First of all: I have made an ask SAO Eren and Levi blog on tumblr which you can find at - .com. You can leave comments about current chapters, ask Levi and Eren anything you're curious about, or ask me questions about the writing of the story. ^^
FolloworI'llhateyou.
Now: MERRY FUCKING CHRISTMAS! I know I've already posted a Christmas chapter, but now I'm presenting another gift for you lovely readers (cause I really do appreciate all of you!). You now have not one, but TWO chapters in a row. Partly because it's the festive season and partly because this was originally one chapter, ended up too long and I didn't wanna wait to publish the next part. so here!
I wish you all lots of love and snow (if you're on that side of the world) and gifts and cheer and happiness!
It has been three hundred and sixty-four days, four hours, twenty-three minutes and fifteen seconds, fourteen seconds, thirteen seconds, since I have met Levi. Almost an entire year since I met this amazing online player, since I realised that my life was no longer limited to the small entirety of Floor Fifteen. Almost an entire year since I went from being a boy who didn't know Levi, to a man who knew him all too well.
That's been three hundred and sixty-four days, four hours and twenty-four minutes that I've spent by Levi's side, learning not only the extent of my feelings for him, but also the extent of my own skills, of the skills one could learn within this game. It certainly hasn't all been fun and games, in fact, half the time it was never a game at all, but pure survival. But I have loved every second I've fought by Levi's side, every moment I have had a flash of self-discovery or realised something new about myself, all thanks to the man I can now never live without.
I've loved every second of learning about Levi. About his expressions, his habits, his power, his speed. I've loved every day of worming my way further into his life, of making myself known to him, to the point that he no longer saw me as a joke, but a force to be reckoned with. I've loved every, single second of my time in Sword Art Online since Levi came into my life.
Or did I come into his?
I still don't know. But it doesn't matter. It's just another mystery I may never solve, another clue that will always lead to a dead end. I find it surprising that I'm okay with this; that I don't mind not knowing how, or why, or what-for. That I don't mind not knowing, as long as I never have to know what it will be like to live a life without Levi in it.
The pixels formed together, taking shape, colour and movement, the various buildings of the town becoming clearer as we entered the floor. It was a pretty colourful town that I came to see. It was pleasing to the eye, slightly larger than most of the other towns I've visited, and completely fitting to my current mood.
My chest swelled with pride as I realised where we were, how far I had come, all that I had learned that had enabled me to reach this point within this virtual reality.
"Welcome to floor Fifty-Nine, Eren," I heard the soft voice beside me say.
I turned to the man who I had accompanied here, to the man that had been the sole reason for all my achievements for the past year.
"It's nice," I commented simply, a little taken aback with wonder to say much else. Levi snorted, hopping off the teleport platform and beginning to walk towards the centre of town and where I assumed we'd be spending the night.
"How does it feel to have made it this far?" Levi asked me as we walked. He stopped by a shop's front, peering into the window to look at the contents it held. I could see his brows furrow in his reflection, could see him gauging whether or not it was worth his time to take a closer look.
"I'm a little stunned, to be honest," I told his reflection.
"I gathered," Levi replied, his eyes flicking to me, his head turning and giving me a curt nod before he headed into the store. As always, I diligently followed.
As I waited by the door, watching Levi mull over the different accessories available on display, watching his face carefully so I would know which rings he liked and what belts he detested, I realised that it wasn't just me who had changed over the course of the year.
Levi had grown so much as well.
He had gone from a surly, self-driven man with too many superiority complexes to count, who was slightly self-conscious and careful of his guarded secrets, to a polite, thoughtful, kind, honest, caring person who showed he cared about me more and more with each passing day.
He had started scolding me for eating too many sweets, telling me to order steak for dinner more so I'd have more strength. He fussed over my clothes, made sure I took great care of Crowning Glory, that I was always on time to meet him. But he also met me with books he said I'd thought I'd like, rewarded me with food I hadn't had in a few weeks and was craving, even though I had never told him so, had started giving me more kind looks than mean.
He had grown as a person as much as he had grown towards me. It made me wonder, literally stop to think, how I had ever made my way through my days without him. It made me wonder how I had entertained myself back in those dark and dreary days when I had nothing, no accomplishments or skills, to be proud of myself for. I had given up on trying to thank Levi in any way, knowing nothing I could say, do or give would be enough to show how truly grateful I was that he was in my life, and here to stay.
"What do you think?" I heard Levi ask me, holding up a sturdy set of boots that would boost his speed by five.
I was just about to tell him that I think the black leather would suit the rest of his uniform just fine when I gruff voice interrupted me.
"Not nearly stylish enough for you, Pretty Boy," the burly man announced, coming out from the back of the room and leaning over the counter to leer at Levi.
I would've pouted at the interruption, than glared for the not-so-subtle flirting, accompanied with a good punch to the guy's nose for the look. I would have happily done all that, if it weren't for the man I was now currently looking at.
"On second thought, I decided I don't need the boots," Levi quipped, dropping the heavy leather back on to the counter and turning away decisively, showing the man the back of his cape while he stormed towards me, intent on leaving.
The man didn't seem perturbed, only scoffed and stood up straight to head back towards his workshop, chuckling as he went.
Cropped blonde hair, a young face but an expression deemed with years of experience, a thick neck, thick arms, a thick torso and shoulders you couldn't miss for kilometres. I couldn't believe who I was looking at, who I was seeing.
"Reiner?" I breathed. I felt, rather than saw, Levi stop half way out the door, felt him look over to me.
The man behind the counter froze half way through his own door, turning to me to reveal blue eyes and a crooked nose that was unmistakable. It was unmistakable because I was the one who had made it crooked.
"Eren!" He exclaimed, staring at me for only a second before that same smug expression he normally wore spread across his face, working his way around the counter and right up to me. He clasped my hand and squeezed it tight, forcing me to let out an unmanly squeak at the crushing force of his grip. Yes. This was definitely him. "I can't believe this! "
His smug look had finally morphed into an honest grin, elated at seeing a familiar face. Once I pried my hand out of his grip, I gave him my own smile, reaching up to clap a hand on his shoulder.
Reiner, of all people, was the last person, out of those I knew in the real world, I would have expected to find in Sword Art Online. We had never been that great of friends, but we had shared a couple of classes together and were slightly competitive when it had come to certain things (thus, his crooked nose, which had come about after a dodge ball game that had gotten out of hand). But I knew him well enough to know that he certainly wasn't a gamer, preferring to spend his time outdoors, playing football or, at least, attempting to best me in one of my preferred classes.
It was for this reason that I wasn't just surprised to his face, but to see that, possibly the one time he had tried gaming at all, he had been caught up in all this life-and-death mess. I'm sure the occurring events hadn't shifted his perspective on gaming at all.
"Bertholdt!" Reiner suddenly hollered. "Get out here! Guess who's come to visit?"
I looked back towards the workshop door, stunned to see the tall and lanky man bend slightly so he'd fit under the doorway and into the room. The same shocked expression was mirrored on his features, before an equally excited smile spread across his tanned face and he was rushing over to grab my shoulders.
"Eren!? What are you doing here?"
I couldn't help but laugh, coming to the realisation that Reiner had followed Bertholdt (his committed gamer of a best friend) into Sword Art Online and had gotten stuck during the experience. Dumb luck, indeed.
"Oh man! Reiner, did you join Bertholdt in here and got stuck with the rest of us?" I was wide-eyed and excited to see my old school friends, beyond elated upon seeing people I knew and was rather fond of.
"Oi, shut it, Jaeger!" he grunted, his features turning into an expression of stern annoyance. "Berty here-"
"Berty?"
"-made me line up with him for almost forty-eight hours for that Nerve Gear shit and the game in question. I wasn't going to let all that time go to waste and not get something out of it! Plus, the guy behind us was being a dick to Bert-"
"Again, Bert?"
"- and I just wanted to see the look on his face when he realised I had bought the last one available at the store."
Trust Reiner to rush to his friend's defence and spend a massive amount of money just to exact his revenge on an unsuspecting rude and random stranger. I covered my mouth as I chuckled, hardly able to believe that Reiner was now a living example of how revenge really didn't benefit anyone.
There was a cough behind me, a deep one, and I turned to see Levi impatiently waiting right beside my arm, almost radiating a rather protective aura as he stared down the two men who were obviously so much taller than he.
"Oh, right! Bertholdt, Reiner, this is Levi. My friend and party member," I told them both proudly.
"Levi? Lance Corporal Levi? Of the Scouting Legion?" Bertholdt looked positively star struck.
"The same," Levi simply answered.
"I can't believe it's really you!" Bertholdt grabbed Levi's hand (much to the man's displeasure) shaking it vigorously as he continued to sing the man's praises. "It's an honour! Both Reiner and I have been in awe of the Scouting Legion for months now!"
"You never told me you were so highly ranked in your guild!" I exclaimed dryly. "I hate you."
I felt slightly betrayed that Levi had kept such an important fact a secret from me. Just when I thought I was really beginning to make strides with Levi, I found something new about him that I should've known months ago. It was always so humiliating when I found out from someone else as well. I certainly should've known such a fact about my best friend before a guy who, up until five minutes ago, had never even met him.
"You should pay more attention to the leader boards then," Levi told me, pulling his hand away from Bertholdt yet still moving closer to me.
"Yeah, Eren, seriously! I mean, you said he was your friend," Reiner was chuckling now.
"Shut it, Braun!" I barked at him, more annoyed now than anything.
Reiner took the moment to laugh some more, Bertholdt giving me a look that told me not to be too agitated, that it could happen to anyone. But that was Bertholdt's look for everything Reiner said or did, and I wasn't annoyed at the fact that it could happen to anyone, I was annoyed at the fact that it had happened to me.
"Anyway, it's good that we ran into you," Reiner was saying now, having calmed down from his excitement and had taken on a more serious tone. I was paying attention to him now, knowing that Reiner wasn't serious very often, only when it was truly important.
"It is?" Levi asked, sounding positively bored.
"I can imagine with such a skilled swordsman by your side, Eren, that you're pretty skilled with a weapon yourself. Am I right?" Reiner gave my shining, aqua hilt that poked out from behind my back an inquisitive look.
I could only nod, making my health bar known along with my level sixty-eight status. I knew if I opened my mouth, it would never shut again. I just had too many stories to tell and too much excitement had built up over the year; I was more than happy to share to anyone who asked the wrong question.
"Great! You can help us with an upcoming quest then!"
"Reiner, are you sure?" Bertholdt suddenly look worried.
I scoffed at his expression, at how unsure he seemed of our ability to complete whatever quest the two of them had in mind. I could see that both of them were only a little over level fifty, and was confused as to why they would be questioning if a level sixty-eight accompanied with a level eighty-five player wouldn't be able to handle such a simple quest.
"What's the quest?" Levi spoke up. Though I could see from his expression he wasn't really interested, only asking because he was bored.
"Have you heard of Crystallite Ingot?" Reiner asked us both.
Both Levi and I nodded in unison.
"It's a forging material, rare and invaluable at that, that resides in the hide of the Frost Dragon's nest in the West Mountain down on Floor Fifty-Five," Levi said, showing them that we both truly knew what they were talking about.
"But the Frost Dragon is too advanced for you two," I commented. "No offense but, there's no way you two would be able to take it on without accumulating a huge amount of damage to both your health and your items stock."
"Plus, I've heard rumours that inside the nest is an anti-crystal parameter. Once in, there's no way out," Levi finished.
"We know all this!" Reiner fussed, obviously annoyed. He had always been one of those people that couldn't be told something he already knew, despite us having no way of knowing if he knew this information or not. "Why do you think we're stooping so low as to ask for your help?"
"If you want our help, then why are you insulting us?" I could tell from his tone of voice that Levi was in no mood to take Reiner's shit. I gave him a confused look, asking him silently why he seemed so annoyed at this encounter.
I wasn't treating him like Petra and him had treated me; I was very clearly making him a part of the conversation. So why was he so annoyed? Maybe he still had a small superiority complex, still unable to tolerate those who sat so far below him.
"He means no harm by it," Bertholdt explained, always the one to try and patch up whatever wounds Reiner managed to create. "We would really appreciate your help with this task. We have a large order to complete, but neither of us have the skills or status to collect the materials we need."
"And neither of us have the time to acquire the skills or status to go get it," Reiner added.
So Reiner and Bertholdt ran this accessory shop. That was pretty impressive, considering I had heard it got harder to run successful businesses the longer the game wore on. Besides, those who did start businesses ended up getting restless and shut their shop permanently to work their way up to a higher floor, setting up shop there and starting the process all over again.
How long had Reiner and Bertholdt committed to his floor?
"Forget it." Was the curt and serious answer given by my counterpart.
At that, Levi turned to leave, opening the shop's door and holding it, motioning to me that I should leave first.
"Wait, Levi! We have to help them!"
"We don't have to do anything. It's their own fault for taking on a job they can't do." He was dead serious about this too. I saw his eyes, saw them darken, his face set into a frown, intense and burning. That was his defensive expression; the one he had worn when he had spoken to Oluo or when he fought a boss. The one he wore when he felt threatened.
"Don't underestimate us, Pretty Boy!" Reiner cried angrily. "We can do the job easy enough, our forging and blacksmith skills will top anyone else you meet in our profession. We're sought after, which is why this client came to us in the first place!"
"It's just the materials that are preventing us from completing it," Bertholdt explained, far calmer than Reiner was.
"Levi," I took on my own serious tone, determined to convince Levi to stay and help. He couldn't keep turning away from everyone he considered a threat, because sooner or later, he'd turn away someone he'd find he'd need later. He had to realise it got to a point where a defence could only grow so strong, and sooner or later, he'd have to start letting people in. "These are my friends in the real world. I've known them for a long time. They need our help, and between the four of us, that Frost Dragon would be no problem."
"It's not like we're asking you to do this for free!" Bertholdt interjected. "We'll happily pay you. Enough col for your efforts plus a free accessory from our shop!"
"Well, I wouldn't say free. Fifty percent off," Reiner argued.
At this, Levi walked back over to us, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me out to the sidewalk, slamming the shop door behind him.
"Levi!" I cried in protest as I was almost shoved to my ass.
"I don't trust them."
The simple argument against everything I had previously mentioned shocked me. I knew Levi wasn't one to trust someone just because I knew them, especially upon just having met them. I knew that he'd have to work his way there like he would with any other stranger. But I was still upset that he couldn't get his head out of his ass long enough to realise that these were my friends from a world I hadn't seen in so long, a world I actually missed at times, and that they needed our help.
But as I opened my mouth to argue, I remembered that Levi never said things like that unless he had a reason. Levi had a reason behind everything he did; it was a fact, part of what made him Levi, one of the many things I had learnt about him.
"Why not?" I asked him, keeping my voice steady, but still firm.
"Something about that Reiner character. The way he talks. The way his eyes shifted as he was telling us about the quest. The way he folded his arms when he brought it up. The way he's been slowly stepping away from us ever since. The other one keeps fidgeting too, like he's nervous to ask us, even though we're the perfect people for the job." By the time he finished telling me this, Levi's voice had dropped to a whisper.
I took what he said into consideration, but no matter how I looked at it, I couldn't shake the fact that Reiner and Bertholdt were still my friends, still people I had trusted on a day to day basis back before Sword Art Online had taken over my existence. It made it hard to see Levi's perspective on all this.
"Levi, I know Reiner and Bertholdt-" I began.
"And I know how a game like Sword Art Online can change a person!" Levi interrupted, still intent on convincing me this was a bad idea. "Do you honestly think those two are still the same people you knew three years ago? Do you honestly think they haven't been affected by all this in some way? Take you for example: you're no longer the scrappy little weakling you were when I first met you, and there's no way you would be after the events of the past year!"
"Thanks?"
"I'm just saying: don't base your decision on how you knew them then. Base your decision on how you know them now."
Levi made a valid point. I knew this, and I wanted to trust him more than I trusted the two men in the shop. But I also had to realise where my loyalties lie, where they would once this was all over. It's not that I thought that once this game was finished, I'd never see Levi again. It's that I knew that once this game was finished, I would definitely be seeing Reiner and Bertholdt again, and I didn't think I could face them as the man I am now if I told them no.
"I'm sorry, Levi," I stated. "But they're my friends."
I hated the look on Levi's face, the look of betrayal and hurt that I never thought would be etched onto his features because of me. I felt like every other scum that had crossed his past and had hurt him like they had. I was now just one more person Levi was learning not to trust.
"Fine." His voice was hard, cold. "Contact me when you return."
He didn't say another word, walking right past me, glaring at nothing in particular in front of him as he stormed off.
I stood there, feeling stupid and annoyed with myself. Stupid for brushing Levi off, and annoyed that I felt I should feel stupid. I was right in agreeing to help Bertholdt and Reiner, I was right in staying loyal to those I knew before I knew Levi. But it was hard, because I knew Levi meant more to me than Bertholdt and Reiner ever could.
I gripped the handle to the shop's door, hesitantly pulling it open and stepping back into the threshold of Reiner's shop. The both of them were arguing quietly about something behind the counter. Bertholdt looked distressed over something. I coughed to let them know I had returned. Reiner's face was shocked to see me again, but I gave them both a weak smile to reassure them that everything would be alright.
I just hoped I wasn't wrong.
"I'm in."
Bertholdt gave both me and Reiner a funny look. I couldn't place it, but tried not to read too much into it.
"What about Levi?" Bertholdt asked.
"He's…" Still very rude and obnoxious. "…got a thing with his guild and can't make it."
I knew they knew I was lying. I was a horrible liar. But I still couldn't change the fact that Levi had made his choice and there was nothing I could do to change his mind.
"Well, doesn't matter in the end. You're a high enough level to do this with us," Reiner told me, winding his way back around the counter and towards me. He approached me near the door, clapping me on the shoulder once again. "You'll be more than enough."
"Are you sure, Reiner? Maybe we should put a notice up? Get at least one more person to help?" Bertholdt was still fidgeting.
"Why would we hire someone we don't know over Eren, who we can completely trust?" Reiner announced, still looking slightly annoyed at Bertholdt's obvious distaste at Levi's absence.
Both of them finished telling the more finite details of the quest, letting me know the route they'd be taking and the strategy they had built that would defeat the Frost Dragon. They incorporated me into this strategy after I told them what I could do and how I fought. Then it was just a matter of settling on payment.
In the end, I couldn't agree to anything. I felt too sick in the stomach, Levi's hurt eyes still so clear in the forefront of my mind, and couldn't push the feeling aside long enough to concentrate on the figures Bertholdt was suggesting. I simply said it'd be a favour from a friend, then left to see if I could find Levi for dinner.
But Levi had disappeared. Not just out of the town, but off the floor. The little map next to his name in my friend's list was far too different a terrain to be anywhere near me, and his little, flashing, green dot told me he was moving fast. To what, I couldn't tell. But he wasn't reachable for now.
That night, sleeping wasn't easy. It was the first night in months that I hadn't had Levi's warm body weighing on my chest, his fingers grasping at my shirt, his breath coming in quick pants whenever he had a nightmare, his eyes fluttering open, too bright to be healthy, once it was all over. I missed him clinging to me when he finally woke up from his dreams, missed him hiding his face in the crook of my neck as he breathed through whatever pain he was feeling.
I missed being with him, missed being by his side, where I belonged.
I don't think I slept at all, and if I did, it was in short doses, too short for me to remember. The dawn came too early for my taste, and getting dressed wore on my tired muscles. I washed my face four or five times, trying to get the stinging feeling of tiredness out from under my eyelids, trying to become alert so I could focus on the day ahead and the task it held.
Breakfast looked disgusting. But I didn't have an appetite, and couldn't taste anything anyway. So I forced some eggs down my throat and left the inn, walking quickly to the town's teleport platform where I found Reiner and Bertholdt already waiting for me. Reiner had a large, bronze, sword stapled to the back of his armour, while Bertholdt's hung, long and threatening, from the holster on his hip.
"Morning, Eren!" Bertholdt waved at me, his cheerful smile dampening my mood even more. That lucky bastard wasn't in the middle of a fight with his friend, didn't have to go through this quest without his partner. I grumbled a reply.
"Got everything you need?" Reiner asked, short and to the point. I could tell he was more than ready to get this over with. I was too, so decided to talk more to Reiner today than Bertholdt, whose happy demeanour would give him a broken jaw if he wasn't careful.
"Yeah. I do. Let's just go."
I was eager to have this done, eager to contact Levi with good news, than go back to his side where I planned never to leave again. I was already regretting doing this without him. Not because I had realised I was wrong, because I wasn't, but because I had spent an entire year forming myself towards Levi's actions, his movements, his habits. Now I had to quickly reform myself to fit to Bertholdt's and Reiner's fighting style. I didn't even know if such a thing would work.
The three of us stood under the teleport gate once it was free. I took one last look around me, hoping, wishing, that maybe one other person would join us. I knew I was looking in vain.
"Teleport, Western Hamlet!" Reiner cried, the familiar white light consumed us, then faded to reveal the ice covered town that was situated closest to the West Mountain.
Once we had formed a party and had accepted the quest, we began the long hike up the mountain side. The higher we got, the harder the wind blew and the faster the snow fell. I made sure to hunch my shoulders under my coat, the fur of the collar tickling my chin as it brushed against my skin.
The hike wasn't just long, it was exhausting as well. I wasn't use to this kind of terrain, and on top of that, my lack of sleep was causing my sight to go fuzzy and my head to ring with pain from the forever, oncoming cold. I felt like I was in hell, and kept wishing for it to end. It didn't help that neither Reiner nor Bertholdt seemed to have any troubles with the weather or the climb, both ambling along with their long legs as if they were simply walking up a set of stairs. I envied them, but put all my effort into keeping up with him.
Reprieve was finally brought upon me when we reached the halfway point; the small cave we settled into kept the wind off my face and allowed us to build a fire while we continued to discuss strategy. I sat as close as I could to the flickering flame, hunching over the warmth and trying to keep my teeth from chattering too loud.
"The weak point is on the back of the neck," Reiner was saying, his voice raised so he could be heard over the roaring wind. "One good swipe there and it'll come tumbling down, no problems."
"We'll weaken its defences," Bertholdt continued. "Then when it's lost a significant amount of health, it'll be up to you, Eren, to land the finishing blow. That skill you mentioned earlier should be more than enough."
I could only sniffle in response, the cold having frozen my nose and effectively causing it to run uncontrollably. I felt sick and horrible and kept wishing I could go home. It was so tempting to just back out of this deal completely, use a teleport crystal and run crying back into Levi's arms. But a deal was a deal, and once I got up high enough, teleporting out wouldn't be an option.
"Alright then," I agreed weakly. My eyelids were growing heavy despite my constant pain and I had to stop myself more than once from falling right into the fire's centre.
Sooner than I liked, we were moving again, leaving the safety of the cave and bracing ourselves against the wind and falling frozen rain. My teeth continued to chatter harshly inside my mouth, and my eyes were stinging from the abuse the elements were giving them.
"We're almost there!" I heard Reiner cry, heard him roar over the wind that was attempting to roar louder than him. I thanked my lucky stars I had made it this far, but wondered desperately how I was going to fight in my condition. I couldn't see a single thing in front of my face, my ears were attempting to fall off and my head was throbbing from the wind's temperature.
Finally, I heaved myself over the last ridge, the mountain smoothing out to reveal bright, blue crystals of all shapes and sizes jutting out from its surface. The flashing sunlight from in between the clouds caused a ripple of light to fall over the beautiful stones, their colours flickering and shining, a gorgeous contrast to the grey mountainside they resided on. I gasped at the sight, taking it all in, and wishing I could share it with someone special, someone specifically special.
Bertholdt had mentioned that the entire mountain top was made of these crystals, had been formed over hundreds of years thanks to the Frost Dragon's breath, and were now a viable land mark and often even a tourist attraction to the right kind of adventurers. I was just disappointed these crystals were completely useless except for looking good; not at all what we were had hiked all the way up here for. The hard part was still to come.
"I know you two are awfully large and everything," came a voice from behind a large pillar of crystal. "But I didn't think it would take you that long to make the journey."
Someone specifically special sure had a way of constantly surprising me.
