Mind over Matter | Armin Arlert

Prologue

Red and orange hues blanketed the sky, casting proudly over the humongous walls that stood in his line of sight. As far away as he was, the line where the sky met the walls seemed to call out to him, to every fiber of his being. It itched and tempted his soul terribly, to know what exactly was beyond those godforsaken dividers. Those walls, a fortune of blessing from the heavens above to some, and yet to him, a sign of humiliation of being enclosed like livestock.

Nevertheless, Armin Arlert could never seem to tear his eyes away from the sight of the skies above him. Deep down the clusters and tangles of his always working mind, below the shadows of his careful calculations and theories, was his heart, locked away on a shelf for the first part of his life, and now finally released by a ray of hope, as small as only a drop of sunlight, and yet it burned away at the chains before like ash.

Hope, a humane torture that made you live.

But he was passionate of his desires, of his ever growing curiosity of the world beyond the walls. He still could recall vividly, the pages and pages of the books he read during his childhood, the only memory his parents had left for him. The roughed up sketches of the wonders that mother earth had to offer, and his ever only personal favourite; the sea.

Each step he took somehow become heavier, as if a boulder had been placed on his shoulder, stacking up more and more until he could no longer breathe. His golden hair glimmered against the rays of the setting sun, each strand so soft it looks as if they've been weaved from a loom. They brushed ever so slightly in the delicate wind.

But now was no time for that.

Fingers fidgeting on the sides of his pastel shirt, he tried his ever best to calm the pace of his beating heart. From others, he must've seemed like such a different person now. But that was no surprise, and he wasn't the only exception to that. After all, all those who had returned from the recent expedition outside the walls were either in the same state or worse. His mind had been working nonstop since his return, ticking away like a mechanic, trying to pierce all the pieces together. Yet, it was like a puzzle missing a piece.

The identity of the female titan was the only sentence that stood above all else in his cluttered mind.

Just this morning, right after eating breakfast (which he had done more staring at his bowl of unflavored soup than actually eating), Armin had received an order to go into one of the meeting rooms in the headquarters of the survey corps. He hadn't been told why, only the location and time.

That's where he headed now. Each step sounding in his ear, emphasizing his aloneness now more than ever. Eren was still unconscious, but that didn't matter anyways, since the military had already demanded the survey corps to hand him over the moment the commander had handed in the expedition's report. Mikasa on the other hand, stayed huddled up in her room. He had only seen her this morning, his concern growing for his childhood best friend greatly. But there was nothing he could do now, except head to the room he had been asked to go, to find out what exactly they wanted him for.

So lost in thought, he entirely missed a certain brunette as he turned a corner. He had crashed straight into her. He winced, but quickly regained his composure in sure embarrassment. Glancing up, he got a good look at the tall woman.

Dark brown hair was tied up into a high ponytail, she adorned the same uniform as him, addressing her part in the survey corps. The one thing that stood her out from the rest were the glasses on her face, that looked more like googles. After all, she was one of the scientist in charge of the many titan experiments. So, saying she was quite insane was an understatement.

"Section Commander Hange!"

Armin blurted out, his words toppling over in a hurry. Pink dusted his pale cheeks in slight embarrassment and he frantically waved his hands around.