Disclaimer: I own none of the characters!

Notes: This took forever to get posted and I am SO sorry. I had such severe writer's block for this chapter. - ; But it's up and posted and yay! Also: for those of you who read Danger Line, the doujin is on pre-order! owo

"Let's have a toast for our birthday boy!" Reiner shouted, waving around his tall goblet of ale.

Everyone around the table raised their glasses, clinking it against whoever was closest. Eren tapped his glass against Mikasa's and then Armin's before trying to reach everyone around the table. He manged Bert and Annie; Reiner was impossible to miss as he was running around the table, shaking everyone and making sure he could bump glasses with them. Eren missed and nearly spilled his drink down Jean's arm trying to hit his glass. The two of them managed to laugh it off, mainly because of Marco and Mikasa's watchful gaze.

Eren lowered his drink and wiped his mouth with a smile. "Thank you all for coming out—"

"You don't have to thank us," Bert said softly. "We've missed you being around. And it's your birthday. We really couldn't forget that."

Eren laughed. "It's almost my birthday. Tomorrow."

"Close enough," Reiner shouted, slamming his goblet down.

"Pretty sure you'll be busy tomorrow," Marco hummed with a dark grin.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Eren cried. Marco only laughed and Reiner soon joined in once he caught the dirty joke.

"He means you'll be spending the day with Levi," Annie deadpanned. "Most likely. And doing lewd things."

Eren's cheeks went red and he looked down at his cup.

"Oh, let's not talk about Eren's love life," Armin said with a shudder. "I think we can all do without."

The look on Mikasa's face was in total agreement.

"But how can we not poke some fun at him?!" Reiner cried. "He goes off and comes back engaged!"

Annie cleared her throat. "If I recall correctly, so did you."

"Ah! Not engaged," Reiner said, taking a long drink. Bertholdt melted into a puddle, his head in his hands and his face redder than Eren's had been.

"I think another round of drinks is in order," Eren chuckled.

Eren had gone out with his friends, to celebrate his birthday. Carla had gone out for a walk with Hannes. And Levi had plans to meet with Hanji and Erwin and even Petra later.

But before he could even think about leaving the house, he had to finish his current project at hand: cleaning the house. He had been there too long without so much as attempting to dust.

And it was now driving him near insane.

Sure, Levi had been instructed to help Eren clean. Help Eren clean. Help. It wasn't enough for him to just help because Eren's cleaning standards dropped. And of all things Carla had him truly work on, cleaning was not at the top of the list.

So with everyone out, Levi snatched the opportunity up.

He swept the floor and washed the windows and cleaned every dish and was now started to actually mop the floor. He had fallen into a nice speed when there was a knock at the door.

Levi stood up with a groan, brushing himself off and walking over. He opened the door, only to find no one there. He sighed, scrunching up his nose and taking a step forward to get a better view. He felt a little tap at his toe and looked down.

There was a basket of shiny red apples with a note attached by a ribbon. He picked it up and took it inside, reading the note.

A gift for the soon-to-be newlyweds.

It was signed "The Town of Shiganshina" and Levi smiled fondly at it. He set the basket on the table and picked an apple out, shinning it on his shirt before biting into the crisp, sweet fruit. He grabbed the mop he had leaned against the table, ready to finish cleaning, when a sudden dizziness overtook him.

He paused, grabbing the edge of the table and dropping the mop and apple. He winced as his knees went weak. His eyesight went blurry. And before he could stop it, before he could cry for help, he had fallen onto the floor.

Eren stumbled up to his house, Mikasa and Armin at his sides. He had a little more than normal to drink, but he still managed to stand on his own two feet. They were all happy spirits and big smiles, still laughing about their time at the tavern.

"Are you going to be alright?" Armin laughed. Eren waved him off.

"Of course!" Eren cried. "Besides, Levi can take care of me if I need him to."

Mikasa groaned. "The two of you are sickeningly sweet."

Eren flushed and turned to the house. He started walking again, only to pause and look around at the grounds. The animals were quiet. And still; perhaps a little too much for it to be mid-afternoon.

Armin stopped too, his eyes wide and face pale.

"Hang on," Eren said. "Something…isn't right."

"What do you mean?" Mikasa asked.

"You don't…feel that? It's like a really bad chill…"

Eren ran around to the side of the house, peeking over the fence. "Ma! Levi!"

There was no answer. He looked around at Mikasa and Armin, and both of them were on edge. Eren walked up to the door and pushed it open.

"Hello?"

An empty silence filled the house. The floorboards creaked with each step.

"Hello?" Eren repeated, walking up the stairs to his own room. Mikasa walked carefully to Carla's room as Armin searched the rest of the house.

Eren pressed his hand against the wall, listening to the wood give way under his feet. The upper level was just as cold and as silent and—

"EREN!"

Armin's voice rang through the house and Eren stumbled on the stairs, running down them. He bumped into Mikasa, as she ran out of Carla's room. The two of them nearly slid into the kitchen, to find Armin shaking in horror, hands covering his mouth.

"Armin…," Mikasa said, taking a step closer.

But it was then that both Eren and Mikasa realized what had Armin so paralyzed.

Levi. Sprawled out on the floor. Unconscious. Unresponsive. Even when Eren dropped to his knees and shook him by the shoulders, Levi never woke up. And as Mikasa yelled at Eren to stop, and Eren frantically yelled at Levi to wake up, there was still nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

"Why? No, how…what happened…why did this…" Eren's words made no sense as his shoulders shook. He held Levi to his chest, stroking his hair and checking for a pulse.

Armin quietly looked around the room. To the shiny red apples on the table. And to the apple oozing a black juice on the floor. He picked up the apple on the floor, examining the bite mark left in it and turned to Eren.

"Magic," Armin whispered. Mikasa looked up as she held Eren close. "Black…magic."

Eren inhaled, his face red from tears, and looked up. His tears dried and were replaced with a sudden rage deep in his stomach.

"Black magic," Eren repeated. He still held Levi to his chest, but no longer out of desperation. Mikasa let him go, feeling a surge of anger. "He did this."

"Eren," Mikasa said firmly. "Please don't…do anything stupid."

"I'm not," Eren growled, and when he did, a tiny spark of gold ignited in the green of his eyes. "Grisha put some curse on Levi. I'm going to break the curse. And kill that old bastard."

Silence fell over them and Mikasa rose.

"You're not stopping me, Mikasa—"

"I know," Mikasa said. "I'm getting my sword."

Eren's face softened and he looked to Armin.

"If you think we're letting you do this alone, you're wrong," Armin said. "We're coming with you. We're not losing you ever again."