A Darkness That Won't Disappear
"Levi..." Hanji murmured. "I'm sorry." She looked away from him and slumped back into her seat, hands sliding into her thick hair. "What are we going to do?"
He sat rigid, staring into space. At first, he didn't reply, lost in a trance. "How long will it be like this for?" He asked; she still refused to look at him. Hanji bit her lip and lowered her head.
"Science isn't advanced enough. We need to study more to be able to treat these kinds of things."
"Don't prevaricate. How long?" Levi almost snapped, roughly looking in her direction.
"Forever, most likely."
…
The legion had recently returned from another expedition outside of the walls. The castle was quiet as those who had survived tried to recover -mentally and physically- from the trauma they would never become inure to. Eren wandered the corridors, searching for his captain.
"Petra!" He called, catching a flash of hair as she vanished around the corner. A head reappeared seconds later as she peered back.
"Eren! What's up?"
"Do you know where Levi heichou is?" They met together in the corridor, him towering over her small frame.
"Actually, I was looking for him, too. I heard he got injured."
"Injured?! Is it serious?!"
"Don't be stupid!" Petra yelled. "Heichou would never get badly injured!"
"I suppose..."
"I'm seeing if he's in Hanji's room. She usually sorts his injuries because he hates seeing doctors. Apparently they're too patronising."
They walked together to Hanji's room, comforted by each other's presence in the eerie silence punctuated by footsteps that repeated themselves, fading into the darkness. They reached the door and knocked gently to no reply. Knocking again, Petra pushed the door open cautiously.
"Hanji?" Petra jolted. Hanji was slumped forward in her chair with her head in her hands. Levi sat rigidly, staring into space with an expression that almost resembled shock. "What's going on?"
It was then that she noticed it. Levi's eyes had a strange colour. They had always been dark, but never this colour. It was a grey-white that coated his irises, hiding the usual brown. As she shuffled into the room and moved so that Eren could get in, Levi's head turned slowly to look in their direction... In their direction, but not at them. His eyes wandered somewhere in between them, searching for something, some sort of image... but it was not there. His hand reached up subconsciously to touch his eyes... and the large gaping wound that spiralled across them.
"Heichou..." Petra gasped. She staggered in front of him and knelt so that her eyes were in line with his. "What happened?"
"A cataract." Hanji whispered. "He injured his eyes and the trauma damaged the lens capsule. He's pretty much blind."
"H-how long for?" Petra touched Levi's face and he jumped, shifting his eyes quickly in her direction, staring somewhere between her left cheek and the wall behind her. His face was aghast and looked permanently stunned, instead of his usual calm expression.
"I..." Hanji kneaded her temples in frustration. "Most likely, it's permanent. We don't have the technology or know-how to fix this."
"He's blind?" Eren gaped in shock. "But he's humanity's strongest! Our only hope!"
"SHUT UP, EREN!" Hanji snapped, terrified that he was voicing the only thought that circled her brain. What would they do now? They only had Eren left. He was their last card to play- an unreliable card at best. Still, Levi had not spoken.
"Isn't there any medication to ease it?" Petra asked, desperately.
"It's damaged. Medication can't do anything."
"Heichou..." Petra shook her head. "Does it hurt?"
"No." Levi seemed to have calmed himself and lifted a hand in front of his face. He squinted at it and sighed. "It'll take a long time, but I'll learn how to cope."
"How much can you see?" Eren asked.
"Everything is just one big blur. Colours are faded; light and dark are no different. I can see a blur of my hand, but no digits. Making out faces is impossible too." Levi sighed and stood up surprisingly easily. Petra quickly shot out a hand to steady him but Levi brushed her aside. "How long will it take me to get used to it?"
Hanji frowned. "You know you won't be able to go out on expeditions again, don't you?"
"I'm stubborn but I'm not stupid." He grunted in response, closing his eyes. "I can help in other ways. How long?"
"You're humanity's strongest aren't you? Find out." Hanji smiled sadly. Levi turned towards the door, visualising the room as he remembered.
"Six steps." He muttered, before opening his eyes and walking six confident paces, shoulders drawn back. If the people in the room had not known of his condition, it was plausible that they wouldn't have guessed from his body language.
"Seven." Hanji corrected and Levi took another pace. He closed his eyes again and imagined the door, successfully reaching out to touch the door handle. He brushed the brass and eventually grasped it, turning the handle and making his way out of the door. Petra quickly followed to make sure he was safe, legs still a little wobbly from the shock.
"Hanji, will he really be able to cope?" Eren confronted the scientist.
"Who knows." Hanji shrugged. "The main thing he needs is a goal. Often mental scars are sharper than physical ones, but if he focusses on something at least the shock will be lowered a little."
"But to be blind..."
"Well," Hanji hummed, smiling a little. "This is Levi. We can never know what goes on in that mind of his. But as long as he moves forward, he's lapping those in the infirmary who're crying about what they've lost."
"He's..."
"Amazing." Hanji finished for Eren. "As expected of humanity's strongest soldier."