POSTLOGUE
2,000 YEARS LATER
Those goddamn bells! Every fucking time we go in or out they have to ring those goddamn bells! This isn't a fucking spectacle, people! A lot of us are going to die! Levi hated the gawking, grumbling crowds that showed up every time the scouts prepared to go out on expedition. He sat astride Firestorm looking thoroughly bored with the whole process. Among those gathered to watch, was the newly graduated Southern 104th Cadet Corps. Within days, they would be choosing which branch of the military they would be joining. Levi had already been through the records and saw only one that would be of interest to him for his own squad, but that would have to wait until they returned from this mission.
"Hey, look! There's Captain Levi! They say he's an entire brigade unto himself!" someone in the crowd called out.
"Tch! Spare me! Please." Levi grumbled, still looking bored with the world. He hated being the center of attention.
Zoë Hange, on the other hand, could barely contain her excitement. "Aw, c'mon, Levi. Try to show a little enthusiasm! It's good public relations!"
Levi glared daggers at her as she continued to bubble. "oooooo! I can hardly wait! Maybe we'll get an abnormal or two . . . or three! Oh! I'm so excited!"
The faintest smirk played across Levi's face. "I think we've already bagged the craziest abnormal of all."
"Really?! Where?" Zoë looked around excitedly.
Levi shifted Firestorm's position so that he was right next to Zoë, reached out and grabbed the top of her head, turning her to face him. "I was talking about you," he said flatly.
She looked at him wide eyed for a moment and then burst out laughing. "Guilty as charged!"
Levi growled and shook his head. Yep! That's the crazy lady I have sex with! He then scanned the crowd idly as he waited for the gate to open. Then he spotted them. A pair of sea green eyes that he had seen countless times before while waiting for the gate to open; first in Shiganshina and now here in Trost. Him again. Still alive, I see. Wait . . . is that a Cadet uniform he's wearing? Well I'll be damned! Didn't see that one coming. Wonder which branch he'll be joining?
His thoughts were disrupted by the command to raise the gate, and was soon riding out away from Trost with the rest of the Corps. As usual, his unit was out in front, using Mike's nose to tell them where the titans were approaching from, and then dispatching the threats as quickly as possible. Levi still had a tendency to work alone, but his subordinates all worked in pairs. Skye had been killed during the previous mission, saving three other scouts from an abnormal. She was crushed in the process but killed the aberrant none the less.
Skye had smiled up at Levi, as he held the dying woman in his arms. "See that, Captain? I killed that bastard even though I'm dying. I still got that son-of-a-bitch!" She chuckled painfully. "I had a good run, didn't I, Captain?"
"Yes, you did, Skye. You definitely made a dent in the overgrown fuckers." Levi told her. "And I plan on continuing making dents until there's nothing left of them. I'll be sure to give them your regards as I kill them."
Skye chuckled again. "You do that, Captain. Give 'em hell for me!" With those words, the light left her eyes and she breathed her last. I'm never going to get used to watching people I care about die. But I will never stop fighting in their honor!
It was late afternoon, and his unit was trying to get rid of a horde of titans in one of Maria's abandoned cities so the Corps could move through to the supply stop. What is with this concentration of titans? It's as bad as the day they destroyed Maria's . . . wait . . . no, it can't be! After killing yet another large titan, Levi spotted Gerald, half in the jaws of an eleven-meter titan. The thing was half chewing on him, as if undecided whether or not it liked the taste. Shit! Not another one! The titan was dead before it could make up its mind, and Gerald was freed from the jaws of death. Levi landed on the roof above and scanned the area. There were still three titans left. Leaving Petra to tend to Gerald and ordering the others to take out the one titan that was furthest off, Levi went to take his anger out on the two closest titans. "I know you can't help being ugly," he told them as they started to reach for him. He launched into the air, much too fast for either titan to get a hold of him. "But then, I can't help being sick of watching you sons-of-bitches eat my comrades!" Both titans were dead before either one could figure out where their prey had disappeared to.
He returned to where Gerald had fallen, and Petra was trying desperately to stop the bleeding from the man's midsection. "Captain, the bleeding won't stop!"
"Captain Levi," Gerald said weakly, holding up his hand.
Levi went and knelt down beside his stricken comrade, taking the bloodied hand. "I'm here."
"I did good, right, Captain? Tell me I made a difference. Tell me this wasn't all for nothing." Gerald's eyes were pleading. "Please tell me my death isn't in vain."
"You did good, soldier." Levi told him. "I promise you that you have made a difference. Your death is not in vain. Your will and your strength will live on in me! I will take your strength and add it to my own! I promise you that I will drive the titans to extinction!"
"He's gone, sir," Petra said softly.
"Do you think he heard everything?"
"I think he did. Look at his face. That's the face of a man at peace," Petra answered.
"We can only hope." Levi stood, not even caring at the moment that his hands were coated in the Gerald's blood. It will never truly wash away.
He turned as he heard approaching horses. "We're heading back, Levi." It was Commander Erwin Smith.
"What?! No! We can still take a lot more ground! My men did not die just to pave the way for retreat!" Levi bit off angrily.
Erwin saw the dead soldier and decided it was best just to get straight to the point. "The titans have broken through Rose in Trost. It's five years ago happening all over again!"
Levi felt his heart skip a beat and his stomach sink to his toes. No! Not again!
"We need to get back before the Armored titan breaks the gate in the main wall!" Erwin stated, firing the retreat flare. The dark blue smoke created a distinct spiral behind the flare as it went up, the unmistakable order to retreat. "Levi, I need you to take us to the fastest way under the wall into Trost!"
Levi lead the regiment at top speed back to Trost. An old abandoned bar, in the city situated in the corner where the Trost wall met Rose, provided the wide tunnel that came up in a still working warehouse in Trost itself. As soon as he cleared the warehouse, Levi took to the rooftops and stood atop a steeple to assess the situation. At first, he felt relief to see that the main gate was still standing. Good. We're not too late! On the far side of the city, in the opposite corner from where he was, there were hundreds of Garrison soldiers on the wall, seeming to be keeping the majority of the titans busy. What the fuck? What is Pixis up to now?
Dot Pixis; the highly eccentric commander of the Garrison Regiment. Bloody waste of a brilliant soldier if you ask me. Levi always thought the man should have been a Scout. The man had graduated alongside Old Tom, Levi's first commanding officer. Tom and Dot were the best of friends and Dot visited the barracks often to drink with Tom, so Levi knew Pixis pretty well.
Then something astonishing caught Levi's eyes as he scanned the city from atop his steeple. What in the bloody fucking hell is that?! Out near the outer gate was a fifteen-meter titan carrying a massive boulder that had to have been more than a hundred times its own mass – and it was heading towards the gate itself. Holy shit! That boulder is big enough to block the gate, but . . . is it even possible?
"Listen up, everyone! If what I think is happening is, in fact, happening, then we need to get started wiping out every titan in Trost! Get going and kill every titan you see!" Levi commanded.
"Yes, sir!" The four remaining squad members split up into two groups and set out follow their orders. "Firestorm! Head directly for the outer gate! I'll meet you there!" he told his horse. Without further delay, Levi set out for the gate himself, using his gear. As he approached the gate, he could better see what was going on.
There were a few Garrison soldiers and what looked like two Cadets clearing a path ahead of the titan carrying the boulder. Are they protecting that thing? And why are the other titans going after it in the first place? Titans don't attack each other! Is it possible that this one is on our side? Do I even dare to hope?
Levi landed on a rooftop, just above where, just twelve hours earlier, he had been waiting to leave with the rest of the Corps. He watched in utter fascination as the titan, with a triumphant roar, slammed the boulder down against the gaping hole, no doubt created by the Colossal titan again, sealing it forever. The fifteen-meter giant, then slumped against the massive stone and almost immediately began to evaporate.
What happened next defied all logic, and yet it explained so much about titans at the same time. Up at the nape, a small figure appeared in the steam. The two cadets landed on either side of the figure and were trying to pull it free. Levi recognized Rico, a Garrison soldier directly under Pixis, as she used her blades to cut the male figure free. The blond cadet (is that a male or a female?) started to help the nearly unconscious boy back down to the ground.
As amazed as he was by what he was witnessing, and as much as his thoughts whirled in a storm in his mind, Levi was still ever alert. The blond cadet looked in horror as another titan bore down on them and their friend. Almost faster than the eye could see, the shadow of a soldier streaked in and killed the titan before it could do any harm. It collapsed barely two meters from where the two cadets stood. Levi landed on top of it, scanning the area for any other threats.
"Mikasa?" the blond asked. A look of complete surprise came across their face as a dark-haired girl with charcoal eyes landed beside them. "Wait, if you're here, then who . . ." All three suddenly noticed the symbol on the dark green cloak their rescuer was wearing; the Wings of Freedom.
"Listen up, brats," the decidedly masculine voice said, as the man turned to look down at them. "This is the part where you tell me exactly what I'm looking at here." Levi looked at the nearly unconscious boy that had been removed from the titan's nape and was shocked by a pair of sea green eyes – a little on the glassy side – looking back up at him. Him again!