Titans Rule, a Levi Ackerman x Fem OC story.

(52) The spiked wine.

~Amelia~

Twenty-nine mundane days passed since we set up camp in the forest. Days filled with loitering around, gathering wood, cooking, and attempting to infiltrate Zeke's mind and failing. If I had a time machine, I would have used it to throttle my past self into never teaching Eren how to shield his mind.

It has also been a couple of weeks since we heard anything from headquarters. Supplies and morale are running low, and Levi is one altercation away from ripping Zeke's head off.

"Amelia?"

Lifting my gaze from the ground, I looked at Andrea with half-lidded eyes.

"Do you want some? You look like you could use it." Andrea offered me a metal mug of deep red wine.

My eyebrows rose in surprise. So far, I have refused whenever someone offers me a drink. Levi was abstaining as he never drank whilst on duty, and I thought it wise to have at least two people sober throughout the entire mission. Plus, every time I got close to giving in, that strange tingling sensation from Zeke returned. I was so fed up with being stuck in this godforsaken forest that I decided to indulge a little.

"Thanks." Andrea slipped the mug into my hand with a smile.

Taking a tentative sip, my nostrils flared as the wine's aroma hit the back of my throat. I let it ruminate there momentarily while debating whether I liked it. After concluding that it was acceptable, I went in for a more considerable gulp.

Feeling an ache in my feet from standing for most of the day, I invited Andrea and the other off-duty soldiers to join me by the fire. Zeke and Levi were already there, and Zeke was nursing his own cup of wine.

When Zeke saw me approaching, his eyes flickered down to my hands. He raised his drink in a toast toward me, a smirk playing on his lips. Then, there it was again, that tingling feeling whenever Zeke was excited about something. I attempted to understand why Zeke was so invested in my drinking habits. However, I quickly withdrew when a sharp pain struck my forehead, indicating that Zeke's mental barriers had cast me out.

Rubbing my temples, I took another sip of wine. I turned away from Zeke and put on a cheerful facade to hide my disappointment. Instead, I engaged in conversation with Andrea and the others. We spoke of the current political climate, which was all we seemed to do lately. Despite the seriousness of the subject, the discussion was pleasant. As people do when confronted with adversity, we find ways to make light of it.

When the wine began to take effect, the conversation quieted. Only when I got up to find some water did I overhear Levi and Zeke's intense exchange.

"If a subject of Ymir inhales the gas, they lose control of their body and become unconscious. Even if a little bit of my spinal fluid enters their bodies, my 'Beast Titan' can transform them into a Titan I can fully control," Zeke explained as he necked a considerable amount of his own mug of wine. "The Marleyans called it 'gas weaponry', and that was what was used in that village. Although I'm pretty sure I explained this to you when I first came to the island."

As he recalled his actions in Ragako, Zeke gazed into the distance with unfocused eyes. Beside his boots lay an empty bottle of wine, which had been full only moments ago. Although Zeke spoke about the event detachedly, based on the sheer volume of wine he had to consume to get through talking about it, it weighed on his mind in some capacity.

In my own inebriated state, I unknowingly broke into Zeke's mind. Reflecting on it later, I suspected the wine had made his mental shields more vulnerable.

Zeke's mind was a chaotic jumble: "Lies, wine, spinal fluid." I had no idea how those three words connected, but my interest in the wine faded away. Swapping my wine for water, I sat on an empty crate beside Levi instead of returning to the rest of the group.