Severino's eyes watered when he felt the weapon smash and crush his ribs to a thousand pieces. He thought being shot at the side was bad enough but boy he was wrong.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. I'm done for! He exclaimed in his mind as his vision turned into the night sky. His eyes were fading in and out into a vignette. All he could hear was voices. All he could feel was the sharp pain and the grass underneath him. Scared, he felt the urge to dig deep down into the soil and hide there until he decayed there.

He heard Jean's voice. In response, he just begged Jean to take him out of the place.

Damn it! He thought as his consciousness slipped him away from the nightmare of a reality that he lives and exists in.

—

The foliage of trees were an umbrella against the intense heat during that summer day. Sasha squinted her eyes, placed her hand over them to see better. Her bow was slung over her shoulder and she clutched three arrows tightly in her hand. She was tense, lost in the forest.

Her father's voice rung in her head so she made the decision to go find the highest tree and climbed it. She grunted with effort as she stretched her limbs to grab the arms of the tree. She felt sweat pouring out of her temples as she exerted herself more.

The sun seemed to be boiling her until she was turned into human jerky. She panted heavily as she neared the highest point of the tree, only to get hit by a cloud.

She screamed aloud as she plummeted down to the cliff filled with pine trees made of steel. They looked like the things they use for jousting, she noted as she panickedly looked behind her back.

Crunch.

—

Severino opened his eyes weakly to meet a beige colored ceiling. His eyes adjusted, discerning that the ceiling was made of cloth. Confused, he scrunched up his eyebrows and turned to his side. He tried rising up and hissed when he felt searing pain on his abdomen.

"You're awake." She heard a chilling and authoritative voice to her side. "Do you not know how much trouble you are in, miss?"

They know.

Sasha flinched and pulled the sheet over her body closer to her chest. She felt naked. Metaphorically. Her identity has been uncovered. No one will respect her anymore like they did with Severino. Her father was right. She should not have impersonated a man and joined the squires.

Her thoughts jumbled and crumbled. Her eyes watered in fear. Her lips trembled. She was done for.

"Y-Yes, Sir." She shakily replied, her eyes fixed to the canvas. "But I can explain, I just wanted to help—" She rushed for words.

"Enough of this." The voice boomed and she looked to the side to see one of the respectable knights, Keith Shadis. "This is a shame. This is a sin. Take your things and leave now."

Her lip quivered and she bit back a sob. "Yes, Sir." She replied firmly. She propped herself up with an elbow, still covering her upper body. She winced at the pain but she rose, like a gallant knight would.

She froze when she saw more knights other than Sir Shadis. All of them looked disappointed and bitter. Even Sir Erwin's eyes looked dark and cold. Sasha nodded curtly before limping her way out of the tent.

The sun blinded her. She used her honey colored arm to shield her eyes from the harsh light that Sol generously poured into a bowl that settled on the sky.

Her pale lips looked like bronze in the sunlight and she looked like the perfect sight, like an Amazon about to strike a pose, however, she was at the wrong place and at the wrong place and according to society, she is wrong.

"Severino," Sasha heard Connie's voice but this one sounded meek and sadly distant. "Or whoever you are."

Or whoever you are. Sasha felt like an invisible hand squeezed her heart into chunks of flesh and blood. Connie, her dear friend, does not know her anymore.

She turned to Connie with mourning eyes. "Hey, Connie." She spoke in her own voice. She spoke as Sasha, for the first time in years. She felt free to be in her own skin once again but it felt strange yet inviting, like the hearth.

Yellow and slightly celadon eyes pierced through her caramel ones with an intensity of a volcanic eruption. There was so much emotion involved that nothing mattered anymore except matter.

She was aware that there were people around them, staring, eagerly waiting to see what happens like the audience in the Colloseum.

"It's Sasha." She winced as she forced herself to grin. Connie seemed to not register what she said. His eyes were just fixed to hers. He was confused and she understood that. She knew deep down that somehow, someday, someone will find out about who she really is.

She smiled shakily as she clutched her side with her palm, "I'll see you later, Connie. Stay alive." She wished as she took a couple more steps, walking away from their conversation.

She felt eyes on her, making her look down to the ground. With an arm on her side, she walked out of camp and just like that, Severino Blouse did not exist anymore.

She didn't feel any shame, or did she? She felt proud and ashamed at the same time. It was a strange feeling.

She took a step after the other, enduring the pain, imagining the warmth of her home. She missed it.

•••

"Damn, that was crazy."

"Yeah, how the hell was a lady amongst our ranks? She literally was with is for fucking years! Can you fucking believe that?"

Numerous conversations overlapped over the other as the crackle of the fire that pop that firewood continued on.

The moon rose high to the West. Sounds of the night took the stage to play their serenades. The boys who were close to Severino were gathered in a circle like King Arthur and his Knights. They were namely: Connie, Jean, Eren, Armin, Reiner, Bertholdt, Anthony, Levi, Marco, and Floch. Levi never really sat with them before but due to what happened, he thought it was appropriate to sit with them. They were the only ones who didn't seem to like what happened. It all sent the group to deep thinking but Levi was the one filled with so much questions.

She...she probably did it because she wanted to help. Pop. There's nothing wrong with that, right? Crackle. I mean she did it for a good cause. Sizzle. Then why did she get punished? What? What's going on? Society? Gender? What? The fire laughed. Where did she do wrong? Nothing. This society is wrong.

Laughter and cheer was around the group. It was dinner time, it seems but none of them has touched their food.

Eren's eyes seemed to look like melted jade in the firelight. Armin's looked like liquified sapphire, Connie's looked like oozing amber. Bertholdt, Floch and Marco's eyes looked like rich, dark chocolate. Anthony's eyes was a sea of blue fire, Jean's eyes looked like the buds of early spring, Reiner's eyes were orange sun rays and Levi's eyes looked like the dark side of the moon.

"You know what," Eren tried to break the ice to his comrades. "We ought to eat or else we get no energy for future battles ahead." With what he said, a memory of a raven haired girl that he loved dearly flashed in his mind and made him smile a little.

Armin nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we should eat."

Jean leaned closer to Eren, his elbows on his knees and his fingers laced to each other. "Hmmm, why'd you smile like that? You thinking about something weird asshole?"

"Hah? What do you mean?" Eren retorted, standing abruptly which caused Jean to stumble backwards.

"Guys, quit it." Reiner interrupted.

Connie sighed, crossed his arms and looked up to the sky. Levi had a feeling Connie was trying to mask tears. "It's just the usual, Reiner. Leave 'em be. It's also kind of a waste that Severino—no, Sasha, can't see them fight."

There was a faint and near nostalgia that lingered after his statement. It seemed to settle Eren and Jean's dispute, maybe only temporarily.

Marco took his own share of his rations, "Let's eat. Like Eren said."

The boys nodded in agreement and ate their dinner with a twinge of longing for their comrade who left.

•••

So only men can fight and women stay at home and do "womanly things"? That's primitive. Annie thought. It never crossed her mind that she'll have to crossdress for a mission. She found it amusing to dress up as a man and conceal her femininity. Well, according to society, she wasn't that feminine to begin with.

She was alarmed when one of the squires turned out to be female. Is it just her now or are there more out there?

Reluctance overcame her when her nation of Marley ordered her to work in Eldia in an infiltration mission. She didn't want to go there, that was was the literal island of demons for their King slaughtered his family in order to acquire unimaginable power. What that power is still remains unknown to the Eldian people and the Marleyans. That is why their mission took place.

Whatever the Eldian King was doing, it's not good at all.

•••

Levi sat on a tree stump that he has conveniently found in front of Erwin's tent. He whistled a tune but stopped when he remembered different superstitious of what could happen if one whistle's at night.

In the quietness, he was able to hear bits of Erwin's conversations with another knight, Mike Zacharias.

"...they don't seem to be from here, Erwin. They probably come from there."

"I see. Keep a close eye on them, Mike. I trust you on that."

"Anytime, Erwin."

The conversation between Mike and Erwin ceased. A disfigurement of the tent formed as Mike pushed through the canvas in order to exit.

"Hello, Levi. Didn't see you there." Mike remarked and it somewhat ticked Levi because people used the phrase too much to insult him regarding his stature.

"Hi, Sir Mike." Levi nodder in greeting.

Mike waved goodbye and walked away.

Levi stood up from the stump as soon as he could not see the outline of Mike's back anymore.

He walked up to Erwin's tent, "Sir Erwin." He informed before he went in.

"Ah, Levi!" He hewrd Erwin, "Come in, come in, make yourself feel at home."

You already make me feel at home. He thought as he entered the knight's tent.

Erwin was fiddling with an astrolabe. It was suspended by his left hand as he studied it closely. "I haven't seen you in a while, Levi." He said, his eyes fixed on the etchings of the metal on the astrolabe. "I also heard about your toe. Do you feel better now?"

Heat rushed to his face upon hearing Erwin's concern for his own wellbeing. "Yes, Sir. It's been taken care of in the infirmary."

"Good."

There was silence between them. It pit a distance between them that they didn’t have when they where painting the line stool in Erwin's manor.

He wanted to continue their conversations on but Erwin's fixation on the astrolabe was fascinating enough but Levi wanted to hear his voice more.

"I assume that astrolabe is yours?" Levi asked as he sat down on a chair behind Erwin.

Though Levi did not see it,, Erwin's eyes looked sad. "It was my wife's."

"Oh. You never really told me about that." Levi blurted out.

"It is best if we do not speak about this."

"Okay."