Memories Tend To Be Dreams Themselves[LEVI X READER X ERWIN]

#28: Confrontation

"Be quiet. It's getting late."

The walk to the dungeons was filled with nerves and sadness. The sound of their footsteps was paired with the one of water dropping, adding to the stress the younger scouts were feeling.

After settling on going to see the traitors, a few rules had been established. The most important one, put in place by Erwin, was that no one was allowed to mention the most recent breach. If Reiner and Bertholdt found out about it, it'd likely give them hope that someone was coming to get them, and tighten their mouths even more. They couldn't take their chances.

The second rule was to leave Ymir out of the conversation unless she got mentioned by the enemy first. The last thing the scouts needed was to imply the opposite side had another advantage.

Tonight's visit had one purpose: to mentally torture the prisoners. They hoped that showing them their old comrades, especially the more than heartbroken Eren, would shake them up enough for information to slip out. It was coldhearted and manipulative, enough to make [Y/N]'s stomach churn, but it was the best course of action. With the recent events and discoveries, humanity was in desperate need for clues. There was no time to waste; after all, their lives were on the line at every second.

The air was hot and their uniforms were tight. They were all getting lightheaded and exhausted, but they knew they had to get this over with tonight.

"Jean, Sasha, Eren, Historia" [Y/N] gently called. "Contain your surprise when you see them. They can't look too good."

The four of them only nodded.

"Here we are," stated their commander, signaling to the guards to leave. They all kept quiet, unable to see their former comrades clearly in the dark.

"Commander?" asked Reiner almost hopefully, blinded by the torches the scouts were holding. "Did you come back?"

"I did," the man answered, making his subordinates step in further. "I brought other company, too."

All hope on the prisoner's face washed itself away as he opened his eyes enough to see the rest of his former comrades.

"Please," the prisoner croaked out, averting his gaze away from them. "Please go away."

"You don't get to say that," started Eren, completely devastated by the sight in front of him. "You don't get to have peace."

"Guys," called out Bertholdt, whom had been silent until then. "What... what are you all here for?"

There was a pregnant silence in the room as each person reflected on what to say.

"Reiner, Bertholdt," addressed [Y/N], her tone full of grief. "You guys are responsible for the biggest genocide humanity has known ever since the titans first appeared. I'm sure you've already heard this, but you're not making it out of here. So why not tell us what you know? Why not? What the hell do you have to lose?"

"We promised-"

"Promised to whom?!" Eren barked out, full of anger once again. "What could be worth doing this? Tell me why!"

Mikasa tried to intervene, only to be shoved away and caught by a frightened Armin.

"That day, when we looked up and saw the Colossal, it was you Bertholdt... wasn't it?! I can't believe this."

"Do you think we wanted to kill people?!" asked the shifter in question, raising his voice for the first time. "Who would want that? We had no choice, Eren!"

"Yeah," the green-eyed boy scoffed. "I'm sure you had no choice but to kill my mom."

"I'm telling the truth!"