H-okay, so I'm definitely a lost cause. Eruri has consumed my life. This three-part story is supposed to be a sequel to my other fic 'Acatalepsy' so I suggest reading that first. Plot-wise it's all canon, so you shouldn't be missing much though.
Hope you guys like it and happy reading!
Disclaimer: Not me, not mine. Yadda yadda.
Chapter I
It has been a quiet couple of months. In his two years as a soldier, Levi has never seen the place this empty, this... quiet. He welcomed it at first, proclaiming to anyone who asked that he liked that the annoying bustle was gone, that there were fewer messes to clean. But then he comes under the spell, too. Without realising it, his footsteps are softer, his words more spare. He was never a social person to begin with and now he goes days without talking to a single soul.
There had been some activity to begin with. Erwin had said they might need further 'reinforcements' and so there had been a flurry of training and simulations, keeping everyone busy, leaving everyone hoping and not hoping that their turn was next.
Erwin was a rare sight in those days. He spent more time at the Capital than at the Headquarters, and not once had he asked Levi to go with him. Levi was hardly certain if he was glad or not of that fact.
Then, four weeks later, Erwin had come back one final time from the Capital. Training exercises were scaled back: scheduled more for keeping the remaining soldiers occupied and fit, rather than preparing them for battle.
True to the contradictory spirit pervading the HQ, nobody seemed sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
And then began the sense of lethargy, with a heavy side of guilt. Laughter in their castle was rare, more often than not a result of drinking binges. People lurked in corridors, spoke in whispers. One morning, Levi saw Nanaba crying at breakfast, slow tears coursing down her gaunt, impassive face.
Levi now feels as if he is walking on a thin rope. Soon, he feels, he will snap. Perhaps he will slip over the walls himself to lend his strength to the fighting masses. Perhaps he will sneak into the Capital and slit the throat of every rat-faced, pot-bellied noble. Or perhaps he will just sink back into the earth, back to the Underground, where at least the darkness is only in his eyes.
He is contemplating this over his usual breakfast of tea and plain bread, when the doors of the mess hall slam open and Hange tumbles in.
"They -they're back," she wheezes loudly. The clatter of cutlery stops, the murmurs die down. Erwin pushes back his chair from his lonely table and the screech makes several people wince.
"How many?" He asks, quietly, but the room is silent enough for everyone to hear him.
Hange breathes deeply. "Come and see."
Levi exchanges a glance with Keiji, who sits opposite him. Neither of them has missed the pause in her words.
Levi then looks to Erwin, who is already walking to the doors, breakfast abandoned. At the last moment, he stops and glances back. Brilliant blue eyes meet his dark gaze.
His meaning cannot be plainer.
Levi leaves his own breakfast behind as he joins the waiting Commander. From the other end of the room, Mike lopes over just as silently. Without another word, they follow Hange together.
"How many?" Levi asks again, disbelieving.
"Around a hundred. Hundred and four people to be exact."
The four of them stare at the physician, dumbstruck. Then Mike walks over to the windowsill and sinks down on it.
Erwin speaks for them. "And how many…"
"Five, that I could see."
Five.
Hange joins Mike at the window but she slumps straight down on the ground. "Five," she repeats in a hollow voice.
"I would like to see them." Erwin says. "All of them."
The physician sighs tiredly. "Not now, you won't. They're injured, malnourished, dehydrated, and exhausted."
"Perhaps if I could speak to one of them-"
"Erwin." Levi can't keep quiet anymore and at the same time, Hange snaps, "Oi, Erwin. What more do they have to say? The expedition failed. At least for us-"
Erwin glares at her so coldly she shuts up. He turns to the physician. "Please let me know as soon as I can talk someone. Any one of them."
"I'll be sure to do that, Commander," the physician says drily. Since there's nothing more to be said, they watch him hurry back outside, on his way, no doubt, to the hospital.
There is a long moment of silence before Erwin speaks. "Hange." She looks up at him from her perch on the floor.
"Don't ever speak like that to me, especially in front of a civilian. As your commanding officer, I expect better."
Without waiting for her response or even looking at her, he strides away. Hange grits her teeth and looks at the ground again. "Understood," she mutters into thin air.
For a week after that Levi only hears rumours. If there were meetings or discussions, he took no part in them. But he doesn't mind; the rumours themselves are informative enough.
By the end of the week everyone knows that only 104 people returned from the Reclamation Expedition. Only five out of those were Survey Corps soldiers. Apart from a Garrison soldier, all the rest were civilians. Two of them died of their injuries the day they returned. A Survey Corps survivor died four days later. The Garrison soldier had to have two of her limbs amputated. Another civilian died on the fifth day. They had brought no bodies back, so in the end there were only four funerals.
This information is passed around almost secretly, despite the fact that an official declaration has just confirmed the same. Levi understands, though. This is hardly news to shout about.
It feels like déjà vu to Levi when the mess doors slam open again and Hange comes bounding in, again. But she heads straight to Levi and says, "Erwin is asking for you."
Once again, he pushes away his tea and bread and walks away, ignoring Hange's calls that he can finish his breakfast.
When he enters Erwin's office, he sees he is waiting for him.
"Levi, thank you for coming."
Levi simply grunts in reply.
"Did you breakfast already?"
"Can we skip the fucking niceties, Erwin?" Levi asks him point-blank.
Erwin sighs. "I would like you to accompany me today."
Levi crosses his arms over his chest. "The Capital again?" He hopes Erwin knows better than to take him to that fucking cesspool, now of all times.
"No, here in Trost. I have a meeting with someone."
"Who?"
Erwin ignores that question. "Will you come?"
"You're asking me."
"Yes."
They stare at each other, both clearly thinking of the last time Erwin had asked rather than commanded Levi.
"Why me?" Levi asks finally.
Erwin pauses minutely. "I need you."
"Not Mike or Hange or-"
"You, Levi."
Déjà vu again. "And if I say no?"
Again, Erwin simply shrugs.
Levi sighs harshly. "Fine. When is it?"
"I'm leaving in ten minutes-"
"I'll wait at the carriage."
Levi stalks out of the office before Erwin can say anything else. For some reason, he can't bear to look at his face.
A/N: Yup, so this is still dealing with the Reclamation Expedition. Armin mentions the survivors were 'around a hundred' and that's all the information we've got, as far as I'm aware. In case you don't remember, just to make the numbers make sense to you, also to explain their reactions: the number of people that originally left on the Expedition was 250000. That's right. Two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand people left and 'around a hundred' came back.
Ugh.
On another note, Hange, I am certain, must have clashed plenty with Erwin when he began as Commander. Before being made Commander, Erwin had the same ranking as Hange, that of Squad Leader. So clashes will for sure have arisen, yes? We even see her arguing frankly enough in the 'Ilse's Notebook' OVA, after all. I haven't been able to flesh this aspect of their dynamic much in this story, but I hope to do so in the future!
So, coming up (tomorrow, most likely) - where is Erwin going and why does he need Levi?
As always, do let me know what you think of this chapter! Thanks for reading!