I am very sorry I have not updated in about four months! I've been very busy with school, and hardly had any time to think! This chapter is short, but the next couple of chapters will finally detail Luz's past, and about the fall of humanity. Hopefully the next update will be much sooner. Thank you very much for your patience! Slight spoilers from chapter sixty-one.
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…I… The breath escalated out of her lungs as the darkness surrounded them. Her dark bangs hung across her forehead as wavering impossible thoughts entered her mind. She thought of Levi. Her eyes found him, his expression as unknown as the feeling inside her. She couldn't see his face. Her mind flashbacked to that night. Cold…it was so cold. The rain pelted across her cheeks, causing a shudder to course through her emaciated body. Dried blood coated across her forehead, across her fingers that had ended so many lives, including… She strayed away from those thoughts, knowing that they would destroy every part of her if she thought of them. Her heart was pounding against her chest, as if pleading with her to live. But she wouldn't. She, with the survivors of the once proud military, would met their deaths. Her dark blue eyes opened to the dark skies, knowing that it would be the last thing she would she… Luz's mind snapped to the present as she felt movement from the trees. She wasn't ready to die. Not yet. But I am glad that I… As she was about to charge forward with her second comrades, a familiar shout rebated in her ears.
"Hanji-san!" Armin's breathless shout echoed of the shock Luz felt when Hanji-san, the same eager Survey Corps member that had once tried to experiment with her former Titan powers, entered the forest. Silently with a large smile on her face, Hanji-san approached Levi and handed him a document.
"Withdraw your weapons," Levi stated tonelessly. "Now." What happened? Luz thought as she sheathed her sword. She gathered with the others as Levi gestured for them to read the letter with them. It took only for a moment for the dark-haired girl to realize that the writing was incomprehensible to her. The multiple dashes and marks held no meaning to her. I can't read, was her numb thought as the others remained focused on the document. For some reason the situation was familiar to her. So much time has passed… Luz thought as she remembered how Armin had told her of how Ymir had been able to decipher a long-dead writing system. "That was the first sign that she was a Titan Shifter." Armin had looked at her curiously. "It makes me wonder if you can read ancient writings too, Luz."
"The Survey Corps has been exonerated and your actions deemed self-defense," Hanji-san explained. A knowing look appeared in her eyes as she stared at Luz's forlorn expression. "The royal government and administrative districts are now under Commander-in-Chief Zackley's control." At once there were shouts of joy and of people embracing. Luz observed that Levi and Hanji-san were among those that did not express their emotions…as did she. "At the present there has been no resistance to our rebellion. We're free again."
The sound of freedom rebated through Luz's ears as watched as people hugged in joy, people, who until yesterday, hadn't known they existed. She eyed the two former Military Police members, who were smiling as the Survey Corps members were. The sight of the brief moment of peace caused a vague feeling to start inside her. Jean and Armin smiled at one another, the broken bond between now gone in existence. Those smiles…I know them. A gasp escaped from her as a feeling of cold water dripping down her back entered her. Her eyes became impossibly wide, the black pupils large. Her hands shook. They were there, together. All of them. She saw their faces, laughing and smiling. Nina…Erik…Edmund…Claudia… Their faces turned pale and wan with blood and mud against their faces. Crying. The foul mouth of Edmund…and the coy smiles of Claudia…she remembered it. Then she saw him. A face like her own. With dark blue eyes and dark hair, wet still from the rain. His hands waving towards her, a crumpled letter in his hand. She felt a smile lift from her lips. She saw his mouth move excitedly, talking… His name was on her lips… Friedrich… Were tears rolling down her cheeks? Friedrich… oh….my brother…I'm sorry… Her tears soaked hands covered her mouth, a soundless scream coursing through her very being. I'm so sorry…Friedrich…
Was she aware of anything besides of the dear face that had haunted her memories until she wished them away? She saw Levi and Hanji-san talking a couple of meters away, conversing quietly. "Mien…bruder…" she whispered hoarsely. Her words were lost as the world continued to break away from reality. "Mein…zhillings…" A cry almost tore at her throat as she remembered his face as he died. As she shot him. "Bitte…" she pleaded. "Bitte…"
Trembling as attempted to walk, her sight started to fade. She could only see him. "Bitte…" she continued to sob. She saw Levi and Hanji-san near the trees, her agony unseen to them. Her entire body felt as if it was made out of stone. Eventually she came to them, their expressions unknown to her as the face of her brother was her only reality. Then she heard his voice.
"Luz, what are you doing just standing there like you're about to die?" The reality appeared again. The young girl saw his face, dark without the light. Still, she could see his eyes, dark gray, as he stared at her with a frown on his lips.
"Levi…" she breathed. Her sight faded, and she collapsed in his arms.
"Luz!"