He Told Me to Live

34 | Marley

Not long after Cinder's death, another ship approached. Eren was sent out and he lifted the ship once again to place it on the land.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen of Marley!" Hange greeted. "Welcome to the Island of Paradis! I am Hange! I'm here to receive our distinguished guests who've come here from oh-so far across the sea! Your long voyage must have left you tried! Come, why not join us for a cup of tea?"

I loaded my gun and held eye contact with Levi, who would give me the signal to shoot, should I have to.

Hange decided to try a new method of 'inviting' Marleyans to Paradis, including taking the hostage I had caught before. His name was Niccolo, we knew that much. While I knew he wasn't really a fighter, that didn't mean he didn't hold any grudges against us.

Against me.

"Captain! Don't mind me! Just shoot these damned devils!"

I partially wished to shoot him myself solely for calling Hange and Levi devils, but I doubt that would've done anything helpful. Even then, I needed permission from Levi.

"Listen up, you damned devils!" The captain called. "Marley isn't interested in hearing from anyone with defiled blood! What makes you think we'd ever sip pig's piss with you tarnished bastards?!"

He clearly has never had my tea.

"Aww, are you sure?" Hange asked. "Do you really want to insult us like that? Don't tell me you can't see the titan behind you! I'd love to hear exactly how you plan on getting away from this place."

The moment the captain aimed a gun at Hange, Levi turned to me, nodding to say that I could begin to aim. However, when I did, another soldier shot him. A soldier on their own ship.

My brows raised while Hange hid behind the rock she previously stood on.

"What are you doing, Yelena?!" A soldier questioned.

'Yelena' held up her gun. "Put down your weapons." Another took out his own weapon. "Do as she says."

I didn't know whether I should carry on and shoot so I turned to Hange, who held up her hand.

"Hange," Yelena said. "I'm honoured to receive your invitation. How about that tea?"

•••

I placed tea in front of Yelena and her partner, then Levi and Hange before beginning to leave. "She doesn't want to stay?" Yelena asked. I froze at the entrance, holding the tent's flap and waiting for Levi to say something, whether to stay or go. Instead, Levi simply repeated the question to me and I shook my head.

"She doesn't talk to anyone other than you, huh?" I heard Yelena's voice from outside of the tent. She was talking to Levi, I could tell.

I took the knife off my belt and began spinning it around my right hand. When my mind is restless, I do such mindless activities to clear it. At the moment, however, I couldn't figure out why my mind was running.

At long last, someone finally accepted Hange's invitation to sit down and drink tea. Why couldn't I settle with just that and leave it be?

A right handed killer from Marley, mainly specializing in combat with guns. For some reason, she posed as a man on her own ship. Barely flinched at Eren being in such close proximity to her.

Odd is all it could be. I stopped the spin of my blade and placed it back in its sheath on my belt.

•••