Strong Connections - Levi x Reader

Chapter 8

As Reiner is about to add something on top of what Armin said, I find myself falling into a deep darkness before having my eyes open abruptly. I find myself in a flat, deserted land with everyone around me. I look around, completely confused and wondering if I am hallucinating from the stress of the situation. Instantly, Armin lets out a shout, "EREN!!"

I finally realise this is what Armin spoke about before, the place that connects all the Titans and people.

"Did he hear us talking?" Levi questions and I shrug, still glancing around at the ethereal place I am in.

"Eren, please listen to us!" Armin continues to shout, "You've done enough. I'm sure that no one is going to put a hand on Paradis, for centuries now! That's how much fear and destruction you have brought! You can agree to a non-aggression pact! You don't have to kill anyone anymore, the Island is fine now!" I grit my teeth, feeling angered as Armin speaks but choose to speak to Eren now that I have the chance.

"Eren! I shout out, "We can figure out the rest from here! You don't have to keep slaughtering people for our sake. You don't have to carry such a large burden by yourself!"

"I..." Mikasa starts, her voice a lot softer than anyone else's, "I want to share this burden of sins with you. We are all guilty of the same sins. So please, stop avoiding us like this. Please come back."

"Did you hear that? Stop now and I'll let you off with an ass-kicking." Levi deadpans and I nearly chuckle at his honesty. I would probably do the same thing if Eren chooses to finally stop. "Why don't you speak up for a change?" Levi asks Eren directly.

As if from the skies, a voice comes booming down, "The rumbling won't stop. I won't let fate decide Paradis' future. I will keep moving forward."

"What?" I mutter, trying to understand why Eren has said this.

"Look." Levi says. I glance up and see him pointing at the large light source pouring down in the centre of the sky. In front of it is a younger version of Eren. The members from the 104th start running towards him, but I stay behind, too upset to face Eren.

"Why not Eren?" I ask him from afar, "Are you saying you don't trust us to make a change?"

"Why are you letting us use the power of the titans?" Armin questions, "We can talk all we want right now, so talk to us!"

"In order to gain my own freedom, I will take freedom away from the world." Eren responds, his voice melting into the soft breeze, "But, I won't take anything away from any of you. You are all free. You have the freedom to defend the world's freedom. And I have the freedom to continue forward. So long as we both have our unbreakable connection, we will collide. There's only one thing for us to do, fight."

I facepalm at his words, confirming our earlier suspicions. I feel the back of my throat burn as I withhold a sob that wants to come out badly. I'm washed with confusion over Eren's intentions. In this situation, it's life or death. One of us will live and one of us will die trying to complete our missions. And Eren is well aware of that.

He wants to kill us or have us kill him.

"Why did you call us here?" Armin asks the hard-hitting question.

"So I could speak to you. And tell you there is no need for us to speak. If you want to stop me, then try to stop me from ever taking another breath. You are all free." At Eren's last words, I find myself returning to my conscious self slumped down in the Flying Boat against Levi. My body aches and my head throbs as I try to open my eyes.

"It looks like our predictions were right..." Armin's hoarse voice sounds out first.

"So there's nothing we can do?" I clench onto my head and grit my teeth as my headache slowly starts to fade.

"There goes our hopes for negotiations." Levi says, "What now? Commander?" I lift my head and look at Hange and notice a stern look on her face.

She stares forward and then her glasses glint, "Let's talk about the plan then." I smile at her words and straighten my back, once again ignoring any pain and remaining determined to fight through this.

"Onyankonpon will get us as close above Eren as possible and we will jump off and land on a suitable spot. The first thing we will need to do is find is locate the Beast Titan. He is one of the remaining Nine Titans that isn't fighting on our side so we should kill him first so we have direct access to Eren. If Eren is serious about only moving forward with the Rumbling, then he most likely won't put up much of a fight against us, ignoring us instead. We will have to use this to our advantage. Pulling Eren out of his titan nape should be the aim, but if it comes to it, we will have to do what we need to do to ensure humanities protection." Hange sighs, "Of course this isn't foolproof. Eren might have a hidden card he can use and the Marleyans might even attempt to fight against us. If so, the plan may change."

"Let's make this our last battle." I announce and cross my legs, "End it once and for all. Justify all the death we have witnessed all these years."

"Y/N is right." Levi agrees and I feel his hand intertwine with mine and I smile a little, "Think about what you have been fighting for this whole time. It's about time it all comes to fruition."

"We can do this." Mikasa mutters, but more to herself.

"Get ready!" Onyankopon calls back, "I'm getting close!" We all scramble to out of our seats, double-checking our gear and moving closer to the exit. I follow alongside the others when I suddenly feel someone yank on my arm.

"You aren't allowed to die." I find Levi's breath fanning my face as he makes eye contact with me, "Captain's orders."

I smile and lift my hand up to his cheek, "That means the Captain can't die either, right?" Levi simply grips my hand against his cheek instead of answering, "Right?" I frown. He drops my hand and moves over to the others and I stand still in shock, trying to process this.