Trusting someone,
it's like walking with your eyes closed.
Trust no one
is a sure way to lose those you hold close.

-Sentinel

-Emmryn's POV-

My eyes opened to a bright blue sky and the sound of yelling from my squad members. Sitting up, I held my head in my hand to try and stop the dizziness I was experiencing; however, I was snapped out of this when I was yanked upright and faced with a pissed off looking team.

"What the hell was that, brat? Are you trying to die BEFORE your first expedition?" Levi yelled as he let go of the arm he had yanked me up by. There was no response from me. Instead, my eyes wandered to my teammates who all looked pissed and distrusting, except for Oluo who looked just as smug as can be.

"Oi! Brat! I asked you a fucking question!" Levi yelled, turning my attention back to him. Before I could respond to him...

"Captain, she's probably scared speechless because her big brother isn't here to protect her," Oluo sneered, "Plus, the training she has isn't suited for titans." With that last statement, he winked suggestively towards me. Involuntarily, my body shuttered, and my eyes widened as I looked at my feet.

"What kind of training do you even have, Emmryn?" I heard Petra inquire in a very hurt and angry tone.

"Yeah! If you aren't trained to fight titans, you shouldn't even be here! That puts our whole damn squad at risk! How selfish are you?" Gunther added, raising his voice for the first time since I'd met him. This broke me.

"Who said I even asked to be here?" I yelled as my head shot up, my bangs on my right side moving, uncovering my right eye. There were audible gasps from my teammates, except for Oluo, who seemed to think continuing to push me was in his best interest.

"So that's why you're here. Can't quite satisfy men if they have to look at that, even if it's just for a cheap lay. That'd ruin any guys ability to fuck you, ruins your ability to remain a prostitute right? So you come crawling back to your precious big brother to try and get some money since you're too ugly to continue in your previous profession," Oluo accused with a huge smirk on his face. The tears that had gathered in my eyes without my knowledge fell as everyone around me was silent. I felt Levi's eyes on me, clearly waiting to see what I would do. He and Erwin could not protect me forever. It's been four months. I could do this.

"Are you done?" I asked monotonously as the tears fell from my eyes as I looked at my team members. All of them had a mixed look of disgust, betrayal, and the worst one: pity.

"If so, there are some things I need to say. You will not get an apology out of me because I don't believe I owe a single person here an apology. My name is Emmryn Smith, and yes, my older brother is Commander Erwin Smith. I had completed one year of my training in the Cadet Corps when I was kidnapped by human traffickers and forced into the Underground. A ransom letter was sent to my older brother who was a Captain in the Scouts at the time. Instead of coming to rescue me or even try and find me, he left me in the underground for the sake of humanity. I was forced into prostitution for 6 years from the age of 16 till I escaped 5 months ago at the age of 22. In addition to the prostitution, I was physically and mentally abused by my captors. I only escaped by enduring two minutes of literal torture in which I was not allowed to make a single sound. My right arm was broken and along with a multitude of other injuries, my right eye was slashed through. I then was forced to try and escape from the underground with terrible injuries before finally making it above ground and fainting and being arrested. At my trial, I was granted a pardon if and only if, I manage to complete three expeditions under the supervision of Captain Levi," I explained bitterly, "None of us chose this situation. I never wanted to be a burden to anyone. I just wanted freedom, the same thing you all are fighting for." And with that I turned away from my team and using my ODM gear, I fled back to the base, not caring to hear their responses.

— Levi's POV—

Damn... That speaking ability and charisma is definitely a family trait, but while Erwin always sounded so strong and confident, Emmryn just sounded... broken. After Oluo's comments about Emmryn being a prostitute, I had seen red and nearly kicked his ass right then, but I had talked to Erwin after he and Emmryn spoke. He said she was trying to become stronger, and she couldn't do that if we all fought her battles for her. Shitty glasses had agreed and said allowing her to hold her own socially on a team could really aid in her mental healing. So I had kept my bored expression constant throughout the whole exchange. Now, Emmryn had left and while part of me wanted to chase her down and reprimand her for leaving training without permission, there were bigger issues at hand.

"I can't believe she lied to us," Petra lamented, clearly hurt and angry. Eld and Gunther nodded in agreement.

"Aw well it's probably best that she ran off. Can't have a prostitute ruining the pedigree and dignity of the Levi squad," Oluo boasted proudly. And that was the statement that earned him a hard punch to the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and landing him on the ground.

"Shut the hell up, Oluo! This is my fucking squad and I will determine how it needs to be ran," I stated the calmness of my voice laced with an edge of anger, "I don't give a damn about the past. Just the kind of soldier you all can be." My squad looked at me nervously, and Oluo began digging his own grave.

"Then Captain, you've seen how far behind us she is skills wise. Why would she be allowed on our squad? She's not worthy of being on this squad," Oluo backpedaled, trying to make his issues with her skills instead of her background. I picked him up off the ground by his collar until he was eye level with me.

"This is the last fucking time I'm telling you this. This is my fucking squad. Don't even think about telling me how to run it again," I stated as I shoved him back down to the ground and began walking back towards HQ before turning to glare at him, "And if you ever endanger a member of this squad again, your ass is getting moved to another squad if I don't decide to fucking feed you to a titan myself." Then I proceeded to walk off in search of a dark copper haired girl that looked murderous and dead at the same time when she had left.

Song: You Let Me Walk Alone by Michael Schulte

Edited: 03/25/2020