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...
In a dark room in a cellar, a girl knelt, her wrists tied together behind her back. She was stripped of everything except her torn shirt, which clung to her bloody and bruised body.
Towering above her was a wall of a man who stared down at her with a sickening expression. With a bloody lasso in his hand, he squatted, bringing his face to her eye level. He gripped her dark red hair, lifting her head. He was met with blazing green eyes.
"I see we haven't managed to break you yet," he purred, grinning with a cigarette in his mouth. "I hope you understand; we can't let you go before we break that spirit of yours. Otherwise, you'll continue to trouble us, I'm sure."
The girl grimaced with disdain, keeping her mouth shut. The man gripped her face, sliding his thumb over her torn lower lip.
"You're a pretty one," he said. "How did such a pretty girl become such a troublemaker? How much have you stolen from the Capital so far, huh? And even after being forced to the Training Corps, you still tried to fuck us over somehow. Tch, tch, tch... "
The man's hand slid down her neck to her chest. She squeezed her jaw, her whole body trembling with anger and disgust. And when the hand slid down her stomach to the center of her thighs, she swung her head forward with all the strength she had left from hours of torment.
The man roared, staggering backward, holding his nose. His blood poured over where the girl's had already dried on his hands. He looked at her, unhinged anger filling his already psychotic eyes. In one movement, he lifted the girl by her neck, slamming her into the wall behind her. She screamed out when the wounds on her back collided with the cold stone.
"I'll break you," the man breathed out, his chest weaving uncontrollably with anger.
He took the burning cigarette from the floor, bringing it closer to the center of the girl's chest.
"And I'll make sure you remember every moment of it."
Her scream overrode the sound of sizzling flesh.
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Reinae's cigarette fell to the ground. She suddenly had trouble breathing, feeling her skin burning at the center of her chest. The man wearing a Military Police jacket noticed her standing there. His cold, black eyes landed on her frozen figure.
Two young men from the Garrison exited the pub, but when they saw who was standing on the street, their faces filled with fear, and they turned, going back inside. Wenzel Franklin was a man deeply feared, especially within the Military Police. He was known for his cruelty in taking care of criminals and other nuisances within the Capital. His usual team accompanied him, each more disgusting than the other.
"Oi," a familiar voice called out. "What are you doing, brat?"
Levi approached Rei from the alley beside the pub. She didn't know why he was there, but his presence didn't make her feel any better. Her breathing became uneven.
"I have to go," she said barely audibly with a trembling voice.
"What?" Levi asked, still walking towards her, but Rei already turned, starting to walk in the direction Levi came from.
"You won't even say hello?"
That disgusting, hoarse voice made Reinae stop in her steps. Her eyes were wide, looking somewhere past Levi, who stopped beside her. His gaze was on her fearful expression. He frowned, confused by what was going on. Seeing her like that was certainly a shock to him.
Reinae slowly turned without acknowledging Levi beside her to face the man slowly approaching her.
"I heard a rumor," Wenzel said. "That a broken bird learned how to fly again."
He stopped a distance from her.
"What do you want, Franklin?" Levi barked, his eyes filled with disgust towards the infamous man.
His intervention only made the ringing in Reinae's head worse. She squeezed her hands into fists to stop them from shaking.
"With all due respect, Levi," Wenzel said without moving his eyes from Reinae. "I'm trying to catch up with a friend here. It'd be polite of you not to get involved."
Levi glanced at her. She felt saliva filling her mouth, and she gulped, trying not to throw up. Her head was spinning from the alcohol and the adrenaline that filled her body at the sight of that man.
"You've grown into a fine woman," Wenzel said, lighting a cigarette. "Many people I deal with do nothing but praise you. Though, of course, those people are all criminals from the underground."
He stepped closer, making Reinae's back away towards the brick wall. Wenzel grinned, showing his brown teeth.
"Just like you," he finished and huffed cigarette smoke into her pale face.
"Get out of my face," she said, but her voice lacked her usual edge.
Wenzel laughed loudly. "I don't think so," he purred, stepping closer. Reinae's hand moved to her thigh where her blade was. "You owe me an apology." He touched his crooked nose with his finger.
"I owe you a blade through the throat," Reinae hissed, her heart beating in her ears.
Wenzel's black eyes became even colder. "I was thinking something else," he said, the evil in his voice sending shivers down her spine. He shortened the distance between them by another step. His gaze slid down her body, his hand extending towards the center of Reinae's chest.
"Last time I only got to touch... I was thinking of a full course this time."
Her blade cut directly through Wenzel's palm before he could register her hand moving.
"Don't. Touch me," she squeezed through clenched teeth.
Wenzel only looked at his bleeding palm with a terrifyingly calm expression. And before Reinae could move out of the way, his bloody hand grabbed her throat.
Everything happened shockingly fast after that. Wenzel's fingers clenched her throat for barely a moment before he was sent flying to the floor. Levi stood between the gruesome man and Reinae.
"Tch," he said, looking down at Wenzel with disgust. "You pigs always think you can do whatever you want."
Wenzel slowly stood up. He looked more terrifying than ever after being humiliated like that.
"One rodent standing up for another," he laughed.
"Mr. Franklin," another deep voice resonated from the pub door.
Wenzel grimaced, turning towards Commander Erwin, who stood on the street, eyes darting from him to Levi and Reinae. He saw Wenzel's bleeding hand, the blood on her throat, and her petrified expression, and his eyebrows furrowed.
"I need to ask you to back away from my cadet," he ordered with a voice threatening enough that Wenzel weighed his options.
The disgusting man glared at Rei one last time.
"Once a broken bird, always a broken bird, little girl," he snarled before turning on his heel, leaving the scene with his companions.
