A Devil in Paradise

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Chapter 2 (Annie, The Cold Girl) is already available for Patrons.

"Next," A voice shouted that belonged to a middle age man. In front of him stood a long line of new recruits for the training corps. The man had worked this job for over a decade now, but never before had he seen a longer line than this one.

He figured the appearance of the Colossal Titan two years ago had convinced more people to try their luck in becoming part of the military, whatever that was, to fight the Titans or simply hide behind the walls that weren't the safe haven it once was.

Poor fools, the man thought, seeing many kids chatting and smiling with each other. No one knew when the Colossal Titan would strike again, but many people knew for certain that day would one day come, and the smiling faces would turn to tears of horror and despair.

As soon as he said, 'Next,' a young guy walked up in front of him, holding a barrel bag over his shoulder, wearing a brown coat with a dark shirt under it. A pair of dark-brown boots, his pants looked a bit used, a pale blue color, his face was long and sharp, his nose was medium size, just above his right eyebrow was a small cut made by a sharp weapon, the man working noticed a holster on his waist, but instead of being a holster for a gun, it was a holster for a knife. From the shape, he could tell it was a bowie knife with a handle made of wood covered in oil. His eyes were an interesting dark violet, which he found pretty surprising; he had seen all kinds of eye colors on people, green, brown, scarlet, and even lavender, but this one was a first for him. His hair was dark like a crow, average height but a bit shorter than the others.

"What's your name, where are you from, and everything else, recruit?" The man asked, opening a large notebook on his desk.

"Jaime, from Wall Sina, and I'm thirteen years old," the one identified as Jaime replied; hearing he was from Wall Sina caused many behind Jaime to glare at him, some amazed and some simply not caring. Jaime didn't really mind them; he knew the reputation of those from Wall Sina, and he might have done the same if the roles were reversed. The man working there found the letter 'J' on the notebook and wrote his name down; he noted no last name but didn't ask for it, it wasn't really necessary.

Writing his name, he grabbed another book from his shelves; opening to page four, he found an empty column for him to write at the end of the page, sliding the book to him and giving him a pencil.

"Anyone who arrives here with weapons of their own need to write their names on this book," the man working there said to the boy, who nodded before writing his name down.

Giving the book back to the man, the worker closed it before putting it back on the shelf, turning to look at the kid.

"I'm obligated to inform the Instructor of your knife, but as long as we don't find that knife at the back of someone's skull, we are good," he informed him; his words caused some to flinch at the thought. The man signed a few letters more before putting the sign of the training corps on top of it.

Handing it to Jaime, who grabbed them and putting them in his bag. "Leave your bag in the cabin on the right side of the watchtower. That's where's boy's domain is, but I wouldn't rush to unpack. Many tend to fall off the first day," the man warned him, pointing in the direction he needed to go.

"Thank you, sir," Jaime replied with a smile as the man simply signaled for him to walk away and let the others continue.

"Next," Jaime heard the man shout as he walked away, his eyes taking on the scenery in front of him, the sun kissing his skin; despite not being the first time, he enjoyed the feeling of the sunlight on his skin as if it was the first time all over again.

People were walking around him, many talking with each other, all smiling, perhaps talking about what they would become. Jaime smiled, relaxing, he found the place not as clean as he had expected it to be, but that could easily be changed with a few brooms and a hundred buckets of water.

Jaime took a deep breath; the aroma in the air reminded him of the first time he had walked outside; the sun had almost blinded him that day. I wonder if they have lemons here? Jaime briefly wondered; there was nothing like a fresh lemon in the morning covered in salt and followed with onions.

It tasted better than any sweet he had ever tasted, which were none; he had never touched one. His mentor would always tell him to keep himself healthy, often kicking his ass if disobeyed.

Jaime was so deep in thought that he didn't seem to realize that he had already arrived at the boy's domain.

A nudge on the shoulder made him escape his thoughts, looking over his shoulder to be met with a boy around his age.

"Are you going to open the door or daydream?" He questioned; Jaime rubbed his neck in embarrassment before opening the door, the door letting out an annoying metallic sound as it opened.

Damn, this door is almost falling off!? Jaime wondered, noticing the hinge of the door was almost falling off, the iron all rusted; he wondered what exactly was keeping the door standing before walking inside.

Finding an empty bed, he noticed the room was filled with other boys, not that it bothered him much, not the first time he had slept in a room full of other people that he mostly didn't recognize; giving away the privacy was something that could be annoying at first but give it a few days, and no one would be bothered by it.

I wonder if this place has a beautiful sight at night? He wondered; he had double-checked if his tools were there; he knew he hadn't come here to make drawings, but he was sure no one would mind him doing that in his free time. And it was pretty relaxing, beaten only by singing.

He threw the bag on the center of an empty bed; the bed was a simple camp bed made of strings, a few iron rods, a pillow, and a simple mattress covering the strings underneath. Jaime hoped no one here had the habit of jumping in the bed; some sensitive and important body parts could easily get stuck between the strings, which could shut tightly like a bear trap.

Jaime winced slightly at the thought; opening his bag, he checked to see if everything was there; after checking, he decided to walk outside until everyone was gathered for the introduction.

Just as he was about to walk outside, a tap on his shoulder made him turn around; two recruits were looking at him with a hint of curiosity and interest in their eyes. Something Jaime recognized right away.

"Can I help you guys with something?" Jaime asked as he first cleared his throat; he had a broad smile and short dark hair.

"I was behind you when you gave the letters. Is it true that you live in Wall Sina?" The boy asked, and his voice was loud enough for everyone around them to hear, making many stop whatever they were doing to look at him.

Jaime suppressed the urge to facepalm; it wasn't really a big secret that people behind Wall Sina weren't exactly famous with the rest of the population, they were often seen as people who believed the sun came out of their ass, and that dislike had quickly turned to hatred when the King ordered for thousands of people to be sent to retake Wall Maria in a hopeless battle that ended up resulting in the death of a quarter of the population.

Jaime understood the reason that didn't mean he liked it. Turning his attention back to the two boys in front of him, he ignored the glares directed at him.

"Yes, Name's Jaime. What about you two?" He introduced himself, extending his hand to them.

"I am Marco Bott, from Jinae Village, in the southern wall district,"

"My name is Jean Kristein; I'm from the Trost District," both of them shake his hands. Jaime was about to ask why they tapped his shoulder when Marco spoke a bit too fast...

"How is it like living in Wall Sina?" He questioned, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Well..." Jaime wasn't sure how to answer that, he had lived the first ten years underground, and only the last four years he had actually been outside, and the majority of the time was spent training with his mentor.

"Is nice, I guess, if you know where to stay and which streets to walk, it isn't that bad, but the people there are too self-centered for my liking," Jaime explained, checking his bag as he talked.

"I spent the majority of my time with my mentor, doing small errands here and there, his team sometimes would come by, but only when he thought I was ready for more," he added, remembering a blonde woman with a ponytail.

"His team? Is he from the Military Police?" Jean questioned, his eyes ablaze at the thought of meeting someone who had direct contact with someone important from the MP.

Jaime noticed it but didn't mind it. "Well... you can say that. My mentor is the captain of a team in MP," he explained with a little shrug; it didn't really matter to him; he wasn't joining the MP anyway.

"That means you must know the MP very well?" Marco asked with a goofy smile.

Jaime mentally frowned at the mention of the useless dogs that knew nothing but bark and follow the orders of the rich people.

"Yes, I have met a few of them, not really impressive," Jaime replied, uninterested in the topic, wanting to keep the conversation about the MP as short as possible.

"How they can't be impressive?! They serve the king. There's no higher honor than that," Marco replied, a little excited. His words caused Jean to roll his eyes.

Jaime wanted to point out that they were as useless as they could get, but Marco and Jean probably just wanted an easy life in the interior, which was nothing completely normal.

"Military Police are... ahhh, Lazy sometimes; the majority don't really work." Jaime said with annoyance, almost biting his tongue, not to mention the king, he had seen the "king" a couple of times, and he looked like a dead man rather than a king.

Marco was about to say something about MP when the sound of the bell informed them it was time to gather in the courtyard for the great introduction.

Jaime was quite looking forward to this; the last time, he ended up doing push ups until he felt like all his limbs were on fire, wearing his uniform quickly, grabbing a necklace from his bag and putting it quickly in his pocket; by the time he was done, half were already there, creating several long lines of recruits.

He briefly glanced at his closed bag, hoping no one would touch his notebook of drawings.

Jaime walked outside, quickly finding a place; he straightened himself, his eyes looking at everyone there, measuring them, his eyes quickly noticed a few interesting amongst them.

"The eyes are a perfect reflection, boy. If you learn how to read them, no truth can ever be hidden from you,"

His mentor's words repeated in his head, and his eyes noticed a blonde girl, she was shorter than him which was surprising considering Jaime's height, but her eyes were cold; way too cold.

His eyes noticed Marco and Jean, they gave him a nod of acknowledgement that he quickly returned.

The field fell silent when a loud step was heard, the instructor had arrived; behind him standing two men carrying open notebooks.

Jaime arched an eyebrow; he hadn't expected this one to be their instructor.

"Everyone attention," a voice boomed in the air like thunder making all the cadets straighten up, looking forward, not daring to utter a word.

The voice belonged to a man who slowly approached the group of the new cadets. Instructor Shadis was a tall and intimidating man. He was bald, with prominent wrinkles on his forehead and dark circles around his eyes. He had a small beard growing from under his chin. He was wearing the standard instructor's uniform for the Training Corps, consisting of black boots, grey pants, a dark-grey button-up shirt, and finally, his brown jacket with the Training Corps insignia on both shoulders and over his left breast.

"Listen here, maggots, my name is Keith Shadis. You are here to be trained to become soldiers. Unfortunately for you, I'm your instructor for the next three years. I will be the one to decide if you are ready to fight the Titans or if you're only Titan Food," he shouted, his voice booming throughout the whole field.

Jaime smiled slightly; it felt like returning back in time, except his mentor would whirl his knife around, a bit too close sometimes.

"What is your name, cadet?" Shadis shouted right in front of a poor blonde kid, who seemed to shrink a bit from the loud voice.

Saluting with a shaky hand. "I'm Armin Arlert, from Shinganshina district," he introduced himself with a strong tone, as much as he could muster. His eyes finally met the eyes of his instructor, who didn't look impressed.

Someone from Shiganshina, he thought, knowing that was the first place that got hit by the Titans.

"Well, that's a Stupid name, did your idiotic parents give you that name?" He asked, leaning a bit closer; it didn't help that his figure was much taller than Armin, who paled slightly, especially his eyes with dark circles did an excellent job of scaring him.

"N-No, my grandparents did," Armin blurted out somehow, still saluting to the man who took a step backward.

"Why are you here for Cadet?" Shadis asked with an intimate tone, his face leaning closer, his eyes scaring Armin even more.

The blonde felt weak from his gaze, closing his eyes tightly.

"To become a soldier and help humanity, Sir," Armin shouted with as much conviction as he could. Shadis narrowed his eyes before releasing a huff.

"That's wonderful, cadet, but I will be the one to decide if you will help the humanity or become Titan Food. Row three, turn around," he shouted with authority.

Shadis then turned to the boy behind Armin. "Who are you, you worm?" He shouted again, seeing how he would react.

"Sir, I'm Thomas Wagner, from the district of Trost," he said in such a low tone that some wondered if The Instructor even heard him.

"Speak Louder, Maggot," Keith shouted, his face leaning closer.

"I'm Thomas Wagner-" "Fifty Push Ups right now, maybe that will teach you to speak Louder," He ordered with a gaze that made the poor blonde shrink in his place; Thomas wasted no time to start doing push-ups a bit further away but not too far since Shadis wanted to see if he could actually do it.

"Who's Next?" Shadis asked, looking at the next person who saluted, long dark hair tied into two ponytails.

"I'm Mina Carolina, from the Trost District, Sir," she said with a tone Armin thought was cute.

"You're wrong," Shadis snapped at her, his eyes making her pale slightly.

"You're pigs; you were born and raised in the pigsty," he shouted at the girl, who closed her eyes, hoping that would help ease her fear of the intimating Instructor.

"Yes, I'm worse than pigs," she shouted, nervousness seeping into her voice.

"Wrong, you're descended of pigs; now Row four, Turn Around," he ordered, his voice alone making many have second thoughts of this whole thing, especially when they remembered this would last three years.

The instructor walked around, ignoring some who had the look on their faces, a look he had seen only at people who had seen true horror, the horror that the Titans bring.

Jaime noticed that the instructor skipped several people; he made a mental note not to miss any of the people he didn't question. He noticed that he skipped the blonde-haired girl, her eyes stoic, colder than snow during winter.

A well build boy with short blonde hair.

A tall man who looked nothing unusual with short brown hair.

A tall girl with brown hair, her face with freckles.

So, there are six, Jaime thought, his eyes glancing at each one. One of them was wearing a red scarf that he found odd since the sun was scorching them.

"Who are you, you idiot?" The booming voice of the instructor made Jaime escape his thoughts; briefly glancing, he recognized him right away.

Jean! I wonder what he will say? Jaime wondered, paying attention to Jean, who saluted accordingly.

"My name is Jean Kristein; I'm from the Trost District, sir," he said with a confident smile.

Something the instructor picked up almost immediately, narrowing his eyes, wanting to initiate the boy.

"What are you here for, boy?" Shadis demanded, leaning a bit closer, his eyes making Jean a bit nervous.

"To join the military police and live in the inner district," he said confidently, not allowing himself to look weak.

"Ohh, really," Shadis said with a contemplative tone.

Taking a step closer, invading his personal space. "So you want to join the Military Police and live like a king?"

Don't say it!

"Yes, sir," Jean answered without hesitation.

God fucking dammit!! Jaime mentally cursed, shaking his head in amusement, knowing what would probably happen next.

Many thought he was a bit arrogant for stating loudly and proudly that he wanted to live inside Wall Sina.

Suddenly Shadis headbutt him hard, causing Jean to fall on his butt with a groan, holding his head with his hand, rubbing it slightly.

"Who told you, you could sit down?" Shadis shouted, looking down at Jean, making him more intimating.

"If you can't survive this, then forget joining the Military Police. Now Stand Up, you Worm," he shouted.

The instructor turned to a boy with a big stupid smile. "Who are you, you Smiling Maggot?" Shadis shouted, his eyes looking even more intimidating.

Whatever you do, Marco, don't talk about the King, Jaime thought, hoping Marco would understand that the King wasn't the most loved figure beyond Wall Sina.

"I am Marco Bott, from Jinae Village, in the southern wall district. I want to be part of the military police and serve the King with my body and soul,"

It was good knowing you, Marco!

"Oh, how noble of you," Shadis said with clear sarcasm before leaning closer, his eyes making Marco take a step back. "Except the king doesn't have any kind of use for you, except as Titan food, or maybe he could use your body in some other way. You understand, maggot?" Shadis explained with a low menacing tone; Marco gulped, sweating, before nodding his head.

Shadis turned to look at a bald dwarf. "Who are you, shorty?" He shouted at the small boy, who "saluted" before introducing himself. "My name is Connie Springer from the Ragako Village of the southern Wall Rose district, sir,"

Jaime was surprised by what he saw...Someone shorter than me! Suck it, Traute.

Now his introduction wasn't half bad, but it had one major flaw that would make every captain, commander, or in this case, instructor lose it.

Shadis suddenly grabbed Connie by his head, lifting him up, ignoring his groans of pain.

"You got it wrong, Cadet Springer; the first lesson you learned was the military salute, which represents your will to give your heart for the good of humanity," he tightened his grip on his head, making Connie groan louder in pain. "Is your stupid heart on your right side?" He shouted; everyone else had fallen silent, except one...

The sound of someone biting something reached the ears of everyone; even Jaime turned slightly to look where the sound was coming from...

A girl with brown hair was eating a potato that was still steaming; the instructor looked at her as if not believing what he was seeing, releasing Connie, who fell down on his butt.

Oh wow, either she's too brave or too hungry.

"Hey, you wretch, what are you doing?" He asked dangerously, his eyes looking crazier than before; the cadets around the girl paled, except the girl who simply glanced to her right and left, ignoring the instructor before biting the potato. Again??!!

"I'm Talking To You. Just Who The Hell Are You?" He shouted right in front of her face. The girl swallowed what was left in her mouth before saluting, still holding the potato in her hand.

"Sasha Blouse from the town of Dauper, in the southern district of Wall Rose," she introduced herself.

"Sasha Blouse, what are you holding in your hand?" He asked with a dangerously calm tone that made every nearby cadet shift uncomfortably except the girl who he was addressing.

"A boiled potato I saw in the kitchen, and I grabbed it," she answered honestly.

"You stole it!... but why are you eating it right now?" He asked; many were wondering how he was keeping it together.

"A potato tests better when it is still warm, so I put it in shelter inside my stomach," she answered as if it was the most obvious answer.

That seemed to make Shadis even more confused. "No, I still don't understand; why would you eat that potato?" He asked, somehow confused.

"Are you asking why people eat potatoes, sir? I'm surprised you don't know that, sir!" her words were met with widened eyes by almost everyone; Jaime wondered how his mentor would react to this.

Sasha then proceeded to split a third of the potato; with a conflicting look on her face, she stretched out the arm that held the smaller part.

Is she trying to bribe the instructor? Jaime thought.

"Here's half, sir," she said; now, everyone was sure that either the instructor or the girl would die.

"Half! Really?" He asked, grabbing the piece of Tomato in his hand with a puzzled look; the girl smiled, a goofy smile. At that moment, the instructor threw the potato on the ground before smashing it down with his feet.

Sasha gasped in horror as if she had just lost a loved one, but Shadis grabbed her by her collar, lifting her up in the air. "LISTEN HERE, BRAT, NOW YOU WILL START RUNNING UNTIL YOU PASS OUT, AND FROM NOW ON, YOU WILL HAVE A MEAL A DAY FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH," he shouted before roughly throwing her down.

"Yes, sir," she responded weakly with tears in her eyes before standing up and running away; everyone else thought she was lucky that she wasn't outright killed.

Jaime couldn't fathom how someone would decide to eat a potato in front of the instructor; he knew if he did something similar with his mentor, at best, he would clean bathrooms for an entire year; at worst, he would be dropped in the middle of the forest with only his pants, and a pocket knife to survive for a whole month, his thoughts interrupted when Keith Shadis decided that he was the new target.

Walking up to him in a menacing way, Jaime had to give him credit; despite his age, he was still able to fill people with fear, but still, nothing like his mentor, especially when he gave his very uncomfortable smirks, who could in one minute be acting normally, and the next he would cut your throat.

"Who are you, Worm?" Keith shouted right in front of him; Jaime backed away slightly from the bad smell. Seriously! Do these people ever wash their teeth? Jaime thought before saluting.

"Name's Jaime, from Wall Sina," he introduced himself, getting certain looks from some of the other cadets, but he simply ignored them when the instructor leaned forward with an even more dangerous look on his face as if he would punch him at any moment.

"Ohh, so you are one of those who thinks that the sun rises from their asses," he said grimly; some cadets chuckled, some giving him angry looks.

Jaime smirked, a smirk that was very unsettling to many who saw it. "You seem to be mistaken, sir; from where I Come from, the sun rarely shines," Jaime replied coldly; the instructor understood what the recruit meant as he backed away slightly while the cadets were looking at him, confused.

"Then you will be the first to run; lead the others," he shouted; Jaime simply started running without trying to protest or complain; as he eventually reached the potato girl, he noticed she was still holding the potato on her hand! He heard her murmuring various food names as she ran, from meat to sausage, potatoes, and bread, Jaime smiled in amusement; the next three years were going to be interesting.

Keith watched as no one else moved from their position. "What are you all still doing here? Run until you do ten laps around the area, you think this is a summer Home?" Keith shouted at the top of his lungs, making everyone scramble around before they started running after Jaime and the potato girl.

Later

"Damn, I thought he would kill the Potato girl," Connie commented, seeing Sasha was still running; from where they stood, with him was Marco, Eren, Jaime, and a bunch of other cadets who were able to pass the first day, which probably was the most challenging day.

"Yes, she's still running despite being five hours," Marco commented, impressed; he knew if he were in her shoes, he would have already passed out.

Jaime felt bad about her; he personally knew what it was like not to have enough food, he made a mental note to give the girl food later.

"What are they doing?" Jaime stopped when he heard one ask while pointing at who failed today, grabbing their belongings, and riding away in carriages.

"They're the ones who couldn't make it today; the ones who can't make it are sent to work on fields," Jaime replied, getting various looks from the others.

"Not everyone can be a soldier," Armin reasoned.

"That's just how it is. The powerless have no choice but to leave," Eren said, getting looks from everyone. Some do not like his words.

"Maybe, but it is thanks to them we have food. Without them, we all would have starved." Jaime reasoned, looking at the boy with green eyes, who reluctantly nodded.

"I guess you're right," he concluded.

Armin decided to step into the conversation. "You're the one from the interior right?" He asked; he remembered when the Instructor had made a comment about him being from Wall Sina. The attention was now fully turned to Jaime, who rubbed his neck, embarrassed. It seemed everyone already knew about that.

"Guilty as charged. Name's Jaime," he said, extending his hand toward the blonde.

"Armin Arlert, from Shiganshina," he introduced himself, shaking his hand.

"Eren Yeager,"

Yeager! Jaime repeated the name; he was sure he had heard that last name before but couldn't quite put the finger on it.

"Do you have a last name?" Marco asked, looking; he noticed it and wondered if there was a reason for it. Jaime shakes his head.

"Not that I know of. My mentor raised me for four years. If I have one, then I don't know it," he replied with a little shrug, is not that it mattered much to him.

"Mentor? What about your parents?" Connie questioned quickly without thinking much. Jaime flinched at the question before looking down, avoiding everyone's eyes.

Connie got a little hit in the head by Marco, who nudged towards Jaime. "I'm sorry, I didn't...

"Don't worry about it. I never knew them, and they never knew me," Jaime said, looking up at them again with a smile that everyone could tell was a fake one.

"Soo, what is that you want after the training corps?" Armin asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Ahh, I'm going to join the Survey Corps," Jaime declared with a broad smile across his face.

This immediately got the attention of everyone, especially Eren, who smiled. "I'm going to Join the Survey Corps as well; it seems we will join together,"

"Good to know, Eren. Let's work together to become great soldiers," Jaime said as they started walking away to find a seat and eat food.

"Jaime, why do you want to join the Survey Corps?" Armin questioned, knowing only a strong goal and will could make someone decide to join them.

This got the attention of the others, especially Eren, wondering what his goal was. "I want to see the whole world. That is what I want, and made drawings of every unique place," Jaime declared, with passion in his eyes and voice.

Armin and Eren thought it was a good dream. "You know how to draw?" Marco questioned with a raised eyebrow. He thought he had seen tools used to draw in Jaime's bag when they were chatting.

"Yes. I have made a drawing of every beautiful place in Wall Sina and some in Wall Rose, I have all of them in my bag. I can show you later if you want," Jaime explained, many thought it would be good to see if his drawings were as good as he said, before nodding in agreement.

Jaime wanted to say he had wanted to make drawings of Wall Maria as well, but knew to not bring that up.

Connie suddenly remembered something. "Wait, Eren, you said you were from Shiganshina, right?" He questioned; Eren confirmed it with a nod.

"Did you see the colossal Titan that day?" Connie asked almost immediately, not noticing Eren frowning, and Jaime suddenly flinched, knowing this topic could be very personal.

"Yes, we did," Eren replied with a flat tone. Connie didn't ask again, and Jaime wondered if he understood that he shouldn't ask such questions to people he barely knew.

They all walked inside to eat when Connie decided to...

"Hey, everyone here; Eren saw the colossal Titan that day?" He shouted for everyone to hear.

"Good job, Shorty," Jaime commented with a deadpan look as he walked past Connie; he had wanted to sit with Eren and Armin but knowing what would happen next, he decided to spare himself the attention.

Soon Eren and poor Armin were invaded by an army of questions.

Jaime sat with Jean and Marco away from the mob, who greeted him when they saw him.

"Hard day, huh?" Jean started; the muscles around his legs and arms were sore from all the running around and doing pushups.

"The first month is always the hardest; if you pass that, it will never be as hard," Jaime replied, taking a bite of bread; Marco nodded in understanding.

"Can you tell us more about the Colossal Titan?" Connie asked, leaning a bit forward.

After a few questions, Eren was at the end of his wits. "Yes, I told you we saw him, his head just peeking over the Wall," Eren said, getting bored of this, especially with the amount of attention around him; Mikasa had already moved to a different table. Lucky you, he thought.

"Really, I heard he completely stepped over the Wall!"

"Yes, that's what I heard as well,"

If that were the case, all of us would be dead by now, Jaime thought, eating a piece of bread.

"No, he wasn't that tall. I doubt we will see a Titan of that size," Eren replied.

"What about the Armor Titan? Did you see him?" Mina asked; her eyes briefly glanced at Armin.

"I didn't get a good look at him; that's his name; it looked like a normal Titan to me," Eren replied, making Jaime arch an eyebrow; he hadn't seen that Titan, but he doubted the Armor Titan looked like a normal one.

"Really! How does a normal Titan look like?" Connie asked with skepticism. The moment he asked that Eren's face paled slightly; Jaime frowned, annoyed by the bald one.

Connie was about to ask another question, but it seemed one of them, with more common sense, noticed that Eren was uncomfortable. "Hey, maybe we shouldn't ask such personal questions," Thomas said to the others, who looked guilty after hearing that knowing they asked questions that could easily bring up bad memories.

"I'm sorry, we didn't-"

"It's nothing," Eren assured; he pulled himself together and took a bite of bread. "Those stupid titans are just small fry."

"If we focus on mastering the Omni-dimensional maneuvering gear they give us, then we'll have the opportunity to strike back. I've waited years to be trained as a soldier. I will join the Survey Corps; then, I will send the Titans to Hell. I will slaughter them all."

"Hey? Are you dumb, or are you completely nuts?"

The focus was now on Jean, who was smiling at Eren's tirade.

"Not that it's my business, but joining the Survey Corps is a death sentence."

His interlocutor looked at him attentively.

"I guess we'll see. You seem very happy to hide behind the walls."

"Of course. I'm an honest man. I'm not some fool who thinks he can kill all the Titans; it is better to get behind the walls than out there to get swallowed," Jean replied with a constant smirk.

"It's better, to be honest, rather than someone who talks big but is scared shitless," Jean added, his face resting on his palm.

Jaime was simply eating his food and trying to ignore their loud voices right above him. Not my problem, he concluded, enjoying the soup, despite having a horrible taste.

Eren abruptly got up from his chair and came to stand in front of Jean's table. They rose in turn, the latter to face him and the former to prevent a fight from breaking out.

"That's enough," Marco said, trying to calm things down, "It's only the first day, and we have three years to spend together."

Eren and Jean glared at each other, many thinking they would start fighting, but instead, they sighed before Eren reluctantly extended his hand toward Jean. "Yeh, you're right. I was out of line," he said, before they 'shake' hands, but more like slapping each other's hands. Jaime sighed in relief that the noise was over. He had eaten half of his bread. Feeling full, he decided to give the other half to the potato girl.

Standing up, he turned to Jean, who was talking with a girl wearing a red scarf; Jaime remembered her as one of the few that the instructor didn't question. Looking at her face, he couldn't help but feel as if there was something familiar about her, but his thoughts went away when the girl gave Jean a flat 'thanks' when he complimented her hair.

Jean looked destroyed, his face pale when he turned to Jaime to see him chuckling but trying to keep it quiet. "What's funny?" He demanded.

"Nothing. I have never seen someone be so deeply in love before," Jaime commented while wiping away fake tears.

"S-Shut up," Jean said with a blush on his face. Marco laughed as Jaime walked turned around and walked away.

"Where are you going?"

"The potato girl will need all the food she can get after running the whole day," Jaime said before walking outside, not noticing a look he was getting from a certain short blonde girl.

He's the only one here from Wall Sina. Does he know anything about the True King? She looked at his fleeing figure with interest.