Author's Note: I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.
Some other notes: Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. "Blah blah blah")
Chapter 9: Filth
Birds chirped above the afternoon sky. Erwin gazed at the two figures mumbling about behind him. They were on their way to the Walls of Sina for their monthly visitation with the king. He could see that Hallinor was struggling as she sat sidesaddle on her horse.
"Would you stop fidgeting?" Levi snarled.
She glared at him. "Would you shut up?" She countered back as she tugged the hem of the white fabric that kept riding up her thighs. Even though she was wearing her green cloak over the dress she felt the need to tug and pull the dress to cover her exposed skin.
Erwin smiled to himself. "That's ten for Hallinor, four for Levi." Duration of the whole trip Erwin had kept score on who got the last say with the little arguments they had and so far Hallinor was in the lead.
Levi rolled his eyes as he pulled back the reins of the horse making it stop. Maids came to their sides and greeted them with a curtsy.
"Miss Bismarch, how wonderful to see you again." One maid smiled gently as she offered a hand up to Hallinor.
Grumbling she reluctantly placed her hand on the other. With one swift movement she slid down her horse. Patting off the invisible dirt from her dress, her movement nice and slow.
"Are you quite done?" Levi tapped his foot on the floor impatiently.
"No, are you quite done being a prick?" She snapped. The maids around looked uncomfortable as the two glared on to each other.
Erwin held on to the shoulder of each and sighed. "Enough. In case the both of you are forgetting we are meeting the king today."
Hallinor stiffened as Levi crossed his arms. In her mind she had completely forgotten why they were here. After all her clever comebacks and insulting words to the captain she hadn't noticed how fast their journey to the inner walls was.
"Hallinor!" A tiny voice echoed from the distance. She questioned herself if she dared to even turn around to see the source of the tiny footsteps. She could feel her breath becoming short and rapid as the sound became louder behind her.
The plump man who was the king came to a stop. "Oh my darling seems shy today." He mused. "Turn around so I can see your face my dear."
Slowly Hallinor turned her body to face him. Her arms rose up to grab hold of the edge of her riding hood. Carefully pulling it back she revealed her long silver locks. A small forced smile crept at the corner of her mouth as she gave a small bow. "Good afternoon, my King."
Taking her hand he stroked the back of it as a smile plastered on his face. Seemingly pleased with the attention he had already gotten from her he turned his head to look at Erwin. "Has she prepared something fantastic for as usual?"
Erwin smiled. "Of course she does."
With that the king nodded with glee, "Then I shall have the servants ready the dining hall." Turning his heel he ran off to the insides on the palace followed by the maids on his trail.
In the corner of Erwin's eye he saw the trembling body of the little girl. She was roughly wiping her hand with her cloak, which made her hand burn red due to the friction. Whimpers of fear hitched from her throat.
"Hallinor calm down." Erwin spoke. "You have-"
"Oi, man up. He didn't do anything bad to you." Levi said as he had cut off his commander.
Without even bothering to listen she kept on wiping her hand roughly. Patches of red grew bigger on her skin, threatening to break out into a wound.
"Hey! Didn't you fucking hear what I just said?" Levi snapped as he marched towards the girl. In the background he could hear Erwin telling him to stop but decided to tune him out for the time being. Roughly he grasped her wrist with his hand and pulled it away making her spin to face him. His eyes glared on to her frightened face. "Listen to me when I say-"
Levi stopped talking when he was rudely interrupted by a long high-pitched scream. Her face contorted into a repulsive gaze as she violently pulled her arm away from his touch. "Let go!"
"Don't let him touch me, Erwin!" She moaned as tears started to well up in the corner of her eyes.
Upon this Levi released his fingers from her making her stumble a bit backwards. He watched her as she cradled her wrist as if it were broken and Erwin rushing to her side, whispering things into her ear.
Shaking his head in disapproval he turned his heels to head to the inside of the castle leaving the distraught girl to Erwin's care.
"Hallinor, why so quiet?" The king asked as he watched her fingers hold on to the fork as she poked her meat. "That was certainly a great performance from you." He gushed as his fingers tried to move slowly to Hallinor's other free hand.
"I just feel a bit unwell your Highness, that's all." She spoke softly with her eyes casted down, not even flinching the slightest upon the king's touch.
The king clicked his tongue as he now wore a face of much concern. "Why didn't you tell me Erwin? I wouldn't have let her dance."
Erwin scratched the back of his head as he looked at the smaller man at the opposite of him who was drinking his tea with eyes closed.
"Oh no, dancing made me feel better. It was more of like the journey going here which made me feel unwell." Hallinor spoke as she stole a hard glance over to Levi.
With this the king chuckled. "Still such a vigorous tongue, eh Erwin. It's so nice to see her so different from the first time I saw her."
As those words came loose in the air, Hallinor's head snapped up. She fidgeted on her seat as her mouth clamped into a thin line.
The king placed a finger on his chin as he expressed his thought out loud. "It was almost like ten years ago wasn't it Erwin?" He eyes the blonde commander.
"Yes, ten years." Erwin spoke softly as he touched the girl's hand beneath the table. He reminded her silently that she shouldn't worry much.
"It was a good thing those horrible men had been captured already." The king mumbled to himself. "I detest such vulgar acts they had brought up-"
"May I please be excused?" Hallinor rose up from her seat, which made a high pitch screech along the process. "I-I'm feeling a bit unwell again." She gently brought her hand to her head as she waited for the king's approval.
Alarmed and concerned the king nodded vigorously as he stood up to hold onto Hallinor's limp arm. "Of course, of course my dear. Would you want me to call for a maid to escort you to a room?" He asked.
She placed her hand up and gave a small forced smile. "No, no need my King. I just wish for some air. May I please go outside for a while?"
With a small nod from the king she glanced over to Erwin who had a face of worry. She smiled at him as she carefully made her way towards the big doors. The maids opened the doors for her and she mumbled a soft thank you for politeness. Three pair of eyes watched the figure slowly fade from their sight.
With that Erwin looked back to the king with the look of displeasure. "Levi," He called for the captain's attention. "Go after Hallinor and make sure she doesn't do something reckless."
Caught off guard, Levi recomposed himself as he gave Erwin a short nod. Standing up from his seat he faced the king and gave a bow to excuse himself then after made his way to the direction she had walked a few moment ago.
When the door creaked close Erwin placed his hands on top of the table, intertwined with each other. "Your Majesty I do not mean to sound rude but we had agreed that anything about Hallinor's past would be kept confidential."
The king's face turned bright red as he became all flustered. "Oh no, you are not rude Commander. I apologize, I had gotten carried away and I had assumed that it was fine since Levi had already known." He gazed towards the other man with an apologetic face.
"It's alright. You know Hallinor, she hates talking about her past." Erwin gave a smile. "I just hope this doesn't happen again my King. I don't want Hallinor being uncomfortable and Levi knowing about it."
The king blinked. "Oh, the Captain doesn't know?" He asked.
Erwin chuckled. "Oh no, he's merely just escorting Hallinor since lately I have been too busy to be her escort."
Silently the king swallowed a lump as the blonde man next to him kept talking about things happening in the Survey Corps. Bringing his stubby finger to his lips he mumbled softly to himself,
"Oh dear."
The moonlight painted the trees around the place with a hazy glow. In the background there was a soft flow of water resounding from the large fountain in the middle of the palace gardens. She took a sharp in take of air. Her hair danced along the steady wind passing through. The boots she wore made low crunches as she stepped on to the grass. Slowly she wrapped her arms around herself as she had neared the edge of the fountain.
Sitting down as she dipped her hand to the water, she gazed softly at her reflection. Moving her hand in tiny circles, her image on the water became more and more distorted.
"That's filthy you know."
Without bothering to turn around to see whose voice it was, she remained quiet.
Levi's grey eyes stared intently at the girl's small back. He watched as her hair flowed down like a curtain whenever she had made even the slightest movement.
Turning her face to Levi without letting her hand leave the water, she spoke. "Came here to mock me again Captain?" Sarcasm dripped from her tone.
He grunted. "No, Erwin told me to babysit you for a while."
Pulling her gaze back to the fountain she scoffed, "I don't need to be watched over. Leave me alone. Just tell him I'll be back in a few minutes."
Now it was his turn for him to scoff, "You think I would follow your orders and not Erwin's? Don't be too full of yourself."
A roar of laughter erupted from her. "Commendable Captain. Highly commendable, your loyalty that is."
Levi twitched as he watched her shoulder shake violently from her sudden outburst. He was starting to let this girl get into his nerves.
She recomposed herself as she let her gaze fall again at her reflection. Scrunching up her nose she felt disgust flow through her mind. Raising her hand to the air in a tight fist that was previously submerged in the water, she paused, staring hard at herself. "You say this water is filthy, am I not mistaken Captain?" She whispered loud enough for Levi to hear. Without bothering to wait for his reply she brought her hand down to the water.
Hallinor stood up from the edge of the fountain. She carefully turned around and had a look of malice as droplets of water slid down across her face. Her dress was partially wet as her hair received the equal attention.
"Commander had told me a lot about the Survey Corps when I had persuaded him to let me join. He did mention a lot about you, Captain Levi, Humanity's Greatest Soldier." She said in a low voice as she stepped forward towards the still Captain.
Inching closer she gave an eerie grin. "He did mention something about you, something interesting." She clicked her tongue as her eye drooped down. "He said you despise filth. You despise it so much that you wouldn't even bother going near it."
A few inches she looked up to the soldier. Even though it was too close for Hallinor's comfort she seemed to not mind it so much during the present moment.
"So would you answer something for me Captain?" She fluttered her eyelashes, tickling her cheekbones softly.
Levi peered down with the same expression he had. Staring at her glassy grey eyes that were filled with mystery, he cocked an eyebrow up. "And that is?" He breathed out.
"What in the world are you doing near me?"
After their long journey back to head quarters Hallinor left in a rush. Erwin sighed as he climbed down of his steed. Scrunching his right hand into a fist he placed it on his forehead as his eyes trembled in pain. He wouldn't see her again for a week. Ever since he had seen those scared grey eyes when she was a small child he felt soft and powerless. He cherished her so much that he felt like crying whenever she did.
"Erwin." His companion disrupted his thoughts. Slowly turning his head he looked at the shorter man.
"Anything else I can do for you?" Levi asked with a platonic look.
Shaking his head from side to side he spoke, "No Levi, there's nothing you can do for me right now." He paused and gave a small smile. "You will continue the private training with her after this week. That's all, you may go now."
Nodding quietly, the captain spun his heel as he now made his way towards the castle like structure leaving the tall blonde man alone.