A Promise (An Attack on Titan Fanfic: Erwin Smith)

News of Tragedy

"Perhaps that's the case," Hanji voiced out, her tone fading away after her statement. 

Opening her eyes, Isanna cocked her head to shoot the brunette a playful smirk. "Why? You gonna miss him?"

It was no secret to them that Hanji bore a crush on their Commander. Or ex-Commander. Truthfully, Isanna could never understand why her friend found that sunken man attractive, but she guessed everybody had their reasons. Maybe she liked the way he yelled at Hanji whenever she would get too distracted talking to titans while in the middle of fighting? Or was it the way Shadis tended to charge mindlessly without a concrete plan? Isanna would never know. 

Hanji glared back at her after the evident mockery lacing Isanna's tone. "I thought we agreed not to mention that!"

"How can I not mention Hanji Zoe crushing on the Keith Shadis?" Isanna retorted with crossed arms, followed by a snicker. 

The brunette erupted into a blushing mess, her eyes squinting harder at the raven woman. Not long, however, she calmed down and wore a smirk of her own. 

"Sure, Isa. I hope you haven't forgotten the time you got your period while we were on an expedition."

When Hanji's statement processed in Isanna's brain, her eyes widened in shock at the unpleasant memories that began to flood in. Cheeks in a flustered hue of pink, she sputtered as she uncrossed her arms and shot the brunette a flabbergasted look. 

"HANJI!"

Walls of Maria. With the way Hanji just suddenly blurted that out, you wouldn't think there were three men in the same room - and to make matters worse, one of those three men happened to be her long time crush. 

"What?" Hanji innocently shrugged her shoulders and reclined her back against the couch, crossing her arms. "Don't act so surprised. I still remember how you went on a rampage, killing all the titans we encountered and purposely drenching yourself in titan blood, only for them to evaporate and - "

She was cut off when Isanna leaped from her position (quite literally) and clamped her hands over her mouth, shutting her next words in a muffle. 

Isanna heard Levi snicker, causing her to snap a sharp look at him. "This is the first time I've heard of that."

"It happened before you joined." Mike unhelpfully supplied, who was leaning against the bookshelves at the side this whole time. "She also lost her cloak at the time, so Erwin had to give his to her."

Flushing red, unwanted images of the dreaded expedition flashed in Isanna's mind, only causing her to redden deeper like a tomato. She really didn't want to be reminded of that embarrassing moment in her life. 

She had been bloody after the expedition. The other kind of bloody, if you get what I mean.

"Can you like, shut up?"

"Come to think of it," Mike continued, ignoring her plea like the asshole he was, "it was after that expedition people started calling you the War Goddess."

The blond quietly sneered at the memory; the image Isanna had rampageously made that time was likened to literal hell. After she killed all the titans in the vicinity, she had been soaked with liters of steaming titan blood while surrounded by countless carcasses, only making her look more menacing. Because of that, people eventually began equating her to a mythical war goddess - hence the nickname and her feared reputation.

Only Isanna's friends knew the behind story.

"MIKE!" Isanna stood up, exasperated and embarrassed beyond her wits. She thought they had gotten over that expedition already - it had been years since that happened, and she wanted nothing more to do with the memory. 

Mike and Hanji chuckled at her reaction, causing the raven woman to groan before she chewed the inside of her cheek as she stomped towards the desk where Erwin sat, who was silent and unbothered this whole time. 

"Ooh~," Hanji cooed teasingly from her couch, "watch out guys, the Sergeant Major is going to complain to her beloved Commander~!"

Mike and Levi exchanged glances and smirked. Sergeant Major; it was an uncomissioned rank and high position given to the second-in-command, and Erwin had decided to appoint the title to Isanna. None of them found the need to complain, because it was the most obvious and natural thing in the world for Isanna Herrmann to be Commander Erwin Smith's right hand. She always was.

Isanna shot Erwin a 'Can-you-believe-this-woman' look, only earning a chuckle from the blond. She dramatically gasped, placing a hand on her chest. "I thought you were on my side."

He smiled at her. "I always am."

"Get a room!" Hanji groaned and made a blanching face, only causing Isanna to glare at her while the other men softly laughed. 

Isanna swore that one day, she was going to strangle the brunette; the amount of times she had teased her in the presence of Erwin, no less, was getting out of hand. She turned around and was about to snap at the woman, when, quite out of nowhere, the door to the office was pushed open rather abruptly with a loud bang reverberating throughout the office. 

All heads turned to the Scout soldier standing at the door, his face was as pale as a white sheet of paper and he was trembling nonstop with sweat trickling down his face as he panted; either he just came rushing from a marathon or he just saw the most horrifying scene. Or both. 

However, Isanna couldn't imagine what kind of image would cause a Scout to look so terrified; after all, they were the Survey Corps. They had already seen the worst, and that was the gruesome air of death beyond the walls every venture. Nothing could be worse than that. 

But as the Scout saluted at the officers inside the room with a shaking fist and announced in a frantic yell, Isanna realized there was something far worse than the scenes she grew accustomed beyond the walls. 

And that, was when the horrors of the outside world broke inside their haven.

"Wall Maria has fallen!"