Chapter 9: Captain Levi
They could hear the cannons firing nonstop as they continued forward. They were almost at the gate.
'I can't believe this girl is fresh out of the Training Corps...' the flaxen haired man, Sigi Bernhardt, thought, watching her as he brought up the rear. He had been on this squad for four years, and even he had been scared shitless after seeing his fellow squad members get killed right in front of him, yet she had somehow managed to recover from the shock in the midst of being attacked by a titan and used that instant to take it out... 'Just what kind of life has she been—!?' His eyes widened in shock when another titan suddenly came charging at them from the side with its mouth wide open. Before any of them could so much as blink, it closed its mouth around Sigi, completely enveloping him. Asta stared in shock as her fiancé was swallowed whole.
"Shit!" the squad leader cursed with wide eyes. They hadn't seen it until it was too late, because it was the same height as the buildings lining the street! He was so distracted by Sigi's unexpected death, that he almost didn't see the next one either. "8m-class, front!!" he shouted, quickly firing a grappling hook in to the roof across the lane to pull himself out of the way before he flew straight into its mouth. Meanwhile, Heidi took care of the 10m titan by releasing two quick successive bursts of gas to spin herself around and fired a grappling hook into the side of its neck to reel herself in and used its shoulder as springboard to fling her body past the back of its head before it could turn, digging her swords into the flesh on the back of its neck and dragging them to carve it out while the wire contracted. She released the grappling hook as the dead titan started to fall to the ground and landed on a neighboring rooftop. She glanced back at the others just in time to see Asta, who was too stunned by her fiancé's sudden death to think straight, get snatched out of the air by the 8m-class.
"Astaaaa!!" the squad leader yelled as he and Heidi both rushed forward to save her, but they were too late. It was over in less than a second, but to Heidi, it felt like time had stopped. Her eyes widened as the titan's blood-stained mouth lowered itself over that head of strawberry-blonde hair... the same hair as her mother's. Heidi's pupils constricted as a searing pain tore through her brain, and the horrific memory that had been sealed away deep within her subconscious came crashing back to the surface like a torrential tidal wave, baptizing her with such an indescribable pain and a hopelessly raw sense of loss that something inside of her snapped. Heidi's eyes dilated, and she let out a mighty roar of anguished fury that chilled the squad leader to the bone.
"UURRRAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!"
He watched with wide eyes as she shot past him, lopping off the titan's other hand as it tried to grab her with one blade, as easily as if she had been slicing through a stick of warm butter. With the other hand, she punched the titan square in the nose and knocked it off balance. She followed through with a flip and delivered a roundhouse kick to its head, sending the 8m titan crashing to the ground. "AAAAHHHH!!"Heidi screamed with bloody tears forming in her eyes as she landed on the 'V' of its neck and proceeded to behead it at the nape, tearing through flesh and bone. Before the dust even had a chance to settle around the headless titan, she was already leaping back into the air. She landed on top of a nearby building and began darting from roof to roof without expending any more gas, using only the muscles of her legs. The Squad leader landed on another roof and stared after her as she charged forward alone, too stunned to move. That girl... What was she!?
The only thing moving Heidi's body as she forged her way through the hellish swarm of invading titans, cannon fire, and human screams waiting for her at the hole in the gate was pure instinct. Her mind was trapped in a disembodied, fugue-like state as the nightmare of her mother's brutal death played in her head on a seemingly endless loop. Forward was the only direction she could move in. Like a wounded beast, she lashed out at anything that came close.
And then, something amazing happened. Amidst all of her pain and despair, another memory slowly emerged, the memory of an important lesson her mother taught her one of the times she had tried asking about her father.
"Heidi, you're probably too young to understand what I'm about to say, but... the strange, strange thing about that devastating kind of loss is that... life actually goes on. When you're faced with a tragedy, a loss so huge that you have no idea how you can live through it, somehow the world keeps turning, the seconds keep ticking..." her mother said sadly, gently stroking the red hair she had inherited from the father she could barely remember. "You're gonna lose people, Heidi, people really important to you... and realize, that no matter how much time you spent with them or how much you appreciated and loved them and told them so, it will never seem like enough. Death leaves a heartache no one can heal... but love leaves a memory no one can steal. What we have once enjoyed, we can never lose... all that we love deeply becomes a part of us. So remember, if anything ever happens to me, try not to feel too lonely, because even if you can't see me anymore, I'll always be with you."
Warm, salty tears flowed freely down her face, washing away the blood on her cheeks, as she became aware of what she was doing. She wasn't alone. Her mother had been right there, all along... and Jacob and Grandpa were still waiting for her back home!
'No...'
The thought echoed through her mind as her body continued to move on its own. She didn't know how long she had been fighting. She didn't recognize the area around her. All she knew was that she wasn't in Trost anymore. She was somewhere inside Wall Maria.
'No...' she thought as she kicked away one of the many titans that had surrounded her and punched another with a hand that was gripping a broken and dull blade.
'This isn't right...' That wasn't how you were supposed to fight a titan. She wasn't even killing any of them. She was literally fighting tooth and nail just to keep them at bay. At this rate, she was going to die.
'No... I can't die here...
... because...
I still haven't seen the world outside yet...!!' she thought, gritting her teeth as she finally forced herself back into control of her body.
"Hah!" Heidi yelled as she thrust her dull and broken blades into the eyes of the nearest titan, releasing them, as she swung herself up and onto the top of its head, reloading with a pair of fresh blades as she landed. Without having to look, she sensed from the disturbance in the air currents that something was approaching from behind. Heidi shot a grappling hook into the tower next to the 7m-class titan in front of her, reeling herself out of harm's way a split second before a 13m titan crushed the head of the 9m titan she had just been standing on between its teeth. She released the grappling hook as she kicked off of the forehead of the 7m titan and launched herself at the exposed throat of the 9m titan with her swords held above her head at opposing angles, spinning like a corkscrew, as she shredded her way through flesh and bone, drilling straight through its throat and the throat of the 13m titan behind it at the nape, beheading the 10m that popped up as she emerged through the hole she had bored through the back of its neck without even flinching.
'This is strange... Since when have I... been this strong!?' she wondered, easily kicking away a 5m as it tried to bite her, and launched a grappling hook into a nearby tower as she ejected the dulled blades and reloaded again. Even though she was back in control of her body, she still felt strange, like a storm was brewing just below the surface of her skin. Unlike before when she felt no pain, but was oblivious to everything around her, this time she was fully aware and able to sense everything happening around her. She could tell where the titans were without having to look by the feel of the air currents. She could see what their next move would be by the tiniest twitch of their muscles. Her own muscles seemed to have increased in efficiency by at least 40%. Heidi took down three more titans as she reeled herself in. Whatever was happening was both frightening and thrilling at the same, but there was no time to question it. She had only taken six down, there were currently still eleven surrounding her, and more of them were undoubtedly on the way.
—∞—
Meanwhile, further inside Wall Maria, the Survey Corps was doing their best to carry out their own mission within the titan-infested territory.
"You just... watch..." a member of the Survey Corps said through ragged breaths he raised one of his swords with a trembling hand, stabbing the titan that was chewing on him in the eye. "The ones who will be... the last ones standing... are humans! All of you... he's gonna... Captain Levi is gonna..."
FWSSSSH!
Levi shot a grappling hook past the back of the titan's neck, and spun himself in a spiral, carving a wedge of flesh out in one fluid motion as he reeled himself in. As the titan's corpse fell, and he landed on the roof, Levi spotted the corpsman in his mouth. It was one of his squad members, another one. But he couldn't stop now. There were still other titans in the area that he had to deal with first.
'One on the right... Two on the left...' he thought as he did another quick scan of the area from the rooftop.
"Captain!!" Petra said urgently as she landed on the roof beside him, followed by several more corpsmen. "The reinforcements have arrived!!"
"Petra, you take care of the soldiers below! The rest of you, take care of the titan on the right!" he ordered before launching himself off the roof. "I'll take care of the left!"
"Eh...!?" Petra gasped as she watched him fly off into battle alone again.
"They're the all the same..." Levi muttered as he approached the two titans on the left, firing a grappling hook into side of a building behind the closest titan. "With those ridiculous faces..." He propelled himself forward, using his momentum to pull himself into a tight turn as the wire hit the titan's throat and started to wrap around it. He reeled himself in and lopped its head off at the nape of the neck in a lightning fast attack, releasing the grappling hook, as he kicked off of its headless neck and launched himself at the remaining titan. He quickly ejected his dulled blades, flinging them into its eyes to blind it. The titan groaned in pain as it and instinctively raised its hands to its stinging eyes as he landed on its head. "Hey, keep still. How am I supposed to... lop off a clean slice of you?" he asked it coolly with a dark look in his eyes as he drew a set of fresh blades. Without further ado, Levi leaped into the air and did a flip, carving out the flesh on its nape with his swords as he rolled against the back of its neck. He landed on the neighboring roof as the titan's corpse collapsed to the ground below. "!!" Levi noticed some of its steaming blood had gotten on one of his hands. "Tch," he clicked his tongue in annoyance and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe it off. "Damn, what a mess..."
"Hey..." Levi said as he landed on the ground, arriving to check on the wounded corpsman he had saved earlier. Petra was kneeling beside him, doing her best to keep pressure on his wound. The corpse of the titan that had attacked him was already burning up and halfway through evaporating. "Petra, how is he?"
"Captain..." Petra said with a trembling voice as she glanced up at him. "His bleeding... I can't stop it." Their comrade was dying.
"Cap... tain..." the man said weakly through labored breath. Levi was surprised he could still talk in that condition.
"... What is it?" he asked, kneeling down beside him.
"W-Was I helpful to... mankind at least?" the dying corpsman asked with a trembling voice and tears in his eyes, straining to raise his hand and reach out to him. "Or... will I die... without having ever been useful at all...?" Levi stared down his fellow soldier and grabbed his bloody hand, holding it in his own.
"You've done more than enough," Levi told him. "And from now on... your commitment will give me strength. I promise you, I will... I'll eradicate the titans!!" he pledged, furrowing his brow with determination.
"Captain... He's gone..." Petra said sadly, looking down with tears in her eyes. Levi's eyes widened slightly.
"..." he released the soldier's hand, setting it down carefully. "... Was he listening... all the way until to the end...?"
"Y... Yes... I think he heard you." Petra replied as they stared down at their dead comrade. "Because... He looks like he's sleeping without worry."
"... That's good," Levi said. He got back on his feet, preparing to enter battle again, when Erwin and his squad rode up.
"Levi! We have to pull back!" Erwin said urgently.
"Eh!?" Petra gasped as the crease between Levi's brows deepened.
"Pulling back?" Levi asked with a frown, gritting his teeth. "I'm still far from my limits. Are you trying to let my men die in vain? I assume you have a reason for this."
"The titans have begun heading north as a group," Erwin stated grimly.
"!!?" Levi and Petra gasped in alarm. No way... That was...
"It's a repeat of five years ago," Erwin said, thinking the same thing. "Something's wrong in town. The wall... may have been destroyed..."
—∞—
"Nng!" Heidi grunted as she leaped from one titan to the next, kicking a 5m-class's head aside so she could land on its shoulder and swing herself around to get at the back of its neck. She was out of gas, she was out of blades, and she was surrounded by titans. Every time she tried to move closer to the north, she was cut off by more of them. She knew she shouldn't have been surprised, given that they were all trying to get to the town, but it still pissed her off. This battle was beginning to take its toll on her body. She was exhausted, and her muscles were beginning to burn in protest. She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up, but she knew she had to keep going. The moment she stopped fighting, the titans would close in and devour her.
'Don't stop!' she told herself anxiously, determined to survive. 'Keep moving!! If you stop, then you'll die!!' And then, she heard it, the familiar sound of galloping horses. At first, it was so faint she thought it might have been an auditory hallucination... but as she continued to fight, the noise grew louder and louder, until it was like a rolling thunder echoing through the abandoned city.
"Whoa! There's so many of them~!" Hange exclaimed as she and the rest of the returning Survey Corps drew closer.
"Tch," Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance as the crease in his brow deepened. So that was why they hadn't been running into any titans on their way back, they were already there.
"C-Captain!" Petra called out, staring up at the amazing and terrible scene before her in shock. "... I think there's a person in there!!"
"!!" their eyes widened when they realized she was right. A small flash of brown and red was darting about, and everywhere it went, a titan fell. The closer they got, the more they realized just what an extraordinary chain of events they were bearing witness to. Unless they were all suffering from some sort of mass hallucination, a young girl was beating off a group of over six titans... unarmed. They were all stunned.
'That red hair... It can't be...' Erwin thought, furrowing his brow. "It is...!!" he gasped as they got a clear look of Heidi's face when she spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick to the head of a 7m-class titan to keep it from biting her.
'It's that brat from earlier...' Levi thought as his eyes widened with recognition when she punched away another titan. Watching her fight, he suddenly had a flashback to five years ago, remembering when he had to punch a much smaller redheaded brat when she charged at him after he had saved her from a titan. Was that her...?
"Levi! Miche!" Erwin said urgently, calling out to his two strongest fighters.
"Yeah, we know," Levi said calmly, kicking in his heels to make his horse go faster so he could pull ahead. Squad Leader Miche Zacharius followed suit.
"Over here!!" Erwin shouted up at the redhead.
"!!" Heidi said as she spared him a brief glance, surprised to see such famous people coming to her rescue. Thank God for the Survey Corps! Heidi gritted her teeth as she threw herself from the head of 5m titan just in time to avoid the teeth of a much taller one as they smashed into its skull, making a desperate leap for a nearby roof. There was a window jutting out of the attic. If she could get inside, then she could use the stairs to get down, to—!? Heidi's eyes widened as a shadow loomed over her while she was still in midair. A gust of hot, moist breath that smelled like rotting meat washed over her as an 8m-class titan closed its mouth around her.
"!!!" the others gasped. Levi cursed as he and Miche launched themselves from the backs of their horses to attack, cutting down every titan that turned and came at them. Levi landed on the ground, planning to only touch down before leaping back into the air to kill the 8m titan, when it suddenly doubled over and puked. Heidi rode the wave of vomit out of its mouth, sliding to a stop only inches away from him as the mixture of bile, blood, and human remains washed over his clean boots. The smell was horrendous. Before the titan could get back up again, Miche carved out the nape of its neck while Levi stared down at the unbelievable scene that had literally been dropped at his feet. Heidi was not only in one piece, thanks to having been captured whole, but she was alive and breathing, though she looked exhausted and barely conscious. She coughed and gagged, unable to hold back anymore after the hell she had just been through riding that vomit comet... and threw up all over the boots of humanity's strongest soldier. Levi stared down at her and the mess on his boots with a dark expression on his face as she began to lose consciousness.
Heidi would never forget the first words he said to her as she passed out from exhaustion.
"... Disgusting."
