Chapter 4 –Aligned Compasses
"I'm here."
Those were the only words Levi heard before passing out from exhaustion. He went limp in Eren's arms, which sent the younger boy into a panic. He held Levi close to his chest, the faint sound of a heartbeat signifying that the man was alive. Eren sighed a breath of relief, then picked the smaller man up and carried him upstairs to his room. After he had laid Levi down on the bed and covered him up, he trotted back downstairs to the kitchen. Once the dishes had been washed, Eren moved over to the couch and turned the TV on.
The same news story from earlier was on and Eren still listened closely to what the reporters had to say. After a few minutes of watching the news, he heard yet another knock at the door. From what had happened earlier, Eren figured it was Erwin crawling back to apologize. So he didn't get up to answer it, until he heard a feminine, not masculine, voice echo from outside. Eren was confused, but he opened the door anyway.
"Oh, hello." He said as he greeted the stranger.
A petite girl with red hair was standing there, in her hand was a basket full of goodies. The smell of bread wafted up and assaulted Eren's nose. She was quite joyful for it to be 11 in the morning, a little too much so. The girl pushed Eren aside and waltzed into the house, Eren following close behind. She turned around, her frilled boots dancing with the movement. The boy stared at her, not really knowing what to do. Levi was asleep, and Eren really didn't want to wake him up for something this small.
"Where's Levi? He's here, isn't he?" The redhead questioned, her feet explored around the room a little before returning to Eren. "I have urgent business with him."
"Well...yes, he's here...but he's sleeping."
The girl frowned lightly, then spun on her heels and bounced up the stairs, straight to Levi's room. Eren panicked and quickly followed after her. He had to admit, she was fast on her feet for being so short. She was already in Levi's room before he had even reached the top of the steps.
"Wait, you can't go in there while he's sleeping." Eren pushed on, quietly jogging into the room after her, grabbing her wrist in the process. She pulled away from his touch and continued walking over to where Levi was resting peacefully.
Crap! I can't let her wake him up. He'll be so mad. Who is this girl anyway?
Eren, once again, gripped the girl's wrist. She shot him a cold glance over her shoulder, her intimidating stare caused him to release her arm. He just stood there, waiting for the yelling and scolding to start.
"Levi-kun!~ I have some freshly baked bread for you!~" She said while skipping over to Levi's side.
Levi's eyes fluttered at the girl's voice, but he didn't wake up. He laid still, rolling over as soon as she touched him.
"Are you dreaming, Levi-kun?~" She cooed in his ear.
'Levi-kun?~'
Levi's eyes opened, the sight didn't reveal his bedroom, but a vast expanse of white, followed by an ocean of clocks.
'W-what? What's going on?'
'Your time is running out, Levi.'
He turned around at the voice of the strange person.
'What does that mean?'
'It means exactly what it says. Your time is ticking. You're on the clock, Levi.'
The apparition vanished and, in its place, a chess board appeared. Levi walked up to the black and white board and picked up one of the pieces; it was the queen. At that moment, the floor disappeared, causing the man to fall into the black abyss below him.
Reaching his hand towards the ceiling, he called Eren's name out in a choked scream. His face was dotted with sweat and his breathing was irregular. Eren shoved the girl out of the way and placed his hand on Levi's shoulder to show that he was there.
"It's ok. Did you have a nightmare?" Eren asked while patting the sweat away from the man's forehead.
"Y-yeah...Eren...I..."
"Hm?"
Levi hesitated, not knowing how to word his next statement without seeming weird.
"Can you...lay with me...just for tonight?" He finally said.
"U-um..." Eren couldn't help the blush that dusted across his entire body. "Levi...are you feeling well?"
"Yeah, I ju-" He was immediately cut off by the harsh voice of a girl. The same girl that forced herself past Eren to get to Levi.
"What!? How could you say something like that, Levi-kun!?" She starkly spat.
Levi registered her voice and placed a face on a name.
"P-Petra?"
"Yes! Now, I've come here to give you these!" Eren held out his hand to take the basket, but she jerked it away and carried on with her rage. "And I need to know how long you're willing to stall for time!"
The man's grip tightened onto Eren's shirt, gripping it as if his life depended on it.
"What is she talking about?"
All he got was silence in return. Levi looked down, letting go of Eren's shirt as he did.
"Levi?"
"He's set to marry me, we're affianced. Didn't you know?" Petra informed, watching as Levi practically lost what little resolve he had left.
"N-no...you're wrong, Petra. I didn't consent to any of that." Levi growled, his hands now clenched into fists, tugging on the bedsheets.
"Oh, really? Then why do you still have the bracelet I gave you all those years ago?"
.
.
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Cliffhanger! I know, I'm terrible! Scold me if you wish.