Levi wasn't used to being separated from Eren for too long. It was almost like an individual with bad eye sight trying to walk around without glasses, or an amputee trying to travel without a walking stick. He was still very weak and he knew for a fact that if it wasn't for the pheromone, he would be able to easily rip through the metal bars. If he could, he would tear open an entrance and burst through the halls to track Eren down and get him as fast as he could. Loving Eren made his once cold heart warm and soft, but at this point he didn't care about his masculinity, he just wanted to see him. He would probably do anything just to see him, even it was just a few seconds.
He had never known what dying felt like until now; not because of the nasty pheromone but because he couldn't see Eren. Not being with Eren was much worse than death, he thought. His heart was aching, like it had been filled to the brim with overwhelming feelings of sadness and loss. All he could do was watch his own fingers clench and unclench as he tried desperately to remind what his warm hands felt like when it was wrapped in his. The incredible warmth was all he could remember as well as the soft ridges of his fingers or the roughness of his palms. All this time, he had taken him for granted. He would always think that a human like him would never be far from his reach, and now he was.
Despite their past together of somewhat good memories and shared kisses, Levi was going to kill Petra once he was able to get out. Memories of her didn't matter anymore, all he cared about was what memories he would make with Eren if they made it out alive, but he knew he would. He was never going to forgive himself if he escaped without him, or got him murdered. He used to be used to the feeling of being all by himself, but now he understood why he hated it so much; it left his mind quiet but the exception of negative intrusive thoughts invading every living cell. It was bothersome and clogging his brain.
The Levi who was once the brutal murdering machine and literal embodiment of pure horrid terror was now shaking and in pain on the floor. If the townspeople could see him, they would mock him until the day they passed on.
Ironically and as if on cue, a scream echoed from the hallways outside his cage. He could recognize it anywhere, and there was not a way to mistake that it was anyone but Eren who made the blood-curling sound. Levi jumped up as if he wasn't in any pain at all; suddenly the pain that was rushing to his thighs and calfs could not be felt, and the throbbing headaches were nothing compared to the way he felt when he heard him. He zipped towards the bars and clung onto them tightly.
"Eren!" he shouted. "Eren, my Eren, is that you? Eren!"
He shortly came into view, and he looked horrible. There were small gashes covering his limbs and bite marks dotted all over his neck and wrists. He was pale, paler than Levi could ever be, and his hair was wet with his own blood and sweat. Petra was casually dragging him by the back of shirt.
"Le-"
"Oh, shut up already, you irritating thing." The voice of Petra was followed by the sound of a loud slap. Levi flinched as if he were the one harmed.
"Don't touch him, you witch. I'm going to kill you," he snarled aggressively.
"Levi." His voice gurgled. His throat was filled with his own blood. "Levi." He said his named in hopes that he could somehow save him.
"'Levi, Levi,'" Petra mimicked. "Shut. Up. He can't save you, and he can't kill me. If he tried, he would be done before he can even lift a finger."
"Let him go, please," Levi begged. "I'll stay. Just keep me and let him go."
"Aw, now isn't that sweet?"
"No, I'm not leaving without Lev-" His voice was muffled when Petra slapped a hand over his mouth.
"If I hear his name come out of your mouth one more time, I'll break the other leg," she threaded with a violent smile.
"YOU BROKE HIS LEG?" he roared. "I'm going to kill you for sure."
She laughed coldly. "I'd love to watch you try, dear. You can't even swing a punch, now can you?"
Levi was throwing himself at the metal bars at this point, like a violent mutt growling in a cage. Being confined and not able to do anything to comfort Eren was not helping at all.
"Just tell me what you want and I'll give it to you. Let him go," Levi pleaded hopelessly.
"I'm afraid it's far too late. You've already given up what I wanted," she said sadly. For a moment, he almost pitied her. Although she did not stated what she wanted, he knew exactly what she was talking about.
She was right; he couldn't give it to her.
---
After talking back to Petra, Eren wasn't very surprised that he would be punished for speaking his mind. She had stepped on his leg. If someone was watching from afar, they would most likely like it was the most softest and gentle step ever, but they would be greatly mistaken. It felt like a hundred pounds were being pressed against his already injured leg. He remembered how he had yowled in agony and the petite snapping sound that told him that Petra had in fact broke his leg. Or at least that's what it felt like. At this point he couldn't quite tell if it was a broken bone or not.
And so he was left alone to wither in the caliginous and confined space. Petra had thrown him in as if he were as light as a sack of feathers. She was a cruel woman- no, a vampire. They were all cruel to begin with, excluding Levi. Although he was shouting at Petra and begging her to let him go, his voice was still euphonious despite the pain behind it. Wihtout him there, Eren was feeling terribly lugubrious. It hasn't even been a whole day since he was away from him, but he already felt like it had been a couple thousand protracted years.
He crawled around in the dark, wandering in the small confinement for any secret exit. If he didn't escape soon, he would die. He could sense that infection of his injuries would get to him first before Petra did. Going almost unnoticed, a rusty but sharp nail rolled next to his fingertips. His hand searched for it and clasped it tightly. The army never taught him how to pick a lock, but perhaps he could try. It then came to mind that the cage was not locked with a lock, but with heavy metals bars forbidding the doors from opening. Although the mere nail had no potential use for opening the door, it could do harm. Petra was indeed very powerful, but she could still be hurt.
He calculated that she would arrive soon to check on him in approximately one hour, or two at the latest. He formulated a plan in his head; he would drive the nail onto her exposed neck while the door was still opened and limp or crawl as fast as he could. It was ridiculous plan, almost impossible even, but it was worth taking a big risk if it meant seeing Levi again. That was all he wanted. As he waited, all he could was lay helplessly as he slowly felt his own life and energy leak out of him like a broken tap.
---
"It's a stupid plan. All of Erwin's training ended up being impractical and only came down to this, this thing you all call a rescue mission? How embarrassing. Oh, poor Captain Erwin. His ghost is probably going to haunt you all," Hanji said, distressed. Everyone was gathered in her small, makeshift tent. They all had to bend their backs or necks, except Krista.
Jean threw up his hands. "We can't just abandoned him."
"I never said that. I meant that it's embarrassing that I'm actually willing to follow up with this plan. If we save Eren and his boyfriend, perhaps we could do some more research on vampire's and how to eliminate the bad ones," Hanji declared.
Ymir grinned with relief. "Wow."
"But," Hanji continued. "If anything bad happens, like if someone dies, you will not have the right to blame anyone but yourselves, and you will not be allowed to bring any more soldiers with you except the ones already here in this tent."
"That's not fair," Marco shot out. Which was surprising coming from him. "That would be a six versus a bunch of strong beings. It's impossible."
"I'm coming with you, obviously. What kind of captain would I be if I were to leave my soldiers alone?"
"That doesn't make it any better, doesn't it?" Jean said. "There would be only seven of us. There's no way-"
"Listen, I don't want to get any more of my soldiers killed, especially after what happened previously. You've all been into the forest, yes? We let you in there because we knew that if a vampire were to attack, you would be okay all by yourself. Yes, vampires are incredibly strong, but that doesn't mean they cannot die. Eren, for example, he fought one without anyone's help. A rogue vampire at at that. If you're all going to whine and complain about not having enough soldiers by your side because you're scared, I want you to leave this instant. It's not too late," he announced.
They were all suddenly quiet, shocked and in awe from her words. Hanji was indeed a crazy genius, but they would have never guessed that she would agree. No one replied to her offer of leaving. She clapped her hands together excitedly yet dramatically and stood up from her creaky stool with a nutty smile on her face.
"We're going to need a lot of silver weapons. Fortunately, we do have them in the supply tent. Unfortunately some of them could not be found after our feud with the vampires, but it shouldn't be a problem. But just because I'm allowing you all to do this doesn't mean you should go wild, alright? This is for the sake of research and to save a life, got it?" She stood up as she slammed her hands onto the wooden desk almost violently. "What day and time do you propose we leave?"
They all looked at one another and then quickly at Jean since it was his own idea in the first place.
"During the day," Marco blurted out. "That's when they're the weakest, right? That's what Captain Erwin had told us once during training."
Hanji grinned wistfully at the mention of his name before straightening her glasses. "Correct. The next sunny day so happens to be tomorrow, but they could be hiding in a secluded area for all we know. We can surprise them any day if that were the case, but we need to be extra careful. We don't have much experience with what we're dealing with."
"Well," Jean mumbled to himself. Even with his voice so quiet and low, everyone turned to his direction. "How about tonight?"
---
AN:
you see, the bad thing about my fics is that i never know the right time to end them, and so i stretch them further than intended TT
but, this will end soon. fear not, i have another fic on the way!
~your best friend takeshi