A/N Someone asked what Lyla's eye color is. Lyla's eye color is black! Thanks for reading as always!
...
Lyla woke up panting, her eyes wide with shock. She looked around and found a dome made of crystals protecting her. She must have conjured them unconsciously as the debris fell on her.
A wave of emotion hit her. It was a mix but mostly it was anger and pain.
"Levi…"
Lyla clutched her heart, her eyes were burning with silent fury. She raised a hand in front of her and in a second, crystals burst from it, making a path for her.
"Brother wind, do you hear my call?"
At her singing, the wind stirred. Lyla fisted her hand.
"Take me to him as fast as you dare."
The wind swept her up in the air, like a tornado. She flew across the walls and saw the dead bodies of her comrades. They were scattered on the ground, staining the green grass red with their blood. Anger boiled within Lyla. She spotted Levi standing on the Beast Titan. But what caught her eye more was the Cart Titan. Lyla instantly shot a wave of crystals, almost hitting Levi, who quickly moved to the side.
Instead of retrieving the Beast Titan and devouring Levi in the process, the Cart Titan crashed into the massive wall of crystals.
"YOU DARE TRY TO TOUCH HIM!" Lyla roared as she landed on the wall she created. She blasted shards of crystals in fury but the Cart Titan skillfully evaded them all. Levi stared at Lyla in shock with wide eyes, his mouth slightly open. The Beast Titan saw this as a chance and shouted.
"Kill them! Now!"
The titans standing by who were motionless until now, charged toward Lyla and Levi. Lyla turned and stretched her hand, showering them with crystals. But it was too late as the Cart Titan snatched the Beast Titan and fled. Lyla noticed this and shouted in frustration.
"Come back! You think you can get away while hurting my people?"
Lyla continued to shower crystals but failed to hit the Cart Titan. Levi also seemed to be at loss.
"Come back, I vowed to him. I vowed that I will kill you."
But as Levi took a step forward, he was blocked by a storm of crystals. Lyla, who had little control over her powers, was thoughtlessly shooting them everywhere. She grit her teeth, fire burning in her eyes.
"Mother Earth, hear my prayer. Open your earthly mouth and swallow those who dare trespass that of the magicians. Cage them in thy arms and throw them into the fiery pit of hell!"
As Lyla finished her words the ground below them quaked and started to split. Levi froze as he saw what unfolded before him. It was unbelievable.
The titans that were charging toward them fell into the gorge that just appeared beneath their feet and the Cart Titan seemed to notice this too as it started to run faster. It chased its way to the wall, the crack hot on its heels.
"I should've known there must be a magician, damn it," the Beast Titan muttered. "After all, the daughter of the Great Magician Eden and Anabelle wasn't technically 'dead'."
The Cart Titan barely made it over the wall and Lyla fisted her hands again in frustration.
"Stop, do not go further on. Do not break in the walls beyond."
At Lyla's command, the earth stilled and the crack stopped right before the wall. Lyla let out a breath shakily as she felt her body tremble violently. Clearly she had overused her powers. She felt something warm trickle down her nose. When she wiped it with her hand, it was smeared with red.
"Lyla!"
Levi shouted urgently. He had finally somewhat awoken from his stupor at the sight of Lyla's blood. He was instantly by her side but Lyla pushed him away.
"That's not the important thing here Levi."
"What? You're spilling fountains of blood from your nose," said Levi irritably. "If you're talking about the Beast Titan, I'm going to get him," he finished through gritted teeth. But how to get there inside the walls, he had no idea. There weren't any obstacles to use his 3DMG on as the titans were now all buried underground.
"I have to go!" Lyla shouted out. "He killed my people, Levi! He dare kill my people, my comrades, my friends! He dare trespass into a magician's territory and causes THIS!" Lyla waved her arms around the now empty field. "Even at this moment, he's taking a step further from us!"
Levi stared at Lyla with his jaw dropped. What was she talking about? She almost sounded insane. Lyla lifted her hand.
"Brother wind, I call once again. Take us to the walls within."
Again, the wind obeyed and both Levi and Lyla floated into the air. Levi seemed to inwardly panic. Lyla took hold of his hand firmly and said,
"Stay still and let the wind carry you."
The wind blew across the field and into the walls. Lyla spotted the Beast Titan with Eren. Her eyes widened with anger.
"He actually…. Bind them!"
Roots suddenly sprouted from the ground and started wrapping themselves around the Beast Titan and the Cart Titan. The Beast Titan's eyes widened with shock. He turned around and met with Lyla's stony gaze. They were completely bound and Lyla stepped in front of him.
"So, this is the power of a magician, huh," the Beast Titan said, half laughing in disbelief.
"So it is," said Lyla coldly, "Wait, Levi. I need them alive."
Levi halted in his motions. With a scowl he cut open the Cart Titan's neck, revealing a woman with long black hair. He begrudgingly knocked them unconscious. Eren and Mikasa all watched this with wide eyes. Thoroughly confused and not understanding what was going on. Lyla turned to Mikasa and said,
"How's the Armor Titan?"
"Squad Leader Hange and Jean has him tied up," Mikasa answered. A mocking smile drew across Lyla's face.
"Is that so? Then I must give him my greetings as well. Do me a favor and bind him too. Oh, and bring my friends along please."
Roots instantly flew past them and beyond the ruins. Lyla looked down coldly at the Beast Titan and Cart Titan.
"I'll show you Warriors clearly that it was a mistake to come here."
Moments after Jean, Connie, Sasha, and Hange, along with Reiner were beside them, coiled in vines.
"Can anyone explain what's happening?" Jean shouted. "In a second we were on the ground and the next second from nowhere these roots just shot up and—"
"Thank you. You've done well my friend. Kindly release the others," said Lyla and the roots dropped everyone except Reiner. Everyone looked dumbstruck. Lyla straightened her back and wiped her still bleeding nose. But kept her hand covering it because the blood didn't stop.
"I believe that you defeated the Colossal Titan, Eren?"
Eren's face paled.
"I did but…"
"Good. Wait, where's Armin?"
At Lyla's question, Eren made a pained face. Lyla then noticed a person scorched black lying on the roof. Her eyes widened and her hands trembled.
"Don't tell me…"
"Captain, the titan serum! Hurry up and give it to Armin. We'll give him Bertolt or whoever and turn him into a titan shifter," Eren said hurriedly. Lyla just stood there in loss. But then silently muttered.
"Keep the Beast Titan alive. We need him."
Levi slowly started to hand the serum to Eren. Just then there were sounds of struggling and someone appeared on the roof with a corpse hanging on his shoulder. Lyla saw that red hair before… What was his name? Floch. And the corpse he placed on the roof was none other than Commander Erwin Smith.
"When I opened my eyes, everyone was dead," Floch started. "I looked around for survivors and stumbled upon the Commander. At first, I thought of just letting him die."
A muscle in Levi's jaw jumped at the words.
"But then I realized that the Commander was a true demon. And to win this battle, we need him. That's why I brought him to you, Captain."
Levi seemed to hesitate.
"Wait, I thought you were going to give the serum to Armin?" Eren said in devastation. "Just a moment ago you were going to give me the serum!"
"Things have changed! Now that Erwin's alive, we have to think both options," snapped Levi. Eren hung on his sleeve.
"Do you know who found out who the female titan was? Who thought of doing the operation at night? Who thought of looking inside the walls? It was Armin!" Eren shouted out, "It wasn't the Commander but Armin!"
Floch looked at Eren in disgust.
"Stop being a child! You know we need the Commander more than him," he spat out.
"I'll give the titan serum to Erwin and change him into the Colossal Titan!" Levi announced. At his words Mikasa snapped and charged toward him, her blade drawn. Mikasa actually managed to tackle him as Levi was exhausted and out of strength. But someone kicked her off. And surprisingly it was Lyla herself.
"Don't hurt him!" she growled menacingly. Her blade was also drawn. Mikasa looked at her with shocked eyes. Was Lyla actually drawing her blade at her? Lyla, who she actually considered as her sister, was trying to kill her? Mikasa glowered at Lyla.
"This is why I didn't want you two to get close. He's trying to let our friend, your little brother die and you're letting him do it?"
"If that's his decision then yes," Lyla said through gritted teeth. Another wave of shock hit Mikasa.
"How could you—" Mikasa started. But Lyla shouted out, cutting her off.
"Because I know Mikasa! I know things that you don't and at this point, I don't know which one is worse: dying or turning into a titan shifter."
"Of course it's turning into a titan shifter! At least you live!"
"You don't know what it's like to live like that! Once you turn, you're living on limited time!" Lyla shouted with agony.
At that moment Eren was flung across the roof.
"Eren!" Mikasa shouted out. She helped him sit up. Half of his teeth were missing. Lyla looked at Levi who was breathing heavily. Anger evident in his eyes. There was no doubt that it was Levi who punched Eren like that. Mikasa seemed to figure this out. She jumped at him in rage but Hange held her back.
"We all want to save everyone! You think I don't want to save my comrades!?" Hange shouted. Mikasa stopped her struggles.
"We need Erwin if we want humanity to win," said Hange. She gently let Mikasa go, who slumped and started to cry.
"Do you know what an ocean is?" Eren said. He seemed resigned but his tone was desperate, grasping onto what little hope he had. "It's a big pool of saltwater, so big that it never dries. I promised Armin to go see it someday."
Levi looked at him dryly. He turned his head and said, "We're turning Erwin into the Colossal Titan."
His tone held finality in it. The others stepped away a little while Lyla and Mikasa dragged Eren away.
But when Lyla saw the titan emerge, she was surprised. Because the titan wasn't Erwin, but Armin.
"I thought you were going to save the Commander?" she asked.
"Yes… But I didn't want to pull him back into this hell once again," said Levi. "He was a devil in flesh… but won't you forgive him?"
Armin ate Bertolt, who cried out to save him all the way. When Armin turned back to himself Mikasa and Eren scrambled to his side. Hange checked Erwin's heartbeat and announced in a solemn voice.
"He's dead."
Lyla could see Levi's jaw tense. She took hold of his hand and placed the other on his cheek. She gently turned his head towards her and held his gaze.
"Don't die on me, Levi. Don't you dare die on me Levi Ackerman," she said.
'I don't care if you're an Ackerman. I don't care if your master died. Don't leave me behind.' Lyla thought to herself.
