Years passed, the time draining all of the energy within her. She had nightmares, unexplainable ones, where she would be standing in the middle of an empty street, the orange light of the sunset casting over her in a luscious blanket. Her dark eyes would stare up at the giant wall that stood proudly before her, the peace to only be interrupted by the earth crackling and breaking into a low, violent rumble. The wall shattered, and a monstrous, gargantuan skinless head would peer over the solid wall. Here, she would let out a scream that would lead her back into the real world.
Years passed, and the Berlinsky Company flourished as the Survey Corps Expeditions took place annually. With the high demands of more 3-D Maneuver Gear and Titan-slaying blades needed by the Military branches, Edvard's company exploded in wealth. The couple had various military leaders visit their home to talk about business. There was one man, who went by the name of Erwin Smith, who eyed her just how the other men had back in Mitras.
Saika sat at home, cleaning the cottage as the maids watched her; she demanded to keep busy to keep her mind off of things. This method worked very poorly, however, as she would only be thinking about Levi even more.
Her nightmares became frequent, occurring almost every night at around the same time. Edvard, concerned of his wife's health, called in an infamous doctor from Wall Maria for monthly sessions.
Levi suffered in the Underground. Though the trio's success rate for raiding food stands was high, Levi grew even more hostile than ever. Farlan was just as devastated, even though his actions did not show it; Saika was Levi's, and there was no doubt in the world about that. Isabel, seeing how Levi had handled Saika's kidnapping, now refused to argue with him and, rather, admired him for his strength. She hated to see him in this kind of mood, which dominated all of his emotions every day now, and frequently tried to cheer him up with her spunky attitude.
Still, he saw nothing ahead for him, and his sense of morale plummeted when he tried his last attempt to break inside the Kippermann Manor, which lay in ruins.
He stepped though the blasted open door, careful to step over the body of an older butler splayed out in front. He recognized this man, but he couldn't quite put his finger on where he had seen him before.
The floor was crusted in a layer of black blood, the once shiny marble floors dulled and adulterated by the dried gore. He stood in the middle of the Great Room that was littered with cold bodies, staring up at the room upstairs where he had seen Saika that one night, and relived the precious moments inside his gloomy mind.
He walked around the manor further; climbing up the stairs slowly, careful to not touch the golden railing that was smeared in dark crimson. He entered a rather familiar room, creaking in the door open by its oddly clean door handle and peeked his hardened gaze inside. There, immediately to his left, was the bed he had said "goodnight" to Saika in. He stood there in a sort of grim daze, glaring at the bed under the dark shadows that casted over his eyes. He left without another glance back, clicking the door tightly shut behind him.
A trail of smeared blood caught him eye, and feeling numb enough to not feel any emotion or sense, Levi followed it. The slashes of gore on the wall and the drippings on the floor led the man to a rich chamber at the end of the hall, the door handle splattered in a deathy burgundy and the door itself slightly ajar.
Levi pushed the dark wooden door in lightly with his knuckle and peered inside.
There was a lavish bed, decorated with a thick black comforter with golden thread woven into the plush fabric. If it weren't for the body that lay slumped on top of the blanket, it would have been an opulent sight.
Levi walked over to the side of the bed, identifying the body as Georges Kippermann. The thief bore down on the body with a look of hatred and disgust, debating whether to maul the thick creature into shreds or not. His gray eyes fell upon the thick slice that slit the noble's throat, black blood crusting thickly on his reddened skin. He saw that his right hand had been severed off, which would explain the smears of blood that led him into this dreaded chamber.
Levi pondered a little bit on how many times Saika was beaten inside this very room.
Revolted and disgusted, the thief swerved on his heel and left, leaving everything as it was, save for a photograph that had been set upon Georges' nightstand.
Carrying a photograph of a young girl in a maid's uniform, her long black hair accented with a lacy white headpiece, Levi blasted his cables and sent himself forward. He broke the picture frame and disposed of it, keeping only the folded picture of a plain-faced Saika in his breast pocket.
More years passed then, and he still sulked through the Underground with that sour expression set upon his features, hating every single human being that passed by him, his mind driven mad by the rape of Saika.
As he was walking down a tunnel, preoccupied with the thought of the girl that would have been his bride, his shoulder bumped rather roughly into another passing man. Infuriated, the man shouted at the thief, who walked ahead still as if nothing had happened.
"Hey bastard! That little shorty over there! You just ran into me! Aren't you going to say anything?!"
Levi continued to walk forward, ignoring the annoying voices that called out to him.
"Are you deaf or something?" the man called out in fury. His two friends snarled in annoyance, cracking their knuckles as the first man lashed out a gun from under his coat, cocking the instrument as he pointed it in Levi's direction. "Are you asking for me to blast a hole in your head?!"
Levi stopped abruptly, standing in place as his narrowed eyes hardened.
"C'mon, we don't have time for this bullshit," Farlan commented to his side, exasperated.
"Well this is perfect timing," Isabel suggested, rolling her eyes. "A little warm-up before work, right?"
Suddenly, a blast of cables struck next to yowling man's head, Levi being yanked forward with force by the gear. There was smashing of barrels and cries of surprise from the scene, causing some of the people surrounding the area to quickly snap their attention over to what was causing such a noise.
Levi advanced on the fallen man, propelling himself into the air and spun a few times before crashing back down onto the ground, a heel digging into the man's chest. Levi's opponent was sent back into the cobble, the thief not even breaking a sweat.
Levi stood over his pitiful opponent, a foot pressing against his chest, as he looked back.
"Oi," he growled. "Next up is the giant -"
The two other men had been defeated rather easily by none other than Farlan and Isabel. The ginger smirked back at Levi as the ashy brunet swatted his hands together, glaring down at the two downed men in disappointment.
"That was a complete waste of time," Isabel commented, pouting a little. "I'm taking the high route!" She launched her cables high into the air, sending her forward and leaving Farlan and Levi behind once again.
"Tch, always in a damn rush..." Levi muttered, blasting his own gear after the ginger; Farlan followed closely behind.
The crowd that had gathered around the scene closed in, murmuring to each other as a certain blond soldier stared up at the escaping thieves. With thick eyebrows framing his clear but determined blue eyes, he displayed a pair or crossing wings adorned the patch that sewed into his leather jacket. Levi glared back at the tall man for only a moment before turning his attention back towards a fleeing Isabel.
The trio swung on their gear for a little while before Isabel looked back.
"Ahh, well won't you look at that!" she laughed. "It's the Military Police again."
Tailing behind the trio, a squad of about four soldiers maneuvered in their gear.
"Gahh, we're getting close to the base though," Levi scoffed. "Looks like we have to step it up a notch, don't we...Farlan...Isabel?"
"Yeah," the two replied in unison, smirking as they followed behind the dark haired man.
They all blasted their cables at once, increasing their speed tenfold as they ripped through the air, ducking dangerously under a stone bridge. They were pursued for a little while, Levi studying the impeccable movements of the soldiers, before he brought up something quite curious.
"They're doing awful good for being Military Police," Isabel sneered.
"I wish they could just stick to babysitting the king," Farlan groaned. "They're such a pain in the ass."
Levi glanced back once more that the pursuing soldiers, narrowing his gray orbs as his lips curled further into a deeper frown.
"Those guys...they might not be Military Police," he growled.
"What?!" Isabel yapped. "Then -"
"I want to try something." The man glanced forward, seeing an oncoming pillar, one of the many that supported the roof that stretched over the Underground City. "We'll take a sharp turn around that pillar."
The other two stared at him, nodding once as they approached the fast-approaching stone column. They swerved around it, Levi's eyes trained on the soldiers that followed closely behind them. The familiar crossing of two wings caught his eye; Levi scoffed.
As he regrouped with Farlan and Isabel, the spunky ginger whistled, obviously impressed.
"They ain't half bad!" she laughed.
"Well, that's the Survey Corps for you, I guess," Levi mumbled angrily.
"W-what?!" Isabel squealed.
"The Survey Corps?" Farlan spat. "Are you for sure?"
"I caught a glimpse of their crest as they were turning," Levi snarled. "The Wings of Freedom..."
"What do we do now?" Farlan asked. When the man beside him refused to answer, the brunet barked his name. "Levi!"
"I had no intentions of getting involved with them," the thug finally answered darkly. "But seeing as we can't really shake them off..."
"This had really become a load of shit..." Farlan groaned, rubbing the back of his head.
"It'll be fine as long as we don't get captured," Levi growled. "You guys know what to do, right?"
"You know it!" Isabel piped.
"I guess..." Farlan sighed.
The three simultaneously split up, ducking into different alleyways as they shot their cables into different buildings.
Levi went his separate way, two of the four soldiers tailing after him. Deciding that they were the two leaders, Levi turned sharply into another connecting alleyway, kicking off of walls and jumping off of various structures in order to flee. It wasn't until he got to the edge of the village when he kicked off a ledge and did a backflip, gaining his access to look behind him.
"They're not coming," he mumbled, seeing no one pursing him. "Looks like I took them a bit too seriously...I just hope that those two didn't fuck anything up or -"
He was suddenly tackled on the side, knocking him aback. Stunned for only a split second, Levi lashed out and smashed his attacker to the side, sliding a few meters away from him.
"Tch...there should have been another one..." Levi muttered to himself. His gray eyes flickered around, spotting a figure flying towards him at an incredible speed. The man thrust a hit into the thug, sending him back into the wall behind him. Levi shouted out in pain, hitting the ground as his two attackers began walking towards him.
"Erwin," the first man asked. "Did you get him...?"
There was silence as the two soldiers stared at him. Erwin's blue gaze tensed up, his brows furrowing a bit.
"No."
At the same moment, Levi launched himself at the taller leader, a small knife unsheathed from his belt.
His arm was knocked to the side, his knife catching with the significantly larger blade the military possessed.
"Stop!" the first man barked at him. "Take a good look around you!"
Surprised by his sudden comment, Levi scowled and flickered his gaze around. To his shock, he saw Isabel struggling in the grasp of another woman, her arms secured behind her back. Farlan followed closely behind, his own arms cuffed by another man slightly taller than he.
"Lemme go you little -!"
"Don't waste your energy, Isabel..." Farlan growled at the hopelessly writhing girl.
"Squad Leader!" the lady soldier called out to Erwin. "Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine," the taller blond man said. "Good work at capturing both of them, guys."
"What do you want with us?" Isabel spat.
Erwin's blue eyes bore into her green ones, turning over to Levi as he said with a straight face.
"I'm going to ask you a few questions." He unsheathed an empty handle from his own gear. "First of all, where did you obtain these?"
The three thugs, lined up in a row and forced onto their knees, stayed amicably silent.
"Your maneuvering skills are also remarkable; where did you learn how to do that?"
Still, silence plagued the group.
Erwin knelt in front of Levi.
"You're the leader of this little group, right?" he questioned further. "Have you had any military training?"
Levi glared at the soldier, his features oozing of hatred and murder.
Erwin sighed.
"I didn't want to resort to this, but you've given me no choice." Erwin glanced at the other leader, nodding once. The man blinked in reply, snatching a handful of Levi's dark hair before forcing his face down into a puddle of water in front of him.
Farlan and Isabel stared at them in disbelief, Erwin relentlessly looking down at the pitiful thug.
"I'm going to ask you one more time," he said darkly. "Where did you learn how to use the 3-D Maneuver Gear?"
The two men stared at each other in hostility, Levi struggling to breathe as the water blocked parts of his nose and mouth. When Erwin saw that he wouldn't respond, he motioned for the first man, Mike, to dunk his face further into the water.
"We didn't learn them from anyone!" Isabel insisted from the side, her brows knitted in anguish.
"We picked up these skills to survive down in this dump," Farlan added in, snarling. "Someone like you, who has never known the taste of sewer water, would never understand."
The soldier glanced from the two thugs to the other who had his face drowned in puddle water. Erwin knelt beside Levi, a slip of paper peeking from his breast pocket catching his attention. The tall man snatched the paper from Levi's shirt as he nodded at Mike, telling him to send the thug back up again.
Levi gasped, his chest heaving as he struggled for air.
Erwin, ignoring the thief, unfolded the paper and stared at what rested inside.
"Do you know this girl?" he asked him, turning the photo do Levi could see it.
Levi snarled, confirming that he did, in fact, know her.
"This is Saika Berlinsky," Erwin informed him nonchalantly. "I think this was her before she moved to Trost..."
Levi scowled deeper, grinding his jaws together as he bit his tongue.
Erwin blinked, continuing with his speech.
"My name is Erwin Smith. What's yours?"
Levi continued to glare at the man, his eyes radiating with the fire of demise. This resulted in another head dunking, catching the thief by surprise. He was lifted back up once more, spitting out and coughing up filthy water.
"I admire your spirit," Erwin commented. "But if you keep this up, we're going to have to fall back on other measures." He lifted the photograph back up and looked at it, raising his eyebrows. "You wouldn't want her to get involved, do you?"
Farlan and Isabel gasped, Levi growling deeper as he glared at the soldier.
"You bastard..." Levi snarled.
"Your name?" Erwin asked again.
The thief frowned, grinding his jaws together.
"It's Levi," he seethed through his teeth.
"Levi," Erwin addressed him. He cracked a smile. "Won't you strike a deal with me?"
Levi's thin brows knitted together.
"A deal...?"
"I won't ask the crimes that you've committed. In return, you'll lend me your strength.
"Join the Survey Corps."
Levi stared up at Erwin in disbelief, his eyes slightly wider.
"And...if I refuse...?"
"I'll turn you into the Military Police," Erwin explained simply. "But considering all of the crimes you must have committed, you're going to get it off easy. Your friends over there, though, won't be as lucky."
Levi glowered at the soldier, his aura boiling in rage.
"And if that's not enough to convince you..." Erwin rumbled, leaning in close to the man's soaked face. "I'll bring Saika's severed head over to you personally."
Isabel squeaked in shock, Farlan's hazel eyes widening to the point they almost popped out of their sockets. Levi furrowed his brows and scowled deeply, flickering his gaze to Farlan, who stared him down desperately with shimmering hazel orbs.
"Tch..." the thief forced through his clenched teeth. Levi turned his violent gaze back up to Erwin. "Alright.
"I'll join the Survey Corps."
~~~*~~~
Ahh another update!! I've been having spurts of inspiration lately, so that's why!! :P
I got most of the dialogue from the "Shingeki no Kyojin Gaiden: A Choice With No Regrets" chapters "Prologue" and "Chapter 1: The Wings of Freedom." I DO NOT OWN THESE CHAPTERS WHATSOEVER. I ONLY OWN THE LITTLE THING AT THE END I ADDED ABOUT SAIKA. I ALSO TWEAKED THE DIALOGUE AND DESCRIPTIONS IT A LITTLE.
And please don't forget to comment, VOTE, and to follow me for future updates!!
And as always, thanks for reading!