Madeleine sat huddled in a corner chair just before dawn, in a very unladylike position – her right leg propped up in the seat next to her bum, and her right slung over the armrest. She was flipping through an assortment of paperwork on the Scout Regiment's official findings on Titan anatomy, written by none other than her very own Squad Leader, Hange. This was the thousandth time this month she'd been hiding out in this same spot, reading similar paperwork. For an island with a hundred years of this terror, they sure hadn't gotten very far with the Titans. The morons hadn't even figured out that they were people.
Immediately after the ceremony, she and the other four cadets had been asked questions regarding their reasons for joining the Scouts, and what fields they were interested in, before being divvied up between three of the four Squad Leaders that had attended. Madeleine's answers on Titan research landed her on Squad Hange – she'd seen them practically drooling over her voiced interest. Lila had gone to a man called Ness. The short man, who she'd discovered was Captain Levi, was the only person who wasn't assigned a new recruit. Hange mentioned while leading her away that he preferred to hand pick the members of his Elite Squad, and he only chose the best.
It made Madeleine a bit angry, she had soared miles ahead of her graduating class, but she didn't deserve to run with the best? Hange had told her that Levi didn't know what he was missing, not that it made much of a difference. She didn't care what these devils thought of her.
The cooks had been in the kitchen for nearly an hour before officers started flooding into the Survey Corps' dining hall, breaking her peace and quiet. She scrambled to reorganize the paperwork as Hange sidled up to her. "Paperwork again?" they asked, slamming down their tray of food. "I swear, you read it more often than I write it."
"Maybe if you'd focus more on your reports, I'd figure out the secrets behind these monsters faster," Madeleine teased back with a small smile.
"You think you'll figure out in a month more than I've figured out over the last ten years?" Hange laughed through a mouthful of food. "Yeah right! Being older than the rest of the cadets sure hasn't made you any wiser."
More trays were sat at their table, and a bored voice came from Hange's right. "More paperwork, Shitty Glasses? You've got this mouse running ragged with your research."
Madeleine had become used to Captain Levi and his squad being in close proximity over the last few weeks; his squad worked closely with hers, and it seemed that he and Hange were…unlikely pals. He made her feel uneasy; her brain was constantly screaming that he was a predator, she could practically smell the stench of death around him. He would be one she wouldn't miss once she got home.
Petra Ral sat next to her, followed by Eld Gin and the rest of Levi's squad. Outside of her own team, those two were the only ones that ever bothered to strike up a conversation. Petra was a lovely strawberry blonde with beautiful, butterscotch doe-eyes. And Eld was just an all-around bang-up guy; tall, handsome, and kind to boot. It wouldn't surprise Madeleine one bit if he had a lovely woman waiting at home for him when he came back from expeditions. They were the only two besides Lila that didn't annoy the absolute shit out of her during downtime, Hange included.
"Hey, I don't assign it to her," Hange protested. "She's just really interested in my research, isn't that right, Maddy?"
She chose not to respond, but settled for another smile and an eye-roll. It was hard to remember sometimes that these people were the products of demons. They were just like the people back in Marley. She even felt a bit bad for them sometimes, being terrorized by the Titans for a hundred years.
"Is that why you choose to ignore her real skills?" Levi asked, crossing an ankle over his knee comfortably and leaning back in his seat. "Because she's good at reading?"
"Real skills?" Hange stopped shoving food in their mouth. "What real skills?" They looked back-and-forth between Madeleine and Levi.
"I'm decent in a fistfight," she mumbled sheepishly. She preferred their direct attention focused on others, keeping her head low was the name of the game in enemy territory.
"Which doesn't mean shit when you're face-to-face with a Titan," Levi said, bringing his cup to his lips.
"More than decent, actually," Petra piped up over the quip from her Captain. "You should've seen her take down Oluo last week, he should've known better than to challenge her, even if it was just a friendly skirmish. I've never seen anything like it."
Madeleine couldn't stop herself from quipping, "Yet I still wasn't good enough for your Captain."
"Are you still salty about that?" Petra laughed. "The Captain is very selective."
"I was the best in my class," Madeleine said, making eye contact with the aloof Captain sitting across the table. "You said it yourself, I have some real skills."
"Okay, okay, let's take it down a notch," Hange interjected, sensing the impending conflict. "Maddy, go get breakfast, that's an order. I can't have you passing out during training today, we have the 55th Expedition in a week and you're not ready."
Madeleine remained quiet throughout the rest of breakfast. She typically preferred to observe the other Scouts, but today, she felt like the one being watched. It reminded her of early in her cadet years, except now, Levi Ackerman was staring at her out in the open instead of in hiding. He probably wasn't too happy about being questioned and called out publicly. When she'd finished, she tossed her tray on the pile with the other dirty ones and headed to her room to get her gear.
On her way back out to the grounds, she passed Captain Levi in the hall. As she opened her mouth to speak, he grabbed her by the upper arm, halting her. "Make no mistake," his voice was firm but just above a whisper as he pulled her so close that their noses were practically touching. "Your skills are more than enough to land a spot with me. But I only choose recruits I can trust."
"And you can't trust me?" she said coolly, glowering at him.
"Not for a single second."
"Well then excuse me, Captain," she said, yanking her arm out of his vice grip. "I have to get down to the training grounds, or Hange will have my hide."
Heading outside, Madeleine threw her long hair into a messy braid. If Hange was going to have them use their 3DMG, she couldn't risk it getting tangled and ripped out of her head. Most of the other women in the military had chosen the chop over the risk, but she couldn't bear to part with the waist-length locks. On her way down the stairs, she thought about her odd encounter with the short man. Sure, she had reason to dislike him and all the other Eldian devils on this island, but what was his reason for hating her? He can probably smell deception, she thought to herself. He was Erwin's dog, after all. She chuckled to herself at the thought of Levi sitting next to Erwin's desk like a literal dog.
When she arrived outside, the first thing she noticed was that the rest of the team had discarded their 3DMG; multiple sets laid on the ground at the edge of the training field. Following suit, she removed hers as well and joined her teammates in a semi-circle.
"Excellent, we're all here!" Hange clapped their hands together. "Levi struck a chord in me at breakfast this morning, I thought we'd try something a bit different. Today, we'll be practicing Titan kills."
"Captain, you had us remove our gear -" one of her squadmates started to speak up, but Hange interrupted him.
"No gear," they said. "Blades only. There may well be a time where you are face-to-face with a Titan and you either don't have your gear or it's been destroyed. This will be a great test of resourcefulness and on-the-fly thinking." Hange wasn't much for physical training like most of the other Squad Leaders were - most of their focus was around Titan research and retrieval. As long as each member of the squad could taken down a Titan if necessary, they never seemed to focus on training as a group. Today was a rarity, and Madeleine decided to make the most of it.
Vice-Captain Moblit and a few other members of the team were hidden along the route they'd be running through the on-grounds forest they used to train with their 3DMG. There were mock-Titans set up in the forest, activated by a manual pulley system, and Hange laid out the route they were to run. If a Titan popped up, they were to take it down without gear, and would be timed from the moment the Titan emerged until they were able to slice the nape.
"Maddy, since you were the inspiration for the exercise, you can go first!"
Wrapping her braid into a bun and pinning it, Madeleine took out a singleton from her paring blades and took a running stance. When given the go-ahead from Hange, she took off into the forest through the pre-determined course. She was midway through the three-kilometer-long course before she saw the emergence of the first wooden Titan with a faux nape. It was around 8 meters high, between two tree that would give her perfect leverage. She climbed up to a low branch and swung herself higher and higher until she could reach the nape with a well-placed jump. She struck deep and hopped down, rolling to help the impact on her knees, and continued on her way.
Upon completion of the course, she was exhausted, and collapsed at Hange's feet as another member of her team took off down the same course. 3DMG was so much easier to use for Titan slaying, the three-kilometer run felt more like a marathon. When she was young, she was expected to train from dawn until dusk until she was strong, but nowadays it was mostly sparring sessions. She wasn't used to endurance training anymore, she didn't need it.
The Scout didn't require endurance, or the ability to fight. Historically, the Titan lacked the defense mechanisms that the other sentient Titans had. It had no armor, no great strength, and it wasn't ripped like the rest. It was taller, usually around 20 to 25 meters, and sickly thin – presumably to camouflage itself as a tree or something similar. It did have claws at the end of each finger as a form of defense, which was why candidates in her family were trained in hand-to-hand combat. They would rely on their own strength, which seemed to stay proportionate to how large they would grow when in Titan form. The Scout was not built for fighting, it was as bare as they come, and was only useful for its title purpose – scouting. But that fact alone provided protection for her family. If Titans were ever surpassed by technology, there was still use for an invisible ally. Intel, surprise attacks, the possibilities were endless. It was the reason her family were official Marleyan, rather than honorary like the rest of the Titan Shifters. Marley would never not have a use for them.
Later in the evening, Madeleine was dreading dinner. After the little show Captain Levi had put on after breakfast, she wanted to see him even less than usual. She didn't like Levi, or Erwin for that matter. Both were sneaky and underhanded, and Levi was outright about not trusting her. Instead of meeting up with her team, she chose to read in a small nook that was hidden away in a hall. She lit a candle on the wall above her head for lighting and dug out the paperwork from this morning. It was on two recent test subjects, aptly named Chikatilo and Albert. Hange had experimented on them, and they'd ultimately died. There were dried splotches of ink on the page, Hange had clearly been crying while writing it. Weirdo.
"What are you doing in here?"
Madeleine sighed; she'd been caught. "I'm reading up on Hange's latest Titan research," she said, holding up the stack of loose papers and patting the seat next to her.
Lila climbed into the nook, taking up the other half. She was quiet while Madeleine read, but it was obvious there was something on her mind. She was fidgeting with her fingers, her hair, biting her lip.
"What's wrong?" Madeleine asked, setting the papers aside.
Lila's tongue poked out from between her lips in hesitation before responding, "The expedition next week, my squad was chosen to go."
She was scared, Madeleine realized. Of course she was, why wouldn't she be? She was a child; Madeleine was an adult and was nervous. "You'll be fine, it's just a simple expedition outside of Trost. We'll still be inside Wall Maria, so the number of Titans will be limited."
Lila didn't respond, and Madeleine could tell her words didn't provide much comfort. Instead, she did something she never would've even considered three years ago. She reached out both arms towards the teenager, inviting her in. Lila immediately accepted, saddling her back up to Madeleine's front, leaning up against her in a one-sided hug. Madeleine felt Lila's tension melt in her arms.
She was glad she wouldn't have to be here when Lila died.
The day before the expedition held an interesting development.
Madeleine had been watching the Elite Squad on the training grounds for nearly two hours. While their Captain worked them hard, it wasn't for nothing – each member of the team was practically impeccable. Their skills when it came to 3DMG and the paring blades were unrivalled by anything she'd seen since arriving on Paradis.
"Mousey! Are you just gonna sit there and watch all day, or are you going to go a round with Schultz?" Levi was headed in her direction, and kicked her boot rather hard when he reached her.
Sitting up from her less-than-comfortable spot in the grass, Madeleine wrinkled her nose at him. "Why would I train with your squad? I don't belong to you."
"I'm still your superior," he sighed. "It's not like you really have much of a choice."
"You're not my direct superior, Captain, and you still haven't told me why you want me to fight poor Gunther."
Levi's disappearance from the rest of his team didn't go unnoticed. Behind him, all four members were looking at them quizzically. Though Petra was clearly holding back a smile, and Oluo looked like he might be sick. Clearly, he hadn't forgotten the last time they'd sparred.
"Maybe I just think it'd be funny to watch you get your ass kicked," Levi shot. "You gonna do it, or do I need to make it an order?"
Madeleine stood and brushed dirt and grass seed off her pants. "Whatever you say, sir." She unfastened her Survey Corps cloak, tossing it over the back of a nearby bench. "What do you say, Gunther? Ready to eat some dirt?"
"As if," Gunther laughed, taking a fighting stance.
Gunther wasn't like most of the others she'd fought here. He wouldn't rush her like Paul, he wouldn't be sloppy like Oluo. But someone like Gunther would strike first. Madeleine held both arms up in her stance, guarding her face. When Gunther came at her, she focused more on dodging his first few blows. She countered with a couple of quick jabs to his midsection; hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to throw off his balance. When he noticed she hadn't gone for the kill, he took his opportunity and dived at her, catching her around the waist and throwing them both to the dirt. He rolled them both so that he was behind her, one arm under her armpit keeping her arm immobilized, the other around her neck in a loose chokehold.
She would hand it to him, Gunther was quick. Probably why Levi paired them together. She wasn't going to win a fair fight with him while he had her like this, her only option was to play dirty. Using her free hand, Madeleine jabbed her elbow into his ribs, hard. When the pain stunned him, his grip momentarily weakened, and she scrambled out of it and turned to face him. Using her dominant hand in a V-shape between the thumb and the rest of her fingers, she shoved her hand upwards into Gunther's throat, aiming for his trachea. It had the desired effect – Gunther dropped to his knees, desperately gasping for air.
Madeleine heard a scoff from behind her. "Tch. You fight like a street urchin." It didn't sound like an insult, just a statement.
She turned to face Levi. "When would I ever need to fight clean?" she asked, crossing her arms. When Levi began to walk away without answering, she threw her arms out wide. "What's wrong, Levi? Afraid to face me yourself?"
She heard Petra gasp, and even Gunther was quiet, his attention no longer at the throbbing pain in his neck.
Levi turned around and was suddenly in her face – twice in the span of a week. "I don't fight spoiled little brats," he said. The tone of his voice was the same monotone as usual, but the narrowed eyes gave away the angry undertone.
"We both know I didn't learn this in a self-defense course," Madeleine whispered, refusing to break the eye contact. "I've seen how you fight Titans. Something tells me you learned to fight the way I did, so why don't we make it more fun?"
She could see the wheels turning – Levi bit the inside of his cheek and his eyes were scanning her face to determine whether or not she was serious. And she was. When he detected no trace of her backing down, he stepped away and removed his own cloak, folding it and placing it neatly on the bench next to hers.
Levi took a fighting stance that was different than one she'd seen before. His feet were staggered and angled to the side, his knees following suit. It wasn't quite as low as her own, but enough so that a tackle wouldn't take him down. His fists were up and at the ready, but not poised to guard or attack.
They had the same tactic. He was waiting for her to make a move. They really were more alike than Madeleine would care to admit.
None of her usual tricks would work on Levi, she'd have to pull out all the stops. She ran at him and jabbed quickly at his undefended face, but he was too quick and dodged each blow with ease. He hadn't moved back, so when she took a moment for her arms to adjust, Levi sent a well-placed punch to her face. She took note that he was left-handed. Madeleine staggered back before changing tactics – he'd returned to his original position, so this time when she rushed him, she went low as if to tackle him. Madeleine saw his feet widen in preparation, but as she reached him, she shoved the palm of her hand up into his nose as hard as she could. There was a sickening crunch and more audible gasps from behind her somewhere, and when she moved away from Levi, there was blood pouring from his nose and the look on his face was murderous.
This time, he didn't wait for her and instead charged, knocking them both to the ground. Vice-like grips pinned her arms down next to her head and she kicked at him, but it was no use. Despite being the same size – hell, she might even have been an inch or two taller than him – Levi was much stronger than she was. She nearly gagged as blood dripped from his nose onto her face.
The sight of her disgust must've brought Levi out of his rage, because he backed up off her and pulled out a small handkerchief, holding it to his likely-broken nose. He didn't bother to offer helping her up, nor did she expect him to. He seemed to despise her.
Lila had appeared out of nowhere, offering a hand, which Madeleine took. As she stood, there was a too-cold breeze that brushed against her bare skin. The back of her shirt had been torn in the scuffle, and she reached back, desperately trying to pin it shut, but it was too late.
Levi, now surrounded by his lackies, stood once again staring her down. He'd seen what she was trying to hide, and the look on his face was indiscernible. But she didn't need to be able to read his mind to know that he was wondering why her back was littered with long pink scars.