Between two worlds

by Angie296

Mizuki ends up inside the walls without remembering where she came from. All she knows is that she does not belong to that world, and that she wants to return home. To do so, she has no choice but to rely on the Survey Corps, and on her golden eyes capable of tinging the color of blood, inherited from her father, the last descendant of the Uchiha clan. Levi X OC

20. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: I'm standing here defiant, much stronger than you thought. I won't be overtaken. Give me everything you've got!

Give me everything you've got - Blue Stahli

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June 850

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One week before the fifty-seventh expedition

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For early June, the heat was infernal. That year, summer had descended upon the earth prematurely, seemingly driven by the desire to cheer up humanity, oppressed by the perpetual threat of the Titans. The clear sky, unmarred by even a puff of cloud, loomed over the training of the Survey Corps soldiers, who galloped and ran like the damned from dawn to dusk; the leafy trees echoed with the incessant croaking of cicadas and the chirping of birds, interspersed with the shouts of commanding officers; the tender, vibrant green grass swayed gently to the rhythm of the wind and the gusts caused by galloping horses.

Less than a week remained until the 57th expedition beyond the walls, and preparations were in full swing.

The unrest stirring among the ranks, as observed by the commanding officers, was far greater than usual. The reasons were manifold: the disaster and victory at Trost; Jaeger's presence; the pressure from the upper echelons of the military; and the baffling decision - debated and opposed by many captains - to include the newly graduated recruits, who had joined the Corps less than a month ago.

The entire Survey Corps had moved to the former Headquarters for two days, the first of which was dedicated to simulating an expedition across the plains and woods adjacent to the castle. Under the guidance of the commander and their respective captains, the soldiers - especially the cadets, who had never tried it - practiced the long-distance scouting formation, assuming the positions they would occupy in the lineup a week later: they scanned the horizon for enemies, delivered messages between squads, fired smoke signals into the air, and awaited orders from the central command group.

The only ones who did not take part in the exercise were Levi's squad and Eren, who continued training in a separate location.

By evening, once the simulation was complete, the soldiers set up camp with tents around the castle and spent the night under the stars, singing camaraderie songs and exchanging confidences in select groups; the captains and the commander, however, stayed within the building. Even Mizuki, who could have slept in her assigned room as a soldier officially tasked with guarding Eren Jaeger, chose to join her comrades outside for the evening.

The following morning, the Corps remained at the castle for an organizational meeting between the captains and their deputies. Since the surrounding woods were an ideal setting for practicing with the ODM gear or horseback riding, the soldiers in charge of training the cadets took advantage of the extended stay, and at dawn they roused the recruits for an extra training session. Mizuki lent a hand at the explicit request of Wilma Kristen, who oversaw the activities and had expressed her deep admiration for the girl's abilities on multiple occasions. Predictably, however, Mizuki proved to be a terrible instructor: when she had to explain something, she got tangled up and inserted irrelevant comments that confused the cadets. Reluctantly, Wilma had to demote her, and Mizuki spent the morning performing manual support tasks, such as retrieving dropped items for galloping riders or maneuvering cardboard Titan cutouts.

Just before lunch, the cadets were granted an hour of free time, and the meeting with the commander was adjourned.

Stepping out into the garden, Levi drew a long breath of fresh, clean air. He didn't like the situation at all. In the room where the meeting was held, the atmosphere was tense, agitated, filled with barely concealed expectations, at least from the captains. Most of the officers had been part of the military since before the Shiganshina disaster - the deputies, on the other hand, were too young - and knew Erwin well enough to suspect that, with the sudden announcement of this expedition and his provocative speech to the recruits, he had something in mind.

Thus, they knew that something unpleasant would likely happen beyond the walls. Many, far from being fools - and Levi was among them - had also guessed what: the commander believed they would be attacked by a Titan. This, in and of itself, should not have been surprising. The issue was that it wouldn't just be any Titan, but a human who could transform into one, or vice versa, a Titan who could turn human and possessed the gift of intellect.

Levi had already pondered the possibility of such beings existing back in 845, after reading the reports on the bizarre behavior of the Colossal and Armored Titans. Over time, however, he had stopped paying attention to the theories he had formed back then; other thoughts - including one regarding a certain brat who breathed fire from her mouth - had occupied his mind. Now, however, with the reappearance of those two and the discovery of Jaeger, he, like many others, had connected the dots. Unlike the other captains, however, Levi had refused to remain in a state of hazy uncertainty. Confident enough with both Erwin and Hange, one evening he had stayed behind in Erwin's office to ask for explanations, which, naturally, had been provided in detail.

A potential enemy infiltrated from the outside - just like the brat, her comrades, and their mysterious adversaries - the suspicion that this enemy had slipped into the military's ranks, and Erwin's determination to root them out, at any cost. The plan for capturing the shape-shifting Titans - devised by the commander and Hange - would be shared the day before the expedition, and only with veterans who had served since before the Shighanshina disaster.

It was more than enough to keep him awake for entire nights - as had indeed happened - and to give him splitting headaches.

He didn't care about himself. He never had. If he were to lose his life for the cause, he would die without regrets. And it would have been the same even if it had been his companions who died.: he would mourn them, carry them forever in his heart, and fight to ensure their sacrifice wasn't in vain, but he would survive.

Above all, even if a Titan were on the verge of crushing or devouring them before his very eyes, and he could save them with minimal effort, if the orders were to hold position, Levi wouldn't move a single millimeter. He would remain immobile and watch them die.

But her?

What would he do, in that case?

If it were her, could he hold his ground, remain rooted like a post, and watch her die in the most excruciating way?

Yes, he wanted to tell himself. Yes, you can do it, and you will. Last time, you made a mistake; you were caught off guard, but it won't happen again. Now you know what could happen. You're prepared, and you will let it happen, even if it tears you apart.

Levi, however, was too rigid and honest in character to lie so brazenly, especially to himself.

No, he wouldn't remain immobile. No, he wouldn't follow orders.

He would rush to her. He would run. He would save her.

The soldier and the man within him clashed, but it was an uneven fight.

The man won. He had an ally far too powerful on his side.

Mizuki won over everything. There was no order, cause, dream, or duty that could compete.

Levi clicked his tongue. He hated that conclusion, yet he couldn't control his impulses. Whatever Mizuki had awakened in him surpassed even his ironclad, unyielding will; it dominated him, overwhelmed him, reducing him to a passive entity, an animal driven by the basest of instincts.

During the meeting, he had carefully observed the reactions of the brat's buddy. Lavinia Williams had listened calmly to the interventions of the various captains and the commander, and had spoken up herself more than once. Given her overly relaxed demeanor, Levi suspected she intended to warn Mizuki about the potential danger looming over the soldiers. Knowing the brat, of course, it wouldn't be enough to keep her safe, but at least it would be a good start. For the rest, he would take care of it himself, he no longer hesitated to admit it.

To distract himself from these grim thoughts, the captain decided to take a walk outside before lunch. With a brisk, martial step, he reached the stone wall, about a meter high, bordering the garden, beyond which stretched a clearing dotted with trees, where several soldiers were either chatting or lazily training in the oppressive heat.

Under the shade of a leafy oak tree rested a trio of girls: Jacqueline and Lavinia sat cross-legged on the grass, while Mizuki stood leaning against the trunk in the middle of them.

His heart - just as always when he caught sight of her - instantly felt lighter. Despite the complicated nature of their relationship, her presence had the power to soothe him; the sight of her curly hair hastily tied back erased the headache, the anxiety, and the worries stirred up by the meeting with Erwin.

The three girls were talking animatedly - Levi couldn't know, nor could he imagine, that they were, in fact, discussing him and a certain bit of information Hange had accidentally let slip during one of her rambling monologues - and they didn't notice the captain watching them from a distance.

Levi reached the stone wall, intending to walk along its edge, so he could continue observing them from the corner of his eye as naturally as possible.

"After careful consideration, I've decided to cast my vote for Tennison."

"Ugh, Oluo. You traitor! So you're abandoning Lavinia to chase after the first woman who comes along?"

Levi frowned. Bozado and Schultz? Leaning slightly over the edge of the wall, he spotted the backs of his subordinates, crouched on the other side near the base of the wall, in the company of Eld and three recruits.

"Listen, Chestnut-Head," Oluo retorted, addressing Gunther with the nickname he'd been saddled with in the Corps after one of Mizuki's cheeky remarks, "This isn't about loyalty, but about objectivity in evaluating the facts. I mean, have you seen her or are you blind? Her tits are an objective and overwhelming argument in favor of her victory."

"Ah, those tits…" sighed a dreamy recruit with closely cropped brown hair.

"Care to add something, Connie?" Oluo teased, glancing toward Gunther as if to say: See? Told you I was right.

"Can I really say what I think?"

"Of course! That's why we're here!"

"You know, until now, I've never really had the chance to… Talk about this kind of stuff like this. In my village, it just wasn't done, and not at the Training Camp either. If the instructor caught you, your life was at risk…"

"Of course you've never talked about it. You're just a brat!"

Levi barely resisted the urge to click his tongue again. A brat, precisely a brat; and instead of treating him as such, his subordinates were encouraging him down the wrong path.

Gunther was losing patience. "Oh, shut up, Oluo! And you, go ahead, say your piece so we can move on!"

Connie straightened his back, his small brown eyes shifting left and right a couple of times as he contemplated the subjects he was supposed to decide between. "Oh, those breasts," he finally murmured dreamily, his eyelids half-closing. "Every time I see them, I feel like I could get lost in them."

"You all know nothing!" Gunther exclaimed, fired up. "Lavinia's got just as impressive a chest!"

Oluo raised a triumphant fist, then slammed it gracelessly onto Connie's back, causing him to start coughing. "Not as much as Tennison, apparently!"

"Only because she doesn't wear such revealing clothes. And besides, she's beautiful, refined, and elegant!"

"I also prefer the one with black hair," interjected another cadet suddenly. If Levi remembered correctly, his name was Jean Kirstein.

"Of course you do, because she looks more like Mikasa!" Connie, grinning, elbowed his companion in the stomach.

"Where? They've got nothing in common!"

"Well, yeah, that's true, but their hair is similar…" Connie trailed off, confused.

"You're such a blockhead."

"Ah, it's a tough choice," Eld pronounced with the tone of a seasoned connoisseur, stroking his chin. "No surprise there, though: on this battlefield, two titans are clashing. On one hand, we have Lavinia Williams, the beauty of the Survey Corps, Erwin's right hand. Radiant and unattainable, she's turned the heads of nearly all her comrades. On the other, Jacqueline Tennison: an ex-noble, rebellious and unconventional, voluptuous and seductive, with the aura of a woman who could drive a man insane with just a touch of her finger. The choice is tough! I honestly can't decide."

"Excuse me, but aren't you the one getting married in two months?" Oluo shot back, still not entirely over the idea. It was unbearable to him that Eld was about to get married when he, Oluo, was still hopelessly and inconsolably a virgin; and worse, a virgin "by necessity," as Mizuki often teased him with good reason, albeit no one had dared to give him that nickname, as it had happened to poor Gunther. That would've been just too cruel.

"Yes, and so what? As long as I'm just looking and sharing opinions, I'm doing nothing wrong," Eld replied serenely. "My vote goes to both!"

"Bastard!"

"Now it's a tie, though: three to three," Connie observed, counting on his fingers. "Reiner, it's up to you. Your vote will settle the score: so, who do you choose? The blonde beauty or the one with black hair?"

The third cadet, Reiner, remained silent for a moment; then, after clearing his throat, he announced, "Neither. I vote for Mizuki."

Levi, who until then hadn't paid much attention to him - his mind had been entirely occupied with devising a plan to make his squad pay for corrupting the recruits with such conversations - began to study him. He vaguely remembered his name: Reiner Braun, seventeen years old, ranked second or third in his class. He was a stocky blond boy, as broad and muscular as Erwin, with sharp, rugged features; despite his determined expression, there was a certain softness in it. In other words, Reiner Braun was the exact opposite of Levi.

"Mizuki? And who's that?" Connie asked, puzzled.

"The third girl, the one standing. The debate over who among them is the most beautiful started when we saw their group resting in the shade, so Mizuki is in the running just like the other two."

"Oh," Connie immediately accepted Reiner's logic and squinted his eyes to study the figure of the infamous third contestant. "But isn't she the one Instructor Shadis tried to headbutt for an entire day? What memories! That was hilarious!"

"Are you serious, kid?" Oluo clicked his tongue irritably. "Compared to Lavinia Williams and Jacqueline Tennison, Mizuki doesn't stand a chance."

It had to be admitted that Oluo - though driven in his statement by a sense of revenge against the girl who had humiliated him so thoroughly - wasn't entirely wrong.

Approaching the group, any passerby's gaze would inevitably be drawn to the two girls sitting down. Next to them, Mizuki seemed like an afterthought, almost an element of the background cleverly placed to highlight her friends' beauty, and the reason was simple: Jacqueline Tennison and Lavinia Williams were already women, both in body and mind, while Mizuki remained a girl.

While the other two had curvaceous, striking figures - despite their differing styles of dress and demeanor - Mizuki was skinny like a withered twig, with thin, spindly arms and legs, a flat chest, barely a hint of a waist, and a pale, gaunt face marked by deep, purplish shadows under her eyes that gleamed in the sunlight. On that small and worn oval, her large amber eyes burned like fiery embers, and a cascade of curls, reminiscent of a wild animal's fur, framed her sharp features. Only those two details saved her from being labeled "ugly" and "sickly."

However, more than physical appearance, what truly made the difference was their attitude: no one could doubt that Jacqueline and Lavinia had already experienced the pleasures of the flesh - one, in fact, made no secret of it; the other's experience was unmistakable in the sardonic expressions that occasionally crossed her face when hearing her comrades' sexual boasts - and this elevated them, fully and unquestionably, into the mysterious world of adults. Mizuki, on the other hand, was a child: she stubbornly, willfully, and tenaciously ignored and mocked the impulses and passions that animated her peers, continuing to live off dreams and whims.

At least, that was what others perceived of her; precisely what she wanted them to perceive. No one suspected that, in reality, her disposition was changing, or rather, that it had already undergone the most profound transformation. Initially, even she hadn't realized it. Even now, knowing full well, she persisted in playing the role of the child for those who saw her as such. She was a terrible liar, she always had been: she couldn't construct an entirely artificial reality to deceive others, but she had long since mastered the art of concealing what she didn't want others to see. And there was much she wished to keep hidden.

Levi sincerely believed he was the only one - aside from Willy Anderson and Sanders - who felt an attraction towards her. Above all, he believed he was the only one drawn first and foremost by her personality, and only as a consequence of that to have begun to appreciate her physical appearance - although, he admitted, Mizuki's laughter, golden eyes, and curly hair had never displeased him.

He had firmly believed this until now, at least; but now, a cadet had appeared who seemed to think the same way.

"Why not?" Reiner replied calmly, flexing his hand. "She's a pretty girl. Her figure is lean but athletic."

"Well, sure," Gunther conceded, inadvertently earning a glare from his captain. "She's got an enviable ass, but…"

The remark was met with general agreement among the group, a sign that everyone, without flaunting it, had noticed that particular detail. Levi couldn't blame them, nature had indeed blessed Mizuki with a truly remarkable ass, as Gunther had aptly pointed out; however, that didn't mean Levi appreciated how closely they'd scrutinized her to notice. His irrational and unjustifiable indignation irritated him: he had no right to feel jealous over her, nor was it in his nature, but one couldn't expect him to remain unaffected by such comments.

"Exactly," Reiner agreed, nodding. "Plus, she has striking hair and eyes, a beautiful smile, and a captivating personality."

That last statement, unlike the previous ones, didn't garner any agreement.

"Sorry, mate," Eld ventured to observe, assuming a diplomatic tone "Aside from the fact that this contest is based on looks, but… even if we were to judge personality, Mizuki would lose by default. She has an impossible character!"

Gunther and Oluo, Mizuki's favorite targets, muttered dark, irate affirmations.

At that point, Jean snapped out of his thoughts and, seizing the opportunity to get back for the constant teasing about his crush on Mikasa, insinuated, "I saw you and this Mizuki training together earlier with the gear... Don't tell me you've got a crush on her? And here I thought you were into Christa!"

Reiner Braun stoically kept his expression neutral, but the base of his neck flushed red, and the tendons on his skin stood out.

Before Reiner could open his mouth, however, Levi decided to preempt an answer he didn't want to hear. In an icy tone, he hissed: "We're heading out the walls in a week, and I find you here slacking off, talking about women?"

All six of them shot to their feet at once. The cadets, visibly intimidated by Levi's reputation and temper, tried to stammer out excuses. His subordinates, on the other hand, knowing their captain well, immediately realized it was the content of their conversation that had angered him, and they didn't even bother to justify themselves.

"I don't want to hear any bullshit," Levi interrupted with a click of his tongue. "Move your asses! You three over there too!"

The three girls, subjects of the debate, had finally turned in the group's direction at the sound of the captain's sharp reprimands, so Levi raised his voice to ensure his order was heard even from afar.

The soldiers scattered in all directions as if Levi had just kicked them rather than delivering a simple verbal reprimand. The same went for the girls - Lavinia and Mizuki at least - although they moved away more calmly, not missing the chance to shoot him glances filled with disdain, in Lavinia's case, and accusation, in Mizuki's. Though Levi noticed their reactions, he chose to ignore them for now, too irritated by his own childish response to having overheard a conversation about Mizuki. He believed that not even if he had a girlfriend would he ever get so annoyed by something like this. In any case, his reaction was inappropriate and misplaced: here he was, worrying about who was ogling her ass when, in a week's time, they'd head out on an expedition and would likely face a formidable enemy. He had just gotten over his jealousy towards Eren - jealousy he'd discovered was both baseless and, at times, outright ridiculous - and now here he was, starting all over again with the first recruit to remember Mizuki's name?

Frustrated with himself, he turned his back to the forest and stood still, scrutinizing the architecture of the towering castle above him, when a figure leaped nimbly over the low wall beside him and leaned against it with a sigh.

Levi followed the whole maneuver out of the corner of his eye but didn't bother to say a word.

"Well, Captain. You graciously invited us three ladies to move our asses, but I'm not a soldier, so I don't exactly have to break my back like the rest of you! So, I thought to myself: what do I usually do all day, which I stopped doing just to gossip with Mizuki and Lav? And then it hit me: of course, silly me, annoy people! And who better to annoy, just by being here, than Captain Levi? So here I am, ready to get back to work!"

Levi gave her a once-over. Jacqueline had leaned one hip against the wall so that she was facing him. She wore a pair of trousers and a fitted shirt with the top two buttons undone; from the opening of her neckline, her ample chest peeked out like a blooming flower on the side of a mountain, reaching out towards the void. Her hair was tied up high in a ponytail. She was beautiful, damn beautiful, and she knew it. If anything, her allure had only grown since she had abandoned her noble life. Gone was the cloying, frosty veneer imposed by her title as a duchess; in its place was what was evidently her true nature: having lost that cloying and frigid patina that the title of Duchess imposed on her and instead embraced what was, evidently, her true nature, Jacqueline's manners had become rougher but also more genuine, not to mention that the tan she acquired from living in the open air suited her.

Levi still didn't trust her, though he fully realized that his wariness stemmed from nothing but prejudice against nobles - a category she no longer even belonged to. In fact, ever since her escape and transformation, Levi had even started to find her somewhat likable. He'd also believed her, that night a week ago, when, in the darkness of the kitchen, she had broken down crying over the suffering her father had inflicted on innocents. That, however, didn't change her past.

Since that pitiful outburst, Jacqueline Tennison had gone right back to behaving like the irritating and petulant woman she was, showing no further signs of inner turmoil, though Levi suspected that her carefree attitude was an expertly crafted disguise for her real state of mind.

However, that didn't mean he would forgive her for any reckless behavior.

"Listen, woman," he finally said after a long silence. "Erwin decided to keep you here because we need you. I follow orders, but you need to get yourself in line. This is a military corps, not a village fair or a tavern."

Jacqueline, naturally, pretended not to understand and crossed her arms beneath her chest, a gesture he had seen her make before, one that only served to emphasize her curves even more.

"This place is full of brats, who we'll be sending outside the walls in a damn week. That's why we're trying to drill into their heads the knowledge they need to avoid getting themselves killed. I'd get pissed off if we're decimated because the recruits are too blinded by their hormones to pay attention to instructions. You understand me, right?"

"Oh, such prudishness! Are you sure it's only the brats who are having trouble focusing?" Jacqueline replied, smiling slyly as she leaned slightly towards him. "You were much better at not getting distracted by a pair of tits last year. This is no fun at all, Levi. I guess frustration makes you more vulnerable to certain illusions. It mustn't be easy having a delicious cake sitting right next to you and not being able to eat it, especially after you've had a taste."

She wasn't talking about herself, and both of them knew it.

Jacqueline Tennison had never outright revealed that she knew the secret between Levi and Mizuki, but at the same time, she hadn't done anything to hide that she was aware of it. When their paths crossed, she would stare at him for a long time, mischievously, with no trace of shame, her lips slightly parted as if on the verge of shouting some remark but holding herself back; then, she'd burst out laughing, always looking directly at him, a sure sign she was mocking him.

"Who gave you permission to address me informally?".

"Formalities feel too restrictive now".

Much like her clothes, apparently.

"In any case," she continued, "I'm available if you need to let off some steam. I already offered back in Orvud, and by now, with your awful personality, it's clear things between you two are going to take a while. I won't even mind if you call me by another name while we do it."

Levi fixed her with an icy glare. "Get yourself in line," he ordered one more time before walking a few paces away.

Jacqueline, however, already had another ace up her sleeve. She turned and, bending forward, rested her elbows on the low wall. With her chin nestled in her hands, she fixed her amused gaze on a point in the grass. "Speaking of kibratsds whose hormones are running wild, and those who set them off..."

He shouldn't have looked. He didn't want to, nor was it wise, but his body had other ideas.

Mizuki and Reiner were entwined in the clearing, just like many other soldiers sparring in hand-to-hand combat. The towering young man had her locked tightly in a firm hold from behind; yet the disadvantaged position didn't seem to concern her at all. With a well-placed kick - one Levi immediately recognized as his own teaching - Mizuki struck Reiner's leg, making him lose his balance; at the same time, she drove an elbow into his stomach, causing him to double over against her. With a huff, she grabbed his shoulders, bent down, and let his weight slide off her, using the opponent's weight and her abs.

"They're practically inseparable now. Every time Mizuki comes back to Trost, they eat together in the mess hall. Reiner trails after her like a little puppy wherever she goes; she calls him 'big guy,' and he calls her 'Miss Mizuki.' For any woman, that'd be better than 'brat,' wouldn't you agree?" Jacqueline observed the scene with a delighted smirk, savoring every bit of the effect she anticipated her words and the fight were having on the captain. She wasn't looking at him, she would never have ruined the blow with such a sign of weakness, she had very specific ideas on how people should be tormented.

In a flash, Mizuki had mounted Reiner, straddling his chest, and locked his neck with her arm to cut off his airflow, exactly as Levi had taught her. Reiner, however, quickly bucked her off and pinned her down again.

"Oh, I bet he's trying to rub himself against her as much as he can right now," Jacqueline drawled lazily, rocking back and forth on her heels. "That'll give him plenty of material… Lucky him!"

"Disgusting," Levi muttered with a final, strained comment. It could have referred to Jacqueline and her running commentary, to his own inappropriate behavior and the emotions he found utterly shameful, or most likely, to the sparring scene between Mizuki and Reiner. He turned sharply on his heels, decisively offering his back to the garden and its instigator, and stormed off in irritation.

Only then did Jacqueline turn around, satisfied, to savor the captain's defeated retreat.

She was aware she'd pushed the limits and maybe even been a tad cruel, she but believed the circumstances called for it: even if a certain pinch of melodramatic longing peppered a little the story of a reciprocated and therefore boring love, those two had been dragging things out far too long. Mizuki was reaching the end of her patience; and since Jacqueline placed much of the blame for those unnecessary complications squarely on Levi's bad temper, provoking the captain's jealousy in the hope of unblocking the situation had been all too easy and, truthfully, rather enjoyable.

The event that had prompted the ex-duchess to tease Levi so mercilessly had occurred earlier that morning. After breakfast, Mizuki and Jacqueline had been enjoying a bit of fresh air before assembly when they ran into Hange and stopped to chat. Seizing the opportunity to test the waters, Jacqueline - earning a scandalized glare from Mizuki - had casually made an offhand comment about the captain's mood, cleverly diverting the conversation onto him without making it too obvious.

The advantage of talking to Hange was that, once pointed in the right direction, she would begin to discuss a variety of topics with complete autonomy, providing personal opinions, observations and, above all, a lot of juicy information, even if the source from which she obtained it remained a mystery.

"Oh! Levi, huh? Gruff as always, naturally, nothing new there. He was born with that surly attitude, and he'll die with it! What's wrong, Mizuki? Why the head shake? Don't agree? Anyway, it's true that up until a couple of weeks ago, he was particularly on edge. Like everyone else, of course, after what had happened in Trost! But now things are a little calmer, more orderly, and most importantly cleaner, you know how he is. He's still as tightly wound as ever, of course, but every now and then, I'd almost say he seems relaxed."

Jacqueline shot Mizuki a knowing look, taking advantage of the fact that Hange had her back turned. She was convinced . and quite rightly so, though she'd never get any proof - that the captain's improved mood coincided with Mizuki's arrival at the castle.

At that moment, however, Hange added a detail that ruined everything.

"You know, I think it's all thanks to Lydia."

Anyone watching Mizuki's face could have pinpointed the exact moment the demon of jealousy overtook her: her eyes narrowed into suspicious slits, her lips quivered with indignation, and a sharp crease formed between her brows, a clear sign of a rising irritation. "Lydia?" she hissed, making no effort to hide her anger.

"Lydia, yes! Haven't I ever told you about Lydia?"

"No, you have never mentioned Lydia. Enlighten us now, please."

Hearing Mizuki's tone which did not bode well, Jacqueline regretted steering the conversation that way and attempted to signal Hange to stop, but the squad leader, naturally, didn't notice.

Thus, Jacqueline and Mizuki received an exhaustively detailed account of Lydia's identity, "a delightful barmaid" from a tavern in Trost frequented by members of the Survey Corps. They learned that Lydia, tall, curvaceous, with long brown hair and dark eyes - "the complete opposite of me," Mizuki later pointed out bitterly, commenting on the conversation with her friends - had been, for several years, "the special friend of the midget." - Mizuki, recalling that part of the story hissed: "Of course, I'm the special pupil he hits, punishes, and tugs by the ear, and she's the special friend who gets everything else!"

"Not that they were in a relationship, mind you," Hange hastened to clarify, one of the few parts of the monologue Jacqueline didn't feel the desire to censor. "Levi's not the kind of man who could have a girlfriend. But they liked each other, no doubt about it. You know, he's had plenty of flings, he's oddly popular with women, despite his bad personality, but it has never been anything serious. With Lydia, though, it was a bit different: their affaire lasted quite a while. They didn't arrange dates, but every now and then, shorty would stop by her place for a few hours, if you know what I mean."

They did. Unfortunately, they understood all too well, Jacqueline thought, as a tremor ran through Mizuki beside her.

The relationship had lasted until about a year ago, when Lydia had found herself a boyfriend. She had remained on good terms with Levi, but their spicy encounters had come to an end. Mizuki asked the squad leader rather curtly for the exact day and month of the breakup, which, as expected, Hange had no idea about. "In the summer," she said. "Definitely in the summer, but I can't tell you more," a response that only increased Mizuki's bad mood. What she really wanted to find out was whether the mysterious breakup had happened before or after the party during which they had gotten stucked in the cupboard, a moment Mizuki considered the turning point, the beginning of the definitive crossing of the boundaries they had tacitly set for their relationship. The thought that Levi might have met with Lydia after Tennison Mansion already irritated her greatly, since she already at that moment felt tied in a "special" and exclusive way to him; discovering that he had continued his relationship with the waitress even after that night was unbearable, making her seethe like she had in the past when insults had been hurled at her clan.

Jacqueline, noticing, tried once again to smooth things over. "If they broke up a year ago, then it can't be her who's causing his change of mood, right?"

It was then that Hange, with a triumphant grin, dropped the bomb: "Well, if it weren't for the fact that the last time we were in Trost, I saw them talking, and Lydia was flirting heavily with him, even Erwin and Gelgar, who were with me, said it, so… I really think things have started up again between them!"

At that moment, much to Jacqueline's relief, the muster was called, and Mizuki, livid, parted from them to attend training. It was only just before lunch, when the soldiers were granted an hour's break, that Jacqueline was able to join Mizuki and Lavinia again.

Seated in the shade of a tree, on the other side of the meadow from a group of boys heatedly discussing who among them was the prettiest, the three women talked about the "special friend Lydia" case as Mizuki coldly dubbed it.

Jacqueline and Lavinia were certain that the captain and Lydia no longer met, and that, in any case, she wasn't the reason Levi had rejected Mizuki so cruelly; Mizuki, on her part, insisted just as firmly on the opposite. Recalling the incident in the kitchen, when it seemed he was about to start a delicate conversation, she slapped her forehead with her hand. "Of course! He wanted to tell me about her… that they got back together, maybe they want to get married… At least he had the decency to try to inform me…"

Jacqueline, covering her face with her fingers, quickly tried to dampen the enthusiasm. "Forget it, I assure you no one's gonna take that one..."

Lavinia, truthfully, contributed little to the conversation, merely expressing her disgust for the depravity of men and admitting, albeit reluctantly, that even she believed Lydia no longer had anything to do with Levi. Her mind was overflowing with ideas and theories, all focused on the impending expedition and the dangers lurking in it, which had been the center of her thoughts for the past month.

Jacqueline, on the other hand, could sense Mizuki's growing unease, and it troubled her.

When the captain called the soldiers to order, the former duchess was struck by a sudden inspiration: to use the cadet who was always hovering around Mizuki to stir the situation.

She didn't get much out of it at the moment, except for irritating Levi to the point of exasperation. However, that very evening, she witnessed an event that sprouted from the seeds she had planted.

The soldiers of the Survey Corps not stationed at the castle were about to leave to return to Trost. Mizuki went down to the garden to say goodbye to her friends, and it just so happened that the last to bid farewell to her were Reiner and his inseparable, silent companion, whose exact name almost none of the superiors remembered. Reiner and Mizuki began talking animatedly: she laughed often, and he frequently interrupted his sentences midway to stare at her, mesmerized; the third guy, however, seemed quite annoyed by the situation and, above all, irritated with Mizuki, throwing her suspicious glances.

Levi noticed all this as he stood, legs spread apart and arms crossed, in the middle of the clearing, watching them darkly, unaware that Jacqueline, looming behind him, didn't miss any of his changing expressions.

After Erwin signaled the departure, Mizuki turned to join Jacqueline. She was about to pass the captain, who had remained standing still with his gaze fixed on the soldiers galloping towards the city, when he - without sparing her a glance - hissed sharply, "You sure have time to waste if you can fool around with a recruit."

Mizuki froze in place, mouth open in surprise; but the confusion lasted only a moment. "You've got more time to waste than I do, obviously, considering how often you visit the taverns of Trost," she shot back venomously, and without even acknowledging Levi's bewildered expression, she marched off towards the castle, adopting an outraged stance and walking briskly with military precision.

Of course, neither of the two fully understood the meaning of the jab shot by the other. Levi, in particular, could never have imagined that Hange had told Mizuki about his liaison with Lydia and the incident in Trost a few days earlier. The woman had indeed approached him, showering him with sweet talk, but certainly not for a sudden rekindling of passion; Lydia had tried to get a safe passage for herself and her boyfriend into the inner territories, which Levi, however, had no power to grant her.

The only one who had a clear picture of the situation was Jacqueline. "Yes," she said to herself, satisfied, as she trailed behind her fleeing friend. "The situation is ripe. They're perfectly cooked."

Getting involved in Mizuki's romantic affairs lifted Jacqueline's spirits for several reasons. First, because she cared about her and believed that, without help, those two would keep circling each other without ever truly catching hold for the rest of their lives, which, given their occupations, risked being terribly short. On the other hand, this pastime helped to ease her mind, weighed down by the thought of the letter sent to the Duke. In the moments when she got lost in speculating with Mizuki about the captain, Jacqueline could divert her thoughts away from the accusations against her father and perhaps her brother, which otherwise constantly occupied her mind. Of course, those dark thoughts about her family resurfaced in the dead of night, when she would stay awake for hours, staring at the ceiling, wondering anxiously if she would ever receive a response to her request for a meeting; but at least spending her days comforting her friend and teasing Levi helped distract her.

Part of her wished the moment of truth would come as soon as possible, to finally resolve, one way or another, the unspeakable uncertainty she had fallen into after her conversation with Lavinia and the commander. Another part, however, hoped the Duke would never reply. This was a part of Jacqueline that, as soon as she had heard the incredible story of the mysterious organization, had known without a shadow of a doubt that her father was involved. That heartbreaking awareness had taken root in her, awakening a burning shame for her origins that she had never consciously experienced. Despite being steadfast in her unshakable certainty, Jacqueline didn't feel ready to face its consequences in the real world, to have it confirmed by her father's own lips, and so she hoped that the letter would either not reach him due to some mistake or that he would ignore it, dismissing it without a response.

With this wavering mindset and the comfort of Mizuki's melodrama, Jacqueline spent her days waiting.

.

OOO

.

The Day Before the Fifty-Seventh Expedition

.

Jacqueline Tennison's anxious wait finally came to an end six days later, at the worst possible moment.

Due to the current state of Trost's gate . which had been smashed by the Colossal Titan and later sealed by Eren with a massive boulder . the fifty-seventh expedition would depart from the eastern district of Wall Rose. On the morning of the day prior to the departure, the Survey Corps left Trost for Karanes, and camped near the city walls. The group of soldiers stationed at the former headquarters joined the camp later in the evening; among them were Levi's squad and Hange, as well as Jacqueline, who had been expressly ordered to come by the commander.

As soon as they arrived in Karanes, Erwin immediately summoned them to his tent, where he was waiting in the company of Lavinia. When they entered, the commander waved a crumpled piece of paper in the air. "The reply from your father, miss," he promptly announced to Jacqueline. "It arrived at Headquarters just before we left Trost. I took the liberty of opening it to check whether we needed to inconvenience you."

Jacqueline turned pale. Mizuki quickly stepped beside her, grabbing her hand to offer support. "You did the right thing, Commander." Jacqueline spoke without hesitation, but her voice was slightly shrill, an octave higher than usual. She refrained from immediately asking the question weighing most heavily on her mind, as if trying to prolong, just for a few more moments, that state of uncertainty where anything was still possible. "What does it say…?" she finally asked.

"He has agreed to the meeting." Erwin laid the open letter on the table. All those present - Lavinia, Mizuki, Amado, Loki, and Levi's squad; Hange and Moblit were absent, tasked with monitoring Eren - leaned in to glance at the document. Erwin was the only one who had read it; not even Lavinia knew its contents. "He invites you to come to Tennison Manson tonight at four."

A brief silence fell over the tent. Jacqueline had stiffened, her icy fingers clutching Mizuki's hand in a death grip.

"Four in the morning? It's obviously a trap," Loki sneered disdainfully.

"It doesn't matter. We'll be ready," Oluo growled, straightening the handkerchief around his neck.

"We won't be ready for shit," Levi hissed through clenched teeth. "We're not going to the meeting."

"Why not?" Gunther asked, puzzled. "This is a unique opportunity."

"There isn't enough time," Jacqueline murmured, snapping her eyes shut.

Petra barely stifled a scoff. "Of course there is! Even if we leave in a couple of hours…"

The former noblewoman abruptly cut off her reasoning. "The expedition. Departure is scheduled for seven in the morning, isn't it? Even if the meeting with my father lasted only an hour, we'd never make it back in time. It takes at least four hours to travel between Karanes and Stohess, three if we push the horses to a gallop without stopping."

The cold, inescapable logic of Miss Tennison's statement struck the restless soldiers like a bucket of ice water. After processing the information, everyone began talking over one another, voicing their frustration and brainstorming potential solutions. The only ones who remained silent were the commander, Levi and Jacqueline, who still had her eyes tightly shut.

The captain exchanged a long, meaningful look with Erwin, noticing the familiar glimmer in the commander's eyes, the kind that appeared when his brilliant mind was strategizing. "Ohi. Quit the racket, all of you," Levi said. He hadn't raised his voice, but it was enough to silence the tumultuous soldiers instantly. "Erwin," he continued, now addressing the commander with a significant nod. "What's the plan?"

Erwin Smith remained silent for a long moment, feeling the weight of his soldiers' stares, all lost and confused, waiting, as always, for him to provide the optimal solution to the problem, to uncover the secret behind the invitation, shed light on the mystery, and make a decision, taking full responsibility for the consequences. He could almost feel the burden of their expectations pressing down on his shoulders, a weight he had carried alone for as long as he could remember. For a fleeting moment, he fantasized about the relief of casting it off, leaving it behind on the road and running free, or at least sharing the load with someone else. A dream, a sweet yet unattainable utopia.

Erwin shook himself from these musings and returned to reality. Clearing his throat, he observed:"The timing was no coincidence. I fear that Duke Tennison, aware of our collaboration, has invited his daughter tonight specifically to put us in a difficult position. Tomorrow's expedition has been heavily publicized in the newspapers, with every detail reported: the departure time, the duration, and the importance of it proceeding without a hitch due to the delicate situation with Eren Jaeger. The Duke knows that we of the Survey Corps are in no position to delay it. His hope, most likely, is to either postpone the meeting and buy himself time or to have you, Miss Tennison, show up alone and thus inadequately protected."

"And which will it be, of the two?" Jacqueline asked, her voice suddenly clear and steady. She opened her eyes at last and fixed them unflinchingly on the commander's face.

He smiled enigmatically. "Neither." Then, shifting his attention from Jacqueline to Mizuki, he added: "Mizuki. Would you, Amado, and Loki be willing to accompany Miss Tennison to the meeting?"

Before answering, the girl sought a nod of approval from her two comrades. She also glanced at Lavinia, gauging her reaction to the proposal, though the astonished woman's attention was entirely on the commander.

"For our part, we have no objection," Mizuki finally replied. "But the expedition…"

"The expedition is currently at the top of our priorities," Erwin agreed. "And indeed, we'll be riding beyond the walls with Eren Jaeger and making full use of his abilities, thus silencing Nile and his detractors. But we will also close the chapter with this mysterious organization once and for all. We've all risked our lives for this mission, taking on work that should have been done by the gendarmes. I don't want to risk the Duke Tennison slipping away if we postpone. That's why the four of you will go."

"But… but what if it's a trap… just three of you…" Jacqueline Tennison stammered, fidgeting with the edge of her shirt.

"The guards I'm assigning you are only three, it's true, but I can assure you they're worth ten," the commander declared with a benevolent smile. "Since Levi is unavailable, these three are the best I can offer you as bodyguards. Of course, only if you agree."

Jacqueline was unaware that Mizuki and her companions had not originally been trained as soldiers to fight Titans as their primary enemy, but rather other human beings. However, she trusted Mizuki blindly and without reservations. Thus, her agreement with Commander Erwin Smith's plan was given on impulse, without the need for further reflection or deliberation. "I'll do it. With her… with them at my side, I'll feel as secure as if I were guarded by an army."

Erwin Smith nodded with satisfaction, a sentiment shared by both Levi and Lavinia, albeit for different reasons.

The commander was pleased that by sacrificing only three of his soldiers, he might potentially corner two of the enemies he sought to flush out. Simultaneously, by removing Mizuki from the battlefield, he would prevent Lavinia from warning her about potential shapeshifters, ensuring such information didn't spread among the ranks.

Levi and Lavinia, on the other hand, felt an overwhelming sense of relief: Mizuki would not participate in the next day's expedition, which was shrouded in ominous foreboding; she would be safe, if not from the intrigues of all humans, perhaps, at least from those capable of transforming into Titans. This newfound certainty soothed them, strengthened them, and left them more prepared to face whatever horrors the following day might bring.

The private conference was soon adjourned, and the participants dispersed across the camp to make their preparations. Mizuki changed into civilian clothing and unpacked the bag she had already prepared for the expedition: removing all the equipment designed for battling Titans, she gathered only the items she might find useful against human adversaries.

She then took her leave of Eren. Aware of the trust the boy had placed in her, she felt obligated to offer him an explanation for her absence during his first expedition. Predictably, he did not take the news well, but in the end, he had no choice but to accept it since the order came directly from the commander.

As she was returning to her tent, Mizuki crossed paths with Reiner and his inseparable companion, both of whom were on their way to bed. She paused briefly to wish them goodnight and inform Reiner of the change in plans; she felt she owed him this courtesy since they had often trained together since his arrival in the Survey Corps.

The moment Reiner heard the news, however, an emotion Mizuki had not anticipated crossed his perpetually stern and tense face: relief. "Good thing you're not coming," Reiner blurted out in a whisper, earning a silent rebuke from Bertholdt and a laugh from Mizuki.

"You must really think I'm useless to say something like that!" she chuckled, not offended in the slightest.

"No, I… I mean, it's just that tomorrow will be dangerous, and… I didn't mean to imply that… You know!" Reiner stammered. He stiffened, realizing that he had just made a remark that might arouse some suspicion in her.

Two conflicting impulses warred within him: to convey how much he actually admired and respected her - as a soldier, of course - without betraying his secret. Such an option was out of the question; despite the agitation she always caused him, Reiner knew perfectly well that he couldn't reveal to her what would happen the next day: that the Vice Commander had given the order to act during the expedition; that Annie would attack the formation to capture Eren, killing anyone who got in her way; that, if successful, the three of them would escape towards the sea from there. Death, chaos, and destruction loomed ahead, along with the real possibility that this would be his last meeting with Mizuki.

"Dangerous, you say? Of course! Because the last few times were such a walk in the park!"

"I… I…"

At that moment, Bertholdt came to the aid of his friend, who was now utterly confused. "Reiner," he called in a flat, barely audible voice. Yet it carried with it a clear, sharp note of disdain directed at Mizuki. "Tomorrow will be a challenging day. We'd better get some rest."

After nearly a month of being in the same Corps, despite having had few opportunities to interact with the recruits, Mizuki had already picked up on the aversion Reiner's friend harbored towards her. However, as was her habit, she had taken the discovery in stride. "True enough," she conceded gracefully, without the slightest trace of resentment in her voice. "Rest well, and good luck for tomorrow, guys!"

So, she set off briskly towards her next destination, quickly putting distance between herself and the two young men. Bertholdt watched the girl's retreating figure with a cold and detached frown, silently wishing that this would be the last time he'd have to fend off the insidious advances of that curly-haired demon. For Bertholdt, that month in the Survey Corps had been a relentless series of worries and subtle interventions to keep Reiner and Mizuki apart: every time he saw them side by side, chatting, he was gripped by the fear that his companion might let some dangerous information slip and shatter their cover.

Bertholdt knew that Reiner's mental state was deteriorating day by day, that the closeness with the recruits from the Training Corps was unsettling his balance, that the boundaries between his identities as soldier and warrior were increasingly blurring, and that sooner or later, he would reach a breaking point. Yet, his friend had never faltered in pursuing their mission, nor had he shown signs of being on the verge of revealing dangerous information to the other recruits. Reiner suffered and destroyed himself in silence: that was his way, he would bottle up his pain, consuming himself without uttering a single complaint.

With Mizuki, however, his behavior changed drastically, to the point where the mere sight of the girl's silhouette sent sharp, agonizing pangs through Bertholdt's stomach. Around her, Reiner became confused, adopting ambiguous behaviors that belonged equally to both the soldier and the warrior. As if he had given up pretending in her presence. As if he were convinced that Mizuki would accept his terrible secret without batting an eye, with a smile and a shrug. As if he hoped she would notice the two identities dwelling within him. Almost as if she already knew.

And that… that was dangerous. Very dangerous.

As these thoughts churned in his mind, Bertholdt realized that Reiner was no longer following him. Instead, he had taken off after Mizuki, who had disappeared among the tents of the camp.

Despite the head start she had, Reiner caught up with her. "Mizuki!"

At the sound of his voice, she turned sharply, and her magnificent curls whipped through the air in a wild, untamed motion. "Big guy?"

He stared at her the way one looks at people or places they know they must leave behind forever, a kind of premature nostalgia, tragic precisely because, though not yet realized, it was already inevitable. But Mizuki could not have guessed this, and indeed she didn't pick up on the glaring signs of remorse and farewell in Reiner's demeanor; instead, she assumed his nervousness was caused by anxiety about the expedition.

"I… well, I wanted to tell you…" Reiner trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Convinced that his silence wasn't due to shyness or confusion - on the contrary, she was certain that Reiner knew exactly what he wanted to say - Mizuki decided not to press him and instead kept him entertained with other topics while he gathered his courage. "Your friend really doesn't like me, does he?"

"No! His aloofness has nothing to do with you! Bertholdt… Bertholdt just worries about me," the boy hurried to correct her, stung by her comment, though it wasn't clear why Bertholdt was so concerned about Mizuki and Reiner's relationship. After clearing his throat awkwardly, he added, "Do you remember our first conversation, back in the Training Corps?"

"Of course! While I was hiding from Shadis' headbutts, you came to my rescue with a bottle of water!"

"Right. Do you remember that I told you about my mother… That I hadn't seen her in a while?"

.

"No. If I became a… soldier, it was because of my parents. My mother's, precisely."

"She wanted you to be a soldier?"

"Yeah. I want to make my mother proud of me before I stand before her again..."

"What? You haven't seen her since... since when?"

"Four years now."

"Are you in a quarrel?"

"Yes... I mean no, not really. Before I return to... to her, however, I must complete my mission. As a soldier".

.

"Mm-hm."

"Well…" Reiner hesitated for only a moment, but then the longing for the smiling girl - who had imposed herself as the brightest figure in his memories of the past year - spurred him to speak. "I wanted to tell you that I might see her again soon. Very soon."

"That's amazing!" Mizuki exclaimed, and the tone of her voice, brimming with genuine, selfless joy, overflowed with warmth. True, after the expedition, you'll officially be a soldier! There's a saying: you're not a true member of the Survey Corps until you make it home alive. But you will, I'm sure of it, and… I'm so happy for you! You'll finally get to see your mother again!"

Reiner lowered his gaze. Nostalgia and guilt now fought for dominance over his soul. "Yeah…"

"Speaking of which," Mizuki suddenly said, her expression lighting up, "I might see my father again soon too, you know? We're in sync!"

Reiner swallowed audibly. He knew what she was alluding to: Eren. For both of them, his arrival on the scene represented an unexpected salvation, though for very different reasons. For Reiner, it meant the completion of his mission and a ticket back to Marley, where he would be welcomed with triumph and honors. For her, the boy was a weapon to wield against the Titans, to carve a path through the unknown towards the home she had all but forgotten. To his horror, Reiner realized that the success of one of them was irreconcilable with the other's. He wanted to take Eren Jaeger away from the devils and the island; she, on the other hand, wanted the boy to stay and rise as the shield of the devils trapped within the walls.

Noticing Reiner's sudden and misplaced unease, Mizuki pressed on, "Why did you feel the need to tell me this now?"

Reiner knew the answer to the question, or at least part of it. Because that could have been the last time they spoke, as to when; as to why he had chased her and shared that hope with her., Reiner was entirely in the dark. He only knew that talking to Mizuki felt important, almost essential. "I wanted you to know." The secret of his seemingly senseless action was encapsulated in that confession. "So, I told you before…" But here, he fell silent again.

"Before it was too late?" Mizuki finished for him, then threw her head back and burst into hearty laughter. "Don't be so dramatic! Neither of us is going to die before we can see each other again!"

Just as her words faded into the air, Bertholdt appeared, panting, on the path created by the neatly aligned tents. Even from a distance, he spotted the friend he needed to protect from himself and, determined to fulfill his role as a shield, called out insistently to draw Reiner's attention away from the mirage of that seductive demon. "Reiner!"

"They're calling for you," the demon in question remarked, tilting her head gracefully to the side. "I'd better go before your friend really gets mad at me." Mizuki turned, took a few steps away, then glanced over her shoulder with a playful, captivating look. "It would be wonderful if our parents could meet, don't you think? Maybe one day it'll happen!"

She smiled carefreely as she shared this spontaneous thought with him. The guilt within Reiner broke through the barriers he'd erected to contain it, and he felt his heart crumple under its weight. "Yeah… that would really be fantastic," he murmured despondently, uttering the lie with the irrational hope that one day it might become true.

"See you around! Good luck out there! Do your best!" Mizuki went on her way, waving a hand high in the air in farewell.

It had just struck ten, with forty-five minutes left until the meeting with Jacqueline and the others. For the first time in a long while, Mizuki felt the desire to be alone; thus she made her way to the edge of the camp, nestled against the trunk of a tree, wrapped herself in her cloak, and tilted her chin up towards the sky.

Finding company would have been easy if she didn't want to be alone. She could have stepped into any of the tents scattered across the field, and the soldiers inside would have welcomed her warmly. The days when her comrades, distrustful and suspicious, shunned her because of the peculiar circumstances of her entry into the Scouts were long gone. Most of those who had despised her were dead, and the few survivors now respected and cared for her.

Nearly two years had passed since then.

Until now, Mizuki had never stopped to consider how quickly time was passing. She lived in the present moment, distilling its strength to carry on her path, indifferent to the past or the future; that was an innate characteristic of hers, perhaps the most useful ability for survival that fate and nature had granted her.

Of course, her soul, which thrived on and drew nourishment from the present, could also be dragged into the past, especially if it was dark and painful. It was during those brief but intense dives into memory that Mizuki grew, learning from her mistakes and never forgetting her dead.

Yet, in those healthy plunges into the calm waters of remembrance, Mizuki had never revisited the month she had spent at the castle after her traumatic arrival at Tiburtina and the meeting with the Scouts, not even during the two months she had spent as the caretaker, or bodyguard, of Albert II and Chikatiloni. Only after receiving the commander's order to return there to help stabilize Eren Jaeger's fragile psyche, finding herself living under the castle's roof with the same people as during her first stay, did she stop to reflect on how much water had passed under the bridge; how many experiences, emotions, and discoveries had filled her, shaping a personality that, at eighteen, she had thought was already permanently and irreparably formed; how much the world, or rather, her view of the world, had changed; how much she herself had changed.

Life had happened. That was all. And it had shaped her, as it does to young people who are still malleable. Life had happened, and so had the captain. She had fallen hopelessly in love, as all humans do.

Now she, who had learned to hate extremes, the stark alternatives of black or white, and instead favored the intermediate, grey paths, was experiencing with the captain the most intensely ambiguous moment of her life. She utterly detested that condition; she would have paid any price to seize a definitive answer. She wanted absolutes; she wanted black or white; she wanted him to belong to her completely or to part ways forever, never to meet again.

Was that her most unrelenting desire? If she had known that death was closing in, would it have been to the captain's tent that she would have gone?

Reiner's words swirled furiously in her head. "I wanted you to know, so I told you before…"

A syllogism so simple and logical it verged on stupidity; a relationship between action and consequence so perfect it left her bewildered.

The captain, then? Was it to him she would direct her final plea?

Indeed, it was to him - and to the distant days of their initial skirmishes - that she often returned. The beginning of it all: their first chance encounter during a sleepless and terrible night; the first punishments when Levi had far too quickly noticed her inclination for insubordination and mockery; the first unspoken phrases, the first words exchanged with eyes searching for other eyes; the first nights spent in each other's company, not beneath the vast sky but in a cramped and stifling kitchen. Those fragments flooded her mind like fleeting patches of light cast on the floor by the rays of the rising sun.

But it wasn't him she was thinking of at that moment.

Having voluntarily retreated into solitude, Mizuki was overwhelmed by Petra, by that extraordinary girl, courageous without being reckless or excessive, sweet without letting that trait devolve into weakness. Petra was the first person in that world - perhaps except for Theo - who had truly accepted her, who had trusted her unconditionally. Mizuki knew that.

It was her and their first days together, that she was reflecting on.

It was to her that, if she could and had to choose, she would direct her final confidences. To her, from whom Mizuki harbored a secret that filled her with life and horror at the same time.

To her…

I wanted you to know, so I told you before…

.

"And among female soldiers he's pretty popular. So it's not like I've had many opportunities to discuss with other girls how to ... to ..."

"To seduce him? But for that there's me! And of course Lavinia, who knows more about these things than I do."

"Really...?"

"Of course! Count us in."

.

Mizuki leapt to her feet. Everything now appeared to her with disarming clarity, so much so that she wondered how she could have wandered lost for months. She felt as if she had been walking for a long time with a thorn embedded in the sole of her foot, but despite frequent checks, had been unable to locate the wound to extract the foreign object. For months, she had been tormented by something she could never identify; something that disturbed her deeply, even more than the captain's presence, and that had forced her to remain immobile and passive, to wallow in indecision, preventing her from making the choice she longed for between nothing and everything.

And now, as if a sudden flash of lightning had struck the plain, illuminating the outlines of hills and clustered houses, Mizuki understood.

Petra. Before dealing with the captain, I have to settle things with Petra.

The small brass pocket watch, part of the soldiers' standard equipment, showed there were five minutes left until the meeting. For what she had to do, that was enough. Mizuki rushed to the tent she shared with Lavinia and Petra, arriving just as the latter, still somewhat sleepy, was stepping outside.

"Petra!" Without even stopping, Mizuki planted her hands on her friend's back and firmly pushed her back into the tent. "I need to talk to you!"

"But in a moment…" Petra began to protest. However, caught off guard as she was, she offered no resistance.

"This won't take long." The tent flaps rustled closed behind them. Mizuki planted her hands on her hips and, after contemplating her friend for a brief moment, blurted out all at once, as if afraid that the slightest hesitation would cause her to falter: "There'ssomethingIabsolutelyhavetotellyouaboutthecaptain."

As though suspended over an abyss by the thinnest of threads, Mizuki awaited some reaction from Petra, holding her breath. When none came, she cleared her throat, preparing to make the terrible revelation, but her friend cut her off, exclaiming with the same urgency: "I also need to tell you something about Captain Levi!"

"What? You too?"

"Yes."

"All right, then. I'll go first, and then…"

"No. I need to go first." Petra placed both hands on Mizuki's shoulders; then, without any warning, she candidly announced: "I confessed my feelings to the captain, and he rejected me."

If Petra had just confessed to possessing Eren's same ability to transform into a Titan at will, Mizuki would likely have been less shocked. Once her mind processed the information, she opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again, but she was unable to utter a coherent sentence for at least half a minute. "But… how?… when?"

"Right after the Langnar expedition. I don't know why, but upon returning, I felt like I had to act if I didn't want to miss my chance." Petra shrugged and formed her lips into a sad smile. "It didn't go well. For a moment, when I confessed, I thought… I mean, I thought it would go well. The captain was acting strange, just after we got back; he's been strange ever since. He hesitated for a bit, then ordered me to return to my quarters, and we haven't spoken about it since."

The fact that he had been acting strangely since that expedition, and, above all, the underlying reason for it, were perfectly known to her. Mizuki, however, didn't focus on that detail. After swallowing hard, she instead asked, "Why…?"

"Why didn't I tell you sooner?" Petra anticipated her, her expression turning bitter. "I guess because I didn't want to disappoint you, after everything you've done, and… To hell with it!" Petra shook her head with a resolute movement. Her short bob swung around her face like a whip, a gesture that carried with it an air of finality. In that sudden movement was manifested Petra's unyielding resolve, her irrevocable decision. "I've decided to be honest, and I will be completely. I didn't tell you before, Mizuki, because I knew the only chain holding you back from putting yourself on the line was the promise to help me. With that gone, you would have been free to… Oh, I was so selfish!"

She fell silent, overwhelmed by shame, and covered her face with her hands.

Mizuki held her breath in front of that unexpected development. "Petra... Did you know, then?"

"I knew. Of course I knew. Mizuki, you and the captain are the two people I admire most in the world... I watch you, I watch you constantly, to learn and correct myself, and that's how I noticed..." She stopped, not even knowing - or not wanting to, despite her earlier declaration of sincerity - how to define what existed between Levi and Mizuki.

"Oh, Petra!" Mizuki grabbed the fingers behind which her friend was hiding; with tenderness, she squeezed them between her own and pulled them away from her face. "I should be the one to be ashamed, to hide! I'm the one who betrayed you first... It happened, Petra. It happened, I don't even know how or why. It was like a slow illness with silent symptoms that only surfaced when it was too late to heal. I was infected, I don't even know when." Here, she lied, first and foremost to herself: in her endless reflections on the matter, she had always rejected with disdain the idea that there had been no escape from the beginning; but in truth, she suspected that the infection had likely occurred right from the start, when she had watched the captain dance in the air and strike like a fury at the neck of a giant. "I tried to resist, I swear." Here, Mizuki was completely honest, remembering the strenuous and exhausting resistance she had put up against the growth of her feelings. "I tried, but it was stronger than me. It was... It's uncontrollable, it's..."

Petra listened attentively. "I know," she said simply. "I know, it can't be explained."

"But it's wrong..."

"Why? You said it yourself, it's something uncontrollable. How could it have been any other way? The captain is extraordinary. There is no one as extraordinary as him, around these walls. Given that, it's only natural that it was impossible for you to resist."

"Yes, but... It's not just that." What Mizuki had just confessed corresponded to the most superficial and least problematic level of the remorse that had rooted itself deep within her soul. She still had to reveal her worst guilt, the one that had kept her awake for entire nights, turning over in bed. "At one point... It happened. It was a mistake, you know, it happened completely unexpectedly, not planned..."

But even at this hint of a revelation, Petra offered a serene, pained smile. "I know."

Mizuki's eyes widened. "You know?"

"Of course."

"And how? He...?"

"Oh no. I told you, I watch you two constantly. It was easy for me to sense that something had happened between you."

"Yes, it happened... But only once! After that, it was hell. We kept running from each other as if we were the opposite poles of a magnet."

Again, a faint and peaceful smile, again an expression of understanding.

"You know this too?"

"Of course. I watch you, I don't know how else to explain it."

Mizuki's lips and fingers trembled, and her golden eyes, glossy despite the darkness, settled on the smile of acceptance that hovered on Petra's face. "I want to tell you everything, in the smallest details, without hiding anything anymore, Petra, I swear; but there's no time. However, for me, it's essential to tell you at least this." Her whole soul trembled as she finally unloaded the burden that had oppressed her for months. "I'm sorry," she whispered in a breath. "I'm so sorry."

Petra quickly wiped away a tear with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry too," she replied, her voice trembling.

They said no more. Though the words exchanged had been few, and omissions and cuts, on the other hand, many, everything had been said; the essential, at least. They simply embraced; and the silent struggle about the captain was overcome.

At that moment, someone lifted the tent flaps. The captain's ashen and irritated face appeared in the opening that had formed. "Ohi. Are you planning to sit here scratching yourselves any longer? We're all waiting."

The two girls pulled apart; they looked at him - the oblivious subject of the conversation they had just interrupted - then at each other, and finally burst into a conspiratorial and liberating laugh, sealing the definitive truce between Mizuki and Petra and worsening Levi's mood.

"Ohi!"

The command to order had its effect on Petra, who immediately stopped laughing; Mizuki, on the other hand, continued to chuckle for a long while, even after they stepped into the cool night air to silence the storm of reprimands and threats from the captain. The two girls squeezed lightly the hands still intertwined before parting, tacitly agreeing to resume the conversation as soon as their duty was fulfilled; to spend an entire night exchanging confidences, advice, impressions; to recover lost time; to be friends, in short.

The trio headed for the edge of the camp, where the road to Stohess wound its way northwest. Ronnie and the other horses were impatiently stamping, waiting; beside the animals, Hange, Erwin, Lavinia, Loki, Amado, Jacqueline, and Levi squad were whispering.

"Finally!" Gunther exclaimed when he saw them approaching.

"Women!" Oluo sighed theatrically, as though he, of all people, understood the matter better than anyone else.

Lavinia didn't comment on the delay, but she immediately noticed that Mizuki's demeanor had become lighter and cheerier: something must have happened, though she couldn't tell if it involved Levi or Petra.

The departing four, wrapped in heavy cloaks with no insignia or signs of recognition, mounted their respective horses.

Erwin scanned them intensely one by one; finally, he turned his gaze to Mizuki. "I trust you; you have full authority to decide how to proceed and manage the meeting, and you're authorized to use whatever skills you have at your disposal." The commander issued his final instructions in a dry, stern tone. "No matter how, just finish the job."

Mizuki struck her fist firmly against her chest, followed by Amado and Loki, though the latter did so with less enthusiasm; then, she barely lifted her chin to the sky, assuming the stance of a proud and marvelous creature, one of those mythological figures that, according to ancient legends, occasionally intervene in human history to change its course on a whim.

At least, Levi thought, the path he had carefully drawn for himself, crossing hers by pure accident, had taken a sudden deviation; and he had good reason to believe that this change would certainly not be the last.

The intuition was fully confirmed when the girl, just before digging her heels into the horse's flank, gave him a look full of meaning. It was him she had looked at last, before riding off; he was the last one she wanted to imprint in her mind and soul.

It was then that her lips stretched into a slight smirk, and she uttered a single word that nailed him to the ground, a word at the memory of which the captain shivered, nostalgic and restless: "I will survive." It evoked in him, confusedly, nights spent on the roof, confessions extorted by curious questions, silences fragile like humans before giants; it revived the tension for completeness that her presence made him feel.

It was, once again, a promise, an apology, a reconciliation, but also a warning, a declaration of intent, a threat to wage an all-out war against him.

"No bullshit," Levi muttered under his breath, directed at the girl already galloping, though by now she was too far to hear him.

.

OOO

.

The Night Before the Fifty-Seventh Expedition

.

The massive outline of Tennison Mansion loomed against the night sky, which was beginning to brighten as dawn approached. The dark coat was pierced by timid rays of golden light that, radiating from the horizon, claimed new portions of the celestial dome minute by minute.

Leaning against one of the vines in the outermost rows surrounding the estate, Mizuki intently scanned the windows, searching for any sign of life inside. The only inhabited room, at that moment, seemed to be the illuminated salon on the ground floor. Beside her, Jacqueline nervously shifted her weight from one foot to the other, wringing her hands.

The appointed time for the meeting had passed by about three minutes. The two girls were waiting for Loki and Amado to give the agreed-upon signal, a whistle mimicking the call of a certain bird; only then would they approach the house.

As soon as they reached the grounds of Tennison Mansion, Loki and Amado had conducted a quick survey around the building, confirming the presence of at least six men stationed among the vineyard rows. After they had reported back to her, Mizuki had taken charge of the situation, effectively assuming the role of leader of the small group; just as, implicitly, Erwin Smith had authorized her to do by reinstating her authority as captain of Squad Seven from the Hidden Leaf Village, a title she had relinquished when she chose to become a soldier and submit to him.

Mizuki decided that Amado and Loki would deal with the enemies outside, while she and Jacqueline would handle her father and any potential adversaries in the salon. At that moment, the two boys were taking their positions, slipping between the vines on opposite sides of the house. Mizuki would only move once they were ready, aiming to convince the enemy that Jacqueline had come to the meeting escorted by just one person.

While they waited, Mizuki glanced around, surprised to notice that the vineyard did not solely host grapevines. She immediately recognized the foreign species: the trees from which the mysterious organization had extracted the drug used to sedate its victims. So, this was their source to create it; it came directly from their own garden. If the ground hadn't been covered in snow during her previous visit, Mizuki would have easily identified the plants, sparing them a great deal of trouble.

"Will they make it?" Jacqueline asked, unable to contain her nervousness any longer. "It'll be six against two, it's an unfair fight. I'm certain my father hired the worst kind of men…"

"Don't worry," Mizuki reassured her without taking her eyes off the illuminated salon. "Loki and Amado are trained soldiers."

She couldn't exactly reveal that she had authorized them to use any weapons necessary to overpower the enemy, nor that she was firmly convinced her companions would easily take down the sentries unnoticed because that's what they had been trained to do since childhood.

Jacqueline nodded vigorously and, following Mizuki's example, turned her attention to the villa. "He's in there. That's where it will all end; in that room where I spent so many hours playing the piano or singing…"

"And where it all began," Mizuki muttered absentmindedly. Retracing the first uncertain steps she had taken into the world beyond the walls - the stay at the former Headquarters and the trip to Stohess . struck her as a rather curious, at times ironic, and undeniably meaningful coincidence.

"Yes, where it all began. Where we first met." Without warning, Jacqueline grabbed her hand. Her fingers, cold and stiff like marble, reminded Mizuki of the icy chill she had felt during their escape and the fight with Liam Heather in the snow. "Mizuki, do you remember the conversation we had after Tim's death, in that salon?"

.

"The truth is that we believe Tim was killed, and the commander sent me to collect evidence. Even before that we were in the commander's room, all three of us, because we believe something strange is going on in this house".

.

"Just something strange?"

"What?"

"You said you people think there's something strange in this house. But that seems a bit reductive. Things have sucked here ever since I was born. It wasn't just Tim who was overwhelmed by the life that goes on within these women aren't much better off, you know? Our job is to smile, wear nice clothes, and sing to cheer the spirits of our smarter mates and fathers. We are objects too."

"Let the rest of the world believe what it is more comfortable for it to believe. The important thing is that you never forget that you are not an object, nor settle for playing at being a noble. That would be quite a waste."

.

"Of course. We suspected something strange was going on at Tennison Mansion. At the time, we had no idea that the duke…" Mizuki trailed off, unsure how to continue without sounding offensive.

"Yes, after Commander Smith revealed the whole story to me in detail, I understood everything. But that's not what I was referring to. Back then… I never told you this, but you saved me. You really did save me." Jacqueline's gaze was vacant, unfocused, as if in the darkness ahead she saw not her childhood home, but a vivid replay of their first, honest, and overwhelming conversation.

.

"You are crazy! If that's what you think, why did you even say you could trust me?!"

"Because I want to believe that even though we are like two non-communicating boxes at the moment, change is possible! And because I believe that you are different! Tonight, you were the only one who did not treat me with false condescension. All the others have been far too kind, even though it is clear that they regard us as cannon fodder. But you... you don't give me that impression. You have treated me unkindly, bluntly and clearly, and certainly not because of my job. That's why I want to believe that there is much more than a noble in you, Jacqueline Tennison!"

.

"You told me that you wanted to believe in me; in that part of me that only you saw, that only you believed in, and that I myself was unaware of at the time. I was so lost then… I thought the best part of me had died, but you found it and brought it to light with just a single word. You said you believed there was so much more to me than just a noblewoman; so much more than the mask I had chosen to show the world, so much more than the conventions that had been drilled into my head since childhood."

She paused for only a moment, but Mizuki immediately sensed that she was about to add something, a thought that lay at the very heart of her feelings, the origin of the trembling that shook her body.

"I was lost," Jacqueline finally said. "So lost, but you helped me find my way again. I don't think I ever thanked you for that…"

"There's no need. I don't feel like I did much." Mizuki gently placed a hand on Jacqueline's shoulder. "But know this: I'll always be here for you. Whether it's now, when we enter that salon, or any time in the future. When you need me, I'll be there."

Jacqueline said nothing. A lump was forming in her throat. She was certain that if she uttered another word, she would burst into tears, and it didn't seem appropriate to surrender to such a show of weakness just before confronting her father. Instead, she tightened her grip on Mizuki's hand even more, just as she had done the night she discovered the duke's likely involvement in human trafficking.

At that moment, the calls of two birds echoed in quick succession through the valley shrouded in nocturnal stillness.

"It's them," Mizuki announced, her demeanor turning serious as she gently pulled away from Jacqueline. "Let's go."

.

Marching in silence, they crossed the rows of vines that, a year and a half earlier, had served as both the backdrop to their desperate flight for survival and the shield that had saved their lives.

They retraced the same path back to the Mansion, an unsettling feeling creeping over them with each step.

Each was absorbed in her own mission.

Jacqueline was returning to her father's house to be sure she had made the right choice in leaving it behind. Mizuki, on the other hand, was facing the man responsible for the deaths of Tim and the little girl with the black braids, the mastermind behind the scaffolding of a thriving human trafficking network, driven by the desire to make him pay for his crimes.

They climbed the stairs, gripped by a turmoil that made their hearts race and their breaths shorten, but as they reached the final step, determination and serenity surged within them.

In that state of mind, they crossed the threshold into the drawing room.

.

Perched on the balcony where, a year and a half earlier, Erwin, Levi, and Mizuki had stood looking out over the snow-covered garden where Tim had just fallen, a figure observed the two women climbing the staircase and disappearing inside, as though swallowed by the house. With a sharp movement, he struck a match against the flint he held between two fingers, and a lone flame flickered to life in the darkness.

He gazed at the matchstick for a moment, then spread his fingers, letting it fall downward.

A cruel, mocking grin spread across the face of the Vice Commander of Marley's Warriors.

"Perhaps the third attempt to burn her alive will be the charm."

Yes, this time he would finally rid himself of her. He felt lucky tonight, sincerely confident in his success.

It was commonly believed that three was the perfect number; and in any case, this time, unlike before, he had made a special arrangement to ensure he wouldn't fail.

Barrels brimming with gunpowder, stacked in the room on the first floor directly above the hall.

.

The hall was less brightly lit than Mizuki had assumed from outside, likely a result of the contrast with the darkness of the night that still shrouded the building and its surroundings. The only sources of light were a few candles placed at the four corners of the room and one, the largest, positioned on the central table.

Around the table sat two figures silhouetted against the light.

For a moment, as she crossed the threshold, Mizuki's heart raced at the thought - more like a hope - that those two, or at least one of them, might be the Giant or the Wizard.

She immediately dismissed the notion. Her red eyes, their secret protected by the darkness and the hood of her cloak pulled low over her face, easily identified the two individuals seated at the table: the Duke and Clayton Tennison, Jacqueline's father and brother, respectively. The two men were dressed to the nines, as though attending a gala dinner held in honor of the most distinguished figures within the Walls. The Duke seemed in high spirits; his ruddy, fleshy face testified to his robust health and lack of pressing concerns. Clayton, by contrast, appeared haggard and thinner than during their last encounter, his movements abrupt and jittery, as though afflicted by a tic.

"My dear daughter! What a delight to finally have you back at Tennison Mansion! Is it so strange for a father to feel overjoyed at seeing his child return to the fold?" Duke Tennison spread his arms in welcome, adopting the same benevolent demeanor he had used to greet the soldiers of the Survey Corps a year and a half earlier. "Ah, and with you, if I'm not mistaken, is the soldier Mizuki Onizuka. If I recall correctly, I gifted you a bottle of wine made from my vineyards… Did you enjoy it? How was it?"

.

"It will be all right. The Tennisons are a fairly enlightened family around here. They don't exploit people as is the custom of the nobles, and they're even quite cultured."

"But filthy pigs they are and remain."

"There is only one matter you need to watch out for. David Tennison has one passion that he does not compromise on: wine. His estate - you will see it - is surrounded by acres of vineyards from which he makes a fine wine he is very proud of. He will certainly offer it to us, and he may be upset if you refuse it. Just pay attention to this, and everything will go smoothly. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!"

.

Mizuki still remembered Erwin's warnings on how to handle Duke Tennison, and particularly on the love for the prized wine produced from his vines. Nevertheless, his pretense that Jacqueline and Mizuki had simply dropped by in the middle of the night by chance, and not to address some rather scandalous and uncomfortable discoveries, was revolting to her.

"It was excellent," she replied curtly, conjuring the image of the bottle, dusty and untouched, which she had placed on the most remote shelf of her room upon returning to Headquarters and never touched again.

"Jackie!" At his sister's entrance, Clayton Tennison jumped to his feet and rushed around the table to meet her. "Are you all right?! You have no idea how worried I've been! They've deceived you, Jackie! Dad made me read the letter; he wanted me to be here for this confrontation too! How could you think…?"

"Father!" Jacqueline interrupted, stepping towards her father. Mizuki, for now, let her take the lead; as soon as she entered the room, she had carefully examined the surface of the table and the surroundings, finding no weapons or dangerous objects within the Duke's or his son's reach.

"Father, I'm here to ask you for an explanation about…"

The Duke raised his hands authoritatively, signaling for calm. "I know, my dear, I know. You were quite explicit in the letter you sent me, weren't you? You want to know about the nickname La Romanée, by which our guests, who have always treated you so kindly and attentively, used to call me… Based on that nickname, you've convinced yourself of my involvement in some shady affair… Oh, I say 'convinced,' but it was those Survey Corps folks who planted this idea in your head, wasn't it? Just as they filled it with absurd tales about freedom, your true self, and all the nonsense that made you run away from home." Duke Tennison sighed, his expression both resigned and indulgent, shaking his head like an adult explaining a simple concept to a child. What made his speech so unsettling and disturbing was the lightheartedness, almost indifference, with which he delivered it, as though he were defending himself not from serious accusations but from a playful scolding for having eaten the last slice of cake. "I've done none of the things I'm accused of."

For a moment, both Mizuki and Jacqueline held their breath, convinced the man was about to attempt a defense by spinning some elaborate story.

"At least, that's what you're hoping to hear, isn't it?"

Jacqueline, who until that moment had been trembling convulsively, froze instantly, as if all will to fight had suddenly deserted her now that the death sentence had finally fallen upon her.

The Duke, noticing his daughter's reaction, sighed again and rose to his feet. With the gait Mizuki remembered - small, rapid steps that made him resemble a wind-up toy soldier trudging over cobblestones - he approached the piano nestled in the corner and stroked it tenderly, as though it were his favorite pet. "Do you remember, dear, when you spent every evening playing the piano and singing for me? Do you remember how beautiful and pleasant it was? How much happiness! Weren't you happy, Jackie?"

Jacqueline's body was seized by such a violent spasm that Mizuki seriously feared she might explode at any moment. And, in fact, she did explode: her anger and frustration burst out in a cry of protest. "You call that happiness? For you, perhaps! For me, it was a prison! I was nothing more than a doll, Father; a doll that brightened your evenings, helping you while away your nocturnal boredom! A doll whose worth and usefulness for your social schemes you constantly weighed. And when the time came, you would have traded me, handed me over to that despicable Liam Heather for God only knows what in return!"

"Jacqueline! How can you think that?!" Clayton took another step towards her, but his sister turned on him like a feral cat, hissing.

The Duke shook his head sorrowfully, as though the scene were nothing more than yet another harmless sibling spat. "Clayton, please. Leave your sister alone; you can see she's upset. And, besides, she's right. Yes, your sister is right about everything she accuses me of. Her statements are entirely true."

Clayton spun towards his father, gasping, unable to utter a sound, as if the man had just revealed to him that they were in no way related by blood and that he was, in fact, an orphan abandoned among the vineyards on a snowy night. Jacqueline whimpered, letting out a low moan that conveyed the utter collapse, within her soul, of the last, desperate, irrational hope that her father might be uninvolved in this terrible affair.

Mizuki stood apart, observing the family drama from a respectful distance while avidly absorbing every nuance, every word, every profession of truth from the accused.

"Yes, Clayton, it's true. If I didn't explain myself to you earlier, it was because I thought it best to justify myself just once, in the presence of both my children. Both of you, because those pesky parasites from the Survey Corps, having lost Jacqueline, would surely have tried to win you over next." The Duke clapped his hands twice, as if he felt the need to recapture his audience's attention. "Yes, my dear children. It's true, all of it. You two are the most valuable assets in my estate. My children... I'm not saying anything new, am I? I gave you stability and security, and in return, you belong to me. Our perfect family harmony was based on this unspoken yet fundamental agreement."

Mizuki flexed her fingers, resisting the urge to dig her nails into her palms.

"I am not an object in your hands!" Jacqueline hissed, her voice laced with icy fury.

"Oh, not an object," the Duke hastily corrected her, seemingly sincere in his desire to dispel any misunderstanding. "A value, my dear. A highly prized, active component of my estate. Just like your brother. And it is to uphold my part of the agreement and ensure you both a lifestyle befitting your title that I did what I did."

"And what did you do?" Mizuki asked softly, breaking her resolution not to actively interfere in the family discussion.

"What did I do, what did I do." The Duke let himself sink onto the piano bench, sitting with his legs apart, his open hands resting on his knees, and his rodent-like eyes darting between the three young listeners. "What I did, you Survey Corps folks seem to know better than I do. After the disaster at Shiganshina and the loss of a third of our territories, even we nobles experienced a severe downturn in our lives: prices skyrocketed, raw materials were scarce, lands were confiscated to grow grain. Maintaining our previous lifestyle would have been impossible. Could you imagine it? No, of course not. Because nothing changed for you, thanks to me. Thanks to me, who did what I did." Now the Duke was animated; he pounded his chest with a fist, his eyes flashing a challenge to contradict him. "Thanks to me, harmony was preserved in our household, and my vineyards thrived…"

"Your VINEYARDS?!" Jacqueline advanced menacingly towards her father. The force of her movement made her look like a bristling, enraged feline, ready to strike. "You sold and killed people for your damn VINEYARDS?!"

Her scream echoed off the walls of the room. Mizuki only partially registered it, her attention entirely focused on observing Clayton Tennison's reaction to his father's revelations. The young man stared at the Duke with wide eyes, his face bearing the expression of a child who, after locking away their treasure in a box, opens it one morning to find it empty.

He knows nothing. He truly knows nothing, Mizuki surmised, though she knew Erwin Smith and Levi would require more than Clayton's resemblance to a heartbroken child to clear him of any suspicion.

"Sell and kill, my dear? I have done nothing of what you accuse me of," the Duke replied, assuming an air of outrage. "All I did was welcome, towards the end of the year 844, two promising young men with a provocative project in mind who were in need of funds to carry it out. And I reaped the profits of the trust I placed in them."

"The Giant and the Wizard," Mizuki declared. She wrinkled her nose, annoyed by a faint whiff of smoke in the air, which she attributed to a trick of her imagination, heightened by the tension of the moment. "You funded the organization in its early stages, and they handled human trafficking, sharing the profits with you."

"Human trafficking… Such harsh words. Far too harsh to describe our modest venture. All we did was provide the market with what the market demanded… Diversions from boredom."

"Stop referring to your victims as objects!" Jacqueline growled. "You sold people to the highest bidder to do with them as they pleased… And at the request of one of your clients, you drugged children and threw them to the Titans!"

Clayton let out a strangled cry, clutching his throat as if he were choking. "Drugs…? That can't be…"

"Oh, but it can; and it is," his father corrected him gently, as if scolding an overexcited child. "I promised to tell you the whole truth today and not to feed you any lies. That's what you demanded of me, isn't it? Well, here is the truth."

"You told me it was to protect the vineyards… That you'd use it on the animals threatening them!" Clayton Tennison staggered, gasping for air and for a foothold, overwhelmed by the monstrous truth his father was now shoving in his face. "That's why I helped you! That's why I synthesized it!"

"The truth," the Duke said after a pause in which he seemed to reflect on and once again acknowledge his son's weakness. "It's a concept that can be viewed from many perspectives. I, in fact, didn't lie to you: humans are animals."

With a groan, Clayton collapsed to the ground, pale and shattered, his eyes wide open in horror at the vision that the truth, contemplated from the side that suited Duke Tennison, opened before him, swallowing him up. Jacqueline rushed to his side and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him into a desperate embrace.

"You're wrong, Duke Tennison," Mizuki observed icily, stepping between the two siblings and their father, as if to shield the genuine and intimate gesture of affection between Jacqueline and Clayton from the sight of that vile man. "The truth is only one; but it can be manipulated, that much is true. Each of us decides which truth to believe in."

"Murderer! You're a murderer!" Jacqueline screamed, clinging to her brother. She had chosen which truth to believe, and it was not the one her father offered. "Even Tim… You condemned Tim too!"

For the first time since the conversation began, the Duke displayed a sign of irritation. At his daughter's outcry, he jumped to his feet and paced nervously, his soldier-like gait carrying him deeper into the room.

Mizuki seized the moment to steer the conversation toward more incriminating topics. "Liam… He never told us the name of the friend who brought him to the orphanage where he purchased Tim, but it was you, wasn't it? And it's precisely because of the connection between you, Liam, Tim, and that orphanage that you lost your mind when the murder occurred. You feared that link would come to light, if Nile Dok out of an unfortunate excess of zeal or we of the Survey Corps decided to dig deeper; or that Liam, cornered, might spill everything."

"Liam was loyal, though," the Duke dismissed her with a wave of his hand, as if brushing off a minor inconvenience.

"To you, yes, but he had a loose enough tongue to provide us with precious information. He didn't name you, but we still found our way to you." Mizuki's eyes tracked the man as he moved with almost a skipping gait. "And now you will pay."

"Pay? Really? Is that the fairy tale Smith told you?"

"For Liam Heather, it's no longer a fairy tale. He's in prison now, and he'll remain there for a long time."

The Duke stopped abruptly and slowly turned on his heel to face her. Any trace of joviality vanished from his face, replaced by a cold ruthlessness. Mizuki realized she had finally exposed the man she had relentlessly hunted since arriving in Tiburtina. A man who, until now, had hidden behind a carefully constructed persona: the rotund, slightly scatterbrained, yet wealthy and magnanimous nobleman. Beneath this facade, which had deceived the entire world - except perhaps Levi, whose instinct for reading people bordered on animalistic - lurked the monster.

I just think there are worse monsters than Titans out there. The worst atrocities in history have been committed by humans.

The words addressed to Eren echoed in her ears, as Mizuki contemplated, standing before her, erect in all his cruelty, the example that embodied them perfectly.

"No," the Duke retorted venomously. "He won't remain there. And do you know why? Because Liam, stupid as he is, is part of the system. And the system will protect him. You act so boldly, but Smith knows how the trial is going and that they'll exonerate him."

Mizuki was not the least bit intimidated by the rather plausible scenario her opponent laid out. Her mind was abuzz, stirred by the raw, unrelenting logic the Duke had wielded: the system would protect Liam Heather because he was part of it.

Something inside her stirred restlessly, struggling to surface, and occasionally it succeeded. Mizuki grasped at the frayed edges of an idea forming in her mind; better, an idea that had been fermenting within her for a long time, though she hadn't been consciously aware of it until now. It was an idea she had glimpsed on Lavinia's pensive face, in the weighty silences of Erwin Smith whenever a certain topic arose…

"They'll exonerate him because he's a noble, because he's part of the system. And unlike my failed offspring, he wants to be part of it. And he wants it because he knows."

The idea burst suddenly inside Mizuki, overwhelming her and leaving her breathless.

Wilinski. The little book. The secret on which the foundations of the small Village, both paradise and prison, were built, and which was passed down from the elders to their descendants.

"He knows. Liam Heather knows," Mizuki stammered, as the ashes of the explosion settled within her. "So that's it. Your system is all here: there's a secret behind the walls, behind the giants, behind the desperate choice to barricade yourselves here. And you nobles know this secret, you preserve it, carefully hiding it from the rest of the people."

The Duke flinched; for a moment, the control over himself and the situation, which he had so brilliantly displayed until then, seemed to waver. "You of the Survey Corps are miserable worms! It was so amusing to watch you run around in circles like poor fools, searching for the truth… Have you really poked your noses around so much as to uncover the secret behind this world? But… Ah, now that I look at you more closely, I see the mistake. You worms are still running in circles like so many stupid ants whose anthill has just been destroyed. You sense the existence of a secret; but you have no idea what it is." A laugh, brimming with mockery, rang out, silvery and cruel, among the walls of the hall. "Don't you realize how hilarious all this is? You die by the handfuls… By the handfuls, do you hear me? And you know absolutely nothing!"

Mizuki didn't waver, nor did she let herself be provoked by the denigrating and offensive speech, though every part of her burned with rage. "Maybe we don't know everything yet, but it's only a matter of time. You can't escape us. We'll uncover the truth, and then your shitty system will meet its end. Your children have already chosen their side, it seems. I don't see why the people should follow a man who hasn't even been able to convince his own family."

Unlike her, the Duke proved far more susceptible to provocation. Shaking like a leaf in indignation, he began fumbling with the satchel hanging at his side. "You'll regret this!" he bellowed, the veins in his neck bulging and throbbing with fury. "You and all you disgusting worms… Smith will regret it… The time has come to get rid of you once and for all. Everything's already in place… That man from the First Interior Squad of the Military Police has been informed, he's already trained his men to wipe you out… All we're waiting for is a signal from that stupid king to finish you off, and then… Then we'll annihilate you!"

That man from the First Interior Squad of the Military Police? What nonsense is he rambling about? Here's a lovely riddle to gift the commander.

Mizuki spread her arms, an invitation to carry out the threat, if he had the courage and the ability. "Go ahead, I'm curious to see you try what even the titans couldn't." As she spoke, mockingly, she stepped forward and entered the circle of light cast by the candle on the table.

The Duke Tennison had just, rather theatrically, declared her own death sentence, and this Mizuki could have accepted without a blink. But by appealing to the noble title he flaunted and relying on the system that would protect him, he had spat on the horrific fate of his victims, belittled their suffering, and proclaimed the legitimacy of his actions, and this… This Mizuki could not stomach. The Wings of Freedom had unfurled and wrapped around her heart. The Duke would pay: if the Survey Corps, if Erwin Smith, still lacked the strength to dismantle the system that sought to crush and silence them, she had more than enough to begin the work herself.

She didn't try to hide the Sharingan. In the dim light, her crimson-tinged eyes glimmered with an ominous glow.

Faced with such an unusual and horrifying sight, the Duke stepped back a few paces, mumbling incoherent words. With a frantic gesture, he pulled a gun from the depths of his satchel and pointed it at Mizuki. Behind her, Jacqueline let out a cry of anger and terror, perhaps reliving the frantic moments of their first night together at Tennison Mansion.

Mizuki, however, was not afraid. She had properly instructed Jacqueline: if a gun appeared on the scene, she was to take refuge on the balcony and leave the fight to Mizuki. As for her, a solitary birdcall had sounded outside, the signal that either Loki or Amado, if not both, had her back covered.

"I'll kill you!" the Duke frothed with rage. The meticulously constructed image of himself as a benevolent, enlightened noble had shattered before Mizuki, before her refusal to submit without a fight or kneel before the system. And now the man's true nature was laid bare to her in all its pettiness, in all its vileness; perhaps this, more than anything, was for the Duke the most grievous and intolerable affront. "And before I do it, I will reveal to you the secret on which this world rests… So that you die in regret, like the bitch you are. When you understand why this system is the only possible one, you will bitterly regret your foolish and harmful curiosity!"

"I doubt it," Mizuki replied calmly, taking another step forward, moving even closer to the heavy wooden table. Her fingers lightly grazed the smoke grenade she had taken out and hidden in the folds of her cloak. When the Duke finally decided to fire, she would throw it on the ground to block his line of sight, then take cover under the table; she would navigate through the smoke with her eyes, and by crawling on the ground, reach the enemy and disarm him. After that, she would have all the time she needed to extract the information she was after: the secret of the world, the identity of the Wizard and the Giant, his connections with Wilinski, and how to find him. "Don't you understand? It doesn't matter what you tell me, Duke. No matter what incredible revelation it might be, there's one thing that will never change." The girl's hand rested, open, over her left chest, right above her heart and the coat of arm sewn onto her uniform; a gesture embodying the right to follow the unstoppable yearning for freedom that drives human beings. "The truth I will choose to believe in… My truth will never be the same as yours."

The Duke turned pale, as if the words just spoken had physically assaulted him; and perhaps that's exactly what happened: their power, the realization that they were true, struck him like a slap or a punch. His shock, however, was brief; immediately, he lifted the pistol he had lowered, disengaged the safety, and hissed, "You will die like a bitch. The secret of our world is that…"

.

The flames from the fire raging upstairs finally reached the barrels filled with gunpowder.

.

A deafening explosion echoed through the valley.

.

Mizuki reacted instinctively: just as she had planned to do if the Duke fired at her, she threw herself to the ground and rolled under the table, mere moments before a beam from the ceiling collapsed onto the spot where she had been standing.

Duke Tennison let out a bloodcurdling scream, and before Mizuki's wide-open eyes, he was overwhelmed by a cascade of debris and fire.

"Jackie!" Still on her hands and knees, Mizuki turned around, squinting against the dust stinging her eyes.

Through the smoke and fire engulfing the hall and the rain of splintered wood falling like snow of the wrong color, she caught a glimpse of a figure huddled on the floor.

Mizuki clenched her teeth. She quickly assessed the state of the ceiling above her: a broken beam with a jagged end swung precariously, and bricks continued to crash into the room. She judged that the structure would hold for a little while longer.

Without wasting another second, she darted out from under the table and sprang forward.

She ran, dodging small fires and piles of rubble scattered across the floor, her mouth pressed into the crook of her elbow.

She ran because, by her word, she had not survived the Titans only to die roasted like a chicken.

Jacqueline lifted a pair of terrified eyes to her; in her arms, she cradled her brother's limp body, sprawled awkwardly in her lap.

"Clayton… he saved me… he shielded me from the falling beams with his body… Mizuki! Mizuki, please, do something! Please, save him!" she pleaded, clinging desperately to her friend's legs.

Mizuki pried her off with a brusque gesture and pushed her towards the balcony. "Get out of here!" she ordered. She disentangled Clayton Tennison from his sister's grip and, sliding an arm under his back, tried to lift him but collapsed under the dead weight of the injured man. Sensing Mizuki's intent, the young man, still conscious, murmured that he could move and would help. Together, they managed to get to their feet and bolted for safety.

The outside air hit them as if they had just dived into a dense, icy pool. Amado and Loki immediately rushed up the stairs to meet them, grabbing the near-lifeless body of Clayton.

"Mizuki! What the hell happened in there?!" shouted Amado as they stumbled down the steps, trying to be heard over the roar of the fire and the crashes behind them.

"I have no idea!" she yelled back, fighting a losing battle with the gusts of hot air whipping across the plains.

They fled the burning building, weaving through the rows of vines, and didn't stop running until they felt they had reached a safe distance. The two boys set Clayton Tennison down on the ground, and Mizuki immediately set to work tending to him. Amado wrapped Jacqueline in a shy embrace as she trembled, while Loki, his hands buried in his hair and his face blackened with soot, paced nervously back and forth.

"Mizuki, what do you mean you have no idea what happened? We thought you were the one who started the fire!" Loki exclaimed. "It all happened so suddenly. One moment the villa was silent and calm, and the next, flames were bursting from nearly every window on the upper floor. There was some kind of explosion…"

"It wasn't me," Mizuki informed him flatly, without looking up from the injured man. Clayton Tennison was in a terrible state: the left side of his body, from his face to his abdomen, had the consistency of molten metal, liquefied by the intense heat, and his clothes had fused to the charred mess of flesh and blood. Carefully, making sure not to waste a single drop, Mizuki poured water from their bottles over his wounds. Every drop that touched his seared skin made Clayton howl like a beaten dog, an awful sound in which a fleeting relief and renewed agony blended equally. "And it wasn't 'some kind of explosion'. Something upstairs detonated, and it brought the ceiling down. I think the flames from the fire reached some explosive materials. There was the smell of gunpowder in the hall."

"Yeah, but…!" Loki trailed off in front of her. Then, realizing Mizuki wasn't going to elaborate any further, he burst out, "If it wasn't you, and it wasn't us, then who was it?"

Mizuki shook her head. She knew perfectly well who had started the fire, but she had no intention of sharing her suspicions with her companions.

She didn't know the name of the mysterious arsonist, but she was willing to bet her month's salary that, if they inspected the site, they would find five ignition points for the fire.

Exactly like at the Williams's.

Exactly like at the mysterious organization's hideout.

"Yes, fascinating stuff, everyone, but we need to get the hell out of here!" Amado pointed frantically at the inferno they had left behind, which had now reached monumental proportions. Carried by the wind, some sparks had ignited the first rows of vines, and the flames were spreading rapidly through the garden. "Everything's catching fire, and we need to move before the gendarmes arrive!"

Mizuki, as a doctor, absolutely did not approve of moving Clayton Tennison; but as a ninja, and above all as a soldier of the Survey Corps, she knew they had no other viable options. Nile Dok had already spared her once, albeit reluctantly, during her first visit to Tennison Mansion; it was a miracle that wouldn't happen again if he found her involved in a disaster of this magnitude at the same location.

.

They reached the horses tied at the edge of the property, flattening themselves against the tree trunks like thieves. Clayton was hoisted onto Amado's horse and immediately lost consciousness. They galloped away, leaving behind absolute devastation.

Only the next day did they learn from the newspapers that the fire had raged for hours, voraciously consuming hectares of vines and one of the most stunning and luxurious noble residences within the walls.

Tennison Mansion had collapsed in on itself after a slow and agonizing demise, taking with it, as its only confirmed casualty, its owner.

With sorrow and regret for the great man he had been, the newspapers announced the death of Duke Tennison, mourned for his sharp mind, his generosity, his humanity towards the less fortunate, and above all, his immense love for wine.

.

OOO

.

The Day of the Fifty-Seventh Expedition

.

7:00 AM

The bells toll, signaling the imminent opening of the gate.

It's an unfamiliar sound to the citizens of Karanes.

Expeditions usually depart from Trost, not from here.

But now Trost is on its knees.

People lean out from their balconies, climb onto any ledge, and stretch to catch a glimpse of the fools about to set out.

And to catch sight of the famous Eren Jaeger.

Mostly that.

Commander Erwin Smith throws his head back.

He is an imposing figure, proud, majestic.

"Launch the fifty-seventh expedition outside the Walls! Advance!"

.

8:11 AM

An abnormal Titan has broken through the formation.

And its behavior is truly abnormal.

It's fast. It's determined.

It almost seems like…

Captain Dita Neiss snaps out of his thoughts.

This is no time to get lost in such reflections.

There's only one thing he must do.

He has to stop it at any cost before it reaches the recruits.

He activates the ODM gear, lifting himself off the saddle, ready to attack.

And that's when the Titan, with a sudden movement, grabs the cable.

It begins to spin it like a lasso.

Dita Neiss doesn't even have time to understand what's happening.

After the first spin, his spine snaps with a sickening crack.

His last thought is for his beloved horse.

.

8:40 AM

Armin Arlert has been thrown to the ground.

His gear is detached, and he hit his head.

In the distance, Jean is calling his name.

He can't run.

He knows he's about to die.

His fate is sealed.

The towering figure of the abnormal Titan looms over him.

At any moment now, it will crush him.

The world, for him, will cease to have shape.

But instead, surprisingly, the Titan bends down and simply stares at him.

Armin stares back, hypnotized.

Suddenly, the face of someone he knows well overlaps with that of the enemy.

.

8:58 AM

Armin Arlert is trembling.

If he hasn't fallen, it's only because the branch he's perched on is thick.

The soldiers have been ordered to climb the giant trees and stop the Titans from entering the forest.

Only the central column of the formation and the wagons have gone inside.

Every member of the squad is nervous.

No one understands why the expedition continues, despite the destruction of the left flank.

No one except Armin Arlert.

He has pieced together all the clues scattered along the way, and he's finally figured it out.

Erwin Smith wants to capture the Titan and discover who is hiding inside it.

But even on this point, Armin Arlert is ahead of everyone else, even the Commander.

Because he has looked into the Female Titan's eyes and recognized her.

.

9:02 AM

The Female Titan's footsteps thunder behind them.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Eren's teeth graze the tender flesh of his hand.

But they don't sink in.

He hesitates, despite the comrades who keep dying.

He's listening to Captain Levi's words.

The strongest soldier in humanity.

His idol; his hero.

"The difference between our judgment and yours is experience. But you don't have to fall back on that. Choose: believe in yourself or believe in me and them, the Survey Corps."

Boom. Boom. Boom.

More screams.

More lives snuffed out without dignity.

"I don't know the answer. I never have. Whether you trust in your own strength or trust in the choices made by reliable comrades. No one knows what the outcome will be. So, as much as you can…"

By now, the Female Titan has reached them.

It's about to crush them.

"…choose whatever you'll regret the last".

Eren's mind is in chaos.

He replays words and moments in his head.

He remembers Miss Mizuki.

He remembers the kind words she spoke to him, despite him being a monster.

He wants to believe in her, even though she's not there.

And she believes in the Survey Corps, and especially in Captain Levi.

Eren knows it. He's seen it; he's felt it.

"Eren! There's no time! Come on, make the damn decision already!"

The boy lowers his hand.

He's made his choice.

.

9:07 AM

Levi landed on the branch of the giant tree, as massive as the trunk of a regular broadleaf tree. Erwin, just a step away from him, neither spoke nor offered him a glance of recognition, unlike Lavinia, who tilted her head slightly. The commander's focus - deadly as always, evident from his furrowed brows, clenched lips, and tensed back muscles - was entirely absorbed by the scene unfolding in the clearing below them.

The Female Titan, chained to the ground by thick steel cables and surrounded by soldiers, stood at the center of the clearing like an ancient, unyielding rock planted in the middle of a body of water, mysterious because it was impossible to establish how and by whom it had been placed in such an unexpected and at the same time appropriate place. The muscular figure of that abhorrent creature carried an aura of doom and death; the same doom and death it had spread like breadcrumbs among the soldiers as it tore through the formation. Though similar to other Titans - in size, in destructive power, in utter lack of mercy - their prey's eyes were alight with intelligence.

That creature understood what it was doing, and, worse, it acted out of desire.

Within it dwelled the soul of a human being.

On the ground below, Levi spotted Hange, electrified as always, giving instructions to the soldiers near the cannons. The captain couldn't help but spare a thought for his squad and for Eren. For now, the situation seemed under control: the brat had unexpectedly followed orders and hadn't caused any trouble. Mizuki appeared to have tamed him, but Levi harbored no illusions; Eren's stubbornness held something beastly, something untamable. It was fair to wonder how long this semblance of obedience would last.

"Looks like we stopped it" Levi observed.

"The trap worked," Lavinia agreed, her expression as impassive as if none of this concerned her.

"We can't let down our guard yet" Erwin said firmly, his clear voice showing he had noticed the captain's arrival. "I'm impressed you managed to lead it here."

"That's thanks to the rear squads, who risked their lives fighting. They bought us the time we needed" Levi said, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword tightly. "We couldn't have done it without them".

A part of him knew that Erwin didn't ignore - and, in fact, deeply valued - the role of the comrades who had been sacrificed for the success of alltheir strategies. Yet, sometimes - especially in moments like these, which had grown more frequent since the arrival of Mizuki and her companions, and later, of Eren - it seemed to Levi that this awareness got lost in the commander's mind, overshadowed by other, more pressing concerns.

At Levi's comment, which sounded vaguely like a reproach, Erwin straightened his shoulders. "I see."

Lavinia and Levi exchanged a glance. Both of them - he from firsthand experience, and she from reports given by terrified soldiers - were familiar with the devastation they had left behind. In that moment of silent understanding and brief reprieve, they both sighed in relief that she hadn't taken part to the expedition.

"Good thing Mizuki isn't here," the commander remarked absentmindedly.

Levi and Lavinia started, like thieves caught in a house in the dead of night. They were sure Erwin hadn't noticed the brief but unmistakable exchange of glances between them, it was impossible, given that he had his back turned; and yet, he had accurately guessed the direction of their thoughts. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to rely on two of my most trusted subordinates."

Neither of them replied to the sharp remark. The truth could only be answered with silence.

After that brief interlude, the soldiers banished all sentimentality from their minds and returned their focus to the complicated mission on which all their fates depended.

"Yeah…" Levi muttered, eyeing the nape of the Titan. "Thanks to them, we'll meet whoever's inside that neck. I just hope whoever it is hasn't pissed themselves in the meantime…"

For his part, he was certain of only one thing:

That he would tear it to pieces.

.

9:20 AM

The cables glint in the daylight.

There are so many of them.

Hundreds.

The number is just right to immobilize a Titan.

This is what Hange thinks with satisfaction.

Mike and Levi descend, spinning towards the nape of the enemy.

A shrill sound echoes through the clearing.

The blades of her comrades have broken.

Erwin orders the cannons to be prepared.

They would carve their way into the enemy by force.

Hange is beside herself with excitement.

Her only regret is that Mizuki and Amado aren't there to witness the spectacle.

Then it happens.

A heart-wrenching scream erupts from the Female Titan.

It is an animalistic, agonizing sound.

Like that of a beast driven mad and cornered.

It stuns them all.

Mike's alarmed voice rings out in the clearing.

"Erwin! I smell them coming!"

"From what direction?"

"There's a lot, coming from all directions! At the same time!"

.

9.30 AM

"I'm going to call my squad over. I just hope they haven't gone too far".

"Levi, wait. Replenish your gas and blades".

"There's no time. And I have plenty already… So why?"

"That's an order. Follow it".

"Yes, sir. Erwin… I'm going to trust your judgement". .

.

9:36 AM

Eren has decided to trust Levi's squad.

That is why he is running away from the battle.

He's going to believe in the strength of his comrades.

And yet…

And yet he can't help himself.

Eren turns around.

And it is a mistake.

Gunther dangles lifelessly from a cable.

Eld is torn apart alive by the enemy's teeth.

Petra is crushed against the trunk of a tree.

Oluo has been struck by a kick that snapped him in half.

Eren feels himself die inside.

He has made his choice.

And it has been the wrong one.

He brings his hand to his mouth and bit down.

"I''m gonna kill you."

He says it through tears.

They are his last words in human form.

.

9:46 AM

Mikasa Ackerman has never seen anything like it.

She knows she in strong.

But Captain Levi is on a whole different level.

He attacks precisely, quickly, methodically.

Ruthlessly.

He descends upon the Female Titan like a bolt of lightning.

He doesn't even give it time to harden the skin.

Mikasa spots an opening in the enemy's defense.

They can bring it down.

She will do it.

That monster has killed too many of her comrades and has taken Eren.

She charges.

"NO!"

It is Captain Levi who shouts.

Mikasa realizes her mistake too late.

When the enemy's hand has already shot out in her direction.

And yet, it doesn't strike.

The captain has thrown himself between her and the hand.

CRACK.

She sees him grit his teeth in pain, but he doesn't give up.

Levi lunges at the Titan's mouth.

A precise slash, and Eren slips out.

"Eren!"

"We're getting out of here! He's okay. Alive, anyway. Just a little dirty."

As they flee, Levi glances back.

He needs to make sure the enemy isn't following them.

The Female Titan is slumped against a tree, and…

Levi jolts.

It can't be true…

It is crying.

That abhorrent being is crying.

.

11:59 AM

The formation passes through the gates of Karanes.

What's left of the formation.

Many soldiers are wounded and unconscious.

The others keep their heads down.

The eternal defeated, the insane, the walking dead.

They have been utterly annihilated.

.

12:03 PM

Due to the critical condition of Clayton Tennison - which first forced them into a long stop near Stohess to treat him, followed by numerous short pauses along the way - the journey back to Karanes took longer than expected. Amado, Loki, Mizuki, Jacqueline, and Clayton reached the outskirts of the city in the late morning, nearly four hours after the scouting had begun. Their first stop was, of course, the hospital, housed in an imposing building that had been prepared for the imminent return of severely injured soldiers, with extra beds and medical staff on hand. Mizuki met with the director, to whom she had already been introduced as the doctor of the Survey Corps; the man, in whom she had deep trust, took charge of Clayton Tennison.

For about an hour, Mizuki stayed in the clinic to assist the doctor in treating Clayton's injuries. Then she took it upon herself to console Jacqueline, who was waiting outside the door with Loki and Amado, consumed by indescribable anguish. She reassured her friend that her brother's wounds had been treated with the utmost care and diligence despite the delay and that he would survive, barring extraordinary circumstances, though he would carry the scars of this nightmare forever. For now, Clayton needed to rest, but Jacqueline would be allowed to visit him that evening.

As Mizuki explained all this in a calm voice, the city's bells began to toll.

"The bells?" Amado said, astonished. "That's impossible!"

"Indeed. Even if the expedition was meant to be brief, it's been only five hours since their departure," Mizuki replied, a shiver of unknown origin running down her spine.

"Let's go and check," Loki suggested. "Maybe it's just a mistake."

But unfortunately, it was no mistake.

When Loki, Amado, and Mizuki - Jacqueline stayed behind at the hospital, keeping vigil outside her brother's room like an anxious guardian - reached the city gates, they found their comrades already gathered on the main road.

Loki and Amado immediately noticed that something was wrong: the number of soldiers had dwindled dramatically, and there were far more wounded than usual.

Mizuki was too busy scanning the sea of heads bobbing along the road to notice. Her eyes soon found Lavinia, riding at the front alongside the commander; on the other hand, the captain, was nowhere in sight, hidden by the crowd due to his short stature.

"Captain Levi, sir! Thank you for taking good care of my daughter! I'm Petra's father! There's something I'd like to discuss with you before I find her..."

Mizuki caught the tail end of the conversation and set off in pursuit.

"My daughter sent me this letter, see. She says she intends to devote herself to you completely or something like that. And, well, that was her pride talking, but she doesn't understand how worried that makes me!"

She weaved through soldiers, horses, carts, and townspeople crowded along the road.

"So, I mean… as her father…"

The figures of the captain and a balding man came into view just a few steps away.

"I think it's still too early to get her married up. She's still young, after all, and who knows what's going to happen in the days ahead… "

Mizuki craned her neck to get a clear look at the captain's face, and…

Her blood turned to ice.

Levi's face was a mask of death.

It said everything that needed to be said.

That day, something inside Mizuki shattered irreparably.

.

.

.

.

Good evening everyone! Here's the new chapter!
Pretty heavy to write, with everything that happens.
I'll try to be brief (I always say it, but never do it, lol).
I tried to give some space to Levi Squad, given their atrocious death at the end of the chapter. Aside from the discussion about the most beautiful of the Corps among the boys, Petra and Mizuki finally manage to talk and reveal each other's secrets. It seemed too cruel to let Petra die without the two having cleared things up... it would have been too hard for Mizuki!
Even the Duke makes his exit from the scene... Basically, I love ambiguous characters, whose morals are dubious, and who usually have a reason for their evil actions (see Reiner, Annie, etc. etc. Eren himself at the end of the story). But at the same time, I think that every good story must have a villain and that's it. An asshole who does what he wants without ifs or whys, just because he feels like it and its benefits him. The Duke (and before him the good Liam Heather) falls squarely into this category. For this reason I feel no remorse for his deplorable end and for the burning of his vineyards. He deserves it.
The expedition was hard to write. So many fundamental events, so many emotions, so many deaths. I will truly miss Levi Squad; and certainly, their death will have a fairly significant impact on Mizuki. The next two chapters will be very focused on this change in her, on this growth forced by the tragic events in the future. As a final note: in the original story (I am referring to the manga, not the anime, and this is why the scene of the corpses thrown off the wagons is missing), Annie kills a soldier by swinging him around, but it is not Dita Neiss. For me, that death has always been the most atrocious act committed by Annie. After knowing her story, I understood her motivations, but I have never been able to forgive her for killing one of the soldiers like that. I wanted to include it in the story and so I replaced the unknown soldier with Dita Neiss. Forgive this little poetic license.
I think I've said it all! I hope you enjoyed the chapter.