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

          "How does that feel?" Levi asked, straightening up and crossing his arms over his chest.

Missy shifted her weight onto one of her legs slowly, and then the other, testing the new ODM gear Levi had insisted on helping her into. "It feels a lot better".

Levi gave a small nod before glancing over to her old gear which now lay in a heap on the grassy floor beside them, just outside their shared tent. "I'm keeping your old gear for evidence".

Missy pursed her lips, also glancing toward the pile of tampered straps that lay on the floor. "Are you certain about this? About someone purposefully tampering with my gear?".

Levi sighed, leaning down to snatch the broken gear from the floor and shoving it towards her. "I've worked in the Scouts long enough to know when something's been cut with a blade, Artemis. Those alterations are purposeful. Unless you think a Titan managed to cut your straps and sew them back together wrong?".

Missy fought back a glare. "No, of course I don't think that".

"Good, because if you've come across a Titan who can sew and you haven't mentioned anything, Hange will have your head".

Missy let out an amused scoff, silently agreeing that the Section Commander would indeed berate her for withholding such information from them.

"Don't stress about it," Levi added, turning his body away from her to walk away. "You're safe right now. I don't believe any of the people in our squad or Zero's would intentionally hurt you".

Missy narrowed her eyes, turning to scan across the scattered group of scouts packing away their things before she finally spotted the familiar mess of brown hair. "What about Apollo?".

Levi paused, looking back at her with an amused expression. "You think Apollo would tamper with your gear to try and get you killed?".

"You think he wouldn't?".

"No, Artemis, I don't think that," Levi said with an eye roll. "The brat might be a little asshole, but even he wouldn't go as far as to try and kill you. Don't be silly".

"You might be right, but that isn't sufficient evidence for me to cross him off my mental list of perpetrators," Missy grumbled, glaring holes into her brothers back from afar.

Levi stared at her momentarily, before shaking his head and walking off. "Get sorted, brat. We're leaving in 10".

Missy spent the following 10 minutes packing away her belongings and tacking up her horse. Once comfortably seated on his saddle, she gently dug her heel into his side to coax him to move towards the rest of her squad.

"You okay, Missy?" Gunther asked, noticing her approach out of the corner of his eye. "Head feeling okay?".

"I feel fine," Missy replied with a soft smile. "It'll take more than a bump on the head to keep me down".

"Bump on the head? You practically dropped on your skull." Eld responded with a wince at the memory of last night's incident.

"Are you guys forgetting she's a Rhydduch? She's practically made of steel," Oluo snorted.

Missy stayed quiet as her squad continued to converse about her unique genetic makeup. She never used to mind when people spoke about her differences from a normal human being, but hearing it now stirred something within her she hadn't felt before. Was it irritation? Anger? Even resentment? She was hyper-aware that it was this unique DNA of hers that had landed her into an arranged marriage with her Captain. It was because of this that she would be forced to bear a child so young. She hadn't been thinking about her and Levi's situation much since they left the walls, but the topic of her power given to her by the goddess Ymir had seemed to bring it all rushing back.

"With the amount of talking I'm hearing, I expect that you're all ready to go".

The sound of Levi's voice pulled her from her thoughts, and she looked up to see the Captain beside her on his horse, his stone-grey eyes flickering between his squad members.

"Sure are, Cap," Gunther responded, as the others nodded their agreement.

Missy was happy to be riding away from their camp. She glanced back as the group of scouts started galloping away, her eyes landing on the exact tree she had missed with her ODM gear. She could have died. It was scary at the time, but thinking about it afterward sent shivers down Missy's spine. She had never been so close to a Titan before. She could still feel its hot breath on her skin.

The ride back down the mountains was smoother than going up. Missy hissed in a breath as the cold air bit at her cheeks, wisps of brown baby hairs dancing around her ears and forehead in the breeze. The sky was clear and blue, but the air was chilled. However Missy noticed that it became warmer the further down the mountain they got.

"What is that?".

Missy turned her head to see Apollo looking out upon the endless fields of green below them. She followed his gaze and squinted into the distance. She could just about make out a cluster of small houses that looked a lot more like tiny dots from where she sat upon her horse.

"I don't know," Zero responded, sending a wary look toward Levi. "Wanna check it out, Cap?".

Levi was silent for a moment, probably weighing up their options. They were too far to see, but there could be Titans over there. Usually, he wouldn't have minded, but the two Titans they encountered yesterday were not your average Titans. Missy was almost certain they were a new type of abnormal. No Titan is that silent.

"We can check it out," Levi finally replied, "But be on alert. We have no idea what we will find over there".

As they got closer to the cluster of houses, Missy realized that it wasn't just a few buildings sloshed together, probably crumbling from the decades of vacancy, but a little village.

"A village?" Missy whispered to herself, but Levi was close enough to hear her quiet questioning.

"Looks like it. More proof that life outside of the walls once existed," He muttered, speeding his horse along a few paces so that he was in front of her. "Remember what I said. Stay alert".

"Yes, sir," Missy nodded.

Surprisingly, the little village didn't seem to be crumbling and destroyed like Missy had initially thought. Abandoned, yes, but the buildings all seemed to be intact. Red-brick houses littered the cobbled streets, overgrown front gardens spilled over fences and crept through cracks in the floor. A few of the houses were covered in ivy, and Missy thought it was quite pretty.

"No one seems to be here," Zero announced. "Should we keep moving?".

"No," Levi replied. "We'll look around. These houses barely look touched, so there could be something of use around here".

"Of use?" Missy questioned, but Levi was already getting off his horse and tying the reins to one of the chipped, wooden fences.

"Anything to give us new insight into life outside of the walls," Gunther replied, sending her a small smile, "There might be something here to help us learn more about Titans".

With that said, Missy dismounted her own horse and tied his reins up next to Levi's. She took a moment to stand in the center of the cobbled village square and look around at her surroundings. It was hard to believe people once lived here. A blossoming village that would have once been so full of life, brought to its knees by the threads of time. It also seemed strange that the village seemed to have been abandoned instead of being attacked. Everything still stood, slightly overgrown, but in one piece.

As the rest of the group dispersed to investigate the area, Missy found her feet moving too. She approached the first home, a sweet-looking brick house with a red front door. She placed her hands on the chipped, crimson paint and pushed, the door creaking open. She took a small step inside and immediately was met with a musty, old-ish smell. She frowned, looking around at the wide entrance way, covered in a thick layer of dust. She took a deep breath, almost choking it back out as the musty smell breached her lungs, and stepped further into the abandoned home. The sitting room was decorated with cream-colored walls and a light, wooden floor. A chocolate-colored leather sofa sat situated in the middle. An old, wooden side-board caught Missy's eye and she stepped towards it, finding it littered with things she didn't recognize. Dusty, golden frames held paintings of people she guessed must have lived here, although each one was so thick with dust that she couldn't make out any faces. She ran her fingers over a large item in the center of the cabinet, pushing up a layer of dust as she did. It looked to be a large box with some kind of horn on the top. A black disc was placed on top of the box, and a few buttons were found beside it. Missy raised an eyebrow, scrunching her nose up in confusion as she investigated the sides of the box. She saw nothing else. She lifted her index finger to one of the buttons and pushed down, jumping backward as the disc began to spin. A scratchy sound began to play from the device, and Missy scrambled to push the button to stop it again but the sound only began playing louder.

"Stop, stop, stop," Missy whispered, frantically trying to turn the thing off.

After a few seconds, something like music began playing from the horn, and Missy's eyes widened.

"Music?" She mumbled, still pressing the buttons on the device in hopes it'd stop.

The last thing she wanted to do was attract Titans here.

Finally, the device went silent, and Missy let out a relieved exhale. Along with its silence came a strange crackling noise that reverberated through the house. Almost like something shutting down. She had no idea what the hell that thing was, or how it played music like that, but she didn't attempt to investigate further. Instead, she backed out of the sitting room and ascended the old, wooden stairs to the second floor. A bedroom, a bathroom, a closet. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to reside up there until Missy reached the last room at the very end of the corridor.

She pushed the door open, stepping inside to what she immediately recognized as a child's room. Not just a child, but an infant. A wooden cot sat in the center of the room, baby pink wallpaper curling from the corners of the four walls. Missy blinked, taking in all the small, dust-covered decorations. More picture frames, a lampshade in the shape of a cloud, baby toys.

She walked towards the cot, running her index finger along the wooden bar. She rubbed her thumb and index finger together, watching the thick dust fall from her skin. A mobile was hanging above the small bed, much more detailed and well-designed than the carved wooden ones you would find within the walls. She studied it carefully, blue eyes sparkling with awe as she reached out to a hanging thread. She pulled it carefully, gasping quietly as a soft melody started playing from the toy. She dropped her arm back to her side, listening to the sweet tune, her eyes fixed on the string that disappeared further into the toy until it fell completely silent. She pulled the string again, the same tune emitting from the mobile as before.

"A little girl".

Missy swiveled around to see Levi leaning against the door frame, one hand crossed over his chest and the other holding a frame.

"What?".

Levi pushed himself from the door frame and walked towards her, showing her the picture in his hands. Missy took it from him, noticing a family of three staring back up at her.

A mother. A father. A baby girl.

"A baby girl," She repeated, the words barely audible from her lips. "This was her room".

"Turn it around," Levi ordered, but his tone lacked the usual bite.

Missy did as he said, turning the frame around to find some writing on the back in black ink.

"Mama, Papa, and baby Isabelle," She read, sliding her hand over the aged ink before looking back up at Levi. "What a beautiful name".

She was quick to notice the shift in emotion within his dark, grey eyes. She would make a mental note to ask about that later. 

"Do you think this family got out of here safely?" She asked, turning the picture back over to look at baby Isabelle.

Her blonde hair was scooped up into tiny blonde pigtails, and her eyes sparkled with joy as she clutched to her father's shirt.

"This village looks like it's been abandoned for over a hundred years, Artemis".

Her eyes shot up at that. "A hundred? But how is everything in such perfect condition?".

Levi shrugged, looking around the small nursery. "Beats me. Doesn't even look as if this place has ever even seen a Titan".

"But," Missy started, clutching the small picture frame to her chest, "Do you think they left for a good reason? Do you think baby Isabelle lived to be old and grey, and have children of her own?".

Levi observed the girl before him silently, before reaching out a steady hand to tuck some dark brown baby hairs behind her ear. "I'm sure baby Isabelle lived a full, happy life, wherever she ran off to".

Missy nodded, lifting her gaze to look at him. Levi's hand lingered at the side of her face for a few seconds more, before his features hardened and he pulled back, turning around to exit the nursery.

"Come on, we've got work to do, brat".

Half an hour later, Missy found herself elbow-deep in papers and documents. Levi had ordered for her and Gunther to go through the contents of an office a few houses down. So far, the only thing she had been able to find was receipts and money-related files.

"It doesn't help that I can't read very well," Gunther sighed, chucking yet another file towards her. "I feel kinda useless right now".

"It's okay, there's not much here anyway," Missy sighed, plopping herself down on the office chair as she waved a piece of paper in the air. "Unless this guy's shopping list is going to be any help to the cause?".

Gunther snorted, pulling another drawer from the filing cabinet. "Unless he's cooking up a recipe for anti-Titan repellent then I don't believe so".

It was Missy's turn to snort this time. She stood from the chair, peering out of the grime-stained window to check that the Scouts on look-out were still outside.

"All clear?" Gunther asked from the opposite side of the room.

"All clear," Missy confirmed. "Don't you think it's crazy how the Titans have left this place alone?".

"Yeah, it is pretty nuts," He replied. "I wonder what happened here all those years ago".

"I just hope everyone made it out alive and safe," Missy frowned, her mind drifting back to baby Isabelle.

A creak above them pulled Missy out of her thoughts, her eyes darting to the ceiling as both her and Gunther's movements stilled.

"What-".

"Shh!" Gunther hushed her, putting his finger to his lips as he stood up from his seat slowly, placing the pile of papers down on the desk.

Missy's heartbeat sped up, parting her lips as she kept her eyes glued to the ceiling above her. They were on the second floor of the home. There was nothing above them but an attic and roof. If one of the Scouts had been walking on the roof then the sound would not have been so crisp.

Someone was in the attic.

An attic that was sealed off, as far as Missy was aware.

Another creak. Missy's eyes flickered to Gunther. He stood still, on the opposite side of the room.

Another creak. This time louder.

All the pair could do was stand in still silence, staring between each other and the ceiling above them. After the last creak, the house fell silent. Even still, Gunther left it several minutes before he opened his mouth to speak.

"Must've just been the pipes. It's an old house, after all".

Missy nodded, her body relaxing slightly at his words. She leaned against the window pane, lifting a hand to wipe her brow.

Before either of them had time to think or process what was happening, a loud groan echoed throughout the house, the entire ceiling of the office falling inwards. Missy let out a yelp, clutching the window pane as dust and debris filled the room, separating Gunther from her.

She covered her mouth and nose to protect her lungs from the uproar of a hundred-year-old debris, her vision blinded by the dust filling the air around her. She didn't move from her spot, wanting to wait until the air cleared so she could assess the situation.

But when the air began to clear, she soon realized that it was no longer just her and Gunther in the small office. Less than 30cm from her face was pale, scaly skin. She sucked in a breath, wanting to do nothing more than scream. She could just about see Gunther a few feet away from her, his back against the wall as he stared up at the creature with fear-filled eyes.

It was a Titan. But this wasn't like any Titan Missy had ever seen before. Its skin wasn't smooth like a human's, but rough and scaled, although still pale in complexion. It was around 8ft, but although it was on the smaller side, Missy had never feared a Titan the way she feared this one. It had crashed through the ceiling and landed on all fours, clawed hands digging into the floor beneath it, splintering the hardwood.

Missy's body was frozen against the window, unable to move even if she wanted to. She watched in horror as the beast's head slowly spun around 180 degrees, now facing in her direction. The color drained from her face. This Titan was definitely nothing like the others. Where it should have had two piercing eyes, there was nothing there but scaled flesh. Its mouth was wide and thin, full of razor-sharp teeth and a tongue that flicked in and out like a lizard.

Missy didn't think she could have conjured up something that terrifying even in her nightmares.

The beast slowly swiveled its head around again to face a different direction, as if it was listening out. That's when it struck her. This thing relied on its hearing to sense its prey. It was blind. Her body suddenly felt like lead as she realized that if either she or Gunther made even the slightest movement, the Titan would know exactly where they were.

Gunther seemed to realize this too, as he gave Missy a pleading look which she understood meant she needed to stay as still as possible. She held in a gasp as the Titan shot its head in her direction, reacting to the whirring of ODM gear against the window at her back. It opened its mouth wider, a crackling sound escaping its throat. Missy was too afraid to look behind her to see who had appeared at the window, her blue eyes wide as she stared straight at the beast.

She felt the window shift behind her, and a cool breeze against her bare arms. Her eyes flickered quickly to the side, seeing Levi's face centimeters from hers.

His lips ghosted the shell of her ear, his words barely audible. "Do not move".

Missy nodded as he laid a gentle, soothing hand on her shoulder. Levi turned to look further into the room, seeing Gunther standing a few meters away. Gunther locked eyes with him, and Levi was suddenly faced with probably the cruelest decision he would ever have to make in his life.

He and Gunther stared at each other for a minute, reading each other's thoughts through emotion-filled eyes. Gunther swallowed thickly, sending his Captain a firm nod.

Only one of them was getting out of that room alive today, and Gunther knew it wouldn't be him.

Missy was still staring at the beast in front of her, unaware of the silent discussion going on between the two friends beside her. Her eyes followed every movement the Titan made, every breath it took, and every slow, 360 spin of its neck as it listened intently to its surroundings.

Levi had no idea what he would find in that office when he heard the almighty crash that had sent him soaring up to the window. Least of all had he expected to see his future wife, and one of his closest friends, pinned to the walls with a beast like that between them. It was something carved from the pits of hell, Levi decided. He knew as soon as he tried to get one of them out of there, the Titan would hear the movement and strike. He didn't have time to get them both to safety and attacking it in such an enclosed space could risk all three of them getting torn to shreds.

He leaned in close to Missy's ear again. "Slow movements, climb out of this window".

Missy's eyebrows rose, yet her body didn't move a muscle. There was no way she would be able to climb out of that small window with her bulky ODM gear and not alert the Titan of her whereabouts.

"Artemis. Move".

The curse flowing through Missy's veins lit like a blazing fire, and she turned her body slowly towards the window. She cast her eyes to Gunther who had relaxed slightly against the wall, his head leaning against the hard surface facing her. He gave her a small smile, and Missy suddenly felt her stomach drop. She turned to give Levi a silent look, asking what the hell was going on. Levi's jaw was clenched as he reached out to grasp her elbow, aiding her escape out of the window. She moved slowly and carefully. It was fine. If she could get out of the window without making a noise, they could go back for Gunther. It would be fine.

That was until the tank of her ODM gear collided with the window pane as she had one leg out of the window. Levi's eyes widened as the beast shot up from its crouched position. He no longer cared about silent movements, the damage had already been done. Missy let out a scream as he pulled her out of the window, but it was drowned out by the ear-shattering roar of the Titan, followed by the crashing sounds of the office being torn to shreds. Missy clung to Levi as he used his ODM gear to lower them to the ground. He barked at the rest of the Scouts to get up there and kill that thing.

Levi attempted to pull away from Missy and follow them back up to the chaos ensuing in the home above them, but Missy clutched to him tightly.

"Artemis?".

"Please," She begged, her eyes brimming with tears. "Don't go back up there".

Levi stared at her for a moment, his heart battering against his rib cage. He swallowed the lump in his throat before wrapping his arm around her and pulling her into his chest. Missy dug her face into his shirt and stood there silently until the noise finally faded to silence.

The Scouts left the house, coated in blood and dust. Zero collapsed on the grass beside Missy and Levi, his head in his hands as he tried to gain control of his breathing. "What the fuck was that?".

"I've never seen anything like that in my life".

"Surely it wasn't a Titan?".

As the small conversation broke out between Zero's squad, Eld and Oluo approached the pair still stood wrapped around each other.

Missy pulled back from Levi's chest to study the looks on their faces. Grief. Despair. Sadness. Missy suddenly felt like she wanted to empty her stomach onto the grass.

So she did. She pulled away from Levi and heaved up her rations from that morning straight onto the grass beneath her. She felt a hand on her back, rubbing gently to soothe her.

Gunther was dead. That beast had most likely ripped him into ribbons the moment her ODM gear had collided with the window pane. He knew, as well. That look on his face. He knew he wasn't leaving that office. Missy heaved again as she remembered the soft, accepting smile he had given her before her messy, clumsy mistake had cost him his last breath.