It wasn't that bad. The men in stolen uniforms threw food on the floor as if he could eat it from there, as if there wasn't blood everywhere that could contaminate it. It wasn't that bad. There were characters coming and going from the room, barely having time to speak and show some tears before they were dragged outside against their will. Levi was lucky to be a witness, mainly seeing how they were taken away for torture. No, it wasn't that bad being kidnapped.

It had been 15 months since they hit him on the head and took him to an unknown destination. Initially, he thought it was Marley's doing, due to the white uniforms they wore when they beat him until he bled, but he began to doubt when he saw other uniforms, and Survey Corps uniforms on those sadistic men's bodies. It wasn't that bad.

It wasn't... No. He slapped himself on the cheek; he couldn't keep thinking like that. His mental state was worsening due to the weekly tortures. They discovered his Ackerman genes; they wanted to extract or duplicate his power, that's why they couldn't kill him. It wasn't that bad, no, it wasn't... Yes, it's horrible. He had to remind himself.

*'Is it really not that bad here, or are you already dead, Levi?' his torturer said. Levi knew it wasn't true, but it was impossible to deny. They entered his mind, and for a long time, he thought it wasn't that bad. He had to remember that yes, it was, that he had to escape. He wouldn't last. He needed to leave. It wasn't that bad. No, no, yes, it was... Or was it?

He scoffed, leaning against the bars, hitting his cheek with one hand. Come on, Levi, he told himself mentally, you have to survive.

"I have to get out... even if it's not that... bad."

He hesitated. He no longer knew what to believe. He needed someone else to tell him it was okay, just one affirmation, and he would believe it for at least four more months...