Chapter Text
"Hanji!"
"We need to leave!"
"Come on! We already lost too many soldiers!"
"Hanji get your ass back here!" Levi shouted angrily at the crazy squad leader currently chasing the run away titan. They had managed to capture the titan with a net but this abnormal had turned out to have exceptionally sharp teeth. It also displayed a considerable amount of intelligence. It had discovered that it could cut through the trap and had quickly chewed it's way out.
The fat bastard.
And now Hanji was chasing after it, insisting that they needed new subjects and that a new expedition wouldn't be possible for a while. This titan was perfect.
"Hanji! You are endangering everyone you-"
Hanji launched herself towards the titan wounding its legs and distrupting its balance.
Every minute they spent in the damn forest got them closer to being targeted by titans.
The forest was wide and deep. It was suitable for 3DMD gear but at the same time the height of the trees made it difficult for sunlight to reach the ground. And it was getting late...
Suddenly, the titan turned and grabbed Hanji by the leg before she could get away. She screamed.
"Damn it!" Levi launched his grappling hook towards a nearby tree and swung himself towards the titan.
He managed to cut its arm so that it would let Hanji go. It worked and Hanji was freed. From the corner of his eye he saw her land safely. He quickly moved to finish it off while avoiding its grasp. The titan was big but it was no match for Levi. He easily moved around the titan while it tried to catch up. He was fast and clever as always.
The titan grabbed him by the cloak.
"Agh!"
"Levi!" Hanji cried out and launched herself forward to land a blow on the titan's wrist.
But it was too late.
In the blink of an eye the titan had tossed Levi into its waiting mouth and gulped him down whole.
"Noooo!"
***
Roars of other titans had begun echoing through the forest.
Cries of the soldiers being devoured accompanied them.
It was too late. The titans had found them. The mission was a disaster.
"We are leaving! All squads follow my lead!" Commander Erwin's voice boomed from afar.
They needed to get the formation back together.
"Squad leader Hanji! We need to leave!" One of the soldiers that had followed them was shouting frantically at her.
"But-" Hanji was left speechless. Levi... She had never thought this was possible. "What have I done..."
"Come on!" Mike called.
There was nothing they could do... Petra's face came to her mind. Oluo... Gunter... Countless others. Her friends.. Levi...
They had to leave. And this time, she complied.
They rode as fast as they could.
"Hanji! Where is Captain Levi?"
Hanji's blood froze. It was Eren Jaeger's voice.
"I... I'm sorry." She stuttered. "He didn't make it."
"Oh my..." Krista Lenz gasped.
"Did you see it?"
"What?" Hanji turned.
Eren's face was ghostly pale.
"Eren, are you o-"
"Did you see it happen?!"
"I... Yes. The titan... Swallowed him whole."
"Eren what are you-" Armin Arlert cried out.
Eren had turned his horse around and was riding full speed.
"Eren!" Mikasa Ackerman shouted after him. She almost turned around as well.
"Mikasa!" Mike held her arm. "Don't!"
"But-"
"He'll manage. We can't risk anyone else."
"How can you-"
"We need to keep riding!"
This whole expedition was a shitshow.
***
"Ugh. Disgusting."
Levi stood covered in the slimey substance of the titan's stomach. It was sticky and smelled weird. He remembered the pale yellow-ish saliva that Eren had been covered in after being saved from the female titan's mouth. He shuddered. Disgusting. He almost lost his calm. He wanted to scream. He needed to get this damn thing off of him.
He needed to get out of there.
Except he couldn't see a thing.
Everywhere he looked was shrouded in darkness. He was buried in slime up to his waist. He took a step forward in an effort to explore this strange territory. He immideately felt something touch his arm. He instinctively reached out to touch it. It felt... furry. No... He knew what it was.
It was hair.
Levi squeaked. He tried to get away only to feel another severed body pressing against his back.
He let out a sob. How had he ended up in this shithole...
How many of these people had he known? All these severed heads and limbs.... He must be swimming in their blood. Levi felt nauseous.
Pull yourself together.
He was going to cut his way out.
He reached for his blades but they were... gone. All of them. They must have fallen off when he fell.
Levi felt so hollow. His head was refusing to accept what was going on.
He was going to die here.
How had this happen? He was the best among all of the Survey Corps. He had killed titans no one else could even dream of faceing. How had a single stupid titan had been able to defeat him? Humanity's strongest. Was that going to be his end?
He angrily kicked the slime only for it to get in his mouth.
"Aghhh!"
He was starting to lose it. The panic was taking over.
He was going to die here.
Covered in slime and the blood of his comrades. Surrounded by their bodies. Or rather whatever was left of them.
The titan was going to spit his corpse out in a gutter.
There was no honor in dying like this. He didn't feel like he had sacrificed himself for the sake of humanity. Just another soldier. Dead in a gutter for no reason at all.
He didn't feel heroic. Or honored. He felt alone and scared.
He felt abandoned.
No one was going to come for him.
No one was going to remember him.
They were going to go on with their lives. Suppressing his memory so it did not pain them.
Just like he had after losing his comrades.
He thought of Petra. Gunter. Eld. Oluo.
Isabel.
Furlan...
He felt something click in his mind. It was too much. He started sobbing.
He had thought himself so brave. Not fearing anything. Even death.
Yet all the titans in the world couldn't prepare him for this moment.
Would anyone miss him?
He had never thought he would have to consider this. He had never thought that he'd care.
Why did it even matter?
But there he was.
Hanji would remember, perhaps. When she wasn't absorbed in her titan studies.
Erwin? Maybe. But he knew that the commander prefered not to dwell on the past. Or his fallen soldiers. No regrets . His code. Or you let your future be taken from you. After all they had been through together... The small banter, fighting side by side, trust...Was he going to be just another forsaken name for him?
And the young ones?
He had never really shared a deep bond with them. He was their captain. That was all.
Eren...
Levi gulped. They had been through a lot together. He had saved him countless times.
But did it really mean anything?
Did he mean anything to Eren?
Whatever they shared was over and that was it. It was momentary. Eren didn't really need him.
He had his friends after all. Mikasa. Armin. He loved them and was loved in return. He had a life. A purpose.
Eren had no reason to like him.
Hah. Another thing Levi never thought he would have to consider.
He stood there. Staring into nothing. He felt so tired.Tired of thinking, questioning, fighting... For the first time, he realized how exhausted he was of this war.
There was no reason to stay strong now. No reason to hide from himself. This was the end of his pathetic life. Half of which was spent under the ground. In darkness. How ironic it was that his death brought him back to his origin. His true self...
All of a sudden an angry roar boomed outside and the titan's body shook.
Then it lost its balance and all of its stomach turned upside down as if the titan had spun in the air.
Levi nearly drowned in the sticky substance and all the bodies that swum in it.
He managed to reach the surface just as the roof was ripped open and a bright light filled the place.
Levi couldn't see anything for a moment while his eyes adjusted. Tiny drops of rain were hitting his face.
Then he found himself staring at the glowing green eyes of a familiar titan.
He gasped.
The titan's hand was the last thing he saw before everything went black.