Freedom: Levi Fanfiction

| The Abyss

24

                                               848 - Two years later -

Dark. If Iris were to describe what she was seeing, it'd be dark. She was sure her eyes were open. But she couldn't see anything at all! What is this? she asked herself. Iris could move her body. Heck, she could even feel her arms and legs. So what in the world is going on? Everything around her was devoid of light. It was as if she was in the abyss...

        "You're awake." Iris furrowed her brows, turning her head around to see who spoke. The voice was for sure from a man. It was deep and jaded. But she saw nothing, no one.
 

        "Who are you? Where am I?" Iris asked. She felt suffocated... like there wasn't any space to breathe. Everything around her was just so... empty. 

        "That doesn't matter," the man replied, "You're brave, Iris. Risking your life for the sake of humanity yet look at what humanity does to you..."

Iris's eyes widened. All of a sudden, the darkness that had enveloped her disappeared with the blink of an eye. She let out a gasp when the streets of Stohess District surrounded her. Even Iris couldn't believe what just happened. It was as if she was seeing... the world. And the world was pointing their fingers at her.

The man's voice echoed in her head. "You were betrayed. Again and again. Your parents died right in front of your eyes. Mother died before you could save her because of what?" 

        "Because you chose to save the world..."

She screamed right as she remembered all of her traumatic pasts. He was right. Carla died because of her. Because she was too late. She felt powerless! But most importantly... she felt human.

         Weak, nimble, and powerless. 

        "Shut up..." Iris shut her ears tightly with her hands. The moment she opened her eyes, darkness had surrounded her once again. 

       "Wake up Iris. Aren't you angry at the world? Time and time again, it finds a way to hurt you. Your real parents died, the person who took care of you for four years died in front of your eyes. You know death more than anyone." 

She screamed, tears falling down her eyes like a waterfall. Iris wanted the man to stop. She didn't want to remember anything. The pain. The trauma. The sorrow. Nothing.

       "Fight..." he whispered, "Fight until your last breath. Fight for the freedom that they stole from you."

A loud gasp escaped her mouth and terrible pain on her stomach followed after. She winced, coughing and letting out a loud scream. It felt like there was something inside her throat and she couldn't breathe at all! 

        "I-Iris..." The sound of a metal basin falling to the ground caught Iris's attention. A woman with light-brown, short hair looked at her in utter shock. Not even a few seconds later, the woman ran off and yelled to the top of her lungs. Iris continued to writhe in agony. 

Soon enough, footsteps thundered against the concrete floors as they made their way toward the room. Hanji's eyes rounded at the sight of Iris squirming in pain. The doctors and nurses who followed behind her quickly ran for aid. 

        "Quickly! Remove the tubes!" Hanji sprinted toward them and held Iris down for safety measures. The tears in her eyes made the whole ordeal feel so surreal. After three whole years... Iris had finally woken up. Her friend continued to scream and it even got louder when they removed the long feeding tube down her throat.