𝕮𝖆𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖘𝖎𝖘 - [𝙇𝙚𝙫𝙞 𝙭 𝙢𝙪𝙩𝙚!𝙛𝙚𝙢!𝙊𝘾] { COMPLETE }

𝐂𝐡 𝟏𝟑: 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞

*time skip to four years later*

ARTEMISIA'S POV:

"I didn't sign up for this shit," I motioned bitterly, my SMT now fully refined and articulating exactly the kind of irritated tone I was going for.

My eyes clashed with Eren's as he sat across the table from me, his hands placed palms-down on the white tablecloth as was the rule during meetings like this. Silence hung over the room like the dark clouds in the sky that showed through the various windows lining the wall, threatening a deluge.

"Speak up," He growled.

"No, I think you heard me just fine." I stood up from my chair, pressing white knuckles against the tablecloth in an attempt to sturdy myself as I glared at him. "Euthanasia is not the answer, and you're stupid if you think it ever was."

The eyes that combated mine were fierce and determined. I knew I wasn't going to win this fight, but by God, I was going to go down trying.

Floch, Eren's right-hand man, shot up from his chair and warned me to watch my words. I scowled at him before sitting back down. Floch did the same, but kept a hand on the knife tucked into his waistband—the knife he knew better than to bring to an otherwise weaponless affair.

"Hands on the table, Copper Top."

The auburn-haired man shot me a look of disgust in response to my jide before his hands reluctantly emerged from beneath the table.

"Honestly," I mused, a snide chuckle cradled in my throat. "You people underestimate how observant I am."

The eyebrows of the two males sitting across from me furrowed in sync. A strand of hair fell out of Eren's bun and over his eyes, but he was too busy glaring at me to be concerned with brushing it away.

He chimed in with a retort. "You say 'you people' as if you're not one of us."

The room grew quiet and hesitant, filled only with the frustrated breathing of Eren's red-headed lackey.

Any minute now... any minute now... Gah, where the hell are they? They should've been here by now. I guess I have to buy them more time.

My only option at that point was to bluff, my eyes flitting to the door on the other side of the room before my companions had the chance to notice. "Who's to say I'm not?"

Eren was sharp, though, and saw past my bluff almost immediately. "Don't get coy with me. I'm just as keen as you are, so don't think for one second that you can lie to me. Lying binds you to a life of manipulation, and you know how I feel about slaves."

My eyes narrowed at the brunette. "I'm not a slave."

"I should hope not," He deadpanned, his dull eyes pinpointed to a spot on the table with unmistakable disinterest. "That would go against everything you stand for as a Jaegerist."

My hands stilled. The two opposing breeds of determination wafting from either side of the table was an omen of a stalemate just waiting to happen.

Any minute... c'mon guys, hurry up!

"So are you with us or not," Floch blurted, snapping me out of my thoughts. His body language told me he was growing impatient as if the chair he was so sloppily situated in was burning a hole in his ass.

I leaned back in my chair, hands still facedown on the surface of the table. "That depends. As much as I hated the manipulative hierarchy that Eldia was bound to, I don't feel like the Jaegerist agenda will turn out any better. Things may be different, but different doesn't always mean better and we all know it."