Levi Ackerman flew through the Stohess district. More specifically, what was left of it. Decimated buildings , either by demolition or fire, filled the streets. Roads were covered in debris. Bodies of soldiers and civilians lay waste in the carnage, as the military police rescued those that survived the onslaught.
Levi wondered if this is what it would take to get people to fully understand the titan threat. He didn't like the thought.
He landed on a nearby building that wasn't destroyed, searching for his target. He couldn't seem to locate him in all of the chaos. Despite his injury, he had insisted to the commander that he be a part of the operation in any way.
Erwin simply asked him to look after two individuals. Eren Jaeger and Jason Grace. And while he had kept his eyes on Grace for most of their time together, he deemed Eren the priority whenever the Female Titan was involved. So he let Grace go.
It didn't matter where the stranger went. Sooner or later, Levi would find and capture him. And after making sure Eren was all right, and the Female Titan was captured, he shifted his focus to his second target.
He jumped down from his perch and began searching for him on the ground. Dodging civilians and military personnel, he walked towards the pavilion at the end of the street.
Military police reported a scout with no ODM gear started the rescue effort for the citizens that had been in the path of the two titans. There was no question that the individual they spoke of was his target. Levi insisted on letting him keep the hoodie, for such an occasion. No member of the scouts would find themselves dead without their ODM gear.
He was getting closer and closer to where the battle between Eren and the Female Titan had started. This area of the city used to be an open plaza with a circular building in the center. It was where the dumb Order of the Wall had their church. Now the plaza was covered in debris of people and chunks of bricks. What used to be the pride of the Stohess District was now ground zero for the carnage that this city would remember for the rest of its life.
Maybe this wasn't the best place to confront the Female Titan. But then she wouldn't have been captured.
No one will know the correct choice until after they see the results. He recalled what he had told Eren in the forest. Before his squad… He always seem to be making the wrong choices.
Levi heard large sounds coming from the demolished building in the center of the plaza. A military police member approached from the rubble of the church carrying a civilian on his back. Rock and rubble were still being moved behind him.
The kid that approached him was taller, but no older than Eren. He had a bowl haircut and a long face. He was panting from exhaustion and the middle aged woman he was carrying on his back.
"Captain Levi!" he exclaimed.
As soon as the kid noticed who he was, he tried to salute. Levi brushed it aside.
"What happened?"
The kid took a deep breath, "A member of the scouts has been leading the rescue effort. He had no ODM equipment, but he made up for it with strength. Hitch (another of the military police) and I have been leading the civilians to safety, while he looks for them in the rubble." The kid looked behind him. "We've saved a lot of people sir, I can't keep count. But I don't think there is anyone left to save." The young soldier looked back at him and explained. "I tried to tell him that destruction at this level doesn't leave anyone behind, but he insisted on looking for more…"
"I'll take care of it." Levi cut him off.
The kid hesitated. He looked back at the demolished church. "I didn't even ask his name."
"I have a feeling he doesn't mind." Levi limped slowly across the plaza.
The closer he got to the church, the more blood he could smell. Slowly, the bodies and limbs accompanied the scent. Climbing over a rock, he found his target.
The kid was trying to lift a heavy rock. It was on top of a middle aged man's body. The man didn't move.
Levi approached his target. The stranger was struggling with the rock. He turned around to try and lift it with his back, and noticed Levi.
"No! I need to save him! You can take me in later!"
Levi didn't respond.
"He has a family." He grunted at the rock. "He was going to buy a present for his son after the sermon." He turned around again, trying to lift the rock from a different angle. "For graduating law school." The tears couldn't help themselves.
The man under the rock wasn't breathing.
"GODS where is my strength!" He yelled to himself.
He fell to the ground from exhaustion, hands still on the boulder. "I used to be so strong! A boulder like this should be nothing to me! To a son of Jupiter!" He seemed to yell the fact to no one in particular.
The sun fell behind the wall. The sky was turning from orange to green, and the stars were slowly forming. This town should have had a peaceful day. That man should have been able to see his son. And yet there they were. Fighting a war none of them asked for.
"Who am I if I can't save people?" Levi barely heard the question. A puddle of tears was at the kids knees.
When he first met Jason Grace, Levi felt disdain. His entire squad had died at the hands of one titan, and this kid survived outside of the walls without the skill or experience that each of his members had. He seemed to have superhuman abilities like Eren, given the easy way out of difficult situations. In a situation where an experienced scout member died, these two would survive based on luck.
He hated that.
And yet both felt immense responsibility. Both used their abilities to help others, and blamed themselves when others died on their watch. The two idiots constantly risked their lives because they knew how lucky they were. They know how powerful they are.
He respected that.
After a moment of silence, Levi answered Jason's question.
"You're human. Just like the rest of us."
End of Season 1