A/N: Thank you guys for the views, the follows and the favorites and the reviews! It feels nice knowing people are enjoying the fanfic, even though I feel like it's nowhere near as good as it could be lol. Thank you all for the encouraging words!

I hope you guys like this chapter as well! It has more breaks and skips than I wanted too but I think it's necessary to push the plot a little more. Lemme know how it is!

One more thing, the speech in the beginning was essentially copied and put together from speeches of President Reagan and President Kennedy. It's my first time trying something like that but I hope it doesn't come off as too corny or whatever. But maybe corny is the right word to use? Anyway, onto the chapter!

She stared at Alphonse with a calculating gaze as he stood at the head of the formation. She had no idea why he chose to be their instructor or why he was lying through his teeth but it certainly made her job easier this way. Her job of finding out if Alphonse was a titan shifter like her, Reiner and Bertolt had just become less of a challenge. Since his departure two weeks ago, she had racked her brain for any way to gain intel on the mysterious man. None of the plans she came up with would be easy to carry out while she dealt with playing soldier here. It all really boiled down to waiting until she could graduate to begin.

Now? Her target had just essentially fallen into her lap.

But that raised another question as he continued his explanation. Why lie? For what reason would he and the Scouts come up with such an elaborate lie? It was a clever one, she could admit that much but still a lie nonetheless.

Her eyes darted to the nearby cadets. All of them looked shocked but ultimately happy at the news. They were not alone in this world. He was here to help. The titans could be defeated.

Too bad it was all bullshit. She needed to peel back the lies from the young man, of who he was exactly. And if he was the Jaw like they had guessed, then all the better. She just had to ignore the fact that he ate Marcel.

"Does anyone have any questions or concerns for me?" He asked with a monotone voice as he stood in front of the shocked 104th.

His eyebrows raised at the silence he received. Crossing his arms over his chest he cocked his head to the side. "Well?" Beside him the commandant let out a soft sigh.

"Alphonse, you can't drop something like this on them and expect anything but-"

"So there are humans outside the walls! We aren't the last of humanity!" Armin exclaimed.

She idly turned her gaze to the blonde cadet. He looked the most happy at the news. She felt a twinge of sadness for the bright man. She could imagine the disappointment if he found out the truth.

Alphonse turned to Armin with a smile. "Yes, there is and no you are not."

"That's incredible. W-Where do you come from? How did you get here?"

"I come from a country called the Federation of Eldia and I am here on a military expedition, if you can call it that. As I said before, my job is to find any remnants of human civilization and assist to the full extent of my capabilities."

She blinked several times in shock before she settled an icy glare at the man. 'The Federation of Eldia?!' A flurry of dark emotions swelled from within her as she repeated the words in her mind. If he knew of the existence of the Eldians then he had to be from the outside world. Was he from Marley? Or some other country? How did he end up here? A mess of questions rang in her head with no coherent answers in sight. Her eyes widened as a stray thought crossed her mind.

If he knew the truth…then did the Scouts too? Who else knew the truth?

Her eyes met his hazel for a brief moment, its ever piercing gaze seemingly looked to stare through her. He knew, he had to know who they were, or maybe had an idea. But if he did, then why is he siding with these people? She could feel a headache coming from the rampant questions.

"O-Oh." Armin stuttered before he caught himself. "...and-and what about oceans? A lake filled with salt so big that it stretches beyond the horizon, do they exist? Or fields of sand, lands of fire and ice? Are they all real?"

He pulled his gaze away from her to look at the other soldier. He nodded with a small smile. "As real as you and me."

Armin beamed at the news and turned to Eren beside him and began whispering in a hushed tone. An apprehensive look crossed his face however. "Sir, what happens when you regain contact with your homeland? What will they do with us? Since you're here, does that mean your people have defeated the titans?"

"We have and that is why I am here now. Now what happens when I regain contact? That much, I do not know but I'm sure you and everyone else has their concerns regarding that. What I do know is that I am here to help you all, nothing more, nothing less."

"I see. Thank you sir."

He nodded at the cadet before he slowly scanned the rest of the formation, seemingly taking in their faces. He cleared his throat. "There is something interesting that I have noticed during the past few weeks I have been here. Almost everyone seems to think the titans are undefeatable, that we should give up and live the days we have in peace. Let me make one thing clear concerning any thoughts of the future. Can there really be peace? Can the titans really be beaten? In this rotten world we find ourselves in, there is only one guaranteed way you can have peace and have it in the next second. Anyone know what that is?"

The question grew some questioning stares but no one took the chance to speak up. "Surrender." He stated with finality. "If you give up now, lay your weapons down and give everything to the titans right now, then you can have peace. Admittedly there is a risk in any choice we make but history has proved time and time again that the greater risk lies in appeasement. If we continue to back, continue to retreat, we will eventually have to face the final demand, the ultimatum. And by that time we will be weakened from within economically, morally and spiritually and our surrender will be voluntary. Or as one put it, "I'd rather live on my knees than die on my feet." And therein lies the road to war because those voices don't speak for the rest of us. Because you and I know there is something worth fighting for, worth dying for."

Her hands tightened into a white knuckled fist as he spoke. 'Fancy words for a liar.' She seethed at him for playing hero and for playing with the heartstrings of these naive people.

"Every single one of you, who despairs of war, and wishes for peace, should begin by looking inward. By examining your own attitudes towards the possibilities of peace. Too many think it is impossible, too many think it is unreal but that is a dangerous defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that mankind is doomed. That we are gripped by forces we cannot control….and maybe we are and maybe this is our destiny. But I say this, there is no problem of human destiny that is beyond human beings! We choose to stand our ground not because they are easy but because they are hard. Because that challenge is one that we're willing to accept and so my fellow humans, ask not what can be given to you, but you can give to others."

"I don't need a million men." He continued in a softer tone but still projecting his voice to the silent and seemingly awestruck cadets. "I just need a few good people and that's why I am here with you. To ensure that no matter what service you choose, whether you choose to maintain order within the walls with the Military Police, whether you defend the walls with the Garrison or whether you choose fight alongside me in the Survey Corps in 3 years time, you have the strength to protect, to fight and save….and inevitably, sacrifice. I am here as an instructor but also as a mentor. If you have any concerns or questions or want some extra help, my door is always open to you all. And over the next three years, even if some of you have given up on yourselves, I won't give on you. Does anyone have an issue with that?" He challenged the recruits, seeing if anyone had the bravery to speak up.

"...It's impossible." She found herself responding, in a rather out of character fashion before she could reel herself back. Her glare never let up as the two of them stared each other down. "You're nothing but an idealistic fool, you can't defeat the titans. Once you learn the fear of the titans, then you lose to them entirely."

The other cadets looked away from her, silently acknowledging the fact. It was impossible to not fear the titans, even the most hardened veterans still held a healthy amount of fear for the beasts.

"And fear can be overcome, no matter what it may be."

It angered her just how easily he said that. "How are you so sure about that? Do you know everyone here that well? That no one here will run at the first sight of a titan regardless of what you do here?"

He gave her a sad smile. "Because I am living proof." He slowly undid his top before letting the jacket and white shirt underneath drop to the ground.

Her breath hitched as she saw the carnage that aborned his body. Most prominently there was a nasty burn scar that seemed to cover nearly half his body and many smaller former injuries criss crossed his torso.

"I still fear the titans, I still fear fighting, and I still fear the loss of my comrades but I've learned to push past it because I realized that is the only reasonable choice in this world." Seeing as she still wasn't backing down he let out a tired sigh. "How long do you think I've been doing this for Annie?"

Her frigid blue eyes stared into his own, defiant and angry. "A few years?" She guessed, although the sheer amount of scars gave her the indication that his time as a soldier thus far has been much, much longer.

He shook his head. "A little longer than that." When she kept silent he answered for her. "A decade now, I've been fighting since I was 5 and it all started in my hometown. The place where I found salvation through the same soldier that would introduce me to the military." His eyes drew vacant as he recalled the memory of the hellish landscape. "Fires everywhere, on the streets I saw my neighbors crying for help. Elsewhere I heard my countrymen beg for mercy, begging to be saved. In response to their cries I only thought of myself. That was the site where a near decade long war began and I was the sole survivor of three million people." His fingers unconsciously traced the ugly scarred tissue. "If there is a hell, I'd imagine that would be it."

Annie's cold eyes grew a touch softer as she traced his fingers tips, unsure how to feel looking into those blank eyes. As he talked about his hometown, his eyes drew inward, as if he was reliving the moment all over again.

"I gave up a piece of myself to survive, that is, my life. From that point onwards, my life has been forfeit, therefore I will work, I will fight and I will sacrifice to save as many as I can, as if the whole ordeal rested on me alone. Because for a fraud like me, that is the only path I have left. There is no other path other than forward…because the destiny of time is something man cannot control. In the time I have left on this earth, I finally want to do some good. Something other than killing other human beings. So, Annie and anyone else here who is angry or bitter at the world and the circumstance you find yourselves in, I ask you to look within yourself and seek to make the most of the time you have. You won't ever get it back and surely if everyone does a little to give, then maybe our efforts won't be in vain."

His gaze turned solemn as he scanned the rest of the trainees, leaving her with her own thoughts. "These next three years might seem like an eternity but it is not. If there is only one thing you take away from all of this, it's that you should enjoy the peace you have here because it won't last. Enjoy the process, enjoy connecting with your fellow recruits and enjoy yourselves because there are many who cannot."

She bit her lips as she stared at her feet. There was a stark difference between his earlier speech and this one. The first felt like he was just reciting something written on paper, maybe he himself didn't even believe in those words but this last speech…those words were spoken with weight behind them, that was, the weight of the only survivor year after year. The weight of his dead comrades and the burden of carrying on. That was something that can't be faked, especially in her eyes. It was relatively easy to see through Alphonse, especially as he switched from the facade of a soldier to a mere broken man.

Her anger was quickly replaced by confusion.

So what the hell was he?

He stared emotionless at the empty field that once held the recruits of the 104th. He didn't know how long he had been standing there as the face of a particular passing recruit had sent his head on a wild goose chase of a nasty piece of memory.

"When will it be enough? When will we finally stop fighting this ridiculous war?"

He stoically scanned the field in front of him. "That's not something I can answer, your highness but please keep your head down."

She ignored his pleas and continued. "And how long have you done this Chief? How much longer will you have to continue fighting? When will someone like you finally find peace?"

He gently pushed her behind him as they ducked a patrol, holding his breath as they passed by them. He slowly let out the breath he had been holding before turning to face her. "Peace is for those who deserve it, I am not one of them."

She looked at him with such sadness and pity.

He blinked as the world came rushing back. How the hell had he not seen her before?

"Are you alright? You look pale." Shadis commented from beside him. He stared at him with his typical blank stare.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his stubby hair before picking up his clothes. "Yes, I'm ok. Just a bad memory."

"Hmm. Impressive speech by the way." Shadis complimented offhandedly as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Didn't expect that kind of speech from someone so young."

He pulled on his jacket that held the Wings of Freedom before he recalled another piece of memory. "Not my words, just something I picked up from an acquaintance. I just tweaked it to fit our narrative here."

"I see….well whoever is the original would be proud of your delivery. It might even get these kids a spine."

"Maybe." He breathed out. "I got three years with these recruits." He idly recalled some of the more talented and motivated cadets among them. "I've got three years, Commandant Shadis. I'll make the most of it."

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the head instructor nod as he walked away. "We'll see Alphonse."

His teeth clenched as her face flashed in his eyes. 'Forget the troublesome woman.' He reminded himself as he set about grabbing his own lunch before he would have to meet the recruits for their dreaded hour and a half of close quarters combat.

She was an entire world away from him. She couldn't bother him here.

When he reached the mess hall for the instructors, he quickly grabbed his food and sat down at an empty table, ignoring the looks he got all the while.

"Alphonse, I've got the books you wanted."

He craned his head to the commandant. The older man set the books down next to him and walked away without another word. He mentally thanked the man for his quickness and flipped through the book. In the 30 minutes he had for lunch he skimmed through the pages as he ate. The book was more of a manual and it outlined the basics of physical fitness, various exercises and martial arts.

The last bit really was a barebones attempt at any sort of standardized martial arts program. There were some good bits but a lot was missing from it. It made him painfully aware of the shortcomings of the program here, not that he could fault anyone for it.

In a fight against titans, it was normal to assume traditional hand to hand combat was out of the question. Unless a man could shift into a titan, it was physically impossible for a normal human to use any hand to hand techniques against such a larger foe.

But there were a number of important aspects to martial arts that were overlooked all too easily. Discipline, self control, the ability to stay calm under pressure, problem solving skills, all of these were just a handful of benefits.

He was going to beat some critical skills into these young cadets before their time was up here. As he finished his food he snapped the book shut on the table. Tucking the hardcover manual under his armpit, he stood up and put his tray away before he made his way to his recruits.

None of the recruits had made it back yet but that was fine, it gave him a chance to look through the book again. As the minutes rolled by, he was aware of the trickle of cadets filing into formation. Idly, he flipped through the pages with his thumb, growing more unsatisfied with the contents of the manual.

When the last recruit got back, he snapped the book shut with his hand. "I hope none of you overate, otherwise you might lose it over the next couple hours." He stared out at the 104th with a critical eye. "From here onwards I want all of you to start thinking of the bigger picture, fixating on what is in front of you for too long can blind you to what's really going on."

They all stared at him with confusion, unknowing of where he was going with this.

"Tell me, does anyone know what it means to be a soldier?"

One spoke up. "To lay your life down for the king?"

"To fight the titans!" Eren exclaimed, drawing some annoyed looks from his fellow cadets.

"Protect the people?" Another answered halfheartedly..

He nodded at the answers as more and more came in but at a certain point their answers became the same meaning just with different words.

"All of you are correct." He crossed his hands behind his back as he gingerly held the book. "But none of you said how you will do it. That's alright though, you all will learn soon enough." He ominously promised. "Today's first lesson is this." He opened the book in his hands and ripped a page out. He tucked the book under his armpit again and held the paper with both his index finger and thumb at the top corners of the page. "You will all hold this piece of paper out in front of you like this."

He ignored the bewildered stares and began walking through the formation, row by row. "Come on, rip a page out. When I tell you to, you will all hold your piece of paper out in front of you until I tell you to stop, understood?"

"Yes sir!"

When he got through with everyone, all that was left of the book was just a handful of pages. He carelessly tossed the destroyed book to the side and faced his cadets. "Begin!" At the order everyone raised their pieces of paper out in front of them. He could hear some of them murmur to themselves for the rather mundane exercise. 'They'll learn soon enough.' He quietly mused as he scanned the formation.

Minutes ticked by and their confident faces slowly ebbed away as the pain began setting in. He suspected they wouldn't last more than thirty minutes at most. It didn't take them much longer before the heavy pants and groans echoed from the group. He could see many struggle to hold up the little piece of paper with shaking arms.

"What's wrong? It's just a piece of paper guys." He sternly scolded as he walked up to a female recruit with long black hair. Her arms were hanging low as she gritted her teeth in pain. "And who are you?"

"Mina Carolina sir!" She said in what he could only describe as a half yell and half whimper.

"Get your arms up, now." He ordered as he stood in front of the smaller cadet.

"I-I'm trying sir!" She huffed as she strained to raise her limbs any higher.

He didn't say anything as he stared at the recruit with an impassive expression. He saw her fearfully stare back at him before she narrowed her eyes in determination. She took several deep breaths and with a heavy grunt of exertion she pulled her arms up. He gave her a nod of satisfaction before walking away.

Wordlessly he walked among the recruits as they continued to struggle. A notable few stood out to him among them, Mikasa, Reiner, Annie and Eren were having the easiest time. He stared at Eren for several moments. The young soldier in training had the most determined face of them all, holding steady with nothing but sheer will. Beside him, Mikasa stared back at him with a blank expression as she easily held her posture. And beside her was Armin.

The poor boy's upper body seemed to shake as he struggled with all his might. He stopped in front of the blonde cadet and looked over the trio again. "Cadet Armin and Cadet Mikasa, step forward." When they stepped out of their line he pointed at Eren, who was staring at them curiously. "Put your arms on top of Erens Mikasa and Armin put yours on top of hers."

His no nonsense tone challenged them to say anything in response but the duo did as they were told. It didn't take long before even Mikasa got a strained look on her face as she tried to hold up Armins tired limbs away from Erens. "Hold that for the rest of the exercise."

The trio gave him a disbelieving look but did as they were told.

He took his sweet time through the rest of them, eventually coming across a duo that he had noticed were always together. "What's your name?"

"Krista Lenz…..sir!" She grounded out with clenched teeth.

For a moment he studied her pale features and blonde hair before turning to the other woman next to her. "And you?"

"Ymir."

His vision flickered back to Krista. "I see you two are close."

She gave him a cheeky smirk, showing little signs of fatigue. "Well she is my future wife after all." The words drew a faint blush from the woman in question.

He scoffed. "That right? Well the best of luck to you two." He slapped her slightly bent arm, forcibly straightening the limb out fully. "Straight out in front of you Ymir." He lightly scolded before he walked by the couple. When he got done, he retook his spot in front of the formation. "Alright, drop it!"

There was a collective groan of relief as they all seemingly collapsed on the spot. "While some were early to give up, many chose not to. We have a lot to work on over the next three years." He gave the tired recruits a small, viscous smirk. "I am also restructuring this part of your training, don't expect this to be your time of rest anymore."

He lightly cracked his neck. "So now that that is done, let's get on with the rest of your training." He felt a small feeling of vindicated satisfaction as they collectively groaned in protest.

'You know, this is kind of fun.'

She let out a soft groan as she leaned against her bedpost. 'I can't remember the last time I was this tired. I'm going to be so sore tomorrow.' Her eyes were drawn to the window where she saw her target in question walking into the woods again.

Around her the rest of the females seemed to collectively let out a sigh of relief as they hit the beds one by one. No one was looking forward to what tomorrow would bring from the devil incarnate. For a while longer she just stared out the window and at the woods where Alphonse had disappeared off to. She was reasonably sure he was at the same spot as last time.

And while she would like nothing more than to sleep in, she still had her mission to do. She willed her body to move from her spot next to her bed. Looking around she found the majority of the female cadets were already asleep and the few that weren't looked like they were about to anyway. She was glad she decided to not lay down because she definitely would've fallen asleep.

It wasn't hard to slip by the absolutely exhausted looking recruits on watch duty in the tower. They themselves looked half asleep standing up to begin with. She recalled the path Alphonse took last time to find his trail again. 'How am I even going to do this without blowing my cover? Or does he already know and it's a moot point to try?' Her tired brain tried to think of something, anything but came up short as she stumbled into the clearing.

He turned around as he shook his wrist and stared at her with curious eyes. "Annie? Are you ok, you almost fell there."

She shook her head as she got her bearings again. She had been so lost in thought she didn't realize where she was for a second. How sloppy of her. "I'm fine, just tired is all. No thanks to you." She shuffled forward and sat next to him, their shoulders just inches apart. "You looked like you enjoyed hazing us today."

He scoffed at her. "Pfft, that's hardly hazing."

"Making us hold up a piece of paper for an hour isn't hazing?"

"No." He shook his head. "It was to prove a point, something that was lost on all of you today."

"And what magnificent point were you trying to make by having us do that?" She sarcastically mumbled.

"To not overlook the mundane."

She blinked several times, not expecting the answer at all. She was expecting him to say something on the lines of physical conditioning or maybe even mental toughness. If her father or her instructors in Marley had made her do the same thing that's what they would've said.

But not him.

"I'm not surprised that you guys missed it, after all, I did too." He propped his chin on top of his knee as he stared at the lake down below. "I suppose if you want an explanation, I'll tell you the same thing that I was told. If it looks mundane and unimportant then ingrain it into your memory, do your utmost to learn it because you never know when the unimportant becomes important. Do not shy away from the details, it's in these minute details that determine whether you succeed or fail, lives are saved or lost, whether you live or die."

Her eyes stared at the grass in front of her, digesting what he had said. "You've got a way with words….Is that why you are so insistent on us focusing on hand to hand combat?"

He nodded. "I can't tell you how many times I've seen my fellow comrades die because they only thought of hand to hand combat as an absolute last resort. It isn't to say they didn't train in it, in fact they did, a lot. But it's their mentality that doomed them. They only thought of it as a last resort and nothing more." He sighed. "And I can't tell you how many people I've killed with my hands alone."

She found no words to say back to the man.

"Annie you aren't dumb. You yourself seem pretty advanced as a fighter, you know martial arts is more than just flipping a person on their back."

"Yeah…" She trailed off, memories of her training with her father came rushing back. "I know that all too well." She straightened her back and took a deep breath. "Alphonse, can I ask you a question?"

He turned his head and smirked at her. "You just did."

The edges of her lips turned upwards. "Funny…but can I?"

"Of course."

She slowly let a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. She hated this feeling of nervousness that seemed to suddenly overwhelm her. "...A couple weeks ago, during your final test, you got hurt. I saw you pull out a piece of metal on your face and the wound looked like it was healing…." Her mouth opened but no more words came out, suddenly she felt like she could drink half of the lake down beneath her.

"Oh, you saw that?" He chuckled. "I guess I shouldn't tell Petra or Hange that I had been found out so quickly." He put his hands behind him and leaned back on them, now staring up at the clear night sky. "You know, I didn't mention this earlier and I don't think Erwin has made an effort to release this to the public either so I guess it can be a little secret between the two of us. In our military, certain soldiers who show high aptitude are given a surgery to undergo some…improvements."

"And that is?"

"Everything. Ever since the surgery, my ability to memorize information is better, I'm stronger, faster, don't tire easily, see better, hear better etcetera and etcetera. It's a bit of a sensory overload sometimes to be honest."

"I see…and that includes faster healing? Like a titan?"

"Not like a titan." He admitted with a shrug. "As you saw today, I still have my scars so there's a limit to what these nanomachines can do and I can't regrow limbs or a head like a titan. Although if I were to get my arm chopped off, as long as I can reattach it then I can reuse it fairly easily."

She tilted her head in curiosity. "Nanomachines?"

"They're like….little machines inside my body, smaller than the eye can see and they help with everything I just said. Without it, I'm just an ordinary human."

She scoffed in disbelief. "Somehow I doubt that."

"Doubt what?"

"That you're a normal human being without these nanomachines or whatever."

He gave her a grateful smile. "I'm happy you think that way Annie but it's true. I'm just an ordinary person in an extraordinary situation. After all…nothing's changed over the last decade." The last bit came out as a low whisper, as if she wasn't meant to hear it.

She watched as the normally calm and pleasant outward demeanor got replaced by a blank yet haunted stare. It was something she saw often in some of the veteran Eldians who had been on the frontlines for a long period of time. Many of those people, she knew, often ended their own lives. Her hand clenched the grass as she studied in his melancholic expression, there was a temptation to gently hold his hand that she shoved down. "So, the Federation of Eldia? Where is that?" She quickly moved on from the subject, drawing him from whatever memory he was in.

He shook his head as the normal facade he wore returned. "I don't know, for all I know I could be in another world." He blinked several times. "Ah…shit, mind keeping that a secret too?" He rubbed his temple with his finger.

'What the hell does he mean, another world?' She kept her face as stoic as possible. "Only if you tell me." She blandly joked to him.

"You drive a hard bargain. Hmmm where do I begin?" He lightly hummed to himself. "Let's see…. For one I didn't come here in the most traditional sense. Long story short, I was…placed here either from halfway across the globe or I'm in another world entirely. That's why I'm with the Scouts, they're my best shot at contacting home."

Her eyes narrowed as she began putting some of the puzzle pieces together. "And how would you even contact your superiors? Where would you even begin?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out….never? Or maybe later? Who knows?" He lightly teased as he chose to lay down on his back. "Ah….this feels nice." He groaned as he stretched his back out.

"So….with that being said, do you really think there are more humans out there? That we aren't the last ones left on earth?"

He rolled over onto his side, looking up at her from the ground. "Of course there are, we just have to find them."

"How are you so sure?"

"Because, some of us are too stubborn to die. One way or another there is someone out there. You guys…no we aren't alone Annie."

She let a comfortable silence settle between them as she organized her thoughts. Contrary to what she suspected earlier, she found herself second guessing what she thought she knew of Alphonse. Now, she began to reevaluate the young soldier.

Because while she was a terrible liar herself, she was pretty good at detecting lies. Alphonse may be holding some information back from her but nothing he had said so far seemed like an outright lie.

Strangely enough, maybe it was because of his rather earnest behavior and actions or maybe it was something else but she wanted to believe him. Her eyes flickered over to the man. Sometime over the past couple minutes he had rolled over onto his other side so all she could see was his back. 'But it's too early to tell. I need more time.' She surmised as she stood up, wincing from her sore body as she did so.

"Goodnight Annie."

She paused mid step and turned around. He was still in the same position, seemingly asleep from this angle. "Goodnight Alphonse." She whispered. When she reached the treeline, she found herself turning back around, giving him one last look. "Will you be here tomorrow again?" She asked, trying to hide the hesitation in her voice.

He craned his head towards her at the question. "Yeah I probably will."

She bit her lips as she looked away. "Then I'll see you tomorrow." With that she left the man to his own devices. Her tired mind worked to put some of the puzzle pieces together of the enigmatic man. Everything he had told her seemed like the truth, either that or he was the worlds best liar. There was one thing that made her wonder just what his true intentions were, which was, if he really was from beyond the known world, or even from another world entirely, why would he be sent here alone?

Now that she thought about it, it made more sense that he was from another world, even if such an idea seemed impossible at first. Because unless there was a dark corner of the world where Eldians have managed to rebuild a nation then she saw no other way this "Federation of Eldia" could exist.

Unless he was lying and if he was…then that changed everything.

But she was more than reasonably sure he wasn't lying outright.

However, was it just a coincidence that he found Paradis? Out of all the places in the world how did he end up here with no way to communicate back with his superiors?

In that sense, his mission here, whatever it may be, looked awfully similar to her own. However, she crossed an ocean while he seemingly crossed worlds. The idea of such an act began to hurt her brain. There was so much she didn't know, it was impossible for her to make a decision.

She slowly sneaked past the cadets in the tower and quickly got into her bed. 'We should've left, we never should've continued.' She bitterly thought. How much longer will she have to continue this facade of hers? How many more innocent lives will she have to take before she could return home? Her eyes cracked open and she glanced at the sleeping recruit across from her.

Will there come a day where she would have to dirty her hands with the blood of these individuals around her?

The thought of such an action….scared her.

Because while she tried her best to distance herself from these people, the day to day life here began to affect her too. She found herself enjoying the moments where she could pretend to be a soldier.

Her eyes slowly fluttered as sleep began to consume her.

'How much longer….for how much longer will I be in this hell?'

As soon as her eyes closed, she found herself jolting awake. It took a moment to realize it was already morning as the other cadets were dressing themselves. She shook her head and groggily sat up in her bed, now very aware of the soreness that reached every nook and cranny of her body. There were parts she didn't know could be sore, despite all her years under her father and Marley's own instructors.

With an audible groan she stood up and began dressing herself in her uniform. The process took much longer than she expected as every movement seemed to be hindered by the previous day's activities.

Her only saving grace was that she wasn't the only one. She watched out of the corner of her eyes as Mina had to get helped into her trousers by Sasha. No one said a word, everyone whimpered or groaned in pain.

Beside them, she watched as the ever stoic and infallible Mikasa stumbled over her feet as she tried to put her own boots on.

Not even Shadis managed that to the oriental woman.

"ALL YOU RECRUITS, GET IN FORMATION NOW!"

Her eyes widened as Alphonse's booming voice thundered through the compound. "Shit." She cursed as she ran out with the others as she finished putting her jacket over her hoodie. She stood with everyone as they all scrambled into formation. A sense of impending doom swelled from her stomach as she saw the otherworldly soldier stand at the head of the formation with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You're all late, care to explain?"

No one dared to speak up.

"I see then…" He glanced over at the commandant. "Commandant Shadis, permission to teach these recruits about the consequences of tardiness?"

The older man nodded. "They're yours until afternoon."

Alphonse nodded. "Good. I want all ears and eyes on me! Go back into your quarters and stuff all of your belongings into the backpack given to you and I mean all of it. Every single thing you disgusting mouth breathing recruits have, stuff it and then grab your ODM gear with a full combat load. Get back here in 10 minutes!"

She internally groaned as she immediately knew what he had planned.

The dreaded forced march. Her eyes met his for the briefest of moments. To her annoyance she found an almost sadistic glee in his brown eyes.

"Asshole." She mumbled as she and the other cadets practically hobbled back to their rooms. It was going to be a painful three years.

He frowned as he reread his orders from Erwin. They were moving up the date for the 34th expedition. In his orders the commander had neglected to mention why this was the case, much to his annoyance.

'Is Erwin getting too confident?' He mused as he set the paper down on his desk. Over the past 6 months or so, their last three expeditions had been a resounding success. Public and military morale seemed to be at an all time high and Erwin had mentioned with the lessening of casualties he wanted to increase the frequency of the expeditions.

But he never agreed to rushing a mission, he had seen enough failures from a mission being rushed for the sake of time. Of course there were occasions where time was a luxury he didn't have and under such circumstances, the mission would proceed as planned but it would never be rushed to this extent. Getting overconfident could lead to fatal mistakes that kill good soldiers. However, it wasn't in his place to judge the commander.

"I'm sure he's under a lot of pressure too." He quietly mumbled to himself. The military police never seemed to get on with the idea that he was here to help. There were a number of times where they had tried to imprison him but Erwin had met them every step of the way to prevent such an outcome. It helped of course that the popularity of the Survey Corps was at an all time high. 'But still, moving up the expedition a whole month? That's next week. On top of that he's promoting Ilse to command the entire right wing but I'm being kept in the left wing with a squad of my own, why the sudden change? And this late into planning?'

'What the hell are you planning?' He bit his lips as an uneasy feeling settled in his stomach. He let out a tired sigh and ran a hand through his hair. Out of habit, he pulled the longer bangs to the side.

He clicked his tongue as the dark pit of doubt grew. There was nothing he could do now, other than carry out his duty. He was just about to leave when there was a series of knocks on his door.

"Come in!" He barked as he flipped the paper over. He blinked in surprise as he saw Ymir, Krista and a very angry looking Annie walk in. It wasn't unusual to see Ymir and Krista together but with Annie? That was surprising but then again, judging by her cold expression, it didn't seem like she wanted to be with the duo, especially this late at night. "Is there a problem? What's going on?"

Ymir gave him a cheeky smirk. "No problem here but stone cold Annie might."

He raised an eyebrow and turned to the woman in question. "Annie?"

"It's nothing." She said in no nonsense tone but Ymir wasn't having it.

"That right? Well Krista and I were taking our nightly stroll together and saw her sneaking around." She shrugged. "I had to know where little Annie was going so late but…" She gave him and her a knowing look. "Who would've thought that little Annie wasn't so little anymore."

He rolled his eyes. "You're looking too deep into it. Unlike you, Ymir, I have the common sense to not let my feelings interfere with my job here."

If possible her smile grew larger and Krista seemed to shrink into herself as she saw her friends look. "Ah so you do have feelings for her then?"

He didn't miss the way Annie stiffened at the accusation. Her anger seemed to wash away and get replaced by uncertainty. "And if I did what would you do?" He laced his hands under his chin, giving her a glare.

All three ladies blinked in surprise. None of them saw that response coming.

"I…I…" Ymir trailed off as she glanced at Annie.

"Won't do a damn thing." He finished for her. "If you think there is any sort of relationship between the two of us that has resulted in Annie getting preferential treatment then please enlighten me Ymir. I'm more than welcome to criticism."

She raised her hands up in surrender. "Fine fine, sorry jeez I was just teasing you know? Annie is so cold to us but I've seen the way she looks at you." She nudged Annie with an elbow. "Come on Annie, you know you're not that sneaky right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Ymir, maybe staring at Krista for so long has warped your eyes." She coldly and bluntly replied as she continued to stare at him.

He raised a hand to stop the two from bickering any further. "You two can argue all you want outside of my office, is there anything else?"

"Actually, yeah." Ymir started as she pulled up a chair. "I wanna know something about you, Alphonse."

"Ymir, maybe you shouldn't." Krista pulled on Ymir's sleeve nervously.

He stared at the brown haired cadet, curious as to what brought this on. He was further surprised when Annie grabbed a chair of her own. "Krista? What about you?"

She looked around nervously before following the other girl's actions.

"So what is it?"

"This is something a lot of us cadets have been talking about you know, it's just that no one has gotten the courage to ask you. They all respect you too much for whatever reason. Anyway, you said you've been in the military since you were five. Well I want to know what was your first mission then, what kind of mission would grown men send a five year old to do?"

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Annie had been asking about his past more and more over the last couple months so he didn't miss the way she gave her full attention to him. He was very tempted to tell the three of them to get the hell out of his office but the more he stared at their questioning looks, the more he began to relent. 'Well I guess there's no harm in it.'

"You sure?" He received a confident nod from them. "Well, simply put, it was an assassination mission."

Their eyes widened in shock.

He leaned back in his chair as he thought back to those days. Despite the decade that had passed, he still remembered every detail of it, after all…

It was the first time he had stained his hands with blood.

He silently stalked his target from afar as they walked down the busy city streets. He adjusted the straps on his backpack, keeping the image of a young student. Nobody paid any attention to him, after all, he was just a harmless kid.

"With all due respect sir, how do we know this is our guy? Without interrogating him we won't know for sure if we're killing a spy." He asked in a respectful tone.

The intel officer gave him a cold stare. "How many agents do you think we've caught that just bit a cyanide pill at the first chance they got? Don't worry about it kid, we've done our homework. Plus it's also highly probable that he is somehow linked to how Marley managed to smuggle whatever weapon they used to level your hometown."

His lips twitched at the mention of his city.

"Personally, I don't agree with Colonel Victus on assigning you to this man for your first mission. You're too emotionally involved with the mission."

The spy in question entered a flower shop, one of his regular spots. The man bought a small bouquet of flowers once every couple weeks and it was the same number and kind of flowers every time too.

"Watch how he holds his flowers, Alphonse. In Marleyan culture, they have a habit of holding a bouquet with a reversed grip. Us Eldians don't."

"The devil is in the details." He murmured as he watched the spy walk out the flower store in the surveillance camera.

"Precisely, there's hope for you yet, Chief."

His eyes narrowed as the man walked out with his bundle of flowers.

And it was held upside down in a reversed grip.

"Remember, that pistol is only a last resort. Make it look like an accident."

He felt the weapon shift on the small of his back, the jacket and backpack ensuring it was concealed properly. 'After the flower store he visits a coffee shop and orders a plain black, iced coffee.' He walked alongside the man on the other side of the street. The small coffee shop was 3 blocks down and the spy would have to cross the street to get to it.

At this time of the day, there would normally be no one in the store.

And this store didn't have any cameras.

So it was all too easy for him to rush ahead of the spy and slip in from the back. The employees at this time were high schoolers and with no customers, they were all on their phones in the small office. As they were everyday. He sneaked past the office and quickly took a look around. The coffee was sitting in the pot, all he had to do was put the poison in the pot and the rest would be history.

He dug the dissolving pill from his pocket and moved to put the pill in. His hand hovered the pot, poison in hand.

An untraceable fish poison that would induce a heart attack minutes after consumption. He glanced outside, he could see the spy crossing the street. His mission was practically done.

But poison was indiscriminate, anyone else who drank it, would also suffer the same fate.

He couldn't do it.

Tucking the pill away he ducked under the counter and quietly slipped out the back of the building.

His heart raced as he walked around the store. Inside, he saw one of the workers pour the coffee from the pot. His hands shook slightly inside his pockets as the man walked out of the store and resumed his walk.

He trailed behind him again but at a closer distance. He had lost his best chance at a clean kill so now, he would have to make his own opportunity. His hand twitched as the man dipped into a back street. When rounded the corner he saw the spy was gone, leaving an empty street. He slowly walked down the street, keeping an eye out for the man.

'Where did he go?' He silently thought as he looked around. His eyes widened as he was grabbed from behind and ripped into a dark alleyway. He grunted in pain as he was thrown into a wall. A hand gripped his throat as it pinned him in place.

"You've been following me for a while, why?"

He opened his eyes and looked up at the source of the gruff voice. When he didn't say anything, the hand around his throat tightened.

"Not gonna talk? Whatever." He reached behind him and brandished a small pistol.

He stared down the barrel of the gun before looking back up at the spy.

"Don't hate me for this kiddo, hate your superiors for putting you up to this kind of shit." The man closed his eyes. "Damn it."

He saw his chance as the spy lowered his guard. Uncaring of the hand around his throat he reached up with both hands and grabbed the pistol. Forcefully, he yanked the barrel up and away from his head just as it discharged a round with a thunderous bang. He swung his knee into his groin, causing the man to double over in pain. Taking the opportunity he ripped the pistol out of his hand before shoving the barrel into his mouth.

For the briefest of moments he stared deep into the dark eyes of the spy.

Fear.

And then acceptance, all in the span of a scant few milliseconds.

Without another moment of hesitation, he pulled the trigger. Life disappeared from his eyes as the wall behind him was showered with blood and gore.

He let the body drop on the ground with a lifeless thud as he stared at his hands.

Blood, there was a lot of blood. Red liquid covered his hands and he could feel the same wetness on his face. Without thinking he licked a wet spot on his bottom lip.

And tasted iron.

He returned from memory lane as the trio stared at him with varying degrees of emotions. Ymir and Krista looked like a mix between horrified and uncomfortable as he gazed at them while Annie just looked sad and confused. "I did ask if you guys were sure." He reminded them bluntly. "That's how the majority of my missions went for most of the war." He sighed as he was reminded of the near decade long meat grinder. "I think I was perhaps 6 years into my time when I got switched to the frontlines….and then it was another 3 years of fighting before it was over."

Nine long years of fighting and what did Eldia have to show for it? Some specks of land and money paid for by the deaths of millions.

"How terrible." Krista mumbled. "Who were you fighting for so long?"

"Marley." He did not miss the way Ymir and Annie stiffened at the mentioning of the nation. 'Interesting, why does the name Eldia and Marley warrant that kind of reaction? First it was Annie and now it's Ymir too. How are you related to all of this?' He kept his observation to himself. One way or another, he'd eventually get the answers he needed.

Ymir bit her lips and looked away for a moment. With a sigh she abruptly stood up and grabbed Krista. "Well thanks for the story, Alphonse. I'll make sure to let everyone know we're getting taught by an assassin."

"Ymir!" Krista admonished the taller woman as she was dragged along.

He chuckled and waved the duo goodnight. "Sure sure go ahead, make sure everyone knows before tomorrow, I got something special for you guys."

"Damn sadist." Ymir murmured as she shut the door behind her.

He turned his attention to Annie, who was looking more conflicted than anything else. "Annie."

She blinked a few times at her name being called before she stared at him.

"Did that satisfy some of your curiosity?"

Her uncertain expression was quickly replaced by her standard deadpan facade. "A little bit." She admitted with a shrug.

"Well now I've got something I want to know about you Annie." He leaned his head on his hand. "Want to know what it is?"

"Not really." She pushed her chair back and stood up as she tried to leave.

Not that he would let her without something to think about. "I got pretty good at reading facial and body expressions, had to, with my line of work, you know."

Her hand twisted the doorknob. "And?"

"Does the word Marley mean anything to you?"

She froze for a moment too long. "No." She pushed the door open and walked out his office.

He didn't miss how she was trying to mask her panic as she tried to calmly escape. "I'm sure it doesn't." He smirked at the implications of such a reaction from multiple people.

'So…..that's how it is then.'