Chapter 0: The Death
Before the funerals, the tears, the ashes, and the dreadful smell of burnt flesh everyone's become accustomed to, there's the death.
Bones bent at unnatural angles, bodies limp upon bloodsoaked forest floors, a shattered girl smashed against the trunk of a tree.
Levi's seen it all.
Death is a constant companion; it hangs around the Survey Corps like an unwanted shadow. A wheelbarrow of mixed ashes is the inevitable fate for any soldier, yet all seem to hope for a prettier demise. Glorified, perhaps. That one day, when they die, they will rest peacefully in the earth, quieted voices wreathed in flower bouquets and whispered farewells.
It breaks his heart to see the dreams of the young reduced to nothing but black dust. Levi's used to this; yes, years and years of the same deadly cycle, but even so…
Even so, their lives stain his fingertips, and their legacies reek the air they touch. He can pretend that it's okay for them to go like this; after all, they knew what they had signed up for. But after every Survey Corps excursion, after every funeral, Levi finds himself scrubbing the floor, wiping the windows, and he knows it will never truly be okay.
So when Petra leaves, when her body tumbles away from his grasp, Levi has nothing else to do but to get over her passing, the same way he has gotten over the countless other deaths.
In stages. Five stages, to be exact.
Five stages of loss and grief... and after that?
Well, after that, Petra will be no more. And Levi will have to move on.
He feels a bit… sad that he'll have to let her go, but he knows it's necessary. He can't afford to be buffered by human weaknesses like this, not when all of humanity is counting on him. And so, with a small sigh that gently escapes his lips, Levi starts with Stage 1, and knows that by Stage 5, Petra Ral will be set free.
And so will he.
A/N: I really don't have much to say except that Levi is a beaut. Also that Stage 1 will be coming in some time.
Gosh, yeah. That's really it. If you liked it, please favorite/follow/review. Especially the latter. Reviews the best.
Love you all. Peace out~
Cover art by Hanbiru on Deviantart.