Death: A review would be much appreciate, guys. Anywho, please enjoy this chapter. There is some major foreshadowing in here, not that there weren't a few in the previous chapter. I also realized that I didn't have names for the rest of the Queen's Guard, so you find out here in this chapter.
Chapter Twenty One Repressed Tempers
=3=
Erwin was standing on the edge of a wall. He peered over, and to his horror, he saw the dead bodies of every Scout he led to their deaths in an expedition. They were piled over one and another, as their decaying bodies moved. They were trying to climb up, to reach the top of the wall and get to him. Were they reaching for him as their salvation, or were they trying to drag him down to their hell for being responsible for their deaths?
He stared, frozen on the spot.
"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry. I am responsible for your deaths, but your sacrifices weren't in vain." He whispered mostly to himself than the dead comrades.
Erwin shifted his gaze to beyond the corpses, and saw only darkness. There was nothing beyond the wall. He felt his heart sink, as his goal was to see beyond the walls and see for himself that there was more than what this world had to offer when concerning titans and being the last remaining human race. The bleak reality that he would never see beyond the wall hit him hard.
A sudden strong wind picked up, and it nearly forced him to tumble over. Erwin lost balance and frantically reached out with his remaining arm. Just before he fell forward into the pit of corpses, a hand caught him.
Erwin glanced over his shoulder to see Levi, standing calmly as he prevented his fall.
"Little bird...?" He was surprised to see no fondness in those cold eyes.
He was staring into the eyes of an assassin.
"You fall, I fall. Remember this, Erwin Smith." Levi stated, and it sounded more like a promise.
"Levi..." Erwin whispered as he sat up, wiping his eyes. He glanced around, sighing in relief that it had only been a dream. A hyper realistic dream, maybe, but it was only that.
"What's wrong? You've been mumbling in your sleep these last few days." Levi inquired, sipping a fresh cup of tea he just made.
It had been a week since his almost mental breakdown and nearly strangled his own daughter. Although their relationship was a little strained, it didn't interfere with the training. As an upside, she stopped the snide comments towards him at every turn she could. But he was starting to miss her bossy attitude.
"Nothing is wrong. It was just a weird dream." Erwin offered a smile, of which the other didn't believe.
"...You would tell me if something was wrong, right?" Levi asked, not used to being lied to.
"If it persists, I promise I will tell you. It was only one dream, little bird." The commander assured.
"...I'll take your word for it. So, what are the plans on the next expedition?"
"You're not going to try and convince me to remain behind like Hange?" Erwin stared, surprised.
"It's you. You're too proud for it, and Hange can't refuse you." Levi deadpanned.
"This might be a bold move, the boldest yet, even for me. I aim to retake Shiganshina District."
Pale blue grays stared, unsure how he felt about this move. Something was off. He could feel it. There was a change in Erwin, and he couldn't identify what it was. In the short time they've been together, he still had a hard time reading this man. And being an expert assassin was supposed to give him an advantage.
And then something clicked in his head.
"You sound like this is going to be your last expedition." Levi concluded.
"That's my goal. This will be my last expedition. Regardless of the results, I won't be leading the Survey Corp after this. I can't be of much more use with only one arm, and Hange has proven to be an excellent leader. Perhaps a little eccentric, but they have the support and respect from everyone." Erwin explained.
Levi felt his instincts screaming at him. He was torn between whether or not he should say the man can't go, but he had debated too long when there was a knock on the door. He opened it to reveal Hange, with a set of papers in their hand. Levi paled upon seeing their face, and turned to Erwin with despair.
He had already sent his plans over to Hange and the queen.
"Sir, are you sure about these plans? We still haven't formerly tested Eren's abilities yet." Hange went straight to business, only glancing at Levi to notice the hint of betrayal in his face.
"...You didn't inform your plans to the corporal?" Hange concluded, frowning. This was odd for Erwin.
"I only just informed him before you came in, Hange. He has been busy with the new recruits for the Queen's Guard, I didn't want to worry him." Erwin reasoned.
"...Are you insinuating that I am to remain here while you lead your last expedition?" Levi hadn't meant to raise his voice, but he couldn't hide his emotions when it came down to this man.
"It is only a consideration, Levi. You are still needed to train the Queen's Guard, and I can't very well leave Jean or Sasha here. The Special Forces Squad needs to remain strong in number to be effective."
"And you believe I should remain behind while you sacrifice yourself? Is that it? Am I not a part of the Survey Corp, too? Or has all of this been a ruse, and I'm just a fucking wolf in sheep's clothing to all of you?" Levi spat, eyes narrowed with cold fury.
When he was met with silence, Levi pushed passed Hange and left, not even bothering to be subtle as he slammed the door behind him. He almost walked into someone who hadn't meant to eavesdrop, and he angrily kept going without even giving the person a second glance.
Levi stormed into the stables, grabbing his bridle and saddle. His squad were in the middle of their chores, apparently the Queen's Guard and the Special Forces Squad had decided they enjoyed each others company now. And they all jumped when he stormed in, angrily cursing and muttering to himself as he readied his mare. Stella sensed his unease, as she didn't playfully nip at his hair like usual.
"Captain, what happened?" Eren was the only one brave enough to ask.
Cold eyes caught his own, and shivers went down Eren's spine. He gulped, recognizing the eyes of a killer.
"Levi? Did something happen between you and Lavena? Or was it Erwin this time?"
"The fuck did you think it was Lavena? No, the fucking shit two faced commander is what happened." He snarled, his voice so dark and cold that even his squad shuddered, despite being used to his mood swings.
"Well, she did kind of leave a while ago to hand you some papers she wanted you to sign." Hawkins piped up.
"Well that's going to have to wait. I'm going back to headquarters to let off some steam before I finish the job I couldn't finish a few months back." Levi hissed, leading his mare out of the barn.
Suddenly Stella turned her head away from him, snorting and nickering towards another horse. A gray head popped out from a stall in answer, and the stallion tried to reach out to her. Levi almost stumbled as his mare fought against him, more or less winning against the tug of war as she drew closer to the stall.
"I think she's close to her heat cycle." Mikasa guessed, judging from the mare's behavior.
"Of fucking course." Levi glared at his horse, who now refused to budge.
Against his better judgment, he took off the saddle and bridle. Stella didn't even wander off as he brought back the halter and lead rope. He was given questioning looks when he came back with two of them. Levi first put the halter on his mare, then on the gray. He led them to a pasture big enough for the two of them and let them loose.
"But...that's the commander's horse. Are you sure about doing this?" Armin frowned, afraid of the consequences the captain would suffer later.
"Already given permission if she shows interest with any available stud." It was a lie, but they didn't need to know. Levi went back inside and gathered his personal saddle and bridle, as he went down the way to choose a different horse.
"You sure you want to be taking one of the queen's personal horses?" Hawkins tilted her head.
"I can deal with the consequences later. I'm still going. If I remain here, I will be finishing my very last job as an assassin. So if you would all kindly stay out of my way." Levi chose a dappled dark gray gelding and began to adjust the bridle and saddle to better fit him.
"...What happened between the two of you?" Eren persisted.
"Apparently, I'm nothing more than a fucking wolf in sheep's wool if they're considering leaving me behind in the next expedition in favor of training the Queen's Guard." Levi finally revealed, as he struggled to adjust the straps of the saddle. The gelding shied away, sensing his discomfort.
Eren held the gelding still, rubbing the horse's neck affectionately. Now that his new mount was still, Levi was able to finish working with the saddle. He did a quick pull test with the straps to ensure they were tight enough his saddle wouldn't slip and fall. Feeling that they were secured just right, Levi took the reins from Eren, but the titan shifters hand was still on the bridle.
Pale blue gray stared coldly at teal green inquisitively.
"What do you want, brat?" Levi glared, the longer he remained here the more time for Erwin to catch up.
"I'm coming with you." Eren grinned, not at all bothered by his attitude.
"You honestly think I want your company?" Levi snarled, now feeling threatened. He had made a point of avoiding Eren at all costs since they had spent the night outside Wall Rose in their last expedition.
"Well, you can try to run, but last I checked gears can outrun horses." Eren countered.
"Eren, you sure this is a good idea?" Mikasa grew nervous, eyeing the captain who was now feeling murderous.
"I'm coming, too!" Hawkins raised her hand, earning weird stares.
"I don't know where you're all going, but I'm tagging along." A different voice raised heads in surprise.
Levi glared at his daughter with indifference. And then he blinked, noticing she cut her hair short, shorter than Mikasa. Her bangs were swept to the side, and in the back her hair was shorter than her ears, almost done to a boy's standard haircut. He was surprised he rather like this new look for her.
"Actually, why don't we all go?" Jean suggested, earning confused looks. "We're all under the same captain. It's our job to show him our support. I mean, it's unfair they're thinking of staying behind, he's got as every right to go as any of us, including the Queen's Guard, to be honest."
"You honestly believe we're capable outside the walls? We barely had two weeks of training, and the majority of us have never even seen a titan." Fritz Roswald, one of the recruits from the Wall Garrison, didn't share Jean's opinion.
"So that puts us at a disadvantage compared to you guys." Frederika, the twin sister of Fritz added.
"Yeah, and when myself and the rest of the Special Forces Squad just barely graduated from training before we came face to face with the Colossal Titan at Trost District." Jean countered.
"I agree with him, actually. Maybe we can ask the commander later to combine the two squads for this expedition. It might serve a better purpose, so we have enough to play offense and defense instead of waiting upon everyone else like last time." Sasha added her input.
"You can't be serious, right?" Lukas Neumann from the Military Police was appalled at the idea of going outside the wall. His cousin, Jay disagreed, sharing Horse Face's enthusiasm.
"I like the idea of going beyond the wall. It can be just a one time thing, right? The Queen's Guard working together with the best squad of the Survey Corp. Think about it, it would be awesome." Jay was lost in a fantasy, and his cousin face palmed.
Levi considered, it all around wasn't a bad idea. He wondered why he hadn't thought of it before, but then again he was too busy being riled up and ready to lose his temper on the commander earlier. He sighed, as he found that it was inevitable that he wasn't going alone whether he liked it or not.
"I'll talk it over with the commander later about it. And anyone who wants to come with me I'm not going to stop you. But please hurry up and ready your horses. I don't plan on waiting all day." Levi watched as they all scrambled to their mounts, grabbing their bridles and saddles.
Within a few minutes the two squads followed after Levi as he raced towards the nearest gate of Wall Cina. He caught sight of the two commanders and the queen making their way to the stables, but Levi didn't even glance back. He was still too pissed off to give two shits about what they wanted, and a part of him felt satisfied he just left on one of the queen's personal horses leading both of his squads to Survey Corp Headquarters beyond Wall Cina.
Upon reaching the headquarters, they were met with cheers from the rest of the Survey Corp. Levi immediately got on everyone's case how they had slacked on cleaning when he saw the state of he inside. He inwardly smiled as people quickly started to remedy his observation as he gathered his new set of gear. As he went into the storage room, he paused when he caught sight of a familiar set that had been gathering dust.
So they do have my original set from when I was an assassin.
Levi discarded the set he had in his hand in favor of his old one. He had missed this old thing, it served him well over the years as an assassin. This was the very same set Kenny gave him upon his twenty third birthday as his graduation gift. And since he took very good care of it, it lasted so long compared to other gears. And maybe it perhaps was because it was tinkered a little to better suit an assassin than a Scout.
He didn't bother with the storage for blades or cannisters, his aim was simply to enjoy being out in the air.
Levi strolled outside with ease, and he immediately felt the stares from three pairs of eyes. He turned to see Hawkins, Lavena, and Armin studying his gear curiously. Of course they would notice the changes.
"I don't remember any of our extras looking like that." Armin commented, and then he noticed the pale faces the two assassin trainees made.
"...That was your original gear, wasn't it?" Mikasa concluded when the blonde couldn't say the words.
"As a matter of fact, it is. Funny, they never told me they still had it. I assumed they threw it away for scraps when they gave me a new pair when I joined up." Levi tested the controls, feeling that they were in still working condition despite being neglected for a few months.
"There are less straps than what they use as standard for the military divisions." Armin commented as he examined the gear closely, circling the captain. "Wouldn't you lose balance with this? It's not even connected to your torso, only to your hips and upper legs."
"That's how I was trained. Broke an arm the first try. Got back up, broke it back in place, and kept going. Honestly, I didn't feel comfortable with the standard gear you guys have. They created unnecessary drag, and threw my balance off a little." Levi shrugged.
"But they are the fastest we have yet." Armin blinked, unsure if that was true or not.
"And made to make it easier for the users to be in the air. With this it requires a lot more than just talent. Now, if you would excuse me, I'm going into the forest. From here on you guys can follow or not. Warning, it's about to rain. I can feel it in my leg." Levi looked up to the dark sky.
"And you're still going out there?" Lavena frowned, getting a bad feeling about this.
"I have to let off steam somehow. And I don't feel like sparring, this sort of stress needs to be let go in the air." Levi stated before he got on his horse and with a click of his tongue he was galloping into the trees.
Eren followed without a second thought, and for once he was leaving behind his two best friends.
=3=
Eren definitely saw a change in the captain's performance when he was back with his old set of gear. His movements became more fluid and birdlike. He seemed more free than with the standard issued gears, and in a way that was more terrifying to think about. Eren was barely able to keep up with the captain as he tailed close behind.
At some point he allowed himself to drop lower in altitude to watch Levi as he executed a combination of tricks and flips in the air. He felt entranced, as he imagined the short captain transform into a bird as he flew. It was a sight to see, and Eren would never tire of watching it. He always admired how Levi was more at ease in the air than on the ground. It was as if he was meant to be in the air instead of being grounded.
Maybe that's why I like him so much. He can be free, more free than I can ever be.
The moment Eren felt saddened by this conclusion, the rain poured. And in the same instance, some of the others have finally caught up. Eren blinked as he caught sight of the Mikasa, Armin, and Lavena. A few minutes later the rest of both squads finally caught up, and like Eren, they were also entranced by Levi.
Levi was lost in his own world. It had been too long since he let off steam just by being in the air. Probably since the first time Erwin allowed him to be in the air after his capture. And despite the rain soaking into his clothes, he didn't slow down. He didn't even brink the cloak with him, as he preferred the Wings of Freedom over the sigil of the Queen's Guard at the moment. But he had forgotten that cloak back at the palace.
Suddenly he felt his instincts flaring. Levi straightened up, slowing down. Immediately the Special Forces Squad were tense, already used to the signs of their captain uneasy in the field. Meanwhile the recruits for the Queen's Guard were confused, but didn't say anything about it when they too, started to feel uneasy.
"It feels like something is watching us." Lavena described, and everyone silently agreed.
"Standard formation and surround Eren. Queen's Guard, work on offense. Special Forces Squad, you're the defense. No one better screw this shit up." Levi instructed, leading them to double back around.
"But we don't have weapons, sir." Fritz scowled as the Special Forces Squad immediately took position, and the Queen's Guard shifted to surround the squad to prevent any attack.
"This is where you get creative." Levi drew his curved knife. "Which of you is best with knives?"
"That would be me." Jay inclined, which earned a different knife being tossed at him. He caught it with ease, and studied it. He noted that it was very old, probably passed down quite a few times.
"Don't lose that, you hear? Or you'll be cleaning toilets of the entire palace for a month." Levi threatened, eyes icily cold when he glanced at Jay. The young man resisted the shiver, and simply nodded.
"Let's speed up." The captain advised, adding a sudden burst of speed of which everyone followed suit.
As they were halfway to reach their destination, Levi hadn't realized how far they had gone until now, when a tree fell in front of them. Levi was forced to slow down just enough to avoid from crashing into the falling tree. He caught sight of another one about to crash down upon him, and he did a back flip to avoid it. Meanwhile the Special Forces Squad leaped over, and the Queen's Guard followed after but held back when they made the clear.
"Keep going!" Levi yelled as he sped up again, and to his relief Mikasa took the lead.
Suddenly as he almost caught up with them an arm reached out. Levi twirled high into the air before flipping over the outstretched arm. He felt his heart stop upon seeing that it didn't belong to neither Ylmir or Reiner. It had dark hair all over the arm, and his eyes followed the appendage to see that it had hair all over its body.
There is no way this is an abnormal.
He saw the intelligence in those eyes. No, this was a chemical, just like Eren. And he realized something.
This was the one that threw the trees at us in the last expedition.
"Full speed! It's a chemical! It's working with the other three!" Levi urged them, and they quickly obliged. He silently cursed their luck. They had virtually no weapons aside from two measly knives, and even though he noticed how Armin carried a few signal flares, the rain was too heavy to use them.
"Mikasa, lead them around! Hawkins, Armin, full speed to headquarters to give the warning!" Levi had an improvised plan.
"It's gaining on us!" Connie yelled as the titan was almost upon them.
"Queen's Guard, switch with Special Forces Squad! Mikasa, you remain as leader. Keep going no matter what happens, do you understand? Our objective is to keep Eren away from this thing as possible! Jay, hand that knife over to Sasha!" Levi was formulating a suicidal plan, but it was the best that they could do.
"What are you doing?" Lavena wanted to stay behind.
"Just protect Eren!" He urged her to keep going, and reluctantly she sped up after to follow her squad.
"Hawkins, Armin, we will provide you two the cover to head straight to headquarters. Raise the alarm, and whatever you do, do not slow down. Do you understand?" Levi eyed them both with all seriousness.
The two nodded silently, and without another word Levi flipped around to face the oncoming titan. His squad split up to surround it, and he heard the two they were providing cover for went full speed in the direction of headquarters.
May the Wings of Freedom carry you to victory. Else we will all be dead.
With that final thought Levi sprang towards the strange beast at full speed. This action caught it by surprise, and it couldn't react fast enough as he aimed his curved knife to one of its eyes. Although his knife wasn't the typical weapon to fend off a titan, it was still sharp enough to do damage to the eye. He felt a sickening pleasure as the beast screamed as he twisted his knife harshly, doing as much damage as he could.
"You're about to learn to never mess with a sick little shit like me, pal. I'll have you know Annie was terrified of me when I tortured her. And it just so happens you caught me on a bad day, so I'm not feeling merciful." Levi allowed himself a smirk, as his eyes changed to a dangerous glint of yellow.
He twisted his knife one good time, not even flinching when blood and other liquids squirted all over him, before leaping away when an arm reached for him. Levi let out a shrilled screech of a bird of prey, and suddenly his squad were upon the beast. They didn't have weapons, but simply avoiding its arms they did numerous flips and tricks around it, distracting it from ever catching up with Eren.
It was then Zeke decided it was better to turn his attention onto Levi instead.