I'd like to apologize for the delay.

I slowly started hating everything I wrote!

The romance aspect of this series will be a slow burn...and incredibly toxic so prepare yourself!

Erwin

It was like every missing piece to the puzzle suddenly started falling into place after meeting him.

The dots he was unable to connect before were now lining up in a jagged line.

All of the series of murders made to look like petty theft of middle aged couples, all without children; the illegal black market and underground bank that plummeted in 1994 – all of them were connected.

All of them leading up to a ghost; a man who did not exist.

Levi Liebert's identity was nothing more than that of an adopted son.

Beyond that there was absolutely nothing.

No paper trail.

No records.

But the only proof of his existence rested in the adopted sister; Historia. She ran away with him from the hospital all those years ago – perhaps if he could find her it would bring him closer to catching Levi.

Darius would be able to rest in peace and Erwin's guilt would not eat him alive every night.

It would prove he wasn't insane.

So, he dug and dug, like a dog desperate for water.

But nothing he found was tangible.

He did everything right – he told them the truth.

But the truth wasn't enough.

He could not prove who Darius' killer was. Especially when Darius was shot with his own gun, making his murder seem more like a suicide.

No one would listen to him.

It was like he was screaming without a voice.

So, they chalked it off as a guilty man's conscious forcing him to take his own life. They were in over their heads with more important cases that were nothing more than political warfare.

Marleyans around the city were targeted in supposed hate crimes.

So Darius' death had to be sealed and dismissed as quickly as possible.

Erwin was forced to take some time off, his peers labeling him as a madman while his superiors simply believed the taxing life of a cop had finally gotten to him. Since then he had adopted some bad habits. Like being so deep into his research that he would forget to shave or eat.

The once pristine detective look was now a five o'clock shadow and disheveled hair.

Regardless, the time off gave him the freedom to investigate everything he could about Levi and Kinderheim 511. The more sleepless nights, the deeper he found himself sinking into this new world he was thrown into; an underworld only rumored to exist until now.

Nowadays, he was short tempered, snapping whenever his research brought him to a dead end; a glass thrown and shattering against the wall.

Sometimes whenever he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he could not recognize the man in the reflection.

Ever since that forsaken rainy night…

How was a boy he fought to save, who stood there before him as a man – nonexistent? He pulled the trigger. He ended Darius' life coldly and then vanished like he was never there.

The predictable manner in which life cycled by no longer held any influence, not when you're chasing after a ghost.

The entire concept of the world as he knew it was beginning to crumble and it both terrified and excited him. Life was cruel in some ways – because now he was in the same exact situation as his late father; being labeled a nutcase because his truths were too hard to swallow.

Maybe…that that was just an excuse to hide behind – in fact Erwin reveled in the fact that he was walking directly beside his father's path; not on it but beside it – with the hopes their different but close paths would somehow intertwine. Erwin couldn't explain it – but he had an itch that somehow Kinderheim 511 and Levi were related to his father's research.

Every middle aged couple that was murdered had no children of their own – but at one point they did adopt a son. Some had him for a year or two, some shorter, some longer.

His words that night suddenly rang in his head like a broken record:

"I've started to get rid of everyone who knew."

What was his objective?

January 12th 1996

He found himself in the Southern district of what was once called Wall Maria – a town named Shiganshina. He was interviewing neighbors about the murdered couple who lived upstairs when an old man called out to him from the 2nd floor window.

"I remember that boy very well."

Erwin paused in his tracks, turning to stare at the stranger who then went on to say,

"Why don't you come up, I was about to make some tea."

Erwin took the bait and entered the man's home, coat wrapped over his arm. He paused, waiting for the man to permit him full entry.

"Come in, have a seat."

Erwin shut the door behind him, feeling a bit at odd that he just walked into a stranger's house as if it were his own.

"Hello sir, I had a few questions about-"

"Just have a seat." The old man demanded. So he took a chair at the table, silently. As the man walked away, Erwin could hear him turning on the stove. Attentively, he looked around; there were dozens of framed photos and newspaper clippings all around him of a young man in a military uniform, but all without a crest he was familiar with. Instead, there was a golden bird at the top of his hat.

This man was a soldier from Marley.

He had been a soldier before the walls fell and the countries were united by peace. As delicate as that peace was, he found it peculiar that the man chose to move to Paradis. Did he perhaps seek asylum where Marleyan laws could not prosecute?

Erwin shook the thought away – he was not here to judge this man.

He was here to find out about Levi Liebert.

"Go ahead, have some tea." Erwin snapped out of his thoughts immediately when he was approached with a cup. The hand that held it trembled quite a bit.

"Thank you." He chimed in with his husky voice. He watched the old man pull out the chair across from him and sit.

Neither of them touched their tea.

"My name is Erwin Smith."

"You're that detective right?" The old man replied immediately, forcing Erwin's to pause from continuing.

"That boy was the one who told me about you."

Erwin could only stare with his jaw slightly dropping. He had not expected to be greeted like this.

"Is that so?" Erwin tried to conceal his shock, azure irises gazing down at the brown pool in his cup.

"What has he told you?"

"All I know is that boy was extremely grateful to you. Yes Detective Erwin, he told me more than once that because you fought to save his life, you meant a great deal to him."

"What name did he go by then?" Erwin retorted, trying to spin the conversation away from this uncomfortable attachment Levi seemed to have lied about to this old man.

Was it a lie, or did the truth make him uneasy instead?

"He went by the name Johan…but he did tell me that wasn't his real name…"

"If he opened up to tell you that much it must mean he really trusted you."

The old man took a long sip of his tea before pulling the cup away.

"He just showed up out of nowhere one day really. Mr. and Mrs. Heina that lived across the hall took him in. He lived with them for about a year…"

Now it was the old man who was deflecting the conversation by changing topics.

"No…it was more like 14 months. Then one day, out of the blue he suddenly vanished!"

It was the same story; a boy lived with the murdered couples for a year or more only to disappear out of thin air. No one would expect he would be the one behind their deaths.

"He really was bright, that boy…and very well mannered." The old man continued, taking another sip of tea.

"Did he visit you in your apartment very often?" Erwin couldn't understand it. If Levi was truly killing those who knew of his past, then why was the old man still breathing?

"Every day. I live alone so I always welcomed the company."

Nothing was making sense; the connected dots were starting to disarray.

"He sat in that chair –"The old man averted his gaze to the empty chair on the left side of the table.

"And he would spend most of his time studying. He was able to master Latin, French and German that I taught him in no time. He was only 12 years old and mastered all 3 of the languages."

"…Can you tell me anything about him?" Erwin wanted to push. Nothing the old man was telling him was benefiting his investigation.

"He was always interested in listening to my stories. And what kind of stories do you think he liked best; go on take a wild guess?"

Erwin didn't have to guess what he was referring too – there were photos of it from wall to wall.

"He liked my war stories." He answered his own question.

"During the war with Marley and Germany, I was on the crew of a U boat. The boy's favorite story was not one of heroic escapades…but of the time we were attacked by German forces. We were at the depth of 120 meters when they attacked. We had suffered a mortal blow, but we just kept going. We all waited in terror inside that creaking boat enduring hour after hour. "

He paused, swallowing hard.

"We had to endure that hell for a day and a half…" He picked up his eyes and looked directly at Erwin.

"Any ordinary child would have probably looked at this as some adventurous tale of hope and survival…But that boy was different."

Erwin shifted, closing his fingers into his fist.

"What he was most interested in was my discretion…of ultimate fear."

Erwin's eyes widened his heart racing with excitement. This was the kind of man he met on that rainy night – this was Levi.

"Yes, ultimate fear…that reaction of people on the verge of death fascinated him. It was all he was interested in. He toyed with fear as if its concept was unrelated to him."

"So…what was his expression?"

"He probably had a gleam in his eye and a smile I imagine."

"Imagine?" Erwin asked out of confusion.

"Well…I cannot see Detective Erwin."

And then it made sense, why the old man was not murdered.

"So no…I don't know the boy's real name…nor obviously do I have any idea what he looks like though for that matter."

He took his hand away from the cup and placed it on his lap.

"Earlier you suggested the boy trusted me because he told me 'Johan' was not his real name."

Erwin sat forward, eagerly.

"I can assure you that he doesn't trust anyone. There is only one person that boys' trusted in his life…and that's his sister."

Immediately, Erwin sat up, unable to contain the urgency coursing in his veins any longer.

"Sir, I need your help, I'm looking for that sister!"

The old man stared, silent for a few breaths as if reflecting.

"He said he would go get her when she turned 21."

"Where is she?!"

"In what was Wall Rose – the Calaneth District."

Erwin was quick to gather his coat. But before he could exchange formalities, the old man spoke up once again.

"Hold on a moment, why are you in such a rush, Detective Erwin?"

"Sir that young woman is possibly in danger. If there is anything more you can say to help me find her – please don-"

"Are you claiming that the boy would harm his sister?" The old man was quick to interrupt him despite the urgency Erwin spoke with.

Erwin paused, collecting himself.

"Well, that wouldn't be possible."

"Sir…what are you trying to tell me?"

The old man paused, looking at the empty chair Levi used to sit in.

"Detective Erwin, that boy talked about you a lot, always reflected on the gratitude he felt towards you and how highly he regarded you. But…" He held his gaze with Erwin as if he could see him and his puzzled expression.

"The one who that little boy loved more than all...was his sister."

Erwin's eyes tensed, a shred of confusion threatening his fortitude. He couldn't imagine that the monster who executed a begging man in cold blood with a cruel smile on his face was capable of loving another.

Surely, the old man had been manipulated into believing Levi's façade.

That's the only possible explanation.

"He told me that before he arrived here he used to live with his sister at the Lenz residence. "The old man interrupted Erwin from his cogitations.

"The Lenz family…" Erwin repeated softly aloud, noting exactly why the old man was still sharing more details with him.

If they had taken Levi in at some point in time, they were going to be targeted just like all of the other couples he's killed over the last year.

Historia and her foster family were in grave danger.