Chapter 2: The monster wakes up
…cold …
No … hot. Why is he so hot. He is burning. His body is on fire. …too hot.
Eren tries to open his eyes but something is stopping him. His mind is numb like the rest of his body. His brain is still waking up. He tries to remember, what happened or where he is but his mind is blank. Nothing is there. Why can´t he remember and why is it so hot.
Did he fall asleep and Levi buried them both under the blankets again?
Levi … he cried. Why did he cry and he smiled for him. But it was a sad smile. A good bye smile.
Eren´s eyes shoot open and he stands in the middle of a destroyed city, surrounded by bodies and everything is wrong. The houses are smaller than him, the bodies belong to titan´s but compare to him are the most smaller. How can that be? Where is Levi, what had happened?
Slowly Eren get´s his breathing back under control and lifts his hands to look at them. Steam evaporates from his hands and arms, which are covered in blood. Titan blood.
"Eren." Eren looks up and sees Levi. Levi had called him. He is alive …. and small. Without stopping Levi jumps right into his face and holds on to his hair. Only one of his eyes has a good look at Levi. "Are you finally awake?"
Eren has no idea what is going on but Levi asked him something. He is awake so he nods. The nodding let Levi lose his grip and Eren catches him in his hands. Nothing makes sense.
"Good. No times for explanations. I will do that later. Look over there." He points over to his right. "See the giant bolder." Eren nods. He sees the piece of the wall. "Take it and close the wall with it or there will be more titans inside." Levi must have felt his confusion or Eren´s face had shown it. "Don´t worry. Everything will be fine. Follow me."
Levi uses his gear to get in front of Eren and he follows. During the short distance (only for him and this giant body) Eren got a good view of his surroundings. Most titan´s seems to be dead but he can see more coming in. He finds small groups of soldiers fighting against them. He even finds Commander Erwin, shouting orders. He can´t see any more civilians and he hopes most of them could run away. There is no armoured titan trying to break though the wall and no colossal titan to kick in another piece. He really needs that explanation but whatever happened makes him able to close the gate. To protect this city and the people.
As a child Eren thought every problem could be solved by pulling down the wall. Freeing everyone but without it the people would die. Only when all titans are dead and everyone is safe, only than is there a chance for a world without walls. A world that brings them freedom. A world where Levi and him can live without being prisoner of anything.
Levi let Eren follow him. After he had turned into a titan a clearly wild creature stormed through Trost and killed every titan in its way. The only positive thing he could find about it was that Eren killed the enemy and didn't attack any human, soldier or not. It still didn't sit right in his body seeing the love of his life killing mindlessly like that. Seeing him like that is different form the times he let lose as a human. Now he could be seen as the enemy and Levi really doesn't want the whole world against them.
Now Eren is awake and seems to follow him without hesitation. He isn't looking forward to the questioning part on his side as soon as they get Eren out of this titan body.
Eren lives.
Levi´s mind helpfully whispers him and that is everything that counts. No funeral today. They would live another day. And everything else they can work out.
He lands on a rooftop of a still standing building, closest to the giant bolder. "Eren." Levi turns around and finds Eren in his titan form watching him. "You need to pick up that rock and smash it into the hole in the wall." Levi points with his blade first to the rock and then to the wall. Eren nods, unable to communicate in any other way.
It is fascinating how this giant creature picks up something so heavy, even for him. Steam appears again, this time from Eren himself. The weight of the bolder is crashing his titan body but Eren still gets up and starts carrying the thing over to the wall. Levi gets in front of him again. Ready to kill everything that tries to stop them.
The reckless plan Erwin and Eren´s blond friend worked out seems to be work. At least since Eren is awake again and working together with him. To Levi´s surprise he hadn't notice anything around them. Not the raging battle or the dying soldiers. Now he is seeing the destruction of the city and he wonders when this will be rebuild. If the people will return or maybe Trost will stay like that. Destroyed and barely recognizable.
Eren follows him without stopping, Levi can feel the exhaustion and hopes that his lover will hold on until this task is done. They reach the wall and Levi get himself out of the way, like every other soldier that had guarded the hole. There are more titans on the other side of the wall but they would need another few minutes to pass the distance until than the gate will be closed again. The remaining titans will be locked inside and whoever is able to fight will be tasked to kill them. Hanji might want to catch one but Levi has no doubt she has her own new favourite test subject already in Eren. A much more interesting test subject.
Eren uses the remaining strength that seems to be in his body and pushes the rock into the hole and locking the gate. The steam evaporating from his body doesn't stop but his movement had. Some soldiers check up on the wall while Levi jumps up on Eren´s titan body. Unmoving and with closed eyes, he gets no reaction out of it.
A sudden burst of steam at his nape let Levi flinch but he finds Eren, human body and all pulling himself out of the titan body. Levi jumps to his help. Seeing Levi gifts him with a very tired smile that followed with an unconscious body falling into his arms. Eren´s body was connected by what looked like muscles, with his blade Levi cat him lose and carries him away. To his satisfaction he notice the death bringing injuries from before are gone, not even a scar remains.