The Titan Queen - Levi X Reader

Chapter 28 - The Offence

"I don't think I like war."

You snorted and looked over at where Jean was sneering around the interior of the tent, the light dim as the sun was setting. "I think you just don't like camping. It's only for tonight."

"If war forces me to reside in a tent for one night, then I don't like war," Jean insisted.

You were sat on one of the makeshift seats, looking over a feeble table with a map of the nearby area drawn prettily onto it. Pixis leaned over it, strangely quiet – but it was only the three of you in what Pixis had called the leader's tent.

It was not as if the rest of the school was far; the noise of them setting up their own tents, preparing their various weapons and horses, talking about different formations... That was soaring high, although you were becoming adept at tuning it out.

This is what the start of war was.

People clinging to any shred of normalcy – students trying to enjoy a camping night whilst trying to forget that it was due to be a battlefield tomorrow, Jean making jokes to try and get others to laugh, you sitting quietly trying to come up with a bigger plan.

All of that was a mask of normalcy to try and cast the threat into shadow.

There was a very real possibility that all of you were going to die tomorrow.

There wouldn't be an escape for you, this time. Orion had made it clear – there was not a single way you would be accepted if you tried to say that you were a true titan. There was no saving of yourself; there were many in the approaching titan army that would be hunting for you and you alone.

Several minutes passed in silence – at least, silence from within the tent.

Jean broke first.

"Why, exactly, am I here?"

You looked up, watching Pixis carefully. The man did not move, his eyes still fixed firmly on the large, grassy area of the map that would soon become a mass grave. "As opposed to?"

Jean's brow furrowed. "As opposed to military minds like Mikasa, or Isabel, or even a third year. Y/N, I very much understand why she's here. Me? No clue."

He stared at Pixis, waiting for an answer that your headmaster was clearly not going to give. Jean then tried looking at you for a reply, but you could hardly do better than a shrug. "Don't look at me, I have no idea why you're here."

"Always the vote of confidence," Jean said, throwing his hands behind his head.

You tapped your foot on the ground, glad that the grass muffled most of the sounds. It wouldn't do to act anxious – you knew exactly why Jean was here. Pixis needed someone to calm him down, which was why he'd chosen your sole opposite.

Isabel would infuriate Pixis if she was here; Mikasa would only serve to push him harshly into a war mindset. But Jean Kirstein? There wasn't a more level-headed person for miles which paired well with an irritating sense of humour.

No one was better suited to calm Pixis as all of the students patiently waited for one thing, and one thing only.

An army.

That's what you'd sent Farlan away for – for an army, for Levi, for Erwin. It had been a day, during which Pixis had gathered the entire school and marched them towards the battlefield – the same battlefield as a year ago. No one said that the titans didn't have a flair for the dramatic, because everyone was well aware that humanity would rise to the occasion.

"There's no use planning if we don't know our full numbers," you murmured, aware that Pixis had not brought you in for help with planning. He had brought you in order to supervise you, to ensure that there was nothing you could do to surprise him. It was fair enough, you supposed. Although now, there were no more tricks you could pull.