Eren's POV

"Realize what sooner?" A sudden and unfamiliar voice asks.

I turn around and find that the source is a blonde man with very bushy yellow eyebrows. Even though his shirt is somewhat lose around his torso, it's easy to tell he has some muscle on him. From the look on his face, he appears to be a player; someone who might "borrow" another person for a while in order to have some "fun" with them. 

"Why the hell are you in my lab, Erwin?" Hanji asks, sounding very hostile towards the newcomer. This gives me reason to distrust him. Though I don't entirely trust Hanji, she has a good enough sense of human character for me to know who to trust and who not to trust.

"I heard you were back from your little expedition and decided to see the fruit of your labor. I must say, you reeled in a fine one. I might have to borrow him for a while," Fluff Face says, confirming my player theory.

"I'm afraid that won't be happening. I caught him, he belongs to me. He's the property of me and my lab. Whatever I say goes."

I feel Levi shift a little when he hears the brunette's words, but I can sense that he knows she's just trying to get Mr. Bushy Brows over there to back off a little. I squeeze him a bit tighter, hoping he knows that she has virtually no control over me. The only reason why anyone would think she does is because I'm in this pool with no access to the ocean. Sure, there's a drain at the bottom but it's so small that I wouldn't even be able to stick my hand into it.

"You say that now, but I have my ways of getting whatever I want. Mark my words, he'll be out of here and on his way farther inland to a more secure facility within the month." The Caterpillar says this quite confidently. Likely because he has no idea of the power of a siren's voice.

Levi is the next to speak, almost surprising me with his words, "If you honestly believe that, then I must say you're an absolute imbecile. Without me, you wouldn't be able to keep him under control, and without Shit-face over there you wouldn't be able to keep him alive, so I strongly suggest you get your fat, greedy ass out of here before you piss him off and end up dead at the bottom of this pool leaving me to clean up his mess."

"Come now, surely you can see that the fish is perfectly harmless as long as I stay out of the water. He'd have a hard time catching me on land. Really, there's no need to worry about having to clean up a nonexistent mess." He says this with an almost smug look on his face.

I snarl at the blonde, and he momentarily has a look of fear flash on his face. It quickly disappears and he starts chuckling as though he thinks I'm amusing in some way. Given his shown stupidity regarding mer people and sirens, I'd say that it's likely he doesn't know I'm much more dangerous than I look.

"Well, now that I've gotten to observe the specimen, I'm afraid that I have to be leaving. It was nice chatting with you, Shorty. Good luck on keeping him out of my grasp." With that being said, Fluff face turns and leaves, presumably through the same door he came in through.

I lash my tail in anger as Caterpillar disappears before twisting around and giving the Captain a hug. He's startled at first, but eventually hugs me back. I enjoy the feeling of his warm arms around me. It makes me feel things I've never felt before. Things that are only legends in the world beneath the waves. Things few sirens have ever felt before.

I've not really felt something like this at all. I mean, I can feel emotions but they've never been this strong. Sirens go more off of instinct and will to survive than what's going on inside our hearts. That's probably why one reason why mer people hate us so much; they have strong familiar bonds and we don't. Once two mer people mate, they're usually mated for life. With sirens, a female pack will mate with the male pack that has the most human bodies and then they'll likely never see each other again.

Mer people take the time to raise their young like humans do. Sirens lay their eggs in a dead body, burry the body in the sand at the ocean floor, and leave to find another nesting ground and collect more bodies. It's like they don't care about their young at all. Sirens have to raise themselves, and only about half of a clutch survives due to safety in numbers. If there was only one or two eggs laid, none of the hatchlings would survive. There are too many things out there that would love to have infant siren for breakfast.

Reluctantly pulling away from Levi, I turn my head towards Hanji, sensing that she has something to say. "How in hell did he know about the merm-" She interrupts herself, clearing her throat before continuing. "The siren?"

"He must have someone from the lab working for him secretly. There's no way he could even know we were back if he didn't," Levi replies, a thoughtful look on his face. "I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it was someone like Petra or Mikasa."

"With all due respect, I know my assistants, Captain. None of them would do anything like that if they had a choice."

"To be fair, that is an unlikely scenario, though it is still possible. I've known some pretty good actors in my day. Someone could be faking being our friend and feeding information to Erwin whenever they have spare time."

"But even if there's a traitor in our midst, how would we find out who it is?"

"I might be able to help with that," Says a small newcomer with blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and an incredibly guilty and regretful look on her face.

Hanji opens her eyes wide with surprise at the sight of the small girl and her words. I see her open her mouth to speak with a questioning yet still shocked face as she asks, "Krista?"