To You, 2000 Years Later
Summary: Hange is an archaeologist and their best friend Levi is a photographer. When the military discovers a completely new, strange island no ones ever heard of, Hange is sent with a military escort along with other scientists to explore the island and they drags Levi along with them. Levi thought it would be a good vacation after what he's been through until it is revealed that there is more to the island than meets the eye. So what does the military want with it? And what does IT want with Levi?
"LEVI!" A hyper brunet shouted halfway across the ship, doing their best to draw the attention of the short, black haired man standing at the front of the ship, taking his very first photos of the island that was finally in view. It was a warm, sunny day, perfect for a cruise, but the ship Levi Ackerman and his - unfortunately and miraculously - best friend Hange Zeo were on was no tropical vacation ship of dreams and fun.
H. S. S. Paradise was a military cruiser that the US had decided to lend for this expedition to the newly discovered island that the military had seen for the very first time just weeks ago despite having thoroughly investigated and scouted the area it was found in multiple times in the past. The most interesting part about the new island was that it was, apparently, in the satellite's blind spot, which didn't happen even for the Bermuda Triangle. The interest for the island was immeasurable all around the globe and every country wanted to have a hand in exploring this new island, most probably in hopes of getting their hands on whatever new resources the island might possess. Unfortunately for them, and even for the general public, the US has yet to reveal the actual location of the island. Even now, as the ship sailed towards it, none but a select few of the crew knew their heading.
It was supposedly to stop looters from going to the island before the scientists could properly examine everything, but Levi suspected the US just wanted first dibs on whatever they had discovered on the island. He rather doubted that no one has made footfall on the island yet if it's been weeks since its discovery.
Either way, Levi didn't really care. Let the military do whatever it wants, it no longer concerns him. He's left that part of his life behind him a year ago and he couldn't be happier for it. Photography was much more fun and far safer of a career choice.
Levi Ackerman wasn't your ordinary photographer. Hell, he wasn't your ordinary person, either.
Ever since he was little, he was more capable than kids his age, or even those older than him. He had great stamina, he'd acquired a lot of strength in his young muscles really early on from minimal exercise, he was fast and he had incredible situational awareness. Add to all of that that he was crazy quick to learn anything new, especially martial arts, and you could say that he was recruited for the army straight out of middle school. He was supposed to be a part of a new special unit or something so he was supposed to start young. He had never been overly interested in the military before and would have turned them down when they'd come to recruit him, if they hadn't promised him that his mother would get the best medical treatment and would be put at the top of the waiting list for her heart surgery. Levi, knowing there was only so much his uncle can do without turning to crime to get them the money they need to pay for the operation, had accepted and so his dear mother lives to this day, even if she curses herself for what her son had done to ensure her health.
Levi wishes he could say that he regrets it, but he doesn't. His mother is alive and well and his family still receives premium medical care for his years of service.
Levi had basically rushed through the required military training with little effort on his part. He did his best to stay within the 'normal' standards and not stand out because he didn't have plans to stay in the military forever. By the time he was sixteen, he was sent out on his first mission with a group of other 'gifted' individuals. Their goal had been simple enough - escort a person of interest to safety through an active war zone - and the execution had gone almost without a hitch except one of the others had gotten shot in the leg and couldn't go on. Levi had carried his squad mate to safety while still protecting the person of interest and his other squad mates and it ended in the first medal for bravery that the raven haired man got in his life.
The next six or so years continued with much the same trend and more medals made it on his mother's wall of 'fame'. Levi had only two more missions to complete before he would be free to ask for a discharge from the military, but then the unexpected happened.
His squad got annihilated, along with the group of war reporters they had been escorting around the battlefield, as had been their mission. Only the cameraman, Farlan Church, had lived long enough to beg Levi to finish their mission, showing his cameras and the map of all the places they were meant to report on into his hands. He had passed away while reaching for his already gone partner's hand, the young redhead woman known as Isabel Magnolia having died on impact when a grenade had landed right in the middle of their formation.
Levi himself had only survived because he was bringing up the rear, protecting all of their backs from anyone who might try to take a couple of American civilian hostages.
Levi had done as Church had asked. He'd been to every site, protecting himself and the gear he'd been entrusted with, and he'd reported on everything. His biting commentary on the events earned him a fame he never wanted and it suddenly turned him from a soldier to a war reporter. People no longer expected him to carry a gun in his hands, but rather a camera. The pictures he made were as precise as the shots he would fire from a gun and he was determined and brave enough, not to mention skilled, to get to the very heart of any battlefield or enemy infested territory to take photos or record footage.
He extended his contract with the military for two more years so he can continue Church's and Magnolia's work. He dedicated his every on-site reporting to them. He made entire short movies about life on the battlefield, of both sides. Levi received many more awards, from both the military, the peace efforts organisations and journalists and photographers alike.
On his last mission, though, life changed for him once again, because he'd stumbled upon a massacre in an orphanage. Only two children had survived, a boy and a girl, and no one would take responsibility for them. After weeks of no one trying to help the children while they were still staying in Levi's temporary care, Levi finally decided enough was enough.
The process was still ongoing - because war photographer wasn't exactly the safest of jobs - but he was currently the legal guardian of two twelve year olds. Needless to say, his mother was beyond happy to learn that she was now, officially, a grandmother and she smothered Gabi Braun and Falco Grice with affection as though they were her own flesh and blood. Understandable, considering Levi's preferences in partners. His mother was also beyond happy to look after them for the few weeks he'd spend on this expedition with Hange, who'd just barged into their house one day and told Levi they'd signed him up for it without even consulting him about whether he wanted to go or not. It had been Gabi and Falco who had convinced him to go, saying they wanted all the details and plenty of pictures about his new adventures.
Levi had been hesitant to leave them alone, as the kids had grown quite attached to him as their savior from the hell that was the battlefield and then the hell that was the adoption system, but seeing as they were eager for him to go and return with new, preferably more pleasant stories to tell, he'd accepted.
So here he was now, surrounded by scientists and soldiers and he never felt quite so out of place. He only knew two people on this entire ship filled with nearly a hundred souls, and those were Hange and her assistant, Moblit Berner, who was also a bioarchaeologist. It was interesting to see how many archaeologists were on the ship to begin with. Since archaeology used so many natural sciences in their research and analysis, there were many specializations all over the place, therefore they had taken an extended archaeological team instead of a horde of different scientists. Besides Hange, who specialized in ancient DNA, and Moblit, there was marine archaeologist Yelena 'Ivanova', whom Levi had a hard time imagining he would ever trust, a zooarchaeologist Zeke Fritz that made Levi want to strangle him with his bare hands, a geologist named Onyankopon whom Levi found he rather liked and Floch Forster, who specialized in weapons and warfare, a young man Levi wished was on the whole other side of the ocean from himself. Of the other scientists, there were a few chemists around that Levi didn't pay all too much attention to and who had stayed away from him, probably because of his broody personality and oh so charming scowl. Fritz seemed the most determined to get on Levi's good side, but the man was so annoying that Levi preferred trying to stomach the conversations the military personnel tried to have with him.
In his eight years of service, Levi had made quite a name for himself, so he wasn't at all surprised when several younger soldiers would come up to him to shake his hand or ask a few questions. He didn't like Reiner Braun, though, because he was so genuine in his admiration. Too genuine, the type that you'd suspect when seeing an actor in a movie act and then act that they were acting. It was robotic and Levi didn't like it. There was also Annie Leonhart, who liked to follow him with her gaze, always studying him. It made Levi want to punch her nose in, hoping it might give it a more 'pleasing' shape, as some idiots had commented upon first seeing her, shallow bastards that they were.
The most annoying of the soldiers had to be that Mike Zacharias. He kept sniffing people. Levi almost did break his nose right then and there when the man had come up behind him to do it to him.
The only reason he stopped himself in time not to do so was because, when he'd whirled around just to do that, he'd felt another presence at his back that made him extremely uncomfortable for some reason. And thus he was introduced to Erwin Smith, the military leader, the Commander of the expedition. He wasn't even sure why he disliked Smith so much, he was pleasant enough and didn't seem like the type of person to stab you in the back. But there was something in his blue eyes that made Levi doubt this man and his intentions. Those eyes followed Levi around even more than Leonhart's. Were all blonds creepy like this? He sure hoped Falco remains a normal, nice, pleasant kid or else there will be a lot of ass-whooping Levi will have to hand out in the future.
All in all, Levi was starting to regret having come with Hange on this expedition. His gut instincts were all over the place after just two days spent in the presence of these people. Levi always trusted his gut, it's why he'd made it back home from the battlefield so many times. He did not like being confined to a ship with these people with no means of escape and now they were going to be in the pretty much same situation once they made landfall on the island. At least he'll have some space and he does own his own satellite phone, so if they turn out to be murderers or something, he can take his friends and they can hide somewhere while he calls for help. He hopes he's just being paranoid and that it won't actually come to that, but he's also realistic and believes in his own instincts too much to rely on that hope too much.
"Hey, Levi! Don't ignore me!" Hange all but screamed in his ear, almost making him drop his camera as the sudden noise level startled him out of his musings. He turned to glare at his friend, but they just grinned as they adjusted their glasses. "Oh, don't be such a grump! This is going to be a fun trip! When was the last time you spent your birthday lazing around on some warm, exotic island, just taking pictures for enjoyment and not because you needed to show the world the cruelties of war?"
Hange had a point, but Levi was never going to admit that to them, not under the pain of death. "I would still rather spend it at home with my family for once."
"Boring!"
"That's me, Mr Buzzkill, reporting for duty," he replied sarcastically, which only earned him a laugh from the brunet. "Anyways, do we have an estimation for when we'll be going to disembark? It's already noon." It would have been better if they had arrived earlier. The island was supposedly uninhabited, but who knows if that's true or what might be hiding in the depths of the island's mysterious landscapes. Levi was told to pack light clothing because, apparently, the temperatures never dropped too low, even at this time of the year. The island apparently had almost everything: deserts, really tall and thick forests, mountains and plains of short or tall grass. It was all estimated, of course, which, naturally, made Levi even more suspicious about the island's status as unvisited and unexplored, but he kept his mouth shut.
The pay for the expedition would be good and he knew Moblit could use a hand in corralling Hange should they get too excited, which was a given.
"We should be dropping anchor within the hour, from what I've heard. Then we're going in five boats to the island with our gear. Though the soldiers seem to be packing quite a bit too much ammunition for protecting us from wild animals," Hange observed and Levi hummed noncomentaly when Zacharias passed them. Another reason why Levi was so suspicious of this whole thing: the soldiers were armed to the teeth in a way not even Levi and his special ops squad had been when they'd rescued a kidnapped politician from the heart of a war zone all the while getting shot at non-stop. Levi had had a higher clearance than all the soldiers on this ship combined, had been allowed to carry a bazooka with him if he wanted as a standard weapon, but even he hadn't packed this much gear and ammunition for a simple recon mission this expedition was supposed to be.
"Hange, you and Moblit stay with me, alright?"
Hange stopped smiling at the somber tone he'd used. "Is something wrong, Levi?"
The shorter didn't know what to say, just gazing out at the island. There was something about this place that filled him with unease but he couldn't tell what. It was a familiar unease yet like nothing he'd ever felt before, which was just confusing the shit out of him. "Just stay near me. I hate to say it, but I don't think anyone besides maybe Onyankopon can be trusted on this ship."
His friend paused to give him a long, long look. They were considering his words and didn't know what to make of them, let alone how to reply. "I thought it was just me in regards to Yelena and Floch."
"Fritz and Smith are the ones that really make me want to reach for a knife," Levi replied in a whisper and Hange nodded.
"We'll be careful and of course we're staying together! After all, you're my photographer! Everyone should have thought to bring their own!" Even after asking to be honorably discharged from the military, Levi had kept on practicing photography. It was a way to keep the memory of Church and Magnolia alive years after Levi had not managed to protect them and his pictures always earned a pretty dime. Combined with his soldier's pension, it was a very steady income and he could live a fairly comfortable life, even while he was financially supporting his mother when her tea shop has a rougher month and now two more mouths to feed. Photography was a good way for him to express himself and he rather liked it, all things considered. Hange knew this and they knew he easily grew stir crazy if he didn't do anything different for a while that could get his adrenaline pumping, even if a little bit. It's probably one of the reasons they had wanted him to come.
Now, though, Levi had a feeling this trip will be far more than an adrenaline trip. And he just knew he wasn't going to like it.
Just then, the captain of the ship announced that they should start getting ready as they will be disembarking soon. Levi and Hange walked together towards the cabins they'd been given for the trip to sleep in and hold their equipment. Levi made sure to have at least three knives stashed somewhere hidden on his body and two more in plain sight, as well as a loaded gun in his backpack. Just in case. He was the first one out of his cabin, the first one ready as he was used to efficiently and neatly packing his things from his military days, while the scientists and other few photographers also brought along struggled to take everything they wanted with them instead of just the essentials. Levi rolled his eyes at them as he passed their rooms as he made his way to the deck.
The soldiers were all, of course, ready already and they nodded at him when they saw him approaching. Levi ignored them, deciding he had no energy to waste on playing nice, and instead tried focusing on that uneasy feeling he was getting as the island got closer and closer.
He already knew shit was going to go down, no doubt about it, and he knew the soldiers were all hiding something, but he still hoped this won't be his last birthday among the land of the living.
He would really like not to die on some shitty island in the middle of nowhere.
00000
Deep on land, a single man looked up from what he was doing all of a sudden, staring into the distance. Wind swept his long hair out of his mesmerizing eyes as he stubbornly stared in the direction of the sea, as if he could see all the way to shore.
His full, plump lips suddenly curved into a rather scary looking grin.
It has begun...