-Kaisa-
"I love you, Kaisa."
A soft, sad smile plays across my lips, "I love you, Levi."
And just as we're supposed to leave, Levi kisses me with intention. My arms reach around his shoulders, and his free hand moves to the back of my head. Our soft exchange ends with his head cradled in the crook of my neck as he holds my waist and nape close to him.
"Tell me that you love me when we get home tonight." I softly say.
His hold tightens, "Okay."
Erwin shoots the first smoke signals, letting us know it's time for us to get into position. And with his signal, Levi and I begrudgingly pull away from the embrace. We stand looking at each other for a small moment before turning our backs towards the other, running towards the first titan we'd kill before we'd make our way towards the beast titan. It doesn't take too long for me to arrive, but as soon as I do, I await my next order.
Another smoke signal is released, I hear screams from afar and I withdraw my swords, pressing the gas on my gear as I swing towards my first victim. With hands held high, I swing my body in a circle before crashing down on its nape. It's finally begun.
Our final battle is here.
And with Erwin's command, my body swings between the giant titans, slashing through their flesh with ease. The most difficult part of it all is trying to maintain my momentum while piercing their skin deep enough to kill them. Every drop, my gear clunks as I press on the gas, and it's probably because of the makeshift part of the gear I improvised earlier.
The screams from the other soldiers increasingly get louder as I approach them. Every time I look to the side for a quick moment, I can see Levi's figure faintly swinging just like me, twisting his body to prepare for a kill once he was high in the air. It's almost like a small competition to me. With the adrenaline of all the soldiers riding their horses towards their death, I feel the strength within my bones to push myself faster.
I find myself in a rhythm, and suddenly, I feel the air dancing through my hair once at a consistent pace. My blades hit the sides of my gear when I go to replenish them, creating a small beat to my murderous twirls. With one goal in mind, I find myself approaching the beast titan, relatively ahead from Levi. As soon as I do, Erwin's loud scream fills my ears.
"My soldiers rage!" He calls out.
My brows pull together and a grunt escapes me as I pierce another titan's nape. My friend's have been tortured for too long by these evil creatures, and I refuse to let another one escape my reach. With every single cell in my body, I thrust my blades into its skin, ripping its flesh into two, slicing every single nerve and blood vessel. The sound of a clean cut satisfies my bloodthirsty desire.
"My soldiers scream!" Erwin's voice echoes.
I grit my teeth as my gear launches into the air, letting a scream out as I kill another titan beneath me. Its blood splatters all across my being, drenching my perfect white shirt with red. I can feel the shirt stick directly to my skin, and I can feel the liquids seep through my leather boots, soaking my socks with its lifeline. My hair tie is hanging on by a loose thread, but I ignore its undoing; the only thing that's on my mind is the adrenaline coursing through my body.
"My soldiers fight!"
I look up for a quick moment as I swing unto the next titan, and it feels like time has stopped for a moment. The beast titan has lunged his arm forward, rocks flying from his grasp directly towards the green smoke signals that the remaining Survey Corps soldiers used. Those rocks are heading towards people who haven't lived full lives; those rocks are ending the lives of people who simply wanted to see what was beyond the walls that kept them captive. And yet, their story ends here, from what was in the palm of that monster.
I look away from the scene unfolding in front of me, refocusing on the task set in front of me: using these titans to get closer to that beast. The closer I swing, the more my head begins to pound—it's the unnerving feeling that I had earlier on in the day when trying to get to everyone else. It feels like I'm missing something that I know so clearly; it almost feels like I'm missing the most obvious thing in front of me.
And I hate that feeling more than anything.
My daze is interrupted when the titan I've cut doesn't immediately fall underneath me, and it sends a panic through me. I press on my gas, sending me straight into the air before reaching into my belt, pulling out a shuriken. I take a deep breath and take my aim, thanking Levi for this shuriken as the titan falls since I managed to hit the right nerve.
Another gust of wind is blown in my direction as the beast titan shows us his second pitch. This time, some of the debris hits the corners of my face, tearing through the skin on my cheeks. I spit out the gravel all while floating through the air with my grappling hooks. Over, and over again, my body twists in familiar patterns throughout the air, diving and rising in repeat.
As expected, I'm going to reach the beast titan first.
I got the legs.
I'll meet you there.
I slice the nape of the penultimate titan, feeling its warm content all over me as I run off its shoulders to cut through the next one. Without dropping a single beat, my body curves once more, twisting my body after my deep cut into the final titan. As soon as my blades meet on the other side of its nape, I shoot my hooks into the calves of the beast titan.
I make the decision to flip forwards to gain momentum for my cuts, but the moment I do, I see something behind me. Cutting through the field is a tornado at full speed. It almost doesn't look like it's moving, but an inclination tells me that it doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon. I can't do anything to stop it—I'm already mid-flip and my blades are fresh from my gear, ready to slice through the nape of this stupid beast titan.
God, please, won't just you just make that stupid tornado move in front of him?
Ignoring the outcome, my time to make contact finally is here with Levi only one titan away from reaching the top. Flipping my blade around, I pierce the titan's fur, past its skin, into its muscles. The roar from above is incredibly loud, making the air vibrate and my ears ring from his call. It drops to one leg, allowing me to shoot another hook into its other thigh before scaling down the entire leg, cutting every single fiber of his body that my blade made contact with. The beast titan, however, fails to fall.
Shit, I didn't cut deep enough!
Pressing on the gas, I launch myself up into the air grabbing his attention, knowing that Levi would be able to compensate for my mistake.
Twisting my body, I notice the tornado has actually moved in front of the beast titan, but pay no attention to it. Looking down at the beast titan, I see its hand reach out to crush me but I don't fear—Levi is right here.
Levi lets out a grunt as his gear pierces through the beast's wrist, swinging right underneath it before scaling down its arms as I fall. Our capes fly in the air, granting us wings before we both finish the job. Without conversation, Levi and I continue our attack.
Shooting a hook into the beast's shoulder, I swing behind them before preparing myself for a final twist to slice their nape. I take a deep breath. My arms are above my head, my arms are extended and are almost locked, my body is ready to spin, and my blades are ready to cut. Without hesitation, my blades crash down perfectly against his nape, only to have it protected by his hand. The claw freshly slides off its wrist just as Levi takes the opportunity to cut his other arm off completely.
"You seemed to be enjoying yourself there." Levi spits.
I follow through with my cut before lunging above the titan once again, looking down at the beast, oblivious that my knuckles have whitened thanks to my grip. The air feels heavy; something about this interaction is so different from anything I've experienced before. It doesn't matter, though—I still have one goal ahead of me.
As I fall, the words flow easily from my lips as my hair-tie finally lets loose while the sky thunders around us.
"Do you know what happens when the sun and moon cross?"
Landing on its forehead on my left foot, a spark flashes. I push off, flipping backwards as I make eye contact with the beast, a blade right on my side ready to slice its jaw open to prevent it from screaming.
"You get an eclipse."
With vigor, I cut through its mouth, dropping its jaw before swinging up. Above me, Levi slides right past, taking the opportunity to slice through his vision. Our bodies twist to opposite sides, the cogwheels rattling in our gear from our sharp turns. The metallic sound of our hooks shoot back into our gear as we're propelled into the air seamlessly.
And just like a month ago, Levi and I free fall on either side of the titan as it wavers in its position. We lock eyes once again, mirroring each other's actions as we drop the dull blades, the clank of metal crashing against our gear. What should be a quick moment is frozen as we float above the corpses of our dead comrades who rest not too far away. Blood trickles down both of our faces; our shirts will never be white again, and the blood on our hands is etched into the wrinkles on our palms.
How many have we lost just to get here?
Time resumes and we both flip our blades as I dig the sharp end into its torso while Levi finishes off the last leg I failed to cut completely. We both swing up one last time before I snap down on his nape, making it easier for Levi to finish the job.
Levi taunts the beast as it finally collapses with blades in the air, "Well don't let me put a damper on your fun."
Levi doesn't hesitate for a second before reaching for his nape, carving his weapon into the beast's neck without regard repeatedly. As he does so, I bring my attention to the tornado that is barely there anymore. Soon, it fades into the air completely, clearing the view of all the dead horses and soldiers who took their final stride alongside their commander.
Suddenly, a man is released from the beast titan's nape with a scream.
I didn't need a monkey suit to know that a white man would've come out of it, so the confirmation isn't surprising.
His body is thrown at me from all of the steam coming out from his body. I step to the side, letting him fall. The man, however, had different plans and turned around to face Levi only to be met with a blade which would be thrusted into his throat, pushed to the ground.
"Afghke!" The man struggles.
"What beautiful words you have to say." I sarcastically respond, walking over to the top of his body.
"Turning into a titan puts a heavy strain on your body, so you can't transform again while you're busy healing. Isn't that right?" Levi scowls.
The man stays quiet, struggling to breathe with the weapon between his lips. All he does is look at me intently with wide eyes. His gaze follows me as I move around Levi to clean the excess blood off his handles while he's asking his questions. The man's intense stare brings the headaches back, and I can't help but press my brows together as I silently deal with the pain.
"Hey. Answer me. Don't you have any manners?"
"It's fine," I say while rubbing my forehead with the back of my hand, "I'll see if I can get any information from his thoughts."
We can't kill him yet.
I know. Let me see if I can figure anything out after tuning into his memories.
Putting the bloodied cloth into my pocket, I walk over to him. He has blonde hair, blue eyes, and a sculpted body. I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that he'd have to be in some sort of good condition in order to transform into a titan. Regardless, with each step, the pounding in my head gets worse with every single detail that I take notice off. Despite his long beard, his eyebrows are actually not as thick as I would have imagined. Even with such small minute details, I can't help but feel apprehensive of the man. The moment I crouch next to him, he struggles underneath Levi's foot, which rests on his chest.
Confused, I question the man, "What are you so worried about? Don't men like you enjoy having pretty young women touch them?"
"Oi, just do your damn thing." Levi cuts my teasing short, shoving the blade deeper into the man's throat.
Placing my hands on the sides of his head, an immediate migraine overwhelms my ability to think. My head feels incredibly hot to the touch; the migraine pulsates between my temples and I have a whole bunch of fragmented thoughts flying around in my head haphazardly.
"Agh-oh my fucking God!" I exclaim in excruciating pain, pulling away from the man and placing my own hands on my head.
Angrily, I grit my teeth, taking the knife out of my pocket before stabbing him on the right side of his chest.
"Are you making that happen, you fucking idiot?! I fucking dare you to that again!" I scream.
The man lets out a muffled scream.
"God, I fucking hate it when you do this kind of shit, Zeke!" I spit at him while the pounding in my head continuously gets worse.
"Who the fuck is Zeke?" Levi asks.
"Hell if I know!" I yell in response, "Gosh this fucking man is going to get it."
Pulling out the knife from his chest, I hold it to his eye, "I've done this once before, I'll fucking do it again if I need to."
Can you get the information out of him?
"God, I am trying Levi!" I scream out loud in response.
A part of me knows I'm acting like a bitch, but it literally feels like my head is about to rip apart into two. But, even if I am dealing with this pain, I have to make sure that I get some information out of him otherwise this entire plan would have been for nothing. Gaining the courage, I place my hand on his head again, trying to search for something useful.
It gets worse, my entire body feels spent trying to unlock the memories of this man, but for some reason it's so fucking difficult. It feels like there's some sort of barrier that he's putting up to keep me from reading anything, but what is so important that he doesn't want me to know?!
Suddenly, the sky snaps with a golden spark, crashing down. All at once, the headaches are alleviated, and the air feels lighter than before. Not a second passes before finally, I have memories accessible to me. Closing my eyes, I search his thoughts hoping to find something interesting. Instead, all I see are his childhood memories, filled with what appears to be his younger sister; a girl who wore a long, white, and formal dress that ended at her ankles with short sleeves that ruffle at the tip. Sometimes they ran together through the streets, and sometimes he carried her around upside down, holding her ankles while she called out for help as a joke. Pinky-promises here, pinky-promises there, random games of chess, and for some reason, swing-sets.
Then there they are, the same man with rounded glasses, the same woman with short-blonde hair—the same people who I saw when Hange showed me a part of Annie's crystal. My stomach drops, awaiting the young girl to turn around so I could get a proper look at her. Her brown hair is just past her shoulders, and two small front pieces of her hair are braided around the crown of her head before falling down with the rest of her locks. I can feel myself leaning in forward physically, almost in hopes of seeing her faster.
But before I can, someone shoves themselves right into me, disconnecting my touch on the man.
"No!" I scream, reaching out for the man's body once more as we fall.
A grunt escapes my lips as we tumble off the decomposing beast titan's body. I struggle against the person who's on top of me, unable to see them as the new memories fade from my vision. Finally, we roll to an end, and the memories have cleared from my vision. Levi rests on top of me with concerned eyes searching my face.
"I was so close! I almost figured it out..." I whimper, fists pressing against his chest in defeat.
"We gotta go. Get up." Levi states, rolling off me and standing up before helping me up.
"I almost figured it out..." I sadly repeat, "Why'd you pull me away?" I ask, wiping both eyes with the back of my hand.
"Because we almost got eaten by that fucker." He says, pointing at a titan running on four legs with the man in its mouth.
"Oh shit." I curse.
The man's voice is almost audible, but he taunts us from afar before the four-legged titan drops a whole bunch of bags off its back. Suddenly, multiple explosions in front of us take place.
"More titans?!" I say, voice breaking, "I thought we killed them all."
"He just made more. Come on, we have to go!" Levi says, drawing his blades before running towards the first titan.
I'm so taken aback that with the first step, it feels like I'm learning how to walk all over again. But not too long after, my feet turn into a sprint.
I need to know.
I need to know.
I need to know.
I need to know more.
Levi has already killed a titan, which is beginning to fall backwards. I attach a hook to its falling body, pressing on my gas before running up its dead body, jumping off its shoulder to catch up with Levi who's making his way towards that stupid titan. The moment I pull up next to him, we subconsciously make the decision to alternate the kills, which have us scaling the entire field faster than we could have ever imagined. Soon enough, we reach the wall, pressing on our gas to get up as soon as possible.
As soon as we climb over, the destruction of what used to be Shiganshina is apparent. My head drops for a second, unable to look at the red painted across the rooftops. Even then, the city has a ring of death now; it is clearly visible where the colossal titan transformed, but it is nowhere to be seen.
"Shit, did both of the other titans get taken too?" Levi asks.
Scanning the premises, I notice Eren is no longer on the wall.
"Hey, Levi, have you seen Eren?"
"Eren? Isn't that kid over-" Levi looks over his shoulder to where Eren was only 30 minutes ago, "Is this a fucking joke?"
Tapping my gas tank, it rings near empty.
"I'm also almost out of gas. I don't know if I can catch up." I mention in frustration.
"I'll follow that idiot's trail, you find some other person's tank and exchange your gas and try to see if you can find anyone. See if you can find Hange. If you find anyone alive, stay with them and maybe I can bring that monkey back for them to eat."
"Okay." I nod.
Before we depart, Levi places his hand behind my head before pulling it towards him, softly kissing my forehead before jumping off the wall to complete our failed task. His movement is so fluid I almost miss the slightly pained look on his face from having to leave me. I stay on the wall for a moment longer, looking down at the destruction that looks impossible to survive.
Promise me you won't die.
His confident voice echoes through my thoughts—a warm reassurance.
Not until I get home to tell you that I love you.
----
hi hey hello!
it's ya girl, covidiain who no longer has covid lmao. omicron got me messed up (kinda).
regardless, here's your weekly update~
let me know what you think and if you have conspiracies PLEASE let me know! my favourite part is reading your thoughts :')
much love and take care,
~covidiain (cendiain)