Sorry if this took long, but finals is here so I'm filled with activities to do if I want to graduate. Don't worry, I will still update and see to it that this story becomes better and better.
Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan, Devil May Cry, or any of its characters...
It took a full day to mop up the remaining titans who'd been sealed up inside Trost District.
The cannons that were fixed on the wall never stopped firing that day.
Most of the titans swarming around the wall were killed with high-explosive projectiles…
Those that were left were eliminated by the Survey Corps…
And the last two titans were successfully captured alive.
"The former headquarters of the Survey Corps. The facility is no more than an old converted castle. Charming in its way, sure…"
Riding through the forest on horseback were Eren Yeager, Captain Levi, his subordinate Petra Ral, and three other soldiers who all bore the same symbol of the Survey Corps on their cloaks. They were looking at a big castle in the distance which was apparently abandoned and looked quite ancient from their position.
At the rear end of the group, there was a man with long blond hair that had a bun folded at the back of his head along with a beard. He wore a standard soldiers' uniform like all of those with him. He was ELD JINN, another one of the captain's subordinates.
Next to him was a man of average height with a slightly darker skin tone. He wore a short crop of brown hair that was kept to a point on the back of his head. His name was GUNTHER SCHULTZ, another member of Captain Levi's Special Operations Squad.
The last man, who rode beside Eren, had a much older appearance than his peers because of the pronounced wrinkles on his face. He had slightly curly, brown hair styled in an undercut and small eyes. He wore the standard Survey Corps uniform, as well as a cravat, which made him look similar to Levi himself. He was OLUO BOZADO, also a member of Captain Levi's squad.
"...but an HQ this far from both the wall and the river… was worse than useless to the Survey Corps." Oluo stated in a somewhat disappointed tone while looking at the ground. "Back when the Corps had just been formed, and the soldiers were still full of ambition… who would've figured… that this oversized decoration would be the best place to lock you up?"
Eren only sent an odd look towards Oluo, showing that he was confused with whatever the guy was trying to do. Because of this, he turned his head to the captain, who was just behind them, for answers.
Unfortunately for him, all Levi did was send a bored look towards him, as if to tell him, "It's not my problem." With this, Eren could only turn away to hide a look of annoyance on his face. If this guy was the captain, he should be giving a damn about his men, right? This wasn't what he expected from the man who was called by many as 'humanity's strongest soldier'.
He had only joined Captain Levi's squad about an hour earlier, meeting them outside of the forest, having come all the way from Trost. Speaking of which, Armin and Mikasa have also left after spending one night with him and his mother, since they needed to get back to their fellow cadets and wait for the ceremony to choose their respective military branches. Of course, Eren would promise his mom that he'll come and visit her again soon before leaving.
So now… he was stuck here.
How boring.
Not that Eren was going to complain, he can handle simple things like this.
Before anything else, Oluo rode towards the white-haired teen and leaned closer to him, so much that it made Nero want to fire a round on him, but he'd rather not show his newfound firearm yet.
"Can you please move away? You're making me uncomfortable." He said without any malice in his tone, but the seriousness could be seen on his face.
Oluo sent him a bored look, similar to how Levi does it. "Don't get cocky, rookie… I don't know anything about this demon business like that arm, but the idea of Captain Levi constantly chaperoning a pissant like you makes me—!" he immediately stopped in his words with a scream of pain, accidentally biting his tongue as he was speaking.
Eren looked a bit surprised, but eventually snickered at seeing Oluo cover his bleeding mouth and whimpering in pain.
"Blathering like that on a horse… of course you're going to bite your tongue."
"...I was making a first impression. That rookie was quaking in his boots."
Hearing someone talk about him, Eren turned his attention from feeding his horse towards the two soldiers who were talking next to the well. Oluo leaned against it as he sat down, still trying to nurse his bleeding tongue using a wet towel while Petra looked down at him with a scowl.
"I think he was just surprised by what a fool you are, Oluo." Petra shook her head in disappointment.
Oluo snickered. "...at any rate, he's just what I expected."
"You know, you never used to talk like this." She placed her hands on her hips and looked at her comrade accusingly. "If… and this is just a guess… but if you are trying to imitate Captain Levi… just stop it, would you? I mean… you have absolutely nothing in common with him."
"Heh…" he smirked. "What, are you trying to rein me in, Petra? If you wanna act like my wife, you skipped a couple of steps."
"Don't you think you're getting carried just because the captain chose you?" Petra ignored his comment before turning away with a huff. "...I wish you'd bitten your tongue off and die from blood loss…"
Oluo was taken aback by her sudden statement. "I'm your comrade-in-arms! That's not funny…"
"On second thought…" Eren allowed a small smile to form on his face from seeing Petra and Oluo banter back-and-forth. "Maybe this place won't be as boring as I thought… the Survey Corps Special Operations Squad, commonly called 'Squad Levi,' with its members being hand-picked by Captain Levi himself. I think I can hang out with these people just fine, as long as they don't try to cross me or anything." He then noticed Captain Levi coming into the scene with Gunther and Eld by his side, as they walked over to the door of the castle. "However, their job is to make sure I don't harm anyone or go out of control when I use my powers." The teen glanced at his Devil Bringer before letting out a small chuckle. Ever since the truth about his true nature became public, Eren had no reason to wrap his arm in bandages anymore. "If I go out of control, these guys will kill me… but I wonder how exactly will they do that."
"This place hasn't been used in a long time, so it's kind of fallen into despair," said Gunther as he examined the area.
"Well, isn't that a major problem?" Levi said in a sarcastic tone. "Fix it up immediately."
Wearing a mask, surgical gloves, and a white handkerchief around his head, Levi removed the wooden boards that had the windows closed. Having finished cleaning this particular room, it was natural to let the fresh air of the morning in and give some light to the once-dark place.
"The top floor is cleaned, sir." Eren said from outside of the room. Like the captain, he wore a mask and surgical gloves, though there was nothing covering his hair since he wasn't that much of a clean freak. As soon as he got Levi's attention, he continued on to a question that was lingering in his mind ever since they got here. "Where am I going to sleep in this castle, sir?" he asked in confusion. In truth, he saw many bedrooms on the way here where he could settle down, but he'd rather not have ODM blades all over his neck when he wakes up the next day because of not following orders or something.
"Your room is in the basement," Levi said in an uninterested tone.
"The basement…?" Eren asked, confused.
"Naturally…" Levi removed his mask momentarily. "We still have yet to find out the extent of what you are capable of. If you're underground, we'll be able to restrain you if something goes out of hand. That's one of the conditions we were given when they placed you in our custody. It's a rule we must follow."
Eren couldn't help but widen his eyes after hearing the captain say those words.
Levi frowned at the young teen for a moment before walking out of the room. "I'm going to check out the rooms you cleaned. Do this one."
Still caught off guard with his superior's words just now, Eren could only nod dumbly and mumble out his next words in a voice that only him could hear. "Yes, sir…"
As Levi left him there to head upstairs, Petra Ral made her way inside the room. She had the same cleaning gear as Eren, only that she had a broom in hand. "You look disappointed." she said, gaining Eren's attention.
"What?" He turned to her.
"It isn't an unusual reaction." She smiled at him. "He doesn't seem like the perfect hero that people make him out to be, does he? The real Captain Levi… is unexpectedly short… high-strung, ill-mannered, and unapproachable."
"It's not that…" He shook his head and looked to the side. "What took me by surprise… was how obediently he accepts orders from above."
"You thought because he carries a lot of weight, that he wouldn't be concerned with rank or the command structure?"
"Yeah… I thought he wouldn't take orders from anybody…"
"I don't know all the details… but I think he used to be pretty close to that. I heard that before Captain Levi joined the Survey Corps, he was a notorious thug in the city's underground market." Eren's eyes went wide as he heard this. "I don't know what exactly happened, but some people say that Commander Erwin brought him to the Corps."
"For real?" The underground market was no joke, and Eren was aware of this. He used to hear stories of that place from Grisha and according to the man, you have to steal in order to survive there. If the captain was once a well-known thief there, then he could only wonder what did the commander do in order to recruit him. "Commander Erwin did that?"
"Like I said, I don't know the exact details." Petra laughed. "I guess you'll have to ask the commander yourself for answers."
"I guess I do." Eren smiled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. As the girl laughed, he then noticed something was not right between them. It felt like something was wrong. "Say, if it's not too much of a bother, I'd like to start over."
Petra stopped laughing as Eren reached out his demonic hand towards her.
"I'm Eren Yeager."
"Well, aren't you the gentleman? I already know who you are and yet you do this," she joked before willingly accepting the handshake with a smile. "Regardless, I'm Petra Ral. I look forward to working with you, Eren."
The white-haired teen was caught off guard with Petra's attitude towards him, as he didn't expect her to calmly accept the handshake like a professional. Heck, he didn't even expect her to smile while doing it.
Petra noticed his troubled look and she couldn't help but be curious if something was wrong.
"Is there a problem?"
"-ah!" Eren jumped in surprise, before regaining his composure as he shook his head and pulled back his arm. "N-No, not really… I… I was just surprised with you for a second."
Petra raised an eyebrow.
"Most of the people I've come across with ever since I revealed the truth about myself have only called me insulting names and… there are also those who fear me because of this," he raised his right arm. "I was just surprised that you're… not panicking like any of them."
"Oh, was that it?" Petra smiled once more. "Well, from what I'm seeing so far, you're not really like what those people say you are. If you were, then we might have moved in to restrain and possibly kill you even before we got here, and you even followed Captain Levi's orders with no question. I believe in the saying that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. And doesn't the captain count too? He hasn't called you such names nor did the others."
"Harsh, but true." Eren sweat-dropped a bit before smiling back. "Anyway, he doesn't count. Based on what you said, Captain Levi must how to act like a professional, and that goes for the other members of the squad. You're the first to act like this towards me." Petra blushed at his compliment. "So… for real, I'd like to say thanks. It might not mean much, but it feels… good, that someone thinks of me in a different way for a change."
"Well, that's what happens when you are comrades with —"
Captain Levi then showed up all of a sudden outside the room with a displeased look on his face. "Hey… Eren."
Petra immediately stopped in her words and went back to cleaning as soon as she heard the captain's voice, looking nervous that he might have seen her doing something else instead of her duty.
Eren noticed her nervousness so he quickly faced Levi, while wondering how the captain got back so quick after checking all the rooms he had cleaned. He was sure he had done about four of them before going here.
"Yes, sir?"
Levi raised his hand up, revealing some dirt on his glove as he glared at the teen. "You call this clean?! Do it all again."
Eren could only deadpan at the man's standards. "I changed my mind. I'm not gonna like it here. That's final."
Later that night, the members of Squad Levi were all gathered in a small dining room, drinking tea as they discussed the latest briefing of orders from the top. However, little did they know that things were about to become more interesting than that…
"We'll probably be ordered to stay on standby for the next several days… but I hear they're thinking of launching a large-scale expedition past the wall in a month. And it turns out that they're aiming to put some recent graduates in the mix." said Eld.
"Eld… are you serious?" Gunther asked, crossing his arms. "Isn't it a bit too soon? The raw recruits just went through a titan invasion a few days ago!"
"I bet the brats were paralyzed with fright," commented Oluo as he sipped his tea.
"Is it true, Captain?" Petra looked towards their superior for answers.
"I'm not in charge of planning strategy." Levi replied with his usual uninterested tone, before an image of Erwin Smith appeared in his mind. "That's his department. He's got a lot more to think about than we do."
"That's true… the circumstances have changed so much. On one hand, the Wall Maria recovery route that we sacrificed so much to build was sealed off in an instant…" Eld turned his attention to Eren, as the young half-demon felt everyone's eyes all over him. "...but a completely new hope has sprung in its place."
Eren shifted himself in his seat, as he could tell that what's coming next would be about him.
"It's still hard to believe like what's in the report… but did you really have a sword and firearms with you, Eren?" The sight of everyone else staring straight at him only showed that they were also curious, even Captain Levi.
The teen was surprised for a moment. He had thought they would be more intrigued about whether he was a real demon or not, but it seems that they were more reasonable compared to other soldiers. With a sigh, Eren stood up and stretched his limbs out a bit.
"Well, I shouldn't keep secrets from my own comrades, right?" he asked rhetorically, before his right arm glowed for a moment. Gunther, Petra, Oluo, and Eld's eyes all widened as he summoned Rebellion with his right arm as he placed it on the table. Levi merely raised an eyebrow, but was intrigued nonetheless. "That's the sword that everyone must be referring to, the one I used during the operation at Trost."
The members of Squad Levi turned their attention from Eren to the sword on the table, taking in its appearance to its most distinct features, mainly the large skull design in its base.
"It's… completely different compared to our ODM blades," said Gunther.
"Yeah… it's not something that we get to see everyday," Petra added as she looked up at the white-haired teen. "Is this really yours, Eren?"
"It's a family heirloom, and it originally belonged to Sparda himself. They say that this sword has the ability to awaken demonic power, being forged using metal from the underworld itself, but I haven't used it long enough to find out." Eren replied as he sat back down, not wanting to say anything more about Dante just yet. He needed the right opportunity for it, and saying it now to his squad would only raise suspicion among the other members of the Survey Corps.
"It looks like a child's plaything," Levi said as he sipped on his tea.
"Tch. He means you, rookie." Oluo looked towards Eren with a scowl, agreeing with the captain's words.
"I'm going to assume that they were talking about Dante, since this thing belonged to him in the first place." Eren thought, hiding the fact that he was annoyed with Levi's remark. Oluo only made it worse for him as he sent a small scowl towards the man's direction.
"Awaken demonic power…" Eld muttered, before he realized something. "Eren, do you mean that it's because you wield this sword, your right arm turned into that?"
Eren looked at his Devil Bringer before he shook his head. "My arm changed years ago, even before I joined the military. It was when Shiganshina was breached and from there, I started to wear bandages over my arm to hide this from everyone else."
Eld wanted to ask more about this, but Oluo had other plans. "And what about those firearms that were mentioned in the report? The military report doesn't lie, but I don't see any guns with you—!" The man was forced to stop in his words as he accidentally bit down on his tongue once again, causing it to bleed.
The white-haired demon had to suppress the urge to laugh at Oluo's misfortune as the man covered his mouth in pain. Shortly afterwards, the same bright light appeared on both of Eren's hands this time, and when they died down, Ebony and Ivory were in his grasp.
"Those two don't look like the rifles that the MPs wield," commented Levi as he got a good look at both pistols. Needless to say, despite his bored look, he was more intrigued regarding the mysteries behind his newest subordinate.
"That's because they aren't, Captain." Eren answered as he placed both guns on the table beside his sword before explaining. "These two are custom-made firearms forged by an old friend of my blood-related uncle, and they don't need real bullets to work. They only need demonic energy, and the guns themselves will convert it into bullets that are effective against demons."
"That's amazing," Petra said in awe. "Can you show us?"
"Maybe tomorrow, if the captain would allow it." Eren looked towards Levi, whose look remained all the same. "It's late at night, and I don't think the he would like it if we go out right now just to show how this works."
"Tch. I don't care about what you do, as long as you don't do it here or you'll clean up the mess you make by yourself and do it the way I do." Levi scoffed.
Eren gave a slight nod in response, before it was Gunther who asked the next question.
"Eren, may I ask who was the one that made those guns of yours?" he said. "I apologize for this, but it seems too unlikely for a normal human to be able to create guns like those, if they are truly like what you said. Did that person have demon blood in them like you?"
In reality, Eren had no problem answering that question and he was about to reply back had it not been for Levi speaking up once again, this time without any sarcastic remarks in mind.
"I'm sure you're all aware, but you may not ask him anything past what's in the report," he said before looking to the side with his arms crossed. "Although I doubt she'll keep her mouth shut. If she screws up while poking and prodding you, it may be the death of you, Eren. You should get rid of those things before she sees them and goes crazy."
"Eh…?" he said in confusion. Nonetheless, he grabbed Rebellion as it disappeared into his right arm, but the same couldn't be said for his two guns that were still on the table. "She…?"
"Hi there, Squad Levi! Is the castle comfortable?" an enthusiastic voice boomed out as a lone person entered the room, gaining the attention of everyone on the table.
"Her." Levi gestured towards the incoming presence.
"S-Squad Leader Hange." Eren remarked, as the brown-haired woman quickly made her way towards a chair and didn't hesitate to sit down.
"I'm currently handling the examination of the two titans that were captured in town," she began before immediately turning her full attention towards the teen's demonic arm, giggling in a borderline-insane manner. "And I'd like you to assist me with my experiment tomorrow, Eren! I just stopped by to get permission, hehe…"
Eren was genuinely surprised, all things considered. He was also quite confused. Experiment? Why should the titans be experimented when they are nothing but giant brainless monsters that live to eat humans?
"Experiment…? But I don't even —"
"Well, you see… I also want to know more about you!" Hange cut him off with an even bigger smile than before, before noticing the guns that were on the table. Her smile turned into a fascinated expression as she took one of them in her hand, going through its features and making quick mental notes about it. "Extraordinary! These must be the firearms that were being talked about in the report! The same guns that you used against demons! I have to know more about these! Eren, you won't mind, right…?"
Eren cursed himself mentally, feeling that he just did something terrible for not hiding his pistols before this woman could see them. However, he made no move to take them back because he might get punished for disrespecting a commanding officer.
But regardless, he didn't need any other indication that what she really meant was learning about his demonic physiology and now his weapons, as he could tell that's what she was aiming for ever since the trial. Apart from the fact that she was creepy in his eyes, Eren had no problem with what she wanted, provided that it doesn't involve him getting dissected or anything like that. It might also help him learn more by looking at himself from a human's perspective.
"Uh, the thing is… I can't give you permission," he replied. "I don't have any authority over myself since I got here."
As soon as Hange heard his answer, she immediately turned to the bored-looking soldier at the end of the table, but not before placing Ebony back on the table. "Levi? What's on Eren's agenda for tomorrow?"
Levi remained silent for a few seconds, before answering in his usual tone. "...cleaning the yard."
That answer was enough for Hange as she reached out to shake Eren's right hand, grinning madly the moment she made physical contact with the abomination. "Great, then it's settled! I'll see you tomorrow, Eren!"
"Uh… okay…" he said, somewhat confused since the captain didn't even give her a concrete answer. Then again, both were commanding officers and they seemed to know each other well. Plus, Levi made no move to oppose her.
Now was the time to ask about what the squad leader was talking about earlier. "But what did you mean by 'titan experiment'?" he asked in confusion.
As soon as Hange's face lit up after he asked, Eren felt Oluo nudging him with his elbow, causing the white-haired demon to look at him. Oluo was shaking his head repeatedly as if Eren had done something terribly wrong, while the latter only raised an eyebrow.
"Don't get her started, rookie!" Oluo screamed in his thoughts.
However, it seemed to be too late as light shone against Hange's glasses and her insane-looking smile morphed into a mischievous one. All thoughts of studying about Eren's true nature suddenly disappeared in her mind as she shifted into a different matter. "Ah… I knew it! I thought you looked curious."
Levi knew where this was going and decided not to stick around any longer, for his own sake. He stood up from his chair and left the room without a second thought. For the remaining members of Squad Levi, that was their cue as they followed their captain out of the room.
"This doesn't look good," Eren thought as a bead of sweat ran down his face. The fact that the captain and his squadmates left him with Squad Leader Hange meant something, and he could already tell that he won't like it one bit.
If that wasn't enough, the worst part was that he had no way out of this and Captain Levi won't let him hear the end of it.
"Well, if you want to know that badly…" Hange continued with a bright smile, unaware of what Eren was thinking about. "...who am I to keep it from you? It's about the titans that we captured. This isn't the first time we've successfully snared a titan." Hange began to explain into detail. "First, I repeated the experiment we tried five times in the past, whenever we had a captive titan: an attempt to communicate."
"Hi there!" Hange Zöe greeted with a smile, looking into the eyes of a 4-meter titan bound by snares and was even nailed into the ground to ensure minimal movement. The titan did nothing but breathe heavily as it stared back at the woman before it.
"Squad leader, you're standing too close." came the nervous voice of one of Hange's subordinates. He was a man of average height with short light hair parted down the middle named MOBLIT BERNER. The blonde man held his superior by her shoulders and tried to pull her away before something went wrong.
A few minutes passed after that, Hange was forced to move on due to receiving no response from the first. The next one was a 7-meter class, and this time the titan was ensnared and nailed directly to the ground. It could barely even move its head. Before Hange could even get a chance to speak, the monster reached out and made an attempt to go for her legs.
"Whoa!" she yelped, moving away in time to avoid the titan's mouth. "That was close! That was really close!"
"Squad leader, that's dangerous!" Moblit spoke up in fear for the woman.
"Unfortunately, I was forced to conclude that meaningful conversation is impossible." Hange sighed in disappointment. "However, the time I spent interacting with the titans was so fascinating it made me forget how exhausted I was. Incidentally, I named the 4-meter class one 'Sonny', and the 7-meter class one 'Bean'."
"Sonny and Bean?" Eren was about to laugh as he heard those words. "Why do those names sound like they fit for some reason?"
"I treat those two like my own children, so I had to give them good names." Hange said with a proud smile on her face, almost enough to drive Eren insane. He was trying to be sarcastic about it, and yet Hange was brushing it off like nothing.
What the hell was going on with this woman?
"Anyway, what I did next was to trying to deprive the titans of sunlight." Hange continued, clasping her hands together. "Titans become less energetic as night wears on, so this experiment tested the hypothesis that they derive somethig from sunlight that gives them vitality. Here, the titans showed individual differences. Whereas Sonny became lethargic after just one hour without sunlight… Bean was as frisky as ever for three hours straight."
"...really?" Eren asked, somehow surprised with the outcome of that experiment. Aren't all titans the same, dumb and ruthless killing machines that do nothing but feed on humans?
"I was surprised yet again… they don't need food or water, and even though they have vocal cords, it isn't necessary for them to breathe… all they require is sunlight. I'm interested in what would happen if they were cut off completely from sunlight… but if it killed them, it'd be the end of my experiments."
"I think it would have been better that way…" Eren thought to himself, wondering what would happen to Hange if otherwise.
What Hange did next startled the white-haired teen, and Eren couldn't do anything about it. The woman slammed her hands on the table and leaned over towards Eren, breathing in a erratic way as she looked like she was dying inside.
"So I moved on to the next stage: Direct contact with the titans' bodies!" Her eyes then widened upon remembering what had transpired during this particular experiment. "I explored their sense of pain."
"AAAAAH! AAAAAH!"
The sound of someone screaming filled the entire courtyard as many soldiers came to watch Hange's 'experiment'. But for the squad leader herself, it looked like she wasn't enjoying this one compared to the ones in the past.
With a long metal rod, Hange stabbed it into the corner of Bean's eye as the titan roared out in pain. The interesting part was that steam had omitted from the area where the rod was plunged into, and the soldiers could feel that its temperature was high enough to make them sweat, but not out of nervousness or anything.
"Squad leader!" Moblit tried to calm his superior down because of confusion, nothing more. In fact, all of the soldiers in the area were in the same boat. "There is no need for you to scream…"
"How could I do this and not scream?!" Hange shouted back at Moblit, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Look at how much pain Bean is in!"
Against her will, Hange pushed the rod deeper into the titan's eye, causing the monster to roar out even louder. She turned back towards Bean with a horrified look, showing how much she was regretting doing this kind of thing to her test subject.
"Hang in there, Bean! You'll make it!" she cried.
"You see, I had to find out whether the titans have a weak point other than the neck… it was very tough for me to that…" Hange explained, sounding like she was deeply hurt remembering what happened.
Eren just stared at her, more concerned with this woman's sanity than finding out more about the titans. He didn't even bother listening to what exactly happened… no, all he did was observe the squad leader's reactions and feelings regarding her own words.
If it wasn't for not sensing any demonic blood in her body, Eren would have definitely assumed she was a demon trying to mess with his head and it wouldn't even take a second to silence her.
This woman was just plain crazy, nothing more. How she stayed alive up until now was a mystery to the half-demon teen, and he could only guess that it was out of pure luck.
"Compared to Bean, the introverted Sonny didn't gave much of a reaction at all…"
"You do know that I'm stabbing you through the heart…?" Hange asked as she used another metal rod for the next part of her experiment.
This time, it was plunged into the chest of the 4-meter class one, but the strange thing was that Sonny wasn't roaring out in pain like Bean.
Hange raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't hurt? How does it feel?"
"Oongh… oonh…" the titan breathed heavily as it leaned its head closer to Hange with its mouth starting to open.
"Mm…" Thinking that Sonny was about to tell her something, the squad leader leaned in a bit closer too, as if this was nothing to her. "What?! What is it?! Something you wanna tell me, Sonny?"
*SNAP!*
"Yipe!" she screamed, quickly moving away and narrowly avoiding death from having her head getting eaten by a titan.
"Squad leader, please stay back!" Moblit had already moved in to pull his superior officer away from the titan as a group of soldiers moved in to make sure it was restrained and had no chance of escaping. "You were really gonna die back there!"
"AHAHAHAHA!" Unfortunately, Hange didn't seem like she was paying attention at all as she laughed like a madman while being taken away. "You almost had me there, Sonny! That's a good one!"
"...so you can see that Sonny has difficulty in expressing himself. All he does is try to bite my head off…"
Not surprisingly, Eren paid no further attention to what Hange was explaining, feeling that it would just be pointless. Everything that came out of her mouth up until now didn't even make any sense, even if they were all experiments done on the titans and Eren has decided that enough was enough.
"How can you be so cheerful around titans?" he sighed, unable to look at the squad leader straight in the eye.
"Huh?"
Eren resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Has this woman really gone that far in terms of her sanity? "I mean… the titans are the enemy! They drove our race to the brink of extinction. They're no different from demons when we think of how ruthless they can be. The only thing that keeps them different is demonic blood! Squad leader, surely you must've been in danger from them a number of times…"
"You're right." Hange sighed in defeat, causing Eren to raise an eyebrow at her. "I've seen my comrades get slaughtered by the titans right before my eyes more times than I care to recall. When I first joined the Survey Corps, I relied on my hatred to get me through battles with the titans."
If Eren wasn't listening earlier because of how pointless this was, then it seems like that notion changed in such a short amount of time. Apparently, the squad leader wasn't really insane like he thought and there might be more to her, if Hange could just focus on the more important stuff while explaining.
"And then, one day, I realized something. It was as I kicked the decapitated head of a 3-meter class titan." She clasped her hands together and frowned deeply. "The titan's body… was very light."
That alone had gotten Eren's full attention as his eyes widened slowly at what he just heard. How could a titan be light? They can be up to several meters tall, and those bastards can easily crush whatever stands in their way, the Colossal Titan and Armored Titan being prime examples. It even took him using the power of his demonic arm to be able to lift those monsters, so how exactly can that be considered light? There was obviously more to this new mystery, and Eren could only focus on knowing more about it.
His expression became more serious as a result, and he could only make sure that he heard her right. "What?"
"In the first place, that titan shouldn't have been able to stand, much less walk, on two legs. All the titans are like that… even the weight of a severed arm wasn't nearly what it should've been, considering its size." She looked up at Eren with a serious expression. "Then I heard from Commander Pixis that when you turned into a titan by your father, Eren, you somehow went back to normal. Don't you think it's pretty interesting how exactly you turned into one and returned to being normal, even if it's likely just because of you being a demon?"
Eren couldn't answer that, realizing the truth in her statement. He had never known what really happened in the forest years ago, and he had no recollection of what went down after Grisha injected that serum into his arm. Even Dante didn't know anything about it nor the titans, so it was up to Nero to solve this on his own.
"What I think is happening… is that what we can see and the true nature of what exactly exists… are two different things. For decades now, we've made an effort to thrive on hatred and move aggressively, but then the actual existence of demons put another burden on our shoulders. We have next to no information about them, but for now, I want to focus on trying to look at the titans from a different angle than the predominant view. I may just be spinning my wheels…" Hange let out a long sigh afterwards, before quickly regaining her serious look.
"But… I'm going to do it."
The white-haired demon could only stare at the woman before him for a few seconds, before turning away to contemplate on what just happened. All those thoughts of him about Hange being completely insane, they were all gone in an instant.
"What is this? It's like I've been in a constant state of surprise ever since joining the Survey Corps." Eren thought to himself. "Looks like it's not only the Squad Leader… this organization is full of oddballs. It's like a haven… for eccentrics. A group of people looking to change the status quo…"
Eren turned his attention back towards Hange as a small smirk formed at the corner of his lips.
"This is exactly what I hoped to see from the Survey Corps."
"Eren… adding you as a component in the experiments may teach us something new, especially now when a new breed of monsters are knocking on our doorstep. You're the only one who has knowledge about the demons, and your father may have known something about the titans that we don't. And if it goes well, it could move us one step ahead." she explained, trying to convince the teen of what was planned and prove that it was for the greater good of humanity. "It's possible I'm just being a pain in the ass and expecting too much from you… but I'm having fun. There's never been a change like this before…"
"Squad leader," he cut her off. Nero took a deep breath before a small smile formed on his face. "I guess I have no choice now, do I? I'm in this experiment whether I like it or not. But now, if you don't mind, I'd like to hear more about your experiments."
"Hm?" Hange quickly snapped her eyes towards the teen in disbelief, wondering if her sense of hearing picked that up correctly. "Really?"
"If nothing else, don't you think I should be well-informed for tomorrow's experiment? I'm willing to listen and maybe even share what I know."
"R-Right." The woman stuttered with a big smile on her face. "True, I did leave out a lot in my explanation… alright, let's get into the nitty-gritty. Although we may be here for a while…"
"...so I didn't get any new information out of this latest round of experiments. In fact, everything I've told you is already taught to trainees."
The cold breeze filled the air and the chirping of birds could be heard outside of the castle. The sun was beginning to take its place in the sky, and Eren Yeager could only lazily turn his head towards the window as sunlight shone over him and the other person in the room.
"But you knew that, didn't you?" Hange, as enthusiastic as ever, asked the poor teen who looked like he was about to fall over at any second out of sleepiness.
"Yeah… I knew it all already." Eren said in a tired voice before letting out a huge yawn. In truth, because of his demonic physiology, Eren could stay up without getting tired or even feel sleepy.
However, this woman was worse than he had thought, and he'd take a whole day of sleep if it meant leaving this room because the white-haired teen wasn't sure if he could stand being with her any longer. He had thoughts of pretending to faint so that the captain and the others can move in and take him to his room, but he had some doubts about that plan, since his superior officer or any of his squadmates weren't here!
"Then, let me explain it to you again, this time mixed in with my own speculation." Hange said, without a hint of exhaustion nor sleepiness in her demeanor.
"What?!" he nearly shouted as he was about to reach his breaking point. Seriously, this woman can drive anyone insane without even trying! "Look… it's already —"
"First of all, regarding communication, there was a curious case involving a soldier named 'ILSE LANGNAR'…" Hange began to explain once more, cutting Eren off from his words of plea. However, the squad leader's 'fun' wouldn't last any longer as well, as the doors to the room slammed open and gained both soldiers' attention.
"IS SQUAD LEADER HANGE HERE?" came the voice of the soldier that made his presence known inside the room. He had the insignia of the Survey Corps on his uniform, showing that he was one of their own. "The subjects…" he spoke in an alarmed tone.
"What? Did something happen to Sonny and Bean?!" At the slightest mention of her beloved titans, Hange grew worried that something bad might have happened to them. Eren made sure to listen as well, because he was supposed to be a part of this titan experiment anyway.
"...BOTH TITANS HAVE BEEN KILLED!"
In the middle of the courtyard, nothing was left except for the corpses that were identified as the test subjects. The snares and the nails that were used to detain the titans were all disabled, and their remains were already beginning to evaporate and turn into steam.
Many soldiers have gathered around the area to bear witness of the event, and nothing filled the air except for the sound of the steam from the corpses, as well as the cries of despair by one particular scientist.
"SONNY! BEAN!" Hange cried out with tears streaming down her cheeks, grasping her hair tightly as if she couldn't believe that this just happened. Her precious subjects… gone… like they were just any simple titan out there. Moblit was already there for his superior officer, trying his best to comfort her for this tragedy.
Meanwhile, the soldiers that were all gathered around the courtyard were having a discussion of their own as they stated their own perspective on what could have happened.
"D…Did a soldier do it?"
"We haven't found the culprit. But it looks like they were both killed at the same time, before dawn. By the time the guards noticed, whoever did it already got away using vertical maneuvering gear."
"So this was pre-meditated, with two or more people involved…"
"Look at Hange. She's gone off the deep end."
"They were important test subjects. What kind of morons would…"
"If they weren't morons… then why'd they do it?"
Within the large crowd of soldiers, specifically from fat behind, Levi and his squad could be seen bearing witness to the tragedy that struck Hange's test subjects. However, among them, Eren was the only one who put his hood on to hide his presence from the other soldiers there. His Devil Bringer was also hidden from plain sight thanks to the bandages that covered his arm. It would create a ruckus if news broke out that the so-called 'demon' had returned to the town, and the Survey Corps didn't need another issue on their hands in addition to what became of the titans that they captured.
"We've seen enough." Levi commented, already starting to walk away from the scene. "Let's go… the rest is up to the Military Police Brigade."
All of his subordinates nodded except for Eren, who replied with an audible, "Yes, sir."
But before the squad could leave the area, the blonde-haired commander of the Survey Corps approached them with a neutral expression on his face. "Eren."
"Commander!" Eren exclaimed upon seeing Erwin now, of all times. Thankfully, no other soldier heard his voice due to the murmurs and whispers that filled the courtyard. "What's going on here?" he asked, having the strange feeling that the two titans were killed not because of the need to eliminate a threat, but something more.
However, instead of answering the question, Erwin placed his hands on Eren's shoulders and went behind him before leaning closer to the teen. "What do you see? Who do you think the enemy is?" he asked, keeping his eyes fixed on what remained of the test subjects' corpses.
"...what?" Eren frowned in confusion, although Captain Levi had slightly turned his head towards Erwin, as though he knew what the commander meant.
"..." Erwin took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Sorry for asking such a strange question."
With that, the commander walked away from the white-haired demon as Gunther led Eren out of the courtyard. But as he followed his squadmate with Captain Levi and the rest, Eren had kept his gaze towards the blonde-haired man, having the feeling that Erwin was trying to tell him something.
"What was the commander talking about?" he said in his thoughts, trying to figure out why was Erwin asking him those things as well as the meaning behind them.
That ends this one! Regarding my question in the previous one, two have gotten the correct answer but only one of them gave a full explanation. Props to you, ZLC genesmith! You managed to make a concrete guess on how Mikasa and Armin were able to use devil arms, however there were still some things in your explanation that are different from what I have planned. You'll find out what it is soon but regardless, great job in figuring it out!
Goodbye… and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*
-Lance
