CHAPTER 6: CUT TO THE CHASE
Levi Ackerman
Everything was on fire!
Levi reached his arms up as high as he could and pulled himself up onto the bed. His toes were left dangling in the air as he scrambled up.
"Mom?" he sobbed. His cries sounded pitiful, even to him. "Mom where are you?"
He searched through the blankets, but of course, she wasn't there.
He knew she wasn't there.
Flames erupted in his sight, and he gasped, pulling a blanked in close.
"Mom!"
The scratchy edge of his too large shirt rubbed painfully against his skin. It scratched and itched more right now than it ever had before. Like every inch of his skin was crawling with cockroaches.
When would she be back? Was she coming back? He didn't know. Everything hurt.
He breathed deeply, tears forming in his eyes. Oh how it all burned!
"Mom please! Where are you?" He sobbed to himself as he fell to the pillow. His tears stained the threadbare fabric like the blackening touch of ash.
"Please…"
But she still wasn't there. Instead he had only pain as his company...
...pain that was relentless, flooding into every nerve and blood cell like water bursting through a dam.
Levi let out a scratchy cough, praying for the fire in his back to fade. Everything around him was black and gray. The whole world buzzed with the fury of a thousand violent bees.
Someone broke out in a bout of coughing to his side, but the sound was far away. Everything was far away. Smoke and dust filled the air. It burned his eyes.
Filthy...god it's everywhere. Can't breathe...can't see...
The smoke caught in his throat.
He rolled on his side, hacking, chest protesting the prolonged exposure to the mess. Involuntary tears bit at his eyes.
Someone wrapped their arms under his and jerked him up to his feet. His head spun wildly as he tried to stop coughing. He blinked rapidly against the smoke, eyes stinging.
"Use your scarf!"
Historia? He recognized the girl's high voice, despite the buzzing in his ear.
He grabbed the scarf on his neck and covered his mouth with it. Sure enough, it acted as a sort of filter in the thick smoke.
"What the hell was that?" He rasped, vision clearing. His throat felt like someone had ripped it out and dragged it across the entire underground city.
Both he and Historia jumped back as a sudden crash of flames burst from the middle of the room. The floor and ceiling supports burned with angry light, threatening to harm.
"Move!" He barked, pushing into Historia. The momentum forced her to move with him back towards the bar. They stumbled into it, ducking behind it as angry red sparks exploded from the parlor.
Levi immediately slumped against the bar, slouching down as his lungs tried to escape his chest.
"WHAT THE HELL?" A snarling voice on his left made him jump.
Len crouched with them, pitifully shielding his head with a towel. His hostile expression held no mercy for the two.
"DID YOU TWO CAUSE THIS?" He screamed.
Levi opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by both another coughing fit and explosion from the front.
"No!" Historia all but screamed back over the chaos. "Of course we didn't do this!"
"WE HAVE TO PUT IT OUT! THE FIRE IT WILL RUIN EVERYTHING!"
"There's no time! We have to get your brother and get out of here!"
A look of confusion crossed the man's face. "Patrik..?" His voice trailed off. "No, no, he already left with the kids. But you two can help fix this—"
"Is there another way out of here?" Historia cut him off. Her voice was steady despite everything literally burning all around them, and Levi mentally thanked her for it.
Len on the other hand looked like he'd been slapped, but the expression only lasted a moment before fading. "I—yes. Yes, the back door." His eyes flicked to the door to their right.
"Then let's go!" Historia directed. She pulled Levi up again, half dragging him to the door.
Len beat them to it, his wits seemingly returning, and he flung the door open letting in a cool shaft of air.
They rushed through it entering a small hallway, and Historia slammed it shut behind them. Throat burning, Levi doubled over again, almost dry heaving as he choked.
Despite the haze and hacking, something prodded at his mind. Something wasn't adding up, and he swore he saw something in that brief moment before the explosive had been thrown.
"WHO-WHAT-WHY IS MY BAR ON FIRE?" Len shouted at Historia, who was effectively blocking the door back into the raging inferno. The poor man was near to ripping his hair out with how tight he grasped it.
"I'm so sorry," She held her hands out helplessly. "We don't know what's going on, but if we stay out there we'll get burned. Did you say this leads out?"
Smoke started flowing from under the door.
"But this is-" Len cried. "I can't leave this behind!"
"Len please!" Historia pleaded. "That fire will kill us all! It's too late to save the bar, but it's not too late to save us, and as long as we're alive the bar can be replaced."
Len stood, dumbfounded in shock. Levi wasn't sure if it was because of the fire or Historia's boldness.
Afraid that speaking might cause another coughing fit, he watched the smoke building in the room steadily. Heat radiated off the door, like a furnace turned on full blast waited right on the other side. His head spun, everything registering slowly. He thought he heard Historia saying something else to Len, trying to compel the man to listen.
But he knew they were out of time.
A glint of something...what was it?
"We need to move." He croaked, voice grating.
That got their attention. He sidestepped both of them, moving further down the hallway. He'd gone halfway when Len spoke up.
"There's a door on the left." The bartender said, tears in his eyes. "It takes you out back to the waste dump. We should-we should get going."
Levi nodded at the man to show them the way. The three of them made their way towards a door at the end of the hallway, the sounds of fire crackling and popping faded behind them like smoke vanishing in air.
The door creaked open, dumping them onto a back alley filled with trash and old wooden planks.
Levi greedily sucked in a breath of air, nearly choking on its purity. He swore if anything else made him actually grateful for the awful district he'd shoot himself.
Historia also removed her scarf and breathed in the smokeless air. Len cleared his throat.
The alley stretched back to the main road they'd come from in one way and to a steep cliff face in the other. Levi knew it would take you on a one way trip to the Island slums.
Despite the danger around them, Nausea swelled at the thought of how close they were to the place. A bad taste filled his mouth, like he could suddenly taste the pollution he knew was out there.
"Let's go." He rasped. "We need to cover some ground before-"
*BANG*
The wood above Levi's head exploded, splintering everywhere as he raised his arms defensively.
To his horror, as he looked for the source of the bullet, he saw him.
The man who had been haunting him for days.
Dark robes swirling around him in the wake of his stride, the hooded man stood in the entryway of the alley, plain as day. Levi couldn't see his face, but the twisted way he moved, like a creature made of nightmares, made his stomach bottom out.
He gasped as the man readied his gun at them.
"RUN!" He bellowed, throwing himself in front of Historia.
*BANG*
More splintering. Right where Levi had been standing a second before.
His brain was running on pure survival instinct as he grabbed Historia's wrist and tore down the alley towards the cliff.
Can your Ackerman instincts keep you and them safe? The voice in his head returned with vengeance.
FUCK YOU! He snarled back at it.
The rapid heavy footsteps of Len behind him gave him some small measure of comfort. At least the man wasn't a complete idiot. He knew danger.
"GO LEFT AND FOLLOW MY LEAD!" He barked as they exited the alley. "We need to shake that guy!"
"Who is he?'' Historia gasped, dashing with him.
"Focus on getting away." He growled through clenched teeth, wincing at the stabbing pains in his skull. "We'll talk about him when he's not chasing us."
Bursting out of the alley, Levi stopped short, halting both his and Historia's forward momentum. The alley dumped them onto a narrow ledge overlooking most of the underground. Little lights from windows and lamps sparkled across the dark expanse, twinkling innocently, telling nothing of the disgusting horrors hidden among them.
Like he had promised Historia earlier, it was quite the view.
A few stray rocks, kicked up from their feet, tumbled into the steep drop, down to the area below them.
"WATCH OUT!" Levi yelled as he jerked Historia to the left just as Len barrelled out of the alley. His breath caught as the man barely stopped short of the ledge.
*BANG*
*BANG*
Gunshots tore at the ground behind Len's feet. The bartender yelped, scrambling out of the line of fire.
"Careful!" Historia cried.
"NO SHIT!" He gasped back, eyes flaring.
Levi's head absolutely throbbed. Stopping only made the pain worse. He barely registered the firing bullets, instead the primal urge to just get the hell away from here slammed into his mind.
"Come on!" He said, clenching his teeth. "And don't fall!"
"Where are we going?" Len gasped as they started running along the ledge.
"Away from here." Levi growled back, not slowing down. "You don't need to come with us. They won't be looking for you."
Why had he told Len that? It was true, wasn't it?
"How do you know?" Len cried back.
*BANG*
Another bullet streaked in front of the group, and Levi felt the air rush past his face as it went.
"I don't know for sure, but we need to shake them, and we can't wait for you!"
Len slowed to a stop, conflict crossing his face. Unfortunately, they didn't have time to wait for him to decide. Without warning, Levi tore down an alley to his left, Historia in tow. The poor girl was doing her best to follow him, despite the bolting speed at which they ran.
"Wait!" She screamed. "We can't just leave him there!"
"It's too late." Levi cursed. "He was taking too long to make up his mind. You're more important."
The two of them charged down the alley, spilling out back on the main road they'd originally come from. And back to the road the man had been on. Levi hoped the man had taken to pursuing them and wasn't still standing on the road waiting for them to make a mistake like the one he was about to lead them to.
He paused for a moment. His mind ran in overdrive, calculating routes and hideouts. There was a safehouse for the mission planned a block away, but that was likely too close to have time to run to without shaking the mystery man. But, if they could make it across this zone into the one below it...
That will have to work.
He tore forward, darting between carts and people. Historia narrowly avoided all out collisions with three people.
"Levi!" She cried. "You need to stop! We have to make sure Len is okay!"
He ignored her, instead, abruptly changed directions to run up the street instead of across it.
A sloped street grew to their left and Levi led their dash towards it. He checked behind them again before rounding the corner.
His blood ran cold at the sight of the man in the dark cloak bursting through the crowded street, following their every move.
"Shit!" He cursed. "He's still there!"
"What? How?"
"Follow my every movement. It's about to get interesting."
The two of them tore up the rise. Levi hoped Len made it out safe. The man didn't deserve to die because of some stupid crossfire attack on Historia.
What did you see? You KNOW it!
FACE IT ACKERMAN. The voice screamed.
But there was no time to dwell on it. The buildings on the rise soared overhead, with citizens of the underground going about their day. Dodging through them was like running through a corn field, with limbs sticking out at odd angles and almost smacking into people he hadn't seen a second before, but Levi's goal was a tunnel just ahead of them. They had to keep going!
Skills from his thieving days took over his taxed mind, and by muscle memory alone he ducked under a low doorway into the stone tunnel, Historia dashing behind him like a shadow.
Icy cold enveloped him immediately. More cold than before.
Cold cold cold, so cold.
It hurt.
It numbed his toes, not that he could feel them.
This, he decided, was much worse than the fire from earlier.
His voice had long since grown hoarse by the time Kutchel finally stormed into the room. Levi hated seeing her angry or hurt, and she looked nothing short of furious as she flung the door open. Her horrible scowl shattered the instant she saw him lying half dead in their bed.
"Mom…" he tried to say, but his throat felt like the over-charred food they had to eat last week.
"Oh my god," Terror filled her eyes. "Levi what did they do?" She rushed to his side, laying a hand on his forehead.
Ice. Cold. Hurts.
He let out a pitiful moan at her touch.
She gasped and pulled away. "Baby I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Tears streamed down her face. "We've got to cool you down!" She shifted the blankets around his thin frame, pulling them off and letting more cold air attack his vulnerable skin.
For a moment, there was nothing. But then the ice flooded his veins like rainwater. His whole body felt its prickling touch. It split every nerve, racing down his spine, out to his fingers and toes.
"It's okay baby, it will be okay. Just look at mommy and it will all be okay." Kutchel smiled for him, all her anger melting away.
She looked so much happier now, and Levi thought for a moment that everything really would be okay.
"It's all going to be okay."
He closed his tear-stained eyes, feeling his mother replace her hand on his head.
"See honey? We'll be okay. Stay with me and we'll be fine. Stay…"
"...with me!" He yelled, pulling Historia after him.
The tunnel swallowed them whole, leaving barely any light to see by. Luckily, or maybe horribly, people actually lived in this tunnel and lanterns illuminated the glistening stone ahead. It twinkled in the dark, like some kind of mockery of a warm hearth, inviting him to join.
Levi the soldier might have.
Levi the thief had other ideas.
A small side corridor expanded to his right. He pulled Historia down it, barely glancing back to see if their pursuer was there.
The rough stone echoed under their feet as the tunnel expanded downward. Levi could hear rather than see the growth of the pathway. Though not by lanterns, a small amount of light bounced around from another opening further down. The pathway would connect them with a lower district, one with a large market they could hopefully lose their follower in.
They quickly descended through the sloped tunnel. Levi noted the heavy panting from Historia, and he guessed she would soon tire. They would need to stop and catch their breath. But they couldn't stop now. It was difficult, but he picked out the distant sound of their pursuer's feet pounding against the ground distantly behind them.
He cursed again.
"Len" Historia panted. "Is he dead?"
He couldn't think about that now.
"Levi—" She heaved. "You left him there...didn't you?"
"We need to focus—" He started.
"To hell with that!"
Historia abruptly stopped behind him. The opposing force of his forward dash against her sudden stop ripped her wrist free from his grasp.
He stumbled forward a few more steps, the tunnel curving around him to reveal the exit several meters ahead. The dim light of the underground pooled into the exit from the distance.
"What are you doing?" He screamed at her. His heart pounded with terror. Their pursuer would catch them any second if they stayed here. "We can't stop!"
"We came down here to save people." Historia stubbornly reasoned. "All we've done so far is waste our time and put people in danger. That man back there? We don't know what he wants. Maybe instead of running from our messes like criminals we should actually do something!"
"That man is trying to kill us!" Levi hissed. "You can be damn well sure of that."
"No!" Historia yelled, clenching her fists. "We need to find a better way or this operation is useless."
"Fine, and we can do that when we're not being chased." He growled at her taking a step back towards her.
A dark silhouette appeared at the top of the sloped cavern.
Terror shot though Levi as he glanced up. It wasted no time shooting towards them, a rush of darkness in the already dark tunnel.
"MOVE!" Levi reached out for the stubborn queen, pulling her away from her stance. A bullet tore through the air where she'd been a second later, the sound cracking through the tunnel, splitting his ears.
They tore down the remainder of the tunnel, adrenaline pumping, as it opened back up onto the underground district. A long straight street stretched out into the distance before them. It traveled for several kilometers before the end cut off somewhere beyond eyesight, but from their position it looked like a sharp knife cut through a painting of a town.
Filling the street were people of all ages. Some slugged through the streets in a hollow daze while other lugged packs and bundles. They scurried around like ants, moving this way and that. Some hurried while others gathered.
"We'll lose him in the crowd!" Levi panted.
They ran across the street towards some shops, cloaks whipping behind them. People gave them looks, their faces dull and lifeless despite the action around them.
A large figure appeared in front of Levi, glaring them down and blocking their path. Too late to move, Levi barreled right into the man, knocking him over with a huff.
Historia screamed.
"Keep going!" Levi gasped, not stopping.
They ducked through clumps of pasersby. Levi tried to scan around them for more the hooded man, but didn't see him.
"Change of plans." He decided. "Let's get off the main road." The stitch in his side protested as he pushed himself to further stride towards a particularly tall building. He didn't have time to admire its height or uncommon brick styling as he led them around its curved walls. Ignoring face after face glaring after them, he counted his rapid breaths, praying for this to work.
"Up ahead there's another tunnel." He pointed at a dark opening ahead of them, still running. People spilled in and out in groups, clearly unfazed by the darkness. "Through it, there is another drop off to the slums. We don't want to take our chances there if we don't have to. Be careful."
Historia, out of breath and probably mad at him, simply nodded.
Together, they dove into the cool underpass. Once again, iciness washed over Levi's skin like a bucket of water. He shivered, slowing to a fast-walk behind several laborers towing a large cart.
He examined the faces passing by in the darkness. The tunnel was short, already the other side was in sight, and it allowed light to pool in from either opening.
Scowls and defensive looks met Levi's own pensive one. He tried to shoot back his signature glare, hoping it didn't come off as weak as it felt.
The men towing the cart moved like a stubborn cow. Every step through the tunnel lasted a lifetime, making Levi's nerves scream. He fought the urge to check behind them every five seconds.
Hurry up hurry up hurry up.
He bit his tongue hard enough to taste coppery blood.
Finally, they neared the exit to the tunnel. Levi held out a guarding arm, blocking Historia from plowing through it.
He shot her a look. Wait.
She regarded him, wide-eyed.
Toeing out of the tunnel, Levi scanned the surroundings. Sure enough, the crowd tapered off to either the right or left, following the road that ran along another drop off heading straight down…
...back home. The voice sneered at him.
His heart hammered, but he sucked in a deep breath, remaining calm and calculating.
A lot of options presented themselves to him. There was his old thieving hideout for starters. A few abandoned buildings, old tenements, brothels and deserted marketplaces all flashed in and out in a wild heart beat.
No, none of those would work.
They were all below them in the slums.
He searched, scanning each balcony and ledge nearby. That one was too open, the one across from it sharing the same problem. The crowds were thinner here, not enough people to blend in with.
What to do? Where to go?
Had their pursuer tracked them this far?
An idea popped into his mind.
His cloak whipped around him as he turned back into the tunnel.
"I have an idea." He announced softly to Historia who was still wearing the same look of fear and shock. "We don't know where this guy is going to follow us, so the only thing we can do is make sure he can't follow us."
"What do you mean?" Historia whispered, breath shaking.
"I mean head out on that ledge and round the corner. There's a small outcropping we hide behind. When he gets there, we ambush him."
Historia looked conflicted. "Do you really think he'll fall for it?" She squeaked.
"I don't know." Levi admitted. "But we can't keep running from him forever."
"Okay." She agreed finally.
He motioned for her to follow behind him. "Follow my lead. Stay close."
Light bounced off stone as their footsteps echoed through the short passageway. Literally light at the end of a tunnel. Was that why dread pooled in his stomach like a thick fog? Would they die here in this damn filthy tunnel surrounded by strangers?
You'll die as you lived. A thief in the night. A forgotten face. Another piece of scum who couldn't escape the clutches of the underground…
He swallowed, each pounding word from the voice sent a stab of pain through his head and a jolt of fear through his heart.
As they neared the exit, Levi slowed.
Something was off.
Not again!
He sniffed the air, trying to detect anything out of place. Nothing there. His eyes darted back and forth, shooting like a bullet around each face.
What was it? What was it? What was it?
Two people glanced above the ceiling to the tunnel.
A child wailed in its parent's grasp.
Light hit his face as he exited the tunnel.
Another group outside had their eyes fixed above his head.
What are they looking at?
"Shit! Get back!" Levi shouted a moment too late as three men dropped down onto the path from above.
"Going somewhere, surface walkers?" one of them spat. His enormous frame blocked the road, sending bystanders scattering in fear. His face twisted into snarl, revealing a row of yellowed teeth under a thick mustache.
Historia's hand bumped into his back. Levi didn't need to look back to sense the fear radiating off her.
"It's not your business, and you're in our way." Levi glared back.
"Oh, it's not?" the man raised an exaggerated hand in mock surprise. He took a step forward bringing a terrible stench of body odor and sewage with him that wafted into Levi's nostrils. "Well pardon me and my friends. We're here to make it our business."
"WATCH OUT!"
Historia's shriek echoed around the tunnel opening as the three men pounced on their group. Levi pushed her backwards, taking the brunt force of two of the men. He lost track of everything as he they tackled him to the musty earth.
The wind was knocked out of him in an instant, and during his moment of disorientation, one of the men punched him square in the jaw.
Blinding stars erupted in his vision. Someone screamed.
His vision cleared, but he instantly gagged on their stench as it engulfed him fully. The two men's muscled arms and short statures made quick work of pinning him to the ground. One of them growled at him and raised another fist. Levi squirmed out of the way barely as the fist shot towards his face, smashing instead into the dirt.
The third fist he didn't dodge as well. It smashed into his face, knocking it back into the ground. Levi thought he might pass out from nausea. He tasted blood.
You'll die right here! In the piss filled dirt with all the other thugs!
Thugs.
Wait.
The man reeled back his fist, coming in for a finishing blow, the unicorn emblem on his jacket becoming clear to Levi for the first time since they'd pounced on him.
Time seemed to slow down as his brain made the connection.
He'd been in this same situation before, when he was much much younger. Fresher on the street, he'd been caught stealing by other gangs and punished. Left bleeding and bruised until someone had pity on him and took care of him until his health was restored.
But he'd been punished by other thugs.
Not Military Police. But these aren't Military Police, are they?
The next time he'd been caught, he was ready.
And he was ready now.
The man's fist flew towards him and Levi let years of honed instincts take over.
He brought his feet up and smashed them into the heads of the men on either side of him. They screamed in pain, tightening their grips on Levi's arm's.
Perfect.
He twisted himself around the two of them, turning his arms in their grasp. They weren't expecting the sudden momentum, and his hands, balled into fists, slammed into their chests, hopefully knocking the wind out of them.
A beat later they both fell back, letting him go. He savagely kicked them both in the side, leaving them gasping on the rocky path.
Levi brought his head up wildly, the adrenaline blocking out waves of nausea. Something trickled from his nose. Probably blood.
He searched for Historia only to find her being dragged back down the tunnel, kicking and screaming, by the third man.
He growled, running up behind the man. The thug whipped around faster than he'd been expecting, swooping his arm through the air directly towards Levi's face.
He gasped, ducking out of the way as he felt the air swoosh past his face.
He delivered a rapid succession of small blows to the man's arms. A crack sounded. The man screamed, clutching the arm.
Historia recovered quickly, and she slammed her toe directly into the man's crotch. He howled in pain, the sounds echoing through the circular space.
Levi felt no pity as he dealt a deadly blow to the man's face, leaving him to flop unconsciously to the ground.
Dust puffed up around his body.
"Are you okay?" Levi asked Historia.
Her hair splayed out, ruined from the man's rough treatment. "I'm—I'm fine. I'm fine." She said, clasping her hands together to keep them from shaking. "Who were those men? They were wearing police uniforms...is that what Patrik was talking about?"
"I know." Levi said, bringing a hand to his head. Was it just him or were the walls spinning? "We need to get somewhere safe."
"What do we do?" She asked him, wide eyes boring into his.
"It would be easier to hide if we could blend into a crowd." He answered, but his mind was clouding up as the adrenaline rush faded. His hands, damn, his whole body was shaking. As the adrenaline wore off, pure agony poured into his skull, every throb threatening to send him spazzing to the ground.
"Are you—are you okay? Levi?"
He didn't answer immediately and man on the ground began to stir. No other citizens were in sight. They had all cleared out when the fight began.
"Uh, on second though, let's just get out of here." Historia said in a rush. "Up? Yeah? Great, let's go."
She motioned for him to follow as she ducked further into the tunnel, back towards where they'd last seen the hooded man.
They darted back up the enshrouded sloped path, checking every corner for danger.
Levi's heart raced. He swallowed thickly, the bile in his throat doing nothing against the barrage of pain. His head was going to explode. Each hit of his foot against stone felt like the entire tunnel was crashing in on him.
Finally, they broke back out into the dim light of the underground.
"This way." He panted.
Up ahead, people continued to swarm the area, which he now identified as a marketplace. Buildings rose tall and wide, stretching across the public area. They stood like a fence, as if keeping the darkness at bay. And indeed, light from many lamps and fires blazed all around the square, almost inviting.
They delved into the crowd, and within moments, the two of them were surrounded by people. They needed to be more cautious than this. They probably stick out like a sore thumb, but Levi's rational side felt like it was floating away, a feather in a breeze.
Now Ackerman...
He kept walking. Heart racing, feet heavy as they pounded into the ground. The world blurred past him, faces and dirt and buildings all becoming one dark mass.
Give up. You've lost. Give in...
But then he wasn't walking. He wasn't even moving. His face burned as it smashed into the ground, cheeks scraping against rocks and dirt.
He couldn't breath. Couldn't think.
The cavern ceiling was on fire.
Someone was touching him.
Had they been caught?
Fear flooded his mind, and he gasped through the haze.
His vision cleared enough to see shockingly blue eyes under a hooded cowl.
Historia.
"Levi?" She moved her scarf down so he could see her face. Her lips moved slowly, and Levi wondered wildly if they were underwater. She looked scared, eyes wide with shock. Maybe they were drowning.
"Levi!" Her hand, icy cold, touched his head.
He hissed.
"Shit! You're burning up!"
He tried to shake his head, to move at all. He was drowning, couldn't she see? He would drown and never see the sun again.
"Please stay with me!"
But he couldn't.
Give up AND DIE!
Her voice faded out, and his body gave up
Dark crowded in on his mind until there was nothing.
Just blissful sweet nothing.
No pain. No fire or ice.
Just black. He liked it.
"Levi? Sweetie can you open your eyes?"
No. Of course he couldn't. Someone had glued them shut.
"Come on baby. You can do it for me."
She was right. Mom was always right.
Levi grunted, trying to push his eyes open, for her. His eyes were crusty and filled with goop, but through all that her face was clear and warm.
She smiled down at him. "There's my little hero."
He tried to smile back but ended up coughing instead.
"...mom...wh...what...hapnd?" He mumbled through dry lips.
She smiled again, but sadness crept behind her eyes. She started brushing his hair, running her slender fingers through it. It felt nice.
"Well baby, some people here get jealous that you're so special. They think I should spend more time with them so they tried to make you sick."
"Did...did they burn me?" He whispered.
"No they didn't burn you."
"What did they do?"
Kutchel looked away from where she sat on the bed, gazing across the room to his pathetic pile of toys and belongings. He followed her gaze but didn't see anything important there.
"Mom?"
When she turned back to him, there were tears in her eyes.
"Why are you crying?" He coughed.
"Because baby, I should have been more careful. I should have made sure no one could come in while I was away."
He looked at her, confusion spreading on his face.
She sighed, wiping her tears.
"Hun, did anyone come by last night?"
Levi didn't know why that was important, but he searched through his fevered mind. He would find an answer for her.
"I think so." He whispered at last. "Someone brought a treat for us."
"And did you eat it?"
Yes, he remembered clearly now. The stinky man from downstairs had come by last night while she was out. It had been strange, especially since no one ever came by to visit them. Well except for the angry lady, also from downstairs, who liked to yell at mom, but aside from that, they rarely had company. It was how Levi liked it. Just him and mom.
And the filthy man had brought them extra bread from the kitchen. Levi had been so hungry, and they never got to eat bread! He'd gobbled it all up…
"Yeah…I'm sorry. I didn't wait for you..." Tears threatened to fall from his dry eyes.
"No no! Honey, it's not that!" She hurriedly waved her hands in the air. "Whoever came by didn't give you good food. They were trying to make you sick with it."
He stared at her blankly, a nasty feeling building in his stomach.
"Oh…"
"But I'm not going to let that happen anymore. Mommy is going to talk to them and tell them how special you are. No one gets to interrupt our lives here, okay?"
He couldn't help the smile that cracked on his face.
"Haha, come here you!" She pulled him up from the bed, gentle as always with every touch, and wrapped her arms around him. His face pressed into her neck as he smelled the hint of lavender on her skin.
"No one can hurt you when I'm around."
Levi closed his eyes, letting the dark swallow him once more.
But when he blinked his eyes open again, he didn't expect the black to stay. Nor could he see an end to the gaping expanse rising far above him on both sides with a thin gap of dim light striking through it. His head spun, and he groaned in misery, feeling every bit his age as he shifted against rigid ground.
"Captain?" A quiet voice sounded to his side.
He huffed out a breath, turning his head a centimeter to see a small hooded figure enshrouded in the shadows.
Historia.
She leaned forward towards him, and he tried to sit up.
Bad idea.
Pain slammed into his head like he'd been clobbered with a brick. His jaw ached, He groaned again, laying his head back, a whirlwind of motion spinning inside. Bringing his hand to his head, he shuddered, finding dirt caked in his hair and face.
Don't think about it. Don't think about it.
"How do you feel?" Historia appeared, hovering over him.
He felt himself flush, making the pain in his throbbing skull even worse. "I'm fine." He stammered, harsher than intended.
Historia flicked an eyebrow up. "Wow, really?" She asked, sarcasm tainting her scared voice. "Since when does fine mean collapsing and passing out for twenty minutes after running for you life?"
Collapsing?
"I—what?" Levi asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. "What happened and where are we?"
She turned away, gazing at their gloomy surroundings. "In an alley."
He blinked his eyes against the spinning until they were able to focus on their surroundings. The streak of light above was actually just the place where two buildings ended and the cavernous expanse began. The two of them were far enough in the alley that Levi could still hear the din of the market beyond the brick walls.
"What happened?" He asked again, turning his head to her fully.
Historia looked back at him, her head cocked. "You don't remember?"
He tried thinking back, but the last thing he could remember was getting jumped on by the thug-Military Police so he shook his head no. Well, he tried to. It came across as more of a small shake in both directions. "No."
"We were walking to the marketplace to get away from those men who attacked us, and you kind of—well, you just stopped moving and fell over." Though her voice was soft, there was an edge of distance to it as well. She curled up her legs, hugging them to her chest and resting her covered chin on them. "I thought you had been shot or something, but that didn't make sense, and you were burning up with a fever when I checked on you. I managed to drag you here." She gestured to the space around them. "I didn't see anyone else following us."
Levi laid in shock. Collapsed...fever...dragged...the words churned around his head, making him more dizzy with each hash. He had a vague collection of memories, blurs of faces, screams of fear, the terror of being chased through this god-forsaken city over again, like nothing that had happened above the surface in the last decade mattered at all. Thinking about it made him even more sick to his stomach.
...Ackerman...Ackerman...Ackerman…
Please stop. He pled with the taunting,
"How are you feeling, really?" Historia asked, turning to look at him.
He searched her eyes, letting himself get lost in the concern swimming around her expression instead of his own pathetic anxieties. A flicker of annoyance crossed him, tired as he was.
"I'm fine." He bit out.
Though he could only see her eyes, it was enough to convey the savage skepticism in her expression.
"I've seen dead people look more 'fine' than you look right now." She deadpanned.
He glared at her. "I said I'm fine, and we need to get going." He started pushing himself up, managing to sit without a rush of pain this time. "Who knows where that damn hooded shit-face is at this point."
He braced an arm against the dusty brick wall and lifted himself to his feet.
For a second, he really did feel totally fine.
And then nausea and the searing migraine came back like a lurching tidal wave, completely bowling him over. Next thing he knew, he was on all fours throwing up, adding his own contribution to the filthy alley.
He didn't need to see the concerned look on Historia's face to know it was there. More annoyance flickered in his mind which immediately sent another spike of pain and nausea wracking through him.
He retched again, and again, dry heaving when nothing came up. A moment later his arms gave out and he fell to the ground.
"Uungg" He let out a soft moan, cheeks flushing at the admittance of how miserable he felt. Normally he could deal with physical pain. It was more of a mental thing than anything else. Easily ignorable.
But this?
Everything was crashing into him at once! It was pure torture!
There was no cast he could wrap around a savage headache, no medicine on hand for an upset stomach. Though, he suspected both were much worse than they appeared to be right now. Something still nagged at him, what he'd seen at the bar, coupled with the constant pessimistic voice in his head, and what must be PTSD from visiting the hell hole he'd crawled out of combined into one big mess. He was a mess, slowly falling apart, getting pushed further and further towards a breaking point.
His body couldn't take much more of it.
But Historia had to take priority over all that.
"Levi? Will you drink this?"
Hmmm?
A smooth silver flask pressed against his lips. Cool liquid trickled into his mouth, and he drank it all.
Realizing he was sitting again, he fought through the haze in his mind. Historia was by his side, holding both him and the water up. As he suspected, her face wore worry like a queen wears a crown.
The omnipresent din of the courtyard grew louder down the alley. Countless footsteps echoed off dozens of haphazard structures. Carts rolled, people chattered.
Levi froze at a sudden thought. "Nile?" He rasped.
Historia shook her head in dismay. "I have no idea where he is. We were supposed to meet back up with him tonight, but as far as I know he could still be at the Military Police outpost."
"This mission is over. We have to find him and get the hell out of here."
She didn't answer, instead looking away. Levi thought he saw tears in her eyes as she stared down the alley, as if everyone she wanted to help was sitting there watching her, knowing she couldn't offer them anything but empty promises.
"I'm sorry." He whispered. "We don't have a choice. This has gotten too dangerous. I can't...I can't keep you safe..."
"I know." Her voice barely reached his ears.
Levi closed his eyes against the complete misery, willing it all to be just another one of his horrible nightmares. This couldn't be real, it couldn't be happening. It was—
"HEAR YE! CITIZENS OF THE UNDERGROUND DISTRICT OF THE GREATER MITRIAS AREA! AN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM QUEEN HISTORIA RIESS HERSELF!"
Historia jerked her head back at the booming voice coming from beyond the alley. Her eyes locked onto his, confusion and shock registering past her tears. She stood, leaning him against the wall, and dashed to the corner of the alley to peer out of the shadows.
"You need to come see this." She called back to him after a moment.
The gravity of her tone made Levi's blood freeze. He forced himself to his feet, leaning heavily on the wall, and slid himself over to her. She moved out of the way for him so he could look out to the packed courtyard.
Over the swirling sea of heads and moving bodies, A tall man in Military Police regalia stood, perched on something in the middle of the throng of people. He unrolled a single piece of paper, clearing his throat as people stopped to watch. Several other officers stood with him, forming a protective circle around him. The populus around them followed suit, although their faces spoke more of fear than respect as they backed away from the small gathering.
"What the hell is this?" Historia hissed, her tone dangerously low. "I haven't made any announcements in weeks."
Levi noted silently that the girl must be picking up on some of his poor language before turning his attention fully to the man in the courtyard.
"EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, ALL CITIZENS OF THE UNDERGROUND DISTRICT ARE TO BE PLACED UNDER A STRICT CURFEW. NO ONE IS ALLOWED ON THE STREETS PAST SUNDOWN." He paused, looking up from the scroll of paper. "THAT TRANSLATES TO YOU FOLK AS ABOUT EIGHT O CLOCK. ANYONE FOUND OUTSIDE AFTER THAT TIME WILL BE ARRESTED ON SIGHT. NO QUESTIONS ASKED."
The roar of shock and outrage tore through the crowd like wildfire.
"What!" Historia cried in outrage. Her voice was lost in the cacophony of sound.
"FURTHERMORE," The man continued bellowing over the uproar, quieting many of the protesting people. Several of his protective circle of men leveled guns at the citizens around them, leaving them backing away terrified. "CITIZENS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED FREE ACCESS TO ANY STAIRWAY LEAVING OR ENTERING THE UNDERGROUND DISTRICT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES ALSO EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY."
If the roar of protest from the last announcement was loud, the cries that shattered the air now were a furious whirlwind. Men and women alike shouted and screamed. Levi saw some crying and wrapping their arms around themselves.
At the far side of the courtyard, he noticed a few people clearing the way for a single man pushing through the significant crowd that had gathered. He watched him approach the center without fear as the announcer continued to shout.
"AN INVESTIGATION IS IN PLACE, AND THE MILITARY POLICE NEEDS THE COOPERATION OF THIS DISTRICT TO COMPLETE IT. MILITARY POLICE PATROLS WILL BE ASSIGNED TO MONITOR THE STREETS AFTER CURFEW AND MAN ALL STAIRWAY ENTRANCES."
The man cleared through dozens of people, pushing and shoving his way to the front. He turned to face outward into the crowd, bald head and beady red eyes gleaming in the lamplight.
"Officer Randor?" Historia exclaimed. "What is he doing here?"
No no no no no no no no… Levi examined each face of the officers as best he could from the distance. His stomach threatened to give him another round of dry heaving.
"Those aren't military police." He whispered.
"What do you mean?" Historia asked. "Who are they?"
"It's like that bartender said. There's been thugs acting as MP's." He grunted back. "Like the ones that attacked us."
Officer Zane Randor scanned the faces in the courtyard with a sneer. His gaunt face, pale even in the dark area, looked like the face of a nightmare, straight from the depths of hell. Levi shivered in spite of himself.
"SO LONG AS PARTICIPATION, RESPECT, AND COOPERATION IS GIVEN BY ALL CITIZENS OF THE UNDERGROUND DISTRICT, THE MILITARY POLICE WILL ACT IN A LIKEWISE FASHION. OPERATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO WRAP UP WITHIN A WEEK, WHERE ACTIVITIES WILL RESUME AS NORMAL.
"SIGNED WITH AUTHORITY FROM QUEEN HISTORIA RIESS BY CAPTAIN DAMION BURNS OF THE MITRIAS DISTRICT."
"Burns?" Historia clenched her hands into fists. . "What the hell is he doing? This will mess up our operations down here! And I never approved of any extra patrols or-CURFEW? What is he thinking?"
Levi silently agreed with her, or rather, he would have if his mind wasn't fully preoccupied by a single horrifying fact that had just become all too clear.
"Isn't it obvious?" He said quietly, the words falling from his lips like an avalanche of icy daggers. She turned to look at him, but he kept staring out into the crowd, unable to take his eyes off of it.
"Burns wants us dead." He finished, gritting his teeth.
"Burns wants us dead?" Historia repeated in disbelief. "Levi—I—what? What are you talking about?"
The crowd beyond twisted and moved like violent wind moving through the branches of a tree. People whipped this way and that, some pressing in on the small circle of officers for further details on the announcement. But that little glint coming off the hand of Officer Randor held Levi's attention.
"Levi?" She said again, trying to get his attention. "You better tell me this another one of your poorly timed jokes."
"No." He answered hoarsely. He was losing it. The battle for his mind, his sanity, all hell was breaking loose. His head spun, the dizziness threatening to send him to his knees.
They were stuck. Trapped.
He somehow found the voice to tell her. "The hooded man that just tried to kill us was Officer Randor."
"No. You're wrong—he can't—I don't—How do you know?" She stammered.
The light from Officer Randor's pinky finger flashed again. A square of gold, twinkling in the dark.
"They're wearing the same ring."
AN:
Hey all!
We're quickly catching up to what I have ready to post, so after next week it might be a few weeks for the next chapter. We'll see haha. The next few weeks are PACKED for me so I'll write where I can...but then I'm on summer break and I should have time. Should...lol
LOVE YOU ALL! THANKS FOR READING 3
~Gamma