LIfe's Too Short

Chapter 17

"Petra," Olivia said, gently shaking her niece awake. "I have news."

Petra quickly woke up and rubbed her eyes.

"Good morning," she yawned. "Wh..What is it?"

Olivia's eyes were steady.

"The Survey Corps said that if you're not found within two weeks, you'll be pronounced dead."

Petra's brown eyes widened.

"Then, what do I do?" she asked.

Her aunt seemed to ponder this.

"You need to go under-cover," she said. "Rejoin the Trainee Corps and work your way up, then join the Survey Corps."

"What?" Petra said in confusion. "But that'll take three years! Why not just go back now?"

"After three years your condition will become less severe, maybe even fade," Olivia told her. "You're in no shape to fight now. What would happen if the flashbacks came in the middle of a fight? You'd die, possibly killing comrades."

Olivia's green, cat-like eyes looked at her with sincerity yet sharpness. What she said was true.

"Besides," she continued. "That Captain Levi you were talking about... He used to be a thug in the Underground. I saw him walking around the tunnel touting a stolen 3DMG under his cloak. There's something not quite right about him."

"Not quite right?" Petra asked. "Like what?"

"I've heard talk about-no, it doesn't matter," she said, correcting herself. "What matters is we get you back to the Survey Corps as quickly and safely as possible. Safely being the first priority, of course."

Petra thought over this.

"But they'll think I'm dead," she said quietly. "He'll think I'm dead.

"I know," Olivia replied. "But right now, it's the best we can do."

Silence followed for a while

"Okay. I'll do it," Petra said decisively. "But I want to know one thing first."

"What is it?"

"I was wondering what you would do while I'm gone."

She smiled slightly.

"Well, I've decided that I'll monitor the Survey Corps and keep you updated. Meanwhile, I'll try to find a job and then go from there."

"Oh."

Olivia nodded.

"We'll wait for a month until you can apply. Grow out your hair until then, and we'll dye it," she said. "And don't work out or exercise as much as you normally would, we don't want to make it obvious that you were in the Survey Corps. If you do that, you'll blend in well. I heard they're getting many older trainees recently."

"Alright then," Petra said.

One month later

"Okay, Petra," Olivia said. "It's done."

Petra's new hair was about armpit-length, jet-black, and pin straight, with slightly shorter bangs at the top.

She laughed at herself in the mirror.

"Wow, I look, well, different," she said.

Olivia smiled.

"A good different," she commented, pulling out a small box.

She opened it, revealing a small case with two round caps on it.

"These were stolen from a laboratory researching eyesight that I got from the black market," Olivia said, uncapping the top. "They're called contact lens."