A tail for an eye - Eren x Levi

Chapter 1

'Deal'

Never in all 15 years of sailing had Levi Ackerman seen such an exquisite collection of aquatic artifacts be owned by a single man. He sat opposite a respected, old and filthy rich man yet almost neglected any word escaping his mouth, his eyes were too focused darting over the skeleton of a mermaid to the tail of a blue whale to the blanket made of fish skins. All were carefully pinned to the walls or encased in glass boxes. Everything in the room was filled to the brim with oceanic items, all except one glass case standing next to the one holding the skeleton of a mermaid. Yet it had a title; 'merman'

"Judging by your history in sailing and hunting, I don't believe there's a better suited candidate," the man spoke, forward. His wrinkled hands aggressively fiddled with an envelope in his hand.

'What makes you think I'd want to take the job?' Levi questioned him, eyes glancing towards the envelope. Actually, he knew money would be the reason. He'd had enough experience to realise the envelope contained a dollop on money, but the quantity would be a deal breaker. 

The man smirked his thin lips before lifting the envelope to eye level, resting an elbow on the table, 'Money. It's a harsh world out there, only the rich make it nowadays."

He was right, this country had quite the financial crisis going on and rejecting jobs, no matter how little the pay, was rare. However, for a pirate where your life would be at stake every moment, things were harder to accept so ignorantly.

 "I don't take any job I get offered. Pirates die hunting fish because of mer-people, but hunting a mer-person-"

"I'm aware of the risk it takes to kill a mer-person," the man interrupted loudly. He gestured towards the mermaid's enclosed skeleton with his free hand, shaking, "5 different ships went out looking for her almost thirty years ago now. 43 men and 16 women were killed just for one mermaid. The man who got her for me and lived to tell the tale hasn't worked since I paid him."

Those words certainly intrigued Levi, the man knew it too from the returning smirk, "Now imagine the cost of a merman, they're a lot rarer. For every twelve mermaids, there's one merman, did you know?"

Of course he knew, what a stupid question to ask.

"How many ships have gone down already?" Levi almost didn't want to know the answer, especially considering ships were larger and held more pirates than they did thirty years ago.

"3 ships. One's still out there, Captain Erwin Smiths's ship. But I'm not holding hope anymore,' the man answered, 'you should've been my first choice. You've somehow kept a low profile despite your work, not many people have killed at least one type of every whale, a great white shark, four angler fish and 3 giant squid and lived on. Although, I guess all battles leave their scars."

Levi brought his eye to meet the old man's, where he found the man studying his face. Or rather his eye. Levi then took a moment to study the surroundings once more. He felt strangely aware of everything in the room. If this man had all these creatures and had paid to get these, his financial worth had to be one of the best in the entire nation, "What's the pay?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

He opened the envelope and brought out the money with a piece of paper containing the amount. No words were spoken as the old man made a show of presenting the money and advertising the amount. Levi inhaled a sharp breath... that money could allow him to have an early retirement if he pleased. He could live comfortably, not worry about housing, not worry about whether he'd eat every night. He almost felt ill seeing so much money wafted in front of him.

'All this money for a merman, how hard can it be?" The man asked, rhetorically. For a balding old man who could barely lift a finger without shaking, he sure had confidence in his unfaltering smirk.

"Any preference on the appearance?" Levi asked.

"No, he'll be skinned anyways. I only care for the skeleton," he answered, placing the money back into the envelope, "so, do we have a deal, Captain?"

Watching the money disappear, it felt like a strong ache in his chest. "Deal."

They shook hands, firmly. Levi left the building shortly after, placing his captain's hat over his head and adjusting his eye patch. His hand wavered over his eye patch, lifting it ever so slightly. Despite there being sunlight in the sky, his left eye saw none of it. Blind. A blind eye given years ago by a sea creature. And wouldn't you know it, the beast that half blinded Levi happened to be a mer-person. A merman. Now was his chance for revenge. 

Now was his chance to retrieve a tail for his eye lost long ago.