Let this be our prayer
Two thousand years ago, humanity witnessed a magnificent triumph. The titans were eliminated by the very being they put on the verge of extinction. Levi Ackerman, humanity's strongest, led the squads to their victory. Eren Jeager, humanity's last hope, gave them the determination to charge forward. Lives were lost, but none died in vain. However, the two heroes of that time passed on. They are nothing but a legend in time, never to meet again...until now.
Chapter 1
Reincarnation. Some of you might mod, some might shake their head, and others might look completely confused.
If I'm to be completely honest, there's a grand chance it does not exist and this is some word that was simply made up as legends came to be.
That can be the case, but let's take a look further in depth, shall we?
In their time, what you may now call a legend, myth, or perhaps even a fairy tale was no mere story or nightmare for them. No, it was their reality.
There were these creatures that stood stories tall, some with unpleasant smiles, furrowed expressions, emotionless, and some downright chilling down to the very bone. They roamed around everywhere. Their main food source; humans.
They didn't necessary need to eat for survival, no, they could actually live for a long time without something to eat. The main reason why they did it; for pleasure of course.
Seems like a horror movie or story, or you might simply think I'm talking out of my ass, huh? And no, I did not just get back from a college party.
Humans saw how those creatures devoured another human being, the loud crunch from all the breaking, gut wrenching screams and the blood pouring down. This was something that could easily traumatize another person.
You might see their fate as bleak, well, it would have been that way. But there were those who put their own lives on the line for the good of humanity.
They came to be known as; the Survey Corps.
People whom realistically wanted to change their fate joined; while also knowing the high probability that they would die.
Many perished on their very first mission outside the walls, others days, weeks, months, and the rare event, years later.
The townspeople saw it as a pointless matter to support the Recon corps after seeing so many dead came back. Little by little, they gained less support, less money, less food, less clothing, and less caring.
When all the new cadets were training, they all aimed to be in the military police.
This military branch only accepted the top ten in the graduating class. The other two military branches referred to them as military dogs. They worked directly under the government, more specifically, the king.
They never saw a single titan, more so, just kept in within the top walls where the kingdom was, ate like fucking pigs, had a nice place to sleep at night, didn't have to worry about seeing someone die, and really, couldn't give a fuck if someone outside the walls gave up their life for their selfish ways.
The next military branch was the Garrison. They oversaw everything that went on with the walls. They would be the ones to alert when the Survey corps came back from a mission, made sure the wall was in suitable conditions, helped attack titans with canons, or alerted anything out of the ordinary.
They were a more trustworthy military branch to the Recon corps, ones who actually fought for the good of humanity.
Life for the most part was simple, the garrison would oversee anything concerning the titans, the Recon corps planning their next expedition, and the military police making sure the government was respected and tended to the nobles and kings desires.
…Until it all fell apart.
It was a seemingly peaceful day, nothing out of the ordinary. When there was the sound and sight of a dangerous and abnormal thunder. Everyone's eyes immediately darted to the walls, where, to their horror, the largest titan anyone had ever seen, gazed down at the humans. Before anyone could move, its foot breached the wall, killing many with the large debris.
While the garrison tried to immediately move people from Shinganshina to Trost, another titan, an armored one, the only one they'd ever seen, smashed through the wall of Trost. And just as quickly as people died, titans invaded, thus causing the fall of Trost and wall Maria.
Many people were placed on the ships leading into wall Rose, unfortunately, many drowned while trying to get aboard the ship.
The years that led were just as harsh. People ventured out to try and gain food for those who were within wall Rose. Many died from hunger and disease that quickly spread around.
Those who left the walls, never had a chance at coming back.
Many years had passed since the fall of Trost and Wall Maria. People perished like nothing, the military police did very little, and the other two military branches did everything within their power to gain the lost territory back.
The training corps continued as it always had. New cadets came to make a difference in humanity, and many left due to their fear of the titans and not being able to handle the training.
When the day came that the 104th graduation came along, no one knew what kind of changes would occur. None of them would.
When the announcement came along to request those to join the Survey corps came along, many immediately left. Those who stayed, willingly put their life on the line for humanity.
Erwin Smith, the commander of the Recon corps, stood before those who joined under his military branch, his blue eyes reflecting something none of them count pinpoint at the moment.
Saluting them, his eyes zeroed in on all of them, "You have all put your lives on the line, and you've given me your hearts, as you did for humanity. I look forward to working with you. Offer your hearts to humanity!"
All of the cadets before him, saluted their new commander, some proudly, others completely shaken, and others in regret.
Before they officially joined, the same event that occurred years beforehand, happened again.
While many of the cadets were on top of the walls doing maintenance, the Survey corps were currently out on an expedition, and it seemed like any other day where nothing major happened.
And just when things were progressing normally, the same loud thunder echoed through the walls.
While many others were panicking over Wall Sina being breached once more, one young man, Eren Jeager, was the only one who came face to face with the colossal titan.
Attempting to leave a strike on the titan, the brunet was left dumfounded when it suddenly disappeared through the smoke of the canons.
He couldn't ponder it too long before he had to gather with the other cadets of the 104th and members of the garrison.
Many of the young cadets were now faced with the horrid realization that they now had to fight the titans invading the wall.
They all watched as their friends were crushed, eaten whole, or half of their body was gone. Many of them ended up taking their own lives.
Eren Jeager, the same young man who tried facing the colossal titan, lost a leg and arm from a titan, and then sacrificed himself for his friend, Armin Arlert.
Mikasa Ackerman, his adopted sister, gathered up some of their mutual friends, even after seemingly having lost hope when she was given the devastating news by Armin, that Eren was eaten by a titan.
Although their success was very bleak, the young woman gave her friends that push of encouragement they needed to get back to base to reload on fuel.
When some made their way back to base, Armin, Marco, Jean, Annie, Mikasa, and many others found titans within the base, making it all the more difficult to get fuel.
Armin and Marco formed a plan to get rid of the titans that were inside, which was executed flawlessly. Restocking on their fuel, they all set out to eliminate as many titans as absolutely possible.
On her way to some of her friends and captains of the garrison, Mikasa fell to the ground after battling a titan, and thought that was the end when another was approaching her.
And before her very eyes, she watched as a titan emerged from within another's stomach.
Eren Jeager, the brunet they all claimed as dead, was actually alive inside the creature's stomach.
He watched as another one of his former cadets spoke to herself in her final moments of life, the words piercing through his being.
"Mom…Mom, I wanna see you again. Please…save me…" Eren watched as she slowly submerged in the acid of the titan's stomach, turning his head, eyes filled with horror at the numerous bodies floating around.
Looking up through the pitch black of the titan's throat, Eren made a vow; a vow to never give up, and that somehow, someway, he would make it out of this titan's stomach. No matter what.
He didn't know what compelled him to bite his hand, he felt like it was something he should do, like an instinct, and when he bit down, his gaze faded a bit.
Mikasa couldn't believe what was happening right before her. A titan was fighting for them? No, no, she must have been knocked out due to the impact of falling. Yes, that might be it.
But when she realized that she was indeed awake, things seemed to be all the more confusing.
Why would one of those creatures fight for them? Something was off. Especially those piercing green eyes.
When the titan started running to fight more of its own kind, the young woman decided to peruse it.
Armin, Mikasa, Jean and Marco all stood on a roof top, watching as the titan finally went down. Its arms were steaming, the regeneration process they knew about. But when the skin started to burn away, they were all shocked when a body came out from the neck.
To their complete shock, it was Eren. Not dead, but somehow mysteriously coming out of the titan's neck.
The raven and blonde didn't hesitate before darting off and seeing their friend.
Mikasa was the first to get on the titan, immediately pulling Eren to herself, placing her head on his chest, wanting to know if he was dead or alive.
When the sound of his heartbeat rang through her ears, she felt immense relief. So much so, that she started sobbing loudly.
Taking Eren to the top of the building where the others were, Armin stared in disbelief at seeing Eren's limbs, arm and leg, back. But how? The titan had gotten them.
Holding his best friend's hand tightly, he didn't care how, he was just glad his friend was in one piece.
When the garrison's commander, Pixis, heard about Eren's ability to turn into a titan, he used this in his favor.
They would attempt to regain Trost.
Many called this a suicide mission. And it was. Not once had humanity tried to gain territory back from the titans. If they succeeded, they would be making history. And if they failed, one step closer to their kind being extinct.
The commander, while he was making his speech on top of the wall, told everyone Eren was the subject of a top secret experiment to see if humans can indeed turn into titans. The brunet happened to be one of the successful ones.
With the Survey corps still on their mission outside the walls, the garrison and the newly graduated cadets would be the ones fighting for the recapture of Trost.
While the hopes were very low, Eren somehow managed to block the hole in Trost, sealing all the titans outside, and now, reclaiming humanity's territory back.
Mikasa and Armin rushed to get the brunet out of his decaying titan's neck, they were left in momentary shock when more titans came their way.
Before any one of them could move, someone came and eliminated the titans like it was nothing.
The trio stared in awe, as a raven haired man, with the iconic green cape from the Survey corps came and saved them.
Turning around, the man stared at the three, "You kids, can you explain what the hell is going on?"
It seemed that while the Recon corps had gained word that they were taking back Trost, they weren't the only ones that did.
The military police set out to capture the young brunet, and see whether his intentions were to support humanity or to betray them and kill them off like the other titans.
Eren was captured and put in jail within Wall Rose, only the Recon corps and Military police were allowed to have interaction with him.
Although everyone's focus was on the recapture of Trost, they ignored the real challenge; identifying the bodies of the dead cadets and garrison members.
Hundreds were left injured and hundreds more dead.
A trial was held sometime later. They were to determine what military branch Eren would be going to. The military police, where they would perform extensive experiments on the brunet, or the Recon corps, where they could use his power for the good or humanity while observing him.
Things weren't quite looking up in the favor of the Recon corps, so Erwin let his real plan unfold.
Levi, the captain who saved the trio some time ago, jumped over the wooden railing from his side, and beat the brunet, easily showing them all he had control over him.
When they told the captain to stop beating him like a beast, his sharp gaze settled on them.
"Weren't you going to be beasts as well? Only you called it experimenting. Who knows what kind of fucking shit you would have done to this kid."
Ultimately, Eren was decided to join the Recon corps. Strictly under Corporal Levi's command.
The brunet there quickly learned his captain was quite the clean freak and he liked to make sure all his squad members had proper training.
Hanji Zoe, a squad leader, took great pleasure in experimenting on the boy. They always shared all the information with Levi, an order from the military police, but of course, they tended to conceal some information they thought would benefit the Recon corps.
Testing, training, cleaning and adjusting to new squads were quite simple on the new cadets.
Erwin Smith was quite pleased with his new members, but all that was about to change once their first expedition was launched.
The female titan and the spy were nothing expected to happen within the military ranks.
People knew there would be dead bodies coming back with them, what shocked and horrified them, was that no bodies ever made it back to the walls.
Erwin called it their own plan. Levi said it was necessary. But how can that be possible? They were once living breathing people as well. People the new cadets, captains, squad leaders, and family came to know and care about. And yet, it was simple to use those dead bodies for their escape.
The townspeople funded the Recon corps less and less, that eventually, there was very little money they received.
If the Recon corps didn't think they had a bad reputation before, it was downright vile at this point.
Some time had passed, the Recon corps still training, and now assigning new squads to make up for those that were lost before.
Immediate investigation occurred right after the female titan incident. They wanted to know who the spy within the military branches was. Everyone's gear was checked and yet, no one had been found.
It wasn't until one night, Levi, Hanji, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and others came to the conclusion on who it was.
Annie Leonhardt.
This was a hard realization for some, namely Eren, and easy for others to accept.
So they formed a plan. With the military police coming to take the brunet away after the failed expedition, they decided that Jean would take his place, Eren, Mkasa, and Armin would attempt to find Annie, who agreed to help, and lead through an underground tunnel away from Wall Rose.
…Or so they told her.
The real objective was not only to get the brunet away from the military police, but to also see if Annie was indeed the female titan.
When she transformed right before their very eyes, all that they could remember were all the lives that were lost in the expedition because of her.
Mikasa and Armin both went on ahead to meet up with the other squads, and Eren was left to transform.
Everything happened too quickly for some of them to process. The two titan shifters destroying the interior or Wall Rose, Eren going into his berserk mode, Mikasa cutting down the blonde from climbing over the wall, the brunet attempting to rip her out of her titan body, freezing when he caught her crying.
The blonde quickly turned into crystal and would have taken Eren had Captain Levi not acted quickly enough. Since he was still injured from the female titan incident, it was a dangerous move.
The Survey corps all gathered where they all saw Annie's body frozen in crystal. The town in shambles behind them.
Next step:
Hide Eren.
Hiding away Eren from the military police was no easy task. They had to be absolutely certain nothing had followed them.
Hanji, Levi and Erwin sometimes went to check on Annie to see how she was faring within the crystal. So far, none of them had no idea how to get the blonde out.
Then when the military police went to try and arrest the Survey corps members for hiding Eren, they all went into hiding.
There, Hanji constantly preformed experiments on Eren, seeing how long he could stay in his titan form, the level of intelligence, cooperation, and to see if he had that hardening ability that Annie did.
Eren unfortunately got sick once from being in his titan form too long. They marked down the time he lasted and kept it for future reference.
Since there was not a single ounce of entertainment, the new special operations squad often tried to do everything they could to kill boredom.
So when Jean almost walks in on Eren being held so lovingly by Captain Levi, he wasn't sure what to think. Should he tell the others what he saw? The captain and brunet would be very angry with him, no doubt leaving him with weeks' worth of chores. On the other hand, the others could give them shit about it.
But then another thought popped into his head. The military police could find them at any moment, and if they found out that a captain and his subordinate had a relationship like that, well, Eren would be kept within Wall Rose kingdom's dungeon, and Captain Levi would more than likely lose his military rank and be sent to jail.
The blonde watched them for a moment more before leaving.
"Hey, Corporal?"
"Hmm?"
The raven had been gently holding Eren for the last several hours, "Do you think I'll die one day fighting the titans?"
"It's possible we all will someday." When you've been with the military as long as Levi had been, you've seen things, and you want to keep your hopes up, but you also have to be realistic.
Eren stared up at his captain's face, his head on the other males lap, and he could practically tell what the other man was thinking. "Captain?"
"Yes?"
"I promise not to die anytime soon."
Levi set his gaze on the young brunet. Such responsibility was set on his shoulders way too early. Even Levi was in his mid-young adult years when he came to the military. He had time to prepare for everything. Not Eren.
Seeing his mother being eaten by a titan at the age of ten, seeing death by starvation and disease throughout the years in Wall Rose. The damn military police taking advantage of him and his friends when they were only children.
When Eren mentioned how those filthy men had the nerve to even touch a child in such a manner. Treat them like some two dollar whore. It makes him sick. People like that disgust him. His blood practically boiled. Those men fortunately got what they deserved. By his own hand.
But when he looks at Eren, sees the determination burning in his luminescent eyes, he thinks maybe the brunet will truly get them out of his mess and eliminate those creatures.
"You better keep that promise, brat."
The next several weeks that laid ahead of them were tough.
Eren and Krista, whose real name was Historia and the real heir to the throne, were kidnapped for some time. The brunet found out he had gotten an injection from his father to turn into a titan and ate him during his first transformation, them finding out titans were actually real people at some point.
Now they were all currently preparing for the battle with Bertolt, Reiner, and the ape titan. They found out, for some strange reason, a large majority of the titan population died. Not even Hanji was sure why, and they practically knew everything about titans.
Erwin, who unfortunately lost an arm to a titan, stood in front of them all, "Our job is to reclaim Wall Maria, eliminate the armored titan, ape titan, and the colossal titan. Eliminate anyone who attempts to get in the way. Hanji, you have my immediate permission to use our newest weapon when you see fit." The blonde looked around at all his squads, every one of them prepared for anything to happen.
With a very embarrassing shout from Erwin, they all mounted their horses and set off.
What seemed to be completely impossible years beforehand, was now their reality. Humanity won. The titans were gone. All the walls were theirs.
However, no one was celebrating, Eren laid in the Corporal's arms, bleeding out from a large wound in his stomach, one Hanji already examined, and unfortunately nothing could be done. The brunet would die very soon.
"Hey, Corporal?" The brunet had his hand placed over his stomach, holding on tightly to it, pitifully trying to get it to stop bleeding.
"Yeah, brat?" Everyone was left speechless as they saw tears gathering in the captain's eyes.
Eren gave him a weak smile, his green eyes tired and slowly losing their light, "I kept my promise, huh?"
Levi let out a small broken chuckle, "Yes. Yes you did."
The brunet placed his hand on the raven's cheek and with a final smile, which seemed to have spoken a thousand words, humanity's last hope and hero, passed on.
Holding on tightly to the now cold hand on his cheek, Levi lowered his head and began sobbing quietly.
That's when everyone noticed the matching wedding bands on their fingers.
What followed years later was like a dream.
Historia had placed a handmade statue of Eren in Shinganshina and in Wall Rose in the capital, a way to honor the fallen hero that brought down the titans.
Ymir was later discovered in a well-hidden town in the woods where all the former titan shifters were from. She's now married to Historia and rules alongside her.
Armin, Hanji, and Molbit left the walls and set out to discover more of the world, documenting what they found. Eventually coming back to the walls and telling the townspeople all about their discoveries.
Erwin and Historia were both currently in the process of building some towns outside the walls with people's help. For those who didn't want to live in the walls anymore, they were more than welcome to live in one of the towns being built.
Sasha and Connie decided to open up their own restaurant. They freshly caught their meat from the brunette's amazing hunting skills, and were the most popular in and outside the walls.
Annie eventually broke out of her crystal like slumber. Unfortunately, she seem to have lost all her memories in her sleep and recalled nothing about the titans. One day, she walked outside the walls for her usual walk and never came back. No one can say for certain what happened.
Jean and Mikasa later ended up marrying, which wasn't a very big surprise as it may have seemed to others. The raven simply decided to put off romance in the military in case one of them died. And now since life was nothing but peaceful, they could freely marry. They too lived outside the walls, neighbors with the former Corporal Levi.
After Eren passed away, the raven went into a bit of a depression. He kept to himself for a good majority of the time. With most of his former subordinates and captains leaving the walls and leading their own lives, he didn't see them much. He only received the occasional post card, it was a damn bird that Hanji surprisingly well trained, which later formed a proper postal service, and whatever other treats they bothered to send him.
When he felt his depression had faltered, he set out on a journey. Leaving his house in the responsible hands of Erwin, mounted his black horse, took clothing, personal belonging, his old gear, Eren's key necklace around his neck, colored pencils, a notebook and a picture frame, Levi set off.
There was always one thing Eren had wanted to see in his lifetime, and it was something he unfortunately didn't get to see.
The ocean.
Gods, the water was so blue, it practically sparkled when the sun hit it. The soft feeling of the sand beneath his feet, and the wonderful breeze ruffling his raven hair, Levi finally found it.
Levi spend much of his time on the beach. He wanted to replicate a perfect picture of the ocean for Eren.
Because he wasn't the best artist in the world, the former captain did his best, until one day, it was a perfect replica.
The raven later mailed the picture frame, it now peacefully sits by Eren's statue.
Eventually, a small town was built near the ocean.
Captain Levi lived out his days writing in a journal to Eren, in hopes he would read it in the next life, telling him all about his adventures. The different places he saw. How it got balls to the walls cold sometimes, the first time he saw snow and almost shit his pants at how cold it was. The Satan induced heats, and many other things he told Eren.
The last page in the book was hours before he died.
'Shitty brat, yes, I still call you that. If anyone can make me so happy one moment and sad the next has to be a damn brat.
I've seen so many things, I never thought were possible before. You should have seen it all Eren. The ocean is as lovely as you said it would be. I still have that book you and the blonde coconut read as kids.
You know Eren, I've seen a lot of shit in this life. I've been to places that only seemed like a fairy tale in a book, and yet, I saw them all. For some reason, they don't feel fulfilling.
I lived everything for you and me. Yet, I would have loved nothing more than to have shared all those memories with you, Eren.
Hey, because of you I still wear that damn necklace that's cold as fuck when I sleep at night. And our wedding bands, I still wear mine, and yours is on the chain.
Eren, I know I didn't say this enough when we were back in the military, but I fucking love you. I didn't say it often enough because I was scared that you would die the next day after I finally said it.
I remember you cried when I said it while we were getting married. I never felt as happy as I did back then.
Eren, Isabel, Farlan, I'll be seeing you again real soon.'
Humanity's strongest, Levi Ackerman, finally passed away of old age. He lived a long, peaceful life after the military. He said he dreamed of Eren every day, and that his death shouldn't be mourned over. He was finally going to be back with the love of his life. What was there to be sad about?
The book was later published by Armin who got permission from his former corporal. The book was purchased and it explained the harsh reality they lived in. The tough times when there was no hope and it felt like all was lost. And yet, love unexpectedly found its way through.
Humanity's last hope and humanity's strongest weren't just humanity's tools for success. They were a beacon of hope for everyone.
Reincarnation. It's when someone or a group of people who have passed on have mysteriously been born again. Whether they have their memories or not. They are born again.
Eren Jeager and Levi Ackerman, along with all the other heroes are only people talked about in this story. There's no way they could be reincarnated…
…Or could they?
End of chapter 1.