"Levi!" I shrieked, and ran at him with my arms wide open. He opened his arms just as I threw myself at him.
"Hey, little boy." He caught me and picked me up, hugging me tightly. "You look taller. Have you grown?"
I giggled. "Yes. I carried on growing even though you weren't here to see me." He grinned and buried his face in my hair.
"I missed you." He murmured. I smiled and smothered my face with his shirt. And then I gasped as Levi was yanked away from me. Or, more precisely, I was yanked away from him. I looked behind me to be greeted by glaring black eyes and dark hair.
"Eren. Please stay away from Levi." She murmured to me. I glanced at Levi in confusion, and was surprised to find him staring at my twin sister with narrowed eyes. All that I knew when it came to Levi was that I wanted him by me at all times, and I wanted those arms of his to be wrapped around me. He was my closest companion. We were closer then me and Armin.
"Mikasa, you're hurting me. Stop it. Let go!" I said, wriggling out of her arms and turning towards Levi, only to bump into something hard. Rubbing my nose, I looked up to find that Levi was already in front of me. He pulled me into his arms and picked me up, tucking me in the space between his chest and hands.
"Levi-" I began, but was interrupted.
"Put him down. Leave him alone!" Mikasa said, voice rising.
"Mikasa-" I said.
"I won't hurt him." Levi said. He held me close to his body, wrapped me in his arms and turned me so my face was pressed into his shirt.
"Levi-" I said again.
"Let go of my brother. Put. Him. DOWN!" She yelled the last bit, and at the same time she pulled her twin silver Khopesh blades out of their holsters on her back.
A red circle appeared in my vision. It grew and grew and grew until all I could see was red. Then, slowly, it dissolved, like sugar in water, revealing a different room.
"Don't move." I hissed, putting my Shotel blade to the throat of the intruder. "What are you doing in my home? What do you want? In this house, we don't welcome low-blooded filth like you."
"I don't know what you expect to get out of me, Higher. Do I have to quote the words of the sacred vow of the Lowers? Lowers spondeo vitam et conveniunt ad opem et auxilium fratres, quantum fieri Lowers. Nequaquam dicere mysteria Lowers, et non -"
"Yes, I know. Shut up! I know what the vow says. I didn't want to do this, but if I can't get the reason you are here out of you, then I must show you no mercy. I'm not sorry." I said, before I slashed my blade across his throat diagonally. With a muted gasp, he slid down the wall, his eyes rolling back in his head. I turned and started walking away again but -
Another red circle. It grew and dissolved in the same way as the first one. But this one lasted longer, about thirty seconds of blindness.
"Wait! What's your name?" I yelled after the old woman. She didn't stop walking away from me, didn't even turn around. She just tilted her head towards the right a little bit, as if she was watching me out of her peripheral vision.
"I have many names, child." Her voice was rough and sounded dry, like wood on sandpaper.
"Tell me one of them." I said. "I don't mind which one. Just say one!" I started moving towards her as she continued shuffling away through the snow. I soon caught up with her, but when I went to reach out for her shoulder to pull her round, she disappeared.
"Lilith. You may call me Lilith." Her voice came from behind me. I spun around, only to see multiple versions of the old woman.
"Stupid boy. Didn't your parents teach you not to make deals with people you don't know? Now look what you've done. By making a deal with me, a demon, you have doomed your loved ones." Her voice grew dangerous as she raised her hands, her filthy robes falling about her elbows. She started chanting in a language that I didn't know, an old language that consisted of a lot of grunts and snorts, as well as sounds made deep in her throat. Then she turned her face up to the sky and the hood covering her face fell away. I bent over, crumpling in on myself, my hand covering my mouth so as not to retch. Her face was disgusting; her skin was sagging away from her face, her eyes had neither iris nor pupil - they were plain white. Her mouth was open and the teeth that were left in her mouth were black or yellow, rotted and gross. A high-pitched shriek was released from her voice box that pierced through my brain. I screamed, clawing at my face and ears, trying to block the sound. As abruptly as the shriek started, it stopped and she started speaking clearly to me.
"On this day, I, Lilith of the demon realms, put a curse on you, Eren Jaeger of the Shifter realms, that your loved ones shall die a slow and painful death at a young age unless you personally distance yourself from them. If ever you come in contact with a person of your type, and grow close to them, they will die in the next week. You will be the one to kill them. On this day, I, Lilith of the demon realms-" She repeated this, over and over, until it turned into a sort of chant that echoed in my ears.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. NO!" I screamed and lashed out to the hag, who had been coming closer to me with each time she repeated it. She stumbled back but the words kept coming out of her mouth. I growled and grabbed her head, twisting it to the left until her neck snapped. I let go of her hair and she crumpled to the floor. I fell to my knees and held my head in my hands, hot tears rolling down my cheeks.
I woke up, gasping for air. It seemed like I had not been breathing in my dreams. Although, to be honest, they weren't dreams. They were memories.
I sat up, the covers falling away from my body. Sweat dripped down my back. I sighed and covered my face with my hands.
The first memory, the one about Levi, had been from my childhood, when I was about 7 years old. The second had been when I was a teenager and a Lower had found a way to get past the walls that surrounded the Higher section of the city. The third had been when I had just turned 18. A dark shadow had appeared at my parents' front door. I had opened it, and after I had talked to her, I learnt she was a witch. I asked her to promise me that my family would be safe. However, I ended up dooming them, since I did not realise that she was a hag. Everything you wanted a hag to do for you, they did the exact opposite. I couldn't tell the difference between a witch and a hag at the time, but I had quickly learned my lesson. After that, I had fled from my home to save my loved ones.
Here I was, living on my own, in a horrid flat, paid only by the rubbish job I had. I was only just supporting myself.
I shook my head and untangled my limbs from the hot covers. There was no point in dwelling on the past. It had been and gone, there was nothing I could do to change it.
I shoved a dressing gown over my nearly bare body, before wandering out of my bedroom into the kitchen.
The kitchen was tiny; I had a small fridge, a cheap oven and one surface to work on.
Wandering over to the aforementioned fridge, I opened it to see that there was no milk left. With an irritated sigh, I shut the door. No cereal for me, then. Instead, I searched through the cupboards until I found a breakfast bar.
Unwrapping it, I shoved it into my mouth and headed towards my living room. I glanced up at the only clock I had and swore loudly.
"Shit!" I hissed around my food.
Accompanied by the fact that I was going to be late, I hurried into my bedroom and shoved my uniform on. I hurried out of the front door, barely stopping to lock it before rushing down the stairs. I threw the wrapper of my breakfast bar in a bin, and ran down the path.
I was walking home, thinking about what a crap day today had been. During my whole shift, I only got three people come in. The rest of the time was basically doing nothing.
I nodded hello to my neighbour, a man called Marco Bott, before starting the long trek up the three flights of stairs. The sight that greeted me when I got to my front door, however, made me want to head back down them.
What the fuck was Levi Ackerman doing here?
