Black and White [OPEN]

Alice did not do gray.

She had always been the first to follow a command. First to follow orders. And she would be the last to betray said orders. But when gray happened, Alice did not know exactly what to do. So she went back to her standard follow orders.

So as she stood there in the temporary cell, holding the gun at her target, she wavered. "Execute her," she had heard her grandfather say. Execute this teenager? She had brunette hair and a dark green eyes. Those eyes spoke the truth of what the girl could do. She was a Titan. The "all-powerful, evil, corrupt monsters" that "wore human skin." Alice had never seen why people hated Titans. It was an enigma to her. Her grandfather despised them with so much passion that he had Alice trained to kill them all. Alice did not see the evil or corruption in this girl's green eyes. The girl was a clairsentient, a Titan that could sense the emotions within another person. Her ability was used through contact of skin. And while Alice was chasing her, she had tackled the girl and crashed to the ground. After detaining her, the girl simply stared at Alice in horror.

"I... I don't understand..." the girl whispered staring at Alice with such confusion and terror that it gave Alice even more pause. "...How... How do you live like that?"

Alice glared at the girl more strongly. "Live like what? Killing Titans? It is my duty." Alice's hesitation began to subside. She was done waiting. Wondering. Trying to understand herself or this girl. She would be the soldier her grandfather asked for. That was all she ever needed.

"No... How do you live... knowing that you killed your parents?"

Alice's mind flashed the vivid dream that she had been having repeatedly. Her grandfather pointing at her mother. Alice raising the weapon and pulling the trigger. Then at her father. The pain. It wasn't there. Sadness. It wasn't there. "Shut up," Alice whispered. "How do you shut it away? How do you even sleep?" "Shutupshutupshutup!" Alice yelled the pistol began to shake. The girl cocked her head as if in thought. "No... you don't sleep. Not anymore. You can't. When you sleep you see them. And when you see them you begin to question. But you can't do that. You can't question your grandfather. That would b-"

Alice fired. Three times. All three shots missed the girl hitting the ground next to her. Why had she done that? Why didn't she just kill her? "I've seen a lot since I've discovered my... gift. You are the first whose memory is incredibly hard to see clearly. Is that why you can't sleep? Because you can't remember? Or is it... the other way around? That you can remember so long as you sleep." Alice felt something she had not felt before that she could remember. Something very sharp and distinct. Hot. Almost boiling. Anger? No. Too soft a word. Rage. Alice's hesitant face dissolved and a cold passivity took control.

She turned away from the Titan and strolled out of the cell. She would kill her later. She had to calm herself. Calm her nerves. She climbed the steps of the staircase nearby and walked straight up to the roof. The sun was setting. Red and gold on the horizon. For some reason she didn't care. For the first time in her life questions popped into her head that she didn't know how to answer.

'Who is the monster? The girl below? The one who could see the past of someone? Or am I the real monster?... Why am I killing them? Why is grandfather having me do it?'

And finally Alice leaned against the rooftop edge and looking down at the people walking. "Why did I shoot daddy?"