In Another Life || Levi x Reader/OC

The Fortress

The sky was draped in blue today, with hardly a speck of cloud floating up above. The scenery appeared peaceful at first glance, but even beautiful days like these had their fair share of devastating events.

The battle of Trost District had the exact same weather; yet, such a delightful, sunny day quickly turned into quite literally one of the worst experiences in your life. It took a few days to finally let everything sink in, and when it did, a part of you wished you had died alongside your other Eldian counterparts.

Dietrich and Marco consumed your mind quite a lot these past few days. You acted like it didn't bother you at first, but as time went on, it hit you hard like a brick.

This all could have been prevented.

Shameful and guilt-ridden thoughts flooded your mind. You thought about scenarios where you did stay and you did help Dietrich. You thought of other scenarios where you left and found your way back just in time. Then, you'd picture the different ways he must have died. You imagined him getting grabbed by a titan, how its strong grip must have crushed his body, and how the titan must have tore his body apart before swallowing his body whole. You wondered what his final thoughts were in that moment, and you wondered if he thought you were partially to blame for his demise.

You pictured Marco in the same position, except picturing his death was far more distressful to envision. His cause of death was due to betrayal. His final thoughts were likely surrounding questions as to why the people he deemed as friends had turned on him so mercilessly.

It was an endless cycle of stressful thoughts that lasted for days. As much as you wanted to get rid of them, there was unfortunately no off switch in your brain. The guilt and shame just kept barging into your mind without warning.

The last time you had a similar reaction to a situation like that was when you had nearly killed your father.

You still recalled the knife in your hand and the impulsive thoughts of stabbing him. You remembered surrendering to the fury boiling in your veins and finally impaling him in the stomach. The blood that spilled out was still clear in your head. You remembered the chills that shook your spine when you met your father's gaze to see his eyes stare back at you in shock and horror. That was one of the last things you were able to vaguely recall before having to get pulled away by guards and locked up in one of the worst places in Marley.

You felt like a monster.

"Eden?"

You snapped out of your thoughts and returned to reality. Mike stood in front of you with a firm expression on his face. Immediately, heat rose on your face, embarrassed that you had been caught with your mind elsewhere.

"Are you listening?" he asked. Your hands were behind your back, fiddling with your fingers nervously.

"Yes, sir," you responded. He made no attempt to reprimand you and continued speaking.

"As I was saying, Captain Levi's squad will be arriving momentarily, and I want to make sure we are all on the same page in regard to sharing space," he said. "Gelgar and Tomas, you two will be sharing a room. Nanaba and Lynne, you both will share a room. Henning, you will share a room with Oluo when he arrives. And Eden, you will share a room with Petra."

A group of nodding heads followed after his response, but it seemed as though Henning was highly opposed to the idea of sharing a room with Oluo.

"Sir, are you sure Oluo is the only other option?" he asked.

"These arrangements have already been discussed between Captain Levi and I. This is only until we begin the 57th Expedition outside the walls."

"But sir, that will be a month from now."