Thanks to all those who have reviewed and I am happy that so many actually like this fanfic so thank you for actually taking the time to read it. Here finally is chapter 4, I had a hard time deciding on how to start it, I'm satisfied on how it turned out enjoy!
Chapter 4 ~ The Rock That Never Joined
His eyes often wandered off his work as they stared at the empty seat his corporal would… Should be sitting there like usual as he would watch him do his paper work; Levi had never been very fond of the written stuff as he would always try to avoid it. The raven haired man would often try to get Erwin to do his reports for him in a shrewd way, much to his surprise he would succeed way too often. A smile formed on his face as he remembered all those distant memories that were not so old, no matter what Levi did or said you just could not bring yourself hate the young man; there was just something about him that just made Levi loveable even if he was just an underground city trash. To Erwin, Levi had been much more than just a soldier or a comrade, he was the younger brother he never had and he failed him.
The pounding of the rain unto the windows of his office caught his attention, the wind had recently picked up. It would seem a storm was brewing in the darkness, even the heavens weep in anger for Levi; he would have forced him to stay behind if he knew that this would have happened he should have known better than to allow an injured man go into Titan territory.
"You always had to argue with me…" Erwin said to himself as he rested his forehead onto his clenched fists, elbows on his oak desk.
He stared at the paperwork he had finally managed to finish a few minutes ago; he should have had it done hours ago in all honesty; his mind kept wandering off into his memories. Recalling how he had met Levi in that hole, he had to admit Levi had come a long way since that day, many had called him crazy for bringing trash into the Scouting Legion but it did not take too long before they changed their opinion when they saw him in action, when they finally realized that he too was human and not some worthless piece of trash. A man from the slums had climbed from the ashes and became an important figure for humanity, something that had never happened before.
"You really were something Levi…" He said to himself as he stood up, pacing in his office out of meer frustration with himself. How did Levi fall he wondered, the one question that always continued to surface in his mind. Did Levi die quickly and painless or did he slowly die in agony? Could there have been a chance that Levi had still been breathing when they left to return to the wall or was it already too late?
Some of the soldiers had come to him in the morning asking what they could do for a funeral, many felt that Levi deserved one, that he should have a grand ceremony to respect what he had done for Humanity. He could not give an answer to their demands, to Erwin without an actual body to touch and see, how anyone could properly mourn at a funeral. There would be nothing there to look and give final respects to.
A bolt of lightning flashed the dark sky as it illuminated through his windows in a flash, this was sure going to be one hell of a storm he thought to himself, shifting his gaze to his desk where a list of strange occurrences had been reported by his troops throughout the day. The list was not relatively short; many believed that their decease corporal was now residing on the HQ grounds, haunting the personnel. He could not deny what had been reported as just a tired soldier's mind playing tricks on them, too many with the same sightings could not be argued with. Maybe Levi was truly haunting them, an angry soldier who got left behind on the field of battle.
"It's me you should be haunting… Not the men…" He said, a sigh escaped his throat as he returned his attention to the windows, watching the branches of the trees dance in the wind violently, the leaves holding on for dear life.
The only experience he had received was his windows suddenly opening however that was partly his fault, he had not locked them and with the windy day they had, it was a given. He honestly did not believe that it had been the cause of a strange phenomenon; he had not seen the strange symbol his men had been describing all day. Some called it a strange wiggly cross and others called it a bent cross, either way it was something he did not want to bother himself with, he had much more pressing matters to focus on.
It did not take long for Levi's death to reach the ears of central, getting approvals for upcoming expeditions outside the walls could become very troublesome, worst case scenario the Scouting Legion could be disbanded. The disbandment of the Legion was more unlikely since they had lost Wall Maria, their power on the government had been stronger in the last five years but now they had lost a man who equaled an entire brigade that could cause problems in the future. With Levi's presence on the field, he had managed to save many lives and his efforts had caused the Legion to remain strong against anyone who would speak against it.
Words had reached his ears that many in central had placed the blames upon him, saying that his inadequate leadership was the cause of the death of Humanity's Strongest Soldier and the time for a new Commanded should be needed. On the other side, many supported him for being too important to remove from his position; the Scouts would never allow it.
"You never were a fan of politics…" He spoke to the silence of his office as rain drops hit the window. He looked at the clock on his wood mantel, six forty three; it honestly felt much later than what he had thought, time sure past slowly. It was only after losing Levi that he realized just how much of an impact he truly had on his everyday life, now he just did not know what to do with himself. Every night they had a custom to play chest, Levi had never managed to win once against him but he was improving every time they played, Erwin was certain that it was only a matter of time until he would have receive a defeat from the young man. Teaching Levi how to play chest had been a comedic session in trying to explain every piece, he had a hard time to remember each specific piece's abilities but with patience he became quite good to the point of being able to beat Mike. Mike after all was an accomplished tactician in his own right, for him to be defeated in a game of strategy was a good accomplishment for Levi…
Levi would have become a great commander when his time would have been up, Erwin was certain that the young man would have been better than he had been. Instead the young perished and the old linger in a world where even more youth will succumb to death; the world was without any doubt a cruel place, not that it had changed due to the Titans' appearances, it always has been cruel. Humans were simply just blind or refuse to admit the grim truth, humans are cruel creatures.
A clang on the floor drew his eyes to his feet. His emerald medallion had fallen off its cord; it had been handed to him by the former commander Keith Shadis once he himself became the new commander. This emerald had seen a lot and had been worn by multiple people; it was only a matter of time it would just let go.
Erwin crouch to pick up the jewellery, checking for signs of damage to his surprise there was none. The clap that attached to the cord was still in perfect condition as he clasped it back in its former position and replaced it back around his neck and pulled himself back up when he came face to face with a blonde haired woman dressed in the standard Scouting Legion uniform, staring right at him from outside the window causing him to bolt backwards in shock, he closed his eyes and re-opened them only to find that she was no longer there.
He looked around the office, his heart was racing in his chest, his breathing was fast and hard and his mind was going on a fast speed. He no longer was thinking as he opened the door to his office and exited on a steadfast paste. Now he understood what was going on, he was filled with grief that he stopped thinking, how could he have been so ignorant and foolish, he had now made up his mind, it did not matter what central would say, they were heading back out to Titan territory and he would not come back empty handed…
The crisp smell of food filled the dining room as Eren and Mikasa sat with Hanji and Mike. Their friends had already eaten dinner by the time they had arrived but it was not every day they got the chance to have a chat with the seniors, it changed the mood once in a while and right now, Eren really did not mind that they had missed the group, he was in no mood to endure Jean's annoying sarcasm again.
"I forgot exactly how much work Levi's squad actually did here." Hanji reflected as she took a sip from her mug. "I'm exhausted…" She added, catching a smirk from Mike.
"Did you try to re-put away the corporal's stuff?" Eren dared asked, he knew that he shouldn't have though but he was curious if she did redo what he should have done which he did do to his frustration.
"No, I got out of there right after you left." She answered with a wary voice. "I could have sworn that there was someone else in the room." She added with a grim expression plastered on her face as she continues. "There were more of those strange symbols on the windows too…"
"Talking about those symbols. I've seen them before, I just can't recall where." The bearded man says as he tries to remember exactly where he had seen that very symbol they had been seeing all day. He hated when he knew something but just could not put his finger on it; it would just drive him mad.
"Anyway, here Eren, you dropped this. I figured you would want it." Hanji said as she handed Eren the photo album. Eren reached out for the brown leather cover, the album itself had seemed like it had been given as a gift to Levi.
"Hanji, do you know when these pictures were taken?" Eren asked as he continued looking at the pictures.
Hanji gave a quick look and a soft smile followed as she answered. "That was actually exactly where we had gone on our last expedition Eren. There was a village girl following Levi and his squad all day just taking pictures." She let out a giggle as she continued. "It came to the point that Levi was growing impatient but he was pretty surprised when she handed him the album of pictures at the end of the week. It was her way of saying thank you for all the sacrifices he had done."
"I had no idea this was the exact same place. What happened to the girl?" He asked as he closed the album and placing his attention on Hanji whose face had lost her smile.
"She died a few months later. She had been sick for many years and her illness finally took her." She answered, taking another sip from her mug. "I think it is one of the reasons why Levi held on to it for these past few years." She added making the effort to form a soft smile.
"Eren! Mikasa!" The voice of Armin echoed through the dining room. Eren quickly turned his attention to his friend; he was out of breath as he ran to them spreading a map on the table while pushing their trays.
"Armin what is it?" Eren asked, not really sure what his friend was out of breath about and what was it with that map he wondered as he took his tray and placed it on a nearby table.
"Look." Was all that Armin managed to say as he tried to catch his breath, placed his finger on the map.
Eren looked as his eyes widen, there it was the symbol they had seen all day, the very symbol Hanji had tasked Armin to research about but was unable to find anything was actually found on a field map.
"That's not all I found. Look at this." Armin handed the picture of the Levi squad he had took, Eren gave a puzzled look much to Armin's annoyance. He would have to draw Eren a picture just for him to understand something ever so simple. "We had it all in reverse. It's not the corporal who's been haunting the place and it was not him that Black Tundra saw this morning."
"What are you trying to say Armin?" Eren asked he hated when Armin did not just go right to the point; reading between the lines was just not his strong point.
Frustration filled his small body as he glared at Eren. "Eren! Petra is the one haunting us not Levi. Look proof is in this picture; she wants us to go to the wiggly cross right there. Whatever it may mean, she wants us to go right there and she is becoming desperate."
Eren starred at the picture for a second, Armin was right and now that he thought about it, Petra was the only one other than the corporal who would allow to be touched by. He lifted his eyes towards Mike who had gotten up on his feet and was inspecting the map, probably trying to figure out exactly where the location of the wiggly cross was located.
It did not take long before a smirk formed on Mike's face as he starred at the map. "It's a waterfall marking." He said with confidence as he continues. "If I'm not mistaken that's exactly where we were too? Hanji?"
Hanji observed the map to give a second opinion and confirmed what her colleague had presumed, taking another sip from her mug as she takes the photo album and quickly scans the pictures until she finds the one she was looking for. "That's the waterfall marked on the map." She declares as she points to the picture of Levi with Black Tundra. Eren remembered that he had liked that picture the most when he had saw it the first time but even though they had been there only two days ago, he did not recall seeing a waterfall.
"I did not see a waterfall." He said as he looked at Hanji who had a large grin on her face as she spoke. "That's because it had not rain in a while but with the rain we are having tonight, we should be able to see the waterfall in its glory."
"So this is what we have to do…" Eren thought to himself but even if Petra wanted them to go to the waterfall, how could they? Without authorisation from the commander, well more to say without the authorisation from central they were not allowed to go outside the walls. If Petra was really the one haunting them, did that mean that Levi might still be alive?
Footsteps brought Eren out of his reveries as he saw the commander enter the dining room, he wore a serious expression as he spoke. "Hanji! Mike! Get the gears ready. We are heading out first thing at dawn." Without another word, the commander turned around and walked away. Eren felt a fire burn inside him; he thought he would never hear Erwin give them the order for sortie. Hanji and Mike had already bolted out of the dining room, preparing for another expedition and telling anyone they could find. Eren looked at both his friends, both were just as determined as he was, this time they would not fail, they would come home with Levi, there was no more room for errors.
This brings end to chapter 4. I hope you all enjoyed it.
Review and tell me how you liked it or if there are things I could improve.