In the fractured world behind the towering walls, where titans roam and humanity fights for survival, a story of broken souls and secretive pasts unfolds. Reinae Agnar is a fiery, unapologetic, and enigmatic individual forced to live a brutal life...
Six months had passed since Erwin visited the underground. Most of the areas within Wall Maria were evacuated. A fifth of the population succumbed to the cruelty of the Titans. People within Wall Rose struggled with food shortages, space shortages for refugees, and overall terror of the threat to humanity. And as the dominos fell, the underground was also slowly overrun by chaos.
Four people with arms tied behind their backs were kneeling in an abandoned warehouse. They were all fearfully glancing at the red-headed woman sitting on a chair in front of them, gazing up through the hole in the roof. A few meters away, the wall of a man with black curly hair was dragging out a bleeding body. And on wooden boxes beside the pool of blood sat a lean man with warm brown eyes and dirty blonde hair, cleaning a bloody blade.
"I'll only ask one more time," the woman said, her voice dangerously calm. "Did you, or did you not, try and sell three innocent young girls to those pigs from the Capital?"
The men on their knees trembled. The warehouse was quiet until the woman lowered her gaze from the roof. The stare of those piercing green eyes made one of the men yelp with fear.
"We had no choice," he quickly defended, his voice shaking. "There's no food. There's no money. We only tried to help our families."
Reinae tilted her head to the side.
"By destroying the lives of three girls who are not even of age?"
"Their lives are shit anyways!" exclaimed another man. "They're starved! Barely alive! It would be a miracle our clients would even accept them since they look half-dead! We were offering them a chance of a better life than this hell- "
The man froze when Rei's blade rested on his throat before he could even see her move. Her face was directly in front of his, her stare digging into his soul.
"I wonder, Sanders," she purred. "If you'd find being raped, tortured, abused for days on end, waiting for the merciful death to find you, a better life?"
Sanders swallowed hard, fear and disgust sipping through his body. Rei frowned as if she could smell his feelings. As if she could hear his corrupted thoughts that couldn't care less for the wellbeing of those girls.
She stood up.
"You broke a rule," she said coldly. "An essential rule. You know the consequences."
"No! Please! Have some understanding!" the first men begged.
Rei looked at each of their faces, knowing the fear written on them was entirely selfish. No remorse. No regret. Just a selfish fear of death.
"I understand plenty," she said, taking her ODM blade from its sheath.
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"It's getting worse," Aiden said, frowning from underneath his black curls.
"No shit," Rei said sarcastically, massaging her temples. The lack of sleep in those past months resulted in a constant excruciating headache.
"It's tiring," Aiden complained.
Rei glared at her brother.
"Poor baby Aiden," she hissed. "Why don't you take a few days off to whore around when that's the only thing you don't complain about doing?"
Aiden grinned at her while his eyes reflected Reinae's anger.
"Why don't you join me?" he spat back. "It would maybe do you some good, and you wouldn't be such a pain in the ass."
"Stop it, you two," Jasper said, glaring at Aiden.
"Yeah, take her side, like you always do," Aiden said, rolling his eyes. "You'd probably be first in line if Rei decided to finally screw someone who isn't some pathetic loser."
Rei already launched towards Aiden, her fist aiming to collide with his chin, but Jasper grabbed her by the upper arm.
"Enough!" he yelled. "Stop bickering like you're fifteen years old!"
Rei glared at her brother and hissed a dirty curse at him, then shook off Jasper's grip.
"You're both tired," Jasper continued. "Arguing won't help anything. It's time to consider a different approach to things."
"And what would you have us do, smartass?" Rei asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
Jasper sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Aiden has a point," he admitted. Rei's brother lifted his hands, his expression saying, "I told you so." "There's only so much we can do around here."
"And it's not even our fucking job," Aiden joined.
Rei's eyes once again darkened.
"Do you have a point, or are you just complaining again?" she spat.
"I don't get it," Aiden retorted. "What do we owe to these people? What do you owe them?"
Rei blinked, opening her mouth, but she had no smart comeback.
"Just because we had a shitty life here doesn't mean it's our duty to make everyone else's better," Aiden added.
"So, what? We just stop?" Rei asked sarcastically.
"Maybe we should," Jasper chimed in quietly.
Rei looked at him in disbelief.
"Things are not the same as five years ago, Rei," he explained. "The wall has been breached. There's no peace even above ground. And despite how much people here might fear or respect you, it doesn't compare to how desperate they might get and what they might do because of that."
He walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"I know you made a promise. And you can continue to keep it without... "
Jasper's voice wandered off. Reinae saw in his eyes where he was going with his words. She stared at him, biting back instant words of refusal. Aiden's gaze darted between them for a while before he threw his hands in the air.
"Can you stop this telepathic shit and just tell me what I'm missing?!"
Rei sighed.
"He wants us to join the Corps," she said bitterly.
Aiden looked at Jasper in complete disbelief.
"No. Fucking. Way," he hissed. "If I see Smith's face once again, I'll smash it to pieces for what he did to Rei!"
"I don't like it either," Jasper said, grimacing. "But we can arrange for our district here to be taken care of, and at the end of the day, people who joined you here are the only ones you actually care about, Rei."
Aiden immediately fought against the idea, saying stuff like "What, and being Titan food is better than this?" and "I'd rather be eaten by dirty underground rats than work for that piece of shit!". While her brother and best friend bickered, Rei contemplated. She hated Jasper's idea but knew deep down he was right. She looked at the only two people she called family and tried to make a decision she wouldn't regret. Though, in their world, a decision like that was unlikely.
