Hanji's POV

I want to kill him. It has been decided. I'll kill him. He had me sit in front of their queen, and she immediately stood up. "What happened to her?! Captain Levi-."

"She headbutted me, and I had to defend myself." I feel like he was waiting for an excuse to lay his hands on me. "It'll heal. It's not going to leave a scar on her. She's here, isn't she?"

The queen sat back, sighing. "Fine. Just... leave us."

The Ackerman left without a second word but did glare at me. I want to have the strength to slightly pounce at him, but I couldn't muster the strength to do so. Defeated, I looked back down at my chained hands, accepting that I'll just be another prisoner to them.

"I'm sorry for his... behavior. He's a bit... twitchy?"

"Twitchy? Who was the little puppy's master?" My comments didn't seem... effective anymore. That Ackerman truly drained me of my strength for today.

"If you're referring to who he used to work under, it was under Commander Erwin Smith of the Survey Corps. He died when the Survey Corps tried to retake Shinganshina. Perhaps you're familiar with it?" The queen's eyes turned solid blue as she talks about the event that was marked as a defeat for our side. "The Beast Titan had killed the majority of the Survey Corps. Our former friends turned against us. I could tell stories of your comrades, but unfortunately, I cannot tell if they were true or not. Probably a white lie?"

"What do you want from me?"

"I want to know who you are. We have been nothing but honest. We can start with your name. It's easier to refer to you by something rather than... vague words."

"How would you know if I'm telling the truth?"

"I would like to believe your words- to believe you. But we have our ways to get the truth. We have dealt with lies, not only from Marley but from our people. It'll be best for you to tell the truth."

"So if I tell the truth, my crewmates will not be harmed?"

"If you cooperate, then no one would be harmed. But if they act out against it, then the punishment will be enforced. Understand? We won't hurt them as long as you cooperate with us. We just ask for cooperation."

"How do I know you'll hold up to your word?"

"Then you can have my head on a plate and present me to the Marleyans." She says coldly, and I couldn't tell if she was joking or telling the joke. It... terrified me. Just a bit. "Can we be honest with each other?"

"I will if you are."

"Then it's a deal. I'll be honest, and you'll be honest." She cleared her throat, "I'm Historia Reiss. Though my name would be different when Reiner has mentioned me. I would've been Krista Lenz." I do remember him mentioning her. He wanted to take her. Does he have expensive tastes- a queen? "And you? What's your name?"

"Hanji Zoe." I scowled, mentioning my name. If it means the safety and hopefully figuring out a way to destroy them from the inside, I'll take it.

The queen smiled, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hanji."

She continued to ask questions, and I answered them briskly and vaguely. At first, she answered with details. After realizing that I wasn't answering as well as her, she began to shorten her answers. 

We had breakfast, and I was surprised by how little they had. Even the queen didn't have an abundance of food. A few eggs and freshly baked bread. On the side seemed to be a small bowl of potato stew. No meat in sight.

"Not to your liking?"

"I'm sure you don't eat like this every night."

"I rather eat the food that I was grown to like. I like sugary foods, but not everyone has them. I rather give them to the children who crave them."

"And you think you're so kind and generous."

"I wouldn't want to view myself that way, but I do care for others. To those that have nothing or something that they could never have."

"What do you mean?"

The queen cleared her throat, starting to eat her breakfast. "I rather not discuss that at this very moment."

"I thought we agreed to not hide anything from each other."

"We agreed to be honest. And I'm honest to say that I do not want to discuss it at that very moment. I will discuss it at a later date."

"And when is that?"

She clinks her utensils against the ceramic plates as she looked at me. "That depends on how well you want to cooperate."

"I am cooperating, aren't I?"

"You're holding back. Not everything is being set on the table. Friendships are hard to create, and I understand. But I want us to be allies and friends."

"So while the world is spinning into chaos, you want to play allies?" I chuckled, shaking my head. "That's insane- even for me to hear. Marley is busy building up armies against other countries in a similar fashion. And you want to play friends."

"We want information, and you want information. That's the only reason you're here. That's why you're complying with us. Information. We agreed to be honest with each other, and I intend on keeping that. As you can see, we have trouble trusting some certain people."

I wanted to say something, but I remember who I was dealing with- someone from the 104th Cadet Corps... the same one that Annie, Bertholdt, and Reiner dealt with. They won't take too kindly for an outsider to ask for information. 

"Please, eat. I wouldn't want you to starve."

"How do I know you didn't poison it?"

"Would you like to swap plates then? As you can see, I already ate a part of it."

Is she smart enough to have some poisonous food on her plate and waited for me to swap? Or is my plate contaminated with poison? Either those two, otherwise they are telling the truth. 

I stared at her, sighing. I would be a martyr for doing this.

I ate my breakfast in front of her as we remained in silence. Our plates were bare, and it seems that nothing was wrong with me. The queen smiled, getting up from her place. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hanji Zoe. If you don't mind, I'll tell the captain your name. I'm getting tired of his nicknames for you."

"What are they?"

"I'll give you one guess, Hanji." She walks out of the room and Levi entered. 

He grabbed me by my arm, tugging me to my feet. "That's the best you have it until dinner."

"I meet with the queen again?"

"Someone different." His eyes narrowed as he escorted me back up. 

They didn't bother to cover my eyes with blindfolds, so they were confident that I wouldn't memorize the way out. But they're trusting me to follow the rules... what am I supposed to do...? The second I entered the room, the Ackerman uncuffed me from my chains. 

"You'll get your lunch in a few hours."

"And what am I supposed to do?"

"What do you want to do in your free time?"

I rolled my eyes, "Something to occupy my mind. I'll go crazy if I'm in here without anything to do."

The Ackerman sighed, "I'll figure something out," he says before locking the door. I doubt he would come back with something. Yet he proved me wrong. Half an hour later, he returned to me with a thick book. "I rather have that book back in one piece." Those were his last words before he left me alone in that room.

Examining the book, I saw that it was a genuine old book. The leathery pages and stained pages. Surprisingly, I could read this. The title was, 'From Moonlight Drop' and I opened the first page, and read it aloud.

"Fallen from the Heavens and onto the ground to sprout a garden full of life within the realm of shadows. Only a few could see this garden of life as it only shows itself once under a full moon."

I smiled, continuing to read through the pages. And I thought Marley only had the best books.