-Year 843: Survey HQ-
We should probably tell them too. Katsu thought to herself. She had confronted Levi already, it's only fair to tell his comrades too.
"Tell who what?" Oh, I said that aloud...
"Isabelle and Furlan. To minimize complications."
Katsu accepted the silence as his sign of agreement.
They got to the headquarters, where chaos was found at the whole building. Katsu found nothing interesting in this event.
Soon enough, Katsu found herself in a dimly lit room, privately sporting an interview with Squad Leader Haji Zoe and Commander Erwin Smith. Why had she left without permission again?
Levi was dragged in it as well, Hanji accusing him of kidnapping. Levi was unamused. Katsu just face palmed at her superiors' antics.
It then lead to the discussion of the next expedition, gathering the squad leaders and higher scouts in the room.
During the past months, they haven't been going farther than the base outside the Walls, for it was far too risky. Erwin plans to go past it.
"This will be our first test run, so we have to be extra cautious. Sei, you remember what to do?" He asked the ecstatic girl.
The teen slowly nods, a visibly confused look plastered on her face.
Erwin stared for a moment. "...you don't, do you?"
Again, Katsu nodded, smiling sheepishly at the exasperated commander.
"Keep your eyes open, keep your senses active, stay close." He puts a finger up with each command, then pointed them to Katsu. "With this new formation, it'll be hard for me to keep track of you. So stay where the Squad you'll be in can see you."
"Basic blah blah." Katsu waved him off. "Hmm, I suppose it had been really a while."
"I'll take care of her, Erwin!" Hanji said excitedly.
"No. This time, she'll be with Squad Flagon." Said squad leader turned his head to Erwin with wide eyes, he could've broke his neck. "I expect you to be in your best behavior."
"Don't worry, Erwin. I'm not a baby to be told of those things still. I'll behave, sir."
"In the next day, you will be switching to the commanding squad. Be alert with your senses. Lastly, once the signal is up, transform immediately."
"yes, si- Wait, WHAT?!"
"Do I need to repeat myself?" Katsu was about to answer, but he cut her off. "It's Hanji's idea. And if anything happens, just fire the signal. I hope not though."
"Yes sir."
That night was a very long night for Seikatsu. At the mess hall, she had been the talk of the town.
"Did you hear the plan for the next expedition?" A scout asked his friend.
"Yeah. I don't know what our superiors are thinking, but anyone in the right mind won't just unleash a monster in the wild."
"I just wish it won't end up like last time..."
Seikastu crushed her bread by anger and guilt, losing her appetite with it. Hanji gave her a sympathetic look.
"Katsu, don't mind them. They're just- Katsu!"
But the girl was already fleeting. A certain scout had just enough guts to challenge her.
"What's the matter, hime? Make sure you won't mess up like last time if you plan on doing it. We don't want anyone to get killed by the "Greatest" now, do we?"
Katsu said nothing, walking away with a visibly darkening aura.
Sairam walked over the table. Hanji immediately punched him on that part.
"Idiot, you're the one whose gonna die if you continue spitting nonsense!" Hanji scolded. "Just because she rejected you doesn't mean you torture her emotionally. She's only human too."
Petra's eyes followed the fleeting form of the silver haired scout with concern, before turning to the raven who was asking a question.
"What happened 'last time'?"
Hanji and Petra turned to each other, before giving an answer. "Seikatsu doesn't usually transform during expeditions. On top of that, this is the first time, since you came, that she gets to join one too. The MPs just hog her everytime an expedition comes up." Hanji huffed.
"But the last time it happened, she was probably on her forth time transforming, it all went crashing down." Petra started, her face morphing to a painful one.
Hanji also had the same expression. But still continued. "At that time, we were at the middle of a kill zone, and we were being killed off one by one. Titans surrounded us, we were being outnumbered.
Erwin, being the one who had this very large determination and dedication, continued to fight, even when injured. Most of our soldier were eaten, only ten were left. Then, a titan caught a hold of Erwin. Seikatsu being less matured then, she snapped.
Erwin was about to tell her off, but when she turned to us, we were stunned. She was crying then, but her eyes had that fire in them; of anger, guilt, pain, and revenge. The cheerfulness she held once dissipated to thin air.
From her eyes only, one could tell that she was deadly. And the emotions that she had mixed became the center of her strength. When she managed to transform one last time, we were overjoyed. We thought that 'she's our greatest. She will save us.'
Katsu had killed every last one of them in the range of our views. But when she finished the last titan, she began attacking Erwin. Four other soldiers died in his place. We didn't know what went wrong, our hope slowly diminishing.
So we fought. It was in the deal that once she loses control, we will have to kill her on the spot. But we didn't. When the higher ups knew of it, they were enraged. They can't do anything about it though, since they had no real proof. When she knew of it, she began punishing herself.
Since then, Seikatsu never shifted. Whenever we are in the battlefield, she tries to freeze her heart, making herself think all the soldiers that died were nothing more than trash destined to be dumped where they belong, friend or not. That she's a mere pawn in a game of chess, defending the king on a game she thinks we'll lose when the time comes. That's why she never bothered to transform, even for the sake of humanity."
By the end of the story, most of the scouts were out of the mess hall.
Isabelle whistled. "Define 'long story short' please. I was about to fall asleep there, Hanji-san."
"You gotta admit, the plot was atleast awesome!"
"Yeah, and really creepy. What if she does it again? I don't wanna die! She might kill-"
"She wouldn't!" Everyone was startled at the sudden outburt of Sairam. "She isn't a monster to do that. She wouldn't even transform!"
"Wow. Just a second ago, you were the one who said she would. What are you, bipolar?"
"Isabelle, stop it already." Furlan scolded, being the level headed one out of the three. Slightly more than Levi. "I apologize, Hanji-san, but I know Isabelle knows the hime wouldn't do that. She's just playing around."
Sairam was about to retort, when the Squad Leader interrupted. "Calm down Sairam. It's ok, Furlan. Most of the scouts in the Corps are afraid of her, atleast you three still try to be nice. And she wouldn't do that, Isabelle. Not even when necessarily needed."
Isabelle scoffed, but nodded. "Wait... where's Levi?"
"It's quite cold tonight." Seikatsu jolted at the deep voice from above. The raven was staring at her with mild amusement.
"Yeah, it is." Katsu absently muttered, returning to stargazing. Ever since she lost her place in the royal family- what she likes to think -the stars had been the only ones to go for comfort.
When she was young, her mother told her and Frieda stories about the spirits flying in the galaxy as stars. They were humans once, but now they travel everywhere beyond the walls, beyond this cage, free as a bird. Of course, she believed in that, and told her mom she would like to be one as well. She and Frieda would usually sneak to the fields and spend their times pointing out stars, constellations, and sometimes planets.
Seikatsu still wishes she'd still be as innocent as that girl once, that she'd have no care about the world, that she'd rather not know of the cruel world.
It's free to dream after all.
"A penny for your thoughts?" Seikatsu blinked at the raven who was now laying his head on her belly, eyes still glued to ocean of obsidian. Somehow, she was subconsciously running her fingers through his hair, brushing the soft strands from his face. She always thought they were hard and glossy, contrary to what she's brushing right now.
"It's soft." She muttered, ruffling his hair before brushing it again. Levi hummed in both amusement and satisfaction.
Seikatsu wished they could stay like that forever, with nothing to worry about. Her thoughts drifted to the next expedition. She wish they it wouldn't really be necessary. She then glanced at the raven, who was enjoying the temporary peace, almost falling asleep.
"Lee... why are you... not... afraid of me?" She whispered, not intending to say it out loud. Unfortunately, said man heard.
"Why should I be?" He said, staring at Katsu with an innocent expression.
Katsu thought the guy was crazy, for talking to her, for asking a dumb question, for even befriending her. Was he stupider than she thought that he wouldn't even run away like all the others do?
"Will you kill me?"
Seikatsu tensed, hand stopping on its tracks. "...I don't know." She took her hand out if his hair, folding them on her chest. Levi almost whined at the loss.
"Will you kill me?" He repeated.
"I can't know what will happen to the future, you know."
"You aren't answering my question."
Looks like there's no more point in stalling.
"You wouldn't do it if you're conscious. It was it that would kill. It's not your fault."
"But still, it would kill."
"You wouldn't kill me."
"How do you know?"
"You wouldn't, I trust you." Levi ended the conversation with that, smirking as he brought her hand back to his hair while he left her thinking about what he said.