After weeks and weeks of traveling, Eren was starting to get just a tad bit disgruntled. I mean come on. There had to be something that would prove they were on the right track. Didn't there? In all fairness they had stumbled across the ruined walls and buildings of Shiganshina, but they quickly hurried on. The place gave most of them the heebie jeebies. He was slowly becoming more and more broody as the days stretched on and if it wasn't for Levi distracting him with that gorgeous body and that wonderful mouth, he would probably have gone insane. As it was, he spent most of his down time talking to the man he loved and if they weren't talking, they were doing very naughty naughty things together. Just the thought of it, made Eren's nether regions stir with interest.
He glanced at Levi riding on the horse that was slightly at a diagonal in front of him. Man did he wish there weren't so many clothes in the way, so he could watch those mouthwatering muscles flex. He was so lost in his dirty thoughts that it took him a moment to realize that everyone was coming to a stop at the crest of a steep hill. Once Eren came to the crest, he also stopped his horse and looked out over the landscape.
Below them stretched for miles were crumbling rock walls. Buildings in varying states of decay. There was an old castle in the center. Green moss and vines climbing up its sides. Well the sides that were still standing. It was the ruins. It had to be. Eren's eyes took it all in. The air in his lungs quickly vanishing on an exhale. They had done it. They were here. Finally they would get answers! A huge grin broke out on his face as a wave of elation crashed through him.
It was short lived however when he realized that the whole damn thing seemed to be surrounded by titans. A fuck ton of titans everywhere. None of them were actually standing in the ruins, but they hovered around the outskirts. How the hell were they supposed to get past all of that? It would be a blood bath. He was drawn from his own thoughts by Annie speaking out.
"We have to shift" came the bland comment.
"What!? No!" Historia cried out. "There has to be another way!"
Annie calmly glanced back at her. "It makes the most sense. We will shift and protect the horses. It appears they can't set foot inside of the ruins, so it will just be a mad dash and then we will shift back."
"I think Annie is right" Reiner piped up with his deep baritone.
"Yeah, sorry Historia, but I don't really see any other option" Ymir said casually.
Levi didn't like where this was going. He glanced towards Eren and saw the spark of determination flare in those expressive beautiful eyes. Before Levi could open his mouth to protest Eren shifting, Mikasa already beat him to it.
"Eren isn't shifting" Mikasa said in a voice that made it clear arguments would not be welcomed.
Eren balked in his horse. Mikasa didn't have a right to tell him what he could or couldn't do. He was not going to sit idly by and let everyone else do all the heavy lifting. He was a shifter and he would do his gawl darn job. "I'll do whatever is necessary" Eren ground out at his sister.
"Eren" Levi started, but shut his mouth when those fiery greens looked at him. Eren's face a mask of perfect resolve showing that he would not do anything less than what was needed to complete this task. Levi's heart clenched painfully at the thought of Eren shifting and getting closer to his death bed, but at the same time he was proud of his brat. Looking into that face, Levi knew any of his objections would be ignored. Instead he gazed back into that beautiful sun kissed face. "Are you sure?"
Eren's glare faltered for a moment. He had thought that Levi was going to try and argue with him about this, but instead he asked those three little words. Was Eren sure about this? Heck yeah he was. They were this close and he could feel victory right on the tips of his fingers. There was no way he would back down now. His gaze softened and a small smile spread on his lips as he nodded. Levi didn't look happy, but he didn't say anything else. Mikasa also held her tongue from further outbursts.
Once everyone was ready the five shifters made their way to the front of the little group. Levi watched with bated breath as the love of his life bit down on his hand. The area filled immediately with steam and when it cleared, five very different titans stood in front of them. Annie's titan shared her blond hair and it seemed someone forgot to remind her that skin did exist. It was actually a little creepy seeing the tendon and muscle like flesh. Levi had to snort at what he assumed was Ymir. Hard to tell since it looked like a giant creepy goblin. Reiner looked like a muscle bound beast, so Levi supposed it wasn't too much different from real life except now he had a bone like armor covering him. Bertholdt was another one of those that missed the whole skin memo and shit that beast was huge. Then there was Eren. His titan green eyes lit with fire. He was terrifying and breathtaking all at the same time.
"Shit. Hey guys we really need get the hell out of here" Jean's comment drew Levi's attention back to what was actually happening and he followed Jean's gaze. A large handful of titans that had been loitering around the perimeter of the ruins were running their way. Well wasn't that freaking dandy? Everyone quickly took off following their titan buddies in that mad dash forward. Stones and dust picked up under the horses hooves as they ran down the steep hill.
Levi could have stayed on his horse, but his instincts told him that he had to stay close to Eren no matter what. He ditched the horse and his hooks embedded themselves into Eren's shoulder. He hoped that it wouldn't hurt his beast of boyfriend that much. Apparently not if the lack of response was anything to go by. Mikasa and Armin also jumped up onto their friend to protect him. Even though it was supposed to be Eren protecting all of them.
Levi held on for dear life as wind whipped past him. His hopes of rushing past the oncoming onslaught of enemy titans was short lived. When one ventured to close to Eren, Levi disengaged from his perch to sink a hook into the disgusting creature. It took a split second to cut out the back of the creature's neck and then he was perched back on his boyfriend's massive shoulder. With a couple more little scuffles, they were finally stopping in the ruins. Levi watched with amazement as the pursuing titans stopped just shy of the outskirts and after a dazed moment seemed to forget all about their intended prey. Levi didn't dwell on it. He had more important things to do like get his boyfriend out of this beastly body.
"Oi Eren get your ass out of there right now" Levi demanded with a knock to the titan's cheek. Fiery green eyes looked at him. In a billow of steam, Eren's human body appeared and Levi was already there pulling him free from the dissipating corpse.
Eren looked at him with a dazed expression for a moment before a little smirk slowly spread onto his plush little lips. Levi opened his mouth to ask what the hell the idiot was grinning at, but never got the chance. Eren leaned forward eliminating any space between them to land a surprise attack on Levi's lips. Levi's mind spaced for a second when Eren's tongue, which was way fucking hotter than normal, ran across his own. Long nimble fingers buried themselves into his hair pulling him closer. Levi's body broke into a shudder and then his own fingers were burying themselves into fluffy brown hair and his own tongue was trying to get into that extremely hot mouth. Eren moaned in response and climbed on top of his lap straddling him. It probably would have escalated further if a clearing of a throat hadn't pulled Levi's attention back to the present. He disengaged his mouth from Eren, receiving a noise of protest from the brunette, to look into Erwin's face. A bushy eyebrow was cocked in amusement.
"Not that the show isn't entertaining, but we do have somethings to attend to first Captain" Erwin said in an amused tone.
Levi shrugged and tried to pry the clingy elf off of him. After another failed attempt, Levi looked into the dazed eyes of his lover and smirked. "Eren, why don't we save this for when we don't have an audience looking at us."
Eren blinked a couple of times and then looked around. Whatever little dazed trance he had been in vanished in a second and in the blink of an eye he was scrambling off of Levi's lap. A tomato red blush on his face reaching up his ears. He really needed to quit spacing out in public. It was just so easy to do when Levi was there in front of him. Close enough to touch. Eren was pulled from his dirty and self-deprecating thoughts when Historia continued on as if nothing had happened.
"Well since we are finally here" Historia started in a pleasant albeit slightly embarrassed tone. "Why don't we find somewhere to set up camp while we search for the cellar?"
With that the group ventured further into the ruins. They actually ended up setting up base in the old castle. It made sense as it was centrally located and could be seen for miles around. Some parts still even provided shelter from the elements.
It was a couple of days later that they finally stumbled upon a shattered building that miraculously had a cellar door intact. Eren glanced one more time nervously at Levi before walking closer. He felt sick. His stomach felt like a bubbling lava pit and his hand was shaking as he reached up to wipe the sweat from his forehead. This was it. Fuck. Shit. This was nerve wracking. He felt like he was trudging through thick mud. When he finally got to the door he paused. One last quick look over his shoulder to all of his comrades watching with wide hopeful eyes. He took a deep cleansing breath and removed the key from around his neck. It entered the lock smoothly and with a little twist of his wrist the gears shifted into place allowing the door to be pulled open. Eren hesitantly took the steps down into the suffocating darkness.
He was so lost in the moment that he forgot that he had brought with a little lantern. With a snap of his fingers, he let the magic flow through them to light the little wick. It provided just enough light to see where he was going. He found he didn't need it though as the moment he set foot on the floor of the cellar the whole damn thing lit up by itself. Eren blinked quickly adjusting to the bright light escaping off of tubing along the walls and ceiling.
"What the…?" Eren trailed off as he moved further into the room. There were drawings and diagrams pinned over the walls and tables. Pictures of Titans, elves and things he couldn't possibly identify. There were weird tubes and jars with liquid in some of them. Creepily enough some of the liquid filled jars were glowing. Eren continued to meander throughout the room trying to take it all, but it was just way too freaking weird. He gingerly picked up a giant ancient tomb of a book and flicked open a page. The writing was so ancient he couldn't even take a guess at what any of it meant. Next to the book was a slightly newer looking one. He set the delicate ancient book down and picked up the one next to it. Now this one he could read.
Levi had his arms folded across his chest trying to be patient, but it was really fucking hard. What the hell was taking Eren so long? Was he ok? Was the cellar filled with all that magical goobly gook that would finally free them from this crap hole of a world? He scowled at the door once more. He had tried to go after Eren when 20 minutes had passed, but had been stopped by the elves. Stupid elves and their stupid superstition. It's been over an hour. Can't someone just go take a peek or something? They had called down to Eren, but he never responded.
"Well this is a surprise" a smooth voice stated from behind the little posse. Everyone's attention quickly fixated towards the voice.
"Grisha!?" Historia said with a large dose of shock. "W-we thought you were dead! You never came back. What happened to you?"
The man named Grisha shrugged and moved forward. He had dark brown hair in a low ponytail and round glasses shading his eyes. Levi watched as the crowd split in two letting the man have room to pass through the small crowd. "I was doing research." When Grisha reached the front near the cellar door he turned back and glanced at the tiny little elven queen. "My apologies for any inconvenience. Is Eren down there by any chance?"
"Y-yes" Historia answered shakily. Her light blue eyes blown wide.
Levi didn't like this. Something didn't feel right. The little hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. After years of fighting for his very existence, Levi knew when to trust his instincts. "Who are you?" he spoke up staring the older elf down with narrowed eyes.
"Grisha Yeager. Eren's father. Now if you'll excuse me." Grisha didn't wait for another second before striding down the steps into the darkness.
"I don't like this" Levi mumbled in a low tone to Erwin. The broad shouldered blonde nodded and with a small gesture signaled for Levi to follow him a short distance from where the crowd was waiting eagerly for some news from their handsome green eyed savior.
Eren was staring vacantly at the wall in front of him. He had ended up slumped on the floor against the adjacent wall. The book left limply in his lap. It didn't make sense what he was reading. How was it even possible? This book…this book made it sound like the elves…no that couldn't be right… They wouldn't…
"Hello Eren" Grisha said as he walked calmly into the room. He crouched down in front of his stunned son and plucked the book off of his lap. He gracefully stood up and set the book on the nearest table. The one that Eren happened to take it from in the first place.
"D-dad?" Eren asked in an awed whisper looking up at the man he hadn't seen in over 15 years.
Grisha smiled softly down at his son and ruffled his hair gently. "It's been a while. You grew up nicely. You know I expected you to find this place someday. What I didn't expect was a whole entourage of not only elves, but humans as well to come with you. I thought I made it clear that no one was to ever find this place."
"W-what…?" Eren stuttered. "I don't remember anything like that…Why…?" Eren's muddled mind couldn't seem to focus on any one thing at the moment and the room became just a bunch of fuzzy images and shadows. When his eyes landed on the book again, he shuddered at the thought. He pointed at the book. "Dad…that book…what it said…it's not…is it?"
Grisha chuckled at his stuttering son. "Yes Eren. It's true. The elves, well more specifically the Yeagers, created the titans."
"B-but how?" Eren just couldn't wrap his mind around it.
"Eren." Grisha started unimpressed. "You just read the book didn't you?"
"Some of it, but I don't understand! Why would we do that!? How could we do that!?" Eren could feel the measly little meal he had for breakfast trying to fight its way out of his stomach. Oh god he was going to be sick. He quickly turned to the side and heaved.
Grisha sighed and rubbed at his temples. "Disgusting. You're cleaning that up later." With one more sigh he glanced down at his son before turning his back to him to start fiddling with some little vials on another one of the tables. "I guess I'll give you a little history lesson. You see Eren back when we created the titans, humans and elves were in a long standing war. The humans wanted to enslave the elves and use their magic for their own. They are greedy little bastards. I still can't believe they are standing outside my cellar as we speak" Grisha said in a disgusted tone. Eren listened despite wanting nothing more than to run from this room and never look back. He watched as Grisha lifted a needle filled with a glowing liquid up to the light and flick it with his fingernails getting rid of the air bubbles. He set it back on the table and went back to filling other little vials with a different liquid.
"Anyways… The Yeagers were praised for their ability to use their magic to alter their physical attributes. We could make ourselves stronger, taller, faster, damn near indestructible, but we were still losing to humans. That's when we started experimenting with potions to amplify our powers. Make us stronger. We were successful and the first shifter was born." Grisha paused and walked over to a little cupboard digging through it. "It only made sense to use what we had on other elves…except they weren't able to shift back. Thus the first titans were born. You see it was something in our genetic makeup that allowed Yeagers to shift between the two. It was quite devastating when the first untamed titans appeared, but with a little more finagling, the Yeagers learned to how to control the titans. The elves now had the means of destroying the humans, but no other elves wanted to volunteer themselves to be turned into giant brainless monsters. Instead we infected humans with the titan poison and used them against their previous comrades. We were gods Eren. We had an indestructible army."
Grisha was now back at the table playing with something that Eren couldn't see. Not that he could focus anyways. What he was hearing, was shredding his mind apart. How could they!? A small bubble of anger was starting to form in the pit of his swirling mind. They destroyed the world! For what!? He clenched his fists tightly as the anger continued to take hold.
"The thing is though, the human's somehow learned what was going on and who was controlling the titans. And those morons…" Grisha chuckled with derision. "Those morons decided the best solution was to assassinate every Yeager they could. I don't know how they managed to get in here, but they did. That's how this city fell. There was no one left to control the horde of titans…Well except for one Yeager that managed to escape. He locked himself down here in the cellar and cast the spells making it impossible for anyone except his own descendants to enter this place. That's his book right there. He wrote everything he knew into it. Once he had finished writing it, he left this place and left a couple more spells keeping titans out. You should be grateful that he found the elves in the once human city of Maria and settled down to start a family. Otherwise you wouldn't have existed and you wouldn't be about to become the ruler of this world along with me."
Eren's anger floundered for a second as the last sentence invaded his boiling thoughts…What…? He was lost for a moment and that brief little distraction made him too slow to react to Grisha pouncing on him plunging a needle into his arm. Eren's eyes went wide with shock and he pushed his father violently off of him. He jumped to his feet and held onto the spot where the needle pricked him. "Wha-What did you do to me!?"
Grisha stood up nonchalantly and dusted himself off. "I gave you a shot that should help you be able to control the titans…Well it should…It worked on me anyways. Now my son" Grisha clasped his arms and smiled warmly at his son. "You and I are going to start our own dynasty. Either the elves and humans will fall under our rule, or…"
Eren was still having a really hard fucking time dealing with everything that he had just learned. The way his dad just dropped his sentence like that was clearly indicating a threat. "Th-this is insane! I don't believe any of this! How can you believe such utter bullshit!?" Eren felt like he was being torn apart by emotions. His whole body was shaking and he quickly pulled away from his dad's grasp. His skin crawled where he still felt the touch.
Grisha laughed at him. Like really laughed, but it wasn't pleasant. It wasn't the laugh Eren remembered from his childhood. "Oh Eren my dear boy. It appears that you need a demonstration and I know just the thing." Grisha strode back up the stairs. Eren's body felt like it was nailed to the floor, but with great effort he followed after his dad. He needed more answers. Unfortunately he got them.
Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion to him. He watched his dad raise his arm holding a little crossbow contraption. He heard the firing noises echo inside of his brain. Olou grunted. Followed by Gunther and Nanaba. A couple of the queen's elven guard also made shocked noises. Eren wasn't sure who had been hit from his race because a moment later the surrounding area was enveloped in steam. He heard Levi and Erwin shout something, but it was just noise to Eren.
The couple of moments of shock that occurred when seven fully fledged titans filled the small area was all that was needed for the blood bath to begin. Blood curdling screams filled the area. The time where everything seemed to move in slow motion was gone and everything was a blur of movement and blood. Mike's torso landed on the ground. His legs nowhere to be seen. His eyes staring wide into nothingness. Ymir was already shifted and was running away with a hysterical Historia clutched in one of her hands. Annie, Berthodlt and Reiner were also shifted and were already engaging the titans. Eren's wide horrified eyes landed on Jean screaming in pure agony looking at Marco. Well what was left of Marco anyways…
"Only seven…hmm…one of my shots must have missed…" Grisha said thoughtfully as he leaned against a ruined wall.
Eren's eyes moved to his dad and in a flash any familiar feelings vanished. Instead Eren saw red. His anger and hatred over flowing for the man responsible for the death of his friends and Levi. Oh god Levi! He hadn't seen him. What if? No, Levi was too strong for that. He wouldn't die so easily, but the thought alone had Eren growling out bastard before biting down on his own hand.
Once Eren's shift was complete he focused back on the spot where that demonic man had been only to be met with another titan. One bigger than himself.
"Now Eren. You really don't want to do this" The titan said in a deep echoing voice. Eren's banshee like scream filled the space in response and he launched himself at the beast in front of him. There was only one thing on his mind. Destroy it. "Alright. We'll do this the hard way. Come to my aid my little army" Grisha's titan yell rang through the landscape.
Eren was so fixated on his single track mind, he didn't notice that the horde of titans hovering outside the ruins were crossing over. Levi noticed though and swore worse than anything he had ever done before. This was it. They were all going to fucking die. "ERWIN!" Levi called out as he flipped through the air to land next to Erwin high up on a wall. Hanji followed a second later. "We are completely and utterly fucked." They were completely surrounded on all sides and vastly outnumbered. It wasn't even a question.
Erwin was for once at a loss for words. What was even more surprising was that Hanji was too. They all scanned the area around them. There was no way out. They had managed to take down the seven turned titans. Levi chose not to dwell on the fact, that those were once his friends. He could mourn later if he survived. The four shifted elves had surrounded a lone tower that currently had the remaining elves perched on top. Historia, Mikasa, Armin, Connie and Sasha. That was it. Levi's eyes landed on Eren's titan body that was wrestling violently with the titan that Levi assumed was Grisha. That evil fucking bastard. Levi was filled with rage something he usually didn't allow to cloud his judgement during a fight. He was a second away from rushing to the aid of his titan, but Erwin's steely grasp stopped him.
"You would just get in the way and be a distraction to him right now. We need you Levi. That is an order" Erwin's voice brooked for no argument, but Levi was on the verge of one anyways. He couldn't let Eren fight alone.
"They're here" Hanji's unnaturally calm tone drove away Levi's argument. As much as he would love to rush to Eren's side, the first thing he would need to do was survive. Levi clenched his jaw as the first wave crashed against their pitiful little perch. His mind retreated to its own little special place like it always did when fighting for his life.
The battle was never ending, but Levi refused to give in. He just fucking refused. He would not die here today. He flipped through the air dodging an outstretched hand and landed just long enough to help Erwin's battered body. Yeah he wasn't going to let that bastard die today either if he could help it. They skidded to a halt on top of the now tilting tower. Right next to the elven queen that instantly went to stop the bleeding from Erwin's missing arm. Light glowing gently from her outstretched palms. Levi looked back out into the battlefield cursing the sheer amount of bodies. The shifters were failing. Ymir was already laying unmoving on the ground. Bertholdt not doing much better despite his size. There was gaps in his body where titans had taken chunks out of him.
Eren's pained screech broke through the noise and Levi's eyes locked on him in a split second. "Fuck this shit. Sorry Erwin I can't follow your order this time." With that Levi was already flying through the air towards the private little scuffle going on between father and son.
Levi proved to be a good distraction to Grisha. Slicing when he could. Gouging out an eye here, a couple of fingers there, but damn he was persistent and he called for some backup. Levi swore and dealt with the oncoming onslaught. What felt like decades, but was probably less than 30 minutes, Grisha's body fell limp to the ground. Eren's giant maw holding the steaming flesh of the back of the other titan's neck.
He dropped the flesh from his jaw and his gleaming jade eyes looked at the scene around them. "STTOOOOPPPP!" Came the screechy high pitched yell. Every titan in the vicinity froze. Levi flinched at the sheer pitch and loudness of the voice. "Leave this place now!"
The remaining titans started ambling away in a hurry to obey their new king. Levi let his body fall to the ground with exhaustion. Everything fucking hurt and his limbs felt like they weighed a fuck ton. He was on his knees staring up into his titan's face that looked down at him. "Enough Eren. It's enough come back to me…" Levi said in a strained voice.
The titan got down on its hands and knees and Levi let out a sigh of relief when the familiar steam rose from the back of its neck. He watched as Eren's body emerged from the beast. He watched Eren's back arched as the tendons and tissues tore. He then proceeded to watch as Eren's body fell limp to the ground. His heart stopping instantly at the sight. Exhaustion be damned, he was by his lover's side in an instant staring down at the unconscious steaming body. Eren's chest barely moving as it took way to slow and way to shallow breaths.
Levi wasn't sure how much time passed, but eventually Mikasa was kneeling down next to them. Her dark gray eyes filled with panic. Levi allowed her to pull Eren against her even though he really fucking didn't want to let go of Eren at all. It was Mikasa though and Levi knew the woman would throw her life away in an instant for him.
"Eren!" Mikasa's panicked voice called to him. Tears were already sliding out of the corner of her eyes. "Eren you have to wake up! You can't leave me!"
Levi watched in a dazed state as Mikasa cried and clung to Eren's still unconscious body.