Hellfire • L.A.

Nightly Routine

The training fields at the the Survey Corps headquarters were definitely nicer than the accommodations I was used to at the Phoenix Squadron house. Their large fields and roomy castle made our cabins and trees look like a poorhouse. 

I stood at the edge of the training field with Perry and Erwin listening to them make plans and strategies for Phoenix to go over with their new recruits. My eyes roamed over all of the cadets as the two commanders' voices dwindled into background noise. A particular boy caught my eye.

He was tall, not lanky but not exactly muscular either. His brown hair fell just above his eyes, and he looked like he could use a haircut. Standing next to him was a short girl, maybe around my height, with bright strawberry blonde hair. Her shimmering locks put my own red hair to shame. She seemed to be animatedly telling him a story, but the boy's face remained stony, his eybrows furrowed together. 

"That's Eren Jaeger." Commander Erwin's voice drags me away from my thoughts. I look up at him to see that he's followed my line of vision, and now has his attention focused on Eren as well. 

"You mean Eren Jaeger the shifter kid?" I feel my eyebrows shoot up in surprise. 

It was no secret that Phoenix had been sent to fill in the spots of the deceased, but we were also here to help protect the most valuable asset we had at the moment, the Jaeger boy. The appearance of this boy looked nothing like what I was expecting. I had created the image of someone tall and buff, maybe a little quieter.

"I'll need to introduce the two of you soon. The boy needs more training, and although Levi is supposed to be helping him he doesn't care all that much for him. I'm not doubting Levi's ability, but I am doubting his acceptance." Erwin's jaw clenches in determination and his eyes continue to watch Eren.

"Talking shit about me again Erwin?" Levi's brazen tone towards his superior catches me off guard. For one thing, he had almost shown up out of thin air. I like to think of myself as an alert person, and I hadn't even heard him approach us. For another thing, I wouldn't dare speak to Perry like that. 

I look over to Erwin, who only has a coy smirk on his face. "Just like usual, Levi."

Levi clicks his tongue and leans against the fence that stands behind us. Crossing his arms over his chest he lets out long sigh. "These kids will never be fully prepared Erwin. Why do we even bother?"

Involuntarily, a scoff escapes me. This causes Levi to look past Erwin and notice me standing there.

"Good morning Captain Elton. Do you have a comment to add?" His bored gaze flickers to me and a steely glint crosses over his eyes.

"For Humanity's Strongest Soldier you don't seem to have a lot of faith in the ones you train." I bite back.

The captain scoffs and rolls his eyes, showing the most emotion I've seen out of him in the past twenty-four hours. "You think I really give a shit about that title?"

"I would assume so. Doesn't it mean anything to you that people look to you as a source of hope?" 

"People don't look at me as source of hope. They look at me as another piece of Titan food, going out there," he points off into the distance, "so that they don't have to."

I'm about to open my mouth to make another rebuttal, but Perry puts his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it lightly as a signal for me to stop. I take a deep breath and exhale heavily. "It looks like we'll just have to agree to disagree, Captain." I mutter his title through gritted teeth.

Levi doesn't say anything, instead he glares at me one last time before storming off to where the Jaeger boy is standing.

"You'll have to be patient with Captain Levi, Lux. He's very headstrong." Perry pats my shoulder, and I hear the tiniest bit of amusement in his voice. Erwin nods, chuckling in agreement.