Part II

not in the flames,

"The value of identity of course is that it so often comes with a purpose"

-Richard Grant

"...us? You spending too much time listening to Erwin's philosophical bull?"

"No, it's just, they have no choice but to eat, yet we chose to kill."

"Psch. Like we have a choice."

"Don't we?"

"Not all the time."

-x-

Asleep. Again.

Not like I have a want to, but it gives me time to think.

I'm supposed to be 'Humanities strongest' or some shit, and I'm taken down by some random fucker in a lab coat and a needle, telling me that I'm in some place that humanity hasn't touched in centuries. Japan. Apparently I'm there. Or here- whatever. That girl. Mikasa, friend of the titan brat supposedly has roots here. Japanese. It's been a long time since anyone was called Japanese, or anything with some sense of geographical identity and here I am. Supposedly one of them.

What a load of bull.

I don't want to believe them, but if I can't get back… I'll have to.

…And ghouls. If this place isn't the four walls, with a threat other than titans, then humanity is worse off than we first thought.

Whatever they are, I survived one. If I was even the one who survived it. They did operate on me, so something must have happened, but something doesn't feel right. That food tasted like garbage, served over some dog shit cooked with clay-

"…evi…"

-It looked good too, I'm hungry as hell-

"…ake u…"

-Fucking shitty chefs, probably tried to kill me-

"…Levi wake u…"

-and who the fuck is that!?

"Levi wake up!"

I open my eyes to a face I didn't think I'd ever see again, at least not in this place.

"Erwin?" Thank god I'm not the only one or I swear I would've lost it. "You're here- how the fuck-"

"I was notified when you woke up earlier, you know better than to attack people for their bad service." He crosses his arms with a stern look, and I notice something I should've noticed earlier. This isn't Erwin Smith, commander of the Survey Corps, this is someone else entirely.

What the fuck is this world?

I didn't notice it until he spoke, but his voice is different; less hoarse, like he hasn't had the need to shout to get his point across. It's subtle, but it's not Erwin.

"We have your things packed and some clothes, they're over there – get changed and meet me outside." With a final look, he nods and turns, leaving me alone. When the door clicks closed, I grab the bag with clothes on top, and look inside. Whatever this is, it isn't my uniform, and I pity the poor soul who it did belong to.

Torn, ripped and stained almost completely in blood. No one should survive this kind of attack. Suddenly, I get a piercing pain in my head, like something is digging into me-

"You should've joined us, Ackerman. It's a pity we had to do this, you would've made a good ally." A tall white figure looms over me, a mask covering the lower half of his face.

"Go take a long hard shit and come back to me when you aren't delirious." I spit spitefully, tasting blood in my mouth as pain aches in every muscle of my body.

"Just kill him already. I want to eat and we need to see onee-san and her little band of weaklings, remember?" A younger voice whines behind him. I can't help but feel annoyance, annoyance and fear. I don't want to die, not here, but… that's not the only reason.

"That's right, we're on a tight schedule."

"Tighter than your ass?"

I smirk, conceding to my fate as I see deformed wings sprout out from behind him- almost like an angel.

"Goodbye, Guardian of the 20th Ward."

An angel of death.

The pain dulls and the voices disappear into my mind.

…Sounds like I was in a world of shit. This guy died. This guy had my name, or maybe- I have his. It doesn't matter, whoever killed him knew my name and he sounded like he knew me. Those wings- they can't be human, unless that God really does exist and we have the start of some kind of revelation after us- he cannot be human. Maybe he isn't.

"Levi! Hurry up! We don't have all day." A voice shouts from across the door-'Erwin'.

I change into whatever they've given me, and get ready to face Erwin. Not-Erwin, that Erwin was getting fried somewhere by the higher ups, and that pesky brat is probably still asleep, surrounded by his loyal friends.

A light sigh leaves me.

Never have I wanted to go back to that place more than now.

I slide the door open.

-x-

"Right, so Ackerman-san will have to have rest for at least another week before he can return to work, and we recommend making sure that he gets regular meals…" The nurse drones on as I stand idly next to Erwin. Occasionally signing at a spot the woman points at on a page, I see an odd device next to her- they called it a 'computer'. Apparently it can process information with some pieces of plastic, and is powered by 'electricity'- the same energy source that gives light and many other devices. If we had this kind of technology, our progressions would be limitless.

We would, if I ever return. Is there even a world to return to?

The more I look at this world, the more I feel familiar with it, like this is home.

Home was once a castle in Wall Rose, clean from top to bottom- cleaned with the finest hands in the survey corps- possibly within those damned walls.

But now, it's this place- the 20th ward.

I can't make sense of this right now but I need to focus.

Focus.

They can't know that I'm not their 'Levi', and I can't let myself be seen by that white ghoul again. He didn't hesitate to kill me before, he won't now; especially since I can't fight like this.

He finishes signing the papers, and the staff wave me off with a smile. Erwin motions to follow, and I do, past some doors in this maybe, new world.

He leads me to a car, that's what he informed me earlier. Works like a carriage, with no horse. Powered by some engine hidden under all that metal.

Upon entering, the smell permeates my nose. Its leather. The seats are all a heavy scent of black leather and something else- something I can't recognise. We sit and he hands me my bag of 'belongings', leaving it on my side as I stare past the glass windows. The car starts and we move to our destination.

"You came close, Levi. We almost lost you." I give him a sideways glance.

"I know."

"We need you. The CCG need your help, you're one of our best investigators, and with this issue in the ward we can't afford another loss."

"What?" CCG? Investigator?

Just what was I in this life?

"…They told me you had amnesia, but I didn't think you'd forget this."

"Just tell me."

He sighs, almost mournfully. "You are a part of the CCG, the Commission of Counter Ghoul, or the Ghoul countermeasures bureau. We fight ghouls- do you remember what they are?"

I shake my head, and he narrows his eyes.

"Ghouls are beings like us- they look like us, act like us, think like us- you couldn't tell the difference." He stops, taking a deep breath. "But they are not us."

I raise an eyebrow at him. Allowing him to continue.

"They're cannibals."

…What?

"They feast on the flesh of humans and each other; and we've tracked some of the most dangerous to be here." Excuse me, what?

"You can't feed them animals or some shit?" I look at him incredulously. He can't be serious. My palms sweat, and forehead creases. This is- this is just as bad titans- no- worse! My eyes scan his face for any trace of a lie, instead I'm met with a stone-faced stare like he's had to explain this too many times before.

"We've tried- their taste is different from ours."

Oh?

"…And you expect me to kill them?"

"Yes."

"If I refuse?"

He raises his hand, and the car comes to a halt. He opens the doors to an unfamiliar area.

This bastard.

"I'll ask you again."

…Looks like Petra was wrong.

"This time, please, choose wisely."

Titans… they're not the only things-

"I know you've lost your memory-"

-Definitely not the only things-

"-But will you fight with us, once more?"

-That I need to kill.

"…yes."

Well, hoped you liked it. It was to make up for the very short and confusing first chapter.

Please, feel free to leave a comment or review and give me your thoughts.

Thanks for reading!