The Devils Inside

The Devils Inside - Chapter 14 ~Flashback Chapter~

Danielle's PoV

I Stand Next To Annie With A Stoic Expression On My Face But A Fire In My Eyes and I Hear, "Hey, Maggot." A Blonde Boy Salutes and He Yells, "Sir!" Shadis Turns To Him and Asks, "What's Your Name, Maggot?!" The Boy Doesn't Faulter As He Replies, "Armin Arlert Of Shiganshina District, Sir!" Shadis Leans Closer To Armin's Face and Yells, "Is That Right?! What A Dumb Name! Did Your Parents Give It To You?!" Armin Gulps and Replies, "My Grandfather Did, Sir" Shadis Straightens Himself and Yells, "ARLERT! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU COME HERE FOR?!" Armin Looks Up At The Taller Male "To Make Myself Useful In The Struggle For Humanity's Victory, Sir!" He Answers Confidently.

Shadis Nods and Growls, "Well That's Mighty Admirable! I Think I'm Gonna Make You Titan Chow, Maggot!" He Grabs Armin By The Head and Turns Him Around As He Yells, "Row 3, Turn Around!" Row 3 Turn Around and Shadis Begins Intimidating A Quivering Girl.

He Walks Down My Row and He Looks At Annie and Then At Me and Walks Past. My Stance and Expression Doesn't Faulter and He Walks Over To A Two-Toned Boy and Asks, "What Is Your Name, Maggot?!" The Boy Salutes and Replies, "Jean Kirschtein From Trost District, Sir!" Shadis Nods and Growls, "What Did You Come Here For?!" Jean Smirks and Drawls, "To Get Into The Military Police Brigade and Live In The Interior, Sir" Shadis Nods Again, Seeming Pleased With Jean's Answer and He Says, "I See! You Want To Go To The Interior, Do You?" Jean Nods and Replies, "Yes Sir!" Shadis Smirks and Headbutts The Boy.

I Watch As Many Other People Flinch Slightly and Shadis Yells, "HEY! WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO SIT DOWN?! YOU THINK SOMEONE WHO FOLDS HERE IS GONNA BE ALLOWED IN THE MPB?!" Jean Holds His Head and Rises To His Feet As Shadis Turns To The Boy Next To Him and Asks, "What's Your Name, Maggot?!" The Boy Salutes and Answers, "Marco Bodt, Jinae Town, Wall Rose South District, Sir!" Shadis Stands In Front Of Him and Growls, "What'd You Come Here For?!" Marco Grins "To Join The Military Police Brigade and Devote Myself To The King, Sir!" I Almost Scoff At This Boys Honesty and Shadis Replies, "I See.... That's Just Fine. A Good Goal.... Except.... I'm Positive The King's Got No Interest In Your Scrawny Body!" Shadis Yells, "Next!!" As He Walks Away From Marco and He Stops In Front Of A Short Boy and He Asks, "You Maggot!! Who're You?!"

The Boy Salutes On The Wrong Side and Yells, "Ragako Village, Wall Rose South District! Connie Springer, Sir!" Shadis Picks Connie Up By The Head and Snarls, "You've Got It Backwards Connie Springer. I Know They Taught You At The Start.... The Salute Indicates Your Dedication To Serve The Common Good, Heart and Soul!" The Boy Groans and Shadis Continues and Yells, "Is Your Heart On Your Right Side, Connie?"

My Eyes Snap Towards A Girl When I Hear Munching and I See Her Eating A Potato. I Smirk and I Nudge Annie With A Quiet Chuckle. The Short Blonde Looks At The Girl "Ugh. We're Surrounded By Imbeciles" She Scoffs Under Her Breath. I Nod and Murmur, "I Wonder What Type Of Punishments They Serve Here. It Probably Won't Be As Bad As Back Home" Annie Nods and We Stop Talking When Shadis Growls, "Hey.... What The Hell Are You Doing?"

The Girl Looks Around, Unaware She Is Being Spoken To, and Once She Bites Into The Potato Again, Shadis Yells, "YOU, SCUM! I'M TALKING TO YOU! WHAT THE HELL'S YOUR NAME?!" The Girl Chews The Food In Her Mouth and She Swallows and Then Salutes and Answers, "Dauper Village, Wall Rose South District!! Sasha Blouse, Sir!" Shadis Looks Down At The Potato and Asks, "Sasha Blouse.... What's In Your Right Hand?" Sasha Looks Forward "A Steamed Potato, Sir! I Happened To See Them In The Kitchen and Couldn't Help Myself!" She Answers With Confidence In Her Voice.

Shadis Looks At Her and Says, "So You Stole It? Why.... Why Would You Eat The Potato Now?" Sasha Gulps and Replies, "They Lose Their Taste When They Get Cold So I Though It Best To Eat It Right Now." The Surprised Look Returns To Shadis' Face and He Says, "No.... I Don't Understand. Why'd You Eat The Potato?" Sasha Looks A Bit Distressed By The Question When She Replies, "Um... Are You Asking Me Why People Eat Potatoes In General?" Everyone Gasps and I Block Out The Rest Of The Conversation and We Get Dismissed To Dinner.

I Lean On The Wall Outside The Mess Hall and I Watch Potato Girl Run. Connie Leans On The Railing and Says, "He's Still Got That Potato Girl Running" I Cross My Arms and Eren Gasps, "Wow, She's Been Going At It For Five Hours Straight Now" Eren Sighs and Continues, "Still, The Look On Her Face When He Told Her To Run Until She Was Almost Dead Was Nothing Compared To Her Anguished Look The Moment He Said She Doesn't Get To Eat Today."

Connie, Hums and States, "Dauper.... If Memory Serves, That's A Hunting Village With A Small Population Deep In The Mountains." Marco Hums Softly and Says, "I Didn't Know Villages Like That Still Existed...." He Turns To Eren and Asks, "Come To Think Of It, I Didn't Hear Where You're From.... Where Did You Live?"

Eren Rests His Hand On Armin's Shoulder and Replies, "Shiganshina District, Same As Him. Then We Moved To A Settlement.... And Stayed There Until We Were 12" Everyone Looks At Me and Eren Asks, "So How About You? We Don't Know Who You Are Or Where You Lived" I Blow My Hair From My Face and I Snap, "Both Are Classified. I Don't Plan To Get All Buddy, Buddy With Any Of You So Don't Bother Trying" I Shove Past Them and I Walk Into The Mess Hall.

I Find Annie In The Sea Of People and I Sit Next To Her and I Growl, "We Have Been In This Training Camp For A Day and I'm Already Sick Of These Devils" Annie Rubs My Arms and Replies, "I Hate This Just As Much As You Do But It's Our Duty" I Nod, and I Hear, "I Told You.... I Saw It." I Turn In My Seat and I Almost Let Out A Low Groan When Annie Rubs My Shoulders Softly. I Lean Against My Best Friend and I Breathe, "Thank You" She Cracks A Small Smile and I Look Back Over At The Boy When I Hear, "Really?! How Big Was It?!" Ere Crosses His Arms and States, "It's Head Cleared The Wall." Everyone Who Has Crowded Around Him Gasps and Someone Says, "What?! I Heard It Stepped Over The Wall!" Two People Agree and Eren Chuckles and Replies, "No.... It Wasn't That Big."

Someone Asks, "What Did It's Face Look Like?" Eren Looks At The Person and Answers, "It Had A Huge Mouth, But Hardly Any Skin." Someone Pipes Up and Asks, "Then What About The "Armoured Titan" That Broke Through Wall Maria?!" Eren Nods and Says, "I Saw That Too. That's What They Call It But It Just Looked Like A Regular Titan To Me." Everyone Murmurs, and Connie Asks, "Then.... Then.... What Does A Regular Titan Look Like?!" Eren Looks Like He's Going To Be Sick and Annie Begins To Run Her Fingers Across My Scalp and I Sigh In Content and Marco Says, "Let's Knock Off These Questions, People. There Are Some Things A Guy Doesn't Wanna Remember."

Connie Gasps, "S-Sorry! I Didn't Mean To Stir Up Painful Memories," He Apologizes. Eren Picks Up His Bread and Growls, "That's Not It." He Tears Some Bread Off and Continues, "The Titans Are No Big Deal. If We Can Master The Vertical Manoeuvring Gear, They'll Be No Match For Us!"

He Looks At Marco and Continues, "I'm Done Picking Up Stones and Pulling Weeds! I Finally Get To Train To Be A Soldier! I Was Just Choked Up About It Before." A Grin Slides On Eren's Face As He Continues, "So I'm Gonna Join The Survey Corps and Rid The World Of The Titans and Then.... "He Gets Cut Off By Jean Asking, "Are You Out Of Your Mind?" Eren Looks At Him and Jean Continues, "Did You Just Say You Were Going To Join The Survey Corps?" Eren Nods and Says, "Yeah.... Why?" Eren Turns In His Chair and Asks, "You're The Guy Who Wants To Join The Military Police and Take It Easy, Right?"

Jean Nods and Says, "I'm Nothing If Not Honest. Better That Than A Guy Who's Shaking In His Boots But Pretends To Be Brave. Though You Are Eloquent...." Eren Cuts Him Off By Asking, "You're Talking About Me?!" Jean Chuckles and Continues, "Ah, Sorry. Honesty Is A Bad Habit Of Mine. I Don't Mean To Rile You Up." The Bell Rings To Signify That Dinner Is Over, So I Stand Up and I Walk Out Of The Mess Hall and Towards The Barracks.

The Next Morning

I Stand Next To Annie and Reiner and Shadis Says, "First, I'm Gonna Check Your Aptitude. All You Have To Do Is Attach A Rope To Your Hips and Dangle, Scum!! Keep Your Balance With The Full Belt On! Those Who Can't Do This Aren't Even Fit To Use As Bait! I'll Send You To A Settlement!!" Shadis Looks Down At A List and His Eyebrows Raise and He Comments, "This Should Be Interesting" He Scans The Trainees and Yells, "Danielle Redwolf!" People Begin Murmuring and I Walk Out Of The Crowd and The Ropes Get Hooked Up To My Hips. The Other Trainees Get Hooked Up and We All Balance Flawlessly.... Well, Most Of Us Anyway. I Look Over At Eren and I Stifle A Laugh When I See Him Upside Down.