BLOODSPORT

Episode 39 & 40

Rhea sat across from her comrades at the wooden table in Headquarters. She, along with the others, listened to Sannes' screams as Captain Levi and Hange tortured him for answers on where Eren and Historia's location was. Unlike the others who winced every time Sannes cried in agony, Rhea didn't feel an ounce of guilt for the torture they were conducting.

"Here we go again." Jean muttered from across the table. Sannes had begun to scream immediately from when Hange arrived.

"The screams seem a lot louder than they were when the Captain did it." Sasha remarked, her head hanging low.

"I know its to save our friends, but... it still makes me sick." Connie added on, twiddling his thumbs between his fingers.

"Let's face the facts," Rhea glanced towards Armin. "We're criminals now. Our last enemy wanted to eat us. We don't have an excuse like that for killing these people. Its just that their views are different."

Rhea tapped her fingers on the table while biting her lip to stop her from exploding. She was irritated and couldn't take it anymore. Her friends should not feel this guilt about corrupt men who take pleasure in making other people suffer for their own benefit.

"We're not good people. Not anymore, at least."

Rhea slammed her fist on the table causing everyone to look at her general direction in shock. "These men have tortured and manipulated so many people for their own self-centered asses. God I can't believe I once wanted to be a part of the MP's." Rhea pointed a finger at Armin, "these men are no worse than Kenny and his people. We are not the bad guys in this situation, Armin. Hell, at this point there is no such thing as good and bad guys anymore! We're just people. People who want to save our friends. Whatever it takes."

Rhea let out a shaky breath, now noticing the looks on all her friends' faces. Their eyes were wide and their mouths were open. Not entirely loving their reactions, Rhea pushed back her chair and stormed out of the room.

Once she entered the main room, Rhea leaned up against one of the many windowsills and gazed longingly out at the full moon. She heard footsteps from behind her, yet Rhea still kept her eyes on the night sky, thinking that even though the world held so much beauty, humanity caused so much destruction.

"I know its you, Kirstien."

"I just wanted to see if you're doing alright." His voice was almost too soothing in the dark room they resided in. Rhea pulled her gaze away from the light of the moon leaned up against the frame, staring at Jean.

He moved closer to her through the darkness. By the time he stopped moving, he was standing directly in front of her. Their bodies were so close yet he felt like miles away still from where she stood. He cupped his hands around hers before stating, "I understand where you're coming from with the Military Police being corrupt." The sensation she felt from his skin touching her own was strange and tingly. Rhea tried to push those feelings aside until she glanced up and stared intensely into Jean's honey eyes. In the light of the moon, Rhea could just make out the hints of gold. "The choice we made to be in the Scouting Regiment helps define who we are. We are not the people we were before Trost and we are not the kind of people to become corrupt. I just think we're all hesitant to hurt the people we vowed to protect."

Rhea sighed, nodding her head slightly. "I'll be easier on Armin and you guys. Each of us needs to go through this at our own pace."

Jean pulled Rhea into his chest. "That's all I ask. We're a team and we'll need each other's backs through this." Rhea took a deep breath, inhaling Jean's sweet scent of earthly aromas. It immediately calmed her down as he ran his hand down her back in a soothing manner.

Pushing away from him ever so slightly, resting the palms of her hands on his strong chest Rhea whispered, "I'm sorry about the other night and pushing you away. I had a nightmare about - well about someone I'd rather not have to think of. I just really appreciate you when you're comforting me, like you are now. Its nice to know that even without Marco here, I can count on someone to calm me down."

Jean pulled her back into his chest, even tighter than before if that were possible. Rhea felt all kinds of emotions flowing through her: comfort, belonging, relief, acceptance, guilt. Fully this time she backed away from Jean who now stared at her questioningly. "We should get back. I don't hear the screams anymore which means Hange and Levi will brief us on what they know."

"Right." Jean said, leading her and himself back to the dinning hall. As she sat back down at the table, now in between Connie and Armin, Rhea couldn't help but think about her brother and Marco's confession to her about his feelings for Jean. She also couldn't help but think back to Bertholdt and how that situation went down. Even though Rhea knew Jean was no Titan and wouldn't betray her like that, she was frightened by the sensation she felt while holding his hands. Moreso, she was scared that by feeling something for Jean that was beyond friendship, she would be betraying her dead brother.

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"So they plan to eat Eren?" Armin questioned, his eyes wide with fear.

Hange continued explaining what exactly Eren wrote her in the note he left. "Eren remembered a conversation between Ymir and Bertholdt." Rhea thought back to when they captured Eren and Ymir, right after revealing they were Titans. She bit her lip while her knee bounced up and down from anxiety. "Based on this, we can speculate. Ymir used to be a mindless Titan just like the others, until she consumed someone-- someone from Bertholdt and Reiner's group. We've never seen a Titan turn back into a human by eating one before. That said, Reiner's comrades aren't normal humans."

"What about the Titan that ate Eren? It didn't turn back." Rhea leaned forward on the table. She had witnessed Eren getting eaten but nothing happened to the Titan that ate him.

"Ideally my theory is that when Titan shifters transform, its from the nape down. I believe that in order to gain the power of the Titans, mindless Titans need to bite down on the spines in order to do so. Since Eren was only bitten by the arm and leg, I believe that's why the Titan that ate him didn't transform." Hange stated. "That's just a theory, however."

"Reiner's comrades aren't normal humans. And there's a different set of rules for humans that can turn into Titans. My thought is this: if a Titan eats someone with that power, then it'll transform back into a human. What's more, they'll obtain whatever powers that human had. In the battle the other month, Reiner was throwing Titans at Eren as he tried to run away. He knew that Eren had the power to take command of feral Titans with his scream. If Eren's death would've meant that power was lost, he wouldn't have risked it. I think he hoped one of those Titans would eat Eren and take his power."

Hange eyed the group in a serious manner. "My point is, if the government has a Titan of their own, they'll use it to eat Eren."

Mikasa grunted, making her way to the cellar where Sannes was locked up. Levi stopped Mikasa in her tracks, "calm down. I know you wanna get Eren back, but going on a rampage won't help with that. Anyway, we're heading for Rod Reiss' estate. Prepare to leave at once."

"Sir!" 

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