THE OTHER SIDE. aa

fünf­und­dreißig.

     AN AIR OF AUTHORITY filled the whole jail, from what armin could feel. his teary face looked up to the three; confused, scared, and amazed. it seemed like they were waiting for his answer because the shortest out of the three, the ebony-haired male with steel-grey eyes and dark gray tail clicked his tongue and moved close to his cell with a death glare.

     "oi, speak when we're talking to you."

     the young blond flinched at his harsh tone and quickly apologized, nodding as an answer to the commander. he couldn't find his voice to speak, afraid that his voice would break midway and embarrass himself to the three. "the date of your punishment is set in ten days." erwin suddenly said, startling the sapphire-eyed mermaid who gawked. "we're sorry but we can't do anything about it, it's not our place to set the date of your death or change it. you knew what the consequences would be when you left the walls."

     once again, armin nodded despite the fear slowly creeping up to his insides after receiving the bad news. he tried not to think too much about it, but when it concerned his safety and life, well, it was hard not to.

     the brunette with golden yellow tail clapped her hands excitedly and moved close to his cell where she gripped the bars tight, shoving her face close to the rusty bars. if the bars weren't there to restrict her, armin was sure she'd be up against his personal space. "until then, we have time to ask you questions about the outside world!" she exclaimed, "as you know, we are the survey corps. we monitor the activities outside the walls and that includes you, armin! you broke past the place we weren't allowed to even scope, so we're here to question you about it! like, did you see humans in the other side? any technologies that could help us? oh! i heard they have animals like--"

     one clear cough from the commander and the brunette stopped her rambling, shaking her head before moving back to her place behind the broad blond while wearing a small smile. "i'm sorry about them," erwin muttered, "this is hanji zoe." he nodded his head towards the brunette, "and levi ackerman." 

     levi only rolled his eyes but stood beside erwin straight and tall, crossing his arms over his chest while watching the young mermaid with what looked like to be disdain. erwin cleared his throat once more and smiled comfortingly, "now then, let's start." he took a sit on the conveniently-placed chair in front of him, his cyan tail swishing in front of him as he sat down. 

     "is this your first time going past the walls?" erwin questioned, with hanji shaking in her spot from excitement. armin swallowed a lump in his throat and shook his head 'no', earning a surprised look from the three.

     "wow! since when did you start?" 

     "uhm, m-months ago..." armin confessed sheepishly, eyes downcast to avoid seeing the glare that the ebony-haired soldier sent his way.

     levi narrowed his eyes but there was a tiny hint of smirk on his lips, "you got guts, brat. it's a wonder how you just got caught now." he snickered. armin didn't know if it was a compliment or something else but if he was being honest, he was a bit prideful that he didn't get caught months ago. but now... well, he was going to die and he wasn't proud about that.

     the brunette let out a sigh, "ah, you know the garrison soldiers. they thought no one would leave but here we have little armin and his bravery! oh, how i adore you now! curiosity really fuels us, yes?" she giggled as the said blond slowly nodded, his lips shakily turning to a smile.

     the atmosphere turned tense once more and the two soldiers turned to the commander, waiting for his next question. his eyes were calculating as he watched the young mermaid, hands clasped together as he leaned forward. his brows furrowed and armin gulped under his prey-like gaze, his striking blue eyes darkening. they waited with bated breath and soon enough, the commander opened his mouth to ask.