Alright here we go guys, the final chapter to the second part of this story.
Responses:
Optimus Maximus, glad you enjoyed the chapter.
Kid Stand Out, Glad you enjoyed the premise.
Jeremy Krupinski, Well let's hope this chapter'll be more interestin, and more exciting.
Hedgehog of Time, Yes, Levi has gone crazy, Eren, and Mikasa are prisoners, for now, of course Armin is always smart and awesome, and yes Petra's ghost is evil. I think you'll find your influence in this chapter well enough.
Chapter 25: One Final Effort
(One hour during the Evacuations of Fort Casey.)
Clouds are forming up in the sky, it should start raining at some point today. Maybe an hour or two from now.
"Alright, here's the plan." Armin begins his procedure, "If this goes right, Levi will take me prisoner, and with the bobby pin, which I will hide in my mouth as instructed by Annie here. I'll be able to slip into the Capital City, find, and break out Eren, and Mikasa, and then we'll be able to cure Levi."
Hanji comes over while she prepares her messenger bird, "This here bird'll drop off the cure to the highest roof top of Levi's castle. So be there for your package." Hanji warns.
"Don't worry." Armin assures, "But just in case anything happens, Hanji, I want you to take our only ship, and fire down on the Castle. If I don't come back with either Eren, or Mikasa in two hours, I want you to rain down mortar fire on the castle. No matter what, alright?" Armin was determined on this.
"Are you serious?" Hanji asks with a glint of fear on Armin's idea.
"Yes." Armin is deadly serious, no second thoughts are crossing his mind.
As much as Hanji didn't like the idea, she's actually taking the whole ordeal much better than how Annie is, "Why would you even consider this?" Annie begs.
"Because we can't let Levi get away from this. We need him dead no matter what." Armin's eyes show determination, and no change of mind at all.
"Do you know what you're saying?" Annie sounds a little disgusted.
Armin didn't respond to that with words, but with a kiss. Armin doesn't dare let go of her. He'd rather keep the moment as long as he can. The kiss is exquisite, and beautiful, Annie suddenly forgot what she was complaining about. After Armin removes his lips from Annie's own he starts to feel regret to what he's proposed for a last resort, but he can't turn down now.
"Please Annie, don't deny me this. If we can't cure Levi, then we can't have him survive this."
Annie suddenly felt a tear drizzle down over her cheek, but she suddenly covers her shock with a disturbing laugh. Her face is actually smiling, it's a new mood for her, even in a time like this. It's actually kind of creepy, even for Armin.
"Annie are you okay?" Armin asks.
"Y-Yeah… It-It's just… if you come back from all of this? You owe me. You and me! In a bed, after all of this, okay?"
"Definitely." Armin is tempted to do her right now, but there's not enough time.
Suddenly the Assassin, Connie comes up with news, "Hey guys! We're ready, all is done, awaiting further orders."
"Get going, Connie. Sasha, and the rest of your team need you." Armin orders.
Armin turns back to Annie, and Hanji, "I better get ready for Levi's arrival."
Before Armin could leave the presence of the two, Annie stops him one more time, and plants another kiss on Armin's lips, "Please come back, my love."
"I'm not sure, but if I do, I'll never let you go." Armin promises underneath the coming rain clouds.
(Eren, and Mikasa, back to the here and now.)
The sound of calm rain pours over the two. The castle shields them from the wet droplets, but that doesn't stop a few drips from the ceiling.
Eren and Mikasa were nestled as well as they could in their situation. Sleeping sound asleep while Eren rubs Mikasa's swollen stomach. The feeling of Eren's comfort makes Mikasa smile in her sleep. Even in a situation like this, the two lovers can still find happiness in each other. They always find, home, in each other's presence. Sadly their moment of peace has been interrupted by the rattling of cuffs, and chains. As they wipe their eyes back into reality, they find a strand of a blonde haired man walking towards them. It's none other than Amrin Arlert. Eren, and Mikasa were stricken by the sudden realization of their best friend in Levi's clutches. As they throw him in a separate cell from his friends, Eren and Mikasa come closer to see their friend, Armin, as best as they could.
"Armin!" Eren whispers rather quietly, but rather seriously.
He's just laying quietly. He turns over his back to stare at the dark ceiling. He turns an eye towards his two friends who look real happy to see him, but a little shocked at the same time. Armin just smiles, and gives his friends a faint wink. Eren, and Mikasa simmer down a smidgen. They know Armin has a plan.
For a while, Armin gets off his bum, and sneaks a peek outside his cell. No one's around, so Armin spits out his bobby pin, and starts picking the lock. Eren and Mikasa have known that Armin always has a plan up his sleeve. After a quick minute, Armin opens up his cell discreetly, and closes it back. Instead of picking Eren, and Mikasa's cell, he'd rather go look for the real key, which is just sitting on the table, helpless, and lonely. Armin comes back over to his friends and opens up their prison doors.
"Thanks Armin." Eren pats his best friends shoulder.
"Alright there's a messenger bird up at the highest roof top with the cure to Levi's Wunder."
Both Eren, and Mikasa were at a state of shock, they really found a cure to all of this? "Armin." Mikasa comes up to speak, "You're a miracle worker." She smiles.
"Don't thank me, thank Hanji." Armin redirects the praise, "Anyway, let's go c'mon. I gotta get that cure."
"Hold up wait, there's our weapons." Eren points out to their stuff; Eren's sawtooth blade, and two hidden wristbows. Let's not forget the mentor's hat though, Eren can't separate himself from his hat at all. Not even if you paid him. There's also Mikasa's hidden blades, and pop out sword from the old mentor, Desmond.
A shame he had to die in the explosion of Svyatoy. It makes Mikasa think about all the good people who died in the name of the Templar order; Hannes, the rest of the Assassins, and every last man, woman, and child who lived there. It almost makes her stomach hurt, but she knows that's just her unborn child.
Mikasa clasps on her hidden blades, and latches her blade handle onto her belt. Eren follows the same drill with his own gear, but after he finishes he grabs a hold on Mikasa's wrist, hard.
"Eren what is it?" Mikasa asks with Eren hurting her wrist.
"Hold up." Eren turns his attention to Armin, "Armin, I want you to get Mikasa out of here!"
Both of Eren's friends are astounded of his order.
"Why?" Both Mikasa and Armin say at the same time.
"Alright listen; Armin, I'll see to Levi, and his cure. I should be the one to do this, It's my fault he's like this so I'll handle this problem, myself. That, and it's my fault again on how Levi ended up as he is now. I killed Petra, and now he's crazy, and against the Creed. I have to do this alone."
"But Eren-" Mikasa couldn't finish her plead due to Eren's sudden outburst.
"No time to argue, Armin get her out of here."
Armin was a little shaken from the order, but he shrugs it off, and tugs Mikasa with him.
"No-no wait, I don't wanna leave you. No!" Mikasa begs to Eren while Armin drags her forward with him.
Eren tries his best not to look back at his two friends towards the exit. His destination lies a different path than theirs at the moment. As Eren presses forward, he goes up the stairs to the highest roof top as Armin informed. For a good long time it's been nothing but going up, no breaks, no slowing down. The cure to Levi's illness is just at the top of these stairs. For every thunder clap that drums down from the sky, Eren goes faster up the staircase. After a long time of running up the stairs, he finally reaches the top of the roof tops with confidence of all of this ending soon. The rain comes down in armies of water droplets. Eren's already drenched in wetness. At least he has his hat on, keeping his head dry.
It was rather strange for a moment that there were no guards on his way up, and the reason why is right beside him, "Looking for something?" Levi, the one man Eren didn't want to find up here has the cure, and is crushing the bird with the other hand. Just like that, he snaps the tiny little bird's neck with only his one hand. He must've found out about the news, somehow. Either by spies, or he has really good hearing thanks to the Wunder.
"Levi, don't-" Eren attempts to reason with him. He should know by now that's useless to try. Levi's far from saving. Before Eren can even try and take him, a couple of Templars show up from behind, one restrains him with his bare hands, and the other has him with a gun behind his back.
"Save it, twerp. You're not going to cure me. I like this Wunder." Levi smiles rather sadistically.
"But Levi, Petra wouldn't want this!" Eren still tries to reason with the most insane man in Yggdrasil. Despite the Templars keeping braced from behind.
"YES SHE DOES! She would want you to burn with everyone you love." Levi's face goes angry, and fiery. Not even a thousand ice bergs could stop this man, "Bring them out." Levi calls to the Templars, and they haul in Armin, and Mikasa gagged, and blindfolded. Both of them must've been apprehended before they could escape. Eren looked rather disturbed, and infuriated at this scene. If only he was there to help.
"Don't you dare hurt them!" Eren growls back at Levi.
"Oh don't worry, I won't hurt your two friends... But you didn't say anything about your unborn child." Levi goes over to Mikasa, and kneels to meet her swollen belly. Levi comes to rub Mikasa's stomach, and he could actually feel a kick. Eren is disgusted to all of this, and his anger gets the best of him.
"So you're the reason Eren chose Mikasa over Petra. It's all because of you is why she's dead." Levi looks around the unborn baby.
"Why would you do this to us?!" Eren begs out of his anger.
"The same reason why you killed Petra."
Mikasa can feel Levi's cold hands. It makes her shiver, and she knows without a doubt, it's not the rain that's making her shake right now.
"Now then, you little twerp of a baby, how about I put you down. As Levi finishes rubbing Mikasa's stomach, he pulls out a ninjato sword, and just before he attempts to stab through the unborn child, Eren finally pleads on his knees in desperation.
"HEY NO-NO WAIT I know you blame me for Petra's death! I do blame myself." Eren finally admits to Levi.
Right behind Levi, Petra's ghost shows up for more torment, "He should. It's his fault that we're not together."
"You said once that we were brothers. And I'm begging you, brother to brother just listen to me!" Eren breaks out for the fear of Armin, Mikasa and her unborn child.
"Don't listen to him." Petra's ghost argues back, "All his words mean nothing to us."
"I wouldn't be alive right now, if it wasn't for you. Do you remember the debt you owe my father for me?"
"I would be alive if not for him, and c'mon! Do you really think his father's wrongs are more important to you than us?"
"Think about it, Levi. We finally have a chance for a new start, all of us together if you just stop what you're doing! If you just stop this all can finally end!"
Eren watches Levi's gaze swing back and forth to Eren, and then to Petra's ghost. Then out of the blue, another ghost to Levi comes forth. It's not another ghost of Petra, but a hallucination of himself?
"You are such a disappointment to the Creed." Levi's new ghost of his former self spits,"You just had to let go of everything; your promises, your self-dignity, and now your humiliation. Your emotions are getting the best of you, that's why we had to keep them under control in the first place, remember? Levi Welson, you were once a proud Assassin, when did you become such a tool. Eren's right though, all of this can finally end as long as you put down your weapons, and-"
Levi's hallucination of his former self has been killed by a stab wound to the back. As the new hallucination of Levi's self falls to the ground, he can see that it was Petra. She killed the new hallucination.
Levi Welson is slowly going insane, and puts his hands up to his head. As if he's bearing a massive headache. His face shows so much pain, and anguish.
"You know what… that pathetic version of yourself is right. This needs to end now. You need to kill Eren Jeager." Petra's ghost wears a very evil smile over her face, and turns back to Eren's kneeling self.
Now with that setback in place, Levi's conscience is clear. He has to kill Eren Jeager now, and he will take his time, very nicely. He turns over to Eren, pulls out his loaded flintlock pistol, and aims for Eren's head.
"Do it… Pull the trigger." Petra's ghost orders Levi.
"LEVI!" Eren yells in fear.
(Back to Hanji, Annie and their ship.)
Hanji, and Annie have the castle in their sights. They both lower their telescopes and look at each other.
"It's been two hours now, Annie. We have to do it." Hanji's right.
Annie looks down at the castle one more time, hoping that Armin will bring his friends down this time. Still nothing, as much as Annie refuses this idea, she slowly nods her head to Hanji.
"Just do it without me." Annie chokes out, and leaves the deck for the lower quarters.
"Alright everyone, ready the mortar cannons! We have a castle full of Templars to tear down." Hanji orders
All the Assassins aboard the ship load the mortar rounds while Hanji pinpoints the coordinates on where to fire the mortars.
"Fire!"
(Sorry about the brief setback, let's get back to Levi, and Eren.)
Levi is just about to shoot Eren, until the sound of mortar fire comes raining down on the castle.
Armin hears the fire for himself so he can confirm to himself that it's been two hours already.
The eruption of mortars causes the tower to shake. In the moment of confusion, Eren breaks away from his captors, and kills them with his hidden wristbows. Eren can see the vials of Wunder that Levi dropped, so he quickly snatches it away from him, and goes to help Armin, and Mikasa out of their binds.
"C'mon we gotta go!" Eren races down the stairs with his two friends.
As more mortar rounds shower down on the castle. Everyone around the three friends are either scared or running for their lives. Big debris comes falling down along with dust, rubble, and crumbs. Armin, Mikasa, and Eren have to watch their heads or this could get ugly. With Mikasa in one hand, and the Wunder in the other, Eren runs as fast as he can. But there's just one problem, Mikasa can't run that fast with the unborn baby slowing her down. Luckily Armin scoops her up, and carries her with him. Now at a much better pace they were just about to escape, but Levi comes blocking their way to stop them.
"Give it to me. GIVE ME THE WUNDER!" Levi orders to Eren.
Eren doesn't take the command, instead he throws it in the nearby hole so the glass can hopefully shatter, and scatter the red liquid in the collapsing castle.
"NO!" Levi goes charging for Eren, and knocks him further backwards.
"Eren!" Mikasa breaks away from Armin's arms, and goes to Eren, but Levi grabs her by the neck. With no remorse, Levi throws her of out the window that suddenly crumbles in fallen debris, she has most likely been buried in the fallen pieces of the castle.
"MIKASA!" Eren yells in utter shock with his hand out with any chance to save her. Knowing the possibility that she's died, Eren cannot grieve yet, the only thing Eren can hear that's a nuisance to him is Levi's laughing.
"Poor Mikasa, there goes your chances of a family." Levi points out which makes Eren very angry.
Armin's gone from the scene due to blocked castle pieces, so he must've left for his life. Eren can see Mikasa's pop out blade on the floor covered in dust from the crumbling castle. Eren quickly grabs it along with his sawtooth blade, now he's dual wielding just like Armin does.
Eren his stance in front of Levi, "So then, are you ready to fight me?" Levi asks.
"No, I'm ready to kill you!" Eren bitterly growls, and begins charging for him with both blades in hand.
Instead of a ninjato sword as Levi usually carries, he bears a long katana. The blade actually looks the size of Levi himself.
Despite all the crumbling pieces of debris, Levi and Eren attempt their fight. It's not much of an even fight with Levi injected with the Wunder. Giving him a fighting chance. All Eren has is his anger, and his desire to have Levi's head on a spit. Their blades come clashing with sparks flying high. Eren's turquoise colored eyes aren't leaving the gaze of Levi's angered eyes. Levi sneaks in a kick in his opponent's chest, but Eren spins around to avoid Levi's powerful kick, and twirls in a kick in Levi's left thigh. Levi wasn't harmed at all, in fact, he managed to catch his foot, and throw him to the wall. Eren suddenly aches to the impact Levi put him on, and he slowly creeps his way back up.
Levi comes to Eren slowly, and smiling, "You can't beat me Eren."
Nevertheless, Eren pulls himself up to fight, both blades are still in his hands, "You are going to die… HERE! AND NOW!" Eren roars hard over the crumbling castle. His anger is coordinating his movements, he goes back to Levi with another charge, and fire in his heart. Levi easily snuffed out that fire by catching Eren by the neck, and squeezing his grip rather slowly, just for amusement. Eren attempts to slam down on Levi's wrists so he can let him go, but it's not working. In the moment of Levi's strangling, Eren is reminded of Mikasa. On how they first met. Eren was being strangled by that bandit with the sniper rifle, and Mikasa stabbed him in the neck with her hidden blade. Sadly this time, Mikasa is dead, and no one can save him but himself. So he tries to kick Levi in the stomach, and luckily that makes Levi loosen his grip on Eren. He falls to the shaking ground, and then Levi kicks him further down the hall.
Levi comes closer to Eren with his katana sword, and pulls out his small knife. Eren quickly flips back up to his feet, and then a whole slew of debris suddenly falls on Levi. The cure to the Wunder, and his knife drops out of Levi's hand, and pocket. Eren picks them both up, and looks down at Levi.
"What the Hell are you gonna do, Eren, stick me with the cure?" Levi taunts at him while under all the debris. He's completely desolated, and unable to move.
Eren puts his sawtooth blade in his holster, and furls Mikasa's blade in his pocket. All he has is the cure to Levi, and his knife in both hands.
"It doesn't matter! I'll keep my promise. I'll take away everything you love. Don't you think I won't! Mikasa was only the first. SHE WAS ONLY THE FIRST!" Levi isn't making this any easy for Eren. It's either the cure or the knife, "Your friends, your home, your life. They will all go!"
Eren doesn't have time to hear this. Eren stabs Levi in the eye. With the suffering and torture Levi brought Eren? Its high time Eren returned the favor with a fast, and painful death. Blood floods around the hole Eren just made inside Levi, and he finally goes down, dead as a falling feather. Then all of a sudden, Eren's face makes contact with a flying support beam on the side of his face, and his vision goes blurry, and he blacks out.
(You know as much as I want to stop the chapter here, I'd rather not. We'll keep going, until we finish. 2 months later.)
Eren's gaze is swimming in a blurry mess. His hearing is just as bad, and he could barely hear all the commotion going on around him. That's what happens when your in a two month coma. In his mind, the only person that comes to his mind is Mikasa, his beloved. To be honest, he can't decide on what's the worst possible thing to think of last; either Levi, or the possibility that he's dead, and going up. But he's not, as his vision clears up, so does his hearing. He can hear Armin, and something very curios, but he can't put his finger on it. Is it crying?
His vision is finally clear, and his hearing is now back to normal. What he's hearing is Armin, and that is crying, but who's crying. It sounds like a baby. After the idea of a newborn crosses his mind, he speedily jolts himself back up. Armin comes over to him so he can keep him from going into a shock moment.
"Don't worry Eren you're okay." Armin assures to him.
Eren grabs a hold of Armin's shoulders, and looks at him with serious eyes, "Is Mikasa alright?! Tell me she's OKAY!" Eren begs to his friend on the question.
Armin doesn't respond immediately, but instead, he slowly works up a smile, shrugs off his friends grip on him, and swooshes the curtain beside him to reveal Mikasa Ackerman all alive, and healthy. Well, not completely healthy, she looks very exhausted from excruciating pain from the looks of it.
"A miracle." Mikasa pants out her words, "You just woke up to meet our son."
"What?" Eren sounds astounded, and shocked.
"I'll bring him over." Armin tells his friend. Nestled in his arms lies a little lump of blankets, and rustling groans definitely from a baby. Armin carefully hands over the lump of blanket to Eren, and when he has the clump of cloth in his hands he removes a piece of the cloth away to reveal a rare, and beautiful face. He can see his own self in this baby boy's little face as well as Mikasa's. Eren couldn't be more happy to himself, and for the love of his life. All he can think of in the moment is the fact that he, and Mikasa have a new member of their family. His family is finally back. Ever since his mother, and father's death it's been nothing but trials. It's all over; the suffering, the Templars, Levi. All of it, it's all done. Eren and Mikasa can finally call themselves a family again.
"Oh my God." Eren could almost feel a tear come down from his face.
"We still have to name him." Mikasa snares her words next to Eren in the other bed.
"Are you still content with the name Luke?" Eren suggests.
"No… I thought of a better name for our boy… Oliver." Mikasa changed her mind on the name of their boy, and Eren thinks "Oliver" is a great name.
As Eren cradles his baby boy in his arms he can finally settle down, "Welcome to the world of Yggdrasil, Oliver Jeager."
(And they all lived Happily Ever After.)
(NOT!)
As the Assassins cheer for their victory, someone creeps out of the charred debris of the Capital City's castle. A simple hand climbs out of the rocks, and stones, revealing the one man who has the determination to bring down Eren's world. Levi has the bloody eye to prove it.
"EREN!" Levi Welson roars, "EREN! I'll kill you! I'll kill everyone you love. I'll burn this land to ash! EVERYONE YOU KNOW WILL DIE BY MY HANDS!"
Alright, everyone, I have finished the second part. But I regret to inform you all that I'll be putting this story under a month or two hiatus. I need a break. By the way, I need to ask you guys, would you guys like to see this story on Youtube as an Audio fanfic? If so I'll be working on that for a while if I have enough reviews. But if you'd rather have me write another Eremika Fluff fanfic, I don't mind. I'll leave that up to you on the polls.
BTW, yes, I named Eren's son after Oliver Queen from the hit TV show, Arrow. It seems like it fits with all the influence the show has given me.
See you all in two months, maybe four, it depends!
