Yet, now here he was, confessing to Daniella his wish to take up ranks with them.

"Daniella, you wouldn't understand," Gunther sighed exasperatedly, a look of pleading on his still boyish face that reminded Daniella of nights spent sharing the same mattress on the floor, teaching him about the outside world.

"You're right, Gunther. I don't understand, and frankly, I don't think I want to. Because you're not going to join the Survey Corps if I have anything to say about it!" the words Daniella had just shouted hung like a death sentence in the air. Her hazel eyes, so alike to her brother's, narrowed slightly and she sighed. The room was so stifling, filled with the impenetrable feeling of despair. She hated being mad at Gunther. For a long time, she was his only lifeline and she respected that he looked up to her, maybe even idolised her. But this was going too far.

Gunther closed his eyes, ran a shaky hand through his usually neat hair and turned to leave the kitchen of their family house. The room they had so many times as children laughed and played in, now feeling as though it was full of words better left unsaid.

"Please," came the wavering voice of Daniella, "think about it, Gunther, I don't want you to die."

The harsh slam of the wooden door was the response given.

During:

It had been two years since Gunther had decided to put his life on the line and join the Survey Corps, despite Daniella's incessant nagging at him to 'just reconsider, Gunther,' or 'it's never too late to quit, Gunther.' He wasn't going to quit now, that's for sure. He had finally joined the infamous 'Levi squad' and he was enjoying every moment of it.

Daniella had made quite a name for herself as well, being named Commander in compliance with Levi and had been assigned her own squad consisting of the younger trainee's from the 104th squad. However, when Daniella looked at Gunther going about his daily chores, or chatting animatedly to Erd about how many titans he had just taken down, she couldn't help a feeling of dread form in the pit of her stomach. How long would this almost too peaceful existence play out? How long until Gunther's laugh wouldn't fill her ears anymore when she told a particularly bad joke? And just how long would it be until he wasn't here, his memory the only indication he was alive?

She remembered the day he had first joined the training program as part of the 101st trainee squad. His uniform was too bright, too new, too clean. He had wandered around the poor excuse of a garden in their family home in Trost, whilst Daniella desperately tried to contain her laughter. The laughter, however, masked the pride she felt for him. Sure, she was mad at Gunther, mad it him for being selfish and not sparing Daniella's feelings, mad it him for being so god damned stubborn. But underneath that exterior, she truly felt proud in that moment, her brother was helping humanity.

She vaguely recalls when he first got accepted into the Survey Corps and the unabashed look of glee on his boyish face as his eyes lit up. Unfortunately, she also remembers the shock of the others finding out they were related.

"Gunther Schultz," Erwin, the stoic commander of this branch of the military barked amidst the gasp of Hanji in Daniella's right ear.

"HE'S YOUR BROTHER!?" Hanji screamed incredulously, almost deafening Daniella in the process and very nearly knocking her head off with her wild flailing arms. Daniella sighed slowly and wiped a hand down her worn face.

"Hanji, can you not shout please? It's not too uncommon for siblings to work together, you know." Daniella started, in an attempt to calm her down but to no avail.

"GUNTHER," Hanji bellowed, startling Erwin who was trying to be as professional as he could even though Hanji was now tearing her way through the other initiates straight towards Gunther a look of horror and confusion plastered across his face.

"Hanji, no..ple-" Daniella tried to say yet was cut off when a warm hand wrapped around her forearm. Daniella turned to face the emotionless void that were Levi's grey eyes.

"Just leave her, it's for the best." he stated matter-of-factly, and with that, Gunther was left to the ministrations of Hanji who was at that moment, asking whether or not Daniella liked milk or not in her tea.

This was going to be enjoyable.

After:

The sunlight filtered slowly through the musty curtains that Daniella thought were maybe white a lifetime ago yet were now a pale grey. The room itself was musty, it reeked of antiseptic and a vague hint of sick and she would have gladly traded a weeks worth of food to be able to get out of here. She blamed herself for not paying as much attention as she could last expedition, and this is why she was "incapacitated" as Erwin liked to say, in this infirmary bed while the rest of the Survey Corps, including Gunther, were enjoying a trial run to Shiganshina.

The abnormal had sprung out of nowhere. If not for Petra, she would have fared far worse than a fractured shin when the titan clamped down on it. Petra had been truly modest about it, rejecting all forms of praise in true style and completely saying it was what anyone would have done in that situation, which Daniella truly doubted, (Oruo would've probably thrown her into its mouth). And now here she was, waiting impatiently for them to get back. Gunther and the rest had only been gone just over an hour yet a familiar thought was racing sporadically around her drug infused brain. What if Gunther didn't return with them?

Daniella shook her head almost too violently to disperse the toxic thoughts that seemed to seep into her conscious every time she wasn't there to protect Gunther, and now was no exception.

So she waited, and hoped.

Opening bleary eyes, Daniella realised she must have drifted off whilst waiting for the familiar toll of the bells outside to ring, signalling the return of the Survey Corps and her brother. The sky outside was dark and the room itself was awash in the milky glow of the moon outside. Dark brows furrowed together as Daniella realised that they must be back now, surely?

Her cold hand reached up to rub sleep from her hazel eyes as her injured leg hit the wooden floor followed by her other. She winced slightly yet paid no attention to it, she was going to go see Gunther and ask him how it went. She could imagine it now, his face would be bright and golden eyes alight with the tales of how he took down an abnormal all by himself or how Erd nearly fell of his horse midway through running from a titan. Daniella would laugh and listen along, relieved that he was back.

A half smile graced her face as she reached the door and wandered slowly out into the dimly lit hallway. She knew where they'd be in the castle, they'd all be in the meeting room, sat around the huge oak table, discussing strategies and plans for the next mission, and Hanji would be undoubtedly also asking Erwin if it was possible she could capture any more titans. It seemed to take decades to reach it, with Daniella not pressing too hard on her left leg in case she ended up worsening its condition even more, yet even she couldn't stop a slight hurry to her step at the thought of seeing Gunther safe with the others.

Muffled voices came from inside the meeting room and she placed her hand onto the brass doorknob and twisted it. A warmth enveloped her as soon as she poked her head around the door and saw all the members of the 104th trainee squad, Levi, Erwin, Mike and Hanji all dotted sporadically around the room. Her eyes scanned the room quickly yet couldn't pick out the dark hair she seeked so instead settled on Erwin.

She shouldn't have.

His usually comforting eyes were leaden with dread, everyone's heads were bowed solemnly and the heavy silence that now hung around them was an indication as to the news Daniella was about to receive.

"Where's Gunther?" the words had escaped her mouth before she had even chance to process them. They hung in the air thickly and caused small drops of sweat to appear on Daniella's forehead.

No answer.

"Where's Gunther?" Daniella pressed more forcefully this time, closing the door behind her and walking slowly towards the table where everyone's eyes averted from looking at the confused expression on her face.

"Daniella..." Erwin began, rising from his chair to stand at least 6 inches taller than her. She wasn't intimidated, she was scared. Where was Gunther? Why weren't they telling her? Had something happened? Come to think of it...where were the rest of Levi's squad? Why had the room suddenly gone so cold? Why was she feeling faint? Gunther...Gunther...where was he?

"Daniella," Erwin began again, more confident in his words this time yet not fully prepared to say the words that were spoken next.

"Gunther's dead."

Oh God, oh God, oh God. No, no, no, no, no. Bile was rising up her throat, burning forcefully along the walls and her heart appeared to have frozen. Gunther, dead? Those words couldn't go together. Her brother, her brother. Her brother who she'd cleaned the knees up of one too many times after he'd fallen down the stairs, her brother who she'd wiped the tears from his cheeks when Mother would scold him particularly harshly, her brother who's eyes lit up at the mention of friends, of family, and those eyes would never light up again because her brother was no longer alive. Why, why, why, why, why?

The floor was rushing up to meet her and she didn't know why until arms had supported her as hushed voices told each other to go get the nurse, the nurse, the nurse. Daniella didn't know what the nurse could do to get this feeling of emptiness inside of her out. She didn't know she was sobbing uncontrollably until red hot tears cascaded down her flushed face and she didn't know she was screaming his name over and over and over until the room seemed to echo his name back at her in an almost taunting way. He would never get to see the ocean, he would never see the world without the fear of titans and he would never marry, have children, live a life, love someone with his young heart because he was only 18 when he died, too young, too young, too young. He would never do these things because he was dead. And that was when her mind went blank, and her eyes went dark and she stopped screaming his name like a death sentence on her dry lips.

"Do you think one day, I'll get outside of these walls, and, and see all of the constellations?" Gunther asked at the tender age of 9, his golden eyes so alight with the mysteries of the universe as he and Daniella lay on the roof of their family home underneath the expanse of the Milky Way.

"Of course you will, Gunther. And I'll be there with you." Daniella had responded, a small smile forming on her lips.

They would see the constellations one day she had said.

Now it would be only her.