writertitan

[writertitan]

Perennial // Part 4

a/n: so sorry for the tumblr post delay, but hopefully this update makes it all worth it!

pairing: levi x fem!reader

overall themes: fantasy AU, strangers to lovers, traveling through realms, explicit content

part 4 themes: **NSFW** AND 18+ ONLY!! sexually explicit content the whole way through folks.

read part 3 here

“What do you want?” you mumbled, turning away from Levi to look out of the window again. It was infuriating to even be around him right now.

Levi said nothing at first, merely taking the initiative to lean against the wall beside you. Then, when you wouldn’t even look his way, he sighed, his eyes boring into you.

“You shouldn’t have gone off on your own—” he began, but you cut him off with a groan, moving to slap his arm and try to push him away. He easily dodged your attack, his face composed.

“If you’re just here to keep scolding me, you can leave,” you snapped. “I get it already. You don’t have to drill it into my head that you think I’m a dumb little human.”

“I don’t think you’re dumb. I just think you make dumb choices,” he clarified.

“That’s not exactly better,” you said with a frown, trying to swat at him again. This time, however, he caught your hand midair and squeezed it tight, rendering it immobile.

“I’m trying to protect you,” he said. “You could stand to make that a little easier for me by just doing as I say.”

“Protect me from what?” you whispered, fighting back tears. “I thought Eldians weren’t as dangerous as our human myths made them out to be.”

“It’s not the Eldians out there that I’m worried about,” Levi said. “The Warriors you knew, they’ve got to know you’re missing by now. I’m willing to bet they not only know that you’re here, but that they had something to do with it. They’re looking for you.”

“That’s just a hunch, you don’t know for sure,” you said sharply.

Why were you still defending them, after everything? Were you still in denial?

“I know you were close with them, Emb, but I’ve known them for centuries. I’ve fought them for centuries. They’re not who you think they are,” he said.

You stood up to face him better, all too aware of the fact that he was still gripping onto your hand. Fresh tears, ones of anger and sorrow, threatened to trickle down your face.

“What if you’re the bad guy? Why should I automatically trust you?” you breathed out, your face inches from Levi’s.

Even Levi was starting to lose his composure, but he wasn’t getting angry; he was just as aware of the electric intensity in the room as you were, and it was affecting him like it was affecting you.

“They never told you who they really were, but I haven’t lied to you even once. Maybe I don’t want to answer your billions of questions, or I keep things on a need-to-know basis, but I try to be as honest as possible with you. Doesn’t that count for something?”

He was right.

The sting of knowing you’d been lied to for years came full force, and you bit your bottom lip to keep it from trembling.

You knew why you were still so defensive of your old friends. It was a reason you loathed, but you had to say it out loud.

“I still don’t want to believe that they deceived me. Because once I do accept it…,” you trailed off, and the hand that Levi was squeezing started to squeeze back. Not in malice, but as a way to seek comfort.

“I know,” Levi said, his eyes softening imperceptibly.

He didn’t need you to say the last part out loud.

But you both knew what you wanted to say. Once you accepted the betrayal as fact, everything would change. Instead of viewing them as people who made you feel safe, they would now make you feel scared for your life. All that you knew about trust and security would be questioned, and you would never be the same.

The last rays of sunlight slanted into the room, casting deep shadows on Levi’s face. He looked so certain and determined, and you calmed down a bit just by looking at him. He was the only one who could make you feel safe now.

Levi would protect you. Levi would keep you safe.

Gently, he let go of your hand and you started to reach for your face to wipe the remnants of your tears. To your utter shock, however, Levi beat you to it.

He was a little hesitant and awkward about it, but his thumb wiped a rogue tear from the corner of your eye, the touch as light as a feather. Such a small gesture made your heart flutter nonetheless. You found yourself leaning into his touch, hoping for more. But his hand slipped from your face, down to your shoulder, and he gave it the smallest of squeezes.

Without even thinking, you cupped his jaw with the hand he’d let go of, the feeling of wanting to be close to him suddenly overpowering you. He tensed up a little, clearly a little uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the gesture, but you gave him a shy smile. For a man who was constantly giving you very direct eye contact, he was struggling to meet your gaze now.

“If something happens to me on your watch, Captain Levi…,” you warned, clearly joking, and it worked to lighten the mood. Levi scoffed and rolled his eyes a little, slightly turning his head away from you, but noticeably not pulling away from your touch.

“Nothing is going to happen to you, Embla. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised, his eyes still focusing out the window.

The electricity in the room was nearly unbearable now, and it was driving you crazy that Levi wasn’t meeting your gaze, that he wasn't looking at you.

“Levi, look at me,” you whispered.

When he did as you asked, your heart skipped a beat.

Though you tried hard not to, you couldn’t help but graze your thumb over his lips, your touch as feather-light as his had been when he’d wiped your tear away. It was a ghost of a touch, but you felt Levi’s lips respond to it, and you swallowed thickly when you felt him lightly kiss the pad of your thumb. You slid your hand over his neck, instinctively pulling him closer.

The sky outside had dulled into muted blues now that the sun had set and night was approaching, and you knew you’d be hearing and seeing throngs of people soon enough. None of that mattered, though. All that mattered was that you were inching closer and closer to Levi, your mind fuzzy and focused only on him and what it would be like to finally close the space between you.

You’d never seen Levi’s eyes like this before, hazy and soft, and you liked that it was you that had coaxed that from him.

But at the last second, Levi tilted his face up to press his lips to your forehead, and you let a whoosh of air escape your lungs, not realizing you’d been holding your breath.

“I should go,” he murmured against your skin, causing you to frown. “I’ll sleep on the sofa tonight.”

“Don’t go,” you half-whispered, half-pleaded.

You tilted your head up, hoping to find out what it would be like to kiss him, but Levi moved his head back and created more distance between the two of you. It was barely a couple of inches of space, but it felt too much.

“We shouldn’t…get close like this,” he murmured, his thin eyebrows drawn together.

“Why?” The question came out before you even knew that you were asking it.

“I’m not even human, Emb,” he reminded you. “It’s just not possible for humans and Eldians to coexist on any level. Trust me, it’s better this way.”

The rejection stung hard, harder than any other rejection you’d faced before. Maybe it was because this was the first time that you allowed yourself to think of a future outside of the bleak reality you’d been facing back home, but you also felt like it was more than that. You just felt different with Levi, and it was getting clearer and clearer the more time you spent together.

“I don’t care,” you said stubbornly, and you instantly knew that it was true.

Damn every story you’d ever heard about Eldia. There was nothing evil about this place or its inhabitants.

There was nothing bad about Levi.

You didn’t care if the two of you weren’t the same. You didn’t care if you came from two different worlds.

And you were having a hard time believing that Levi did care about any of that.

Outside there were distant noises of people, like you’d heard the night before. You were supposed to draw the curtains and start getting ready for bed, but the energy in the room was still buzzing between you and Levi. The two of you hadn’t broken eye contact yet; Levi looked conflicted and you looked determined.

“If you truly believe what you’re saying, then you can walk out and we won’t go any further than this,” you whispered, feeling strangely out of breath. “But if you’re feeling what I’m feeling right now…stay.”

It nearly broke your heart when Levi wordlessly tore himself away from you, but you forced yourself to accept his answer. You bowed your head so he wouldn’t see your crestfallen expression, turning towards the window where small clusters of people holding lanterns were beginning to come into view and pass you by. You barely saw them, though; you were looking right through them, thinking of how to come to terms with what just happened.

You heard the door open and close, and you bit your lip to keep from tearing up. Your chest felt like it was on fire, that initial sting of rejection now burning you whole.

The electricity in the room hadn’t dissipated either – you thought it would have once Levi left, but it was as potent as ever, reminding you of how intense it had been to be so close to him like that, to touch him and be touched, even if it hadn’t gotten too far.

You had to pull yourself together.

So, you swallowed back your sorrow and took one last look out the window, envious of the smiling faces you saw, and moved back to draw the curtains shut, shrouding you in darkness.

You turned on the kerosene lamp on the bedside table, a warm glow flooding the room, and as you turned to the wardrobe to grab your pajamas, you gasped and froze in place.

“Levi?”

He hadn’t left. Even though you’d heard the door open and then close, he had stayed.

He had stayed.

From the dim light in the room, you could see hesitation still flickering in his eyes, but now it was combined with some other emotion.

Yearning.

It was almost undetectable, but it was there.

As soon as you noticed his presence, he was crossing the room to close the space between you again, and he yanked you into his chest before he angled his head to press a hard kiss to your lips.

It was exhilarating to have him like this, and the kiss alone was enough to have your head spinning. It had begun as such an intense kiss, an urgent kiss, but had gradually melted into something more languid and passionate.

The two of you only broke away to catch your breath, and even then, you were both still finding ways to be connected. Your hands were in Levi’s hair, body pressed against his, and his hands were fumbling around your waist, as if he didn’t know where to put them.

“I couldn’t go,” he admitted, “I can’t stay away from you, even if it’s the right thing.”

You gave a breathless smile as you tugged him towards the bed, your heart racing as the two of you toppled onto it, with him sitting on the edge and you straddling his lap. You couldn’t think straight, couldn’t give him a response other than melding your lips with his again in hopes that he would get the message. To you, this was the right thing. Nothing had ever felt more right.

Your hips pressed into his as you kissed him, the both of you sighing in delight at the wonderful pressure it caused. You could feel Levi stiffen in his pants as you swayed your hips and, in an instant, he grabbed your thighs and nearly threw you onto the bed, with him hovering over you as he began leaving gentle kisses along your neck and jaw.

There was too much space between you again and it made you whine and arch your back, desperate to feel how hard he was.

Levi growled against your skin and followed through with your silent command, his hips pushing down into yours once again, keeping most of his weight on his hips.

You both shed your clothes quickly, until you were only in your undergarments. Your eyes hungrily scanned over Levi’s boxers, hands already itching to yank them down, but you also were very aware of the way his eyes raked over your body from head to toe, taking in every detail. Instinctively, you tried to cover yourself, but Levi was quick to pin your arms down to your sides, his eyes finally meeting yours.

He said nothing, just shook his head, and you melted like putty under his molten gaze as he admired you. When he felt you wouldn’t move your arms, he let go of them, his fingertips tracing over the curves of your breasts, and feeling the soft skin of your inner thigh.

While he familiarized himself with your body, you took the time to take in every detail of him, as well. He was pure muscle, but very lean. His skin was pale as moonlight, and glowed in the light of the kerosene lamp. The angular planes of his face dipped in and out of the shadows as he touched you, and you were so preoccupied with admiring his body, your hands eventually tracing over him the way he’d been doing, that you gasped in surprise when his hands finally went where you needed him the most.

Two of his fingers rubbed delicately between your legs, rubbing you over your soaked panties. Your hips jerked up into his touch, lips parted as a low whine left your throat.

Levi seemed to respond well to the sound, his fingers applying more force.

“Let me hear that again,” he murmured against your neck, his fingers moving in deliberate circles. It did the trick, and you found yourself tilting your head back to let out another breathless groan, feeling like putty in his hands as his head moved down to your chest. His free hand reached up to tug your bra down enough to expose your nipples, and then you felt the delicious warmth of his tongue as he took one in his mouth.

Your hands flew to his hair, fingers buried in the soft strands as his tongue rolled along your nipple, fingers working at your clit. It was like he knew exactly which of your buttons to push in order to make you ignite for him.

You weren’t going to last long at all.

“I’m close,” you warned him in a shaky voice, hips writhing to try and feel more of his hand.

To your complete dismay, Levi lessened the pressure on your clit and released your nipple, kissing his way back up to your lips. You whined against them, arching into his body, but he pinned you down with his weight and took his hand away completely.

“Why’d you stop?” you gasped against his lips, the ache between your legs nearly painful.

“Let me take my time with you,” he responded, and his tone was filled with so much dominance that you immediately acquiesced.

Your hands inched down towards the waistband of his boxers, toying with it until you eventually tugged his boxers down, just enough to let his cock spring out. You gasped when it grazed between your legs, hot and heavy, and your hips bucked on instinct.

But Levi still didn’t give in. His hands were on your hips in an instant, pinning them down while he nipped and sucked at your neck.

You slipped a hand between the two of you, grabbing hold of him, and the growl he gave you made shivers of delight roll down your spine. But you were only able to give him a few slow strokes before he took one of his hands off your hips to grab your hand and still its movements.

Slowly, he helped you guide his cock between your legs, and your entire body ignited when you felt him slide himself over your slit, the motion slow and deliberate. A shaky groan left your throat, and you didn’t stop him when he pried your hand from his length, replacing it with his own to keep sliding himself along your cunt.

The sounds he was making made you throb, little grunts and groans that were only for your ears as he brushed his lips along your face, leaving small and quick kisses wherever he could.

He was absolutely torturing you with his cock, the way he was slowly gliding it between your folds, the head nudging against your clit every so often. He would only briefly prod against your entrance, just to tease you, and then it’d be back to slipping between your folds, gathering your slick. It was too much – but you wanted more.

“Levi,” you whined, “I want it.”

His lips were at your ear, those delightful grunts of his ceasing only so he could rasp, “What do you want?”

Before you could even answer, his cock nudged at your entrance, with more force this time. It wasn’t enough to fully enter you, but it was enough to make your head spin and earn him another one of your low whines that he obviously couldn’t get enough of.

You were getting close again and you had a feeling Levi could pick up on that, because he nearly stopped what he was doing altogether.

You tried to whine but he captured your lips in a passionate kiss, making your mind hazy with pleasure as you got lost in it. He kissed you again, and again, and again, until you were breathless, chest heaving.

As the ache inside of you grew, Levi timed himself well. He was edging you, waiting until the tide of your orgasm quelled before he picked up where he left off, the tip of his cock pushing against your hole again, even more this time.

You could see it in his eyes – he was just as desperate for you, and he couldn’t wait any longer. And you were done with being teased like this.

You gazed at him from under your lashes, hands scratching up his back until they were back in his hair as you whispered to him, “I want you.”

That was his undoing.

You gasped out as Levi finally pushed into you, his head lowering to the crevice of your neck as he fully sheathed himself inside of you. Stars danced across your vision and your legs spread to accommodate him, your arms tightly wound around him to keep him as close as possible. Even now, fully connected, not even an inch of space separating the two of you, you wanted him closer. You were insatiable.

Levi brought his head up to capture your lips in his as he began thrusting into you, mesmerizing you with another breathtaking kiss and the way his hips collided with yours.

You breathed a moan not his mouth, muffled by the kiss, and Levi’s hips snapped roughly into yours. You arched your back, wanting him even deeper than he already was, your head swimming and hazy. There was only one thing on your mind, it was Levi, and wanting more. More, more, more.

It was like he could read your mind. He gave you one last peck before moving onto his knees, which earned a whine out of you – he was suddenly too far, and the sudden space between you wasn’t warm like he was. He immediately quelled you the moment the pads of his middle and forefinger touched your clit, light as a feather at first to coax a particularly desperate moan out of you. Bursts of pleasure flamed through you with each flick at your clit, until he eventually put more pressure on it and began rubbing in time with his thrusts, his free hand sliding slowly up your torso to cup one of your breasts.

You’d never felt like this before. Nobody had ever made you feel like this before. Every sense was heightened, like your soul had woken up. Each thrust that drove his cock deeper into you, each brush of his fingertips on your skin, each kiss he planted on your mouth, they all set you on fire. The pleasure of it all had taken you so much that you couldn’t even speak. You wanted to tell him how he made you feel, you wanted to spur him on, but all that escaped you were your pretty little moans.

And Levi – you never thought you’d see him like this. That composed mask was off, only for you, and you took in the beautiful sight of his hazy eyes and parted lips, those thin brows pulled together as he gave into his lust. Those piercing eyes were on you, moving from your face down to your chest, then further down to watch what he was doing to you between your legs. It was like he couldn’t get enough of you, either. You were both addicted to one another.

The pleasure was building inside of you, making the muscles of your lower stomach tense. You stared at Levi as he stared at you, your pussy throbbing at the way his eyes were concentrated between your legs while he fucked you. Your walls squeezed around his cock involuntarily now that you were close, and Levi let out a surprised groan when he felt you constrict around him. In a flash, his eyes flitted to yours, trapping you in a hungry, lustful gaze. When you saw all that lust in his eyes, how much he wanted you, it pushed you over the edge.

Your back arched up as you came, legs locking around Levi’s hips to pull him closer. He didn’t ease up. Instead, he leaned down to kiss you as he sped up his thrusts, drinking in every sound you made as you rode through your high. Liquid warmth rushed through your veins, making you feel languid and elated.

It was obvious that Levi was close, too. His lips left yours to focus on your neck, planting firm kisses there until, with one final thrust, he bucked into you and muffled his grunt into the curve of your neck. He emptied himself inside you and you could feel it, along with every pulse of his cock. He was merely grinding against you as he finished, getting in a few last sensations of pleasure before letting your orgasms ebb away.

When you both caught your breath, Levi lifted his head and positioned himself to hover over you, his face mere inches from yours as he examined your face.

Neither of you said a word, but you didn’t want to break the silence, either. All you wanted to do was lay there and stare at Levi, and memorize the way he was looking at you with so much quiet fondness and gentleness. You knew that these looks were private, something only for you to see, and that he’d never be vulnerable like this out in the world. You’d have to savor these moments.

You angled your head up to peck his lips, just a quick and playful one, and it seemed to snap the two of you out of your trance.

“That was…,” you started, but trailed off, not able to find the words. Instead, you kissed him again, hoping to convey your feelings that way.

Levi pressed his forehead to yours for a moment, the two of you savoring your closeness one last time before he pulled out of you. Once he was comfortably situated next to you in bed, you curled up into his side, like you’d done the night before. Only this time, Levi had his arm securely around you, pulling you closer to him. You stared at his profile, admiring his strong jaw and high cheekbones, not caring if you were ogling. Even though his eyes were closed, you knew he could feel your eyes on him.

“It’s rude to stare,” he murmured, eyes still closed.

“Sorry,” you said bashfully, ducking your head into his chest.

Levi gave your arm a small squeeze, and you closed your eyes as well as your mind began to go a mile a minute.

You’d never experienced anything close to that before. Not that sex hadn’t been enjoyable before, but…this was different. Levi had taken you to highs you didn’t think you could reach.

Was this the only time it would ever happen? The thought nearly made you feel sick. What if you went home tomorrow? What if this was the only time you’d be able to be with Levi like this?

Your stomach was twisting into knots.

This couldn’t be it. Not seeing Levi ever again, not being able to see what could happen between the two of you…it was almost painful to think about.

He had started tracing his fingertips along your skin, his breathing slow and steady, like he was about to go to sleep. You’d never felt safer.

This felt like home. This peace you felt in Eldia, the tug you felt towards Levi, it couldn’t be a coincidence. Maybe your “accidental” appearance in Eldia hadn’t been such an accident.

You let a hand glide over Levi’s stomach, feeling the taut muscles there as you whispered out your wish.

“I want to stay.”

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi smut #levi ackerman smut #levi fanfiction #levi ackerman fanfiction #levi ackerman fic #attack on titan fanfiction #aot fanfiction #snk fanfiction

[writertitan]

Perennial // Part 3

a/n: i hope everyone's new year has been so lovely! 2024 has got a lil kick to it.

pairing: levi x fem!reader

overall themes: fantasy AU, strangers to lovers, traveling through realms, explicit content

part 3 themes: mental breakdown from reader, hange introduction, some hurt/comfort

read part one here

read part two here

Hange wasted no time in stepping away and kept the door wide open for the two of you to step inside, and you immediately took in your surroundings.

Hange’s house was a disaster. Papers, shoes, empty cartons, and other items were scattered all over the floor. Clothes and quilts were draped over every possible piece of furniture, and candles were everywhere. They’d been lit so many times that pools of hardened wax surrounded the candlesticks, and the wax clung to various things, whatever the candle had been set on, really.

“This place is a mess,” you muttered, and Levi seemed to have the same sentiments.

“Your pigsty is as disgusting as I’ve ever seen it, Four Eyes,” Levi quipped, his monotone voice holding an edge to it. “Don’t you ever clean?”

“I haven’t really had the time. You know I’ve had much bigger fish to fry,” Hange answered, voice bubbly despite Levi’s cutting words.

Then, Hange turned to you, glasses gleaming as they scanned you from head to toe.

“She’s Embla,” Levi said, and Hange’s eyes glittered behind their glasses.

“That’s right,” they breathed, eyes wide like saucers. Then, under their breath, asked, “And how the heck did you get your butt over here?”

“I have no idea how I got here,” you admitted, standing a little straighter under Hange’s scrutiny. “That’s why we’re here. Levi said you might be able to help get me home.”

“Hmm, did he? I don’t know how much help I’ll be. This may be something more up Erwin’s alley,” they said, though they looked completely saddened to have to admit it.

“You’re the goddamned scientist, Hange. Are you really telling me you’re willing to pass this up to Erwin?” Levi said, grey eyes hard as ice. Clearly, there was a lot of complicated history there that was going unspoken between the two of them.

At that, Hange tilted their head, considering. Outside, you could hear the first waves of families coming back to their homes. Young children were laughing, and the adults were chatting animatedly, though you couldn’t make out specifics.

“On second thought, I call dibs! Erwin’s got a brilliant mind, but you won’t have half as much fun with him as you will with me, Embla! It’ll be nice to drop everything and focus on you,” Hange declared.

Levi seemed to loosen up a little, and then he turned to you, arms folded over his chest.

“Any more questions you want to ask, direct them to Hange. Four Eyes is the only person I can think of who asks more questions than you do, and they’ll be happy to be on the receiving end for once.”

You glared at him, not appreciating the little dig, but you did light up a little bit at the thought of someone finally being excited to offer insight into this realm and quell your curiosities.

While Levi went to make some tea, Hange guided you to their study, which was even messier than the living space of their home. Hange merely shoved some stacks of papers and books off a chair for you to sit in, and they immediately grabbed a very big, very old book off a bookshelf behind you, sitting at the desk that sat in the study and opening up to flick through some pages.

“Do you really have the power to send me home? Like, a spell or something?” you asked, hands in your lap.

At that, Hange let out a wild, loud laugh, going as far as slapping their knee.

“Oh, you kill me. I don’t have the power to do anything like that – it’s a wonder you’re even here! You really are our own little Embla. I can certainly try and figure out how to get you back, though. You’ll just have to share your story. Spare me no details, please!”

You were about to, but then you stopped, giving Hange a curious look.

“How come you both refer to me as Embla?” you asked. “I’ve pretty much gotten used to being called that by Levi, but I don’t understand why you both seem to like referring to me as that name so much. I feel like I’m missing out on some inside joke.”

Hange gave a small smile, leaning back in their seat.

“Embla isn’t exactly a name…it’s more of a very old term.”

You suddenly remembered when you’d originally asked Levi, and he’d given that strange response.

It’s what you are.

“What does it mean?” you pressed.

“Despite an entire war happening between humans and Eldians, only a handful of human men ever crossed into our realm. There’s no record of a regular human woman crossing over. That’s what you are. You’re the first woman to step into our realm, the Embla. It’s significant to us, but I promise to tell you more about it some other time, if you’re interested,” Hange explained. “For now, let’s get back to you. Tell me everything. Remember, spare me no details!”

And so you did.

You let it all out, starting with the fact that you were very sad prior to the gas station, and how much your life was changing, and how you’d felt compelled to open that door, and how terrifying it was to suddenly be in a different world and not knowing, and how Levi had helped you and was constantly teetering from being so gentle to entirely made of stone.

It was therapeutic, spilling your guts like this. And Hange was a great listener, despite Levi warning you that they loved asking questions. Not once did they interrupt, and they even seemed completely enraptured in your story.

“Wow,” Hange breathed when you finished. “Quite a journey so far indeed. But I would love for you to go back a little bit. You told me about your friend who was helping you with your move. What was her name again?”

“Oh, Pieck? What about her?” you questioned.

Hange’s eyes flashed, as if recognizing the name.

“How long have you known her?” they asked.

“For a few years now. I met her when I first moved into my apartment. She’s one of my closest friends now,” you answered. “I’m confused on why you’re so curious about her.”

You were starting to feel defensive again, even a little cagey. It was one thing to spill your guts about yourself, it was another thing entirely to speak about someone else, especially a close friend.

Before Hange could even give you an answer, you spoke up again.

“Pieck doesn’t have anything to do with this. I just mentioned her because you said not to spare any details. I don’t want to involve her in this,” you said, trying to keep your voice firm.

“On the contrary, my new friend. She has more to do with this than you think,” Hange said, their tone light despite saying such a controversial thing. “Let’s go meet up with Levi again. I think he needs to hear this, if he hasn’t already. Which I don’t think he has, otherwise he would have brought you over to me a lot sooner.”

Your heart raced in your chest as you followed Hange out of the study and into the living room, where Levi had cleaned up a little bit and was sipping on some tea on a couch you could now see. He looked up from under his lashes when the two of you appeared again, though he didn’t move.

“The Marleyans are good on their word, Levi. Sounds like they made it over to the human realm. Our friend Embla here told me that Pieck Finger is apparently a very good friend,” Hange announced, slumping down into an armchair that had also been cleared of Hange’s mess.

Levi froze then, and you could see that his grip tightened on his mug as he processed the news. His eyes flashed to you, scrutinizing you for a long moment, before he eventually moved to set his mug down on the coffee table in front of the couch, also recently cleaned. Damn, he worked fast. You hadn’t realized he was something of a neat freak.

But Levi’s cleaning abilities weren’t really at the front of your brain.

You were starting to tremble as you struggled to process the possibility of Pieck being involved with Eldians somehow. From the little you managed to gather, it didn’t sound like Levi or Hange were very fond of her.

“Do you know Pieck?” you asked feebly, struggling to keep upright.

Did she really have something to do with your sudden arrival in Eldia? It seemed so impossible. Then again, nothing was impossible anymore.

Instead of Hange answering you, it was Levi.

“She belongs to a faction of Eldians that we call Marleyans,” he said, his eyes trained on you. “About a hundred years ago, some Eldians split off into their own territory, called Marley. They’re a dangerous lot with very dangerous beliefs. I can’t believe they’re actually trying to pull their mission off.”

Mission? What mission? Why were they dangerous? What was so dangerous about your sweet friend Pieck?

You wanted to ask these questions so badly, but they simply wouldn’t come out. You were frozen in place, much like yesterday, but this time without the risk of your very soul ripping itself out of your physical body.

Pieck was Eldian?

You thought back to all your memories with her. She’d never really brought up the myths at all during the time you’d known her. You had to be fair, though; there’d never been an occasion to bring stories of Eldia up. Nowadays, in the human world, Eldia was hardly talked about, save for some podcasts and college essays.

But the most frightening possibility of all was weighing heavy on your heart. Were Hange and Levi insinuating that Pieck had befriended you for a reason? Had your years of friendship been a lie, a farce?

But why? You weren’t Eldian. Why was this happening to you?

“You look a little green,” Hange noted, and you had no response.

Your bottom lip quivered and your knees finally buckled under your weight, sending you to the floor. You curled up into a ball, leaning against a wall for support. Here it was, the mental breakdown you’d been anticipating.

You hid your face in your hands, ashamed at the fact you were acting like this in front of Hange and Levi, but you couldn’t stop even if you tried. A sob escaped and you allowed yourself to let go and let your emotions take over, the sadness unbearable.

Your surroundings disappeared and it was just you in a void, no company other than your fear and misery. It felt like there was no coming back from this. You felt so untethered and couldn’t find it within yourself to cope with all these changes.

All the loss you faced back home had nearly been too much. You’d been hanging by a thread, and nobody was there for you except for Pieck. She’d been the one holding you together.

Those problems had seemed so far away when you’d crossed into the Eldian realm, like a fog had settled in your brain. It had made you focus on the here and now, with only one goal: get back home.

Now, it was like the fog had lifted. You had to deal with your problems in the human realm, as well as your problems in this realm. Maybe they were more enmeshed than you realized.

Pieck wasn’t here to hold you together. Nobody was going to be there for you now. You were alone.

You were all alone.

“Hey.”

You jumped when you heard Levi’s voice and felt a hand on your shoulder, and you were surprised at how quick his actions made the void around you disappear.

You lifted your head and opened your eyes, taking in your surroundings between your ragged breaths.

No vast emptiness or darkness.

Right. You were in Hange’s home, in the living room.

But you were far away from home.

You looked at Levi, expecting to see steely grey eyes and a set jaw, but your heart thudded when you were met with a gentle gaze underneath thin brows that were knit together in concern.

“Just take a deep breath,” he whispered, his hand still on your shoulder. He even gave it a small rub, which admittedly did help loosen you up.

You did as he said, taking a deep but incredibly shaky breath.

“Hold it for a second,” Levi instructed, and you again did as told, holding your breath until Levi eventually instructed to exhale.

The air whooshed out of you, and some of your fears did as well.

“Can you stand?” Levi asked. “Let’s get you to the couch where it’s more comfortable.”

But you were still a trembling mess. You tried to stand but to no avail, eventually dropping back to the ground as another shameful sob left you.

“I can’t,” you choked out, not daring to look at Levi.

“Can’t what? Can’t stand? That’s fine. We’ll just sit here until you can,” Levi said.

True to his word, he got himself situated next to you on the floor, his shoulder bumping against yours.

“Not just about standing,” you eventually said, trying again to express how you felt. “I just…can’t. I can’t deal. I can’t do anything. I think my mind is finally breaking.”

Levi was quiet but stayed where he was, and it meant more to you than you could express to him in your state. You still felt like you were spiraling and there was no one to catch you, but you felt a little better knowing you weren’t totally alone, even if Levi didn’t consider you a friend.

Hange, as you’d come to find out, had gone to the kitchen to make you some supper and some tea, which you ate on the floor with Levi never leaving your side.

“I’ll be in my study,” they said softly, offering a little smile. “I’m going to look through some old texts that may point us in the right direction. I think to figure out how you crossed over to Eldia, we’ll need to figure out how the Marleyans could have crossed over to the human realm. You should rest for the night. You can help me out tomorrow.”

You merely nodded in response and sighed deeply when the door to the study opened and closed, leaving you alone with Levi in the living room. He cleaned up after you were done with supper, the only time he left your side, but he was back in no time.

If you were being honest with yourself, his presence was very calming. Despite him sometimes being a complete dick, he also just felt…safe. And that was something you hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

“Hange has a guest room. It was filthy, but I did my best to clean it up. You can use it and I’ll take the couch,” Levi said. “Think you can stand now that you’ve had some food in you?”

“I think so,” you whispered through the knot in your throat, but your wobbly legs barely worked as you tried to stand on them.

Instead of making a snide remark or getting angry with you, Levi wordlessly took it upon himself to scoop you into his arms, saving you the trouble of having to walk.

The suddenness of it and his gracefulness in lifting you up and carrying you left you breathless. You watched him with wide eyes, lips slightly parted, and you clung to him for dear life.

The window in the guest room was big, silvery moonlight pouring in and illuminating the room. It was a simple room, not much in it but a bed and a wardrobe. As Levi gently set you down on the bed, panic shot through you the moment he tried to pull away.

Your hand shot out to grip his wrist as hard as you could, your eyes pleading as they met Levi’s inquisitive grey ones.

“Please don’t go,” you pleaded with him, voice just above a whisper. “Will you stay?”

“You want me to stay?” he asked, as if not fully comprehending.

“I want you to stay,” you breathed out. To further confirm it, you shifted until there was enough room on the bed for the both of you, an invitation for Levi to lie down with you. It may have been a trick of the moonlight, but you were certain that he looked a little nervous.

“Are you afraid I’m gonna compromise your purity or something?” you joked, offering a weak smile.

Levi gave you a deadpan stare but was more confident as he moved to lie down next to you on the bed.

“Seems like you’re feeling better if you’ve got jokes,” he remarked, his eyes staring pointedly at the ceiling.

But you were looking at him and you didn’t take your eyes off him.

“Thank you for staying,” you whispered. “Thank you for helping me.”

At that, Levi turned to look at you, scanning over your face.

“I’m sorry about Pieck,” he said.

Your heart sank at the thought of her, but you shook your head lightly, pushing her to the back of your mind once more.

“I’m sorry you’re stuck with me,” you sighed, tears welling in your eyes. When you felt them sting at your eyes, you turned your head away from Levi, staring at the ceiling like he had been doing before.

“Emb. Look at me.”

You turned your head again to look at him, a little embarrassed.

“It’s okay to cry and to be upset,” Levi reminded you. “Don’t try and hide it from me. Don’t hide it from anyone.”

“I’m weak,” you lamented, but Levi gave you a stern look.

“That isn’t weakness,” he said.

“I bet you never get emotional like this,” you countered, but Levi’s face remained composed.

“Stop comparing yourself. Just let yourself be who you are,” he said.

The words struck a chord in you.

It was true, you were constantly comparing yourself, looking for yourself in other people. Nobody had ever clocked that about you so fast, and what’s more, called you out on it. The urge to cry had left you, tears drying up, and you even felt a little elated.

You couldn’t help yourself. In one quick motion, you were nestled up against Levi’s side, smiling a little at how it had made him tense up. But he didn’t pull away.

That feeling of safety overwhelmed you now. The closer you were to Levi, the safer you felt.

You shifted a bit to get comfortable and some hair fell over your eyes, but you didn’t mind. Fed and exhausted from the day’s events, you felt sleep coming quick.

“Good night, Levi,” you yawned, eyes closing.

The last thing you registered was the sensation of Levi’s fingertips brushing the hair from your eyes.

----------

You awoke the next morning to the sound of people outside, pieces of your dream still flitting through your mind.

With a big yawn and an even bigger stretch of your limbs, you felt a little more awake. Turning to the window, you could see that sunrise was imminent, but only tiny rays of sunlight had begun to peak over the horizon. Crowds of villagers were hurrying along the streets, most likely to get to their temple where they’d be resting for the day.

As you stretched again, it was then that you realized Levi wasn’t around. Strange, the way your heart sank. Part of you really believed he would stay the whole night with you.

You shook those thoughts out of your head and straightened yourself out, making a mental note to ask Hange where you could clean yourself up. As you left the guestroom, the smell of eggs and toasted bread filled the air, and your stomach twisted with hunger.

“Smells good,” you complimented to no one in particular, heading over to the kitchen to see none other than Levi in the kitchen, frying up another batch of eggs.

“Levi?” you asked incredulously.

“Good morning,” he said flatly, his eyes on the pan full of eggs. “Hange’s still asleep. How many eggs do you want?”

“Two. No, three!” you said, excited at the prospect of real food. Your snack stash was getting low, and you hadn’t really been fond of the food Levi had given you in his little mountain hideout.

Levi slid some eggs onto a plate for you, and before you could thank him, you jumped at a loud screech that filled the air. Moments later, Hange was racing into the kitchen, hair a mess and glasses half off their face, like you’d seen yesterday.

“Man, oh man, do I smell eggs?!” they exclaimed.

Levi clicked his tongue in dismay as Hange barreled into him and scooped up most of the eggs to pile onto their plate, only leaving a couple left.

“You’re so disgusting,” Levi sneered, but he didn’t retaliate any further. He took the remaining eggs and some toast, sitting across from you at the table while Hange chose to sit right next to you.

“How’d you sleep?” Hange asked you between bites of their breakfast, and you gave a polite smile, sneaking a glance at Levi.

“Very well, thanks,” you answered, tearing a piece of toast to munch on. “Hange, do you not celebrate the Three Nights?”

“I see Levi’s been telling you about our customs! Very moving,” Hange cackled, fixing their glasses before turning to look at you. “Most Eldians celebrate the Three Nights, it’s true, but us Scouts have too much on our plate right now to be able to take the time to alter our schedules like that.”

Scouts.

Levi had mentioned something about Scouts before, when you’d moved through the verse mirror together.

It can be taxing to move through the verse mirror for even the most experienced Scout.

“Scouts?” you asked, but you caught the way Levi was glaring at Hange as you asked, like they’d divulged too much information.

Why did he want to keep you in the dark so badly?

Hange looked like they wanted to say more, but one look at Levi told them not to.

“We’ll talk about it another time,” they told you dismissively, then strategically changed the subject. “I may as well have been partaking in the celebration last night, though. I hardly got any sleep while I was looking through all my textbooks to figure out how you could have gotten here. My hypothesis of the Marleyan Warriors targeting you specifically in the human realm is getting stronger and stronger the more I research.”

Marleyan Warriors.

Warriors and Scouts. There had to be some correlation.

Was Levi a Scout?

You tried to sneak a glance at him, briefly watching as he took a sip of his tea, and you looked away before he could catch you watching him.

Your thoughts made their way to Pieck, and it made your heart hurt. Was she a Warrior?

And why would she be targeting you?

You were slowly losing your appetite the more you danced around these thoughts. You shook your head slightly, brows furrowed, as if the physical shaking would remove the thoughts from your head.

You could also feel Levi’s eyes on you as you did so, but this time you chose to ignore him and forced yourself to take another bite of food.

Hange didn’t wait for anyone else to speak up and continued talking.

“After breakfast let’s go back to my study, Embla. I want as much background on your history with Pieck as you can give me. I’m almost sure that there’s going to be pieces to the puzzle sprinkled in, things that you, as a human, probably didn’t think twice about.”

The thought of hashing out your past, knowing you’d be bringing up so much of your pain, made you physically ill.

“Okay,” you whispered, eyes cast down at your eggs.

You swallowed thickly, pushing those dark thoughts back, and focused on the now uncomfortable task of finishing your plate.

Again, you felt those piercing grey eyes on you, but you didn’t meet his gaze. As you finished your breakfast and brought your plate to the kitchen sink, you turned to Hange, who was doing the same.

“Do you have a bathroom I could use? I really need to take a bath and get cleaned up,” you said, tugging at your clothes. “And maybe I could get some laundry done so I can wash these clothes?”

“Let me show you to the bathroom!” Hange said, tugging you along.

You walked past the guestroom and study, all the way down the hall until you reached the door to the bathroom, which Hange swung open.

“Go ahead and get cleaned up in there. There are already some charms in place to keep the water hot and whatnot. Set your clothes outside the door and I’ll work on those for you!” they said. “They’ll be spotless by the time you’re done.”

“Oh, Hange, no, you don’t have to wash my clothes—” you started, but Hange let out a cackle, head thrown back as they laughed.

“I forget how hard things can be for humans sometimes. You guys really don’t have a speck of magic left in your realm, huh? Clean clothes are a simple charm, too. Most cleaning can be done that way,” they explained.

From behind Hange, Levi appeared, his brow raised in annoyance.

“Exactly. Which is why it boggles the mind that you choose to live like a pig,” he said to Hange, arms folded over his chest. “Maybe take a bath after Embla is done.”

Hange rolled their eyes and waved their hand in Levi’s face, clearly so used to his moods that they never once looked perturbed at his attitude.

“Have fun in there!” they told you, slamming the door in your face.

You sighed and peeled off your clothes, catching a glance of yourself in the mirror as you did so.

“Boy, I look rough,” you complained quietly, leaning in closer to inspect yourself even more.

Your hair was a mess, almost as messy as Hange’s, and your skin was dull and clearly in need of moisturizing. A whiff under your armpit made you scrunch up your nose, and you hurriedly folded up your clothes and opened the door just enough to slide the pile outside before closing it again and locking it.

The pipes were very old school, but you figured them out soon enough and watched the water fill up the tub, steam rising from the tub and soothing you.

Eventually it was filled enough to get in, and you fiddled with the pipes again until the water stopped spouting from the spigot.

An audible moan escaped you as you lowered yourself into the bath, your body relaxing with the warm water. Hange had a nice collection of soaps and bath salts and oils, and you helped yourself to them, dropping some salts and oils in while you decided which soap you were going to use. You used a small, rolled up towel as a guard between your neck and the edge of the tub so you could get comfortable, and as soon as you got situated, you closed your eyes and let yourself relax. There were no thoughts allowed – you just wanted to let yourself feel the warmth of the bathwater, feel the way the salts moved in the bath, smell the lovely scents of the bath oils, and forego everything else.

You’d put in a few drops of lavender oil, and it calmed you down heavily, nearly lulling you back to sleep. Snippets of the dream you’d had came back, and you allowed yourself to indulge in those false memories, mostly because Levi had been the center character in your dream.

You’d fallen asleep easily last night, comforted by his warmth and firm body next to yours. The scent of him had permeated your dreams, and you’d dreamed of him in a forest of fir trees as it rained down on the two of you. Such a lush, fresh scent. In your dream, he’d looked sad, and he was standing far away from you. And you remembered calling out to him, hand outstretched, unable to touch him. It all felt so familiar.

A knock on the door made you slowly open your eyes, half expecting it to be Levi. The thought made your heart skip a beat and your body heat up despite the already warm bath. Just the image of him coming in and raking his eyes over your bare body was enough to make you squirm a little.

You smiled a little when you heard Hange’s voice on the other side of the door, ignoring the disappointment that overtook your heart.

“Your clothes are clean!” they announced, and that was that.

Charms worked fast and well, it seemed. You remembered yesterday, how much cleaner the house looked after spending just a little bit of time in Hange’s study. You’d surmised that Levi was just a quick and diligent cleaner, but you had failed to remember just how different this realm was compared to yours.

There was magic and sorcery and lush landscapes and strange but delightful people. It surprised you just how wrong the myths were. Eldians looked just like humans. They had their own customs and their own stories and their own lives. Many stories said they were shifters and could shift into Titan form at will, but those same stories made it sound like Eldians were constantly in Titan form, just waiting for the opportunity to catch a lost human and eat them for supper. The entire time you’d been in this world which, granted, hadn’t been that long, you hadn’t felt the immobilizing fear that human myths often talked about. There was nothing sinister here. How ironic. The place where you should have felt cruelty and loss and fear was not at all what it seemed, and the place you should have felt safe and at peace was the place that held all that cruelty and malice. The human world had a lot of work to do.

Maybe it was a mistake to go back.

No.

You couldn’t think like that. There was still so much to do at home. There was still so much grief to process and so many situations to resolve. There was still so much life to live there.

And one thing seemed to ring true. In your world, there was no magic. In this world, magic was rampant. Eldians had surely taken it all and never given any back.

The thought soured your mood a little bit. But hell, it kept your bath warm while you sulked.

-----

By the time you got out, got dressed, and made yourself presentable, it was late morning. Levi was nowhere to be found and Hange was in their study, perusing through books.

“Where’s Levi?” you asked, sitting in the chair you’d sat in last time.

“He took off to get something is what he said,” Hange said distractedly, their eyes never leaving the page they were reading. “He’s always so vague. Getting him to reveal details about anything is like pulling teeth.”

“I thought it was just me,” you grumbled, but felt relief at the thought Levi was like this with everyone.

Hange bookmarked their page and shut their book, which closed with a heavy thud, and then their attention was on you at once.

“I’m sorry to have to ask this of you, but we need to delve into your human life in more detail, especially around Pieck. It sounds like a sore subject, but we can take breaks,” Hange said.

You thought back to yesterday, the way you were spiraling, and the thought of risking it again today was horrific. But Hange was right, it needed to be done. If you wanted to go home, it needed to be done. You couldn’t be scared of things anymore.

“I’ll guide you through it,” Hange promised. “Let’s start with how you met. You mentioned it was a few years back? At your…what did you call it?”

“Apartment,” you clarified, your gaze on the wall, but staring at nothing. In your mind’s eye, you were looking at the drawing of the flower on the top of your door. “I was just barely moving in, and she was thinking about moving into that same building. We became fast friends and she joked that meeting me that day sealed the deal for her. She moved in with…she had – she had a roommate.”

This was where it was going to get really hard.

You swallowed thickly, feeling that knot start to form in your throat.

Would you even be able to get all of this out? It was still so fresh. Even just the thought of having to say it all out loud had your heart sputtering and your mind spinning. Tears stung at your eyes as you tried to think of the best way to say everything.

“We can take a break, Embla…,” Hange offered, their eyes full of concern, but you shook your head firmly, your hands gripping the edge of your seat.

“No,” you breathed out, “I have to admit it eventually. I have to remind myself that it’s real.”

Hange waited patiently, still as a statue as you collected yourself.

“Pieck moved in with a roommate. One of her closest friends she’s known since childhood. His name was Porco, but he went by Pock. I became friends with him, too, and then we started hanging out with one of his best friends…Reiner.”

The knot in your throat was loosening up. Suddenly, it felt like you couldn’t get it out fast enough. You were so terrified that you wouldn’t physically be able to even say the words, but now it was like you had to say it all, and tell someone, anyone, about your anguish.

“Reiner and I started dating,” you revealed. “We were all inseparable. Reiner and I were actually going to move in together. I lived alone, so he was going to move in with me, I should say. We were always all hanging out at my apartment…”

You took in a shaky breath, feeling that void start to form around you again. You tried to push it back.

“He died, Hange. Reiner died.”

You didn’t know if you’d ever actually said it out loud.

Reiner was dead.

Tears were coming in full force now. Squeezing your eyes shut, you struggled to piece together the rest of the story for her.

“I lost everything when he died. I just couldn’t function anymore. I couldn’t go to work anymore, and I had to move out of that apartment because it held too much of him in there. I had to leave. I just moved out of that place, right before I got here. I was going to start fresh, somewhere new. It’s been nearly eight months and I just feel…lost,” you finished, hanging your head.

It was quiet for a few minutes. As much as it had hurt to reveal such a painful recent history, it also felt strangely good.

Finally, you opened your eyes to meet Hange’s gaze. They held a very gentle look in their eyes and gave you a small smile when you looked at them, but there was something beyond that gentleness.

Hange knew you had noticed it and spoke up before you could ask any questions.

“Emb…I know all of them. Pieck, Pock, Reiner…they’re all Marleyans,” they revealed. “They’ve all been missing for over three years now.”

At first, it was hard to process what Hange was saying. It didn’t sound real.

“All of them?” you choked out, your entire body slowly filling with dread.

“Yes. All of them. Even Reiner,” Hange whispered, though it sounded as though they really didn’t want to say it. “And we believe they all hold the Power of the Titan.”

There it was again, that strange phrase. Power of the Titan. Try as you might, you couldn’t recall ever hearing that in your human myths.

But that wasn’t what was concerning you right now.

All you could think about was Reiner.

Reiner had been Eldian. Marleyan. He wasn’t human. He had lied to you, and Pieck and Pock had lied, too. They were liars and they had picked you for whatever reason. They were all a part of something that you hadn’t been privy to. It all felt like some big joke suddenly.

“Why?” you asked, mostly to yourself, but Hange hummed and shook their head.

“I hate to say it, I really do, because I know they’re your friends. But they sought you out for a reason. And we have to get to the bottom of it,” they said.

You knew Hange was right. Logically, it was a solid point of reasoning. Still, those feelings of denial dredged up in you, and you almost wanted to get angry.

Hange was wrong. They had to be wrong. Your friends wouldn’t betray you like this.

You thought back to all your memories together. They had all been there for you in ways nobody else ever had been.

You thought back to Pieck making you spill your wine on your carpet when she hugged you too hard.

And Pock, drawing that stupid flower on your doorframe because he didn’t know how to draw mistletoe and he was hellbent on making you and Reiner finally kiss each other, before you got together.

And Reiner.

Your bottom lip trembled.

Reiner, buying your groceries for you whenever you were too tired.

Reiner, orchestrating your first ever surprise birthday party. Nobody had ever done that for you before.

Reiner, the man who died two weeks before moving in with you.

Reiner, the man who had been lying to you.

“I think I need a break,” you admitted, wiping furiously at your eyes.

“I’ll go make you some smokeroot tea,” Hange offered, but you were out of the study before they could even finish their sentence.

You stalked back to the guestroom, throwing the door open and immediately sinking into the bed. Your entire body was trembling and you feared you were on the verge of another breakdown.

“I’m so weak,” you mumbled to yourself, crossing your arms over your torso, as if hugging yourself.

You hated being like this. It often seemed like you felt all these emotions and there was nowhere to put them. You just had to feel them and juggle them all at once.

You didn’t even notice when the door opened. Only when you heard the footsteps did you tense up, thinking it was Hange with some tea.

But when someone sat at the edge of the bed, you finally lifted your head to take a peek, surprised to see Levi there.

“Hange told me,” was all he said, and you let your tears flow again.

“I don’t want it to be true,” you confessed, peering at Levi through your tear-soaked lashes.

He said nothing, but he kept his gaze on you, a mask of calm over his face.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said, and you just shrugged, sitting up a bit.

You remembered how safe you’d felt with him last night, the closer you were to him.

And again, without thinking it through, you pressed yourself into his side, your arms wrapping around him.

You thought it would be strange, allowing yourself to be close to another man after Reiner’s death, even in a non-romantic sense, but that hadn’t really been the case with Levi. He had helped you so much, and you had never felt like you were in danger with him around. Plus, you were just so drawn to him. You had been since the moment you’d met him. You weren’t expecting Levi to offer any sort of comfort, other than letting you cry on him, but you were pleasantly surprised to feel his arm wrap around your shoulders, keeping you close to him.

The tears dried up a little quicker after that, but even after, you stayed like that with Levi. You listened to the steady beat of his heart, basked in his surprising warmth, and let yourself bask in the smell of him, that soothing scent of rainy pines and tea leaves.

Part of you felt it was wrong to be like this with Levi, for many reasons. He wasn’t even human, for starters, he was Eldian. You were still distraught over the death of the man you’d loved. The two of you hardly knew each other. So why did it feel so natural?

But it couldn’t be romantic feelings. That would be insanity.

Yet, the thought of it not being romantic also made you sad.

“I’m a mess,” you muttered under your breath, not really thinking Levi could hear you.

“You’re not,” he murmured back.

In a bout of courage, you reached up to grab his hand that dangled off your shoulder. He didn’t pull away.

------------

Hange hadn’t needed any more information from you after you’d spilled your guts about what had been happening to you back in the human world.

After Levi had comforted you, the two of you had left the guestroom to have some tea and let Hange do some digging.

“Where did you go off to today?” you asked Levi, outstretched on Hange’s sofa.

“Had to get something,” was his reply, which made you a little upset. Always so cagey.

“Get what?”

Levi shot you an annoyed look over his mug, and you could tell he was debating whether or not to even answer you.

“Will you ever stop asking questions?” he grumbled.

“Will you ever start answering them?” you shot back.

His mood swings were starting to give you whiplash. He was so caring and helpful, but also a complete dick sometimes.

Levi gave you a hard stare and you met it as best as you can, lifting your chin a little, and he finally grunted and put his mug down.

“I went to grab some things to work a new charm,” he revealed. “And before you ask, I’m not going to tell you what the charm is. Hange’s got their suspicions about something, and so I went and grabbed things I knew we would need.”

You pouted a little but made do with his half-answer, taking another sip of your tea.

“Is it going to take me home?” you asked. “Today?”

Levi couldn’t answer, however. Hange was bounding into the living room before you could really process their quickness, interrupting you and Levi, and you could see a glint in their eyes.

“I think I’m finally getting somewhere!” they exclaimed, hands in the air.

“Care to share?” Levi asked, an eyebrow raised.

Hange took their sweet time, though, choosing to pour themselves a mug of tea and plop down on a chair before answering.

“I believe they’re using a very old conjuring technique,” they said, the steam of their tea fogging up their glasses. “This won’t make much sense to you, Emb, but Levi, follow along. The Marleyans are practicing sigillary.”

Si-what-ary?

You honed in on Levi’s reaction, the way he tensed up, a storm cloud rolling over his eyes.

You were honestly getting frustrated. Here you were, divulging all sorts of information, and you weren’t getting any back. It was very kind of Hange and Levi to be helping you, a strange human in their realm, but you were getting a little fed up with being so in the dark.

“Damn it,” Levi sighed. “I guess we should have guessed that.”

“Can someone please fill me in?” you cut in, nearly slamming your mug down on the coffee table. “I don’t know if you guys are trying to protect me from something or what, but I need to know what this is all about. What exactly did I accidentally get involved in?”

Levi and Hange exchanged glances, but you sighed impatiently, looking between the two of them.

“Please tell me,” you begged, sitting up straight. “I need to know what’s going on.”

“Alright,” Hange conceded. “I guess that’s fair. You’ll need to know as much as you can, just in case.”

You nodded once, indicating that you were ready, all while ignoring the glare Levi shot Hange's way.

“We mentioned that some Eldians created their own sect, the Marleyans. Well, Marley was founded upon a very specific belief, that belief being that Ymir, and especially her daughters, should not have sealed the gates to the human world. This is because they believe that we not only left behind some magic in the human realm, but also that…” Hange took a breath before continuing. “Marleyans believe that Eldians can turn into mortals, and mortals can turn into Eldians. It’s very powerful magic and Eldians believe it is impossible. Really, the only human to have ever become Eldian is Ymir, and that was purely an accident. The reason all of this is important background is because that was also around the last time sigillary was practiced.”

You blinked a few times, trying to absorb what Hange had just said.

Ymir becoming an Eldian, the first Titan, was an accident?

“W-what’s sigillary?” you stammered out. It was better to push through and get as much insight as possible before beginning your real questions.

“Sigillary is what humans used to harness their magic. It’s what turned Ymir into the first Titan and Eldian,” Hange said.

Levi’s eyes were on you, and it felt like they were boring a hole into you.

“Levi mentioned that humans have been…retelling our history,” Hange spoke up after a minute, cocking their head to the side. “I would love to know just how skewed it’s gotten, but that will be for another time. Right now, we need to focus on just how the hell the Warriors were able to find the ancient sigils and master them. I’m really doubting that they have that type of power, even with all of them combined.”

“You forget how many of them stole the Power of the Titan,” Levi reminded them, and you furrowed your brows.

“What do you mean the Marleyans stole the Power of the Titan?” you asked. “And what is the Power of the Titan? You two have said it before, but I don’t understand. I thought that all Eldians were Titans.”

At that, Hange burst into laughter, grabbing their sides as they threw their head back and cackled.

“Sounds like our history is really skewed for the humans!” they snickered. “Oh, Emb. Thanks. I needed that.”

To your surprise, Levi spoke up.

“All Eldians have the…necessary genetics, I suppose, to turn into Titans,” he said. “However, not all Eldians have the Power of the Titan.

“The Power is passed down. Do you remember what I said about the Three Nights, how we celebrate Ymir’s daughters? That’s because they all inherited Ymir’s Titan power, and they inherited it in gruesome ways. You can only inherit Titan abilities in certain ways, and they’re not pretty. In total, there are nine Eldians with inherited Titans. The only way to inherit those powers is for the one possessing the Titan to die and pass it on to their successor. When the Marleyans rebelled, they took six Eldians with the Power of the Titan and they killed them and took the Power for themselves.”

“How do those powers get inherited?” you asked, though you dreaded the answer. From the dark looks in Hange and Levi’s eyes, you knew you would likely regret asking.

“That’s where your stories ring a little true,” Levi said solemnly. “Ymir’s daughters had to eat her. Their mother died right before the height of the war began between humans and Eldians, and Ymir was the only one with the Power of the Titan. They knew that the true advantage would be becoming Titans themselves. The eldest, Maria, went first. She spent the first night with her dead mother. On the second night, it was Rose who took over. Then, on the final night, it was Sina, the youngest, who finished Ymir off.”

You felt sick to your stomach.

“But why?” you choked out, afraid you might gag. “How did they know that eating their own mother was going to let them inherit the Power of the Titan?”

“Because of sigillary,” Levi answered plainly. The story didn’t faze him at all. It was just part of his history. “When Ymir was made into a Titan, it was done by humans who performed a type of magic that would etch sigils into her bones and her blood. By consuming her body, her daughters were able to have those sigils in their bodies. Once you have them in you, you can’t reverse the process. It’s a kind of magic that is so intense, it has spanned millennia.”

“And now people have to eat each other to get those powers?” you breathed out, horrified.

“Thankfully that barbaric practice started and ended with the daughters of Ymir,” Levi said. “We’ll never forget their sacrifice, of course, but we’re not going to grind up bones and drink blood and chew on ligaments.”

Now you were really feeling queasy. Why did he have to be so blunt about it?

“You look green, Embla,” Hange commented. “Not a fan of cannibalism?”

“Is anyone?” you countered, but there was no bite in your tone. You were just trying to keep yourself from throwing up.

You shut your eyes to stop the room from spinning, referencing what Levi and Hange were telling you to compare with what you thought you knew.

“I thought Ymir made a deal with the devil,” you squeaked. “That’s what we’ve always been told. And we were told there were originally 10 Titans.”

“Humans are all imbeciles,” Levi snapped.

“Levi,” Hange chided.

You took deep breaths, the nausea slowly fading, and when you felt better, you opened your eyes again.

The room wasn’t spinning anymore, and both Levi and Hange had their eyes on you. It was then that you saw how Eldian they were. So used to their history, so much older than you. Though they looked young, appearing only a little older than you, you remembered that Levi was at least a couple hundred years old. And now, you could almost see it. You saw it behind his eyes, how he’d seen so much and had been through so much. Now, even with lively Hange, you could see the years in their eyes as well. You wondered briefly if they’d been there when this story had begun.

It was strange, knowing that the myths you’d been told were really just myths, not founded on much truth at all, other than the fact that the Eldian realm existed and some of the characters were right. But Hange was correct in that you couldn’t dwell on that too much right now. It would have to wait.

“I’m guessing sigillary isn’t just used to turn people into Titans. What have you been able to figure out?” you asked.

“For one thing, I’m not sure Eldians even have the resources to master it. Well, I wasn’t sure, until we had our little chat. Sigillary was often used to transform things, or create things, like with Ymir. There is much speculation even in Eldia how the portals between the human realm and the Eldian realm came to be. Maybe it was due to sigils? And many of the texts referencing sigillary suggest that it can only be done in the human realm. Though it’s our realm that has all the magic, the sigillary performed on Ymir happened in the human realm and has lasted for two thousand years here in our world. I’m guessing the fact that these sigils exist within Eldians with inherited Titans, in the Eldian realm, give those sigils even more longevity than, say, the human realm.”

That made some sense. You nodded to show that you were following along.

“Some portals to the human realm still exist, though, right?” you asked, and Hange nodded.

“Yes. In Eldia, there’s really only one portal and it’s heavily guarded and warded. Eldians don’t really visit humans anymore and it’s extremely difficult to get approval to cross into your realm anyway. However, I have a hunch that Marleyans founded Marley where they did because there was a portal there, too,” they said.

There was so much history to wrap your brain around.

“When was Marley founded?” you asked.

“It was over two hundred years ago now,” Hange answered. “They had a rebellion and took six of our Titans, then retreated to some unused land. Marley is heavily guarded and warded as well, it may as well be a separate realm entirely. Not even the Scouts can push through. There’s been a lot of unrest ever since.”

The Scouts.

“Are you a Scout, Hange?” you asked, eyes lighting up as you turned to Levi. “Are you, Levi?”

“We are! The Scout Regiment is one of our military factions. I’m a section commander,” Hange said proudly.

Levi kept quiet, but your curiosity outweighed your slight intimidation.

“Are you a commander, Levi?” you pressed, but he glowered at you.

It would make sense. He held authority, and you felt that he could take control of any situation. Plus, he was kind of scary sometimes.

“He’s a captain,” Hange answered for him.

“Captain Levi,” you said with a grin. You expected him to double down on his glaring but, to your delight, he merely rolled his eyes and looked away.

“He must like you,” Hange continued, a sly grin on their face. “When people get on his nerves, he whacks ‘em.”

As if to show the sincerity of their words, you watched as Levi, quick as a cat, swatted Hange over the head and elicited a yelp from them. You pursed your lips together to hide your laugh, hoping to escape Hange’s fate.

But, as Levi left the room, grumbling to himself, Hange hanging off their armchair and whining, you let out a little snicker.

***

The rest of the day passed you by, with Levi working on something with whatever he’d gotten today, and Hange back in their study.

You were largely left to your own devices, unless Hange had a question for you, but you filled the day looking at some history books that Hange let you borrow.

What you uncovered was gruesome and fascinating.

There had definitely been a time when magic was rampant in the human realm, but it was hard to harness, and most humans didn’t have what it took to handle and control it. However, eventually certain humans were able to learn how to use magic and passed that knowledge down to their descendants. They found that magic had its own language, and thus sigillary was born. Entire lineages were born to be dedicated to witchcraft, mostly using magic to become healers or alchemists, but their all-encompassing term was “witches”.

Eventually, the humans who didn’t have these capabilities grew wary of those who did, and some even sought that power for themselves. One in particular, a King Fritz, eagerly and brutally captured witches, and tried to take their magic from them. Ymir was among one of those witches.

King Fritz wasn’t a name you were familiar with, so it was safe to say that he had been lost to time or that humans had purposely rewritten the stories to exclude the evildoings of a particular human being. Even in Eldian texts, there wasn’t a lot of background on him. There wasn’t much history available on Ymir’s early life anymore either, but it was heavily assumed that she was a “runt” in her family, the weakest of her lineage. Her own family passed her up to King Fritz when he attacked her village. She had been abandoned – betrayed – by everyone she’d ever loved.

That part struck you hard, and you felt a heaviness in your heart as you learned about Ymir’s cruel fate. You had to stop reading for a while, choosing instead to sit with your sympathy. It was strange, feeling bad for a character that had been humanity’s antagonist for so long. But now, knowing her story, about to uncover the whole truth, you had never related to a person more.

Images of Pieck, Pock, and Reiner filled your head, and you clenched your jaw as your heart clenched in your chest. Had they really betrayed you like this? What was it about you that made them target you? That was the biggest mystery of all. You weren’t anything special. You were just some anxiety-ridden girl who spooked too easy and couldn’t even kill a spider on her own.

There was something you were missing, some piece of the puzzle you hadn’t found yet. It felt like it was at the tip of your tongue, right in your peripheral vision, but it was escaping you, always just out of reach. If you could just get to the bottom of the reason they’d found you and latched onto you, part of you just knew that you could get the whole picture.

***

Before the sun started to set, you decided to go for a walk. It wasn’t fun being cooped up in a house all day, and you were starting to get antsy. The idea of taking a little stroll and exploring didn’t seem so scary, not when you knew the village would still be empty and that the likelihood of running into a Titan was apparently slimmer than you had originally been made to believe.

Not wanting to disturb Hange and Levi, you left the house as quietly as you could, walking down the street and making mental notes so you wouldn’t get lost. You also needed to remember to start heading back before nightfall, as to not attract unwanted attention. That seemed like a far off worry, though.

Ragako was small but peaceful and well-structured; much of the architecture reminded you of Germanic influences. The streets were desolate and it was exceedingly quiet, but it wasn’t eerie or lonely at all. Maybe there was some sort of charm over the village, but it felt full of love.

You did a lot of window shopping, peering into bakery shops and clothing boutiques, enthralled by what you saw. The style of clothing was old-fashioned, so different from what you were used to. You looked down at your outfit, noting how plain and modern it was, just jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, and you frowned a little bit. Maybe this was why Eldians were able to clock you as a human right away. Maybe Hange and Levi could score you some new clothes, if it came down to it and you’d be here for a while.

You stopped for a moment, mulling over the thought. What if you were here for a while? What if you couldn’t make it back ever? Surprisingly, the idea wasn’t as anxiety-inducing as you would have thought it’d be. It still wasn’t lost on you that you hadn’t gone fully insane upon learning where you were; really, the only time you’d lost your mind was having to think about your painful past, and the fears associated with that. Traveling across realms was apparently easier than dealing with your normal human experiences. And, before all this, you’d been on the cusp of starting fresh back home anyway. Perhaps this was the universe’s funny way of granting you that wish.

Definitely something to think about. But you’d have shove those thoughts back for later and let yourself just be right now.

Looking up to the sky, you admired the deep blue of it, only some wisps of clouds blotting it, then caught how low the sun was. It was going to dip into the horizon soon, which meant you needed to start heading back.

As you turned around, however, you jumped a little when you realized you weren’t alone. Levi was making his way towards you, his eyes hard as steel and his stride purposeful.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he called out to you.

“I just wanted to get out of the house and stretch my legs,” you said, shrinking back. Was it really so bad to do that?

“You should have at least let me know before you snuck out, you little shit. You have Hange freaked out thinking you somehow transported back to your own world. Don’t you ever use your brain?” Levi scolded.

“Nobody’s even in town! I thought it’d be the safest time to go for a walk,” you argued, walking towards him. As the two of you met in the middle, Levi’s hand shot out at you to grab your elbow. He was going to actually drag you back to Hange’s place.

You struggled in his grip, but he was exceptionally strong, and you eventually relented and let him guide you back, both of you clearly angry.

As soon as you crossed the threshold into Hange’s house, you tore away from him and took a breath as Hange rushed to you, eyes wild.

“Emb! I was so scared we’d lost you! Not to be selfish, but I didn’t want you going home without solving this crazy mystery of ours!” they exclaimed.

As angry at Levi as you were, you did feel bad for making Hange worry.

“Sorry, Hange. I just wanted to go outside for a while,” you apologized, then turned to glare at Levi over your shoulder. “I didn’t realize I would be reprimanded for it.”

“Insolent brat,” Levi grunted, his grey eyes hard as metal.

You clenched your hands into fists and turned back to Hange, giving them a nod.

“Excuse me, Hange,” you said hurredly, skirting past them to head to the guestroom.

You slammed the door shut behind you, heart pounding. Angry tears welled up in your eyes as you sat by the window, the world outside blurry as you cried.

Stupid Levi. He didn’t need to be so mean like that and make you feel like some bratty kid. You wiped your eyes, clearing your vision so you could take a look outside and calm yourself.

The sun was setting quickly, that golden glow of sunset drenching the village. The sky that had once been a deep blue was now bleeding with rich hues of orange, scarlet, and rose. It was beautiful, but you could hardly admire it.

Again, you thought of Ymir and related strongly to her, going so far as to equate your situation with being trapped and imprisoned like she had been. It wasn’t nearly the same, you knew that deep down, but you had little to no control over your situation, just like Ymir. You were powerless right now. At least Levi was no King Fritz.

To distract yourself and make yourself calm down, you thought back to the other things you’d learned, especially about King Fritz and Ymir’s transformation.

King Fritz had learned a lot about sigillary from his brutal conquest for magic and believed that he could etch some very powerful sigils into Ymir’s deepest parts, her blood and her bones, and then consume those parts of her. He hadn’t killed every witch that had crossed his path – he had actually enslaved some of them in order to help him understand and practice sigils and ordered them to be the ones to cast this powerful spell on Ymir. It surprised you and disgusted you to think of how far he would go for power, but humans were still like that to this day. The lengths a person would go for even the tiniest possibility of gaining power made you sick.

But you were snapped out of your thoughts when the door to the guestroom opened. You kept your face neutral, expecting to see Hange, but you did a double take when you saw who it really was.

Levi.

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman fanfiction #levi ackerman fic #levi fanfiction #attack on titan fanfiction #aot fanfiction #snk fanfiction

[writertitan]

a head canon I wanna share is that Levi would relent to making a TikTok account for you to share memes but he wouldn’t look at the shit you would send bc he would curate his fyp to be the rug cleaning videos and city tour videos

#he wouldn’t know how to send them to you but you would constantly catch him watching those TikToks #even Levi cannot escape the tok #levi hc #levi headcanons

[writertitan]

Perennial // Part 2

a/n: hello! i'm a little late, but here's to a belated bday for levi! and happy holidays to those who celebrate!

pairing: levi x fem!reader

overall themes: fantasy AU, strangers to lovers, traveling through realms, explicit content

part 2 themes: worldbuilding, reader annoying levi, some softness

read part one here

You weren’t in the temple anymore. You turned and watched as Levi seemed to come out of thin air, a little out of breath, but the both of you remained intact, still joined at your hands. With a racing heart, you let go. Whether the pounding of your heart was due to what just happened or this incidental moment of physical touch, you didn't want to know.

“What’s wrong with you?” you asked, raising your brows. “Why are you out of breath?”

Levi frowned at you, wiping the last bit of sweat off his brow. He seemed almost surprised at your question, but his face eventually cemented back into nonchalance.

“What did I say about asking questions?” he mumbled, walking in front of you to lead the way.

You took in your surroundings as you walked behind Levi, feeling that wonderful sense of peace embrace you. The mirror had taken you to some kind of valley. Mountains that were so high they reached the sky flanked you at both sides, mostly rocky with bits of greenery here and there. The valley you walked on was what was lusciously green, a river cutting through the moss and soft grass. You noticed you were following the direction the river’s water was running, but looking behind and in front of you, there was nothing but this view for miles and miles.

You wanted to ask where you were going and where you had come to, but you knew better by now. Best to just let Levi lead the way.

Part of you also knew that you should still be absolutely losing your mind right now. There was still no logical explanation as to what was happening to you, but it was like this valley stifled those feelings. The air was still and calm and smelled a little sweet, and the night sky was still sprinkled with an astounding number of stars and meteors shooting across the sky. The moon was still bright and big above you, its craters clearly visible. You admired it for a moment until you slowed your steps, confused. Earlier, when you’d liked behind you to examine the length of the river and valley, you saw the moon there, peaking over a mountain. Had it orbited to be in front of you so soon? You whirled around just to make sure, eyes like saucers when you saw…another moon. Just as bright, maybe a little smaller.

“What the fuck?” you choked out, tripping over your own two feet.

“What is it?” Levi asked. You turned to face him, your heart racing, and with shaky hands, you pointed each hand towards each moon.

Levi seemed to immediately understand, and his jaw set a little, his smoky eyes on you in an instant, looking wary. He took a very slow, very gentle step towards you, as if you were a scared animal that might run away with any sudden movements.

“We’re almost there, Embla,” he murmured, deliberately calm. “Just a few more minutes until I can know for sure you’re really safe, and then—”

“We’re almost where?!” you shrieked, your entire body trembling. That calming feeling was ebbing, making way for your undiluted fear. “I’m freaking out, Levi! You’re asking me to trust you when I don’t even know you! You won’t even call me by my actual name. And I don’t know where I am, but I’m clearly not…I’m not where I should be. I’m in a place I’m not supposed to be in.”

“That’s right,” Levi said, his response immediate. “You came from somewhere else. I know it’s scary, but you need to take a deep breath and calm down. There’s a reason I’m making you wait for answers and taking you to a specific place. Please, Embla. I need you to trust me just a little bit longer. I’m going to help you.”

You were hyperventilating and frozen in place. And, even though you were outside, where everything looked and felt endless, you had never felt so stifled and claustrophobic in your life. In a weird way, it felt like you were trapped in your body, which didn’t make sense.

“I can’t move,” you gasped out, and Levi’s gaze softened.

He closed the distance between the two of you and took hold of your hand, the warmth of his palm blazing through you. As if on cue, your heart raced within your chest again, like it had before after going through the mirror.

“I told you not to stay still for too long,” he whispered. “Take a deep breath.”

You did as you were told, albeit the breath was pretty shaky, and then closed your eyes as the air whooshed from your lungs. Levi’s hand squeezed yours and you let yourself focus entirely on that, opening your eyes when you felt him manipulating your hand until your palm was facing the sky and your fingers were spread wide. His pointer finger traced some invisible symbol on your palm, a few times over, until your heart began to slow and your breathing steadied, and your limbs loosened up.

You took a step toward him, bumping into him with how close you were, and then you were acting without thinking. You threw your arms around him and hugged him tight, needing the comfort more than anything. He was stiff and you ended the hug before he could even really react, but you felt much better.

“Let’s go,” he muttered awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. You bit back a smile when you noticed his ears were pink. His embarrassment was enough of a delightful distraction to keep your blood pressure down.

Levi was right about not needing to walk that much longer. Within a couple of minutes, you were standing in front of the rocky wall of a mountain, bare of anything other than more rock. However, Levi took a step forward and placed both of his hands on the mountain, whispering something you couldn’t make out, until a low rumble filled the air. You watched in shock as the mountain wall shifted, a crack in it expanding until you realized it was opening up for you. It was dark inside, so dark that you couldn’t see how big the inside was, but you followed behind Levi anyway.

A few steps in and you heard that rumble again. Turning your head, you watched in horror as the mountain’s opening closed behind you.

“Levi!” you half-whispered, half-shouted, tugging at the arm you were holding onto for dear life.

“It’s supposed to do that,” he replied casually.

When the mountain fully closed you in and you were swallowed by the darkness, that’s when light brimmed out.

You blinked in surprise as what could have easily been little stars of light came to life, came out of nowhere, and guided you down the remainder of the rocky hallway that you now realized was rather short, and led to a wooden door that was perfectly framed into the inside of this curious mountain.

Levi opened it with ease and you followed him into the room, the lights following you, and you gasped a little as more light bloomed in the large room you entered.

Candles lit themselves atop an iron chandelier above you, and even more ignited along the walls. Shelves and alcoves had been carved into the rock itself, filled with trinkets, jars, books, and loose pieces of paper. Despite how many things there were, everything seemed to have its own little place, and it didn’t feel cluttered. A few velvet chairs decorated the place, the biggest one placed at a wooden desk that was shoved against the wall.

“This is weird,” you muttered, though you were very much charmed by it. “Where are we?”

Levi was quiet for a moment, and then motioned for you to sit in a chair. You took an emerald green velvet chair, taking off your backpack to place on your lap, while Levi took the deep blue one across from yours.

“This is a safe place for you. One of my many hiding spots,” he explained. “It’s guarded, I promise. No one gets near this place unless I allow it.”

“Okay…,” you murmured, looking around before letting your gaze settle back on Levi. “I still have, like, a million questions, Levi. What happened to me? Do you know? You seem like you know.”

Levi frowned a bit at that, then nodded his head once a little, though he seemed hesitant to.

“I don’t know how, exactly, you managed to get here. But you’re in Eldia.”

The words struck you like bricks, a shock to the system.

At first, you wanted to laugh. You were in total disbelief at what he’d just told you.

“Eldia?” you repeated. It felt like you had blinked a thousand times in one second while trying to process what he was saying to you. “Eldia’s not real.”

Levi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before saying, “It would be great if you could skip past the denial stage. It would save both of us so much grief.”

Eldia.

Eldia.

There was no way he was being serious.

Eldia was a story. A myth. Another realm where magic beings walked the earth and held the power of Titans. A realm full of beings that were tied to the devil and had tried to destroy humans. It wasn’t real.

“I know that humans don’t believe anymore. We prefer it that way and even had part in making it that way. As far as I know, we cut off every…point of entry, I guess is the right way to put it. You technically shouldn’t even have access to us,” Levi said. “You can imagine the shock of knowing a human being made it over to our side.”

It felt like all the blood rushed out of your face. Your backpack suddenly felt very heavy in your lap.

“It’s not real,” you whispered, mostly to yourself.

But how else could you explain everything? You’d had this sinking feeling the entire time, that you weren’t in the right place. That you weren’t in your true reality. And mirror and the sky and the moons and everything…it all pointed to Levi telling the truth.

“I’m gonna throw up,” you groaned, tilting your head back until it collided with the plush velvet of your chair.

“Please don’t,” Levi said with a grimace. But you could see that he looked nervous, which was odd. You were the one who should have every right to be nervous, and that was at the very least. If you were in Eldia…you were most definitely in danger.

“I don’t understand. You don’t look like a Titan. Shouldn’t you be, like, a hundred feet tall?” you asked. Levi was short and looked…normal. He looked human.

Levi didn’t answer, though. He frowned, clearly bothered by what you were saying, and you decided to focus your attention back on fighting the urge to be sick.

You really did feel lightheaded and dizzy, but maybe that had something to do with the fact you hadn’t eaten in a while and maybe you were dehydrated. On top of the fact that you’d accidentally teleported into another realm, of course.

With a trembling hand, you unzipped your backpack and pulled out a stolen treat, ripping open the package to shove a handful of chips into your mouth.

“We’ll have to get you something to eat from here, too,” Levi said, watching you crunch on your chips. “From what I vaguely remember, your body will need to acclimate to this realm. That’s why I’ve been telling you not to be still for too long.”

“Will something bad happen to me if I don’t acclimate?” you asked through a mouthful of chips. Levi didn’t seem too pleased at your lack of manners but didn’t comment on it.

“I should have explained better. It’s not quite your body, but your soul that’s attached to your body. It just…freaks out, as you put it. Like earlier, when you felt you couldn’t move, that was likely your spirit trying to…,” Levi sighed again, giving you a look. “Don’t panic at what I’m about to say, but that was probably your spirit trying to leave your body. It needs to adjust to being in this realm.”

You shuddered at the thought of earlier, and how it had felt like you had no control over your own body, and how it felt you were claustrophobic, like you were confined despite being in open space. It had probably been your soul, feeling trapped in a body that was trapped in a strange place. You’d never given much thought to souls or anything like that, but you maybe believed in the concept a little, and the idea of yours trying to abandon your physical body was terrifying. Still, it was interesting to think of how it would react to your situation. It was a little funny to think that souls weren't very into the idea of realm-hopping.

Levi got up from his chair and moved over to the alcove, rummaging around until he came back with a mug filled with dark liquid. The way it swirled in the mug hardly made it look like liquid, though; it looked like air. It also reminded you of Levi’s eyes.

“This is smokeroot tea. I put little charms in there as well for your protection. It should be enough to make the soul adapt,” he said. You took the mug from him and peered inside, taking a whiff of the tea. It smelled good, definitely kind of smokey, but a little earthy, too.

“An Eldian helping a human,” you murmured, but held the mug solidly in your hands. You had to keep trusting Levi, even if this was all true and he was an Eldian. He hadn’t done anything to harm you yet, and had done nothing but help, so you took a sip of the tea. You didn’t know what to expect, yet it still surprised you to enjoy the taste. It was nice to have something to wash the chips down with.

“Thanks,” you whispered to Levi, gazing at him through your lashes.

He got a little stiff and awkward then, taking an involuntary step back.

“It’s nothing,” he muttered, his gaze turning back to the alcove. “I also have some dried rabbit meat. Let me give you some of that.”

That made you a little queasy.

“I’ve never…I’ve never had rabbit before,” you said, trying to be polite. “Will the tea be enough to keep my soul tethered to my body or whatever?”

“You should eat it just to be safe,” Levi said, handing you what looked like a strip of beef jerky. You took it to examine it and swallowed thickly, mentally preparing yourself for what was probably going to be an unpleasant taste, but you ate it so fast and downed it with tea and chips that you hardly noticed the taste at all.

It was then that you held the bag of chips up to Levi, giving him a hesitant smile.

“Want to try these? Do you have potato chips here? These are just sea salt ones, but they’re classic,” you rambled.

“No, but thank you. I’m just going to work at my desk for a bit while I give you some time to…process,” Levi said. Oh, well. More for you.

You finished off the tea with your chips, feeling much better by the time both were fully in your stomach. Neither of you really said a word to each other, though Levi also made himself some tea, which helped ease some anxieties you felt guilty about having. Though the quiet was nice and helped lull you into a sense of safety while your mind whirled with all you’d been through, you still had so many questions.

“How did we get here?” you asked quietly, careful not to disturb the peace too much. “I don’t understand. I know you’re not sure how I got here, but how did we move through that mirror thing?”

Levi, who had been sitting at his desk, looked at you from over his shoulder wearing that same guarded look.

“That was what we call a verse mirror. Do you still have telephones in your realm? You can think of it like a phone call, where you are able to call another place, but this is a physical manifestation of that. The thing is, calling through a verse is a little more complicated. It takes a lot of skill. You have to make sure you’re completely connected to the mirror and where you’re going. Otherwise, you could risk ending up somewhere else.”

You nodded, contemplating this new information. You remembered then, how transporting through the mirror had felt so much like what you’d felt before crossing into Eldia.

“What I felt during those moments as we passed through it…that’s what it felt like right before I got here,” you confided, voice barely above a whisper. You were staring at the empty mug in your hands, peering deep inside as if there was something helpful in there. “I was at a gas station though. There wasn’t a verse mirror anywhere in sight, I swear it.” Levi was silent as he took in what you said.

“There isn’t much magic left in your world, that’s true. Any magic there was brought over by us, and we haven’t crossed into your territory in a very, very long time,” he murmured. Then, his gaze was very much fixed on you, smoky eyes staring right into you. “One thing has been puzzling me about that trip through the verse mirror, now that you mention it. You had no problems going through it.”

“So what?” you asked, frowning. “Was I supposed to be all out of breath like you were?”

“Honestly, yes, at the very least you should have been feeling winded and out of sorts, especially with your very spirit feeling so disoriented. I was expecting you to faint, or worse,” he explained. “It can be taxing even on the most experienced Scout, but it didn’t seem to affect you at all.”

“Scout?” you repeated.

Levi stiffened, then gave you one of his looks that told you he was getting irritated.

“I could bore you with several hours’ worth of Eldian politics, but I’m thinking that would be a waste of both our times,” he quipped. You knew his sass was just to change the topic, and part of you wanted to press the subject just to get on his nerves a little bit, but you decided to let it go.

You sighed deeply and looked around, your mind whirling once again. This was certainly a different place, a different realm, somewhere that seemed out of time, but it also didn’t feel entirely too strange to you, which was the weird part. You were expecting the mental breakdown to come at any minute now, and yet you were lounging around Levi’s little hiding place and doing a damn good job of keeping it together. A far away part of your brain was worrying about the movers and your new place and the grief of your life that was in some unreachable place in space right now, but your rational brain was also very aware of the fact that those worries were at the bottom of the list for the foreseeable future.

You should have been worrying about some big things, actually. Not just the fact that you were in some entirely new realm, but also that it was the Eldian realm. This was the most dangerous place for humans to be.

You were racking your brain, trying to remember the bits and pieces of Eldian myth that most of the human world had grown up with.

In most legends, Eldians were once humans themselves, and magic was rampant in the human world. Humans mostly used it for healing purposes or celebrating, but eventually witchcraft was born and it began being used for more sinister purposes, and more and more people dedicated their lives to hoarding magic, rather than letting it be a free thing to share. Eventually, Ymir, the Eldian founder, was born and became the most prolific witch of all. She made a deal with the devil, who created a realm for her – this realm – to funnel all the magic of the human world into it for her sole use. She became the first Titan, an enormous humanoid monster that ate any human who dared attempt to slip into the Eldian realm, and then eventually sought out and resurrected 9 of the most cunning demons from the netherworld to bestow the Titan gift onto, in order to help her grow her realm. All 9 of them were demons that feasted on human flesh, and so Ymir crossed over to the human realm with those 9 demons to dominate humanity and use them like cattle. But, humanity had been able to put up enough of a fight to not only hold their ground, but even capture one of those Titans, thanks to a hero in the myths named Helos. Stories differed around the end of this fight, but in every story, Ymir and those 8 remaining Titans crossed back into Eldia. The most popular myth was that the humans captured the most powerful Titan, one that held the power to control passage between realms, with some even saying it was the actual devil himself, and it had forced Ymir to return to Eldia and use her last breath to close all entries but one into Eldia, which is heavily warded.

Most of the myths surrounding the realm of Eldia were tales of morality and cautionary tales, like many legends and folklore. You, like most others, learned these stories as children from adults who wanted you to stop being a brat or wander off, lest you find yourself in Eldia and get eaten by a Titan. You remember studying them again as a young adult, dissecting the stories and ultimately coming to the conclusion that they were also religious propaganda, a way to stop people from dabbling in witchcraft or other “dark” practices.

You hadn’t thought about Eldia in years. And now, you were literally here, a sheep among wolves, so to speak. And yet, you remembered the way the hordes of Eldians looked at you today. It intimidated you, yes, even scared you, but you didn’t feel a real threat to your life. Everyone had been so startled, so confused, but from what you recalled, nobody had wanted to take a bite out of you. And you hadn’t seen any actual Titans, no huge beasts as tall as skyscrapers with jagged grins and fiery bodies.

“What are you thinking about?”

Levi’s voice made you nearly jump out of your skin, and you swore as the mug you’d been holding clattered to the floor. Thankfully, though, it didn’t break.

You bent down to pick it up, but Levi was already there and doing it. You didn’t miss the dirty look he shot you before he put the mug away.

“You scared me,” you muttered.

“So, you can ask a million questions, but I can’t?” Levi asked.

You rolled your eyes. Then, as you were about to answer, you felt your face heat up.

“I was trying to remember everything I’ve learned about Eldia,” you admitted.

“Trying to figure out how fucked you are?” Levi asked, his voice flat. It almost made you laugh, but you managed to stifle it to a short snort.

“Something like that.”

“You’ll have to tell me what you’ve been taught. I’ve always been curious as to what humans think they know nowadays, after so much time has passed,” he said quietly. At that, you got curious.

“Have you ever been to the human realm?” you asked before you could stop yourself.

“Yes. I never interacted with humans in depth, though, and most of my visits were a very long time ago. My last one, however, was recent enough that I know humans are making great technological advancements, even without magic. The telephone was a personal favorite of mine. I liked the dial,” he mused.

You, however, were in awe. Your eyebrows shot up at his words. First, you were honestly a little surprised he would divulge any information about himself. He was so cagey with you. But also, to think he was this old, seeing the invention of the telephone...it was almost impossible to wrap your head around it. It was starting to make sense. Sometimes he paused when he was speaking, as if trying to use the correct “lingo” with you, though he wasn’t quite with the times on that front. And if it had been that long ago that he'd seen what the human realm was up to, did he still think the first renditions of the telephone were humanity's greatest technological achievements?

“Do you wanna see what phones look like now?” you asked him.

Without waiting for an answer, you dug through your backpack to fish out your phone, standing up so you could go to the alcove and show him.

Though he was clearly trying to look unfazed, you could see something flash in his eyes as he took the phone from your hand.

“We call them cell phones now. Or just phones,” you said, letting your phone come to life so he could see your home screen. “With this little thing, we have access to the entire world. Uh, human world. You can have everything at your fingertips, basically. It’s not just for phone calls anymore. It can be kind of overwhelming sometimes, now that I think of it.”

You unlocked your phone so you could prattle on about apps and the internet and your limited knowledge on how it all worked, but Levi stopped you.

“How are you making everything…come to life? You’re just pressing your finger on these strange symbols,” he said, slowly, trying to find the words.

“It’s just…the way technology works now. The screen can sense that I'm touching a particular area and gets me to where I want to go. Something science-y,” you answered, a little embarrassed you couldn’t give a more detailed explanation.

Levi seemed invested, however, and that made you happy. It also eased your mind a little bit; your other life was real, and waiting for you, and this would all be in the past one day.

"I had no idea you'd all come such a long way," he mumbled.

You let him touch the screen and direct him onto certain apps, and felt a little embarrassed when he looked at your social media. He seemed surprised to see photos of you there. Pictures of you with friends, traveling photos, and the occasional selfie. He spent a second longer on your selfies, which made you feel a little nervous, but you were just happy to see him so curious.

"Is photography more accessible?" he asked.

You gave a sly grin and took your phone back, showing him your camera. You made sure you had it on your front facing camera and angled the screen to capture mostly Levi's face, snapping the picture before he could react. His eyes grew wider when you showed him the photo, immediately available to view, but his wide gaze was replaced by a narrow glare.

"Don't do that again," he warned.

You rolled your eyes and put your phone away, turning it off to conserve some battery. Not that it had any signal here, but you would probably need it soon, when you were back on the other side.

You looked at Levi, who was now seated across from you again, not sure how to word what you needed to ask.

“So…what’s the plan to get me home?” you asked. Well, that would have to do.

Levi didn’t seem bothered, though. He was lost in his thoughts, his brows knit together to form a very concentrated look on his face, and you watched him curiously.

“First, we need to figure out how you got through. Once I know that, we can start working on getting you to cross realms,” he said.

“Fair enough,” you sighed. “How do you propose we figure that out?”

“I know someone that may be able to help with that,” he said vaguely, his eyes sliding to you. “But that’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Maybe you should rest.”

As soon as he said that, it was like your brain finally registered how tired you were. So much stimulation and change, on top of an already stressful day.

You yawned involuntarily, despite your best efforts not to, and then looked at Levi sheepishly.

“I guess some sleep wouldn’t hurt,” you admitted.

“I don’t really have a bed here,” Levi said, and if you didn’t know any better, you could have sworn his eyes held a little bit of sheepishness as well. “I don’t want you to tire yourself out getting to a place that does have one –”

You cut him off with a wave of your hand, already curling up in your chair.

“You’ll come to find out that I can sleep just about anywhere,” you told him. You were already drifting off. Levi didn’t say anything, but he did procure the softest blanket you’ve ever felt to toss over you.

Would he come to find out? If you were leaving tomorrow, then he wouldn’t come to find out a damn thing about you. Maybe you were dreaming it, but you could have sworn your heart sank a little at the thought.

---

You had no idea how long you’d slept, but it must have been a while. There weren’t any windows in the room you were in, but when Levi noticed you were awake, he immediately got some tea started and then put some bread and butter in front of you and curtly announced it as, "Breakfast."

“How did you sleep?” he asked, taking a sip of his tea. It was the same as yesterday, smokeroot, and you happily sipped from your mug.

“I slept like the dead,” you said. “Neck is a little sore, but that’s fine.”

“Good. Then you’re well-rested enough for all we have to do today,” Levi said flatly.

You made a face behind your mug and then took another sip of tea, mulling over everything. A comfortable silence fell over the two of you, but as your mind spun round and round, you finally had to just blurt out some thoughts.

“I keep waiting for my brain to just…I don’t know. Break from all this,” you admitted quietly. “I keep waiting for a freakout. I keep expecting to curl up in a ball because I can’t process what’s happening. At this point, I’m more freaked out about having to wait on the freakout, than the actual freakout.”

“Well, that tea was going to help calm you down on top of helping your body keep your soul. Now that you’re acclimating, that’s probably a big part of why you aren’t feeling too bad.”

“No, you don’t understand,” you began, “I’m…I’m not used to adventuring. I’m used to keeping myself safe. I’m kind of in disbelief that I’m able to deal with this at all.”

“You seem to be handling this just fine,” Levi said. “I don’t see how that’s a problem. Why are you expecting all of that?”

Your face heated up and you looked down at your half-empty plate, ripping off a piece of bread just to rip that little piece into even tinier pieces.

“Because I’m not exactly the bravest person ever,” you said. “I’ve always been more of a scaredy-cat. I scare easy and I’m always anxious about one thing or another, and I hate sudden changes, and I hate not knowing. I’ve always been like that. You’re the only reason I haven’t been eaten alive here, and that should really scare me, and I should be so terrified right now, but I’m not. I think it’s all going to come crashing down at the worst moment.”

Levi was quiet. You dared to glance up at him and were surprised to see that he was staring right at you.

“The human mind is very durable. Humanity itself is very durable, if I remember correctly,” he said. “You shouldn’t sell yourself short. I think you would be surprised at what you’re capable of.”

It was strange, receiving such a sincere compliment like that. No one back home would have ever come close to saying you were durable.

But now that you’d gotten it out of your system, you felt lighter, and you wanted to change the subject. Your curiosity was getting the better of you again when it came to Levi.

“When’s the last time you visited the human world? It sounds like it’s been a while, if the last thing you saw be invented was the telephone,” you said. Then, in a quiet voice, you asked, “Do Eldians go into our realm often?”

It was hard trying to decipher Levi’s facial expressions. He was so good at hiding behind a calm mask. It was like trying to see past a brick wall. But you could see emotions flickering behind his eyes once in a while.

“That was the last time I was there, that’s true. It’s been a long time in human years. And I’ll never go back again, not for anything,” he said, and the way he said it made you not press for more. “The last time I went was the last time most Eldians went. I haven’t heard of a single one of us returning to that place since then. If it’s happened, I know nothing about it.”

So, he wasn’t fond of the human world. Which was funny, considering that he had just hyped up humanity only minutes ago.

After another silence, this one a little more tense, it was actually Levi that spoke first.

“No one is going to eat you,” he said, taking your empty plate from you when you were finished.

You blinked in surprise, not expecting that.

“Excuse me?”

“There’s a lot of misinformation – let’s just call it misinformation. About Eldia,” he said. He gestured towards his own empty plate. “I’m sure you noticed that I’m not munching on human bones.”

“Variety diet,” you said blandly, hoping the joke would land, but Levi’s glare told you it didn’t. “I’m only kidding. Kind of.”

Levi sighed, signaling he was done with the conversation, and you felt like you’d failed somehow.

“Tell me why every story mentions the fact that you eat people, then? I’m not following,” you told him, folding your arms over your chest.

“Because that’s what you were told to believe,” Levi snapped. “We don’t…do that. A lot of what you think you know is actually false. You don’t know anything at all.”

That struck a nerve in you.

“It’s not like you’re ever keen to answer any of my questions,” you quipped back.

The two of you were glaring at each other now. Levi’s jaw was set and your entire body was rigid.

“I’ve known you less than a day, with you being asleep some of that time, and you’re already the most aggravating person I’ve ever met,” Levi told you.

You gave him an exaggerated smile, your eyes still flashing with your glare.

“That pleases me,” you said through your smile, before rolling your eyes and standing up.

“So much for being a scaredy-cat. You’re more like a feral cat,” Levi muttered under his breath, but fully with the intention that you’d hear him.

You ignored him and straightened out your clothes, then put a hand in your hair, frowning to yourself; you probably looked like a total mess.

After doing what you could without even a mirror to guide you, you turned back to Levi, arms crossed again, trying to keep your face neutral like he often did.

“When are we leaving to find your little friend?” you asked.

“Right now,” he said. “Grab your things and don’t forget anything. We won’t come back.”

The quickness startled you, but you did as he said and then followed him back into that hallway inside the mountain, until it eventually opened to the valley outside again. The sunlight hit you hard and you squinted, holding a hand over your eyes to shield them until they adjusted.

The valley was just as beautiful in the day as it was at night. The plush green grass and sapphire sky looked magical. Wildflowers bloomed in pockets here and there, and the rocky path along the mountain even held some pretty weeds in the cracks. The river was so clear that you could see fish darting around, and the rocks at the bottom glittered and looked like they all held vibrant colors.

How could such a dangerous land be so beautiful?

You held the straps of your backpack as you walked alongside Levi, your neck craning this way and that while you took in the sights. The only sounds were the rush of the water and the songs of birds and your footsteps that moved the loose stones and pebbles in your path. Levi didn’t say a word and neither did you.

There was nothing to see for miles but the beauty of the valley, but you knew better by now. There was magic here, and it didn’t matter if you were in the middle of nowhere. You could be taken to entirely new places with the help of Levi.

Levi.

You slightly tilted your head to peek at him from your peripheral vision, taking in the sight of him. He was looking straight ahead, posture straight and confident as he walked. His hair was still night-black even in the daytime, and you marveled at his strong profile. His nose was straight, and his jaw was strong and defined.

“Don’t stare at me like that,” he spoke up, only glancing at you briefly. His eyes glinted silver in the sunlight.

You felt your entire face grow hot and looked away, heart racing. Why was it racing? How did he know what you were doing?

---------

You walked for hours, but it didn’t feel so tiring, not when there was so much to see. You loved how the sun felt on your skin, you loved the gentle breeze that ruffled your hair, you loved how sweet the air smelled. It was nice to get away from the ugliness back home.

It hadn’t been totally silent the whole way. Eventually, you just had to strike up conversations with the ever-reluctant Levi.

You asked him little things occasionally, things that wouldn’t piss him off, but you mostly commented on your surroundings and revealed the occasional fact about yourself.

“I fell into a river once, when I was a kid. I didn’t know how to swim back then, and the river currents were really strong, so I was swept away pretty fast. But I got lucky and the current pushed me against this huge boulder on the edge of the river, and I was able to pull myself out. My parents put me in swimming lessons after that,” you rambled, your eyes on the river at your side. It was narrow, some would have probably even called it more of a stream than a river, and the water seemed to idly bubble along. You knew better, though; underneath the surface was a whole different story.

Levi seemed a little interested in this particular story of yours, though you’d told plenty today. He gave a look you couldn’t decipher, then looked away.

“I saved a human child once, from drowning in a river,” he revealed quietly, his voice level.

You looked at him in awe, surprised at this confession of his.

“That was very kind of you,” you told him, suppressing a smile.

Levi barely reacted, but his face remained calm.

You took it as permission to keep rambling.

---------

The trail had eventually led you out of the valley and into a great expanse of land, still as beautiful but leaving the mountains behind.

There were fields of crops, you noticed, and actual livestock.

And then, up ahead, by the time the sun was signaling late afternoon, you could see what you were sure was a village.

At first, it was exciting. Then, that pit of worry sank like a stone in your stomach.

Eldians. Surely there would be Eldians there.

You remembered how it had been running into them the first time. Levi had to get you out of there. Now he was leading you towards more of them.

You hadn’t noticed you’d slowed down until Levi cleared his throat.

“Don’t start going all chicken-shit on me now, Embla,” he said, his face unreadable. “What’s gotten into you?”

“They’ll know I’m human, won’t they?” you asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. “What are they gonna do? Is it gonna be like last time?”

Levi softened imperceptibly and stopped walking, standing a few feet away from you.

“They won’t hurt you,” he said. “It’ll be just before dusk by the time we get to the outskirts of the village, so the sun will still be out. They won’t come out until dark.”

That didn’t make you feel any better. You thought back to yesterday, how it had been so quiet and lifeless during the day. It hadn’t been until night descended that you saw any traces of life.

“What’s up with that?” you asked, stepping closer to Levi. “Why can’t they come out during the day? Are you like vampires or something?”

Levi scoffed, his glare back full force.

“We can obviously come out during the day, shit-for-brains. I’ve been walking with you all day, haven’t I? There’s a ceremony of sorts being carried out by Eldians. Last night was the first night of it, and tomorrow night will be the last night,” he explained.

“Why aren’t you participating in the ceremony?” you asked, already fired up with questions.

You could see that he didn’t want to answer, but you pressed on this time, using it as a distraction for your anxiety.

“C’mon, Levi! I’m trying to learn,” you said, your tone pleading.

Levi’s shoulders became less tense as you began to walk with him again, although, even as you looked at him with wide, curious eyes, he didn’t look at you.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “If it’ll get you to shut up and walk.”

When he finally turned his head to look at you, you gave him a smile, your first genuine one since getting here. He blinked a couple of times, his lips parted, but in a flash, he was composed again.

“It’s the Three Nights of the Daughters, but we usually just call it the Three Nights. It’s a yearly event where we honor Maria, Rose, and Sina.”

“Who are they?”

This time, it was Levi who stopped walking, an eyebrow raised.

“What?” he asked.

“Maria, Rose, and Sina…who are they?” you asked again, a little more hesitant this time.

“You really don’t know?” Levi asked, and you shook your head, feeling your face heat up yet again.

Those names didn’t sound familiar at all, and yet Levi was acting as though you were missing some important piece of information.

“No. Should I?”

“They’re Ymir’s daughters, her direct descendants. When she died, they – how could you not know all of this?” Levi’s face was incredulous, the most animated you’d ever seen him.

“She never had…none of the stories…”

Try as you might, you couldn’t find the words. Any time you had a thought, it trailed off.

Ymir had a family? None of the stories you’d ever come across even slightly hinted at that. Maybe it was human error. After all, these stories were so old, and they weren’t exactly all yours to tell. People considered them myth these days, not as historical events. Eldia had only been a fairytale to you until yesterday. But something nagged at you. This absence of knowledge felt intentional, like you weren’t supposed to know about it.

You looked at Levi, feeling unnerved for some reason.

“The last time you were in my world, did the humans know about her daughters?” you asked.

Levi seemed taken aback by the question, but his face was slowly melting back into neutrality.

“I never asked about the full extent of how the myths were told, but knew that things were...altered. I just never knew how much. I was never exactly in direct contact with you people,” he said. It was such a vague answer, but you let it go for now, tucking the little information he gave you for later.

“Tell me more about the Three Nights, then. Why do you celebrate her daughters? And why at night?” you asked, attention fully on Levi.

“Because of what they had to go through when their mother died. They each had to stay up all night with Ymir’s remains. They had to do unspeakable things in order to inherit the Power of the Titan,” he said casually, eyes fixed ahead. “But they did it for us, to save us. They used the Power of the Titan to attempt to close all pathways between this world and yours.”

You blinked in surprise. Her daughters saved Eldians, from what? From humans? That’s what it sounded like. Levi was telling the story like Eldians had needed to be protected from humans, which meant removing access between realms. Or, the way he’d put it, attempted to remove. Clearly, there was still access.

At first, you felt an automatic sense of defensive come alive within you. How dare he, when the stories pointed to countless humans getting eaten or tortured by Titans! People kept these myths alive to remind humanity of what to fear.

But again, that feeling of being unnerved set in. Something about Levi’s version rang true, though you didn’t know why you should trust him, why you were trusting him, despite everything you’d been taught. Even if you’d originally believed it all to be nonsense, these stories were now the only thing you could reference to survive in this different place. And here was Levi, tearing all your knowledge to shreds and claiming it to be false. Maybe not directly, but it was obvious he was trying to steer you in another direction.

“So now you all celebrate them every year by staying up all night outside?” you prodded.

“You’ve got it a little backwards. Do you remember yesterday, when everyone was coming back into town from the forest after sundown? That’s because people are resting in temples together. None of our temples are within towns. And before you ask why,” Levi said, eyeing you, “it’s because the temples are meant to be tied to the earth somehow, as a separate haven from whatever nearest town or village there is. It’s a time to gather as a community and people like coming together to celebrate and rest under one roof. During the day, people all come together in the temple to start preparing their feasts and offerings to the altars that are built for each daughter before they sleep. At night, families go back home and fast until morning.”

You mulled over all this new information and this unique celebration. Instead of looking at Levi, your gaze turned towards the village. You were closer now, and the sun was lower in the sky, casting long shadows and golden light. It was strange, knowing it was completely empty.

“Seems like it would be cramped, all holed up in a temple together,” you said aloud, mostly talking to yourself. “That temple we were in, Norchek Temple, was nearly decrepit, and so small. It wouldn’t have fit an entire village inside.”

“The temples I’m talking about are Temples of the Titans,” Levi explained. “They’re dedicated to Ymir and her direct descendants, and they’re big enough to hold many people. However, in some places where the population is bigger, they’ll assign different days for different groups to rest, usually going by neighborhood. Temples like Norchek Temple are different.”

“How is Norchek Temple different?” you asked.

Levi sighed, then stopped walking. You stumbled at the quick change, but then turned to face him fully, a questioning look in your eyes.

“Embla.”

That’s all he said for a few moments, just that odd nickname for you. But you knew he wanted to say more, so you kept quiet. When he didn’t say anything else, even though there was clearly a storm brewing in his eyes, you spoke up.

“Levi, just tell me what you wanna tell me,” you whispered, a hand outstretched to reach out to him. However, he stepped back, which made your heart sting, and his eyes hardened.

“Humans have told their own version of our history for a very long time,” he said. “I’ve never involved myself much with humans, and for good reason. There's no point in explaining all of this to you. It’s pointless trying to make you see.”

“See what?!” you pressed, hands balling into fists.

“The truth,” Levi said, not giving in to your anger.

His answer fizzled out your anger, though, and your outstretched arm fell limp to your side. So, he really was trying to convince you that you’d been lied to all your life. That all humans had been lied to.

Your gaze slipped from his and you focused on the fields and lines of trees instead, deep and rich sunlight saturating their colors. The sun was going to set soon, and the village wasn’t much farther. Now, though, you weren’t so afraid of who you might run into.

Levi seemed to harbor some resentment towards humans. He was so hesitant to tell you anything at all about his world, and you wondered why. Wouldn’t he want to tell you the truth of Eldia, so that you could go back to your world and spread that truth? Did he think that it wouldn’t matter, because you wouldn’t be staying here long enough to give you enough of the truth to pass along?

Besides all of that, you were battling your own mind. You wanted the truth, but you had to admit that you were also scared of it. You were so sick of being scared all the time. You’d always thought you were just especially mindful of self-preservation, but now you were seeing it for what it really was: cowardice. This was a chance to learn something life-changing, and yet you were still shying away from it. Part of you wanted to keep the stories you’d been told and hold them in high regard. You wanted to keep believing that those stories were the most accurate, and not whatever Levi could tell you. Everything you thought you knew was crumbling in on itself, and you felt powerless and stupid and bared to the world in a way that made you uncomfortable. It made you feel like a blank slate.

“Let’s just keep going,” you mumbled, hating yourself. Such a coward, such a scaredy cat. You could have pressed Levi more, hounded him for answers, for the truth, but you didn’t.

You fell into step together and entered the outskirts of the village, where you learned the name of the village by looking at some signs.

“Ragako,” you breathed out, admiring the structures of the buildings and houses.

It was a small village and it seemed so open, with wide roads and plenty of space between buildings. Nothing at all like the town you’d been in before.

“What was the name of the other town?” you asked Levi out of curiosity. You never did find that out.

“Shiganshina,” he answered curtly.

You frowned at him, not appreciating the tone, but decided to steer the conversation a different way.

“We’ve been walking all day,” you complained, rubbing your grumbling stomach.

You’d aired this grievance earlier, around noon, when the beginning pangs of hunger struck you. Levi had merely grunted and only let you stop long enough to peruse through your backpack for a snack, but then told you to keep it moving and walk while you ate. The snack was barely enough to sustain you, and now your hunger was back with a vengeance, coupled with thirst.

“Stop being a crybaby. It’s not gonna kill you to wait a few more minutes until we get to Hange’s house,” Levi said, his grey eyes peeking at you from his peripheral vision.

“Hange,” you repeated, tasting the name in your mouth. “Finally, you tell me who we’re seeing.”

“You never actually asked,” Levi reminded you, and you felt your face grow a little hot. Technically, he was right. He doubled down by adding, “You spend all your time asking millions of questions, but never the right ones.”

You felt there was some sort of double entendre in what he’d said but you didn’t want to press him anymore.

Sure enough, as golden dusk cooled into pale twilight, you were standing in front of someone’s home. From far away, you could hear people emerging from the forest, their distant chatter sounding like coils of wind.

You were about to question whether Hange was even home, but Levi pounded roughly on the door and startled you into silence. Surprisingly, the door swung open to reveal someone, presumably Hange, with messy dark hair and glasses that were askew on their face.

“Levi?” they asked incredulously, sleepy eyes suddenly alert. Then, their gaze turned to you, their jaw immediately dropping. “Is this…?”

“A human? Yeah. Let us in before anyone else sees her.”

read part 3 here

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman fanfiction #levi ackerman fic #levi fanfiction #aot fanfiction #snk fanfiction #attack on titan fanfiction

[writertitan]

my first time ordering online from h&m and they lose my package in the mail 🥰 just in time for the holidays!!!!

#R U KIDDING MEEEEEEE #how could you lose my fuzzy bucket hat omg #this is so dramatic but this has never happened before so it’s made me sick

[writertitan]

I never use this word, but this comment made me guffaw

#like a middle aged man named Bob #and I’m still laughing #when you travel through realms and end up in Cleveland #thank you for the interactions on perennial

[writertitan]

Perennial // Part 1

A/N: Hello! This is also being posted chapter by chapter on AO3. I'll be posting 2 to 3 chapters at a time here on Tumblr, just to keep things a little more condensed and organized for this platform. Enjoy!

pairing: levi x fem!reader

overall themes: fantasy AU, strangers to lovers, traveling through realms, explicit content

part 1 themes: traveling through realms, first meeting, reader's on the verge of a mental breakdown

word count: 4.9k

There was nothing left for you here and you knew that. Still, it was hard to look around at the place you’d called home for nearly five years and see nothing but pain and moving boxes. Your whole life was packed away in those boxes and yet there were still memories scattered around the house. The faded wine stain on the carpet from two years ago after you’d gotten too drunk and spilled a newly opened bottle was where it always was. On the top right corner of the front door, you could see the little flower your friend drew; you hoped the landlord wouldn’t notice it so that it could stay.

You’d lived here since you were 18 years old and now it was done.

The movers would be done soon. They were finishing up here and meeting you at your new place. Any second now, you’d be driving out of town to begin the newest chapter of your life.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive with you?”

You blinked and then there was Pieck, looking concerned and sad.

“I’ll be okay,” you assured her quietly, your arms hugging your torso. “Besides, it’ll be stormy soon. I know you hate driving in the rain.”

Her frown deepened and you knew she was going to press the issue with you, say something about how she’d drive in the rain for you any day, but you weren’t having it.

“I’ll share my location with you, so you know I made it safely. I’m kind of looking forward to the drive,” you said. It was a lie – you were dreading the drive. You were dreading this whole thing.

Pieck knew that but kept her mouth shut, nodding once with sympathetic eyes before turning her attention to the movers.

“Be careful with that box! It says ���fragile’ on every side, can’t you read?” she nagged, stomping away to deal with them.

You smiled sadly and turned back to the front door, eyeing that little flower in the corner again. With a sigh, you bent down to grab your backpack from the floor, plucking your car keys from the top of it. You took off the apartment key and walked to the kitchen counter, leaving it there for your landlord, and you could feel tears sting along your lash line as Pieck approached you again.

“I’ll see you soon,” you promised her, pulling her in for a tight hug. She returned it and your heart broke at her sniffles.

“Be safe,” she whispered in your ear before breaking away, wiping her eyes. “I can stay here and see the movers out.”

You nodded and swallowed thickly, taking one last look around. You could only hope that the new tenants would make as many memories as you did. This was a good home, a good apartment. It had kept you safe for so many years.

Before you could really break down, you hurried out of the door with your backpack slung over your shoulder, smiling weakly at Pieck before closing the door.

Thunder rolled across the sky as you ran to your car, still parked in its designated space, and you took a deep breath as you unlocked it and tossed your backpack in the passenger seat. Just as you shut your door and put the key in the ignition, lightning flashed, and a few droplets of rain splattered across your windshield. You turned your car on and drove away from your home, and it took everything in your power to not look in the rearview mirror.

The rain started out as a drizzle, a peaceful and steady patter over your car that lulled you as you drove on the highway. You’d turned the radio on, keeping it at low volume, a mellow song playing quietly as your mind drifted between concentrating on the road and thinking about all the new changes in your life. It felt like you were always on the verge of spiraling these days.

As the rain picked up, your car also alerted you that you were low on gas, and you had to pull off the highway and enter the edges of a small town. The only option for gas that you could see was a dingy gas station, so it would have to do. Parking at a pump, you got out after pulling your hood up on your jacket, shivering as the humid, cold air hit your face. Usually, you liked the rain, but having to drive in it and get wet with a long drive still ahead was not helping your mood at all.

“Ah, fuck,” you cursed as you stood in front of the pump. There was a soaking wet note taped to the pump where the card machine was and, upon inspecting the only other pump available, saw that it held the same taped note.

CASH ONLY – PAY INSIDE.

Sketchy. So sketchy.

Still, you couldn’t make it that much farther on the little gas you had left, and there didn’t seem to be another option at the moment. However, one look at the gas station made you dubious that this was even a good option, either. The inside looked closed and desolate, and you weren’t sure you could see anyone inside.

You reached into your car to grab your backpack before locking it, just to be safe, and headed to the little gas station, where only dim fluorescent light flickered out from the windows, swallowed by the buzzing neon lights outside. The door wasn’t locked and so you entered slowly, a little startled when the bell above you jingled to signal your arrival. There was no one at the counter. Boring oldies music played faintly throughout the little store, and it smelled like someone had recently mopped. A good sign, then.

“Hello?” you called out, maybe not as loud as you could have, but hopefully loud enough that somebody could have heard you. It wasn’t like you were in a particularly large space.

You took another step toward the counter, wishing and yet dreading that someone would appear. To keep yourself occupied, you shrugged your backpack off your shoulder and unzipped the smaller pouch to grab your wallet, relieved to see that you had enough cash for a full tank.

However, you were still all alone, and another step towards the counter told you why.

Another note lay on the counter, this time with a different message that made you groan.

BACK IN 20 MINUTES.

How long that note had been there, you had no idea. However, considering it didn’t seem like someone had stepped away that long ago, you had some hope that the wait would be fairly short.

“As long as I’m here…,” you muttered to yourself, looking around. You were already running out of road trip snacks, so it would be smart to stock up again.

You perused each aisle, occasionally glancing back at the counter while you grabbed some chips, then some candy bars, before moving on to the drinks. As you took in the limited selection, fingers brushing over some off brand ginger ale, your ears perked up at a new sound. It wasn’t the sound of someone coming back to their post, but it was a sound you hadn’t noticed before. And it was indescribable. It was like a pulse, but more electric, but not like a buzzing sound. At first there didn’t seem to be an origin to it, but as you turned your head, you realized it was probably coming from outside.

It was like you couldn’t help yourself. You moved towards the door like you were possessed, feeling more and more in a daze the closer you got to the door. It didn’t make any sense, but you could have sworn that the door itself was the cause of the noise, and even though it was impossible, it looked off. It looked like it was warping, a little distorted if you looked too hard, but then back in focus once you realized something was wrong.

Without thinking, and without hesitation, you pushed it open.

You had no idea what to expect from opening the door. In fact, it hardly felt like it was your own choice at all, but more of a compulsion, like you had to do it.

At first, you were blinded by the neon lights outside, which didn’t make sense because they hadn’t been all that bright to begin with. But your vision was assaulted by those vibrant yellows and oranges and reds until you suddenly just felt…different.

You squinted your eyes to relieve them of the brightness, noticing that the pulsing sound seemed to be all around you, inside of you, in your head, until it all just stopped. The light slowly faded, until you were able to blink your eyes open again, and what you saw made no sense.

Your car was gone, the gas station pumps were gone. When you turned to look behind you, the dingy gas station was gone as well. In its place was a small wooden building painted red, with a white wooden door. When you tried to open it and go inside, you found it was locked. The only thing that proved you’d ever been inside a gas station was the armful of snacks you were still holding, which you promptly dropped out of pure shock.

“What the…,” you whispered. It was taking everything in you not to freak out.

This didn’t make any sense. Had you been drugged? Were you tripping out right now? Were you dreaming? Were you hallucinating? Were you dead?

You turned back around, blinking hard, but the view didn’t change. Your car was gone, the little road leading to the highway was gone, and now you were looking at a narrow street with colorful buildings pressed against one another, as if leaning on one another. If you weren’t so shocked, you would have admired how it looked.

You swallowed thickly, trying to get your bearings, and the only thing you could think to do was gather your dropped snacks and stuff them into your backpack, feeling a little bad that you’d taken them without paying. It was a silly worry, considering it should have been the last thing on your mind.

Fear and panic radiated down to your very bones as you stiffly craned your neck to look around, afraid to even take a step forward, but another attempt at the white door was useless. There was a window next to it, though it was impossible to look inside because a thick curtain blocked the view.

There was only one thing to do and you knew it. As much as you hated to admit it, you knew you had to venture out and figure out what was going on. The only way to get answers was to solve this very jarring and horrific mystery.

You weren’t the courageous type. Taking risks was nausea-inducing and having a predictable routine was your idea of nirvana. That’s why uprooting your entire life was more stressful and painful than you could admit out loud; the unknown had always been too scary. So this? This was going to fuck you up for life.

You swore loudly and banged on the door, the only time you’d allow your emotions to show physically, before taking a deep breath to calm yourself.

Once your backpack was securely on both shoulders, you gripped the straps tightly and took a tentative step forward, a shaky breath of relief leaving you once you realized you hadn’t exploded.

The street’s concrete was worn but looked sort of maintained, no potholes or deep cracks. You looked to your left, then to your right, unsure of which direction to go. To your left, the road and buildings seemed to open up around a circular marketplace, empty and quiet right now, which was unnerving. To your right, the street continued, even seemed to connect with other small streets and, in the distance, you could see that this little town eventually gave into a forest. That’s where you would go first.

“Wait…why would I go there first?” you asked yourself out loud, hesitating in the middle of the street. It seemed so counterintuitive, and yet…your heart tugged towards that forest. It looked so serene and inviting. Plus, there wasn’t much going on over at the market square.

The sun was setting, and a gorgeous golden glow bathed your surroundings, making you realize that it wasn’t raining anymore. Or, rather, it wasn’t raining here, wherever you were. Maybe it was still raining where you had been before.

As scared and wary as you were, you had to admit that this place emitted a very calm energy. Peaceful. Though you couldn’t find traces of a single other person as you walked, you could hear crickets and some birds singing to each other, echoing each other’s song. You peeled your hands off your backpack straps and pushed your jacket hood off your head, tilting your head up to the sky. It was a beautiful sunset, the colors rich and bleeding into each other effortlessly. It felt different from other sunsets you’d seen before, as if you’d only ever seen watercolor sunsets and this was your first oil painting.

You passed by a few other streets that formed intersections with the street you were on, paying no mind to them. The buildings all looked the same, crammed together and cozy and as picturesque as the next. As the sunset faded and twilight arrived, the part of town you were in grew darker, while something about the forest seemed to beckon you, because it seemed to come alive. As you looked around, you noted that the buildings that were all squished together didn’t have lights of any kind. The only things lighting your way were the old-fashioned streetlamps, flicking on one by one, as if guiding you towards your destination.

The fear that had ebbed and flowed within you was coming back now that night was approaching, and you quickened your pace, hands grasping at your backpack straps again. You surprisingly felt more relieved the closer you got to the forest. Fireflies swirled at the edges of the forest, where civilization met the trees and greenery, and a sense of invitation called you closer and closer. Birds still chirped, and the crickets were even louder, and everything seemed so vibrant even as the sunlight died.

And then, finally, as the stars twinkled and took the sun’s place, everything came to life.

It startled you, going from being all alone and scared to being surrounded by people and scared. They spilled from the forest and bustled around you, busy and determined and loud. Throngs of them emerged from the trees, laughter and chatter filling your ears. Fireflies flew around them, creating an amazing light show, but you felt stuck in place as everyone moved past you. You didn’t know what to do. You wanted to scream at the top of your lungs for someone to help you, but then what would you tell them? That you teleported? That you’d been drugged? That maybe you were on some alien planet after an alien abduction gone wrong?

You felt invisible. Everyone pushed past you and barely seemed to notice you at all. It didn’t matter that you radiated panic or that you looked scared and desperate for even an ounce of attention from somebody, anybody. And the more you looked at the people around you, the more you realized that they also seemed strange. They looked like normal people, yes, but were dressed oddly, nothing modern at all, but more like period costumes. Maybe this was some type of movie set? A weird Edwardian LARPING session?

When you tried to move, you found it difficult to maneuver around the swarms of people. Finally, when you pushed your way through the crowd to get some leeway, you drew attention to yourself. Suddenly, being ignored hadn’t seemed so bad, after all.

More and more eyes landed on you, staring in shock or confusion or both, and it made you shrink into yourself. Again, you wanted to use your voice and ask for help, but your throat felt like it had closed up so no sound could come out.

“Hey! What are you doing here?!” a voice asked, and then it felt like the crowd was closing in on you.

You gulped and then made a run for it, barreling past people and running fast, not even knowing where you were running, exactly. The only clue you got was hitting a few branches as you ran, a hint that you were entering the forest. Hopefully you could find some seclusion and get your bearings again, away from all those people.

So, you were unwelcome. That was good to know.

Eventually, the trees became larger and taller, and there were less traveled dirt paths to follow, and the sounds of people became faint. At the same time, it became darker, less fireflies and less moonlight reaching your eyes. That fear of the unknown pricked at your chest again. You dared to take a few steps farther before leaning against a gigantic tree trunk to catch your breath, tears pricking at your eyes.

What a horrible day. It felt like your mind was breaking. It didn’t even feel like any of this was real. Was any of this real? Why was everyone so…startled by you?

“There you are,” a voice spoke up from your right, making you jump in surprise and whirl your heard in that direction.

At first, you didn’t say anything, only took the sight of the man in. There was just enough light to see he had black hair and piercing eyes, a short but strong build, his gaze calm and collected, different from the shocked looks you’d been getting.

At last, you finally found your voice.

“Can you help me?” you asked, disregarding the way he’d greeted you, as if he’d been looking for you. “I’m…I’m lost, I think.”

“I’ll say,” the man scoffed, taking a slow step towards, probably in order to not frighten you more than you already were. “How did you even get here?”

“I don’t know,” you choked out, the tears coming back full force. “I think I was drugged or something, and then maybe someone tried to traffic me, or kidnap me? Because I was at a gas station and then suddenly, I was here instead, and all I did was open a door, and I didn’t pay for my snacks—”

The man lifted a hand in a gesture that was meant to shush you, and you did so immediately.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“My name is…,” you began, your voice barely above a whisper, but you hesitated, unsure of whether or not you wanted to trust him. But there was no use in delaying it – you needed help.

But the man suddenly gave you a curious look, a look of bewilderment flashing through his grey eyes before it vanished just as quickly.

“Embla,” he muttered, sounding a little surprised.

“That’s definitely not my name,” you told him, confused at what he’d called you. But even when you told him your name, he seemed to disregard it.

“My name is Levi,” the man, Levi, said. “I can help you, but you have to trust me. Can you do that?”

Slowly, you nodded once, after a moment of thought. There was no other way. You couldn’t get out of this by yourself. You had no idea where you were or what was going on.

“Why are you helping me?” you asked, taking a step towards him.

It was his turn to ponder your question, until he eventually just shrugged. “I’ll ease you into everything as slowly as possible.”

That wasn’t much of an answer, but you let it slide for the time being.

“Everyone knows you’re here now, so we’re going to have to take some less traveled paths to get you someplace safe,” Levi explained.

“Why? Is it bad that I’m here?” you asked, worry creeping back into your bones.

“Not bad, per se, just…unexpected,” Levi answered, not looking at you. “Try not ask too many questions right now. It’s better if you dip your toes in. I think that’s the right phrase.”

It took a lot of willpower, but you swallowed back your millions of questions and let Levi lead you farther into the forest. You felt like you were rats in a maze, twisting around these enormous trees and tripping over logs and bushes and whatever else, until the trees began shrinking in size and volume and you finally stepped into a clearing.

You blinked in wonder, in awe at the vastness of the clearing.

Even in the night, the field was a rich green, pockets of wildflowers dotting it. Up above, the moon, full and bright, glowed proudly amongst the stars. Beyond the field, thin trees like the ones surrounding you subtly hid a very large lake that didn’t seem to end, it could have even been an ocean. Moonlight glinted off of it, and you were sure you saw fireflies dancing on the water’s surface. But in the middle of it was a short and bulky building. It looked more like a glorified shed than anything else, sitting on top of a small tuft of land that poked out from the water.

“That’s where we’re going,” Levi said.

The two of you stepped out into the field, the moon bright overhead, and you suddenly felt exposed. Strangely, you found yourself scooting a little closer to Levi, hoping for some added protection. You hadn’t come across any animals just yet, and you hoped it stayed that way. The last thing you needed was a run-in with a wolf. Or even something worse.

You tilted your head up to the sky, blinking once in surprise when you finally took a good look.

You’d never seen so many stars in all your life, and it seemed as though a falling star shot across the sky every couple of seconds. The moon looked so big, too. Had it always been this big? Or maybe in this place, the moon was bigger? The deeper you looked into the sky, you could have sworn you saw more…

“Hey. Embla,” Levi called out, snapping you out of your thoughts. “Keep up.”

You blinked again and tilted your head down to look at him. You hadn’t realized you’d stopped walking; you’d been so entranced with everything.

“Sorry,” you mumbled, jogging up to where he was and matching his pace, your eyes back on the lake and the little hut you were headed toward.

Then you realized what he’d called you, and you asked, “Why are you calling me that? I already told you my name.”

Levi seemed reluctant to answer you, and only gave you the brief response of, “It’s what you are.”

Huh. Maybe it was some term here in this strange place. But you didn’t know what it meant.

You pondered that for a while and then turned to Levi again, nodding your head in the general direction of the shed-thing, then asked, “What’s in there?”

“I told you not to ask too many questions,” Levi answered curtly, and you huffed a little in response, slightly offended.

“I’ve barely asked any even though I have a million of them,” you protested, frowning at him. You tripped a little on a small rock and felt your face grow hot, but Levi didn’t comment on that.

Levi debated for a moment, then gave you a sidelong glance as he answered, “That’s the Norchek Temple. It’s just a…pit stop. It’s going to take us someplace safe.”

“Take us someplace safe,” you repeated, a little confused. Was there some sort of underground tunnel there? You couldn’t even see a way to get to the temple from where you were, no bridge or boat of any kind. Did Levi expect you to swim? And why were you not safe where you currently were?

You mulled over his words as you approached the edge of the lake, your eyes scrutinizing the temple. Before you could say a word, a ripple in the water caught your attention, and you watched in disbelief as a small stone bridge slowly rose from the water. It rose high enough for the narrow path to not be submerged in water, and then it stopped, and the water was as still as if the bridge had always been there.

“Ladies first,” Levi said, and you hesitated for a moment, looking towards him with a scrunched-up brow.

“Is it safe?” you asked.

“Haven’t you ever heard the term ‘act now, ask later’?” Levi quipped, and you gave him a glare.

“I can’t say that I have,” you snapped back, but gulped down your fear and squeezed your backpack straps for comfort as you took a hesitant step onto the bridge. When you realized it would likely hold your weight, you stepped onto it with both feet, your pace already hurried as you crossed the narrow bridge. It was so narrow that you couldn’t stand side by side with Levi, but he was close behind.

As soon as the two of you stepped onto the small tuft of land harboring the temple, you turned to see that the bridge was lowering itself once again, slowly submerging itself back into the moonlit water. And, only a small ripple happened before the water was as still as ever, like nothing had ever disturbed it. You stood there, mesmerized by the way the surface reflected the night sky and those trillions of stars and meteors flashing by, until Levi cleared his throat and snapped you out of it.

“You have to keep moving,” he instructed. “Don’t get too moon-eyed over everything and freeze up like that. There’ll be plenty of time to do that later.”

He led the way into the temple, and you stayed quiet, taking in the wooden structure. The sun-bleached panels splintered and glistened with droplets of water, and the inside of the temple smelled humid, but also faintly of incense.

You could barely see inside the temple and felt that surge of panic inside of you again, gripping your insides and squeezing tight. You were so caught up in the panic that you accidentally bumped into Levi.

“Sorry,” you mumbled, a hand over your thumping heart. “I can’t see that well and I’m kind of freaking out.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Levi said.

A second later, you were surprised to see a glimmer of light in front of you. Your eyes adjusted until you could make out what was emitting the light: a mirror.

How strange. It didn’t help your panicky attitude at all.

“How is it doing that?” you asked, mostly to yourself, knowing Levi was probably going to be too vexed to answer another question.

There was something strange about the mirror, other than the fact that it was somehow lighting up the little room. It held your reflection in it, and you could see Levi right next to you, his arm brushing against yours, but it was like there was something behind your reflection. Like a two-way mirror.

All it took was two small steps to be right in front of it, close enough to reach up and tough the glass. Before you could do that, however, Levi’s fingers wrapped around your hand and yanked it back down to your side.

“Not yet,” he said, his reflection staring at you.

Still holding your hand, he outstretched his other hand towards the mirror, his eyes closing as though he were concentrating very hard on something. You were surprised to see him break out into a sweat, until slowly, the mirror began to emit even more light, until you also had to close your eyes.

“Do you feel it?” you heard Levi ask from beside you.

You were about to ask what he meant, since you felt nothing but anxiety, but then you paused. Something stirred in your chest and mind, like something was waking up inside of you. It felt familiar and you tried to place the feeling to no avail.

“I feel it,” you whispered, a hand moving to your chest.

It felt electric inside of you now, and somehow it felt loud, and –

You froze, recalling the last time you’d had this feeling. It was the same thing you’d experienced when you went from the gas station to wherever you were now.

“Step through,” Levi urged you, and you felt that prick of fear again, the fear of the unknown. You knew what he meant. Step through the mirror. It was some type of doorway. But your feet didn’t want to move at first, until the feeling got stronger inside of you and it felt like you were compelled to walk forward, a hand outstretched in front of you, waiting for the feeling of your fingertips pressing against glass, but it never came. Levi’s hand was the only thing that even felt tangible at that moment. The light snuffed out as soon as you felt yourself pass through some invisible barrier, and the electric feeling inside of you faded quickly. It felt too much like last time. Finally, you opened your eyes, and were stunned.

read part two here

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman fanfiction #levi ackerman fic #aot fanfiction #attack on titan fanfiction #snk fanfiction #levi fanfiction

[writertitan]

Hello cherubs!

I missed ya, I hope you’ve been well!!

With the end of AOT, it’s hit me hard. I’ve been away for a while too, for a whole lot of reasons, but not even one is because I wasn’t feeling it anymore. There’s so many stories to write out, just not enough time.

But while I’ve been away, I’ve been writing! I wanted to finish a fic in its entirety before sharing it with the world, and I’m proud to say I’m pretty much there!

There were lots of reasons for that, but who cares! What matters is that this is a fic that’s been tickling my brain since I started this writing blog, and it’s almost a relief to finally have it written out and ready to share.

What I want to ask is how YOU want to read it. I’d like to stick with weekly updates, and I want to mainly store it on AO3, but if you guys would like for me to post the chapters on Tumblr as well, or some other platform, I am happy to do it. I was pretty hellbent on using AO3 exclusively for a while, but let’s throw away tradition if that’s the vibe!!

Please let me know and please fill me in on all the life you’ve lived this year!!!

#you can never get rid of me #let’s chat!!! #who else has a TikTok fyp that’s been overrun by aot content

[writertitan]

Omg............ I had an imagination of a fic about levi being a science teacher thanks to this official image. I don't want to say anything but *cof cof* I remembered you *cof cof* 👀👀👀

👀 I won't be able to sleep tonight 🌙⏰💤💤

We love a brainiac Levi!!! You know I always love me some inspo 😌

#sweet friend #he can create chemistry with me any day

[writertitan]

it’s my birthday month so I’ll be indulging myself with whatever crazy ass stories I decide to publish

[writertitan]

masterlist

EREN

one shot: Midnight

one shot: As a Bird

one shot: Midnight Snacks

one shot: Birthday Boy

one shot: Little White Lie

one shot: Third Time’s the Charm

hc: Betrayal (S4 themes)

hc: Non-Binary S/O

choose your own adventure (v-day special): Valentine

AO3 ONLY Series: Loud Places

AO3 ONLY Series: Three of Hearts

»»——⍟——««   »»——⍟——««   »»——⍟——««

LEVI

AO3 ONLY Series: A Red Legend

Tumblr Mini-Series: Grandfather Clock - Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Mini-Series: Confinements - Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

one shot: Traditions

one shot: The Sun, The Moon

one shot: Heat (NSFW)

one shot: Only You

one shot: Saturday Cartoons

one shot: Like You

one shot: Regimens

one shot: A Friend

one shot: Fate

one shot: The Swan

one shot: Unrequited

one shot: Wildflowers

one shot: One Day

one shot: As the World Caves In

one shot: Sunsets

one shot: All the World’s a Stage

one shot: Moonlight

one shot: Pas de Deux

one shot: Impressions

one shot: If Nothing Else

one shot: Little Moments

hc: Birth and Babies

hc: Romantic Relationship

hc: Memory Loss

hc: Wedding Date

hc: Making Moves

hc: Wingmen

hc: Unrequited

hc: Ideal Type

hc: Long Hair

hc: Short Hair

hc: Random HCs

hc: Asking You Out

hc: Artist

hc: Roasting Punk!Levi

hc: Non-Binary S/O

hc: Fluff Alphabet

drabble: I Want More

drabble: Pottery

choose your own adventure (v-day special): Valentine

»»——⍟——««   »»——⍟——««   »»——⍟——««

ERWIN

hc: Romantic Relationship

»»——⍟——««   »»——⍟——««   »»——⍟——««

PIECK

hc: Romantic Relationship

»»——⍟——««   »»——⍟——««   »»——⍟——««

JEAN

hc: Romantic Relationship

#masterlist

[writertitan]

Little Moments

pairing: cadet!levi x captain!reader 

word count: 2.3k 

themes: bullying, ostracizing, sort of hurt/comfort, canonverse

a/n: finally got around to releasing the last request in queue, thanks to my handy dandy new computer!!! enjoy!! 

For the seventh time in two weeks, you were awake before the sun was even up. You tried not to shiver as you got dressed in your winter gear, an eerie silence enveloping you and seemingly making you even colder. There was something different about today, you could feel it.

As a captain, you were very used to sleepless nights and less than ideal working conditions, but Erwin was really pushing it lately. He was definitely up to something, and had been for a while, and today seemed to finally be the day he was going to come clean about it.

You pulled your coat tightly around you as you left your room and walked down the hall, towards Erwin’s office. It was still dead silent, which was odd, even for your regiment.

Once you were in front of Erwin’s door, you knocked out of politeness before letting yourself in.

“You wanted to see me?” you greeted him blandly, deadpan as you sauntered over to where he sat at his desk. You sat in the chair in front of the desk, waiting expectantly for whatever his announcement was.

He’d come knocking on your door earlier, waking you from your already light sleep, and you’d heard his muffled voice through the door ordering you to come find him in his office as soon as possible. Now that you were here, however, he sure was taking his sweet time getting to the point of this whole meeting.

“I’m sure you’re aware of our work we’ve been doing underground,” Erwin began, not looking up from whatever paperwork he was doing. “We have some new recruits. I’d like for you to keep an eye on them. One in particular.”

You raised a brow, already a little apprehensive. You weren’t typically someone who spent more time than necessary with recruits, and Erwin knew that. If he was specifically asking this of you, maybe it was important.

“Who?” you asked.

“I’ll let you two get acquainted naturally,” was all he said.

Of course. You expected nothing less of Erwin.

 --------------------------------------------------------------- 

Almost a month had passed since that fated morning, and you’d gotten to know the new recruits all too well.

People from the underground city were always something else, but the three Erwin had managed to bring up were a whole new level altogether.

Levi.

He was, by far, the most difficult little jackass you’d ever had to work with.

He stuck by the two he’d come with and didn’t even try to associate himself with the other recruits. The other two were more receptive than he was, and it bothered you to your very core how disrespectful he could be. It surprised you that Erwin had even given him a chance.

Still, you could see the way he was ostracized. You’d heard about it happening with people from the underground, but had never seen it in person. If any of those three had come alone, they would have had a much harder time. For that, they had your sympathy.

It was well past midnight, and you were exhausted, but still strangely alert. It happened to you sometimes; the physician had mentioned something about insomnia. You had a stack of paperwork to do, and your mind was going a million miles an hour, far away from the physical confines of the hallways. Even with your thoughts so far away, however, a few strange noises managed to snap you back to reality. You stopped in your tracks, a few feet from your room, listening intently.

A few bouts of cold laughter came from outside, through an open window, and you slowly stepped forward to see what the fuss was about.

You frowned when you spotted a few of your rowdier recruits, huddled together and looming over three other familiar recruits. It seemed like a classic case of taunting and bullying, and you weren’t standing for it. The three underground recruits seemed unbothered, especially Levi, though the girl was starting to look like she was going to explode. You couldn’t hear exactly what was being said but, judging by what you knew about those rowdy recruits, it was nothing good.

Before you knew what you were doing, you were outside and storming over to the little crowd, a stern look on your face.

The rowdy recruits were immediately at attention upon seeing you, though Levi and his friends didn’t even really bother to acknowledge you.

“Captain!” one of the recruits greeted you, looking like he was sweating bullets. “Good evening!”

“It’s well past your bedtime, cadet,” you snapped, hands on your hips. “Is there a reason all of you are breaking the rules and fucking around this time of night?”

Upon hearing your use of foul language, you saw Levi lift his head from the corner of your eye. You felt his eyes on you, which was kind of unsettling. He never really looked at you, or anybody, unless he really had to. Even then, he always looked…bored. He didn’t seem to be bored right now.

When nobody answered you, apparently way too nervous or afraid to piss you off even more, you sighed and rubbed your temples, shaking your head in dismay.

“Get to your barracks. If I see any of you sneaking out at night again, you’ll be cleaning up horse shit until I say otherwise. And if I so much as get a hint of any of you antagonizing each other, I’ll make you deal with Erwin Smith himself. That’s not how we do things around here.”

The rowdy recruits saluted you and practically ran back to their barracks, silent save for their pattering footsteps.

Levi and his crew stayed seated, however, which irked you.

“You think the rules don’t apply to you?” you asked, admittedly a little harsher than you intended. Levi’s eyes were still on you. It still made you a little on edge. “Hate to break it to you, but you report to me now. Off you go.”

You didn’t really wait for them to follow proper procedure by addressing you and actually obeying orders. You were already stalking off back to your room, just wanting some peace and quiet. Lack of sleep was giving you a headache, and you were hoping for at least a few hours of sleep tonight.

But over an hour later, you were wide awake in your bed, staring up at the ceiling. The only thing on your mind was Levi’s eyes on you.

 ------------------------------------------------

It was another few weeks of training and drills that passed by without much incident, with an expedition coming up. Your cadets would be joining you this time around, Levi and his crew included. Though the others still mostly stayed away from them, you’d noticed the hostility had decreased. That was an improvement, at least.

Upcoming expeditions always made your insomnia worse. You had a million things to worry about, including your new cadets. There were some that you knew just weren’t ready. You didn’t even know if you were ready. You didn’t know what you’d run into – it was always so unknown and deadly.

There was still an hour before sunrise and you were lying awake in bed, tossing and turning. Finally, you sat up and threw the blankets off you, grabbing your robe and pulling it around you before leaving your room to get some tea.

There was already candlelight flickering on the other side of the kitchen door. Who would be up this at this time?

You walked in slowly, cautiously, eyes sweeping the room. You were shocked to see Levi there, leaning against a table with a roll of bread in his hand.

For once, his face contorted into an expression that wasn’t one of boredom. He looked surprised, if only for a moment.

“Levi,” you muttered, eyebrows knitting together. “You know damn well you’re not supposed to be here.”

“You guys have the better supplies,” was all he said back.

You rolled your eyes and pondered for a second whether or not you should issue some type of punishment, but ultimately decided against it. You were too tired and wanted your tea too badly to deal with Levi’s antics.

You heated up the kettle and found your favorite tea, ignoring Levi for the most part.

As you waited for the water to boil, you nearly jumped when Levi spoke up again, of his own volition.

“Do you ever sleep?”

Was he really trying to make conversation?

You cast him a stern look before looking back to the kettle, arms folded over your chest.

“Do you?” you retorted.

Levi didn’t answer. He did, however, take it upon himself to grab two mugs, pouring water from the steaming kettle into them. You watched with wide eyes, hardly believing the sight in front of you. He was actually helping you with something, but also taking it upon himself to help himself to some of your tea.

Despite the audacity, you allowed it. After taking your mug and preparing your tea, you took a sip and sighed in relief, letting the warmth of it burn through you. Through a small window in the kitchen, you caught sight of those rowdy recruits despite it still being a little dark, the pale blue greeting of sunrise just barely bleeding across the sky. You couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but you caught Levi’s name and that cruel laughter you associated with them, and one look at Levi, who was pointedly looking down at his tea, confirmed your suspicions.

It wasn’t just the “better supplies” in here that had made Levi sneak inside.

“Those cadets are useless,” you piped up casually, your tea warming your hands. You made sure not to look at Levi as you spoke. “They’re useless and I hate having to train them. You’re stronger than them, I’ve seen it. You shouldn’t have to hide from them.”

Levi scoffed at that.

“I’m not hiding,” he said, but you finally looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t give me that bullshit, cadet,” you said. Levi looked at you then, mimicking your expression of a raised eyebrow and sternly set mouth.

“You’ve got a mouth on you. I’m not used to it up here,” he murmured. “Especially higher-ranking military. So many of you have sticks up your asses.”

You had to crack a smile at that. He wasn’t wrong.

“I’m not insinuating that you’re hiding because you’re afraid. I’ve been in your shoes before, and I have good reason to believe you’re hiding because you’re tired. It can be mentally draining, dealing with a bunch of pricks constantly.”

Levi didn’t say anything, probably not wanting to confirm or deny. But you saw the way his shoulders seemed to relax just a little bit and you figured you hit the nail on the head.

“It’s why I get so little sleep,” you continued, smirking. “It’s the only time in my day I have to myself without having to deal with you little shits or my dumbass boss.”

Levi hummed, even cracked a little half-smile, and it made you feel warmer than the tea did.

“Does this life…ever get easier?” he asked suddenly. It caught you off guard. For a moment, just a split second, there was an air of vulnerability around Levi that you didn’t think was possible.

“No,” you answered. You might as well be truthful about it. “But that’s exactly why I chose it.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I would think that you, of all people, would understand. I’ve lost loved ones, sure, and I’ve seen the worst that this world has to offer, but it’s made me stronger. I want to be strong for everyone, including myself. I want to give us a fighting chance to keep on going, and to persevere, even when it feels like there’s nothing left, and I’ve got nothing left.”

You sighed, finishing off your tea. You didn’t expect Levi to answer, but you stopped and looked at him when he spoke up again.

“So you still think this world is worth fighting for?” he asked.

You nodded once.

“One day, you’ll see. You’ll understand how timeless life is, and why it’s so important to live through it. You’ll make your mark, and you’ll have the responsibility of carrying other people’s marks left on you,” you murmured. “Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll outlive me and be responsible for keeping me alive somehow, through the marks I’ve made on you.”

“That’s a little fucked up,” Levi said, completely deadpan, and it actually made you laugh.

“Probably. But you’ll also find little moments of beauty, little moments of happiness. I’m about to have one of my own,” you said with a smirk. From outside, you could still hear those rowdy boys you disliked so much still running around. “You can stay in here a little longer. I’ve got some shitty little cadets to punish.”

Levi hid his smile behind his mug and you walked outside, making sure to put on your angriest face as you came face to face with your favorite cadets.

They paled at the sight of you, growing completely quiet and completely still, and you couldn’t help the evil smirk on your face as you greeted them.

“I guess all of you were just dying to be knee deep in horse shit. Well then, it’s my absolute pleasure to assign you all to stable duty, starting right now.”

You turned your head slightly to catch a glimpse into the kitchen window, where you could still see Levi’s figure. The sunrise was coloring the air and you managed to get a look at his face; oddly enough, you saw a look of determination in his eyes. It was the same look you’d first gotten all those years ago.

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman x you #Levi x You #levi ackerman fic #levi ackerman fanfiction #aot fanfiction #attack on titan fanfiction #snk fanfiction

[writertitan]

miss you, darling. 💞

Miss you endlessly!!! I will be back with content soon!!

#now that I have this awesome new computer #that actually takes 2 seconds flat to turn on!!

[writertitan]

👉👈 I know ur prob busy but…have you perhaps considered like a bonus chapter of arl where they… yknow 😏

You pose a lovely question 😌 I’ve always considered a full on sequel but maybe a little bonus chapter or mini-spin-off situation would be best! But I do feel like there’s more in store for ARL!

#sweet cherub anon #ARL #a red legend #things are about to get spicy

[writertitan]

My laptop permanently bit the dust earlier this year after MANY years of faithful service, but I just got a brand spanking new one!!! The writing continues!!!!

But let’s all collectively say goodbye to Ol Reliable, who stuck by me for over a decade even when things got rough for her the last year and a half

#she can finally rest #that poor laptop was on life support lmao

[writertitan]

Loved the premiere last night

#wow the way i am in shambles #aot

[writertitan]

hope everyone did witchcraft yesterday

#I know I did