Levi pulled away from the kiss and sat back to look at Eren. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes lidded. She was beautiful. He took a lock of her hair and pushed it back behind her ear just as Jean was sitting up, holding his head.

"I feel like I got hit by a truck," he grumbled.

Eren stood and went to him, kneeling but the couch where he was sitting. She grinned at him.

"Why do you have such a stupid look on your face for?" Jean asked, frowning.

Levi rolled his eyes. He had no idea how Eren could be friends with such an idiot. But Eren only continued to smile at him and said, "Levi broke our curses."

Jean stared at her uncomprehendingly. "He did what?"

"He freed us," she said softly, glancing briefly back at Levi.

Levi squirmed in his own skin. She was looking at him adoringly and it felt somewhat… wrong. She shouldn't love someone so much who had hurt her so much. Levi felt his smile slip just a little.

She didn't see his wavering smile; she was looking back at Jean as the realization dawned over his face. His wide eyes were comically wide. "So my cat curse?"

Eren threw herself against Jean, gathering him into a hug. "We are humans. Regular, mortal humans!" She sounded as if she were going to cry.

Levi turned away from the display and looked back at his three companions. They were sitting silently, not really knowing what to do with their selves. "There's something else I want to do," Levi spoke up.

His three friends looked up at him curiously but he could see that none of them expected a thing. He would have to do this quickly. Levi had no idea what the consequences could be.

Eren had pulled out of her hug with a confused expression on her face. "What is it, Levi?"

Jean grinned. "He probably wants to do something about Grisha."

Levi shook his head, still looking at his friends. Hangi's eyebrows drew together, signaling her growing suspicion. "I have something else in mind…"

He raised his hands swiftly, aiming at the three sorcerers and the room erupted in the bright, blinding green of Levi's magic. It overwhelmed the others but Levi could see perfectly through the green haze.

He was taking away their dark magic.

Gritting his teeth, Levi allowed the dark magic to seep from their bodies and the magic slowly wrapped around him in a startling burst of wind. The dark magic was taking over, Levi realized. But it was too late. He had to draw the rest of it out.

Levi wanted to scream as he felt the dark magic mix into veins, filling every piece of his being. He had forgotten how terrible dark magic could be. His hands shook but he pushed onward. The others were frozen in shock while the magic left their bodies abruptly.

Briefly, Levi glanced over at Eren. Jean was holding her back against the couch and she was screaming something over the roaring sound of colliding magic. She was terrified.

Levi squeezed his eyes shut momentarily, not wanting to see her frightened face and turned back to the others. The magic was mixing with his light at an increasing speed. The pain of it was almost unbearable. He gasped but kept his tired arms raised, letting it all in.

Suddenly Levi's magic began to darken. It was turning from green to an inky black, mixing and swirling in a terrifying display. Levi fought for breath. What was this? He couldn't breath!

His magic wasn't the only thing that was turning black. Levi's vision began to swim as the searing heat of the dark magic mounted. He cried out, no longer able to keep his pain inside. It was burning him from the inside!

He took one last stuttering breath and fell into the darkness.

Eren was in crying hysterics by the time Levi collapsed on the floor. "Levi!" she cried out, scrambling out of Jean's arms to Levi's side. Her hand shook as she went to touch his face. There was blood dripping from his nose. "What's wrong with him?"

Hangi, Erwin, and Petra were all on the floor with shock written all over their faces. Petra was the first to speak, "He took away our magic."

"He what?" Jean asked, coming to Eren's side, looking over Levi somberly.

Tears were streaming down Eren's cheeks as she pressed her fingers to Levi's neck. She waited a moment and breathed out a short watery laugh when she found a pulse. It was short lived. "He's not breathing," she said.

Hangi scooted across the floor to take a look at him. Her face was scrunched up as if she were holding back tears. She probably was. "He's an idiot," Hangi ground out between her clenched teeth. "And now I don't have any magic to heal him." She tilted his head back carefully.

"Why did he do it?" Jean asked, stunned.

"To save us from Purgatory," Erwin said. Hangi leaned down and blew a long breath into his lungs. "He thought that this was entirely his fault. He didn't want us to suffer."

Eren watched as Hangi began to pump his chest, going through the motions of CPR. She was afraid. "What does this mean for him?"

"I don't know," Erwin replied. "He took in three times the dark magic his body should hold."

"He might not live," Eren said for him. It was obvious, looking at him now as Hangi worked to save his life. Eren clutched at her chest, feeling unbearable pain at just the thought of losing him. "He's an idiot. An asshole and an idiot," she cursed. She hated him for even considering leaving her and she hated herself for falling for him so harshly when he was so ready to disappear.

Hangi leaned down again to push another breath into his lungs when Levi's eyes suddenly snapped open. Eren choked back her tears, saying breathlessly, "Levi! Oh my God!"

But there was something wrong with his eyes. He was expressionless and cold. Levi breathed in deeply but made no other movement.

"Levi, can you hear me?" Hangi asked cautiously. Her eyebrows were drawn up in clear concern.

His eyes slowly went to her. He didn't say a thing.

"Levi?" Hangi called, now unsure of herself.

His hand shot out and he caught a hold of her throat, pressing into her windpipe in a steady grip. He flew into a sitting position as he continued to choke Hangi.

Eren immediately pulled at his arm, trying to get him to let go. "What are you doing?" she cried.

His gaze snapped to hers and she was frozen. Levi's gaze was cruel and haunting. It was reminiscent of the old Levi, so many centuries ago, but this was worse. This wasn't a playful cruelty; far from it.

"Eren," he breathed. He dropped Hangi and she gasped for air on the floor.

He began to reach for Eren but Petra and Erwin both grabbed on to an arm, trying to hold him back. His expression darkened further, if it were possible, and he flung his arms back. Black magic forced the two far against the wall and they hit it with a reverberating bang that shook the floor of the apartment. Levi smiled in twisted delight as he watched them fall to the ground in a crumple.

Jean was moving himself in front of Eren but Eren caught his shoulder. "Jean, no," she cried, trying to force him away. He didn't need to get hurt also on her account.

Levi turned his eyes back on them, watching them steadily. "Stay away from her," Jean said forcefully. Eren could feel him trembling beneath her fingers.

Flicking a wrist, Jean was thrown aside; not as forcefully as Erwin or Petra, but enough that he hit the coffee table with shattering force. The small table crunched to the floor under his weight.

"Eren," Levi said again. His voice sounded all wrong.

"This is not you," Eren said, frightened.

He moved closer, reaching out towards her neck. Behind him, Hangi rose, holding the lamp from the end table and aimed at his head. Eren forced herself to look away as Hangi swung, cracking him upside the head. But he did not fall. Instead he turned himself on Hangi, glaring with evil beyond compare. Eren shook with her fear.

With a black magic blast from his hand, Hangi was forced backwards against he opposite wall and she hit with such force that the wall cracked on impact. She slumped lifelessly.

He turned to Eren, grinning again. "Now it's just you and me."

Eren stood slowly, backing away. She looked around at everyone. How could they all be unconscious? No one would be here to watch her die.

"What are you going to do to me?" she said miserably.

Levi halted in his advance and suddenly his expression turned to confusion, as if he were fighting something inside himself.

Eren breathed shallowly. "Are you going to kill me?" she whispered.

With a cold gaze, Levi stared at her. Eren stared back.

Then he disappeared.

Eren gasped in surprise and looked around the apartment in search of Levi but he was gone. Why he had disappeared was unclear.

After a moment, Eren pushed herself to go check on the others. One by one, she checked them for any major injury. They were all fine, all breathing, but they were all still unconscious.

She smeared a hand across her tear-stained cheeks and fixed her resolve. It looked like she would have to save Levi herself.

What do you think Eren will do?