Oh, hello~! Now here's the 2nd Chapter. Enjoy. ^-^
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin… and Levi I guess. =.=
CHAPTER TWO
"Although you might say that you are determined with your goal, there is something in your eyes that hinders you from using your whole potential"
"What is it that I am lacking? I don't even see any problem within myself." Alexandria thought aloud.
"Lacking what?" Sasha asked. Sasha Braus was a girl from the Dauper village who seemingly had this unconditional love towards food, by which she would even shamelessly steal from the kitchen cupboards just for the sake of it.
"Nothing at all. Sir Keith told me after graduation that I had the skills, but I was still lacking dedication. And I don't even know what that means!" Alexandria exasperated.
"Mmm I don't really know myself, I guess you just have to wait and see then, probably when we start to get dispatched to kill Titans." Sasha replied, with her mouth full of bread.
As Alexandria was laughing, a shout could be heard at the other side of the room.
"But you can't win! You know just how many have been eaten by them. We've lost more than twenty percent of the entire population already. Mankind doesn't stand a chance against them." The voice came from Thomas Wagner, their batch mate. He seemed to be arguing with Eren.
"So? You're just giving up because you think you can't win? It's true; we've suffered only defeats so far. That's because we hardly know anything about them! We can't defeat them using sheer numbers. We may have lost, but the knowledge we obtained from those battles is our guiding beacon of hope. Yet you'd discard the tactical progress bought by hundreds of thousands of sacrifices, just to serve yourself up on a silver platter? You've got to be kidding me. I'll kill every last one of them and break free of these walls. That is my dream! Mankind hasn't lost everything yet!" Eren replied with a shout, silencing everyone in the room before walking out.
"That seems pretty intense there, eh? It can't be helped though, seeing how he suffered after he and Mikasa saw their parents die", Mina Carolina said, sympathetically.
"Hmm... I guess so" could be Alexandria's only response.
Eren's speech continued to play into her head, as she was trying to find her resolve, trying to discover by what sir Keith meant that she 'lacked dedication'. By then, she remembered once again what happened to her and her family a few years back.
"It's been a while know, but it never occurred to me to ask for the person who saved my life. Even as I awoke, I did not have any recollection to who had brought me to medical care, hindering me from the opportunity to thank the person Oh well, I guess I'll save my thanks until I discover who he or she is, along with my resolve." Alexandria thought. As she was busy walking around the quarters, she took notice of someone at the corner, seemingly staring at her from the darkness.
"Who's there?" Alexandria called out.
By then, a small figure emerged from the corner, turning out to be Corporal Rivaille. At the sight of him, Alexandria felt embarrassed by her behavior and immediately saluted to the lance corporal, although she did not know who he was or what his position was.
"Hmm, I see that you have grown and was able to graduate WITHOUT flying colors, Miss Drei." Rivaille said in monotone, his face expressionless.
Alexandria was surprised at his statement, considering that they don't even know each other nor had she told him her name. However, she still remained civil and replied calmly, "Yes sir. But I am contented with my position. I feel grateful already for being alive and being able to graduate without any hindrances."
"I see. I hope you don't die then. With that small height of yours, no doubt you're at risk. I wouldn't want to see another wasted newbie dying outside the walls." Rivaille replied with a smirk and walked away, before Alexandria could even reply.
"Now that is just so plain... RUDE! Well, I really am ashamed of his height, since he is only taller than me by barely an inch or two. I'll show him!" Alexandria furiously replied before going back to her quarters. She cannot believe that the corporal would say such a thing to her, at their first encounter at that.
A few days later, as she and the others were assembling different equipment and gas tanks at HQ, a loud shout was heard from their superior; wall Rose has been breached yet again by the titans, after the colossal titan kicked open the gate. At this moment, Alexandria felt fear in her system, which was also emanated by her other batch mates. All of them were trembling with fear.
"I guess this is it. It's either do or die." Alexandria thought.
"Alex! Too bad we're in a different squad. Please take care of yourself, I really am nervous right now, but we should go out there and show those titans what we've got!" Mina enthusiastically declared, although there was a hint of fear in her voice.
She then hugged her dear friend goodbye.
"Good luck!"
Alexandria then wandered off to fight.
Moments later, only Armin was the one left in their squad. And much to everyone's dismay, everyone was wiped out except him. News spread out, and as it reached Alexandria, who learned the death of her best friend, Mina, went all out in rage.
Alexandria's anger was overwhelming her that she almost lost focus. In her haste, she aimlessly killed several titans in sight. As the heavy rain poured down, she poured out her heart of the pain. She could not bear the fact that her dear friend is now gone.
"First, my family was lost. Then now, Mina? What more do they want from me?! Is my resolve and dedication in the past not enough that now they have to take my dear friend as well?!" Alexandria thought furiously, the anger and hatred evident in her eyes.
"I'LL FUCKING KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU FOR TAKING THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE VERY PRECIOUS TO ME!" Alexandria aimed for a nearby 10-meter titan and successfully was able to kill it. 20 kills so far for a cadet.
Since then, Alexandria lost herself in hatred, aiming to kill every single titan.
Months passed by since that incident, with only a few of her friends remaining. But that never stopped Alexandria from chasing her dream to save humanity. And for once in her life, she had finally discovered the dedication that Keith had been telling her all this time; it was dedication. She enlisted with her friends Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Sasha, Reiner, and Connie to the Survey Corps.
"Don't worry mother, father, Mina. I shall never fail you. I swear with all my heart that I will avenge your deaths by a thousand kills, or probably even more than that. If banishing their existence would be the kill, I'd be willing to do so." Alexandria swore to herself.
After learning that Eren was a titan-shifter, of course Alexandria was shocked at first, but then accepted the fact that despite the circumstances, he was indeed helpful in sealing the hole in wall Rose which is brought about by the colossal titan. She was inspired as well to Eren's speech way back then, which encouraged her to finally discover her resolve.
The next day, everyone was gathered around the old castle which would serve as their headquarters, not to mention which needed thorough cleaning since it had been inhabited for some time. And much to Alexandria's surprise, Corporal Rivaille was there.
"Welcome, new recruits. I am Lance Corporal Rivaille, or Levi, who will be filling in the place of Commander Irvin, since he is busy planning onto the next expedition that will be held. I commend you for being brave to offer your worthless lives to the Survey Corps, bearing in mind that you may die any moment we go onto missions. There is no turning back now, and here we shall train you to be fit and if some of you are lucky, I would include you in my squad. Now then, I order everyone to thoroughly clean this castle, which would now serve as our headquarters. And by means of thoroughly clean, I meant SPOTLESSLY AND METICULOUSLY CLEAN. Those I catch slacking off and not doing the job properly will be severely punished. In addition to that, I prefer that you call me 'Corporal' or 'sir', never by my first name. That is all." Corporal Rivaille announced before walking down the platform.
"That shorty is a lance corporal?! Oh come on, look at that height of his, I bet he couldn't even hurt a fly! Not to mention that he insulted me of graduating without flying colors." Alexandria thought aloud, surprise getting the better of her.
"Ssh Alex, if he hears you you're dead. He's deemed as "Humanity's Strongest Soldier" you know. He isn't nothing." Sasha whispered in fear.
"Well, I don't treat those with respect who didn't give me the respect I deserve. Humanity's Strongest Soldier my— AAH!"
Everyone was stunned as Levi gave a hard kick on Alexandria's back, with her face falling flat on the ground.
"What are you saying, cadet?" Levi scowled, as he pulled Alexandria's bangs up. But Alexandria would never back down, oh no. If she was treated with disrespect, she will do just the same, since she is a strong believer of fairness and equality. She then put both of her hands on Levi's waist and pummeled him to the ground as well.
"I am merely stating facts and words by which I believe, sir." Alexandria coolly replied, emphasizing the word "Sir".
Levi was now greatly pissed off, seeing that the girl did not have any fear for him, he was humanity's strongest soldier for Gosh's sake. He continued to punch Alexandria, by which she successfully dodged. After awakening her senses, the two sparred on hand-to-hand combat, with moves that were almost impossible to see due to fast and quick movements.
"I never knew that Alex was this strong. She could be in par with the Corporal; I can't almost see what those two are doing from the speed!" Eren exclaimed wide-eyed, clearly amazed at the girl, much to Mikasa's dismay.
"Yeah, but if that's so, how is she not included in the top 10? I bet her skills exceed mine." Jean replied in confusion.
"Well that's because she didn't have that much dedication or something, that is why she was put below the ranks." Sasha replied, munching on yet another baked potato.
Soon however, the fight ended with Levi on top of Alexandria, straddling her. His arms pinned Alexandria's hands to the ground, which made it impossible for her to move or possibly execute another move.
"I shall not tolerate any disrespect here, seeing that I am your superior. And with this little stunt you pulled off today, I must say that you may have improved. Although it still wouldn't change the fact that YOU STILL GRADUATED WITHOUT FLYING COLORS. Is that the proper way to thank the person who saved your filthy life?" Levi glared into Alexandria's eyes, his bangs pouring droplets of sweat on her face due to their close proximity. "Oh shit, I shouldn't have said that aloud. I could've saved that for later, this brat would get full of herself." Levi regretfully thought.
Alexandria was shocked by this and was about to question further, "So it was you who—"
"You are to run for 5 hours nonstop along the perimeter of the castle headquarters." Levi stood up, cutting her off. "And if I see you even rest or stop for a minute or less, I shall discard the current hours you have put into effort, and start from the top, until you reach 5 hours straight without rest. All of you are dismissed. And Drei, start running. NOW. I will be watching you in a while." Levi walked away, emotionless as ever, glaring at his own clothes which are now stained with dirt and mud. "Not to mention she dirtied my clothes. Cleaning's gonna be a bitch." He muttered angrily to himself.
At that moment, Alexandria was left still lying on the ground, dumbstruck.
And that's the 2nd chapter guys! Please do tell me what you think… I also already uploaded the 3rd chapter btw. ^_^