Hange placed the gun down, confident that the last of their pursuers were now dead.
This fact gave her no joy, knowing that not long ago, they had been her fellow comrades.
She pushed aside the bushes where she had laid Levi down, her heart breaking as she took in his battered form.
She'd only been half lying to Floch. Levi was still alive, but from the extent of his injuries it was clear that he wouldn't live for long.
Even so, she'd wanted to spare him from whatever fate Zeke or the Yeagerists might have had in mind for him, and so she'd grabbed him and leapt into the river in order to prolong his life, even if by just a few minutes.
And it looked like those few minutes were about to run out.
She cradled him in her arms, her head resting against his.
"Levi." She said softly. "I don't know if you can hear me, but...I'm sorry. I got us into this mess. I just…"
She trailed off, unsure of what to say. She knew that Levi's driving motivation had been to kill Zeke and fulfill Erwin's last promise, something that he would now die before accomplishing.
Being unable to keep his word would probably bother him far more than dying would. And since this looked like the end for him…
"Zeke got away, but it's not over." Hange whispered in his ear. "I found out that Eren intends to betray him. He just needs Zeke to activate the Founding Titan, he doesn't actually plan to go along with Zeke's plans. So...so don't feel too bad about letting Zeke go. It's...it doesn't matter."
She had no idea if Levi could hear her, and she had no idea if what she was saying was true. But with Levi on death's door, his comfort mattered more than the truth, and she was determined to at least try to give it to him.
As Levi's breathing slowed, Hange suddenly realized that she was about to be the only one left of the old guard, the only surviving member of the original Survey Corp.
Her throat tightened, and a tear slid down her face and onto his.
"Levi...I'll miss you."
Levi's body went limp, and he breathed no more.
While Levi's body had died, his soul remained restless, unsatisfied. He'd sensed Hange's presence, but he hadn't heard any of her words, and so received no comfort from them, real or imagined.
But while his soul was now beyond Hange's reach, other forces could still detect and affect his soul.
One of them was a young girl called Ymir, someone who had been within the coordinate for over two thousand years.
Sensing his troubled spirit, she took pity on him and sent him beyond the paths and into a different plane altogether.
And in this alternate plane, another entity sensed his soul, and what it was capable of, and without hesitation reached out and caught it.
Levi opened his eyes, and was greeted with the sight of countless blades of grass less than an inch away from his face.
He flinched and sat up, and realized he was lying in a wooded area.
Where…
Suddenly his memory came back, and he recalled the last thing that had happened had been Zeke pulling the pin on the thunder spear.
Levi looked down at his hands, then his legs, and briefly checked himself over for any injuries.
He found none, nor did he feel any pain.
He frowned. Had he somehow gotten clear of the explosion in time?
But no, he distinctly remembered searing pain in his chest, his hand, and his face.
He looked down at his hands again, noting how they were completely unmarked.
So was he dead then? But why did he still feel fine? It didn't make sense.
But before he could puzzle over his situation any further, he heard a cry of pain behind him.
He turned around, and was slightly startled by what he saw.
A large black horse stood along a stone path, and laying beside the horse against a tree was a young man wearing a strange looking shirt and cloak, clutching his leg as if he were in absolute agony.
Levi slowly walked over to him. Initially he was going to ask the young man who he was, but after seeing the pained expression on his face ended up asking a different question.
"Are you okay?"
The man let out a low moan. "No. I...I was bitten...by a black snake...I think it must have been poisonous…"
Levi knelt down next to him. "Here, let me help you. I can-"
"No time." The young man shook his head. "It's too late for me. Just...promise me something."
"If it's within my power, I'll do it."
The young man grabbed Levi by the collar, his expression becoming desperate as he looked up into Levi's eyes.
"Please...I came here...to the forbidden land...to try to bring her back...to restore her soul…"
He pointed at the horse, and as Levi looked up he could see that the body of a young woman was resting on the saddle, wrapped in a large black cloth.
The young man coughed. "Take my sword...and my bow...and my horse...Agro...and save her...please…"
Levi looked down at him with pity.
So the young man wanted him to bring someone back from the dead. That wasn't possible, but he'd do what he could to give the young man comfort in his last moments.
"I'll do my best." He murmured quietly.
"Thank you." The young man whispered.
His grip on Levi's collar weakened, and he collapsed to the ground. He was dead.
Levi looked further along the stone path, and was surprised to see a series of stone pillars in front of a rocky wall that ran perpendicular to the path, and at the end of the path on either side were two rocky cliffs that jutted up into the air, flanking the path like a pair of sentries.
The glare from the sun through the gap between the cliffs was too bright for him to see clearly, but if he had to guess, this was probably the entrance to the forbidden land that the young man had spoken of.
Unsure of what was going on, where he was, or even if he was alive or dead, Levi decided that for the moment his best course of action was to try to fulfill the young man's dying wish, futile as it might be.
As the man had instructed, he took the sword and the bow that the man had been carrying.
Sasha would have been able to make better use of this…
He flinched as the image of her dead body flashed in his mind, and he quickly brushed it aside, strapping the sword to his hip and the bow across his chest.
The horse looked at him suspiciously, but it's expression softened when he lifted up the young man's body and placed it on the saddle next to the woman's.
Levi gently brushed the horse's mane with his fingers. "Your name was Agro, right?"
The horse snorted.
"I see. Well, I'm not your master, but...I'll do my best to do what your master wanted."
Levi then climbed onto the horse's saddle. After making sure that the bodies of the man and woman were still secure, he urged Agro forward. It reluctantly began to move toward the entrance, its hooves making dull clopping sounds on the weathered stone road.
As they passed between the cliffs, Levi found his breath catching in his throat as he saw what lay beyond.
Stretching out in front of him was a massive stone bridge that went on for at least a kilometer or two. On either side of the bridge was a mass of sandy terrain dotted with rocky formations and trees. Directly in front of him was what looked like a massive ancient temple, so tall that it would have dwarfed even the three walls.
So this was the forbidden land.
As he observed the shadow the bridge cast on the sandy terrain below, he wondered how it was built, and once again wondered exactly where he was. As much as he didn't want to think about it, this gave further credence to the idea that he had died from that thunder spear. (the thunder spear he himself had set...on reflection that had been a really stupid decision on his part) Otherwise he couldn't think of any other reason for how or why he could have ended up in this strange place.
The bridge was extremely long, and it took almost half an hour to cross it. As he reached the temple, he could see a large stone door directly in front of his path.
Just as he was wondering how he would get it open, the door slid up, revealing a set of stairs leading down. They were wide enough that Agro could still walk on them, so Levi directed him forward.
As Levi peered into the darkness beyond the doorway, he felt a sense of foreboding, and apparently Agro felt it too, as he stopped and let out a nervous whinny.
But there appeared to be no other way to go, so Levi urged him forward. In the confined space the clopping from Agro's hooves against the stone surface sounded much louder than it had in the open air.
As they descended down, the stone door shuddered and closed behind them, blocking out the light from the outside. Levi looked back, his face containing small traces of apprehension.
Well, no turning back now.
As they reached the end of the stairs, they emerged in a large and incredibly high cylindrical room with one long ramp that spiraled downwards. Levi directed Agro to follow the ramp down, keeping toward the wall and away from the center, from which the bottom floor was visible.
It took another half hour to descend down the chamber, with the only sound being the clopping from Agro's hooves, which seemed amplified by the confined space and rigid stone floors and walls.
Eventually they reached the bottom, where there was a circular pool of water. As the whole place appeared abandoned, Levi was surprised to see that the water looked smooth and clear, as he would have expected it to be overgrown with moss and gunk without anyone to look after it.
But he quickly dismissed this anomaly, as he could now see that the bottom floor opened into another large chamber. At the back of the chamber was what looked like an altar of some kind, and as Agro trotted into the room Levi could see a row of statues on either side of the room. There were eight on each side, and they depicted a variety of strange looking creatures, some that looked similar to real animals, and others that looked entirely alien.
As Agro neared the altar, he carefully walked up the steps leading to the altar. When Agro was right in front of the altar, Levi gently tugged on the reins and Agro came to a halt.
Levi lightly leaped off of the horse, picked up the body of the woman, and set it on the altar. He then did the same for the body of the man, laying him beside the woman. There was just enough room for the pair of them to lay side by side, and Levi could almost pretend that they were a pair of lovers just taking a nap.
But of course, that wasn't the case. They were both dead, one of them having died trying in vain to bring the other back to life.
Well, is this what you wanted? I brought her here. I brought you here as well. But nothing appears to be happening, as was to be expected. It's painful, but...
Suddenly, Agro let out a frightened whinny.
Levi turned around, and was startled to see several shadowy figures crawling up out of the ground just a short distance away from the altar.
Levi drew out the sword that the young man had given him. "Who are you?"
None of them answered, and they slowly began to walk forward.
Levi pointed the sword at them. "What are you?"
Suddenly the shadowy figures froze, and melted away into nothing.
The next second, a massive vibration thundered through the air, and from the ceiling a voice spoke.
Hmm? Thou possesses the Ancient Sword?
Levi looked up in shock. The voice sounded powerful, and ancient, and he couldn't tell if it was a man's voice, or a woman's voice, as it contained aspects of both.
How didst thou come to be here?
Sensing that he wasn't in danger at the moment, Levi slowly sheathed the sword.
"I'm...I'm not sure. I...I thought I had died. But...I seem to still be alive...and I ended up here...somehow."
The entity pondered this for a moment.
Yes...we can sense that thy soul is not of this world. It was sent from elsewhere. But why hast thou come here?
Levi glanced behind him at the deceased lovers. "The young man...he asked me to bring the woman here so that he could bring her back from the dead."
And what dost thou think of this endeavor?
Levi grimaced. "Well...while it's understandable to want to bring back a deceased loved one...ultimately it's just a foolish dream. It's better to accept that they're gone, and move on."
Yes. Once a soul has passed beyond the veil of death, it can never be recovered. That is the law of mortals.
Levi nodded dismally.
However, with that sword, such a feat may not be impossible.
Levi looked up sharply. "What do you mean?"
We art Dormin. We have great power, but this power has been sealed away. If thou return our power to us, we will be able to return the souls of those thou hast lost.
Levi looked down at the sword, then back up at the ceiling, his eyes narrowing.
"What do I have to do?"
Behold the idols that stand along the wall...Thou art to destroy all of them. But those idols cannot be destroyed by the mere hands of a mortal...In this land there exist colossi that are the incarnations of those idols. If thou defeat those colossi...the idols shall fall. Do this, and we shall return the souls of those thou hast lost. Sixteen of them, one for each idol thou destroys. Of course, two of them will be the man and woman behind thee.
Levi glanced behind him. "I see…"
But heed this, the journey will be a difficult and dangerous one, and the price you pay may be heavy indeed.
Levi thought back to the countless people he'd lost over the years, the lives that had been cut short, the dreams that had been dashed, the sacrifices they'd made. If he could give even a few of them another chance at life…
He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. If what you say is true, I have no choice but to try."
Very well. Raise thy sword by the light...and head to the place where the sword's light gathers...There, thou shalt find the colossi thou art to defeat.
Levi looked beyond the altar, and could see the land stretching out into the distance until it reached a series of cliffs. He held the sword up, and was surprised to see a faint glow running along the edge.
He frowned. What exactly does he mean by where the sword's light gathers?
He walked past the altar and through the pillars holding up the temple, and raised the sword again. This time, the light split into several separate beams shooting out from the tip of the blade.
His eyes widened in shock. He shifted the angle he was holding the blade at, and the beams suddenly converged on a single point in the distance. He looked, and could see that they were pointing directly south from the temple, toward a narrow opening within the cliffs.
He pointed the sword away, and the beams of light splintered once again.
He lowered the sword. This is very strange. Useful, but strange. I doubt it's natural. I know a little bit about how light refraction works, since Hange…
He stiffened, then pushed the thought aside. He wasn't entirely sure if she was still alive or not, and didn't want to dwell on that either way.
He walked back into the chamber, and climbed onto Agro's back once more. He then directed the horse toward the set of stairs that lead out of the temple and into the land beyond.
A moment later the clopping of hooves against stone gave way to the dull thud of hooves against the earthy ground as Agro began to gallop south. With the body of the man and woman now gone, Levi was free to make Agro move faster, and though it was obvious already that Agro wasn't nearly as swift as the Scouts' horses, he would still make the journey to the southern cliffs much quicker than if he'd had to walk there on foot.
Agro and his rider passed by several small rocky formations and a single lonely tree. Above them a handful of birds flew, but aside from their cries the land felt unnaturally quiet and still.
As they neared the cliffs, Levi could see a set of stairs leading up into the opening, as well as the ruins of some kind of building or structure that had been built into the cliffs, now overgrown with vines and moss and weathered by countless years of erosion.
Levi couldn't help but wonder what had happened to this desolate place.
While Agro was able to make it up the stairs, it quickly became apparent that Levi would have to ascend the rest of the way on his own. The task would have been much easier if he still had his ODM gear, but fortunately there appeared to be enough hand holds and protrusions to make climbing up without it possible.
He climbed off of Agro, and then immediately began to ascend using a nearby clump of vines and overgrown grass. After reaching the first rocky ledge, he carefully followed it further in, casually leaping over a gap that had formed separating one side from the other.
After carefully ascending some more, he found himself with a rather stunning view looking back at the temple, and the land stretching off to either side. But he knew his goal was further in, so he turned around and continued to climb.
As he reached the top of the cliff, he was able to see that he had emerged in what looked like a small enclosed canyon when suddenly a dull roar ripped through the air.
The first thing he saw was a massive hoof stomping on the ground just a short distance in front of him, sending small bits of rock and dust into the air with the force of the impact. A second hoof appeared, and Levi got a good look at the first Colossus he had been asked to kill.
It was roughly humanoid in shape and about twice the size of the Attack Titan, with thick dark fur and an earthy hide covered in what looked like some kind of armor loosely hanging on parts of its body. It held a massive club in its right hand.
The Colossus didn't appear to have noticed Levi, as it kept walking right on by, its footsteps shaking the ground and rumbling the air.
Levi suddenly felt rather naked without his ODM gear, and the sword he was holding didn't feel like the most reassuring weapon. The only positive was that this thing seemed to be moving much slower than a Titan, so at least he would have time to react when it inevitably noticed him.
He began to follow it, his eyes roaming its massive body. How was he supposed to kill it? Did it have a weak spot, like the nape for the Titans?
Hold up thy sword to reflect the light onto the Colossus. Its vitals shall be revealed.
Levi stiffened in shock, but from the Colossus's non reaction Levi quickly realized that only he had heard the voice.
He held up the sword, and once more the beams of light scattered, then converged. He was quickly able to see that they pointed at the Colossus's left foot, and at its head.
So, it looks like it does have weak spots. Well then, time to get to work.
Feeling slightly calmer now, Levi ran up and leaped onto the Colossus's left foot, grabbing onto the fur with his left hand and holding onto the sword with his right.
As he did so, he could see a faint glowing scar on the back of the heel. Without hesitation, he pulled the sword back, and stabbed the scar.
The Colossus let out an enraged bellow, and fell to its hands and knees.
Levi used the armor on the back of the Colossus's left leg to propel himself up, and quickly climbed up the leg and onto the Colossus's back using its fur.
The Colossus tried to shake him off by shifting its back from side to side, but this had no effect, and Levi was quickly able to run along its back and to its head.
Aha!
On top of its head he saw a massive glowing white sigil. Instantly knowing that this must be its weak spot, he grabbed hold tight, pulled the blade back, and plunged it into the sigil.
The Colossus let out another bellow of pain, and as Levi pulled the sword back out he saw what looked like black sand pouring out of the wound.
Fully expecting the Colossus to reach up and grab him, Levi kept a sharp eye on its hands, ready to move out of the way if they began to move toward him.
He pulled the sword back again, and stabbed the sigil once more.
The Colossus's body shuddered, and then like a massive tree being felled it collapsed to the ground with a thunderous boom, dropping its club and going limp. It was dead.
Levi leaped off of the head and landed smoothly on the ground.
Huh. That wasn't so hard.
He looked back to admire his work, but was startled to see that the Colossus's body was darkening, and several strange black tendrils were coming out of it.
Before he could react, the tendrils spiraled toward him and impaled him.
He gasped in pain, as it felt like countless needles were being shoved through his skin and deep into his body.
Unable to remain standing, he fell to his knees and collapsed on the ground, his consciousness leaving him as the darkness pulled him under.
Author's Note: I know that most people spend Easter focusing on the death and resurrection of Jesus, but personally I felt like focusing on the death and resurrection of a much more compelling fictional character.
And with that unapologetically blasphemous joke out of the way, this story is actually an idea I've had ever since Levi first got blown up by the thunder spear in the manga. I was kind of disappointed when he became Schrodinger's cat for a while, and even more disappointed when it turned out he didn't actually die, as originally I'd planned this story as being Levi's way of finding closure after his death, and also bringing back some of his loved ones from the dead in the process. Initially I'd planned on waiting until the manga ended to see when (and indeed if) Levi died, but considering the last few chapters went off the rails in a way that the final chapter can't make up for no matter how good it is I decided, fuck it, I'm just going to run with what if Levi died from the thunder spear. And when you look at how things played out, really you'd just need to make a few minor tweaks and Levi's absence wouldn't affect the overall story at all.
For those of you who didn't already figure it out, this is a crossover between Attack on Titan and Shadow of the Colossus, with Levi taking over the role of the protagonist of the game. If you haven't played Shadow of the Colossus, you should really go do that. Like right now. As soon as possible. Mainly because it's one of the best games ever made, but also because this story won't have as much of an impact or make as much sense if you haven't.
This is another story that I will probably continue at some point, but for now I just wanted to get the premise out there to see what other people thought of it. This will be the last crossover story for the foreseeable future, the rest of the stories I've got planned are all contained within the AOT universe. The next one is quite long, but should hopefully be out within a week. Hopefully.
Since I got a few requests for it, I have made a discord server for my various stories and works in progress. Since this site doesn't like links, if you want to join it go to my profile on AO3, which has basically the same profile name as it does here. I'd meant to mention it in the last two stories, but forgot each time. Well, better late than never.
Anyways, be sure to let me know what you thought.
Edit: Okay, I know the joke at the start of the author's note was in rather poor taste. But at the same time I'm not really feeling inclined to offer any sort of apology. Nor do I feel like deleting it, as I feel that would be a pseudo apology. But perhaps I should explain myself.
I used to be a Christian, mainly because of how I was raised, and I ended up believing a lot of things that were incredibly harmful to myself and others, and the process of learning that I had been wrong was very painful and disillusioning. I won't bore you with all the details, but let's just say I've been left with a lot of bitterness toward Christianity and organized religion as a whole. And yes, I know there's nice Christians out there, but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with the not nice ones, nor does it erase the fundamental flaws with Christianity as an institution and an ideology.