I hope this fandom isn't as dead as it seems. If anyone is alive, shoot me a review so I know I'm not alone here. 'Lament of a frozen flower' by Secret Garden and 'Letters from a Traveller' by Ólafur Arnalds inspired this, as well as a fanart that I do not take credit for. I realize I have taken personal liberty writing this not exactly to canon. It was begging to be written.
The room is empty, and dark. Rain pours into the wet ground and spatters against the window. Wind howls. Every now and then, a wisp of moonlight shines through, and casts grotesque shadows onto the grand piano in the center of the room.
Levi pulls his cloak tighter against the draft coming from the cracks in the aged walls and staggers towards the piano. Icy water drips from his hood into his eyes, down his face, onto the floor where they darken the rotting wood just slightly.
The piano is immortal.
He stumbles as he reaches it, falls to his knees with a gasp, clutches his aching body. Using the worn leather bench to pull himself up he sits, finally, a reprise, a moment in which exhaustion threatens to overwhelm him. He blinks past the black spots clouding his vision. The rain continues to fall, a soporific background sound that fills his bones with a longing nigh unbearable.
Trembling blue fingers find the ivory keys and caress them, coax music from them with a gentle, wavering touch. Memories flow unbidden from the keys through his fingers, jolting him sharply. The music screeches in a sharp discord for a single note, then returns to the melody- slow, and purposeful, and more confident now as it continues successfully. He didn't know he still remembered-
Another memory.
He flinches violently, grits his teeth, but does not close his eyes. He will see them if he closes his eyes. A glimpse of moonlight is cast onto him. It reflects off of the ivory keys, magnifying their pure white glow. He can hardly feel his fingers from the cold. It does not register that his entire body is trembling.
The song changes keys, his hands shift position to adapt to the change. Water drips from his hood onto his blue fingers and runs over onto the keys. His fingers slip, the aged piano groans.
Flashes of color explode before him- he sees orange of sunlight, of pyres, of brick buildings, he sees black of the underground, of night, of hollow eyes, he sees green of torn cloaks, of Titan eyes, of fallen trees, he sees red of pigtails, of eyes, of a flare, of blood. He mashes the keys of the piano in response as he plays the second bar. The music becomes sharp, angry, passionate- a rapid crescendo into a fortissimo. A single drop of moisture rolls from his eyes to his chin to the white lines that suddenly blur before him.
The moonlight outside disappears. Thunder rolls in the distance, or perhaps footsteps?
A new melody emerges suddenly- slower, repetitive, with no background part to keep it company. Solitude. The melody beats on alone, a single voice fighting the rain and the sound of sobs. This is the end of everything, a place he has finally reached, and he is still alone. 'Nobody is ever alone!' Isabel laughs. 'You'll always have us.'
The music hesitates, wavers quietly on a whole note chord as he pauses to keep from choking.
'Do not doubt yourself,' Erwin says sternly.
The rain beats against the window. In his memory, the rain blinds him. He doesn't see the Titan until it's too late.
'All you can do is make the choice with no regrets,' Erwin instructs.
A new chord begins, slightly discordant with the rest of the piece. His right hand waltzes across the melody, his left pulsing in time with the harmony chords. Lightning streaks across the moonlit sky. In the distance, shadows of enormous figures approach. Blood flows freely from his chest and arm onto the floor- he knows this because he can smell it, the sharp, thick iron taste that burns his nose and mouth. It is a heavy scent, one he recognizes all too well. He struggles to keep time with his left hand, to breathe normally, to stay conscious. 'Keep the harmony moving,' Farlan instructs, a memory of a piano lesson long ago. 'It is essential that the melody and harmony work in time. Like clockwork. Like teamwork.'
Levi's eyes flicker upwards, but Farlan has disappeared. Tears streak through blood and dirt on his beautiful face filled with jagged scars. The piano is immortal, but this is the end of everything. This place he has finally reached. And he is in pain.
'I don't want to live anymore,' Eren cries, his green eyes filling with tears. 'Please take this pain away- please kill me-'
This is the end of everything.
Levi bows his head over the piano, forces his shaking fingers to keep singing though he knows that the music only brings harsh and cruel memory. He supposes that in the end he deserves nothing more.
'Rivaille,' Hanji whispers. Her gentle hand touches his face. He looks up at her with swollen eyes, pleading for her to help him like she always did before, when no one else understood. She smiles sadly. Blood drips from the corner of her pale lips. She vanishes with a sudden violent wind.
Thunder shakes the wooden building, or perhaps that is footsteps?
'Protect them, Levi,' Mikasa begs. Her 3D Maneuvering Gear is crushed. Her body is crushed as well. He feels his heart crushing inside of him. His hands shake too badly to continue playing.
The music staggers to a halt, unfinished.
His body trembles uncontrollably. Sliding from the bench, he collapses to his knees and sobs through clenched teeth. A portion of the building wall falls away. He throws his head back and a scream tears from his throat, a final agonizing protest of what he knows must be. A foot crashes through the floor. The ceiling tears away. His spirit has left him already- his body has only to follow suit. He kneels, hands hanging uselessly at his sides, head still tilted back so that the rain and the tears roll into his hair instead of the floor.
His chest aches. He clutches his heart with his right hand, finds the skin there soaked with blood and freezing rain. 'Give your bleeding hearts, children!' Erwin screams in his memory. 'Give a proper salute- give your hearts for mankind!' Erwin doesn't know, though. He doesn't understand that he has already given everything. I have given every piece and fragment of my shattered heart. There is nothing left.
'Levi,' Petra whispers softly. He closes his eyes. He can't bear to see her. 'Levi, it's time to come home.' His chest shakes with painful sobs that reopen the wound in his side. Gasps of pain mingle with the sobs. 'Levi,' she continues. Her voice is gentle, forgiving. She does not blame him. 'You have fought for so long. You have done so much for mankind. There was nothing more anyone could have done, Levi. Come home. It's time to come home.'
The Titan hovers above him now, breathing heavily, and cradles him in its giant hand. In Levi's mind, the piano continues playing.
There is one final piece of his heart that he lifts to the sky, where perhaps all will be made new. He closes his eyes, swallows hard, and focuses on the music. This is the end of everything. The place he has finally reached. And the piano remains, soaked through with blood and rain. And the piano remains immortal, at the end of everything.