Titans Rule, Levi Ackerman UNDER EDITING

(37) When the smoke dissolves.

~Amelia's POV~

"So, what's the plan?" Levi inquired, ripping Erwin and me away from our heart-to-heart.

"I'm going to persuade the cadets to charge the Beast Titan to act as a decoy whilst you and Amelia use your 3DMG to face it head-on," Erwin elucidated.

Levi gave him an unimpressed look. "You want us to go over him just with our 3MDG? He's standing in an open area. There's not even a house or tree in sight," he exclaimed, raising a good point. I couldn't figure out how Levi and I were supposed to reach him without our horses.

"Wrong... There happens to be a line of objects at just the right height. Sneak in close using the Titans and assassinate it."

My head swivelled backwards and I eyed the perfect line of Titans leading towards the Beast Titan. How Erwin came up with these plans was beyond me.

"That could definitely work!" I said a little loudly, causing one of the cadets near us to peer up at me.

"That's all we can hope for. This is our last chance." Rising to his feet, Erwin made his way over to the cadets. His expression was hard to describe. For someone who was about to ride straight into his death, he looked surprisingly content. I suppose as Levi so eloquently put it, he's given up. Death will relieve him of his duty as Commander. A role that comes with the weight of many people's lives on your shoulders and the duty to carry on despite their absence. And one day, your role comes to an end and it's time to pass it on to the next one. All I could do now was hope that the information I gave him would bring him peace and that his death was swift. 

Next, my attention turned to Levi. His countenance was emotionless with perhaps a slight frown to show that he cared about one of his closest friends dying. But that was stupid. This was Levi Ackerman we're talking about, a man who runs at the slight hint of someone liking him. I scoffed at my pettiness. I didn't know why my brain was choosing now to get annoyed at Levi's attitude. The two of us were about to throw ourselves at the Beast Titan, most likely ending up dead and here I am acting like a scorned lover.

"I'm announcing our final operation! All troops gather around!" Erwin bellowed at the terrified children who were cowering in fear of the Beast Titan. Acid bubbled in my stomach as the guilt of what we were about to pull made me nauseous.

"We will be doing a cavalry charge—our goal: to rush the Beast Titan. Of course, we'll be making ourselves ideal targets. So we'll wait until he's ready to throw and fire our smoke signals together. While we're acting as a decoy, Captain Levi and Cadet Amelia Tsnukio will kill the Beast Titan," My back straightened at the sound of my name. "That is our plan."

We were met with a deathly silence, unsurprising as we were asking these people to ride to their deaths.

"Standing around and waiting just means that we'll be showered by more boulders. Get ready on the double!"

"Are we all... heading to our deaths?" A redhead I recognised from our meal the other day spoke up.

"Yes," Erwin deadpanned.

"If we're going to die anyways, you're saying that it's better... if we die fighting?" Tears welled in his eyes, his voice cracking at the end of his question.

"Yes," Erwin repeated.

"Wait... if we're going to die anyways, no matter how we die, even if it's disobeying orders, it all means nothing right?"

"You're precisely right. It's all meaningless. No matter what dreams or hopes you may have had. No matter how blessed a life you've lived. It's all the same if you're being shredded to death by rocks. Everyone dies eventually. Does that mean life is meaningless? Was there even any point in our being born? Would you say that of our fallen comrades, their lives, were they meaningless?"