A/N: Super swaggy shout-out to pokecharmer007, who favorited, and StarrySky0103, who followed my story. I really appreciate it :3
Chapter 3
Shackles are uncomfortable.
I relentlessly fought against the metal binds around my wrists and ankles for the umpteenth time, and of course, lost that battle. But the war has yet to end! But my heart really wasn't into it, not in the slightest.
Why the Hell was I dropped off here in the first place?
Not jail, I could understand why they had locked me up. I would have too, considering the circumstances. Girls that just fly in and out of bright holes in the middle of a forest were kind of an unsuspecting force and they didn't want to take any chances. But couldn't they at least make things a little more comfortable? And what was the point of pinning me against a wall if I could just shift through… time?... space?... to be home again.
Where was home? How far away was it? As I'd been told by the military superiors, I wasn't anywhere near my own time period. This place was so ass-backwards, and their manner of dress stated that what I wore classified me as a "whore".
What good could I do in a place that had to constantly fight against giant cannibals—titans for the sake of survival? I couldn't fight them; Levi consistently reminded his comrades and commanding officer that I wasn't skilled or built to do so. So what was the point of my being here? It seemed rather… useless. A waste of time on everyone's parts. They had to deal with keeping the human race alive and I…
Well, my problems weren't nearly as monumental, but still had to be dealt with. I had to mellow out this bullshit with Samiel, apologize to Misty for kind of bailing (against my will, but still it happened), and I needed to find a plausible excuse as to why I wouldn't be at work tomorrow.
Today?
Yesterday?
This time-traveling stuff completely messed me up.
Someone entered the cellar, shutting the door and locking it behind them. They shuffled against the ground until they were finally at my cell. Hanji?
I tilted my head, puzzled by her being here. "I thought they forbade you from coming."
"They did. But they also understand that you have to eat, and they were all too busy to deliver this to you." She unlocked my cell and then my shackles, a heavy breath escaping my lips. I rubbed my sore wrists and stared down at the tray before me. Bread, water and some type of stew was set in front of me, and I didn't even pause as I went to devour it all. Only then did I also realize how hungry I actually was.
Taking a moment to breathe between bites, I asked, "What else did you need?" She was staring at me with such intensity it made me squirm where I sat.
"Where is it that you're from again?"
I had told this story a million times. "My name is Rosemary Aer. I'm twenty-three years old and from the sunny side of Southern California. I work in a hospital and live on my own. The year is 2013—2014, sorry, and I have—had a boyfriend named Samiel. My life is very boring and there is nothing special about me whatsoever except the fact I can somehow travel from place to place… or time to time or whatever, but usually against my will."
"Los Angeles," I said flatly. "Los Angeles, California."
"And you said it's 2014 there?"
"Yep," I answered quickly before taking another bite of my bread—stale bread, but it was certainly better than nothing at all. "But that's not the year here, right?"
"It's the year 850," she told me, a little sadly. I really was far from home. Too far.
I stopped eating, staring down at my flaky, dirty hands before lifting my gaze to the squad leader. "Will I get back home?" My voice cracked despite the tough façade I was trying to hold up.
"I don't know." She sighed and looked to the open cell gate. "I believe that you will, but that doesn't seem like something that's up to me, or you, or anyone."
"No one but Time and Space himself," I finished for her, placing the rest of my bread and stew on the makeshift bedside table and leaning against the cold brick wall behind my bed. "I don't even know why I would be brought here in the first place."
"There's a reason for everything," was all she said before standing up again. "I'm sorry, but you know the rules."
"I know, I know." I allowed her to restrain me once more before bidding each other farewell, listening to her leave and the gears of the cellar's lock turn, indicating I was once again all alone.
After a few days—had it been days? I really wasn't sure, I just knew every now again I would be fed, then sleep, then wake up and count the seconds until my next meal—Levi was the one to come down and retrieve me.
"You're being released into Hanji Zoe's custody."
I hid my emotions as well as I could, but this news made me feel elated. My eyes didn't dare meet his as he unhooked me from the wall and assisted me to my feet. I uttered a small "thank you" and shuffled away from that wretchedly uncomfortable bed and to the cellar door, waiting for him to let me out. I followed relatively close, but kept my head low.
"You smell rancid, by the way."
Is this guy serious? Does he ever take a day off? "I'm not sure how you would smell nice when you don't shower for a long time and are locked away in a dungeon for an x amount of days."
"That will be fixed today. As well as your wardrobe. We can't have you running around like a hussy if you're going to be accompanied by the military."
"Gee, thanks." I really was grateful, but not to him. More to the idea of getting rid of this filth crawling all over my skin and getting a change of clothes.
Levi led the way to a wash area of some sort and pointed to a small bag beside it. "That is what you'll be wearing. Once you're done, I'll be waiting here to take you to Hanji. Don't take forever."
Nodding mechanically, I slowly headed to the first washroom, grabbing the bag along the way and locking the wooden door behind me. Quickly, I tossed the old, dirty clothes aside and turned on the water, shivering as the rigid cold but reveling in the way the dirt on my arms and legs pooled at my feet and disappeared into a nearby drain.
And after what seemed like an eternity of bottling everything in, my emotions finally let loose. I cowered into the corner of the shower stall and allowed my tears to mingle with the running water hitting my face.
I'm not home. I'm very far away. There are giant cannibals lining the stoned walls surrounding the last humans on Earth. My boyfriend is a cheating asshole. I let my friend down. I'm probably getting fired. People are literally fighting for their lives here.
I'm not home.
I'm not home.
"I want to go home," I sobbed, covering my mouth quickly so no other sound could escape. With wobbly legs, I stood up and washed the remaining grime off my body, gently scrubbing the soap onto my skin so as to not use too much before I finally exited. Toweling off, I threw on the clothes Levi had given me and dried off my mass of hair to the best of my ability before finally exiting. I contemplated at the trash can whether or not to keep my old clothes then simply tossed them away.
They held a lot of memories I felt like putting behind me right now.
"Too long." He assessed me in my new garb: black pants and a white button down with (I assumed) spare military boots. Then his eyes caught mine and I flinched. Were they red? That would be embarrassing.
Swallowing, I fixed my gaze elsewhere and asked, "So, where to now?"
"Zoe, or are you that forgetful?"
Fixing my glare back up to his, I ground my teeth together but said nothing. He seemed to feed off of anything that came out of my mouth as something to return with a quip. Best not to say anything at all. Only nodding, I followed behind him with my hands laced together in front of me. If I so much as moved them to my sides, he would turn around to glare at me, causing me to swallow my heart in my throat.
Was it truly necessary to act so intimidating? I was shorter than him—by maybe six inches but still—and clearly not as strong. What was the point in trying to frighten me? I couldn't run away, and if I did he couldn't really stop the force that made me. Didn't he have anything better to do?
We made it to a small wooden cottage and Levi entered without bothering to knock, holding the door for me. Oh, so he can be a gentleman? He slammed it—too hard—after me and ushered me to the front room where Hanji and two other men were surrounding a table. Neither of them were Commander Smith, and I was unsure if this made me uneasy or relieved. With his presence came so much sureness and confidence, yet also there was an aura that made everyone surrounding him undoubtedly aware he was their leader.
Hanji looked over at us, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose and giving us a sweet smile. "Look who decided to join the party!" she exclaimed, moving around her comrades and reaching behind Levi for me. "Just in time, too. We were just discussing—"
"Erwin didn't approve—"
"Not that, Levi, shush." Hanji rolled her dark eyes and then fixed them on mine. "We were wondering if you could describe it for us?"
"It?" I repeated, looking between all of them, including Levi, before my green eyes landed on Hanji again. "You mean, the traveling?"
"Yes!" She appeared as if she may burst into flames, she could barely contain herself. "Maybe write it down. What happened before, during, what you were thinking. As vividly as possible."
"What happened before?" I stiffened, but I hoped it didn't show. Nonetheless I nodded in agreement. "Sure, why not. When do you—"
"This way!" Hanji escorted me to a desk near a window and sat me down, handing me a pen and placing several sheets of paper in front of me. "Like I said, recount everything prior to and during. It may be a clue as to why you're here." She motioned for her squad members to leave. "I'm going to be in my room if you need me." She bound up a set of stairs and disappeared, leaving me, Levi, and this pile of paper alone.
"I'm going to be waiting until you're done." He sat in the nearest chair and leaned back, placing his feet on the table and pulling out a knife and a random piece of wood.
"You mean you're babysitting," I corrected him, turning away to focus on my new task.
"Something like that."
No more words were uttered between us as I went to work. I recounted as far back as the voice mail from Misty, unsure how to describe that to people who didn't have phones, but I did my best. I seemed to have been writing forever before I heard a very strange noise very close to me. Like sniffling. Was Levi sick?
When I focused on my surroundings again, I realized that sniffling was me, and I was crying very, very hard. How far had I gotten in my little story? Rereading what I wrote, it was just before I found out about Samiel cheating on me. My body racked with silent sobs and I tried my best to keep myself still and my mouth shut, but of course my actions didn't go unnoticed by Levi. He stood up and took the paper from under my nose, my reaching for it absolutely futile.
"What? Boy trouble?" I'd stopped at the part where Misty had told me where Samiel was hiding.
I gave a harsh laugh at that. "Not anymore." Wiping my face quickly, my hand snapped for the paper again—and failed on grasping its mark. "He isn't going to be a problem any longer, trust me."
I could feel Levi's gaze on me but I refused to give him the satisfaction of watching me cry and pout. No, I was just going to sit here until he returned what belonged to me. He finally set the piece of paper down and he turned his back on me, crossing his arms.
"Sounds like an idiot."
I scoffed. "Why, for dating a forgetful, wandering girl like me?"
"No." But he didn't explain anything further, just walked back to his chair. I heard the sound of a knife scraping against wood, and it seemed like I wouldn't be hearing anything further on the matter.
What was Levi to everyone else? He seemed so important and well-known, but the only thing I've seen him do was be a self-sacrificing, sarcastic asshole. But just now he didn't… sound as harsh as he usually was toward me.
Why was that?
I ignored my thoughts long enough to write the rest of my little tale then placed it on the edge of the desk, standing up. "Now what? Do I… sleep on the floor? Back to the dungeon?"
"Hanji has a room prepared for you upstairs." He went to lean against the doorway, his arms crossed and eyes on me. "She most likely has quite a bit of plans for you, so get as much rest as possible."
There it was again: his voice was rough and yet not. Something about that bothered me and… made me warm and—no! He was a complete son of a bitch and I needed to remember that. He saved your life, but if you panicked enough you may have been able to save yourself.
I moved to go upstairs but his hand stopped me. "Wha—"
"I know this is all bullshit, but try not to give everyone a hard time."
My mouth gaped at his words, a little insulted.
Before I could speak, he added, "That includes yourself, stupid." He let go of my arm as if it were on fire and left hastily, leaving me a little dazed.
What are you, Levi?
A/N: SCREAMING INTENSIFIES. So I was looking over my story to make sure it was all tied together (I mean online but whatever) anD I GOT A REVIEW AND ANOTHER FOLLOW WHILE WRITING THIS. HELL. YEAH.
Zara: Thanks for reviewing! Rose doesn't have the power to teleport, exactly. Just the ability to shift and travel through time and space. It'll be explained better as the chapters go on.
And to i love athrun, thanks for the follow! It means a lot :3
