Shingeki No Crystal

Transfer

The feel of wood the underneath my fingertips was course and grainy. A film laid itself over my tongue, cotton swirling around my mouth. I couldn't have been more nervous.

I was on the stand at a full Military Tribunal. Centre stage for the whole of the walls to see. I was giving witness to a trial.

Premier Zachary's eye bored straight into my soul, causing me to gulp down a dry swallow. I knew why I was here. My little cousin had turned into a Titan, and they thought I'd known about it.

"Captain Avery," the premier started, "You have been asked here today to give council on the outcome of your kin's life. Do you submit to being questioned by this panel?"

I looked across the line of men that had gathered before me. Each of the regiment leaders of our military stood facing me, ready to give me a good dressing down.

"I submit," I answered, nodding my head.

"Then I shall go first," Zachary straightened his glasses on the bridge of his nose, and looked down at his stack of papers.

"When did you first meet Eren Jeager?" he asked.

My mouth took over for me, willingly giving the answer.

"I've known him his whole life," I stated, "I helped my mother deliver him when my aunt Carla gave birth."

Zachary furthered on.

"And you raised him after the fall of wall Maria?"

"Yes, sir."

"In any of that time, did he ever mention his abilities, or seem to know about them at all?"

"No, sir."

The premier looked to his papers once more, staring at me once more when he was finished.

"You have an outstanding military record, Captain, quite impressive. Have you ever used your position in the Military Police to further your cousins training?" he questioned.

I sighed. "Sir, I wasn't aware that he had even joined up until General Pixis was informing me of our plan to use him to seal wall Rose."

"But you had correspondence," Nile Dok interrupted from below the Premier stand, "You exchanged letters weekly for the three years you've been with us!"

"Yes, Sir," I stated pointedly at him, " In which time Eren Jeager had lied to me, telling me that he still resided in my previous residence, which I had been sending him money to rent on my behalf."

I snapped my head back around to Eren whom sat shackled against a post. I was furious with him. The terrified look in his eyes when I looked at him told me he knew it as well.

"We've combed through all of Jeager and Captain Avery's letter's, sir, there is no evidence to persuade us that she knew anything otherwise," Pixis spoke up, silencing Nile.

A scorned look washed over Dok's face, and he crossed his arms, going silent once again.

"Commander Erwin, you've been awfully quiet, would you care to join us?" Zachary asked the tall blonde ahead of me.

Erwin's jaw tightened as he peered straight into my eyes. I could feel him searching my face for any inconsistency, any false tell to crack my story. Yet I knew he wouldn't find any.

"Captain, you were found last week, covered in your comrade's blood, standing atop a pile of five titans. How did you escape death when all of your troops could not?" Erwin asked.

My heart sunk to my stomach, and my mind went numb. All I could do was stand there silently, reliving the horror we had gone through.

"I-I don't remember, Commander," I offered meekly, " In all honesty sir, I remember hitting my head quite heard on the bell tower, and blacking out. I had woken up only minutes before i was found. I only know that I watched my squad die at the hands of wretched beasts, and I wish I could've gotten to them before they did."