Perennial Rose | {Levi x OC} | Shingeki no Kyojin |

Chapter 39: Efflorescence

Levi finds himself trapped in a nightmare.

He opens his eyes to nothing but a blinding mist. He looks down to examine himself. His hands are glued to the handles of two blades that connect to the gear strapped all over his body. Blood is splattered on his heavy cloak and on the rest of his crisp uniform.

Something hits his boot. Levi lowers his head to identify what it is, and tries to turn away as soon as he gets a glimpse of it. He can't move. He is being forced to look at the severed head that has rolled to his feet. Her green eyes stare at nothing but empty space and the mist immediately clears away.

A familiar scene opens its curtains. The large skeleton continuously emits vapor into the air to his left. The sun is starting to uncover itself from the rainy clouds that had filled the sky. Puddles of muddy water cover the earth as dead bodies wade in them. Among those dead bodies are the severed parts of his friends.

The emotions of this dreaded day automatically seep into his heavy heart.

He drops to his knees as he experiences everything again.

The anguish.

The frustration.

The sorrow.

The remorse.

Everything comes back to him.

Levi gnashes his teeth together as he feels the slow trickling of his tears down his face. He forces his eyes shut, using every power in his mind to wake up.

He suddenly comes to a stop as he hears a cry that does not belong to him. Tears from someone other than himself roll down his neck. Levi opens his eyes and finds himself in the arms of a woman. He turns to identify the face of this person who gently wraps her arms around his neck, but her hair is in the way. The sensation of its coarse texture against his cheek is strangely realistic and familiar.

His neck is damp with this woman's tears that seem to dissolve into his skin. They enter the many veins that run through his entire body, and the knot that had twisted inside him begins to untangle. As more of her tears fall onto his skin, the storm of anxiety, frustration, agony, and hate ceases until he feels nothing. It does not disappear into the air, but instead is absorbed by the woman who has purified him with her tears.

The woman wears the same uniform as Levi's, green cloak and all. However, the wings on her back are real. They sway and hover over her as splashes of blackish blood weigh them down. As she absorbs his pain, her wings become drenched with more blood and she eventually falls back. The weight of her soaked wings had pulled her to the ground. He reaches out for her, not wanting to let go of this angel who had relieved him of his burdens.

She lies completely still in a pool of blood.

She drowns in his own blood.

Levi wakes up.

He looks around and recognizes this unfamiliar room as one of the infirmaries inside the headquarters. Levi finds himself in a single bed, lined up with several other ones horizontal to his. All other beds are empty.

However, he is not alone.

Renata sits on the very edge of the mattress, holding his hand on her lap. She perks her head up, noticing that he is finally awake, and calls to him, "Levi..."

Every crook and corner of his body hit him with sharp pangs. "Shit..." He curses while gradually sitting up. His spine aches as he winces in pain, but Renata slowly supports his back with her other hand. Levi touches his moist face and knits his eyebrows at his wet fingers.

Renata responds to his reaction as she continues to cup his hand in hers, "You were crying..." Her voice softens as she meets his tired eyes.

Her feeble heart breaks to see him soaked with tears. As his clouded irises look down upon her, she cannot restrain her own tears and is unable to suppress the urge any longer.