Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin as well as its resulting characters. This is an adapted work which is free for viewing.
Prologue: Connection
24 years ago
Levi: 5 years old
Levi knelt under the table; shivering as he witnessed a man dressed in total black, with a mask over his head, stabbed his frail grandmother in her chest. 1, 2, 3… Levi counted the number of times the man plunged the knife back in. His mind ordered him to turn away and shut himself away from the brutality but his body refused to cooperate as it was paralyzed in total fear. The pool of blood was accumulating slowly and Levi could see his grandmother's body turn purplish and stale, her head hung lifelessly by her shoulders. It was horrific. By the 10th stab, with bloodlust evident in his gaze, the murderer turned to look at Levi, who was trembling in pure horror under his makeshift cover – the tiny wooden table.
"No…" Levi summoned all his strength to utter.
He continued, "No… No, no, no. NO!"
He gathered momentum in his voice and finally let out a big scream. "No" was all he could manage to say under immense pressure as the man trailed slowly towards him, glare so intimidating that it penetrated Levi's mental defenses and sent shivers down the child's spine. As he sauntered over to the table, the psychotic killer spun the knife in his hand like it was child's play and Levi could sense him grinning maniacally behind that blood-stained mask; he felt like vomiting.
When the man finally reached the table and crouched down, Levi shut his eyes tight, mentally prepared for the sharp pain that would be coming down onto him as the killer swung his arm up in position to thrust the knife into Levi's vital organs.
Then, the murderer spoke for the first time, "It's your turn! Ki-"
A loud gunshot rang through the small apartment. The killer was shot in the arm. With blood spurting out furiously from his gunshot wound, he let his body as well as the knife drop onto the cold hard ground.
"Freeze!" Came a shout from an officer with a pistol in his hand at the door.
"Move away from the child!" He commanded while stepping into the flat cautiously, looking out for possible accomplices.
"AAAAHHHHH!" screaming, the killer went into a frantic state of mind, trying to reach for the fallen weapon with his good arm, but before he could, another round was fired at him. This time he was shot in the abdomen area, disabling his movements and he let out an anguished groan while clutching onto his bloodied wound.
"Stay down fucker! …Kid you okay?" The officer asked after he examined the area and rushed towards Levi, who was cowering under the flimsy wooden table. It was apparent that a murder took place before he arrived. The officer promptly requested for back-up.
Levi couldn't speak at that moment. His eyes were fixed on the murderer lying on the floor writhing in pain. The boy stared for a few seconds, motionless and his gaze soulless.
"Kid?" The officer asked worriedly, grabbing Levi by the shoulders with two steady hands and shaking him a little. He knew that the child was going through a state of trauma.
Levi didn't respond again. He was beyond traumatized; he was near insanity when he pushed the officer away and stalked towards the knife, murderous intent replaced the soulless gaze he had.
"What are you doing?" The officer asked, with concern in his tone.
Levi ignored his question, picked up the knife and began running towards the killer, gripping the knife in his small hand tightly; ready to bring down hard, sharp, justice onto the murderer – literally.
Blood came splattering onto his face when he shoved the knife down, aiming for the man's heart, and then came a low growl of pain. He hated it, he hated the smell of blood oozing from the killer's chest, he hated how he's killing someone and he hated himself for doing this. He might regret his actions in the future but for now, his hatred for this man overpowered any other emotions he had. Levi continued, stabbing the killer over and over again with the knife in his hand, screaming and shouting with tears streaming down his eyes.
"Stop it," the officer ordered in a monotonous voice and grabbed the Levi's hand to prevent him from dealing further harm to the killer.
He continued, "He's already dead."
Levi looked down at the body he was kneeling beside. Multiple lacerations covered his chest and the scene was similar to what he had saw moments ago, when the psychopath was stabbing his grandmother. Levi felt a little pang of guilt in his heart, but at the same time he was relieved that he avenged his grandmother, it was confusing whether he regretted this decision or not, but he didn't know what to feel. How would any 5 year old know what to feel or think in a situation as such?
But Levi had to ask as he stared at his bloodstained outfit and hands, tears still rolling down his cheeks "W-was I wrong? But granny, he killed her."
"No. He deserved it," the officer replied with a little more emotion in his tone this time – it was glazed with pity.
"I killed him... I killed a man…" Levi sobbed, a little panic-stricken and slightly guilt-ridden.
"Yes, you did. But if you didn't, I would have," the officer stated grimly.
Levi turned to look at him in surprise. He knew the man was lying yet that somehow relieved him.
"Alright, what's your name kid?"
Levi, stunned at the sudden change in topic, paused for a moment before he answered, "I'm uhm, Levi."
"Okay Levi, it's dangerous here. The higher level of this building is on fire so we have to get you out of here." The officer picked Levi up from the dead body and quickly stripped the shirt off the child.
"What, on fire?" Levi sniffled and asked as he eyed the officer's quick movements of ripping his clothes off.
Next, the officer began wiping the blood off of the child hastily with a piece of cloth conveniently placed atop the wooden table, before throwing his own uniform jacket over the young kid.
"Yes, on fire. Didn't you hear me the first time?"
It was large enough to act as a cloak for Levi and he was cleaned up in less than a minute, albeit a little messily as well as superficially.
"Now go!" The officer demanded, his finger gestured towards the exit of the apartment, "quickly!"
Just then Levi realized that there indeed was a smoky smell surrounding them which was probably covered by the stench of blood before. The officer was right, they had to leave.
"Aren't you coming with me?"
The officer began speaking in a louder voice as screams were heard from above them, "I came here to get the people out. But before I could reach higher floors I heard you screaming so I came to check out your flat first."
"But…"
"Don't worry Levi, I'll be right behind you. I promise, I'll come back for you," The officer said with a smile and pushed Levi towards the door, "and remember, forget that this ever happened and tell no one you killed this man. Okay?"
"Okay mister policeman," Levi nodded in response and ran down the flight of stairs when they got out of the flat. He could smell the smoke getting stronger by the second.
When he finally escaped the burning building, sirens were going off and the street was in a chaos. Policemen were barricading the entire building, while firemen were rushing in and spraying loads of water into what looked like a giant furnace. Levi turned his head to look back up, the top part of the building was charred and the fire was wild. Thick, black smoke was fuming out of the windows and he knew that no one could have a chance of surviving inside that blazing fire. His breath hitched at that thought and he had a strong urge to run up the stairs again to tell the officer to come down, but a strong policeman was pulling him back to a safer area, behind the barricade, effectively holding the young boy back.
"But, he's still inside! He's still trying to safe people!" Levi yelled at the policeman who was yanking him away.
"Who's inside?" The policeman asked in irritation.
"Your friend is! He's the one with brown hair and green eyes!"
"Kid, there're too many cops working in this district for me to recognize every one of them. Anyway, if he's still in there, the firemen will get him out alright? Anyway, you're definitely not going back in. Stay out here," the policeman demanded as he let go of Levi's arms outside of the barricade. He then turned to ask his colleague to make sure Levi stayed out of the danger zone.
Levi's tears began flowing again and he sobbed softly while staring at the flames dancing furiously atop the building, "You promised you'll be right behind me…"
He waited and waited, eyes never leaving the exit of the building hoping to see the man with brown hair, emerald coloured eyes and dressed in uniform dash out of it. Sadly, that never happened. The officer never escaped…
He didn't fulfil his promise to the young kid who needed him.