"GOOD NEWS, THERE MAY BE A WAY to stop you without killing you." Levi informed the young teen. Levi, Luna, Hange, Eren, and the rest of the Levi squad were gathered around a blackboard. "Sir..?"
"In your titan form, you may have some middle ground after all. A fail-safe, if you will." Levi replied and faced the board.
"The method I've come up with will only leave you mutilated, well at least in theory, depends on individual skill. Essentially, we've kept the entire nape from the body with you inside. Your arms and legs will be severed halfway down in the process, where you'll survive. As a matter of fact, they'll probably just grow back just like what Luna had guessed: lizard-style, creepy little bastard."
Eren's eyes slightly widened, "Uhh- ho-hold on a sec, I'm not really sure how they do it. I mean, they might, but maybe it's not worth the risk that they won't." Levi narrowed his eyes at the male.
Luna placed her hand on the boy's shoulder to ease him down, "We won't be able to go forward without taking risks, Eren." She said sweetly, giving him a close-eyed smile.
"Note that it's not only your life that'll be at stake here, darling. If we can't take you down, then it'll cost our lives instead -- mine, Levi's, Hange's, and the rest of the squad." She reminded, "You do understand that, right?" She tilted her head, placing a finger under her chin.
Eren blinked and stared at the female, mouth slightly opened, "Y-Yes, ma'am. I understand." He replied, sweat dripping from the side of his head. Luna smiled at him and clapped her hands together, "Well, there you go, Levi. We're at an agreement already."
Levi sighed, "Your methods are fucking annoying." He crossed his arms on his chest. Luna chuckled, "We all have our own ways. You're still mad I pulled that one on you years ago?" She smiled innocently as Levi 'tch'ed at her.
"Just to be clear..." Hange spoke, who was smiling to themself, "I have the go-ahead, right?" They asked.
"We can't afford not to run tests. So yes, you're good. Just try to keep him from going rouge right out of the gate." Levi replied.
"We already have that part covered." Luna winked at the male.
Hange nodded in confirmation, "Eren, I know you're still a mystery to yourself, but we learn as we go. Knowledge is always worth the risk. I believe that."
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Eren was at the bottom of a well, while Levi, Luna, and Hange were at the top. Luna slightly leaned in, looking directly at the teen. She placed her hand by her mouth, "Ya-ho~" She called out, "Are you okay down there, Eren?"
"I'm fine, Miss Luna!" Eren replied. Luna smiled at him, "Good to know~" She waved, then turned to Hange, nodding.
Hange walked over to the well and slightly leaned down to see the boy, "When we're good to begin, I'll fire off a smoke signal! What happens after that is entirely up to you!"
"Ready when you are, Commander!!" Eren responded.
Hange nodded, "If the boiler's in control, this well should hold him till he wears himself out. If not, we'll go with Levi's method. Perfect!" They mumbled, before backing away. The three rode on their horses as the trio got pretty far from the well. Hange fired off a green smoke, signaling to Eren that he may transform already.
Eren noticed and then looked down at his hand. He placed his hand close to his mouth, a bit nervous. He let out a slight sigh before biting his hand.
The three awaited for Eren's titan to appear, standing nearby side-by-side and mounted on their horses. Although when they were expecting his titan to grow, nothing happened, rendering the three confused. "Hmm... I don't understand it, perhaps he missed the signal..?" Hange mumbled.
"Perhaps..." Levi muttered, "Or perhaps we were naive to expect that he can turn it on and off..." He added and made his way towards the well. Levi got off his horse and walked over to it, "EREN! Enough! We're done for today!" He exclaimed. As he got to the edge of the well, his eyes slightly widened upon seeing what took into play.
Both Hange and Luna followed along from behind. The two dismounted their horse, approaching the young teen and Levi. "Eren! Is everything alright down there-?" Luna paused. Shock crossed her face, her mouth dropping open slightly once she saw what to Eren at the bottom of the well.
Once Hange got there, a surprised expression was written on their face, letting out a gasp.
There was blood all over the young teen's hands, along with a drop of blood on the edge of his mouth. Tickles of sweat on the side of his head as he stared up into the sky, looking like his soul had left his body, "I'm sorry... I... I don't think I can do it now."
᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃
Luna sat beside Eren's bench as she continued to wrap his wounds in bandages. Luna applied the last bandage and tapped the wound softly, "Does it feel better?" She inquired the teen, looking at him with soft eyes, placing the boy in small comfort, "Yeah. Thank you, Miss Luna."
The female chuckled, "You're welcome, Eren." She gave him a close-eyed smile. But that smile soon formed into a slightly serious face, "Do you feel your wounds healing though? As a titan shifter, your cells would've probably regenerated by now."
Eren looked over to his injured hand, "No, none at all..." He mumbled. Luna nodded and hummed in response, before standing up.
"No offense, but you're not much good to us in this form. If you can't change or transform, Wall Maria will grow up in smoke." Levi bluntly said, eyes piercing at the young teen, "Pull it together. And yes, that is an order." He added, before starting to walk away.
Eren gulped, "Yes, sir."
Luna turned to Eren and patted his head, "Don't look so disheartened, sweetie. You'll be able to do it sooner or later." She gave him a close-eyed smile. Eren glanced up to her, humming in response before she walked away.
"Yeah, don't lose heart, kid. You'll get it." Eld told the boy, who was sitting across from him. Eren looked down, "Maybe... I don't know..."
"Well, that's one hell of a way to know you're more human than suspected." Oluo spoke, placing his head on his hand. Eren glanced over to the male beside him, then to both Gunther and Eld. "Look at it this way, it's a lot better to find out now than on the field. Back to the drawing board, huh?" said Eld.
"He's right. No such thing as being 'too-careful' when so much is riding on you." Gunther added. Eren blinked and stared at his fellow scouts in confusion, 'How... How can they all be so damn calm..?' He thought, then glanced over to where Levi, Luna, and Petra are; Levi sipping on his tea, while Petra and Luna were sharing a conversation, 'Are they actually relieved I can't turn into a titan?'
Eren turned back to the small meal in front of him. He used his hand to pick his spoon, but he felt pain in his hands once he touched it, causing him to drop the object to the ground. Eld looked over to the teen, "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah..." He replied, before bending down. He bent down and reached out his hand to grab the utensil that dropped on the ground.
Just as he managed to get ahold of the spoon, tickles of lightning were forming on his hand.
BOOM!
A massive gas explosion happened behind Petra, Luna, and Levi, which made the three momentarily stop their actions.
Luna turned around, spotting the titan steam and three of her male comrades up on the air since Eren had partially transformed. The Levi squad approached the shadow of a part of Eren's titan form and pulled out their blades.
The steam slowly cleared up, revealing Eren who was struggling to pull away from the titan body, "DAMMIT, WHY NOW??" He questioned himself.
"Oi, oi, oi~ Don't need to get too intense!" Luna cooed, smiling.
Eren turned around, sweat dripping from his head, "I'm sorry, Executive! Captain! I... I don't know how I..- huh?" He paused once he noticed that the two soldiers were standing between their comrades and Eren, stopping them from attacking Eren with their blades.
"The situation is complicated. Now, Calm. Down." Levi said strictly to the four scouts who were basically sending death glares at the poor brown-haired teen.
Meanwhile, Hange was running towards where the titan steam came from and Moblit was following closely behind, trying to keep up with his captain. "Please be what I think it was! Please be what I think it was!" Hange muttered continuously, running up to where Eren was.
Their eyes widened once they spotted a part of Eren's titan form on the ground. A large grin and a blush made its way to Hange's face. They let out a squeal and jumped up in both joy and excitement.
Back with the Levi Squad, the four still had their weapons out while Luna and Levi were preventing them from basically assassinating the green-eyed teen.
"EREN! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Eld shouted at him. Eren turned to his dirty-blonde senior, "Sir, please-!"
"No one gave you the permission to transform! DID THEY?!" Eld continued.
"I said calm down..!" Levi snapped.
"ANSWER THE QUESTION, EREN! WHAT GOT INTO YOU?!" Oluo yelled.
"Leave it! Explanations can come later!" Gunther exclaimed, walking towards Eren, "First things first, you need to persuade us you're not hostile like your life depends on it!" He stated, whilst the teen stared at him horrifyingly, "PROVE IT OR WE KILL YOU! THE BURDEN OF PROOF IS YOURS, KID!" He added.
"Oi! Gunther-!" Luna tried to stop him from shouting at the teen.
"So much as twitch an arm and I'll lob your head off! This is the first and only warning you'll receive! I CAN END YOU IN A HEARTBEAT. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, BOY?!" Oluo spat.
"OLUO!" Levi called out, "How many times do I have to say it?!"
"CAPTAIN! EXECUTIVE!" Petra called out to her two seniors, "I need you two to step away! You're both too close!"
"Right now, I believe you're the ones who need to step away." Levi replied, facing the short-haired female, "Do it!"
"Why on earth-?!"
"A gut feeling!"
"EREN! YOU BETTER SAY SOMETHING!"
"I- I don't..!"
"DON'T TRY ANYTHING CUTE!"
"Prove you're not hostile!"
"Seriously, I—"
"This is serious!"
"DO YOU WANT TO DIE?!"
"I'LL KILL YOU-!"
"I'll do it, I swear to god!"
"Are you with us or not?!"
"DO YOU NOT HEAR ME?!"
"ALL OF YOU BE QUIET! ALL OF YOU JUST BE QUI—" Eren was interrupted when a sudden strong gale flew past the people around the area. Their gears and their blades were all snatched away from their hands and fell to the other side of the landscape.
'Wind Breathing - First Form: Anemoi's Breath'
The six were in shock. They all turned to Luna who was slowly descending back down. She was facing the ground. Eren gulped at this.
They felt a dark aura surrounding the female, causing sweat to drip on the side of their foreheads. She was holding her katana in her hand, horizontally in front of her. "If you don't stop yelling at each other in three seconds, I will not hesitate to make you all mute in an instant." She mumbled darkly, glaring at each one of them.
The four felt themself freeze in their spots as a chill ran down their spines, even Eren was slightly terrified. Luna had this murderous and intense aura that made them feel terrified for their lives, it was as if their lives could end right this very moment. They've never seen her like this before, especially since she's more... laidback.
No one spoke a word and they all looked down. Levi glanced at Luna, then over to Oluo, Gunther, Petra, and Eld who kept their mouths shut.
Once three seconds had passed, Luna placed her katana back to her side and sighed. She looked up at them with a straight face, staring at each one of them. The next thing she did set them all off into confusion and disbelief.
"See? No one here needs to be a little bitch! We can all talk without yelling at each other." She said sweetly while showing them a close-eyed smile, clasping her hands together. Of course, she really wasn't going to kill them if they didn't shut up, but more of make them lose consciousness for a few minutes. They were all lost at words, blinking to see if they were all in their sleep or if this is real.
No one could easily switch their emotions just like that. One minute she was basically telling them that she'd shut them all up, the next, she's all sweet and carefree; their expressions say it all. If you thought Levi was terrifying, then you better think again when you make this Executive Officer angry or pissed off.
"EREEEENNN!!!" A voice yelled out excitedly. Luna turned to her right, spotting her brunette friend.
Hange pushed Gunther away as they ran towards Eren's titan body, "I wanna touch the arm! I WANNA TOUCH THE ARM!" They cheered, blush forming on their cheeks, practically drooling, "PRETTY PLEASE WITH A SUGAR ON TOP! LET ME TOUCH THIS GLORIOUS THING!"
Luna sweatdropped, "Uah- Uhmm... Hange..." She smiled awkwardly at them.
"I don't think that's such a good- Wait, no!" Eren tried to stop them, but Hange was spaced out and incredibly awed about the titan body.
They touched the skin but quickly pulled away when they felt the heat, "OWH! SON OF A BITCH!!" They cried out, "THAT SHIT IS HOT WHEN THERE'S NO SKIN! THIS IS THE BEST DAY IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE!" Hange cheered.
"You're a maniac! You hear me?! A MANIAC!" Moblit scolded. Levi and Luna shared a look, before turning back to Hange who was cackling in joy.
Hange turned to face the teen that was still on top of the titan's body, "Are you not burning up?? What's it like?? How is it connected to your hand?? OH, YOU HAVE TO SHOW ME!! I REALLY REALLY WANNA SEE!!" Hange exclaimed, grinning at the lad.
Eren blinked, then turned to his hand that was attached to the titan body. He struggled to pull away from it, grunting in pain. Once he was able to separate himself, he fell onto the ground, rolling on his back.
The titan body started to release steam as it was slowly disappearing. Hange panicked, "NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? NOT SO SOON! I WANTED TO PUT IT UNDER THE NIGH- huh?" They paused once they noticed the tiny spoon on the titan's hands.
Luna and Levi turned to Eren who was panting. The two walked over to him. Luna bent down to his level, placing her hand on his shoulder. Eren turned to her and Luna lightly smiled at the young boy.
"Sorry, Captain, Executive..." He apologized.
"So you feeling okay or what?" Levi asked the teen. Eren glanced over to his captain, then to Luna who was staring at him with concerned eyes. "Not exactly... No..."
Word Count: 2602
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