"It's looking particularly stormy tonight, huh Petra?"

"At least it's not in the city, Levi," the redhead replied.

"True," he admitted, looking over the placid lake. Where were those disgusting demons? His eyes darted in every direction. There was a camp ground below. This could go one of two ways: a titan would reveal its true form, a monstrous beast of unimaginable height; or it could have possessed someone already.

Terrified birds suddenly darted from the trees as ear-piercing shrieks rose from below.

"Shit," Levi muttered, launching into the air. "Ral," he called, and once enveloped in an orange light, Petra spun into his hand as a Marine Raider stiletto. "Be ready Petra, there's going to be blood."

Damn. A tent was already torn to shreds. The screams belonged to two teenagers, one struggling backwards on the ground, while the other was already pinned by one of the attackers. A police officer, who would have seemed completely human.

If it wasn't for the fact that his pupils had rolled all the way into the back of their sockets, only the whites of his eyes staring out as he plunged his knife into the eye of the freckled youth. He shrieked and convulsed, grasping desperately at the policeman's arm with one hand. One? Levi glanced over to find a severed hand lying several feet away. A few more steps and a leg was stranded in the dust, already attracting files. The left side of his chest cavity was already carved like a thanksgiving turkey. Was that poor bastard attacked with a hacksaw?! The last of his problems seemed to be his face.

"Marco!" his friend cried, but the officer pulled out his revolver. Now it was this kid's turn.

"You who would dare defile humanity, I-ugh, that little speech you want me to say takes too long, Petra," Levi huffed. There was no crack or thump as the tip of his blade burst through the front of the man's chest, avoiding the spine, but it had pierced perfectly through the heart. Levi was a whirl of color as he spun around and landed a vicious side kick to the side of the other man's head, hurling the man five feet back where he slammed into a tree. Then Levi pounced and plunged Petra through his heart. "Disgusting," Levi grumbled, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe the blood off of her. "You alright, br-"

"Three," the boy whispered.

"What?"

"Three. There were three."

Fuck.

Besides that brat with blood gushing from his face, any screaming had stopped a long time ago. With a shaking hand, the uninjured one pointed toward the lake.

Levi knew they were probably already too late. But it was worth a shot.

"HEL-" started a desperate, sputtering scream, but it quickly vanished as Levi slid to a stop. It was yet another police officer, leaning over the side of a boat as he shoved a blond head underwater.

"Levi, do something!" Petra begged.

"It's too late," Levi sighed casually, but the stupid shinki wouldn't stop yelling. In a flash, he was racing across the water. He flipped the knife in his hand and drove it into the last officer's heart. Tossing the body aside, Levi looked down into the water, which was once again becoming still.

Bad sign.

"We should probably contact his family," Levi muttered as he fished the silent boy out of the water.

"Do I have to keep telling you to do something?!" Petra roared.

"Ral," Levi sighed, and she appeared beside him, human again. "There's nothing left to do."

"I'm not letting him die," she rasped, dropping to her knees. "One-two-three…" she started mumbled under her breath with each compression. Levi wanted to tell her to stop. They both knew that brat wasn't getting back up. But she kept pumping her arms up and down, desperately breathing air into his waterlogged lungs. There was a crack. She broke a rib. But she wasn't stopping. Levi couldn't understand why she couldn't handle this. Crack. They had handled plenty of corrupted phantoms before. How was this any different? Crack. Tears were streaming down her face. Crack.

Levi touched her shoulder gently. "Petra. Stop. He's dead."

"B-b-but I…I…"

"This is one for the police now. Let's go." He slung the lifeless body over his shoulder. This kid had to be at least twenty-four years younger than him, but even his small figure was larger than Levi's. At least he was light. For dead weight.

"NO! We can't! I won't!" Levi glowered at her. That was an order, not a suggestion.

"Ral," he snapped.

"Hey! You can't-" she transformed, and he carried her away with ease. "You can't do that!" she wailed.

"I just did." With that, they strolled back to the others.

They could hear him sobbing before they made it to the camp site. Freckles' friend was just as desperately holding a T-shirt to his friend's face. "Help me, please! I-I can't stop the bleeding!" It was obvious to tell when he saw the limp blond. Whatever color that was left in his face was gone. "No…no way…that can't be…oh gods." His arms fell to his sides. "Armin…you…"

"Yeah, here's your friend," Levi said tactlessly, laying the pale body next to the other. "And I'd give up on Marco. He's going to bleed out."

But it seemed the survivor couldn't hear anything anymore. He sat silently, staring with hollow eyes at something they couldn't see. Levi stretched. "Just tell the police he drowned while you were fishing or something. Before you could do anything, you were attacked by a bear. Or something. Don't worry about the police officers. I killed the titans possessing them, not their actual human form. Good luck." He had to leave listening to both that kid and Petra sobbing.

How annoying.

…

"No! I'm done! Levi, I can't take this anymore!"

"Petra, stop acting ridiculous."

"You don't understand! You're a worthless god no one remembers! You're homeless and broke and-and-" her tears had never stopped, "we couldn't even save two little boys!"

"Petra, they were teenagers. Besides, you can't save everyone."

"You're a monster!" Petra cried. "How dare you say that? That's horrible!"

"That's life," Levi snapped.

"Release me." The request was barely a whisper.

"I-"

"Release me!" she snarled. Fine. Sure. He didn't need her anyway. A weak shinki was the last thing any god would want. Especially a war god. Pathetic. Levi made sure to never break eye contact as he spelled her name in the air. It shattered, and as it vanished, so did the name on her arm. "I should have done this a long time ago," Petra spat.

"I could say the same," Levi replied rather carelessly, and without another word the woman pivoted on her heel and ran as fast as she could, never looking back.

...

Mikasa needed her karate now more than ever. How could she have lost so many people? All she had left were her mom and dad. Not even that. Adoptive parents. Being alive wasn't very appealing when your brother and your best friend were both gone.

She was on her way back home from the studio after a long training session that had ended in destroying another practice dummy. Did she feel any better? She didn't know. Feeling was an ability she had lost

over the last few months.

"Mikasa!" two voices called in unison.

"Hey Connie, hey Sasha," she greeted them quietly.

Their smiles slowly faded. "Um…how are you?" Sasha asked awkwardly. But Mikasa didn't answer.

"We were wondering if you wanted to hang and uh…and play video…games…" his voice trailed off as she turned toward the street. She didn't mean to be so distant. She didn't mean to have that look on her face that always turned people away. Socialize? That'd be good for her, right? Give her a chance to leave the house and-

"Look out!" she screamed, jumping the railing and dashing across the road. What was this guy doing, trying to commit suicide?!

Horns blared as she shoved him out of the way of the oncoming bus. "What's wrong with you?" she asked breathlessly, getting back up.

He was a short little man with a black undercut, a sour look, and black eyes that seemed to hate the world. She cocked an eyebrow at the green cloak he seemed to have borrowed from The Lord of the Rings and-was that a cravat? Seriously? Did he know it was the twenty-first century?

"I didn't need any help," he growled, and began walking away.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Mikasa asked, snatching his arm. But he shook loose, looking at her with disgust as he brushed off his sleeve. "Wow, I just saved your life!"

"Shouldn't you be concerned about your own?" he asked flatly, pointing back at the road.

"No, gods, no! Mikasa, Mikasa open your eyes!" Sasha was pleading, shaking…was that her body?

"I dunno, she just jumped in front of the bus!" Connie tried helplessly to explain to paramedics.

"What just happened?!" Mikasa cried. "Am-am I dead?!" she squawked.

"Kind of," Levi replied with a shrug, and then pointed again.

"What the-?" Mikasa started with a jump. When she turned a tail waved in her face to greet her.

"That's a good sign. You'll return to your body eventually," he explained.

"You mean I'm not-" then everything went dark.

…

"Thank the gods! Mikasa!" her mom cheered, grasping Mikasa's hand tightly in her own. Sasha burst into a huge grin as she clung to Connie's arm. But she was cut off from anything she was about to say.

"Mom, where's Eren?" Mikasa mumbled.

Her mom's grip slackened. "Mikasa…Eren's…" Oh yeah. Guess coming back from the dead makes you forget about things like that.

For a moment.

How she wished she could cry. But after she turned nine, she couldn't remember a single tear falling down her cheek. She wanted to go back. Please, just let her go back. If she was dead, then she could see Eren. That's all she wanted!

"Mikasa?"

Mikasa let out a startled gasp as her mom's voice brought her back to reality. She turned to find her dad had joined them, a smile on his face. But his eyes were wrought with sorrow. He had new gray hairs. "How are you feeling?" he asked delicately, pulling the stethoscope from around his neck to check her heartbeat.

"I'm fine," Mikasa mumbled, turning away. Pigeons stared back at her from the windowsill. That seemed to be her catchphrase. I'm fine.

"What made you do something like that?" her mom asked, voice overtaken by concern.

"A guy was about to get hit by that bus," Mikasa explained simply.

"I don't know, I don't remember seeing any guy," Sasha admitted bluntly, tapping her chin as she stared at the ceiling, as if something in the paneling would help her remember.

"That's because there wasn't. Are you sure you're okay?" Connie asked. It was strange seeing him serious for once.

"Yeah," Mikasa struggled to sit up, "there was a creepy guy with dark circles under his eyes, and he was wearing a weird cloak. Didn't you see him?"

"I think we'd remember someone dressed like that!" Connie laughed, and Sasha joined in.

"I guess," Mikasa admitted.

"See? She's still imagining things! Please Grisha, let her stay," her mom insisted.

"You know there's a long waiting list for my hospital," he reminded her, but she wasn't having it.

"Okay, one night. Don't worry Mikasa, I'll make sure you're nice and healthy by tomorrow. You just need a good night's rest." Mikasa didn't reply. She was ready to wake up from this nightmare.

…

"It hurts," a voice moaned, and Mikasa's eyes snapped open. It was dark now, and the clock's hands had sprung forward to one o'clock in the morning.

"Make it stop," another groaned. Her eyes darted to every corner of the room. She was alone. So where were these voices coming from?

"Mommy, where are you?" a child's voice called out.

Every voice she heard was sick in some way. She heard the echoes of pained sobs and people retching violently; cruel series of coughs that no doubt brought blood, and weak cries for help no one seemed to be answering.

"Oi."

Mikasa was very proud of herself about how she had such strong control over her own emotions. Now was not one of those times. She let out a startled shriek at the sight of that same man from earlier that day.

In the next second, she had darted across the room, feet planted firmly, fists in the air. There was no way she could lose to this guy. After she kicked his ass she would call the police.

"Hey, hey, hey, I didn't come here to fight," he snapped. "I was actually here to make sure you were going to stay in that body of yours."

So it was true. It really wasn't a dream. It was the same man, and she had really died. Or, something close to it. "Tell me the truth," Mikasa hissed. "You weren't worried about me, why did you come here?"

"You're right," he sneered. "I found you amusing and I was wondering just how much more entertainment I could get out of you." Mikasa gritted her teeth and was about to take her first step forward when there was another disembodied groan. Her heart immediately began to pound faster. She couldn't control it. This fear, where was it coming from? "So you can hear them," he sniffed, staring at his fingernails.

"Who, or, what?"

"Spirits."

Right. Of course. The dead people. Wasn't that obvious? Mikasa couldn't figure out whether to laugh or back away slowly. His face never changed from that loathing, never-ending glare. By the gods, he was serious. He actually believed what he was saying. "Who…who are you?" she asked cautiously.

"Me? You really need to ask?" he snorted, admiring the hospital room. He could see his own reflection staring back at him in the tiles. This was why he loved hospitals. Titans were a pain, but they were always so clean. "Why, I'm the god Levi, at your service." He took a little bow. Even his body movements oozed with sarcasm.

"Never heard of you," Mikasa replied flatly. He had to make up a god to fit his own delusions! "Hey, will you pass me my phone? It's in my bag," Mikasa asked, and he tossed her the yellow iPhone.

For a moment the only sound was the tick tick tick of each number being pressed.

"Yes, hello police? I'd like to report an intruder." This man was absolutely insane. Not only did he believe they were surrounded by ghosts, but he claimed to be a god! At this level of psychotic, what was keeping him from chopping her up with an axe?

"Waitwaitwaitwait!" suddenly Levi was waving frantically in the air. "I'll prove it," he said, voice crawling with contempt.

The next thing she knew, he was standing right beside her, holding her phone in his hand. He smirked at her speechlessness and pressed 'end'. She had never even feft it leave her palm, her fingers still curled as if holding it. And…how had Levi crossed the entire room without lifting one foot? Sure, but he just couldn't be. "Cool trick, but I don't think gods wear bibs."

"It's a cravat you uncultured swine." Wow he snapped easily. If she said the right thing, Mikasa might be the one to turn him into entertainment. "Look, titans are attracted to me, and I can't fight 'em without a shinki. If I stick around, you'll be in danger, and I don't want to be in your debt again."

"Titan…s?" this guy wasn't making any sense. Had he ever been?

"They're demons. They possess people and do all kinds of other nasty shit. Do I have to explain everything to you?" he shook his head. "I'm getting tired of playing teacher. So I'm going to leave before you start asking for help on your algebra homework." He popped open the window, and before she could stop him, leapt straight out. Didn't he know they were on the fifth floor?! She rushed to the window, but it was closed again. She tried to open it, struggling for several seconds. It took a moment for her to realize there was no lock on it.

That wasn't an issue, considering the window wasn't able to be opened in the first place.