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...
A normal-sized bed. Soft, above all. A normal-sized closet. Private bathroom. A desk that wasn't falling apart. It was all foreign to Rei as she stood in the center of her new room. Despite Jasper and Aiden's protests, their rooms were in another wing since women's and men's sleeping quarters were separated.
She looked down at the one bag of belongings laying at her feet. She opened it and took out a wooden figurine, placing it on her desk. Next to it, she placed a dry flower trapped into a picture frame. She stared at those two objects, feeling emotions' familiar rise. And with the same familiarity, she pushed them back into the little box in her mind, carefully locking them away.
There's no room for weakness in this world, she reminded herself.
She tensed at her door opening, but only Aiden's messy, curly hair poked into her room.
"There's something wrong with my bed," he groaned, walking up to her, and sat down on her mattress. "Oh, never mind, yours' broken too."
She scoffed a laugh, sitting down beside him.
"There's nothing wrong with it, Aiden," she said. "It's soft. Comfortable. You'll get used to it."
"I don't like it," he said, frowning. "I don't like it at all."
Reinae knew he wasn't referring to the bed. She played with the ring on her right hand. Aiden's gaze slid from her hands to her face, then to the objects on the desk.
"How you holdin' up?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she replied without even thinking.
"Rei."
She met his worried eyes.
"I'm serious. I've made the decision. And the past is in the past. We're here, and that's that. And I'll continue keeping my promise from here. So yes, I'm okay."
She knew it sounded like she was persuading herself and not him. She knew she probably was.
"Don't you feel weird... just leaving them all behind?" Aiden asked.
Reinae tensed.
"You were the one saying we should stop not long ago," she replied, narrowing her eyes on him.
"I know." Aiden's eyebrows furrowed. "But I know our people meant something to you. You built something down there. A community. You brought order into a place of nothing but chaos. So I know it... can't be easy just leaving it all behind."
Reinae remained quiet for a long time. What her brother spoke was something she had been thinking about for months.
"You're right. It's not easy." She looked at him with a look he knew all too well. A look of unwavering determination. "But I have to look after us. You and Jasper are my family, and these are not the times to play savior for the underground people. I did what I could for them. I kept my promise. And those who joined us will still be taken care of. Victor will keep me notified."
"Victor?" Aiden asked, raising his eyebrows.
"He had the most experience. And he looks terrifying enough to keep those bastards running suspicious transactions with the Capital in check."
"But he's a manwhore."
"So are you, brother, and you were my right hand," Rei said, rolling her eyes at him.
"Were?" Aiden said, faking a hurt expression. Reinae laughed.
"Still are," she nodded.
"Damn right I am," Aiden said. "Which means that as soon as you ask me to cut that blond dick's balls off, I'll do it."
"There'll be no cutting off balls, Aiden," she laughed. "Don't make me regret bringing you with me."
"As if you'd ever leave me behind," he joked, poking her with his elbow.
"As if you'd ever let me," she laughed, rolling her eyes and punching his shoulder.
Aiden's eyes rested on the figurine and flower on the desk as their laughs faded. He opened his mouth and closed it again, hands forming into fists. He stood up and placed a hand on his sister's shoulder.
"Get some sleep, Rei."
She smiled slightly and watched him leave. But her smile faded as she looked through the window and gazed up at the stars in the night sky.
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"Here you go, honey," a man with black hair and beautifully green eyes said, giving his daughter a small wooden figurine.
"What is it?" she asked, turning it in her hands, eyes filled with curiosity.
"A lion," he answered. "A very big cat."
Her equally beautiful green eyes lit up.
"Can I get a real one?" she asked.
"They only exist far, far away, honey. But maybe, one day," he said and smiled kindly. His wife peeked from the kitchen, the mane of curly, dark red hair brightening up the dull room. She lovingly smiled at her husband.
The door of the tiny house blew open. Four men barged in with guns and knives in their hands. And before the little girl could scream, blood sprayed over the room. And as her mother screamed, begged, and cried, the girl only gripped onto the figurine, watching her father in a pool of blood with his neck sliced open.
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She jumped from her bed, grabbing her chest, trying to calm her hyperventilating. She fell to her knees beside her desk and crawled into a ball on the floor. Her eyes were filled with terror. And on the floor beside her was a wooden figurine that fell from the desk. Even through the tears, Reinae could see the blood staining the mane of the lion.
