A huge explosion came from the other side of the wall. The Colossal Titan must have transformed.
The sound of it distracted you for a second, making you almost fly straight into a Titan. Luckily, you quickly grabbed your blades and sliced its nape.
You looked around for Levi and saw him near a small bell tower ahead of you.
"Levi!" you called out.
He turned around and you could see relief in his eyes. All the Titan blood had evaporated off him, and you could see his face clearly.
"I just killed the last of them. The only ones left are the small ones at the front," you told him, landing a few feet away on a roof that was next to him.
Another soldier landed next to you. His face was familiar to you, but you didn't know his name.
"How do we take down the Beast Titan? He seems perfectly content sitting over there. He hasn't moved an inch," the soldier said, looking over all the Titans in the distance.
"Yeah, it seems he's a coward," Levi remarked. "Not like he ever had balls to begin with."
"You should take a break. We'll take out the rest," he said, giving Levi a reassuring nod.
After that, he took a small group of soldiers with him and headed towards the rest of the Titans at the front.
"What do you think that explosion was?" he asked. "I hope Hange and the others are okay. We just need to get to that side and-"
The look on Levi's face made you whip your head towards the Beast Titan, but your sight of him was blocked by incoming boulders, making your heart drop.
You ducked and narrowly missed a boulder that flew over your head. Letting out a groan of frustration, you looked over at Levi. He looked horrified.
Blood and debris flew into the air; the screams of your comrades echoing throughout your ears.
"Shit!" Levi shouted, taking off into the air, with you right behind him.
From what you could see, the Beast Titan picked up another huge boulder, crushing it in his hands. Your eyes widened and you looked at Levi. He seemed to react just a split second too late.
With all your strength, you pushed him down to the ground, behind a house. Your hands cushioned his head from the fall.
Before you knew it, more boulders came flying over your head, but you didn't move. You heard Levi's breath hitch and in one swift movement, he was hovering over you, protecting your body from the incoming boulders.
More screams and shrieks of pain could be heard from all around you. The sound of it making a lump form in your throat. You pushed it down. Now was not the time to cry.
After a few minutes, everything eventually died down and Levi pulled away from you.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes looking all over your body for any sign of injuries.
You nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. What about you?"
He sighed. "Yeah... Now let's go. We have to warn the other troops about the possibility of more incoming boulders."
You nodded and stood up. Your hooks shot into the house next to you and you made your way to where the horses were.
"The Titan's throwing boulders!" Levi shouted once you reached the remaining cadets.
"Captain Levi!" Marlo looked relieved to see you and Levi.
"All of you, retreat to the wall with the horses!" You looked over all of them, seeing worry and confusion written on their faces.
They were about to respond, but another round of boulder came rushing towards you, crushing the surrounding houses.
"Hurry! Stay out of the line of fire!" Levi bellowed.
They all grabbed their horse's reins and ran back towards the wall. On the way there, a boy that you saw once fighting with Jean fell to the ground, covering his ears.
"Get up!" you shouted back towards him, but stopped when you saw Levi pull him up from his position.
When you turned around, Erwin appeared in front of you.
You almost sighed in relief.
"Erwin. How's it looking?" you asked, an urgent tone in your voice.
"Terrible," he answered. "His throws have destroyed the front line of houses. If he keeps on throwing, everything will get leveled... We won't have anywhere left to hide."
"Why don't we retreat to the other side of the wall?" Levi's face was normal. But, in his eyes, you could see that he was hurting. The amount of deaths that you had seen today was horrifying.
"No. The Colossal Titan is already heading this way. It's spreading fire all along his path."
You ran a hand down your face and gripped your cloak tightly in your hand. You were frustrated, tired and angry.
"Supposing we scale the wall to evade the stones, we'd have to leave the horses." Erwin had a distant look on his face as he spoke his next words. "If we retreat here, there's no hope for victory."
"What happened to Hange's group?" you asked, the question eating at your mind.
"Is Eren alright?" Levi cut you off from the next question you were going to ask.
"I don't know. But the majority of them were caught in that explosion. We've been dealt a serious blow. The Beast Titan directed the small Titans so our soldiers would group up in one place. All other Squads... Dirk, Marlene and Klaus... they were all wiped out."
You tuned out the rest of the conversation as the screams from your comrades racked through your brain again. You winced at the memory of all the blood and clenched your fist in anger. All this death... just get get stuck in a corner by some fucking monkey? Those Scouts didn't deserve to die.
"Our remaining forces this side of the gate consists of you new Scout recruits, Levi, Y/N and... me."
The thought that there were so little people left made anger spike throughout your body. These soldiers... they were only recruits.
All the recruits screamed as another round of bombardment came crashing against the wall, blood splattering everywhere.
"Erwin... do you have and sort of plan?" Levi asked.
Before Erwin could respond, a loud crash came from atop the wall. Looking up, you saw Eren's Titan form laying on his back, and he wasn't moving.
"Eren?" you asked, all ounces of hope gone from your voice.
"He got himself flung on top of the wall?"
Just as you were about to fly up to go see if Eren was okay, Erwin stopped you.
"Stop, Y/N. I need you here, remember?"
You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to focus on the task at hand.
More boulders came flying at you. More deaths. More screams. You wanted it all to stop.
"The Beast Titan has a good idea of where we are." Levi looked over all the fallen houses. "Erwin." Levi turned back to look at him. "If you're saying we've got no change to counterattack, then let's get ready to flee. Go shake the shit out of Eren until he wakes up. Go with him and flee with as many people as possible. That way... we'll at least have some survivors."
A while passed by and not one of you said anything. The tension if the whole situation put a huge weight on your shoulders.
"What if whoever's left of the recruits and Hange's group scatter on horses... and try to make it home. By using them as a decoy, you guys could escape on Eren."
"Levi. Y/N. What would you do?"
"I trust that Y/N can take down the surrounding Titans. I'm facing the Beast Titan. I'll draw him away-"
"Impossible... You wont even get close."
"Probably not. But if you and Eren return home alive, there's still hope."
Your head snapped towards him, your eyes full of shock and horror. He just said... He would throw his life away. He would throw his life away for the good of the mission.
No...
As if Levi sensed your stare, your uneasy aura, he looked at you with soft eyes, and he spoke quietly, "That's the best we can ask for at this point."
You looked toward the ground and clenched your eyes shut, thinking about the possibility that you wouldn't make it out of this alive.
"What a huge defeat." Levi glared at the ground. "To be honest, I doubt a single one of us is making it back alive."
Your head snapped up and you looked at him with sad eyes. There was probably no chance that you would ever get the future that you dreamed about with Levi. When he looked at you, you knew that he felt the exact same way. It almost brought tears to your eyes, but you pushed then down. You still had a chance.
"Yes, assuming we had no way to counterattack."
Levi's eyes slowly went wide as he looked at Erwin.
"You... Do you have a plan? Is there a way?" you asked, desperation in your voice.
"Yes."
"Why didn't you say that sooner?" Levi asked angrily. "Why did you keep your shitty mouth shut?"
"If the plan goes well, you may be able to take down the Beast Titan. Y/N... you play a huge part in this, too. But it will take the recruits... and myself to give our lives."
More bombardment. More lives lost.
"It's like you said," Erwin started, "Either way, most of us will die. No, it's almost guaranteed we'll all be wiped out. In which case, we can stake our heroic deaths on a slim chance of victory."
Erwin went to go sit on a crate in front of a worn-down house. He looked exhausted. You followed slowly, knowing where he was going with this.
"It would take an expert con man to convince these young ones to give their lives. If I do not lead the vanguard, none of them will follow. And I will die before anyone else."
There it was. Erwin... He was willing to lead these recruits straight to their deaths. He knew that they would never do it if he wasn't leading them. A single tear slipped down your cheek.
"Without even learning what's in the basement..."
"Huh?"
You stepped back a bit, still in earshot of the conversation. You figured that you would give them the chance to have this last conversation. You could speak with Erwin before he leaves.
"I... I want to go to the basement." Erwin looked down at his hand. "Everything I've done 'till now was because I thought this day would come... That someday, I could check if I was right. So many times... I thought death would be so much easier... But always, the dream I shared with my father flashed through my mind. And now, I'm close enough to the answers to reach out and grab them."
He looked so desperate. So desperate to find out the truth. But he was willing to put that off if it meant that the truth would be unveiled anyway... even if he wasn't here to see it happen.
"They're right there... But, Levi, Y/N. Can you see them? Our comrades?"
Endless tears streamed down your face. There was no stopping them now. You saw it all. Every death... Every person. Isabel.. Farlan... Petra... Oluo... Eld... Gunther... Mike... Nanaba... Nifa...
All their deaths flashed before your eyes.
It hurt so bad.
So bad.
"Our comrades are looking at us. They want to know what became of the hearts they gave. But the fighting isn't over yet."
More bombardment. More blood. Screams. Deaths.
"Is it all just inside my head? Nothing more than a childish delusion?"
You clenched your eyes shut and lowered your head to the ground. Levi walked towards Erwin, kneeling in front of him with his head hung low.
"You've fought well," Levi said. "It's all thanks to you that we've come this far... I'm making the choice."
You slowly opened your eyes and raised your head to look at Levi. He looked so tired. So defeated. So broken.
"Give up on your dream and die. Lead the recruits straight into hell. I will take down the Beast Titan."
A sad smile appeared on Erwin's face.
¤¤¤¤
"All troops, line up!" Erwin shouted, all the recruits moving to stand in front of him. "We will be doing a cavalry charge. Our goal: To rush the Beast Titan. Of course, we'll be making ourselves ideal targets. So, we'll wait until he's ready to throw and fire our smoke signals together. That should reduce his accuracy. While we're acting as a decoy, Captain Levi will kill the Beast Titan. Y/N will take down the Titans surrounding them. That is our plan."
A few second of silence passed. Everyone looked horrified. They knew they were going to meet their deaths soon.
A girl in dropped to her knees and threw up all over the floor, heaving for air.
"Standing and waiting just means we'll be showered by more boulders. Get ready."
You sighed and walked a little ways away, wanting to clear your mind a little.
The look of the faces on some of the recruits broke your heart. They didn't deserve this. They had families, friends, people who cared about them.
After awhile of thinking and being inside your own head, you felt a large hand on your shoulder.
Turning around, you saw that it was Erwin. He was giving you a bittersweet smile.
"Y/N."
You looked at the ground, not meeting his eyes.
"Look at me." It was an order.
Slowly, you raised your eyes to meet his.
"I wanted to apologise."
You were taken aback. Apologise for what?
Before you could question him, he spoke up.
"I wanted to apologise for strangling you all those years ago."
You looked up at him with wide eyes, but your vision was blurred was tears.
"That... That's what you wanted to say?" you asked, wiping the tears forming in your eyes.
He didn't say anything. He didn't have to.
Erwin Smith... He was so close to achieving his dream. He was so consumed by guilt about the lives he had to sacrifice to get to where he was now. He couldn't ignore that it was time to make a sacrifice. He couldn't have said that he didn't die in vain if he didn't do this now. But his dream... You saw a moment of weakness in Erwin's eyes.
"Is it all just inside my head? Nothing more than a childish delusion?"
That was his way if telling Levi to break the chain of command and tell Erwin what to do. Because Erwin knows that if he was left to make the decision himself... he would be selfish.
That sad smile he gave... that was his way of showing gratitude.
Levi was so harsh. He knew that it was what Erwin needed to hear.
Instead of saying anything, you slowly landed forward and wrapped your arms around his waist, embracing him in such a way... that you both knew it was a goodbye.
"Goodbye, Y/N."
No... Please.
"No, Erwin... There has to be another way-" you stammered.
"No, Y/N... There isn't." He held you tighter.
"Please..." you whispered, tears streaming down your face.
"I'm sorry, Y/N. This is the only way." He rested his chin on top of your head and sighed. "The only way."
Please...
"I love you, Erwin..." you muttered. It felt like your soul was detached from your body. "Y-You're like a father to me, and... I... I never want to lose that."
Erwin exhaled. "I'm sorry, Y/N. I wish there was something I could do." He put his hand on top of your head and ruffled your hair. "And, I... I love you, too."
You clenched your eyes shut and hugged him in a death grip, knowing there was nothing you could do. "Goodbye, Erwin. You were great Commander... You'll always be a great Commander. And... I promise, I'll never forget you. Thank you." You pulled away and smiled at him through teary eyes. "Thank you for everything."
He chuckled and nodded, turning away without another glance.
You sighed and turned around, only to see Levi walking towards you. He was wearing a frown. This conversation wasn't going to be easy.
Once he was directly in front of you, he stopped.
"Y/N..." he whispered softly.
"Yes?" you whispered back, leaning your head on his chest and wrapping your arms around him.
"I'll give you the future we talked about... I promise."
You pulled away and looked at him. Without another word, you crashed your lips against his.
After a few seconds, you pulled away, but not fully, and gave him one last smile.
"I love you," he whispered against your lips.
"I love you."
And you walked away, a newfound courage inside your chest.
¤¤¤¤
After getting the signal from Erwin, you shot your hooks into the wall and used the momentum to turn around.
A Titan was right in front of you. It wasn't moving, giving you the chance to slice through its nape easily.
You saw the soldiers down below, charging for the Beast Titan. Erwin's white horse was at the front, but you looked away before you could get too distracted.
You cut through Titan after Titan. There were so many of them, and you were beginning to get out of breath.
Eventually, the cries from your comrades stopped.
You knew what that meant.
From the corner of your eye, you saw Levi appear from a cloud of green smoke, a scowl on his face as he sliced through whatever flesh from the Beast Titan he could find.
You focused on the Titans in your line of sight. There was blood evaporating from your body.
It felt like forever since you last did this. Adrenaline was pumping inside your veins as you spun in the air, cutting through the napes of more Titans.
It all went quiet all of a sudden. You looked over at Levi, finding that he held a sword in - what you assumed to be - the owner of the Beast Titan.
Loud thuds from behind you made you whip your head around. The quadruped was running toward Levi and you couldn't even shout his name as a warning. It got there too quickly.
Luckily, he jumped out of the way, but the body of the Titan Shifter was in its mouth.
Levi looked so defeated.
Three of the Titans that were reaching for you suddenly turned around and ran towards Levi and reached out for him.
"Shit!" you growled, shooting your ODM Gear into one of the Titan's napes and killing it before it could reach Levi.
It all happened in slow motion.
Levi wasn't looking when a Titan ran at him, its mouth wide open as it was about to snap its jaw shut.
"LEVI!" you screamed, racing towards him, using more and more of your gas to get there faster.
He turned around at the sound of your voice, but you were already right there next to him, using all your strength to push him out the way.
His hand grazed yours as he reached for you.
As the world slowly became dark, the Titan's mouth closing in on you, you looked into his eyes and whispered the last thing you wanted him to know.
"I love you."
Then you were swallowed whole.