Amaura sat on a high ledge looking down over the small city of stone houses that were carved into the inside of the dormant volcano she called home. The full moon shone down from its open mouth and the large city glowed with silvery radiance. The waterfall fed lake in the city's center caught the moonlight and cast crescent streams up the sides of the mountain. The prismatic color coated everything from the stone walkways, to the heavy wooden doors and awnings that adorned each house, to the large water birch trees that grew around the small lake in the middle. She loved her home and the people that lived there.
She reveled in the peace being home brought her and pulled out a small shell like instrument that was slightly larger than her fist, and put it to her lips. She played a sleepy song of happiness and of a day she was grateful for. The slow comforting tune made its way down the small crater and echoed slightly inside the mountain before it was carried away by the moon. When she was done she set the flute in her lap and stared at the light blue instrument, and thought about one man in particular.
Levi Rivaille, she knew him by reputation and by reports she'd read from the Scouting Sentinels. Generally she ordered her men to stay away from the Survey Corps when they made excursions beyond their precious walls, so why had she saved him? She let out a long breath. She didn't have an answer for herself, she just did.
After she'd stabilized him in the forest of Giant Trees, she'd had her men take him back to her colony. It took some doing to set the damaged bone and stitch together his organs fast enough to use the Liliak to heal him. There were times when she thought she'd lose him, but he managed to fight and survive. She was the only healer/doctor in the colony with enough experience to do it, so it had to be her that saved him. But, she should have left him to someone else when the hard surgeries had been done. Instead she'd stayed with him until his fever broke, not only keeping his brow cool, or playing her Ocarina for him, but holding his hand when he desperately reached for something to grab on to. She didn't know why. Men, especially soldiers, liked to inflict pain and force their dominance. And, she knew enough about him, from their excursions inside the walls to trade, that he wasn't an exception, he created the rule. So, why had she saved him? And, why did she feel guilty about her decision to banish him?
"I thought I might find you here," Jasper said from behind her before he sat down. "You do know it isn't officially time to sleep until you play for us?"
Amaura smiled, grateful for the distraction. "I thought everyone might find it annoying."
"Your music, no, never." He was quiet for a moment. "We've built something great over the last twelve years."
"Dad would be proud of us."
Jasper nodded, "I'm proud of us, especially you."
She leaned on her brothers shoulder, "and me you." She was silent for a minute staring down at her home and letting it warm her, "I love it here."
"I'm glad to hear you say it. When we chose to leave the safety of the walls…"
"Cage," she corrected.
"When we chose to leave the wall behind I thought we'd be killed. I never imagined this."
"Do you miss, miss our old life?"
"I miss our parents. But, no I can genuinely say I'm happy too." He patted her head, "which begs the question, why are you up so late? Could it be that you're having second thoughts about tomorrow's banishment?"
"They came here to conquer us. That's who they are. Cowards that hide behind religion and politics, and the godly strength of their walls. They are indwellers and too stupid to see that they are a blight and too scared to make any real change."
"After what you've been through I can't say I disagree. But, would you label them all that way?"
"I wouldn't give them a chance to prove me right."
He was quiet for a moment. "The younger soldiers have spent hours trying to peer through the bars. The one they call Eren has even tried to squeeze his head through them so he could get a glimpse of our colony. One of the guards overheard him say he 'wanted to see what free humans lived like."
"So, that doesn't change the fact that they are military, and Survey Corps."
"They are not Military Police though."
Amaura flinched. Memories tried assail her and she felt her stomach twist, before she quickly suppressed them. "I'd have killed them if they were, but the Survey Corps isn't immune to corruption. And, we have no idea who is the control behind Captain Rivaille."
"I must first say, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to dwell on painful memories. But, as for the Captain and his situation, whatever his orders they are orders and from higher up and may not represent the man."
"You want me to reconsider for a mindless military dog?" She kicked a heel against the stone ledge that her legs dangled over.
"I know that you enforce our laws and it's hard to make those decisions without regret, but I want you consider something different in this case. I want you to show him how we live." Jasper said softly.
"What?" She sat straight up and stared at him. "What would make you think that's a good idea?"
"Because, something in you felt pity and mercy for him the day you saved his life and I trust that instinct."
"I'm not sure that you can trust my judgment. I wasn't thinking anything other than, I didn't want him to die. And, look what my judgment brought us. He came looking for us despite the drugs we used. On top of that, he brought a hoard of Titan's to do his killing."
"I guess you could see it that way." He nudged her with his shoulder, "You shouldn't doubt your instinct." He smiled down at her. "And, I have thought about what he did, it was clever plan. Force us to act, or watch them die. No matter what happened, he'd have an answer to whatever question he was asking."
"I considered it might be a test, but it seemed too clever for a dog."
"I believe it was." He was quiet again. "Change can start with a little spark. The younger ones could eventually make that change, but more likely they'd leave behind the walls and join our colony. On the other hand, the captain could be shown a different life and he has influence."
"I doubt it, remember dog following orders."
"And, yet he didn't attack you when he clearly could have." He chuckled, "he handed you his swords."
"Yeah, which was part of the reason why I banished him. He wanted to be our prisoner."
"Let's satisfy his curiosity."
"What if that curiosity is meant to find information to destroy us?"
"That is why I want you to asses him and the situation. If you still consider him and them a threat," he shrugged.
"They will all have to be watched."
"I know, but Leezle agrees with me."
"She would, she's your wife."
"But she's your best friend. I lose a lot of arguments that way." Jasper put an arm around her, and hugged her to him. "Besides, I sense something about Captain Levi. I don't know how I know this, but I have a feeling he is the one man in this world that can stand his ground with you."
Levi sat with his arms folded over his chest and his eyes closed. His legs were stretched out in front of him, resting against the wall. Anyone watching or passing by would assume he was asleep. He wasn't asleep, just pretending to be in the hopes that he would learn something useful. Beyond the overwhelming sense of familiarity, he hadn't learned much. Unless, he considered the sense of deja vu he had when the music of a soft flute echo into his cell hours before.
He had to assume it was getting close to morning, because the air had thickened with humidity. That meant they would be banished soon. It didn't bother him that he was about to be released in Titan territory with no equipment and no way to defend himself. He was more bothered by the fact that he would die a traitor and no one would know what happened, or that he truly wasn't.
They had taken three and half days of constant traveling to get there, or that was his approximation. Most of the time they were not only hooded, and but out of the sun. He knew they traveled by horse and boats so fast when they moved it felt like flying. The problem was he could not make a real determination of how far away from home they were.
They didn't remove the hood blinding him until they'd placed him in a neat square cell with a small bed, a single chair, and a small lavatory hidden behind a half wall in a corner. The hall outside the cell was nondescript stone grey, that looked like it had been carved and then sanded smooth. The guards who left his food, kept the torches filled with a light yellow fluid that smelled like putrid cat piss, but burned not only odorless, but brightly. For a prison, it wasn't the worst he'd ever been in, and it was relatively clean. Clean enough that he did allow his body to relax, even if he didn't sleep, just in case an opportunity presented itself.
"I'm not stupid enough to believe that you're asleep." A soft female voice whispered so low that he wouldn't have heard it if he had been asleep. He was certain he'd never forget that voice even if he didn't know her name. Still, he had no interest in responding to her. "Or," she continued just as softly, "if you are asleep, then you're about to miss the opportunity to save yourself and your subordinates." He opened his eyes and peeked at her through the corner of them.
She glowed in the light of the torches around her, with her blond hair partly set free and dusting over her shoulders. The green hood and pants were replaced by a short blue dress and high boots that matched. A black belt cinched her waist, and held a scabbard and sword that hung at her side.
"I guess I found your motivation." She grabbed a hold of the bars and pushed her face next to them. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but in your military don't you stand when a general enters the room?"
He turned his face toward her. "If I see a general and one that has earned my respect then I might stand."
She smiled slightly, "interesting." She backed away from the cell, "bring the others." At that he did stand. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow, as if she'd just won. He hated being manipulated.
There was a clanging of distant doors and several soldiers dressed in tan pants, and green cloaks appeared with Eren, Mikasa, and Armin between them, all who had blank expressions on their faces. "Take them as far as the atrium. I should be right behind you."
"Those subordinates are dangerous on their own," he warned as he stood.
"Interesting," she repeated, "that you'd think the opinion of a dog has any influence here." She leveled her gaze on him for a fraction of a second. "You have your orders," she said to the men and women that passed.
Levi stepped to the bars and wrapped a hand around one, "They should stay with me."
"They should do as I tell them," she folded her hands in front of her and stood in the hallway in front of his cell as the footsteps of boots faded away. As small as she was, there was a fierce presence to her. He could see why people would obey her orders.
"Amaura," a male voice he'd heard before, called from down the hallway in the other directions and different footsteps approached. Her name, Amaura, he knew it. He looked down at her and she studied him with a dead pan face and vivid violet eyes. They were unflinching and cold, but there was something haunted about them.
"I was waiting on you." She turned and said to the empty hallway.
A few seconds later a man appeared. He had the same violet colored eyes and facial features that were similar to Amaura's, only sharper, and his hair was dark brown instead of platinum blond. He wore the same green cloak and tan pants as the others. Only his cloak hung open and under it he could see the strapping for a harness that wasn't dissimilar to the one Levi wore. "I figured you'd sleep in a little."
"I should have, but then I've been tasked with something… distasteful." She gave Levi a pointed look. "Besides, I'm not the only one that needs to sleep."
"I'm planning a long nap in the sun later," Jasper smiled down at the much shorter Amaura. "I just wanted to make sure Captain Levi understood our arrangement."
"Your arrangement," She corrected and turned her eyes back to him. "I still think banishment is appropriate, but my brother Jasper, has other plans." Levi got the impression that Jasper was the only one that could change her opinion on something once she'd made up her mind, and he probably couldn't do it often.
"Which is why I came to warn you Captain Levi. Strongest human alive or not, my sister is not to be trifled with."
"I am curious as to how my reputation has spread so far?" Levi asked ignoring the warning.
"I'm curious as to how you think we wouldn't know of what happened to the indwellers that lived inside the walls." Amaura narrowed her eyes on him. "Twenty percent isn't a humanity serving sacrifice, it's an invitation to extinction."
"We took many of your indwellers into colony, they now live with us." Jasper explained.
"But, you were too cowardly to fight with us."
"Fight for caged dogs that are too stupid to know they are caged?" Amaura spat at him and there was a long silence. "Answer a question for me, Captain Levi. Even before Maria fell, how many of your indwellers threw humans over the walls and purposely fed them to the Titan's? Or, did you never wonder why there was always a constant circle of them around the city, even before the colossus Titan appeared?" She looked at her brother, then back to him, "I still say banishment, just for the crimes perpetrated on his own."
"Amaura," Jasper intervened sounding almost irritated. "We agreed on this." He produced a large metal circle that housed two round shaped keys. "The others are waiting." He stepped out of Levi's line of sight and he heard they keys rattle then the sound of scraping metal as one was inserted into the lock. There was a loud clack and a heavy stone clang. Then he walked back to Amaura and handed her the keys, she snatched them out of his hand and stepped to the jail door.
"Please, try something," she whispered low enough for Levi alone to hear. He purposefully stepped back from the bars. She inserted the second key and there was a simple metal click and the door shifted and swung open.
"Captain," Jasper stood back and Amaura followed his lead. Levi stepped from the cell and faced them in the hallway. "Your release is contingent on three things. One you cannot leave our colony until I deem the time appropriate. Two, you cannot take anything of from our colony when you leave, and three once you leave you cannot return."
"So you do not allow wall indwellers to join your colony?" Levi asked leveling his gaze on Amaura.
She didn't flinch away or back down, "you have to be asked to join our colony. There's no exceptions and only colony can come and go as they please." She stepped up to him and raised her chin. "So let's be clear, you are still a prisoner and if you go against Jaspers orders, I will cut you into quarters and feed you to the Titans."
I really hope you like it, because there is already twenty thousand words of this story writing and waiting for editing. (headdesk) I can't help it I'm obsessed. What can i say?
I don't own Attack on Titan, but I do see the writing on the wall for my favorite character, which is why I've considered not reading it any more. Stop while it is reasonably happy.
