Levi x Reader: The Girl Beyond the Walls

Chapter 21: Charon and his Ghouls

Levi's POV: 

I was buttoning up my shirt when the door opened and Erwin stepped in, eyeing the dismantled bed casually. 

"I'm starting to get used to walking in on things I can't explain," he mumbled, turning to look at me. "I figured you'd know by now that (f/n) has left and her whereabouts are unknown?" 

"Yeah," I muttered, adjusting my shirt collar. "Have one of the cadets round up a few extra gas canisters and bring them to my office as soon as possible. I'm going after her." 

Erwin shook his head and stopped me with a raise of his hand. "There are things we need to discuss, Levi. Sit, please." He walked over to the couch, gesturing at the spot beside him. 

"Tch, I don't have ti-" 

"Sit." Erwin gave me a calculated glare. 

I muttered under my breath as I reluctantly sat, leaning back and meeting his gaze as carelessly as I could. Internally, I was entirely on edge, and couldn't stop thinking about racing towards the hills to find (f/n). 

"You knew about her abilities, didn't you?" Erwin's eyes were piercing as he assessed my every move. 

"I did." 

If Erwin was surprised with my answer, he didn't show it. He kept his gaze steady. "What is she capable of, exactly?" 

"From what she's told me, she can manipulate surrounding matter." 

"The other one on the field that night had the same abilities. Are there more?" 

"I'm led to believe they two are the only survivors from that village." 

Darkness creeped into his blue eyes; Erwin looked at me with an expression akin to opposition, almost as if he slowly began to see me as untrustworthy, as if I were aligned with the enemy. "Do you consider her to be a danger to humanity?" His voice was low and guarded. 

I flinched at the question. "I do not." 

Erwin looked unconvinced. The shadow in his gaze didn't lift, and he continued to look at me coldly. 

"To whatever vile end that ability is used for in the hands of others doesn't sway how I feel about (f/n). She came back to help us, and I believe entirely that her purpose is not to cause us any harm or grief," I said. 

Erwin sighed as he finally released me from his heavy stare, looking off to the side. "While I tend to place my trust in you without question, Levi, I cannot ignore the possibility that your judgement is clouded by your growing affections." 

"Erwin." I went to stand in front of him, and he looked up at me doubtfully. "I'll admit to you that I've developed feelings for (f/n) that expands beyond simple curiosity of her origins. My thoughts of her are no longer platonic like they once were, but I trust myself enough to know that my fondness does not stem from any uncertain foundations." 

I knelt before him, our eyes level. "She saved my life, Erwin. I hold no doubts of her character." 

Erwin closed his eyes, an uncomfortable silence beginning to grow in the room. I could hear my heartbeat quicken as I considered what thoughts ran through Erwin's mind, before he finally looked to me and nodded slowly. "I have seen it, too," he said quietly. "I may not have spent the same amount of time with her as you have, but when we did speak, I saw her as gentle- even compassionate. She also expressed a profound intellect in humble fields." He began to give me a warm smile. "She's a lot like you, you know. Beneath that rough exterior, there's something truly amiable." 

He stood with a different type of determination than what he sat down with, and, placing a hand on my shoulder, he looked at me confidently. "You shall find (f/n) and bring her back, but make no mistake, you will not be going alone. It's time we all put a little faith in someone who's decided to put hers in us. I'll make ready the horses and men; get your gear ready. We leave in the next thirty minutes." 

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(f/n)'s POV: 

Oliver turned away, pacing with uncertainty as he quietly mumbled to himself. The wind that passed along the hills grew cold, the shadows from the overarching peaks dragging out to encompass the entire village. All the while as Oliver considered thoughtfully to himself, I stood there, watching him. 

"I can't tell you," he said at last, looking at me frightfully. "The biggest mistake of my life was leaving that day. I had believed I'd find answers in them, in our creators- I believed they would've resembled the gods we heard about at mass, the gods the elders held in such high esteem." He cursed at himself, shaking his head in regret. "I looked for compassion in the faces of cruel men, and leading them all is him." 

I steadily maintained my glare. "Who, Oliver?" 

He turned to me in surprise, waves of warmth washing over his face at the mention of his old name, the name I'd called him previously in adoration. In a blink of an eye, it all subsided, and his gaze was filtered under worsening shades of fear. "The Devil," he said quietly. 

At his words, the world around seemed to quiet, as though it were holding its breath, awaiting to hear what he'd say next. "He's called Charon. He stands at the forefront of dozens, all of them bent on one thing- our blood."

I felt my expression twist in my distaste. "They want our blood?"

"Think about what we read all those years ago in the manuscript, (f/n)- how our ancestors were bred, tested upon like animals, all in hopes of producing some foolish prospect of an ideal soldier. They had created a serum, and we are the remaining vessels for it." 

Oliver sat in the earth, his head held in his hands, and I knelt before him. "This serum was lost, wasn't it?"

He looked at me somberly, his golden eyes swirling in his anguish. "Upon my arrival, I discerned that it was indeed lost, all in the chaos that ensued after our ancestors broke free. But Charon and his men are ghouls- they drained it from me, sucking it from my veins like they were starved for it. And yet, it wasn't enough." 

I gripped Oliver's shoulder, searing my discontent into his skin. "I grow tired of this emotional tirade. Speak quickly." 

Oliver turned away from my scowl. "It wasn't enough," he repeated quietly. "Charon fashioned the serum again from my blood, but the results he received after injection were not to his standards. He wasn't as powerful as the old ledgers claimed he would be following dosage- he wasn't as powerful as you. He told me if I gave him the location of our village, he would spare the lives of our family, and if I didn't, he'd find them on his own, draining them of every last drop they had within them." 

His body shook from coming sobs. "They weren't supposed to die, (f/n). It was only after they fought back that they were mowed through, decimated like cattle. You have to understand I did what I did because I wanted to save them, to save you." 

I stood in disgust, my body stiffening under my growing rage. "You're a fucking coward, Oliver. Look around you- look at what your fear brought upon us all." 

"I know," he whispered, his voice becoming monotone. His body grew still, the previous emotions fleeing his posture, and he stood, eyeing the corpse of our family and houses with an unfeeling stare. "I did this." 

Grim looked at me, an empty smile spreading across his face. "I detest cowardice." 

He walked past me, making for the mountain pass. 

"Where do you think you're going, Grim? You're to answer for your villainy." I raised my sword again, feeling the energy course through the air around me. 

Grim turned to me, his expression stripped of any strain of humanity he had left. His eyes were vacant as they landed upon me coolly. "Their screams haunt my nightmares," he said again. "It's time I put their ghosts to rest." 

As he turned back to the passage, he called to me over his shoulder. "That man I almost killed- Levi, as you called him- you love him now, don't you?" 

I tensed at the sudden question, before loosening my shoulders. "Yes." 

Grim hesitated and lowered his head, eyeing the ground beneath him. "I hope he protects you better than I ever have," he said quietly, before slowly walking away. "Go and live your life, (f/n). I'll take care of Charon." 

And at those final words, I stood alone on the hilltop, watching Grim's silhouette dwindle down the landscape, until he turned and vanished down the mountain path he passed through all those years ago.

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