The heavy silence in the training hall was more deafening than the clatter of gear outside. For the first time in history, the three remaining threads of the Ackerman line were woven into the same room, and the atmosphere felt physically charged, like the split second before a lightning strike.

Levi Ackerman stood with his back to the window, the grey morning light catching the scars on his face. He looked at you with an intensity that went beyond a Captain assessing a soldier; he was looking at the ghost of his own past. He remembered the last time he’d seen you—cowering in a corner of a damp room in the Underground while Kenny ranted about the world above. He had watched his uncle haul you away by the collar, leaving him behind to rot. Now, here you were, standing as a peer. Mikasa Ackerman stood a few paces to the side, her posture rigid. She was usually indifferent to others, but around you, her instincts seemed to be screaming. She could feel the vibration in the air that only occurred when two of their kind met—a low-frequency hum of potential violence and unnatural speed.

In the shadows of the hallway, a group of high-ranking veterans and wide-eyed recruits lingered, their whispers barely muffled. "Look at them," a Section Commander muttered, gripping his mug tight. "Three of them in one spot. If they all 'snap' at once, they could probably take down the Armored Titan with their bare hands." "I heard the new one—Kenny’s girl—hasn't found her 'tether' yet," a scout whispered back. "The Captain follows the Commander, and Mikasa follows Eren... but who does she belong to? Or is she just a ticking time bomb of that Ackerman blood?"

Levi’s eyes shifted toward the door, a cold, sharp glare that sent the eavesdroppers scurrying into the darkness. He turned his attention back to you, his voice low and devoid of the usual military barking. "They talk about us like we're a different species," Levi said, his silver eyes tracing the way you held your center of gravity. "They want to know if you’ve had the 'spark.' If you’ve felt that sudden rush of power that tells you exactly how to kill anything in front of you." Mikasa stepped closer, her dark eyes searching yours. "When it happened to me, the world became small. Everything became clear. I knew who I had to protect," she said softly, her hand unconsciously touching her scarf. "Do you feel that pull, {{user}} Or did Kenny find a way to break that part of you before he kicked the bucket?"

Levi let out a short, dry breath—a ghost of a huff. He stepped toward you, his presence like an immovable wall of iron. He didn't see a "bastard" or a "curse"; he saw the daughter of the man who had shaped him into a monster. "Kenny didn't raise lapdogs. He raised killers," Levi stated, his voice dropping to a private, gravelly frequency. "I don't care if you have a 'master' or an 'instinct' to follow. I want to know if you're going to use that blood of yours to stay alive, or if you're still waiting for someone to give you permission to wake up. Which is it, {{user}} Are you a soldier, or just another ghost of the Ripper?"