章節 664: Gifted a Curse

"Well? Speak up, Trainees!"

...

"Y-yes.." Jean admits, unable to look at either Eren or Pixis.

The Commander focuses on Eren, who was now grinding his teeth at Jean, whispering various insults that were linked with horses in some manner or another. "Trainee, understand that falsifying a report or lying thereafter its creation is a criminal offence. Now, your answer."

"Yes." Eren spits with a barely concealed growl, "But they were traitors anyway, Annie, Rainer, Berthholdt, they deserved what happened to them! They destroyed Shiganshina! And they were trying to do the same to Trost!"

Pixis nods, "Mmhmm, about that... None of you included it in your reports, but I have to inquire. Do any of you know the reason any and all titans around Wall Rose seem to have disappeared?"

The group collectively shakes their heads, all grateful at whatever phenomenon had caused the strange absence, it was that which allowed them to bring down the three traitors and evacuate the town in peace, without it most of them would probably not be here...

The Commander sighs and takes another drink from his canteen, the burn of the alcohol providing a good distraction to the recent shit-show. The fact that he'd have to report all of this to the King and everyone else with even a meagre amount of authority only worsened his mood.

The problem was, they had no answers to any of the questions raised by any of the discoveries made... Three traitors able to summon titans? The strange, powerful crimson-eyed woman that defeated most of the titans on her own? The disappearance of titans in the region? Or even the strange transformation and subsequent rampage of Trainee Mikasa Ackerman...

Pixis wipes his face and brings his hand over his bald head, slumping in his chair, "You're all dismissed for now, go back to the barracks, eat, drink, and rest, all of you have earned it... We'll continue the Disbanding Ceremony when the dust has settled... Until then." he waves them off.

"U-uh, sir?" Trainee Armin Arlert stands and steps towards his desk, causing the others to pause to hear what he has to say.

"Yes, Trainee?"

"What is the condition of Mikasa Ackerman? I can personally vouch for her loyalty to humanity, so-"

"There is no need to worry. I've forbidden any intrusive experimentation for the time being. She will be confined and heavily guarded until we can figure this whole freakish situation out. Does that assure your worry for your friend?"

Armin slowly nods, but is still cautious of what the military might be doing to Mikasa in the meantime... It wouldn't be the first time someone had lied, and it wouldn't be the first time unethical experiments had been committed, from what he'd read. "Thank you, sir."

-----------------------------------

Mikasa drowsily awakens, smacking her lips at the metallic taste in her mouth. She groans and tries to sit up, but pauses when something holds her in place, the sound of chains chiming in her ears...

She looks down and finds her wrists and legs shackled to nearby walls, she'd been laying on a floor-level mattress in a dark cell covered by overly thick metal bars, as if they were expecting a titan to try and breach through them...

"So you're awake." a familiar, unwelcome voice remarks from outside her cell, causing the soldier's head to shoot towards it... "Saeko..." Mikasa mutters, "What happened?"

"I gave you a gift, you killed Annie, Rainer, and Bertholdt, then you got captured." Saeko casually explains, as if that wasn't a big fucking deal..

"No, I don't remember doing anything to them..." she shakes her head, "What gift...?"

"Hm, figures, the first time is usually the most difficult, it was the same for me too. I did think you'd remember me forcing you to drink my blood though, that sounds like something memorable." she shrugs, leaning against the bars of the cell.

"Blo-od... You! What did you do to me!?" Mikasa exclaims as the memories hit her and bring a migraine forth with them.

"I turned you into a Werewolf, a human with the ability to turn into a large, humanoid wolf. Besides the headache, you probably feel much stronger already, right?"

...

Mikasa flexes her muscles and starts gripping her hands, "I do... What is a Werewolf?"

"I just told you, you're actually lucky, most other Werewolf lines get forcefully transformed during the moon. Us though? We get to do it whenever we want, we're immune to poison, disease, we're a lot stronger and heal very quickly... The only real negative is our weakness to silver, which, I'd advise you to stay away from if you like your sanity. Getting hit by it hurts worse than burning alive." she states.

"... But why? Why do this to me?"

"I thought you and I were similar. I suspect we'd be copies of one another if brought up in similar situations... Besides, after seeing you fight, I wanted to offer you something other than the 'Gift'."

"I refuse." Mikasa instantly rejects, not wanting any more 'boons' from the crazy crimson-eyed woman.

Saeko rests her forehead on one of the metal bars, "Don't be like that, me and my friends have actually saved you a lot of trouble from what I hear. If we hadn't eliminated most of the titan around Trost, who knows how many people would have died. Plus, those three traitors would still be alive and scheming too."

...

"How are you here? What happened to the guards?" Mikasa asks after a moment of silence.

"I'll tell you if you listen to me first."

"Fine."

"Become my apprentice."

...

"Apprentice?"

"In swordsmanship, you know all the powerful techniques I used against the titans? I want to teach you that." Saeko offers with an enthusiastic gleam in her crimson eyes.

"... I'll think about it. The guards?"

Saeko smiles, "It's easy to sneak around when people don't think you exist. I've been getting plenty of practise with these eyes of mine." she snickers slightly, "I never thought I'd be performing 'Jedi Mindtricks' all those years ago."

...