Levi his body low and slowly crept up the steps on all fours, his knife in one hand and his rucksack in the other. He carefully peaked his head up from the staircase to search the room. From what he could tell from a quick scan around the room, it was filthy. He cringed at how messy and dirty the place was. The sound of wood cackling and the smell of wood burning drew his attention away from the disgusting looking room. A small lit fire in the fireplace with a wooden chair sitting right in front of it looked quite inviting. He took one last look around the room to make sure no one was in there, and he stepped further inside.

He pulled a handkerchief out from his pocket and swiftly wiped the seat and backrest of the chair before sitting down. "Ahhhhh.. Shit… Old ass knees.." He muttered to himself as he brought his hands closer to the fire to warm them up. The fire looked like it was about to go out so he got up to grab a few logs and threw them in the fireplace. He looked around the room once more as he waited for the fire to catch onto the new pieces of wood.

"Tch, what a dump," his face contorted into disgust the more he looked around. Grime, mold, cobwebs, dust and God only knows what if he investigated the room any further. "I thought castles were supposed to be clean."

He set his gaze back on the fire in front of him as he settled into the chair. He was exhausted from the adventure he had that day. He could feel the sleepiness starting to take over. Before he fell asleep, he was starting to believe he was seeing things. For a moment, he thought he saw a pair of eyes looking at him from the fire. At that moment, he decided it was probably best to just succumb to sleep.

"I don't envy you, Sir. That is certainly one bad curse you got there." A voice spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.

Levi's eyes snapped open to see where the voice was coming from to be met with the set of eyes in the fire. 'And a mouth?' he thought. He must be dreaming.

The fire poked himself up over the logs before continuing, "Curses are tough to break. You're going to have a tough time breaking that one."

Levi's eyes widened at the fire in front of him, "What the hell? The fire just spoke."

The fire ignored him and went even further, "I'm guessing the curse won't allow you to talk about it. Am I correct?" The fire huffed to himself.

Levi's eyes furrowed a moment before gaining the courage to speak to the fire. 'Speak to the fire? I'm going crazy.' "...Are you Hange?"

"Noooo. I am an extremely powerful fire demon named Moblit," the fire's voice dropping lower to sound more intimidating. That wasn't possible unfortunately. Bits of fire rolling out of his mouth for a more dramatic effect. The fire then went back to looking a little more timid, his voice returning to normal. "Sorry, I just like to do that once in a while."

Levi's eyes widened with hopefulness. "A fire demon, huh? Then you should be able to break my curse, right?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Look, if you can figure out a way to break the spell that's on me, then I'll break the spell that's on you. Does that sound fair?"

Levi looked at him with an unreadable expression but he was thinking - thinking of his options. "If you're a demon, how do I know that I can trust you? You promise to help me if I help you?"

"Hmmm… I don't know, Sir," Moblit spoke with hesitation but still kept his guard up. "Demons don't typically make promises."

Levi raised his brows up before looking at the fire with a bored expression, "Huh, I guess you can find someone else then."

'Not like I need you, I can always ask someone else. I bet there are plenty of others willing to help with a different price,' Levi thought to himself.

Moblit widened his eyes, internally panicking and causing his words to sputter out, "What?! You should feel sorry for me. This spell keeps me stuck here and Hange treats me like I'm their slave and it just burns me up. You gotta help me! I have to keep the water hot, the rooms warm, and the castle moving. Please, Sir?! Have you ever tried to move a castle? If you can figure out how to break this THING I am under with Hange then you can break this spell. Then I could easily break the spell that's on you."

While Moblit went on his rant, Levi curled into the chair while snuggling into black jacket – breathing in the scent that was unfamiliar yet it felt like home to him. His eyelids started to feel heavy as sleep began to take over his body once more. "Alright… it's a deal.." He managed to mutter out before he finally dozed off.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Hello?! Sir?! Sir? Sir? Come on, SIR?" Moblit called out, trying to get Levi's attention but with no success. "Some big help you're going to be.." He let out a defeated sigh and focused his attention on moving the castle throughout the night.

—-

The sounds of trumpets and various marching instruments rang throughout the land as battleships made their exit to the sea, in the direction of War in the neighboring kingdom across the sea. Businesses, people, and small boats sent them off with applause and shouts of encouragement to the soldiers leaving. Once the ships were far from earshot, the town went about their day. An official looking man wearing a sash with a soldier following behind him walked their way to an older, yellow looking building. A sign above the door that read, "The Great Wizard Sawney Hans." The official began to knock on the door, waiting for someone to answer.

Levi, leaning back into the chair sleeping but began to stir awake when he heard something banging against wood. The sound went quiet for a moment so he started to doze off once more, only to snap awake when the knocking became persistent. He let out a long, tired moan while stretching himself out - feeling a few of his bones cracking at their joints.

The knocking continued, making Levi look around his surroundings to remember where he was. He was surprised someone was knocking at the door and debating whether or not he should answer. This wasn't his home, he was merely a stowaway guest. He hoped whoever was on the other side of the door would stop knocking and go away. He then heard the sounds of several faint footsteps running down the stairs. He quickly resumed his sleeping position and let out a loud snore to appear asleep. He didn't think anyone would bother an old man that was sleeping.

Finally, three pairs of feet came running down the stairs. First, a boy appeared, no older than 9 or 10. As soon as he reached the bottom, he noticed the strange old man sitting in front of the fireplace. "Hey," He started but quickly stopped and quieted down when he saw the old man was sleeping. "Who's this?"

Soon came to follow, a little girl about the same age as the boy and an older kid. He looked like a teenager with funny looking hair that resembled a coconut. They both looked in the direction where the first boy was referring to before the older boy answered in a hush whisper to not disturb the old man, "Dunno. Maybe he was cold and needed a place to stay?"

"Port Liberio door," Moblit quietly called out to the older boy.

"How did he get in here?" The boy asked while he and the girl followed the older boy towards the door. The eldest boy went to go grab his cloak. Levi peered over at the boy while he was pulling his cloak out from a pile of various junk on a table and making the contents fall to the floor in the process. It took everything Levi had to not make a face in disgust at messiness from the older boy. The boy quickly threw it over himself and brought his hands over his face. What looked like a pubescent boy before now appeared an old man with a beard. (AN: Think of Armin's grandpa :D ). He walked over to the banging door before he called out to the person behind it in a rough voice, "Stand by, please." He flipped the switch for Liberio, making the arrow on the turnstyle go to the blue color section of it. "Mr. Mayor Zackley, good day."

"Good afternoon, Sir. Would the Great Wizard Sawney Hans be at home?"

Levi, still laying back into the chair, slowly turned his head towards the door to see who was there. He also made note that the brunette girl and the younger boy were distracted with their curiosity to see who was at the door at such an early hour.

The 'old man' spoke, "I'm afraid my master is still out at the moment. I speak for him in his absence."

Levi slowly got up and reached for more firewood to throw into the pit while listening in.

"An invitation from his majesty, the king. The time for war is upon us. He has required every witch and wizard to aid our homeland. Wizard Hans must report to the palace immediately. That is all." With that, the 'old man' gave him a nod and closed the door.

Levi looked at Moblit with a deadpan expression, "I can't believe it has come to this."

The 'old man' peered up from the steps and looked at Levi with suspicion in his eyes, however the little girl decided to pipe up at this moment, "And what do you think you're doing, Grandpa?"

Levi looked over at her with a smirk, "Oh? Me? Moblit said I could come in."

"I did not!" Moblit hollered over to him defensively. "He just wandered over from the Waste."

The 'old man's' eyebrows furrowed while looking over at Moblit, "He's from the Waste?" He pulled back the beard and his hood, finally revealing the pubescent blonde boy. He had piercing blue eyes that looked over at Levi with curiosity.

The younger boy, a bit shy but still suspicious enough to question, "How do we know he's not a witch?"

"Do you honestly think I would let a witch in here?" Moblit asked dully. A ringing sound came in the direction of the door from the outside doorbell, interrupting Moblit. "Port Liberio door again."

The older boy slid the invitation inside what appeared to be a spell book before throwing his old man disguise back on. "Must be a customer." He walked over to the door and hollered out to the person on the other side, "Standby." He opened the door and made his voice deeper to appear older than what he actually was, "Yes, my dear child?"

"My mom sent me to pick up a spell."

"Ah, yes, do come in."

"Okay."

The 'old man' appeared first and looked over at Levi. The little girl at the door following behind him looked over at Levi with a curious look. Levi then felt a tap on his shoulder before he turned his attention to the brunette girl with an attitude, "Just keep quiet and don't cause any trouble, Grandpa," she warned in a hush tone.

Levi stared at the little girl that came through the door awkwardly, not really sure one what to do or say. Then an idea popped into his head. Port Liberio was quite a distance away from the Wastes. Were they really at Port Liberio already? He got up from the chair and walked over to the window to look outside. Sure enough, he was staring out to the sea from the window. Seagulls flying around by the harbor. "Huh, it's not The Wastes," he mumbled to himself

"Excuse me," the little girl began. "Excuse me, Grandpa, are you a wizard, too?"

Levi, who was enjoying the view, was caught off guard by the question. He thought for a moment on how to answer her. A grin appeared on his face, his teeth showing as he turned to the little girl. "That's right, I'm the scariest wizard of them all." He responded in a teasingly wicked manner.

The little girl giggled while the 'old man' and the preteens residing there rolled their eyes. The 'old man' walked towards her with a bag in his hand. He handed the girl a brown bag and gave her a consult, "Dust this on your ship and the winds will favor it."

The little girl looked over at him and nodded to him to show him she understood before paying him, "Thanks."

With that, she walked towards the steps to the door with the 'old man' and Levi following behind to see her out. "Farewell, my child," the old man called out before the door closed. When the door finally shut, the teenager turned his attention to Levi. "Please stop lying to our customers."

"Tch, that's rich coming from you. You're wearing a disguise."

"I have to, I'm practicing my magic."

The squabble got disrupted by another ringing at the door. Moblit poked his head out from the logs on the fire and called out, "It's the Mitras door."

Armin threw his disguise back on and once again, hollered to the people on the other side of the door, "Standby." He flipped the switch, making the turnstyle change to a different color section. This time, the arrow was pointing to red. The remaining kids stood a distance away from the door, again wondering who could be at the door this early in the morning. The 'elder man' opened the door, this time a man in uniform that adorned red roses appeared.

"Good day, would this be the residence of the witch Mistress Zoe?"

"It is."

"I bear an invitation from his majesty, the king. Please inform Miss Zoe that all witches and wizards are required to report for duty at the palace."

"I will inform her right away."

With that, the soldier gave a bow of thanks and left. Levi appeared behind the 'old man' and looked out into the streets. He was astonished by what was before his eyes. It was an entirely different city. "But how? We were just at Port Liberio!" He watched the soldier hop into the military vehicle and watched them drive off. "Isn't this the royal city?"

"Grandpa, I'm going to need you to step out of the doorway," the sassy brunette hollered at him. "Or else you'll lose that head of yours. And stop wandering around."

Levi's eyes widened at the brat's mouth. He had to remind himself that he's supposed to be an old man and this kid was a child. A child that wasn't his. He took in a deep breath, trying to hold back the urge to whack the kid upside the head as he walked back inside. When the door closed, Levi's eyes noticed a dial. "Must be to the turnstyle by the door," he thought. He reached out and turned the dial, a dinging sound was made while the arrow on the turnstyle pointed to the green section. Levi opened the door and saw they were back at The Wastes again before closing the door. He turned the switch back to the red color and opened the door once again to the port. He stepped out, amazed by such magic. He couldn't help but huff in amusement when he went back inside to turn the dial once more, turning it into a different color.

"Could you stop playing with that?" The younger boy asked timidly, not sure what would happen if the dial was played with too much. He certainly didn't want to upset his master if it somehow got broken. "You're making me anxious."

Levi turned to look up at the boy, "This is a magic house, isn't it?" Causing the boy to let out a worry sigh. "Tell me, where does the black one lead?"

"Only Master Hange knows that," the older boy answered simply. He walked away and went towards the food. "I'm going to have some breakfast." He opened up a drawer and grabbed some bread and cheese that sat on a plate on top of what appeared to be an overly cluttered desk. He nudged the drawer closed and walked over to the table to eat but was interrupted by Levi once again.

"Don't you guys want bacon and eggs?"

"I do and I'm sure Gabi and Falco want some, but we can't use the fire. Master Hange isn't here."

Levi looked over and saw a wall with pots and pans and other kitchen materials. He walked over and grabbed an iron skillet with a long handle. "Don't worry about it, I can cook."

"It doesn't matter if you can cook or not, Moblit only obeys Master Hange."

"That's right, Mister. I'm not taking any orders from you."

Levi ignored the fire while setting food down and noticed his cravat laying on the floor. "Oh there's my cravat, I was wondering what happened to it." He sat it on the chair and out of the way before focusing his attention back on Moblit. "Alright, Moblit, let's get to cookin'."

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I DON'T cook! I'm a scary and powerful fire demon," He spat at Levi, bits of fire coming out of his mouth.

Levi snorted, unintimidated and unimpressed by the empty threat. "Oh yeah? How would you like a bucket of cold water thrown on your face? Or maybe Hange would want to know about our bargain?" His face formed a smirk at the thought.

Moblit's eyes bulged in horror and began to mentally kick himself. "How could I be so stupid? I should have never let him in."

"So, Moblit, what will it be? What will you choose?" Levi asked as he shoved the pan into Moblit's mouth, getting it warmed up while muffling his protests before finally giving in. "That's right. Such a good fire," he teased while grabbing hold of a slice of bacon and placed it in the pan.

Moblit adjusted himself so he could talk and look up at Levi, "Well, Sir, here's another curse for you. May all your bacon burn."

Levi rolled his eyes while the kids looked at the scene with their eyes enlarged.

"Moblit is doing what he says?" Falco stumbled out.

"You know, I think I would like some tea, too." He turned his head back and looked at the boy, "Do you have a kettle?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Armin responded while getting up from his seat to grab it.

"What?" Moblit asked deadpanned. "Armin, no! Don't get the kettle. Whose side are you on? Armin! Armin? Ar-" Moblit stopped when a small ding was made at the door, indicating the turnstyle switched colors again. This time, the arrow pointed to the black color section that Levi was curious about.

He looked over at the door with anticipation, wondering if Hange would appear before him once more.