THREE WEEKS AGO
Upon first meeting her, Levi didn't care for her. The artificial smile she plastered on her face left a sour taste in his mouth. It reminded him of the smiles that the corrupt government officials held themselves to, waltzing into the Underground from their mansions on the surface, preaching of equity for the lower class, all while simultaneously draining their pockets with the outrageously high prices they charged for essential items. It was irksome. For this reason, while she talked, he zoned out, only refocusing when she addressed him directly. Otherwise, he feared he might get snappy, which would only earn him a lecture from Furlan later. Thankfully, the interview went by rather quickly, until eventually the librarian snapped her notebook shut, and shot them another polite smile.
"That's it for the questioning, only one thing before I let you guys go, I'm going to need a print of your signatures." she said, as she scurried back over to the front of her long….and incredibly messy desk. How disgusting. He could see the thin layer of dust that covered its surface from where he stood. He scrunched his nose slightly in distaste as he fought the urge to shove her out of the way and begin to clean it from the inside out himself. Another reason he was wary of her. Soon, the librarian had pulled out three blank sheets of paper and pens, and handed them out amongst them. As she did, Levi silently thanked himself for learning, at the very least, how to print his signature… but he knew the same couldn't be said for others. His eyes flicked over to Isabel, who was staring intently at the paper, with a dumb expression on her face. He grimaced. She really did wear her heart on her sleeve. Is she going to say something? He watched as Isabel took a shaky breath and took a large step forward toward the librarian, who looked like she was just preparing to occupy herself with another task. She stretched her fingers out to give the librarian a small tap on the shoulder to capture her attention. She turned back with a puzzled look on her face.
"Is something the matter?"
"I'm sorry, I don't really know how to write a signature." Isabel grumbled.
Levi expected her to give Isabel a pitying smile, and patronizingly apologize to her, for even thinking that Underground thugs would be literate. Since they'd gotten here, the biases that people held for those who resided in the Underground had become evident in the way that they were spoken down to, but she didn't. She looked at her, processing her words for a moment, before offering her a small smile.
"That's perfectly fine, you can always just do some sort of figure, or, if you'd like I can teach you a simple one for your name. "
Levi could see the tension releasing from Isabel's shoulders. She was probably expecting the same as he had been.
"...Really?"
"Of course! I'll show you right now."
Levi shot Furlan with a questioning look.
Do you think this is going to take a while?
Furlan only responded with a small shrug.
I dont know.
Levi sighed, and turned his head back to Isabel's situation.
The librarian's eyes brightened as she grabbed Isabel's hand and tugged her over to the tables, pulling up two chairs for them to sit, with Levi and Furlan still waiting at the desk.
"Some people when signing documents, will only use their first name, their last, or both, some will even abbreviate. A lot of them honestly look like random scribbles...hmm...how about we write yours as 'Isa Magnol?"
"O-okay!"
"Okay! I'll write it down right now, and you can practice it every now and then, until you get it." She said, as she grabbed her pen, and began slowly moving it across the paper. After she was done, she turned back to Isabel.
"Well? What do you think of it?"
"It's really pretty...but it looks kind of complicated, will I really be able to do this?"
"Of course you can! You seem very capable! Here, give me a moment."
She moved behind Isabel's seat, leaning over her to grab her hand. Levi noticed Isabel tense at the touch, but relaxed when she remembered she meant her no harm.
"I'm going to show you the motions of it, and then with that, you'll be able to try it on your own." she said, quietly.
He felt himself soften at the sight. He knew Isabel wasn't used to this type of gentle treatment, it wasn't something that he or Furlan were capable of providing for her, and it certainly wasn't something she had received before she had tumbled onto their doorstep, all battered up. He sometimes felt guilt for not being able to provide her the life that a young girl should be living, even though she didn't seem to mind. They had a good dynamic among the three of them, but as a result of their harsh environment, it lacked a certain tenderness. The librarian's expression was different now. During the interview, it seemed like she was putting up an artificial persona for them, which had been annoying him more than it probably should've, but the way she spoke to Isabel now seemed genuine. He internally reprimanded himself for judging her so harshly initially. She looked down at the paper with intense focus as she wrote the name down. When she was done, she straightened back up, gazing down at the paper with pride.
"How nice!"
Isabel beamed at her compliment.
"Okay Isabel, you keep the first piece of paper so that you have something to reference when you practice, and I'll take this one as your official signature."
Suddenly, as if she had just remembered they existed, her head snapped back to their direction. Levi flinched slightly, and snapped his head to the side. He hadn't realized he'd been staring. He looked up to Furlan. He looked absolutely smitten, gazing at her as she made her way back to them. She let out a pensive chuckle.
"I'm sorry, I got a little distracted didn't I? If you guys have completed your signatures I can take them right now." she said, reaching her hands out towards their papers.
Levi handed his paper over easily, but as she moved over to Furlan, he quickly shoved his paper behind his back. He raised an eyebrow at him. What is he doing?
"Excuse me!"
"Yes?"
"Well, as it turns out, I was actually having some trouble with my signature as well. " He said sheepishly. Levi could see his face going a light shade of red. He gave him a hard stare. He knew Furlan was perfectly literate, so why was he lying?
"...Oh? With what part specifically?" she asked, with a puzzled look. Furlan's face was beet red now.
"W-well... I was thinking it would be useful to me if you 'Showed me the motions of it' like you did with Isabel th-" In an instant the situation became clear. What an idiot. Was this his way of flirting with her? How annoying. He wasn't going to let him waste his time. He raised his arm up, and quickly jabbed him in the gut with his elbow. Furlan doubled over. Levi's eyes widened slightly, it seemed he'd unintentionally put too much force into his hit. Well, whatever. Furlan was a big boy.
"We don't have any more time to dilly dally around here, we should've left ten minutes ago" he said flatly. "Just give her what you have."
Furlan sighed, and shot him a stink eye. Levi knew he'd be receiving an earful from him later, but he didnt care. He watched as Furlan defeatedly handed the sheet over to her. She gave him a small, awkward smile before walking back to her desk, and filing her papers away. She turned back to them.
"And with that, you guys are all done here."
"Thank ya! I'll try to come here when I can to say hi!" Isabel piped, practically vibrating with excitement. She'd really taken a liking to her. The librarian gave her a soft smile.
"I look forward to that very much." she beamed. She paused, looking up for a moment, before turning back to where he and Furlan stood.
"The nurses office should be two doors down, on the right side of this hallway, you can't miss it." she directed.
He gave her a curt nod, and began heading back through the large wooden doors, and the others followed suit behind him. As soon as he entered the hall, he could feel an angry pair of eyes boring through the back of his head. He turned around to face Furlan.
"If you're going to say something, then just say it."
"She was really cute! Why'd you have to go and do that!? I looked like a fool." He complained. Isabel snickered under her breath, and Furlan shot his head to her direction.
"Don't laugh!"
"It's kinda funny isn't it? You don't have a chance with her anyways." she jeered. Levi sighed.
"You were wasting time. We came here for Erwin's life and those documents, not to get girlfriends. I was just trying to stay on track." Levi, said unbothered.
"I can multitask." he responded, plainly. Levi rolled his eyes.
"Well whatever, you can always come back. We have shit to do now."
Isabel let out a sharp cackle. Furlan sighed defeatedly, but didn't object. With that, the three of them continued down the hall, to the nurses office.
THE PRESENT
"Are you going to go now?" Furlan whispered, leaning down slightly. The two of them hovered in front of their barrack door. It was pitch dark...It had to be at least two am. A cool breeze of air ruffled their hair, the only thing to be heard was the soft howling of the wind. Levi gave him a hard stare.
"We only have two more days before our first expedition, and our client's deadline falls shortly after. We can't afford to waste time, we have to make the most of every second we have from here on out." Levi responded dully, running his fingers through the bottom of his leather satchel, feeling around for something.
He sighed. Ideally, they would find the documents they needed before the expedition, and be back on their way to meet their client by Tuesday morning. Although Levi was confident in the abilities of Isabel and Furlan, the small knot in his stomach only became more prominent as the day of the expedition drew near. No matter the circumstances, he didn't like the idea of throwing their lives in needless jeopardy. He felt his hand wrap around a small wooden box, and immediately drew his hand from the bag. His lockpicking kit. He opened it, carefully examining its contents. It looked like everything was in place. He looked back to Furlan.
"Erwin left for a meeting in Mitras a couple of hours ago and most likely won't return until morning. I'm going to go and look in his office. You and Isabel will go look in Shadis's office." He said. Levi noticed Furlan shift pensively where he stood in the dark, hand rubbing the back of his neck.
"Are you sure you don't want me and Isabel to stand lookout for you? This all goes down the drain if we end up getting caught, and you know that." he pushed. It certainly was a valid point, but Levi wasn't going to change his mind. This was an indispensable opportunity that he wasn't going to pass up.
"No, we need to do this tonight, and since Shadis is actually in headquarters, it makes more sense that you take Isabel so that she can stand lookout for you while you go in."
"I suppose that's true enough..." he said quietly, chewing his bottom lip. He let out a small exhale, "...Okay, fine, I'll go fetch Isabel now." His confidence seemed to be slowly but surely returning to him, which was a relief. Furlan worked most effectively when he was self assured.
Levi reached his hand up and placed it firmly on Furlan's shoulder.
"I'll meet you back here in an hour." Levi instructed.
Despite the sheet of darkness covering them, Levi could still spot the smug smile Furlan was shooting him. There he is. The corners of his lips upturned ever so slightly in response. Furlan pulled back, stretching his arms behind him.
"Of course, just don't take too long." He teased, as he began to walk away, waving a hand back at Levi.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Levi muttered, as he made his way in the opposite direction, and to his Captain's office.
Levi faced no issue getting into the castle, the guards were criminally incompetent at their jobs, prattling away with each other, paying little to no attention to the task at hand. He'd managed to slip past their post, and into the castle, far too easily. After that, the long halls were completely empty. They've put far too much faith in their Royal Gaurd. Still, he stuck close to the walls. As he made his way through, he soon found himself passing the library doors. His eyes trailed down to the bottom of the door, he could see a faint yellow glow emitting from the thin crack. He slowed his steady pace.
Is she in there?
He blinked.
...Why do you care.
Levi let out a small huff as he continued to the end of the corridor, and slowly pushed the large wooden doors open. They let out a long shaky creak, despite his efforts. This should be it. His eyes darted left and right between the various doors, until they landed on the second to last door, on the left wall. There it is. As he walked over, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his lockpicking kit. He kneeled down and began his work, all while keeping a small focus on his peripherals. Shortly, he heard a small click from the knob, so he lifted himself up, and slid in.
The Captain's office was just about what you'd expect it to look like. It appeared to be a bit smaller than the other rooms...or perhaps that was due to the copious amount of books lining the walls. And it didn't stop there. His long desk was covered in them, too. Although, despite the clutter, it was still tidy, which Levi could appreciate, it made the task at hand a lot easier. Aside from the books, the desk was seemingly bare, except for a small stack of papers, and a black pen placed next to it. Levi took a couple steps forward, and reached up, picking a random book off the shelf. He flipped lazily through the pages. He wasn't going to bother to try reading them closely right now, but he was curious of its contents. As he scanned the pages, he saw that there were a lot of dates written in, which lead him to believe that it was a history book. He gingerly closed the book, and put it back in its place, before picking another one from the opposite shelf. Same deal. So our great Captain is a history nut, huh?
Fuck.
Levi ran his hand through his hair. His hour was almost up, and he hadn't found shit. He had practically turned the room upside down. He'd checked under the carpets, all of the cabinets, the backs of furniture. He'd even checked the drawers for false bottoms, but to no avail. It simply wasn't in there, which meant unless Furlan for some reason found them in Shadis's office, that Erwin most likely kept it on his person. If that was the case, that meant the situation was more complicated than anticipated. The theft and the assasination would have to occur at the same time. Levi sighed, and slumped into the Captain's large velvet chair, closing his eyes. He opened them back up, staring at the ceiling. A wave of disappointment washed over him. It wasn't in there. I should just leave then. He heaved himself up from the chair, and placed himself in the center of the room. He began scrutinizing every inch of the room, searching for any remaining signs that someone had broken in. Once he was satisfied, he headed back to the door. He opened it slightly, putting his ear up to the small crack he had created, listening for anyone. When he heard nothing, he began to silently slink back to exit the castle. Once again, he passed through the halls with no issue, and once again, he found himself wanting to check inside the library, an urge that he quickly shoved back down to wherever it came from.
He picked up his pace, towards the last hallway. When he arrived, he placed his ear against the door. He could hear the two guards chattering away. The guards didn't stand directly in front of the door, rather, they stood at the bottom of the short staircase that led up to it. There was a thin floor space along the stone walls that Levi could walk through, so as long as Levi didn't make a single sound as he crept through the door, he could make his escape, scot-free. He took a deep breath, before opening the door, creating just enough space to peer through. There were two of them, the one on the right was a bit stockier, with spiky blonde hair, hardly being contained by his cap. He was doing most of the talking, he had a loud, abrasive voice, like a one on the left was lankier, with a shaved head, his contribution the conversation was goofy, nasally laughs. They were still in position, gabbing away. His eyes moved down to their hands. The one on the right held a bottle, which appeared to be nearly empty. Even better. With a bit more confidence, Levi pushed the door further, and began moving through. He kept his eyes locked on the two buffoons, who still made no note of his presence. Soon he was completely outside, he ducked down, and began creeping along the walls back to his room.
"Have you seen that librarian around lately?"
Levi halted. The tall one let out an exasperated groan.
"No, I haven't, it's a real shame, she's a cutie, huh? I was planning on askin' her out."
"Do you think she'll say yes?"
"I think I have a good chance, the last time I saw her, she was practically throwing herself at me." He bragged. The smaller one let out a harsh cackle.
"Yeah right!"
"No, no, I'm serious! She kept shooting me this flirty smile while we talked."
"Whatever."
"Im serious! The next time I see her, I'm gonna ask her out! And she will say yes."
"Well...wanna bet some cash on it?"
"You're on!"
Levi suddenly remembered a past conversation he'd had with her.
Oh? And what is?
I don't know... stocky men?
Levi glanced back at the man. He definitely wasn't pretty to look at. Was she actually interested in him? She really did have poor taste then… but something about what he said didn't sound right, a flirty smile? That woman glued a polite smile onto her face whenever she spoke to anyone. That's probably what it was, and he misinterpreted her motives. That sounded right. He continued along the wall, and then stopped. Why was he trying so hard to rationalize the situation? So what if she was flirting with some guard, he wasn't her dad. He shook his head, and did his best to ignore the feeling of relief he'd felt when he'd come to his conclusion, as he snuck back to his room.
Soon, he was out of the castle grounds. He now walked back through the barren training fields. It was still dark, and wispy grey clouds covered the sky, blocking any light the moon would have provided him. The only sound was the soft rhythmic thumping of his own boots hitting the ground. It would be a ten minute walk until he was back in the barracks. He grimaced at the thought of the harsh training he'd be subjected to later in the morning, running on, if he was lucky, an hour of sleep. Suddenly, his head jolted up as he heard a crash in the sky. He furrowed his brow. Thunder? Soon after, it began sprinkling, but unfortunately it didn't last long, the light shower had quickly turned into a full on downpour. Levi groaned. Just my luck. He thought, glaring up at the gloomy sky, as if he could intimidate the rain into submission with his stare. He quickened his pace, and the barracks were soon in sight, when he heard something. It was difficult to see through the heavy rain, but he squinted his eyes, and made out the figure of… a woman. He stopped in his tracks. Who was it? Well, whoever it was, they were looking straight at him, and it seemed like they'd recognized him. Levi sighed, and began walking towards them. They'd already seen him, so instead of trying to hide, he began to fabricate a story to feed them as to why he was out in the dead of night. He settled on telling them that he was trying to fit some extra 3DMG training into his schedule. It might be unbelievable, but they couldn't prove otherwise. As he moved closer, her identity became more apparent. The delicate features of her face, the way her hair was put in place, the shape of her body… his eyes unwittingly lingered on the way her corset framed her figure.
"Levi? What are you doing out so late?" she asked, wide eyed.
His eyes shot back up to her face.
"I could ask you the same."
She let out a high pitched giggle, quickly bringing her hands up to cover her face. He cocked an eyebrow. This was unlike her. Something's off. She was disoriented. She wore an empty-headed grin on her face, that lacked the usual stiffness her smiles usually held. She put her hands down, lazily giving him a dismissive wave.
"I suppose you could," she mused, "I-I was just headed-" She lost her balance, and staggered forward slightly. His hands instinctively shot out to catch her, but she caught herself before he needed to. As she did, a light but apparent scent filled Levi's nose, and the situation became clear to him. She was wasted. He couldn't hide the disdain on his face, but she didn't seem to notice. He hated alcohol, and everything that came with it. Or maybe he just hated drunkards. Nonetheless, the situation was less than ideal. She let out another giggle.
"I was just headed back to my room, I decided to go out tonight." She said, matter of factly. He clicked his tongue. It would be a hefty task, considering her condition.
"You can't even walk in a straight line"
"I-I don't need to walk in a straight line to get to my room! There's lots of t-twists and turns to get there." She lifted her pointer fingers up and began revolving them around sporadically, motioning these 'twists and turns.' She looked up at the sky. Her smile weakened. Levi watched her intently as he saw her face shift into something more tragic.
"It's raining," she noted, softly. Levi groaned. She was really out of it.
"It has been, for the last ten minutes." She gave him a serious look.
"I really hate the rain, yknow." Levi shook his head, she was sputtering nonsense.
"Where's your room?"
Her eyes slowly moved over to the castle as she lifted her hand, and waved her hand in its vague direction.
"There."
"I'll walk you. It'd be irritating to wake up and find you passed out on the ground."
"How fun! I was just thinking that I could use s-some company!" He shot her a look of annoyance.
"I'm just taking you to your room."
"Well whatever, it's better than that fake Marla." she grumbled.
Levi rolled his eyes. Fake Marla? He had no idea what she was talking about, but he decided not to ask about it. He wasn't eager to subject himself to her drunken rambling. If he recalled correctly, Marla was that soldier girl that had died that day… How close were they? So she was drinking to forget, then? He sighed and stepped over to her.
"Put your arm over me."
"W-why? I can walk."
"I have places to be, I don't have time to be waiting around for you, stumbling about."
"Rude." She pouted, but she obliged, throwing her arm over his shoulder. Levi leaned down and reached his arm over to her waist, pulling her closer. He adjusted slightly, preparing to walk, when he halted. He had initiated all of this, offering to walk her to her room, giving her his shoulder to lean on, pulling her close...wasn't he being far too friendly? Did he have ulterior motives that he was unaware of? He glanced back at her. Her face was close, her eyelids drooped slightly. No, he was just doing this because she was moments away from blacking out. The heat of her body against his became very obvious. He shifted, and for the first time in a very long time he could feel his face flush ever so slightly from embarrassment. He cleared his throat, and began walking forward.
"This way right?" He asked, nodding to the front of the castle. She shook her head.
"No, go right."
"The entrance to the castle is that way." he said, frowning.
"I-I know, but sometimes there's a guard there that I really don't like…" she leaned in even closer, bringing her voice down, "So lets go my secret way." she whispered, with a grave expression on her face.
God, she was talking like a seven year old. He marveled in the fact that she was only a couple years younger than him.
"What does he look like?"
"Huh?"
"The guard."
"O-oh, ehhhh well he's blonde, kind of tall…." So it was him.
"Sounds like he's your type." he said, flatly. She shot him a look of disgust.
"I still have standards." She sneered back.
Levi scoffed, but her response had made him smile a bit. He returned his focus to the task at hand.
"So where is this 'secret way' you're blubbering about?"
"Just keep goin' this way."
Levi continued walking to the right, which seemed to lead to the back of the castle. As far as Levi knew, there were no entrances that way, just some shrubbery. I hope she's not making this shit up. Once they'd arrived, it was just as Levi had remembered, no entrance. He groaned.
"Are you seriously so shitfaced that you're actually making things up?" He demanded. She pushed herself away from him, taking a short moment to regain her balance, and glared back at him.
"Stop being so impatient! God, you really are like a baby! So temperamental!" She began to walk over to the garden. She glowered back at him.
"Give me a moment!" She shouted over her shoulder.
Levi scowled back at her. He wasn't used to people speaking to him like that, but seeing as she was barely conscious, he decided to let it slide tonight. Levi watched as she kneeled down, clasping her fingers tightly around the round bottom of the ceramic pot that held a tall, bushy shrub, and with a small grunt, lifted it up, away from the wall. Levi's eyes shot back up to the wall, and he could now see some wood peeking through the leaves. A door? She continued with the two following pots, until a small, wooden door was completely revealed. She shot him a knowing smirk, and he rolled his eyes. She reached into her pocket, pulling out an old, janky key, and shoved it in, and with a small click, the door popped open.
"Told you so."
"Whatever."
They entered the narrow doorway, and she closed the door softly behind her. Levi walked over and placed himself under her arm again, and hoisted himself up, and they began walking down the silent hallway. She had been extremely chatty the way there, but she was now eerily quiet, only telling him which turns to take every now and then. Levi thought he would've been grateful for some peace, but now that she wasn't jabbering away, things that he'd been able to ignore earlier became impossible in the stillness of the old castle. The way she smelled like rose water, the way her waist felt under his hand…
"Levi?"
"What."
"Why are you doing all this?"
Thankfully, he'd asked himself this question earlier, so he was able to answer without missing a beat.
"It just seemed like the decent thing to do."
"But you didn't have to go through all this trouble… you could've just had the guards escort me."
"It's not that much work. Think of it as payment for my reading lessons."
She hummed in response. He glanced back at her. She looked like she wanted to press him further, but was stopping herself. Maybe she's sobering up??
"You smell really good." she said softly.
Nevermind.
There was that bothersome heat in his face again. He swallowed.
"Didn't take you for a pervert." he retorted, as if he hadn't been thinking the exact same thing earlier. She snickered.
"Whatever- Oh! Here it is! My room." she piped, jumping up a bit, causing Levi to sway to the left. Thank God. Another second with her and his brain would've went into overdrive. He released her, and she lurched forward, shooting her hands up to catch herself on the door, which miraculously she was able to pull off without eating shit. Levi clicked his tongue. It seemed like he was going to have to babysit her. He grabbed her arm, pulled her back, and pushed the door open. He was absolutely disgusted with the sight before him. Loose papers, dirty clothes, and books strewn all over the floor. His eyes shot up to the bed. Same deal. Covered in papers, some empty teacups, and other random items. He shot her a dirty look.
"What the hell is this pigsty? How the fuck do you live like this."
"As long as no one else sees it, what's the big deal? It's my room anyways." she grumbled. He clicked his tongue. It seemed that she was really going to make this whole thing complicated, every step of the way.
"Gross. Stay here."
He walked over to the bed, and began cleaning it off. He placed all the papers in a neat pile on her desk, carefully stacked the ceramic cups, and settled on putting all the other various items on a pile on the floor. He began shaking out the bed sheets, which, to his grave disappointment, had crumbs. Repulsive. He walked back over, navigating his way through the maze that was her floor.
"Come on." he instructed, reaching out his arm for balance. She clasped onto it tightly, slowly making her way to the bed, and throwing herself on it. Letting out a blissful sigh, she rolled over to her stomach, closing her eyes. Levi awkwardly stood at the foot of the bed, gazing down at her. He quickly averted his gaze. He felt like he was doing something wrong.
"I'm going to leave now." he said.
"Mhm" She was already half asleep.
Levi nodded, and began exiting the room.
I guess she's not as put together as I thought.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Furlan shouted.
Levi squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. They'd failed retrieving the documents before the expedition, and the nerves that were chewing Levi up from the inside were now spilling out. He didn't want Isabel and Furlan to go on the expedition. He was capable of doing it all himself, going on the expedition, killing Erwin, and retrieving the documents.
After he'd returned to his barrack from the librarian's room, he'd stayed up. That woman still mourned the death of her partner that had died a year ago. Her sorrowful face as she gazed up to the rainy clouds flashed through his mind. He didn't want Isabel and Furlan to become memories for him to grieve over, while he got drunk at some dirty bar. They meant too much to him. Like she'd said, it was a very real possibility that they would all die out there, at the very least, he wanted to lower the chances to only one of them dying. He looked back to Isabel and Furlan's pained, confused faces with cold eyes.
"We haven't even seen a real titan yet, and it'll be our first time outside the walls. It may take all we've got just to make it back alive. But if I'm by myself, I'll manage somehow."
"Why would you say that bro-" Isabel began, desperately, before she was cut off by Furlan, who shot his hand up. Her mouth clamped shut. Furlan's demeanor shifted into a more stoic one. Levi could tell he was trying to understand why he was dropping this on them so suddenly.
"So what you're saying is," he started, in a low voice," That we can't handle the expedition, right?"
"That's right, in my opinion."
Isabel jumped down from the crate she was sitting on, and began stomping over to him, until she was just inches away from his face. Her fierce green eyes bore into him.
"How can you say that?! We won't know until we try! What's the matter... this isn't like you at all!" she cried out. Levi scowled, snapping his head away from them. He rubbed his temples. Why were they making this so difficult? He was just looking out for them.
"If you wont stay behind, then this conversation is over!" he shouted, angrily, "We'll wait for another opportunity." he said, with finality. He stormed off, with no destination in mind. He couldn't meet their eyes. He could hear Isabel calling out for him as he walked away, but he ignored her, continuing on.
After Levi had stormed off, he considered going back to his barrack to sleep, but he didn't want to deal with other people. After wandering around the castle for about fifteen minutes, he'd come across a tall set of stairs, and decided to go up. He'd soon found himself at the top of a tower, the vast night stretched out before him. He gazed back up, thoughtfully. Wispy clouds covered any light the stars are moon would've given him. Just like the Underground. He slowly stepped forward, and sat himself at the wall's edge, staring up at the grey sky. It's all the same. He shut his eyes, trying to escape the situation he faced, just for a short moment. Why were they pushing so strongly against his attempts to keep them safe? Were they that opposed to his care? He sighed. He'd come up here to clear his head, yet here he was, getting himself even more mixed up than before. He closed his eyes again, when he heard the door click open. His head jolted in its direction, and he saw Isabel's head pop through, and Furlan's followed. They walked over to him. They still looked angry, rightfully so. He tore his eyes away from theirs. He couldn't bear to look at them right now.
"Bro!" Isabel called.
"Levi, we need to talk. We can't agree with you going off on your own." said Furlan. Isabel nodded her head, furiously.
"You said that we'd all take the first step outside the walls together, are you really going to go back on your word?" She asked, woundedly. Levi turned from them, and back to face the sky.
"It's all the same...Above, Underground, when the clouds cover the moon and stars, it looks exactly like the Underground, even up here." he said, softly. Isabel looked at him with utter confusion. What am I saying? A short silence filled the air.
"...If you're only referring to the color of the sky, I suppose you're right...B-but this is completely different!" Isabel exclaimed, eyes bright, "Unlike the Underground, we know there's no roof! It just goes on!" She turned to Furlan.
"Right?" Furlan nodded at her, and smiled back at Levi.
"That right, this sky is endless. You can't even compare the two!" He said, with a small laugh. Levi looked back at them in wonder. Suddenly Isabel's eyes widened, and she started jumping up and down, excitedly.
"Hey, hey look" Isabel yelled, frantically pointing up to the sky, "The clouds moved! The moon is so bright!" She ran over and plopped down next to Levi, and Furlan carefully seated himself on the opposite side, warily eyeing the edge.
Levi's eye followed her finger. He could see it, gleaming brightly through the clouds. It's soft glow washed over him. Levi's eyes widened.
"You can't ignore the difference anymore now, huh?" She said, cheekily.
He turned to Isabel, and then to Furlan. How could they be so hopeful? How could they march aimlessly into the future, without knowing what it held? Were they just that different from him? What did that make of him, then?
"Levi." Furlan said, cooly, "You need to believe in us."
"Yeah!"
Levi looked up to the now illuminating sky, and the two equally illuminating people seated next to him. For once, he decided to give in.
"Okay."