"Now of a piece with the age,

it does no fever of my rage assuage

to think that years I fought,

to keep myself from adding up to nought,

were jolly jolly sixpence, nothing caught

out of my heedless nature's car,

that in distress with dress, my soul goes bare

to wear the same old war that I must ware."

~Felix N. Stefanile

The trial had finally ended, and two of the military police reluctantly pulled out the bar that had been locking me into place from the floor. I sighed in slight relief as they also unlocked my hands. I barely moved my right arm before whimpering slightly. Yup. Definitely broken.

"Em..." I heard a familiar strong voice say, and I flinched before looking up at the towering figure that is my older brother. He looked like he had a lot to say, but I really didn't want to hear any of it. Not here. Not in front of people.

"My name is Emmryn," I said coldly before saluting with my left arm the best I could seeing as my arm was completely immobile at this point, "Thank you, Commander Smith, for allowing me to pay for my crimes by joining the Survey Corps."

"Tch. The brat doesn't even know how to salute properly. She's a lost cause, Erwin," I heard a baritone voice with a coldness that rivaled my own say. I turned to glare at the source of the voice. It was the black-haired guy that had been standing next to Erwin during the trial.

"Levi. Enough. It would appear that her right arm is broken. Is that correct, Em?" Erwin said and I stared coldly at him, "I mean Cadet Emmryn."

"Yes, Commander," I responded before lowering my left arm. Wait. Levi. That name. It's the name that Zachary said would be in charge of me until I paid off my debt to society. Yup. My luck is actually crap.

My thoughts were interrupted by Erwin clearing his throat, "Emmryn, there is a carriage waiting to take us three back to the Survey Corps headquarters. I will request the Military Police to fetch your belongings." I actually laughed at this, though it was empty sounding, and Erwin looked at me as though I had lost it. Maybe I had.

"Commander Smith, I barely escaped the Underground with my LIFE. I have no belongings. I am ready to leave this place," I stated honestly, trying my best to ignore the obvious pity in his face. With that, he nodded and motioned for me, and the little black haired asshole to follow him.

We followed him all the way to the carriage. Did I mention it was winter? There was snow on the ground which almost made me smile. It was white and fresh and pure. I had not seen anything like this in over 6 years; however, the cold kind of ruined it for me considering the military police had only seen it fitting to keep me in a tattered shirt and shorts that they happened to have lying around. It was better than the dress than found me in as far as self-respect goes, but for warmth they were about equal.

Erwin led us to a carriage before opening the door and motioning for me to enter. I almost commented about his kind gesture being meaningless to me, but all the stares and hushed whispers I could hear being made towards me made me uncomfortable, and I hurried into the carriage. Erwin followed and sat next to me with Captain Levi sitting across from us after closing the carriage door. Without meaning to, I began to shake uncontrollably from the cold. I felt Erwin shifting next to me as the carriage began to move, and the cold subsided as I felt a heavy jacket covering my small frame. I looked up from my hands to see Erwin without his jacket, remaining in his military white button up and signature bolo tie.

"Commander, this is unnecessary. I will be fine," I said coldly, starting to shrug the jacket off trying not to wince at the pains that wracked my body with each tiny movement.

"A normal person would say thank you. Now quit acting like a brat. Isn't this the part where you two are supposed to have a touching sibling reunion or some shit like that?" the raven haired captain commented in an irritated voice. I felt the jacket being brought up over my shoulders again, and I gave into the warmth this time. I looked at Erwin who gave me a small smile when he saw that I wouldn't shrug it off again. For some reason that smile pissed me off.

"Well, touching sibling reunions are for siblings that actually give a shit about each other. Not ones that leave their baby sister to be constantly tortured in the Underground for 6 years," I replied plainly. I felt Erwin stiffen beside me before grabbing my right shoulder to turn me towards him. I yelped in pain before turning to glare at him, the hair covering my right eye finally moving, making it visible to him. It must have been pretty bad because he let out an audible gasp.

"Em... I'm sorr-" Erwin started, but I interrupted him.

"I'm sorry, Commander, but I do not want or need your apology. It will change nothing. I have not had family in a long time, and I no longer desire one. Also, my name is Emmryn," I said tears starting to fill up in my eyes. I looked up at Erwin, silently begging him to understand why I was pushing him away. I was broken, and I honestly did not believe I could be fixed.

"Emmryn," Erwin started again with a sad smile on his face as he lifted his hand to touch my cheek, to which I recoiled quickly, "You've become strong in these last 6 years. I do acknowledge that you do not want my apology, but I will tell you that I do intend to make up for my mistakes." I bit back the tears. I wanted so badly to believe him, but I knew. I just knew that the second the betterment of humanity came up, he would sell me back to the monsters who did this to me if he thought it would benefit humanity.

"Tch." This Captain Levi was starting to piss me off.

"I apologize. I forgot to introduce you both. Emmryn, this is my right hand soldier, Captain Levi Ackerman. Levi, this is Emmryn Smith, my younger sister," Erwin introduced us, noticing the tension, "Levi, you will be training her once she has healed, and she will be working to become part of your squad. Emmryn, Levi is one of, if not, the best soldier I have ever met. You will be able to learn a lot from him." I rolled my eyes and glared at the shorty who in return got right in my face. I got irritated and spat at him. Suddenly, the left side of my face felt like it was on fire, and I lifted my left hand to my cheek where I could feel the heat from it and looked up to see that the Captain had clearly slapped me. He looked irritated.

"One of the first things you will learn from me is respect, brat," he stated clearly pissed.

I glared before answering through gritted teeth, "Yes, sir." Of course my dear older brother did not respond to this jerk slapping his already injured baby sister.

"Levi, she's injured. We do not know how badly. Please keep your temper in check until we can have her medically evaluated," Erwin said in an authoritative voice. Oops. Guess I thought too soon. I looked up at my older brother. He actually looked pretty irritated with the short captain. I allowed myself a small smile despite myself. He was trying, so I guess I could too. Snuggling myself into my older brother's jacket which had a familiar fresh scent that brought me back to my childhood, almost involuntarily, I found myself yawning and leaning onto Erwin's arm.

"Thank you so much, Erwin," I whispered smally, allowing myself to fall into a light slumber, for once feeling somewhat safe.

Song: Natural by Imagine Dragons

Edited: 03/24/2020