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Eren stared at the heap of odorous rags on the cold ground and the guards standing next to it. He had never seen anything like this. From between the old cloth poked out a scabby hand with dirty fingernails. The wrinkled skin on the hand looked wax-like from illness.

"Is he…?" Whispered the boy, pulling at Levi's sleeve.

"Dead." Replied Levi coolly. He grabbed Eren's wrist and tried to pull him away from the scene, but the boy was hesitant to leave.

"What'll happen to him?" Eren asked softly.

"The guards will take care of it."

"So…bury him…" Said Eren quietly as he thought of Armin. "But…we're already underground, aren't we?"

Levi pulled at the boy harder and forced him away from the dead beggar on the streets. "They'll take him to the pit."

The boy looked up at him inquisitively, eyes shining with more questions, but Levi did not specify. He didn't want the kid to know how they dealt with bodies down here in the Underground. There were no burials due to how cramped the area was. Each body was disposed of by burning in a large pit so as to refrain from epidemics breaking out. The pit was dug in another layer underneath the Underground so residents wouldn't get carbon monoxide poisoning from the fires. It was hard to imagine that something even more depressing existed under these very grounds they stood on.

Suddenly, Levi stopped dead in his tracks. He had forgotten about the death pit until now. A hypothesis slowly formed itself in his mind as he presumed the likely scenario.

Slowly, Levi knelt down to speak with the boy. The gray eyes were conflicted.

"Eren," The man started carefully, "What you'll see may scare you, so I need you to close your eyes, can you do that?"

The boy stared back curiously, his thin lips turning very white. After a while, Eren gulped loudly and nodded.

"Then come. Quickly."

The pair followed the guards carrying the beggar's body near yet another entrance into the ground that went deeper than the Underground itself. Eren watched the guards dump the limp body into the hole and carefully descend into it themselves. Then there was a sharp sound of a match being lit and the cackling of flames.

Already having an idea in his mind about what was happening, Eren clutched the man even tighter. He didn't want to go down under there. He didn't want to see for himself.

Levi, however, remained composed as he undid his ascot. Then, he tied it across Eren's nose and mouth as a mask so the kid wouldn't breathe in the fumes.

"Close your eyes."

Eren squeezed his piercing green eyes shut as tightly as he could. He felt a swift swooshing as air rushed upwards near his ears and then a gentle thud onto what sounded like dirt ground. Next, an awful smell reached his nostrils even through the ascot. Subconsciously, Eren opened his eye to squint through the smokes, but Levi's large hand came down and covered his eyes protectively.

"Whachoo doin' down here?" Demanded a voice that Eren assumed belonged to one of the guard.

"Springer business." Replied Levi.

The guards murmured something back but Eren didn't make it out. There were footsteps trailing away and then the only sound that remained were the cackling fire. Levi guided Eren onwards and the boy followed blindly in the man's footsteps, seeing nothing but the warm darkness from the palm of the man he trusted.

Levi's slanted eyes swiped the premises. There were several shabby cabins built down here, mainly for family members of the deceased who wished to witness the cremation and stay any additional number of days to grief. But of course, it would also serve as a perfect hiding spot for anyone on the run. No one would think to look here because no one would ever want to live here next to the pile of decaying bodies. Unless they were trying to escape from something even more appalling.

One cabin that stood on the far end looked especially conspicuous. The dirt in front of it was wet, unlike the dry hard ground near the other cabins. It was as if the owner was attempting to do some gardening.

Pulling Eren along, Levi made his way swiftly into the house. The door creaked a bit, but it appeared to be empty inside. This was easily one of the oldest cabins Levi had ever stepped foot it. There was no floor as the cabin was built directly on top of the dirt. There were amateurly made furniture scattered around the small place, and some crude decorations on the walls, as if someone had desperately tried to brighten the place up. In the room directly facing the door, there was a thin bed on which laid a sleeping boy about Eren's age. He had a clean shaved cut, a round face, and sickly colored skin.

Levi removed his hand from Eren's face. The boy blinked furiously as he adjusted to the light. He saw the other sick boy sleeping in the bed and looked at Levi inquiringly.

Levi, however, held one finger to his lips to silence the boy.

Before he could take another step, a swoosh of air came from behind. Levi stepped swiftly out of the way as the woman behind him missed with her slash.

"G-Get away from him!" Shrieked the woman in a terrified voice. Her hair was coming out of the bun on her head, and her hands holding the kitchen knife were shaking so badly she was on the verge of dropping it.

"Calm down." Replied Levi, stepping in front of Eren to shield him.

"GET AWAY!" Screamed the woman again.

The sick child on the bed had woken up and was looking at the scene in front of him in fright. "M-Mom?" He whimpered.

Levi held up his hands slowly in good faith, palms facing the woman. "Springer sent me." He tried to explain.

The woman gave an anguished cry and swung again with all her might towards him. Levi moved out of the way as the knife missed him again and lodged into the doorframe.

The sick child in the bed started to cry. He tried to sit up but was too weak to do so, and ended up coughing and crying in little fits.

Levi turned to face the woman. She was trying to pull out the knife with no avail. It was stuck deeply into the wooden frame. Just as he thought she would come at him with her fists, she fell to the floor at his feet.

The gray eyes widened as the woman knelt at his boots and wept.

"Please…sir…" She said in a choked voice, "I beg of you…"

"… …" Levi stood rooted on the spot.

"He doesn't want Connie back…" She sobbed, "He's doing this to spite me, to punish me. Connie is sick, he'll die without proper care, please…"

Levi lowered his eyes to rest on the shaking hands now clutching to his pant leg.

"…I have orders." Said the man coldly.

"Have mercy!" Cried the woman, "Have mercy on us…"

The sick boy, Connie, began crying harder too. Levi tried to pry his leg out of the woman's grasp. Yet as he moved, Eren ran out from behind him and placed himself in front of Connie, standing with his arms outstretched and facing the man with nothing but pure determination on his youthful face.

Levi surveyed his kid coldly, understanding perfectly well what he was trying to do, but was fazed at his stupidity nonetheless.

"Get out of the way, Eren."

"N-No." Stammered the boy. The green eyes were fearful but resolute.

"Eren…" Said Levi through gritted teeth dangerously. He didn't have time to waste.

"He's sick."

"So are you. If I don't deliver him, Springer would not give us the supplements."

"I don't WANT the supper-mints!" Cried Eren.

Levi sighed and rubbed his temple exasperatedly with his thumb, "…Get out of the way."

"No!"

The woman had stopped crying. She was looking at Levi and Eren completely dumbfounded, not understanding the dynamic.

Levi, however, simply reached out, grabbed Eren's collar, and swung him out of the way. Yet before he could take another step, Eren had scrambled to his feet and ran back to his position between Levi and Connie, standing like a small fortress between the two.

"Eren, move. You don't know what you're doing."

"I do!" Shouted the boy. There was a green fire in those usually peaceful emerald eyes. "I know it's wrong to take a kid from his mom! I know my mom wouldn't let that happen to me if-if she was still here!"

What followed was the longest silence the boy had ever experienced. His arms were shaking from fear. He had openly defied Levi, something he had never done before, and he was terrified. He had no idea what prompted this outburst of courage, and he was dreading the consequences.

Finally, after an eternity, Levi spoke again, barely moving his lips.

"You're being foolish."

"No, you are." Replied the boy, his thin chest puffed out in defiance.

The silence elongated. As the man stared into the determination in the boy's eyes, he seemed to capture a slimmer of something familiar. Something he had lost a long time ago, and something he had thought he would never witness again. He stared at it for a bit more, quite unwilling to let it go, before he finally turned away.

He walked a few steps to the door before turning his head slightly to speak over his shoulder.

"Get him out of here. The fumes will kill him."

The woman blinked, unable to speak. As Eren ran after the man out of the house, she slumped back onto the floor, aghast.

"Th-Thank you." She whispered when she finally found her voice.

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…

As they made their way up from the death pit and into the Underground, Eren remained frightened. He knew what he had done, and he was scared of the price he had to pay. He wondered if Levi would beat him. He wondered if Levi would leave him here. Just the thought alone of being left in the Underground made Eren's blood run backwards through his veins.

Sure enough, when the man turned to look at him, his face was as dark as the boisterous clouds from a storm.

"Do you understand what you've done?"

"Save Connie." Said the boy stubbornly.

"At your own expense." Added Levi, "Do you even know what the supplements do?"

Eren thought about this before realizing he didn't. "…No." He said in a small voice.

"They make you well enough to participate in experiments. The experiments need to be successful in order for the Authority to grant you a pardon."

"A…what?"

Levi stared at him hard, "…They'll take you if the experiments don't work."

The boy's breath got caught in his throat. He looked at Levi disbelievingly.

"And the experiments can't even begin to work until you take the supplements and start participating. Do you get it now?" The man's voice lowered as the depressing concerns overshadowed the both of them, "…They'll take you away from me."

"I…" Eren whimpered, tears welling up, "I…I didn't…know..." He couldn't stand the thought of being away from Levi again. He couldn't endure the prison again. He just couldn't. Half of him wished he hadn't stepped up to save Connie. What did it matter to him whether Connie was taken or not? Reuniting Connie with his father wasn't a death sentence, not like the one that he had to face…

"Don't do that." Stated Levi icily.

"Huh?"

"Regret."

Eren looked at the man in awe and shock. He had pinpointed the boy's emotions exactly.

"What's done is done." Levi continued dispassionately, "You made a choice, now you live with it."

He bent down and grabbed the boy's wrist again.

"Don't look back."

Eren let himself be led and walked behind the man compliantly. Even in a place like this, the man still had the usual aura of faith around him, dimming away the gloom.

"…So, they'll take me away again?" Eren asked chokingly, tears blurring his vision.

The man's grasp on him tightened briefly, but only for a mere second.

"Not this time."

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