Chapter Text
“What is that?”
Armin was the first to notice, since the color of the smoke signal was in his line of sight. Eren and Mikasa follow his gaze while Levi frowns. In Eren’s hands were the journals they’ve retrieved from the basement.
“It must be Hange,” Erwin coughs out weakly, wishing to begin reading the journals but too weak to get up. “I told them to check outside the walls of Shiganshina. To check if there are anyone else lurking.”
“Oi. Don’t talk. Your ribs are all fucked up,” Levi glares, getting up to observe the purple line of smoke. “It’s purple.”
Erwin wheezes in pain, trying to speak but Jean lays him back down with respect and care. Armin blinks. “Purple is for an emergency.”
Levi sighs. “Fuck. You guys stay here with the commander. Keep reading to him. I’ll go check it out, and see what four—” he grits his teeth. “—what Hange’s got going on,” he gathers his gear and uses it to maneuver himself over.
Once he gets there, though… he was not expecting to see Hange pointing their sword at a woman with her hands up in surrender.
She wore a wide white shirt and black pants that reached half her bottom legs. Dirty and worn out boots. Her black hair is slightly wavy, and she wore a strange hat on her head as if to shield herself from the sun.
Levi drops to the ground, landing on his feet as he stares back at the unfamiliar woman. “What the hell?”
The woman glances at Levi, gazing directly at him with light brown eyes. And she offers a small yet chilling smile.
The crowd at Wall Rose were loud. They cheered for the scouts, until Levi felt his stomach twisting. Erwin had passed out by the time Levi and Hange returned, and now, they were taking him to the infirmary.
As for the woman who willingly surrendered to Levi and Hange, they placed her in a cell. Levi tore his cape and blindfolded her tightly before going inside the walls, so she has no idea where she truly is.
She hasn’t talked at all, even when Hange keeps talking at them. Maybe she doesn’t understand them. But… Braun and Hoover understood them perfectly fine. Why hasn’t this woman spoken yet?
“A woman?” Erwin’s eyes widen later on, still recovering from his injuries while shifting his gaze between Levi and Hange. “Is she allied with them?”
“I’ve never seen her before,” Hange shakes their head. “Neither has the others. She’s wearing weird clothes, too. We searched her, and all she had was a small bag with stuff I haven’t figured out yet. So… she’s probably from this Marley place.”
“She didn’t have a horse, or nothing. Looks like she walked to the walls in this heat, which is fucking insane. There are titans out there.” Levi was so confused by this. “We went through her supplies. She had food and water. Sounds like one hell of a walk. Where the hell did she even come from?”
“Have you asked her these questions?”
“Yeah, but she never answers,” Hange looks concerned. “And do we even have time to question her? I mean… there’s a lot going on right now and I don’t even know where to start. We lost… too many people,” their voice grows quiet.
Levi glances at Hange, seeing how the years of being a scout is finally wearing them down on the face.
“She could be the key to something we might miss in the journals,” Erwin tells them, his voice is a little tired still. “I need one of you to question her. Question her origins and motives. Ask why she is here. The sort,” he nods before pausing. “I’d like her unharmed, though. We don’t know her. We don’t know if she has people waiting or watching elsewhere. If we harm her, we could start something we haven’t foreseen.”
Levi sighs. “You read the journals yet, blondie?”
“Not all of them. I’d much rather read them myself, instead of having them read to me,” Erwin coughs, and Hange offers him a cup of water. Erwin complies with sipping. Levi has never seen him this weak before, not even after losing his arm. “There’s a reason why you found her where she was.”
They let Erwin rest for a bit, and Hange walks next to Levi as they make their way to the cells.
“She had a bunch of weird shit in her bag, did you see it?”
“You’re more concerned over a stupid bag?” Levi scoffs. “She literally appeared like she was fucking dropped from the sky. Why the hell would she surrender? This feels like a fucking trap,” he hisses as they walk, and Levi glances at Hange who touches the bandage covering their eye. “You good?”
“…What? Oh, yeah. Yes. I’m fine,” Hange mutters, and Levi abruptly stops walking.
“Knew it. You should go back to the infirmary. Me and the brats can handle this.”
Hange sighs. “I can manage.”
“Sure, but I’m telling you that you need to rest, too,” Levi nods. “I can handle this.”
They almost protest, but eventually, Hange agrees and retreats back to the infirmary. Due to the major lack of scouts, the ones watching the mysterious woman was Jean and Connie. The rest were too injured to function, even Armin needed some sleep. When Levi arrives, the two scouts straighten up as best as they could.
“Did she talk?” Levi goes straight to the point, and Connie shakes his head no.
“She’s creepy, though,” Connie comments with a whisper, and Jean sends him a glare. “What? I’m just saying.”
Levi sighs heavily. “Unlock it.”
They comply, and Levi can already see the woman sitting on the chair with a desk in front of her. Her boots are propped up on the surface so casually, and she attempts to look around the room even though she can hear the gates opening. Levi tells Connie and Jean to stand nearby yet unseen, and he walks to sit on the chair opposite her. Rope is tied around her wrists, attaching her to the chair, and her blunt fingernails are painted black.
She suddenly turns her head at him. Like a bird flinching in alert.
Her face is expressionless, yet scrutinizing towards Levi. Curious yet calm. Levi leans back against his seat, crossing his arms.
“You gonna talk, or what?”
She says nothing, staring back at him with a calm face. Then, she glances away, eyes going to the bricked walls, and the steel bars, then to the floor… it made Levi grit his teeth. The least she could do is give him her attention, for fuck’s sake.
“Do you even understand what I’m saying?” Levi spits. “I don’t know what kind of fucking game you’re playing, but—”
Her stomach growls, and Levi stops talking. He eyes her stomach for a second before glancing up at her. She simply smiles, and she inhales a bit while opening her mouth as if she was going to speak, but decides not to. Still, there is amusement in her eyes. It made Levi’s blood boil.
“Springer,” Levi calls out without looking away from her, and he hears boots shuffling. “Get some food and water.”
Later on, Levi watches as the woman eats with no concern over if the food is poisoned or not. It was like she knew that Levi was under strict orders of keeping her alive. That includes not letting her starve or get poisoned to death, he thought as he untied her earlier.
Levi curiously watched as she lifts the spoon, observing it for a moment before using it to scoop the soup to sip. She looked way too calm for someone who is sitting across Levi, of all people. It was making him sick just watching her eat in silence. Levi wanted to slam the bowl of soup to the wall, and just grab her by shoulder while yelling his demands.
He remains seated, even when his thoughts are making him imagine just throttling the prisoner. She eventually finishes her soup, but Levi notices that she doesn’t seem used to holding a spoon. Which is odd.
She pushes the spoon forward, and meets Levi’s eyes again. Then, she offers yet another unsubstantiated smile at him, and it makes Levi grit his teeth.
“Had your fill?”
She briefly closes her eyes as she nods once, like a bow towards him.
“So, you do understand me.” Levi huffs sarcastically. “You gonna talk now that you’re not fucking starving?”
And she looks hesitant as she smiles, before gesturing to her throat and shaking her head. Levi blinks.
“What?”
She makes the gesture again, then creates a cross symbol with her arms, as if trying to communicate with Levi. He furrows his brows for a moment before he realizes what she means. Levi blinks a few times, then glances over his shoulder.
“Get me a notepad and pen, Springer.” Levi firmly commands, loud enough this time for the soldier to hear.
“Sir!” Connie salutes before jogging off somewhere. Eventually, he returns and Levi takes the notepad through the bars.
He sits back down and tosses the pad and pen to the other side of the table. “There. Write it down if you physically can’t talk.”
Levi almost doubts that she even knows their written language, but to his surprise, she does. The woman scribbles some words down, and holds it up for Levi to read.
You. Leader?
She didn’t look scared, nor intimidated. She just… she was super fucking calm and not afraid of a new environment. As if this place has been somewhere she’d been already.
Levi’s brow pull tightly. “There a reason why you’re asking?”
Only talk to leader.
She writes down on the next page of the notepad.
“I should be the one asking questions.”
Bring me your leader, then decide if I live or die.
The words send a surprised chill down Levi’s spine, like lightning. He was speechless for a second, and she just continues smiling at him. Levi’s gaze turns into a glare.
“You wanna talk to the leader,” he ignores the comment.
She nods.
“Why?” Levi repeats mockingly. “You think you’re in a position to make requests?”
She tilts her head, then writes down in bold letters.
YOU NEED ME ALIVE.
She moves with such a level head, it makes Levi wonder how she is taking control so easily over the conversation where she is supposed to be the questioned.
“…He can’t be here. If you haven’t figured it out yet, our people just went through a shitty couple of days.” Levi glares. “And you show up. Fucked up coincidence.”
She smiles, scribbling before holding up the note to show him.
I’ll wait. And sleep.
The fucking nerve of this woman. Levi sharply inhales. “You get to sleep when I say you can.”
Low energy. Need sleep.
“Tch. You’ll live,” Levi bends to the side, grabbing a bag. “This was all you had,” he places the objects on the table, knowing that Hange would want Levi to ask her about these stuff. A large wooden cube also clatters on the table. “What’s all this shit? Not even our best can figure out what they are.”
She flips through the pages of her previous messages, flashing him the one that says, "Only talk to leader."
Levi almost loses it. “Then, what the fuck is your request?”
She taps on the note again, as if to emphasize how she needs to talk to Erwin first.
He won’t get anywhere with this, so Levi just huffs before getting up so abruptly that the chair scrapes against the floor. Levi grabs her wrists to tie them together, grabbing her arm. “Get up.”
She complies, and Levi leads her to the small bed. The woman sits down, her arms still tied behind her. Levi gives her another glare before leaving the cell, carrying the bag of items she owned, as well as the notepad.
Before he walks up the stairs, he turns to Connie and Jean. “Don’t talk to her. Don’t look at her. Take shifts. Don’t let anyone talk to her other than me or Hange. No one talks to her.”
He leaves even before the scouts salute him.
“She is asking of me?” Erwin sounds surprised, just a few days later when he has rested a bit.
“I don’t like this,” Levi shifts uncomfortably. “She’s so fucking… fuck, I can’t explain it. She’s disturbing to face. It's like talking to a wall.”
“That says a lot for you,” Hange raises a brow.
“You’ll get what I mean if you spent an hour watching her eat in silence,” Levi scoffs. “I don’t want anyone talking to her. Not even you, Erwin. She’s a mute,” he holds up the notepad. “She doesn’t talk. It’ll be hard to communicate with her, but at least she can hear us. She’s probably a nutjob. I can sense the insanity from a mile away, she isn’t normal.”
“Whoever is?” Erwin mutters, then he nods. “I’ll go see her.”
“Fuck no. You’ve barely recovered, look at yourself—”
“As the commander of the scouts, it is still my responsibility to oversee everything that occurs within the regiment,” he sits up, lifting his legs to sit on the edge of the mattress. Levi is unable to stop his commander. “Besides, I do need to stretch my legs.”
Hange nods. “I’ll get a wheelchair—”
“There’s no need,” Erwin winces as he pulls himself onto his feet. “I’d rather not have that be my first impression.”
“Tch. Being in a wheelchair is not a display of weakness. You can barely walk,” Levi clenches his jaw. “Erwin—”
“Take me to her.”
They do, and Hange assists Erwin more due to their shorter height difference. All three of them greet Jean, who was guarding the cell on his own shift. He looked astonished to see the commander, but he immediately unlocks the cell gate.
The three veterans walk inside, and they see the woman standing nearby the wall, like observing the lines on the bricks. She turns once the gate was opened, and tilts her head with curiosity. Erwin eyes her for a moment before taking a seat carefully on the chair. Levi and Hange stay standing nearby, and Levi watches as the woman slowly walks towards her own chair before sitting down.
Erwin stares back at her. “Good to finally meet you. I am Commander Erwin Smith, of the scouts. May I ask for your name?”
She simply smiles, recognizing that he may be their leader before she starts writing.
Amon.
Hm... Amon. Levi repeats in his head. Erwin hums. “Hello, Amon. These are my subordinates, Captain Levi and Section Commander Hange. Captain Levi informed me that you’d like to speak to me and make a… demand.”
Amon pauses for a moment, but then, she delicately writes down a single word on her notepad before holding it up to stare directly towards them.
Ackerman.
Silence fills the room even more.
Levi feels his body tense. What?