The Last Ackerman

Chapter 2: Elysian

Elysian woke to heavy vibrations all around her coming from above. The entire house was shaking, the wood and stone rattling and crackling. Grumpily, she sat up and rolled out of bed, rubbing her eyes and cursing horrifically under her breath. She stumbled around the room in a tired daze and met her father in the hallway. Kenny himself had been woken from a borderline coma, induced from the four bottles of heavy liquor he had had for dinner that evening.

"What in fucks name is going on?" he grunted.

"How the fuck do I know?" Elysian said back, and walked outside. The entirety of the locals were outside, all woken from the vibrations. Small rocks were falling from the ceiling of the underground and very faint screams could be heard from above. Elysian had never seen the world beyond the underground, nor had she ever really seen sunlight, or grass, or the walls that apparently encased the world above. She hoped to, but she hadn't just yet. Groaning and grunting, she headed back inside, ignoring her fathers questions (and the yelling that came from her ignoring them) and began to practice her kicks, leaving deep holes in her wall. The vibrations showed no sign of stopping, so she decided to just start training.  Her kicks left deep holes in the wall, the sound of the walls cracking adding to that coming from the carnage above. 

Beyond the underground, a massive explosion rang out across the walls. The Colossal Titan had transformed behind the wall, and everyone's heart dropped. Massive amounts of boiling steam billowed over the top of the wall, throwing the cadets off. Eren caught himself using the ODM gear, as did many others, but from their position on the wall, they could see the gaping hole in the wall. Sunlight poured in as small chunks of rock crumbled off the sides, and the cadets stared at it with horrified expressions. Their breaths caught in their throats and they realised just how screwed they currently were. Eren had attempted to take out the Colossal Titan in a fit of rage but hadn't succeeded, and had joined the others in watching the stream of grotesque titans enter the walls. 

Almost immediately, the entire city began to evacuate. Hundreds of people running towards the inner wall, away from the Titans that were now making their way in through the hole kicked in the wall. Their maliciously smiling faces watched the people running; despite being almost human like in appearance, they lacked humanity. Despite being human on the inside, the outside could and would never match, which made them that much more horrific. After cannons initially failed to stop the incoming Titans, cadets and military police alike leapt off the wall, heading to the masses. Inside the walls, other soldiers were filling gas canisters, checking ODM gear and assisting in controlling the hordes of petrified civilians. As the battles continued, many soldiers lost their lives, and more Titans continued to make their way inside. Armin filled with anxiety, Mikasa kept her typically cool head, and Eren raged, but they still fought, destroying the Titans they came into contact with.

It wasn't until Eren crashed face first into a roof that things seemed to get dark. He's knocked momentarily unconscious, but in the face of a Titan, Armin is paralyzed, and could force himself to do nothing as he is picked up in two fingers - he doesn't realise what's happening until he himself is dropped into the mouth of a Titan, slipping quickly down the tongue, covered in the stinking saliva. Life flashes before his eyes as he screams and desperately holds out a hand. Eren grabs it (a second later, and Armin would have been Titan fodder) and he's violently thrown out, back onto the roof. Despite the sharp pains from landing on the tiles he scrambles back over, only to watch the large teeth close around Eren. One moment, the vibrant green eyes and powerful voice are there, and then.. Silence. Well, not quite, since there's a horrific crunch as the teeth sever Eren's arm from his body, and it falls to the ground. Armin's breath catches in his throat and he screams. A gut wrenching, blood curdling scream of pain.

Nearly seven hours after it started, the vibrations, rumbling and faint screams stop in the underground. They had been going all day, but unbeknownst to them, it was a massive and fatal battle going on in the world above.

"Fuckin' finally." Kenny grumbled to himself, stretching in his chair and getting up to head out. He put his coat and hat on, loaded a few small guns into his belt and lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply and holding the smoke. Elysian had just finished her days training, managing to fight a decently fair fight against her father. She was now, in Kenny's opinion, a decent fighter. She could punch hard, dodge fast enough that it looked like she disappeared and was adept at using knives. She also knew how to fight dirty, and was never one to play fair. Every street fight she had been in in the last year she had won, and she was brilliant at thieving vegetables and bread. "Get yer jacket on, Elysian, you're coming with me today. Be quick about it." Kenny said. Elysian was surprised; her father very, very rarely took her anywhere, because she could easily be used against him, and, as much as he hated to admit it, he had a parental attachment to her. He didn't want her dead. As much as she was his daughter, she was a brilliant fighter who had pretty much no remorse and would kill on command. She was vital to him gaining more power, and he couldn't afford for her to be killed just yet. Elysian quickly shrugged on her boots and coat, pulling the hood up over her head and shoving her hair inside the hood, so her identity is hidden. She shoved her hands in her pockets and followed her father out. The night was relatively cold and very quiet. Nothing could be heard, except their footsteps on the ground, the drunken laughs from a nearby tavern and Kenny's absent minded whistling. Elysian shivered slightly, hunching up inside her coat, and followed her father down dark, sketchy alleyways until they reached a small tavern. Opening the door, there were three people inside, each pent over a mug of bitter mead and whispering to one another. Nobody else was in the tavern, not even a bartender, and so Elysian knew this was very serious. She pulled her hood down and cracked her neck before sitting next to a tall blonde man. The look on his face told Elysian enough about his character, and she tried to not interact with him throughout the night. her father had not brought her out for any specific reason other than to see his friends and drink. She wasn't a massive fan of mead, so she drank the hard liquors her father had brought to the table and gradually joined in more in the conversations the four men were having.

"Yah, Elysian, how old are you now? Like, twelve, right?" the dark haired man sitting across from Kenny asked her.

"No. I'm fourteen. Nearly fifteen." she replied, her voice lagging a bit. The liquor was beginning to take hold and she felt giddy.

"Fourteen? I remember when you was born. Yer dad brought you to the tavern and you fit in his hand, and he dropped rum onta your lips so you'd sleep while he drank. God, he had no clue how to look after yer." the men burst out laughing, reminiscing on how Kenny did his best (well, the best he could be bothered to do) to raise her.

"Kenny, she's never met 'im has she?" the tall blonde one asked. The atmosphere in the room very quickly became tense. Elysian had no idea who 'he' was, and listened in curiously.

"No. She hasn't." Kenny said, a warning edge in his voice. The men clearly didn't hear this, and turned to her instead.

"Really? You've never met yer cousin?" The third man asked. His hollowed eyes bored into hers and she held them, replying with a quick shake of the head.

"Kenny lad you've gotta let her meet 'im. He's a brilliant kid. Well, I guess he's not even a kid anymore is 'e? In his thirties now, I think." the blonde one said, and Elysian looked over at her father. Her mind was foggy, but she wanted to know what he was talking about. Kenny sighed and chugged the remainder of his liquor.

"You've got a cousin. His name's Levi. He's like, 20 years older than you and he lives in the walls." Kenny stated. 20 years older? So he IS in his thirties. Why had she never been told of this before? The only person she'd spent 14 consecutive years around was Kenny and a few of his sleazy friends. Questions were hurtling around in her mind and she was getting a really bad headache. Kenny noticed the pained expression on her face and decided it was time to leave. Elysian waited outside as her father said goodbye, breathing in the cold early morning air. She estimated it was around four or five in the morning, and that she would be able to cram an hour of sleep in before training started for the day. Once Kenny joined her, they began to make their way back to their small home. They held an uncomfortable silence for a while, before Kenny broke it.

"You're thinking about Levi, in't ya?" he said. He didn't sound angry at all, in fact his voice was emotionless, and that was equally terrifying. She merely hummed in response. "He was my sister's kid. I looked after him for a bit after she died, taught him to fight and steal, then I left him to do what he wanted. He went to the ground and I dunno what he's doin now." Elysian didn't respond, and Kenny eyed her. She was emotionless but clearly deep in thought. "What're you thinking, kid?"

"Nothing, Kenny. Let's just go home."