apollo🪐🚀

"Leave me alone, Rize!" you shout as you storm away from her, angry and disgusted by the sight you just witnessed. "I didn't even want to be a goddamn ghoul!"

"Aw, come on little sis, it's not so bad. You're strong just like me. If only you ate better..." she drawls as she chases after you.

"I'm not worried about myself! I'm worried about the people you're trying to force me to eat! The people you eat, Rize! You do realize they're all innocent, right?! They don't deserve to die just so we can keep living!"

"Oh please," she scoffs. "What are you going to do, kill yourself then?"

"Doing that would solve nothing," you grumble. "You'd just keep on killing people like it means nothing to you."

"Can't say you're wrong," she hums, causing you to regain the nauseating feeling from before.

"Go away, I can walk home by myself! I don't need you, just leave!" you shout.

"Aw, can't I just be worried about you? You are my little sister after all," she hums as she continues to try to catch up to you, not that her pace can compare to your own. Something she's always hated you for, being a better ghoul without even trying.

"You aren't worried about me. You're just worried about yourself," you scoff.

"Dear sister I have no idea what you mean-"

"Oh shut up! I know you think my kagune is a threat to your own. You just don't want to admit it!" you yell as you stop running suddenly and look out into the dark abyss of night before you.

"Admitting that would force me to admit you're stronger than me and I'm not about to do that," she chuckles. "Not that any of it's true anyway."

Suddenly your stomach rumbles, interrupting the conversation.

"Nevermind," she scoffs, mocking you as she licks her blood-stained lips from the meal she just enjoyed. "You can't even satisfy your own stomach. You'll die before you become a threat anyway."

"You just don't stop, do you?!" you scream as you turn around on your heels to better yell at her head on, your backpack smacking against your back from the sudden movement. "You shouldn't be taking innocent lives! You should not turn people into ghouls without their consent. And you certainly should not complain about not being strong enough when in reality we're only slaves to our stomachs!"

Just then you hear the sound of a train whistle, not that you care. It only serves as a nuisance for your voice to overcome as you scream at your sister.

Rize sighs and puts her hands on your arms and holds you in her grasp. "You stupid little shit, you should have listened to me when you had the chance."

In the blink of an eye, Rize disappears. The second you notice why, it's too late. The train's front light consumes your vision and everything fades to white. The next thing you know, you're taking up on the floor of a forest.

"Shit," you grumble to yourself as you take in your surroundings and aid your pounding head with your hand. "How did I end up here?"

Slowly you stand and take a look around. You don't recognize the place at all, not that you could. It is a forest after all. You take a few steps trying to figure a way out of there and find some kind of civilization, but your foot trips over a branch.

You cry out in pain when you look down and see a large gash in your leg that's beginning to leak well. Luckily, you're able to heal it quite quickly. But just as you're about to stand, a loud rumbling begins to shake the forest floor around you. You look around and try to figure out what could possibly be going on when a sudden giant appears in your line of vision. It's running wildly straight for you, ignoring whatever trees and rocks may attempt to get in its way.

You release one of the arms of your kagune to lift you up into a high branch of a tree that you hope the giant can't reach. Your eyes stare impossibly wide as it keeps running towards you, its body flailing about though it sprints with purpose.

You continue to stare half in shock as the human-like monster reaches towards you and grabs you in its hand. Only when it opens its ginormous mouth do you begin to freak out, realizing that this is just like what you're used to... only in reverse. You do not want to be food.

You reach your kagune around the monster's neck and slice its head off. As it begins to fall to the ground you wrap an arm from your kagune around a tree branch and land safely on the ground.

But much to your dismay, your nose begins to pick up on the smell of flesh radiating from the monster you just decapitated. The smell is so similar to that of a human's it's practically the same, only larger.

"Well, it did try to kill me," you reason with your stomach as you walk towards it. "Maybe it's okay to eat this one?"

You kneel down and place your hands on the monster's side. You open your mouth hesitantly, still absolutely baffled as to what's even going on right now. It takes until you close your eyes and repetitively tell yourself to "just do it" that you dig your fangs into the creature and take a bite.

It's good... too good.

It doesn't take long for you to get a good-sized dent from the monster. When you're full, you scramble around for the backpack you had before and empty out everything you had with you. You then mumble a short apology to the creature you just killed before ripping out chunk after chunk to store in your backpack for later.

After that, you continue to wander around the forest for a while longer. Only when you get close to the edge do you hear human voices. You hesitate whether to run towards it or not with the fear that you don't know what they'll do when they find you. Are they aware of the existence of ghouls? Will they try to kill you? How will you explain the rotten smell radiating off of yourself?

"Hey guys, I think there's someone over here! Smells kinda... strange," a girl's voice calls out.

"Sasha I doubt there's any meat out here, just come back to the group, will ya?"

"I'll be right there," the girl responds hesitantly. "Just give me a sec..."

From the sky, a girl with a uniform jumps down in front of you. You scream and jump away. You had been looking around for her, but were certainly not expecting her to just drop out of the sky like that.

"Hey, who're you?!" she asks as she takes a step closer. "What's up with your clothes?"

"Huh? Oh, I, uh, found them..." you lie.

"And why do you smell like death?"

"Like you smell any better," you scoff.

"Ha! I like you! I'm Sasha and you are..."

"Y/N."

But before Sasha can say anything more, two guys swoop down from the sky and land on either side of her.

"Who the hell's that?" the taller of the two asks.

"This is Y/N," Sasha beams. "She could do for a bath but she's alright!"

"Why do you have blood all over your face?" the shorter asks.

"Oh, cause-"

"Connie, don't be rude! She probably escaped from that village! You know, the one we just came from..." she hints without giving much context.

"Eh? You're from there? How'd you get so far then?"

"And where are you going?" Sasha asks.

"I didn't really have any place in mind," you shrug.

"Well then come with us! You're safe in the walls and I don't mind having an extra bunkmate!" she giggles.

"But you're soldiers... I'm not really much of a fighter," you explain.

"No problem, I know a place you can stay then. I'll bring you back to the group to get Captain Levi's permission first and then we can go! You guys in?" Sasha asks the two at her side.

"Uh..." they respond, a bit lost from the quick conversation she had with you.

Instead of waiting, Sasha grabs your arm and lifts you up in the air. You're shocked but these humans possess maneuvering equipment similar to how you're able to use your kagune...

Sasha lands back on the ground before a group of horses and humans dressed in similar uniforms. They all cringe at the smell you carry on your back, but none of them is blunt enough to say anything to your face. That is, all but one.

"Sasha, what the hell is that smell? Did you eat a titan or something?" a short man grumbles as she approaches her.

Titan? That huge monster from before is called a titan?

Your body freezes up. Hopefully, he doesn't recognize the scent radiating from your backpack. But as the man steps into view, your worried thoughts cease almost immediately. Your brain is completely entranced by the unexpectedly handsome man who's frowning as he looks over at you.

"Who's that?" he asks sternly.

"Oh, this is Y/N! I found her just a little ways back. She came from the town we just, uh, bleached..."

"You got this far away that fast?" he questions. "You must be quick... Anyway, what do you expect to get from Sasha here?"

"I, uh, nothing but she offered to help me. It's not... safe out here?" you attempt to state, only for it to come out as more of a question.

"Well you're not wrong," he sighs. "Go on, we'll catch up with you later Sasha."

"This is it!" Sasha beams. "It's not much but the person it belonged to previously is, uh, not with us anymore. So it's yours if you'd like it."

You walk inside the small house, if you could even call it that. It's certainly different than Tokyo, that's for sure. Your fingers brush against the dusty, old cabinets in the main room which doubles as a kitchen and dining room. When you open the attached room, a decent-sized bed greets you on the other side with little room around it. As for the last room, the bathroom, well, the water runs.

While the place may not be conventionally attractive (or livable to your sister's standards) you find yourself quite entranced with it.

"I'll take it!" you tell Sasha. "It's perfect, thank you."

And perhaps a rundown little house is the best place to hide your deepest secret...

Sasha squeals as she pulls you in for a hug. "This is perfect! I can't wait to tell Captain and the others! We'll come visit once you're all set up, okay?!"

"Sure," you chuckle, thinking that as long as you have enough time to hide the smell of rotting flesh in your home, you don't really care who visits when.

After Sasha leaves, you flop down onto the dusty bed, choosing to ignore the polluted air as dirt particles swirl in front of your face. Instead, you shut your eyes and attempt to process everything that's happened.

The next thing you know, it's three days later. You've done a bit of cleaning since then, but nothing's perfect. How could it be? This house was out of commission for at least a year. But at least you were able to tuck your secret stash of decaying flesh under the floorboards of your bed to prevent anyone from discovering it. You weren't sure when Sasha was going to visit with her friends, but you'd rather be safe than sorry.

And as you open your eyes on this morning, there's a knock on your door minutes later. A bit lazily you trudge over to your front door, yawning as you open it. However, when you're suddenly imposed upon by a large group of strangers (that you aren't even sure can even fit in your small house) your eyes widen.

"Uh, Sasha?" you call out as you look for her in the crowd.

"I'm here!" she waves as she wanders towards you with a slab of fresh meat in her hand. For a moment you get hopeful that it's titan meat, but the horrendous smell that reflects from it tells you otherwise.

"I brought everyone here so you can meet them properly," she explains as they begin to walk in one by one. "There's Connie, and Jean, and Mikasa, Eren, Armin, Historia, oh she's the queen by the way, and Hanji and-"

"Wait, the queen is here and you're just going to introduce her like that?!"

"Please, Y/N, you can talk to her later. You still haven't met Captain Levi."

"We met the other day," the short man you met the other day scoffs. "If your memory is getting bad, Sasha, you could see Hanji about that."

"See me about what?" the one introduced briefly to you as Hanji chimes in.

"Nothing, nothing-"

"Sasha's suffering from short-term memory loss," the man explains bluntly, causing a small grin to sneak up on your face. "And speaking of Sasha's incompetence," he then turns to you as Sasha's dragged off by Hanji, "this is for you."

Levi hands you a small bucket of cleaning supplies and marigold seeds. You look up at him a bit confused, which he attempts to aid right away.

"This place was a mess before you got here. The supplies will help with that. As for the flowers...they help repel mosquitos. Grow them in full sun," he explains before entering your house and walking past you.

"Well thanks," you grin as you look down at the seeds. You've always had a passion for flowers, not that you'd never thought you'd do anything with them, though. But perhaps since you're in a new place, you could...

"Oh, wow! The flowers Captain Levi got you are blooming so nicely!" Sasha coos as she hovers over the plants you received about a month ago. "He's got to come check them out!"

"I don't think that's a good idea," you hum. "He's busy and it's not really a big deal."

"So then why don't you bring one to him?!" she grins suspiciously.

"I don't think he gave them to me just so I'd bring them back to him. Besides, I'll essentially be killing them if I do that."

Says the one who's going out and hunting down titans in the middle of the night.

"You don't have to make it sound dark like you always do with things, Y/N," she chuckles.

"I don't always make things dark..." you attempt to defend, though you know she's probably right. How can you avoid it when you kill constantly to survive?

"Oh please, you're always so cryptic and take things so seriously, kinda like the captain. So, yeah, you do," she grins as she kneels down before the flowers and begins to water at the mouth. She won't eat them, will she?

"Fine," you roll your eyes, mostly to get her as far away from your flowers as possible. "I'll bring one to him."

"That's great!" she beams as she quickly plucks one by the stem and hands it over to you. "This one's perfect."

She's not wrong, it's probably the best out of the bunch.

Sasha then skips down to the Survey Corps' headquarters with you and your flower in tow. After you arrive and are guided down a long hallway, she stops and knocks politely on a door. As she waits, she throws you a thumbs up.

"Who is it?" Levi asks, turning your attention to the brown door in front of you. You really shouldn't have taken your eyes off of Sasha because the next thing you know she's running down the hallway to get away from you.

Dammit.

"Uh, it's Y/N," you call out quietly as you watch Sasha fade from view.

"Come in."

As you slowly open the door, you peek around to see him sitting behind his desk, his eyebrows knitting together as he awaits your explanation as to why you're here. He does look super serious. Maybe Sasha was right.

"I know you're busy so I'll be quick but I just wanted to show you that the flowers you gave me have grown and I thought you'd like one..." you explain as you step into the room.

Levi stands up and walks over. You find it a bit hard to breathe in the small room as you wait for him to give some sort of reaction to the flower you grew.

"Wow, that was quick," he hums as he accepts the gift. "And it looks healthy, too."

"Yeah, well I didn't have much else to do but take care of it," you chuckle at your somewhat chaotic life. "But anyway, I put it in the sun like you suggested and I think that really did the trick!"

"Good," he nods. "Thank you, Y/N, I'll try to keep it alive as long as I can."

You're a bit shocked by his thank you despite his typical humorless demeanor.

"Since I'm here, do you think you could tell me where you got the flowers? I think I might like to buy some more."

"I was just on my way out as it is, I'll show you to the place," he tells you as he places the marigold gently down on his desk. He then grabs his green cloak and throws it around his shoulders before politely ushering you out of the room.

As the two of you walk, the conversation of the day you met is somehow brought up.

"How did you manage to get away from those titans?" he asks as though it's been weighing on his mind for the last month.

Not sure of what to say, you think of the most logical lie possible. "I was lucky enough to kill one and escape."

Thanks to being around Sasha so much, you've learned a thing or two about the Survey Corps and the missions they go on. That being said, you've also been forced to choke down a lot of disgusting animal parts while she enjoys them almost too much.

"You did?" he asks with a hint of wonderment in his tone. "How?"

"I set a trap," you lie confidently. "I used rope to strangle it and once it went unconscious I beheaded it."

Levi nods, completely immune to the use of the graphic details you used. He must have done a lot of that as the captain of the scouts, too.

"You handle yourself well on your own," he admits, "It's probably thanks to being outside the walls all this time. Sasha was from out there, too, you know. Probably why she wanted to help you so bad."

"Isn't it common to bring people back here?" you question.

"To be completely honest with you, we usually don't get survivors from situations like that," he replies in a quieter tone.

You nod and look away, understanding just what he means. Back when you were with Rize, she never left anyone alive without turning them into a ghoul.

"It's strange," Levi adds. "I still can't figure out how you manage to get that far from the village..."

"I'm not sure either," you shrugs. "Adrenaline I suppose. I just kept running until I couldn't."

"Did you have a horse?" he asks as he looks you in the eye, certainly interested in hearing what you have to say.

"No," you admit. You're about to joke that you didn't have a car either, but you bite your tongue.

Levi stops walking once the two of you arrive at the florist's store. "Well if you ever want to join the Scouts you might not be as worthless as the other brats I have to deal with."

"Sure," you smile. "Thank you for everything, Levi. I appreciate it."

The tiniest grin creeps up on the side of one of his lips before disappearing just as quickly as it came. "It's not a problem. Get home safe."

"Thank you, you as well," you wave as he turns to walk away.

You watch as he disappears around the corner before walking into the shop. Though the second you get inside, an old woman greets you.

"Hello there, I couldn't help but see you outside my shop with Mr. Ackerman," she says with a sweet smile. "I never see him with any pretty girls like you. Are you his girlfriend? I've never seen you before..."

"No, I'm not but my name is Y/N," you smile politely. "I met him a little while back and he gave me some flower seeds from here so I asked where I could get a few more."

"Oh, well come in dear. I am Frauke, but you can just call me grandma. Is it seeds you're after?" she hums happily.

"Yes, I grew the marigolds he gifted me and am looking for something else to try."

Frauke begins talking nonstop about different types of flowers, perennials, annuals, and biennials. You feel like quite the amateur while listening to her speak, but quickly begin to catch on.

After deciding on a few different seed types, Frauke walks you over to her little cash register and rings up your price.

"You know, I'm always looking for help around here," she hums as she places your seeds into a small paper bag. "I'm getting old and it's hard to take care of these flowers myself. If you'd like, you could work here and I'll teach you all I know about taking care of these plants."

"I'd love to," you grin as you accept the paper bag. "That sounds way better than sitting around my house and cleaning all day."

"Hm, you do smell strongly of cleaning supplies. Perhaps that's why Mr. Ackerman has taken such a strong interest in you," she giggles at her joke.

"Perhaps."

"Well either way I'll have to be sure to thank him for introducing you to me. He sure knows how to pick 'em," she hums as she slowly makes her way over to you, guiding you to the front door.

You gently remind her that you hardly know Levi while shaking your head. But that doesn't stop her from continuing to think as she pleases.

"Okay, Y/N," she finally says once she's calmed herself down from giggling to herself. "You enjoy the rest of your day, alright? Come back when you're looking for something to do and I'll be waiting."

"Thank you, grandma. I'll be sure to see you soon."

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