Lyla kept on looking for survivors but none were spotted. She landed on the wall and looked at the corpses scattered across the meadow.
None of this would've happened. If she hadn't been so stupid, so ignorant, none of this would've happened. If she was able to use her powers sooner, she would've protected them. Then all of those soldiers would be cheering their victory instead of lying coldly on the ground.
Lyla hung her head low. She heard someone stand beside her.
"I know what you're thinking," said Levi without looking at her. Lyla didn't lift her head either.
"It's not your fault. So don't go berating—"
"But it is!" Lyla burst out, tears now streaming down her face. "But it is Levi. I'm a magician. I'm supposed to protect my people. Keep them alive. But look what I've done. I've failed as a magician, I've disappointed my people, the whole Peltner household, my ancestors. I've failed Levi. I'm supposed to save EVERYONE and I ended up saving no one at all."
Lyla was too obsessed in her words that she failed to notice Levi's expression harden by every second.
"Do you even understand how arrogant and irresponsible what you're saying is?" Levi shouted with a glare. Lyla's eyes slightly widened at his tone.
"You want to save everyone?" Levi continued in a heated manner. "For goodness sake Lyla, you're not some kind of god. You're a mere human being with some exceptional skills. So what if you lose a few hundred people? Are you just going to give up and brood while standing here? What about the people who are still inside the walls and actually 'alive'? Are you just going to give up on them because you failed here?"
"I didn't say anything about giving up," mumbled Lyla.
"Well you damn looked like you were going to," Levi snorted. Lyla sighed and said,
"Still doesn't change the fact that I've been passed out during more than half of the fight. Which means I frankly did nothing."
"That's not quite true. Without you, we wouldn't have been able to capture the Cart Titan and Beast Titan."
Lyla admitted and slowly nodded her head.
"But I still failed to fulfill the responsibilities of a mag—"
"I don't give a fuck about what responsibilities magicians –or whatever you are– have."
Lyla slightly laughed at this and said, "Language Levi. Language."
Levi froze at her words and for the first time during this conversation, turned his head to look at her.
"What did you just say?"
"I said to watch your language," said Lyla. She seemed confused. "What?"
"Nothing... it's just... you are so much like someone I know," said Levi.
"Oh, who?"
Lyla never thought Levi to have a lot of female friends.
"It's just someone I knew when I was young and still in the underground. Though she disappeared one day without a word. She was quite an unusual brat. She wouldn't teach me her name and even talked to birds."
Lyla laughed out softly.
"I didn't talk to Mr. Bird, I sang to him," she said.
Levi froze. Lyla again laughed.
" I thought you'd figured it out by now… Oh, I never told you that I was a magician back then, did I?"
"Little...Bird?" said Levi in a cautious tone. Lyla smiled.
"Yes, Levi. It's me. I'm sorry I disappeared so suddenly."
Levi still looked lost.
"But...it can't be... you're... you were..." he stammered out. Lyla placed a finger on his lips and said,
"I'll tell you, no, everyone, when we get back."
Levi sighed and clicked his tongue. He untied his cravat.
"Yeah, whatever. You are a mess."
Levi's words were true. Lyla's nosebleed has stopped some time ago but left her face covered with dry blood. And her crying didn't do any good. Levi started to wipe Lyla's face. Lyla mumbled between, "Levi… it's going to get dirty." And she was sure that Levi wouldn't like that. Levi again clicked his tongue.
"Tsk, I'll wash it later."
Lyla was quite surprised when Levi casually stuffed the soiled cravat in his pocket. And she was more surprised when Armin woke up.
"Armin!" Eren ran toward Armin and hugged him tightly. Lyla slowly walked to him.
"How're you feeling?" she asked.
Armin's face was pale and he was trembling. Lyla sat beside him and soon Levi also showed up.
"Captain! What's going on? I remember Bertolt turning into a titan… What about the others? Are they okay?" Armin looked quite puzzled and worried.
Levi looked at him blankly, then asked, "That's as far back as you remember?"
"Huh?" Armin looked even more confused.
"Eren, tell him everything," Levi said as he readied to send a flare. Lyla looked at Levi pointedly. Well, that is a heavy burden to give. Levi ignored Lyla's stare and shot the flare. Soon everyone was beside Armin and Eren somehow managed to tell some parts of what happened. Armin looked absolutely devastated.
"Well then, up to speed?" Levi asked plainly.
"Are you telling me… that the Survey Corps… is the ten of us here and that's it?"
"For the time being. The fight ended four hours ago," Jean said in an abject tone. "We've been looking for survivors… but none yet."
Connie continued to nurse Sasha, who was lying beside Armin unconscious with a heavy injury.
"S-So we managed to seal the walls of Shiganshina, and we captured Reiner, the Beast Titan, the Cart Titan, and Bertolt," Armin said slowly, "Then… there was a dispute about using the injection on me or Commander Erwin, and I turned into a titan and ate Bertolt."
There was a moment of silence, then Armin started to throw up. Jean brought a pouch of water while Lyla patted his back. She had a pained expression across her face the moment Armin started recounting the events. Armin gulped down the water.
"Why did you pick me?" he asked through pants. "No matter how you look at it, wasn't Commander Erwin the right one to bring back? Captain! Why did you give me the injection?"
Levi clicked his tongue, "Tsk, I thought I told you to tell him everything," he said as he kicked Eren in the back. "The thing is, it seems your two friends here didn't think that way. They stood up to me, prepared to draw blood."
Armin looked at Mikasa and Eren with shocked eyes. They seemed to be self-reflecting on what they did.
"We'll take whatever punishment comes," said Eren.
"You'll be punished for insubordination, but are you allowed to do anything as long as you're punished?" asked Hange.
"No," Eren said miserably.
At that moment, Lyla chipped in. "Although I believe it is wrong to just shove a blade at your commanding officer's throat, I must say that we should think ahead."
Everybody looked at her. She continued in a serious tone.
"We captured four warriors, meaning that there will be four unreturning warriors. The Empire wouldn't just sit idly by. They will hit back. At this moment, Eren, along with Armin, Mikasa and Levi are our best assets. I don't know when they'll come, but they'll come prepared."
Armin looked thoroughly confused again.
"What does she mean?"
"At this moment, unfortunately, none of us know," said Levi dryly. "You didn't tell him about Lyla either you brat?" Levi gave another kick to Eren's back.
"I didn't know how to explain it so…"
"Yes, explaining that your sister is a freak isn't an easy job," said Lyla.
"You're not a freak," Levi corrected. "Didn't you have a more sophisticated word for that?"
Lyla slightly laughed, "Well, Magician, if you prefer. But that's all a thing I must explain later, properly in front of the whole council."
"It turns out that your sister here can actually control nature and sprout chunks of crystals from her hand," said Levi. Armin's eyes grew wide. But before he could say anything Lyla cut in,
"As I said, later."
"Anyway," Levi continued. "It was me who chose you in the end. No, I decided this place for Erwin to die because of my personal feelings."
Armin still looked shocked.
"I still can't understand. There's no way that it's okay for the Commander to die. If there's no Commander… then what are we supposed to do now?"
"I thought that it was right to use the injection on Erwin too. Well, I guess it's no use saying anything right now. Anyway, it was Levi that Erwin entrusted the injection with and Levi chose you. There's nothing to say. You're now entrusted with Erwin's life and the power of a titan. No matter what people say, you now carry that kind of responsibility."
"I have to replace the Commander…?" Armin looked bewildered. "That's… that's absurd."
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Levi said flatly. "There's no way you can replace Erwin. But… it is clear that you've got your own assets. I have no intention of regretting my decision. So—"
Levi took hold of Mikasa and Eren's head.
"Don't make them regret either. Not anyone. Not even yourself. That's your mission."
Just then there was a grunt from Sasha.
"Shut up…" she mumbled out. Everyone fell silent. Then suddenly Hange started to laugh.
"Really…." She took a deep breath. "Well, as the next Commander, I'm quite in a similar situation as you Armin. I guess we'll have to steel ourselves."
"Yes."
Hange stood up. "Well, if Armin is fine. Should we go now? Me, Levi, Lyla, Eren, and Mikasa will go to the basement. The others will stay and search over the Shiganshina district."
Lyla stood up miserably. They were all shaken at the moment. She didn't know how much they'll get shaken over the truth they would find out.
"Eren, you didn't lose the key right?"
"Yes, it's right here," Eren said almost solemnly.
They headed down the wall and walked on. The town was a mess from its sufferings. It was silent and only the wind blew, creating an eery atmosphere.
"Oi, where's your house?" Levi asked. Lyla placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Gentle Levi. They're nervous as hell you know."
Levi rolled his eyes and walked on.
Lyla saw Eren and Mikasa stop for a moment. It was the place where Mr. Hanness and the other soldiers drank and played cards. Now all of them were gone and the place was a ruin. Lyla gently ran her fingers across the wooden box's surface.
"They used to play cards here…" she muttered out.
"What?"
At Levi's question, Lyla shook her head. "Never mind."
"Well keep up brat. Don't get lost or anything."
Lyla paused for a moment, then said, "You do realize that this place used to be my home?"
Levi also stopped in his steps.
"Right," he said, then walked on.
Finally, they arrived at the house, now almost nonexistent. They started moving debris aside and soon the entrance to the basement was revealed.
"It's here sir," Eren said.
There was a boulder covering part of the entrance. Levi and Mikasa started to look for something to use as a ledge but Lyla stopped them.
"Don't exhaust yourselves. I'll move it. I think I still have that much energy left."
"What do you—" Levi started but Lyla started to sing.
"Little friend, can you hear my words?"
The boulder slightly shifted.
"Could you kindly move aside."
The boulder rolled over, uncovering the entrance.
"That's going to take some time getting used to," Hange muttered.
"Don't go exerting yourself brat. I don't want you spouting fountains of blood again," added Levi.
Lyla just opened the cellar and went down the stairs.
Once they were in front of the door, Eren put the key to the lock. But he seemed to struggle.
"Hurry up brat," said Levi.
"Wait," said Lyla. She took hold of Eren's hand and inspected the key, then the keyhole.
"This key doesn't fit, does it?"
At Lyla's question, Eren shook his head.
"That's impossible. There's no doubt that that was the key Mr. Jeager gave…" Mikasa muttered out.
"Step aside, I'll open it," said Levi.
"Wait…!" Hange shouted out but Levi proceeded to smash the door open with a strong kick.
"I said wait…"
"Couldn't you have done that sooner?" Lyla asked.
"Well, couldn't you've just asked the door to open itself up?" Levi countered. Lyla rolled her eyes.
"It's not like I can control every being. Besides, this wood is cut and hammered."
"So what?"
"It means that it's dead Levi, dead. Now how am I to talk to dead people?" Lyla said as if stating the obvious.
They went inside the room.
"It looks like a research room," Hange stated.
"My father was a doctor, so he would often stay inside here and study medicine," said Eren.
"Well, what kind of medicine, you can't be sure. And I'm sure it's no medicine, more like a specific chemical, or serum," said Lyla.
