Eren blinked and looked around once he heard the giggling of a women from somewhere in the mountainous forest?

"Well~ Long time on see short scales."

Levi's narrow eyes squeezed shut, a puff of smoke formed from his nostrils as he sighed deeply.

Eren jumped back a few steps when a tall woman with goggle-like glasses appeared out of thin air.

The women wore a white button down shirt with a long black hooded coat that dragged against the ground, which matched her tall black boots. Her reddish brown hair was pulled back into a sloppy bun with some locks loosely hanging out.

"You know I can easily burn your house down for calling me that, Hanji..." he muttered.

"I know you won't though, Levi. You know I'm only teasing!" The woman, known as Hanji, replied.

Eren froze when the woman spotted him.

"And who's this Levi?" She asked.

"I-I'm Eren... You must be Hanji. Levi's told me a bit about you." The brunette said nervously, "He said you know about magic... I-I want to learn..."

Levi shook his head when heard the boy said that.

Shouldn't have said that... Now you're in for it, Eren. Levi thought.

Eren froze when Hanji suddenly grasped his hand firmly in between her own.

"Oh~ I knew I saw a hint of curiosity in your eyes." She whispered.

Levi rolled his eyes at Hanji's statement and sighed.

"What's with the magic barrier around here?" Levi asked.

It was then, that Eren glanced over at Levi. His sea-green eyes went wide as they traveled up the dragon's black spiked shoulder and up his long smoky black colored neck, which was also lined with black spikes. His eyes followed up to look upon Levi's real face. The dragon's face was also a smoky black with the exception of light grey that was around his mouth and all the way down his neck to his underbelly, a thin strip of dark navy blue ran from the tip of his nose to were his tail began.

Eren blinked and froze in place as he looked at the big ash colored dragon but relaxed when he caught the familiar metallic grey gaze of Levi's eyes within the dragon's skull. He cracked a small smile as he took in Levi's real form but it quickly faded when he looked at his left wing.

"Sorry sorry..." Hanji said, "You can switch forms now that you're within the barrier." Eren frowned slightly when Levi cast his human cloaking spell on himself but he was glad he was in a form familiar to Eren.

"Oh! Where are my manners? Come." She said as she pulled the two along, "You two must be tired after such a long journey."

Eren blinked in surprised and glanced over at Levi as they were dragged. Levi returned the gaze as he rolled his eyes and shook his head. Eren gave him a puzzled look before looking on ahead. He could see a small cottage with an old but working watermill attached to the sides as the trees parted into a small clearing.

"You could've at least tried to clean up since the last time I came." Levi said with a slight scowl.

Hanji simply shrugged as a slight giggle escaped her.

"Sorry but I wasn't informed of your arrival." She said, "Hey Armin! Come on out! We have guests!"

Eren squinted as the cottage door squeaked open a crack. All he could see was one crystal blue eye peering out into the open. He watched as the door opened all the way and a boy, just about his age, appeared. The boy had huge crystal blue eyes and shoulder length blond hair. He wore the same outfit Hanji had on, except the cloak he wore was a midnight blue instead of black.

"H-Hello Mister Levi sir..." the boy stuttered.

Levi glanced over at the boy and nodded.

"Hello Armin. You've grow a bit since the last time I saw you." The dragon said.

The boy, known as Armin, rubbed his arm as he glanced up at Eren and gave a shy smile.

"I'm Eren... Eren Jaeger. You must be Armin?" Eren said as he extended his hand towards the other boy.

Armin nodded, taking Eren's hand and shaking it

"I'm Armin Arlert. Nice to meet you." Armin said as his smile grew a bit brighter.

"Hey... Where's she?" Levi asked in a slight hiss of annoyance as he looked around with narrow eyes.

Hanji and Armin both snickered at the dragon before a loud cat yowl could be heard from treetops. Soon enough a slender black cat jumped down from the tree and onto a barrel.

"I'm right here." The car answered, "More importantly, why the hell are you back for? I thought we saw the last of your scaly hide a longtime ago."

She narrowed her grey eyes at the dragon, who glared back. Their intense glaring looked as if they could shatter glass. It sent a shiver up Eren's spine, he only saw Levi give him the same glare once before and that was when he asked of they could fly, but now he knew the reason behind it.

"That's some big talk coming from a fur ball like you. I can see the fur on your tail finally grew back." Levi hissed back.

Both Armin and Hanji rolled their eyes.

"They're at it again, Hanji-san." Armin said.

"And in record time too. Just 1.5 seconds of seeing each other." Hanji said, tilting her head to the side as she watched.

"Is anyone gonna stop them?" Eren whispered.

As if cue, the cat stopped bickering with the dragon and turned to Eren.

"And just who the hell are you?" The black she-cat asked as she looked at Eren up and down.

"I'm Eren." He said with a slight smile, despite the fact that Levi was glaring at him.

"Nice to meet you, Eren. I'm Mikasa." The cat said, "Word to the wise... be careful around the old overgrown lizard over there. He nearly baroque my tail off the last time he was here."

Eren glanced over at Levi as he heard a slight 'tch' coming from him.

"It was an accident. I mistook you for an overgrown black rat." Levi snorted.

"Why you good for nothing lil-"

"Okay. Okay. I think that's enough catching up for now." Hanji cut the talking cat off as she stepped in front of the two bickering beats, "How about we all go inside? You two can show Eren around while Levi and I talk."

Armin and Mikasa both nodded in agreement. The blond boy grabbed Eren by the wrist and walked inside with the cat following close behind after shooting another glare at the dragon. Levi let out a deep sigh but followed after the glasses wearing witch. He knew deep in his stomach what she wanted to talk about.

He knew his way around the house quite well and he had a good feeling where she wanted to take him. He pushed open a small wooden door, only to have the room expand into a huge study.

Meanwhile, Eren was confused over where the blond and the cat were taking him as they led him through countless corridors.

"Hey... where are we-?"

Eren was cut off as Armin shushed him. The blond glanced back at the brunette and pressed his finger to his lips as he started to quickly and quietly climb a flight of hidden stairs. Eren was puzzled but quietly followed after the pair. It wasn't until they all huddled together to see in a small hole in the wall that Eren understood. They were spying on Levi and Hanji's conversation.

Levi walked in and sat down in one of the chairs, crossing one foot over the opposite knee as he did.

"What? I know you dragged me in here to talk about something private so spit it out." He said quirking an eyebrow as the woman as she sat across from him.

"So you're into princes now... That's a twist." She said as she leaned her elbows on the table in between them and rested her head on her folded hands.

Levi rolled his eyes at the woman's comment and shook his head.

"That's not what we're talking about." He replied.

"I'm only teasing, short scales~"

"Stop calling me that, shitty magic glasses."

"He doesn't know, does he?" Hanji asked as the light reflected off her glasses, covering her eyes.

Levi shook his head and sighed, running a hand through his hair. There is was... the real reason why Hanji wanted to talk.

"No and he doesn't have to!" He hissed in defense.

"Why? If I recall... you said you weren't going to get involved in knight's affairs anymore." Hanji asked, quirking an eyebrow at the male.

Levi glanced down at the ground and placed his head in his hand as he leaned over to one side of the chair. He had said that... Even though it was years ago, he still remembers saying it.

"Well people change over time..." he replied bluntly.

"From all the years I've known you... I've never heard you say such a thing... or even going back on your word for that matter." Hanji said before a smile crossed her lips, "Its cause of that boy, isn't it?"

Levi narrowed his metallic grey eyes and sighed deeply. He remained quiet for a short time. He knew Hanji was right. It was because of Eren... it was all because of Eren.

"Levi... isn't the boy at least a bit curious about why you know such advance sword fighting techniques and survive skills?" Hanji asked.

Eren blinked as he heard the witch say it. He was a bit curious as to why Levi knew so much.