.˜"*°• L I T T L E M O N S T E R •°*"˜.

          After taking a quick shower to wash away the dirt and grime from her bruised body, Missy pulled a baggy, white t-shirt over her head and put on a pair of black leggings. She looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, running her fingertips along the fresh scratch on her cheek. 

She let out a sigh before leaving the bathroom, closing the door behind her and stepping into the corridor within the barracks. A couple of female Scouts were walking down the hall towards her, and paused their conversation once they realized she was stood there. She watched as they passed her, sharing a glance that Missy did not like the look of before continuing their conversation in hushed whispers. 

"You look like shit". 

Missy's heart nearly leapt out of her chest at the sudden voice, turning quickly to see Eren leaning against the wall beside her.

"You frightened me," She grumbled, pushing him by his chest. "When did you get let out of that cell?".

"Did he turn up to training?" Eren asked, ignoring her question. 

"Yeah, he did," Missy sighed, rubbing her forehead with the palm of her hand. "I'm going to meet him now. He wants to talk". 

Eren pursed his lips, looking deep in thought for a moment before pushing himself from the wall. "Don't keep anything to yourself, Missy. Say everything you need to say. He has three days of your emotions to be caught up on, so let him hear it".

"I will," Missy responded quietly. 

"The rest of us are hanging out in the mess hall, so come meet us afterwards," He said, reaching up to ruffle her hair before walking away.

Missy watched him walk down the hall, waiting until his tall frame was out of sight before she turned and walked down the opposite end of the corridor. 

She would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. She had no idea what Levi was going to say to her, and she had no idea what she wanted to say to him. Three days ago they were just Captain and Scout, and now they were going to be husband and wife. In the space of a few days, everything had changed. Missy's entire life had been turned upside down. She couldn't even walk through the halls of HQ without being stared at, or whispered about. Everybody was talking about how Captain Levi was now arranged to marry Artemis Rhydduch, a Scout seven years younger than him. No one knew the exact reason of why they were arranged to marry, but they did know that the Duo guard and the laws had been set back in place, so people had just speculated that this was because of that. 

She made her way out to the training fields, scanning the area for any sign of Levi. When she failed to locate him she guessed he hadn't arrived yet, so sat down on the grassy floor and pulled her knees up to her chest. Her body ached from the events of today. She really needed a good eight hours of sleep, but she knew she would most likely be tossing and turning all night, just like she had been the previous couple weeks. She had so much to think about that she felt like her skull was going to split open. 

She pulled at the strands of grass beneath her, resting her chin on top of her knees as she looked out at the tall, stone walls in the distance. She wanted to be free from these walls more than anything. She wanted to be able to go far, far away from here and not have to live by someone else's rules. She was so sick of following orders, and feeling like nothing but a pawn in someone else's plan. It was so infuriating that the burden of bringing these walls down and allowing the people of Paradis to explore this world safely had been put on her shoulders now.

Birds chirped above her, and the soft wind blew through her wet hair and whistled in her ears as she realized how miserable she was. Footsteps from behind her made her turn her head, seeing Levi walking towards her. He wore a tight, long-sleeved, black t-shirt with black pants, his hair still damp from the shower he had probably just had. He said nothing as he sat down in front of her, keeping a good bit of distance between them. The silence continued, and Missy began to think he was never going to speak up, until he finally cleared his throat.

"I apologize for how I spoke to you during training today."

Missy looked up from the patch of grass she had been pulling at, furrowing her eyebrows as her eyes scanned his pale face.

"I'm under a lot of pressure to make sure you're all performing at your best before we head out on this mission," He continued. "And I obviously have a few other things occupying my mind right now. I'm just trying to make sure no one dies. I shouldn't have taken my stress out on you and the squad though, so for that I am sorry". 

Missy nodded before whispering a quiet. "I get it".

His eyes flickered to the scratch on her cheek. "I've been at the palace for the last few days, trying to talk some sense into the King whilst your father is off elsewhere". 

"It would have been nice of you to tell me that before you went," Missy muttered, still plucking at the grass beneath her.

Levi's jaw hardened, and he averted his gaze to somewhere behind her. "I didn't think you would be ready to talk to me yet". 

Missy gave a half-hearted shrug of her shoulders. "What did the King say?".

Levi bit back an annoyed scoff, his thoughts wandering back to the last few days in Sina. "He's holding firm in his decision. He apologized a lot, and then started spouting a load of nonsense about services at the Palace being there to support us. Either way, it was a complete waste of my time".

Missy nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. 

A couple beats of silence passed between them, until she gathered the courage to ask the question that had been on her mind the last few days. "You knew about the Duo Guard and this arrangement before I did. Why?".

Levi pursed his lips, looking deep in thought for a few seconds before he answered. "Me and the Commander were pulled into a meeting just before the coronation. We were told not to speak of it until things were confirmed". 

Artemis remained silent, her eyes hardened towards the patch of grass she had been picking from. 

"I want you to know that I had no idea he was going to choose you," Levi said, running a hand through his damp hair. "If I knew my actions at the coronation party would lead to this, I would've gone about things completely different". 

"How do you feel about it?" Missy asked quietly. "About it being me". 

His shoulders tensed at the question, his eyes widening a fraction as he thought carefully about his answer. After what felt like a lifetime, he opted to be honest but minimal.

"I wouldn't have been happy no matter which of you had been chosen," Levi answered. "I never wanted to get married, and I certainly didn't ever imagine myself having kids. Especially not under these circumstances". 

Missy could understand that. Levi was as guarded as her, if not more. She couldn't imagine him ever letting anyone in that close to his heart. 

"You've had a rough life already," Levi continued, a softness to his voice that hadn't been there before. "A life married to me isn't going to be much better". 

"Being married to a cursed woman isn't going to be much fun for you either," She retorted, scowling at the ground now.

"You are not cursed, Artemis," Levi sighed, watching her closely. "That's just something your father tells you to make you feel worse". 

"Twins are a bad omen," Missy replied coldly. "A sign of bad luck. That's why my father wants to hand me over to you". 

"Your father," Levi spat, his voice laced with hatred. "Just wants to make both of our lives hell. You and Apollo are not cursed, you're both just stubborn little brats who've been through a lot of shit". 

"You don't get it," She muttered. "You didn't see how weak I was- before he- before my powers were awakened". 

Levi raised an eyebrow at her, waiting to see if she would elaborate. They had never spoken of their awakenings. It hadn't even been mentioned before. When he realized she was not prepared to say anymore on the matter, he let out a breathy sigh.

"All of us are cursed," He said, pulling his knees up and resting his arms on them. "Ymir's curse lives in our veins. That is the only curse you have. You are not a bad omen, and if you ever were weak then you certainly are not anymore". 

Missy was still unconvinced but remained silent, dragging a hand through her damp hair.

"How do you feel about all this?" He asked, now glaring at one of the scrapes on his knuckles.

Missy pursed her lips, pondering how to summarize everything that she felt. "I feel scared. Like how I felt when I first joined the Cadets".

Something in Levi's chest twisted painfully.

"I'm scared for how much life is going to change now, going back to being prisoners in this already too-small world. I'm angry that my father is getting exactly what he wants from all of this, after so many years of putting us through hell. I'm scared about getting married so young, and bringing a baby into this world that is only going to be used and abused far worse than I ever was. And I feel grief,"

Levi surveyed her closely, taking note of every facial expression and every dip and rise of her voice. He remembered their conversation after the first mission, where Levi had explained to Missy what grief was. 

"I don't know why I feel so much grief when no one has died". 

Levi drew in a breath, letting it flow back out slowly from his nose. "In the span of three days you've had a lot taken from you. You're rights as a human, you're ability to make your own choices, and the freedom to choose your own path for your future. You're grieving for all of that, Artemis, everything you could of had, but now can't".

Missy felt her lip wobble, blinking the tears from her eyes. She wasn't going to cry now, not when she had remained strong for the past three days. She wasn't going to let that all go to waste, and certainly not in front of her Captain. 

"I'm glad that you volunteered so Mikasa wouldn't have to go through with this," She forced out as she swallowed her emotion down. "I would never have wanted this for her". 

"I would have done the same for any of you," Levi replied. "Just to give you a few more years of freedom".

He was right. Mikasa would be able to find true love, as long it was by the time she turned twenty-five. Missy was grateful that he had been able to secure that possibility for her. 

"What do we do now?" She asked quietly.

Levi looked up at her, thinking carefully through her words. "We focus on the mission we're about to go on. Nothing of this arrangement will come about until we return from that, so let's just focus on staying alive".

Missy nodded. "I can do that". 

"You're brother isn't too happy that I've left you alone here for three days," Levi said with an amused twitch of his lips. "Although I think he has worse things to worry about right now". 

"Which brother?".

"Hades," Levi replied, his ghost of a smirk fading. "He's not looking so good". 

Missy frowned. She had guessed that he'd received a beating after his behavior in the meeting, but hearing it be confirmed sent a shallow feeling into the pit of Missy's stomach. He had protected her again, but paid the price for it. 

"He's in good spirits though," He mumbled. "He may be battered and bruised, and his finger may be holding on by a thread, but he's still himself". 

Missy snorted at the thought of Hades' finger falling off. He had broken it during their childhood and had never received the proper medical treatment so it had healed at an odd angle. He showed it off like a battle wound, waving it around to everyone who would look. "I haven't been alone. I wasn't happy that you'd left without saying anything, but I can understand why you thought I might need space. Please just try and communicate things to me from now on". 

"Yeah, I'll work on that," He replied, scratching the back of his head. "Anything else you want to speak about before I send your bratty ass to bed?".

Missy narrowed her eyes, pushing herself up from the ground and crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm not a child you can just send to bed". 

Levi chuckled, standing up beside her and lifting a hand to graze the scratch on her cheek. "You aren't a child, but you are outside after curfew". 

Missy scrunched her nose up at the feel of his fingers tracing the tender scratch. "You told me to meet you here, I'll remind you". 

"Yeah, and now I'm telling you to get inside and put yourself and your attitude to bed," He replied, retracting his hand from her face and striding past her. "Unless you'd like to sit and polish teacups for the next few hours?".

She turned on her heel immediately, following him back towards the old, stone castle.