Freedom: Levi Fanfiction

|| Erwin's truth

48

        I knocked twice on the commander's doors. It had been a long day and in celebration of the queen's coronation, Levi and I decided to have a drink to wind down after everything that had happened. How hilarious it was to see him chug a whole bottle of beer, a drink he'd often call poison. If anything, I was rather entertained to see his face turn into a scowl as soon as the bitter flavour came in. 

I wanted to ignore my problems for today and as always, I'd always turn to alcohol. However, as I got older, I realized just how bitter it really was—or how I force myself to like it just so I could forget the burden on my shoulders.

        The light on the small gap beneath the wooden frames flickered as Erwin signalled me to come inside. My eyes were drowsy and I admit—I was tipsy. A serious conversation wouldn't go well whenever I'm not sober. 

The commander leaned back against his chair and chuckled as he watched me go in. 

        "I can tell you've been drinking," he said but I denied it. God, it was obvious right from the start. If anyone can tell if I've been drinking, it'd be Levi and the commander—or Hange; that girl can sniff the truth right out of anyone.

My lips curved tightly into a smile as I quietly sat down on the chair in front of his desk. "You wanted to talk about something important?" 

        Erwin was organizing the stack of papers waiting to be read and nodded. "Yes. About the re-taking of Wall Maria." 

Right, that is important. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel disappointed. I mean, since when does Erwin ever talk about something else other than his commander-job? Nonetheless, I stayed quiet and let him do the talking. 

        "This expedition will be our largest one. I will bring as much scouts as I can, basing on how much titans we'd have to clear. And, now that Eren's titan hardening abilities are confirmed, we can finally put an end to this." His blue eyes trailed toward mine slowly as if there was hesitance behind those stares of his. 

        "Of course, in a perfect world, this plan will work out perfectly. However, I am concerned about a few people."

I unconsciously let out a quick sigh and avoided his gaze. "Reiner and Bertholdt?"

        "Yes." 

        He crossed his arms. "I reckon they're somewhere out there. Probably along the borders of Wall Maria. Much to my dismay, I know they might try to pull something on us." 

        I raised a brow. "And what do you say we do with them?" 

        "Hange has some ideas. Levi has some ideas. Now, as my third-hand, I'd like to know your opinion on these suggestions." The blond leaned toward me, reaching for a familiar black box. It was the Titan serum. 

        "Levi's suggestion is that we take one of the two titans to add to our arsenal."

        "That's ridiculous," I said without thinking too much. And without fail, Erwin chose to be patient. 

        "The armoured and colossal titans are powerful weapons of destruction. Should we have them in our regiment, we'll be an unstoppable force against our enemies," explained the commander calmly. But while he was calm, I was hesitant and worried. Who should we give this serum to and who should we have to feed in order for that to happen? It felt... disturbing and sinister. 

        "With all due respect, commander, but we don't even know anything about these titans nor do we know how a person can control it. Eren has a few testaments but we're talking about the colossal or the armoured here," I told him.