Bonds of Steel and Blood

CHAPTER 2 - Faces from the Past

Levi hated being back there. He despised everything about the underground. The people, the desperation in the air, the smell, most of all, the dirt. He walked through the streets without glancing at his surroundings, ignoring the pleading eyes of starving children sitting on the ground. His hand was clenching the handle of his blade under his green cloak, ready to strike if anyone or anything touched him.

While Levi's face was full of disgust, Erwin's was focused. His piercing blue eyes scanned every face he encountered, searching for anyone who would give the impression of maybe knowing her. But the only people they saw were beggars and orphans, who were fearfully moving out of their way.

          "How far in do we have to go," Levi hissed under his breath, hating the growing distance from the stairs leading back up to fresh air.

          "As far as we need, Levi," Erwin replied calmly.

          "Why do we have to walk? We have ODM for a reason."

          "It would attract too much attention."

The black-haired man scoffed disapprovingly. Erwin would've smirked at his even more so than usual displeased expression, but he knew how hard it must've been for him to agree to help find their target.

          "How do you search for someone without connections, information, or any clue about them?" Miche thought out loud, frowning from the awful smell his sensitive noise had to endure.

          "We have some clue," replied Erwin, eyes darkening. "Little, but it's not nothing. And with some luck, it won't be long until we find her. She's everywhere, after all."

Miche and Levi didn't bother asking Erwin what he meant by that. They got an answer soon after.

Erwin caught a glimpse of what he was looking for. A boy who couldn't have been older than 15 exchanging words with a man who was sweating and glancing around him fearfully. What caught Erwin's attention, and didn't slip Levi's either, was that the boy's clothes were slightly less dirty and torn than everyone else's, and his face was less pale and starved.

After the boy slipped a little leather pouch with a red ribbon into the man's hand, who furiously nodded his head with a grateful expression, he turned on his heel and walked away. Erwin quickly realized he must've been a novice since he didn't notice three scouts walking down the street. Erwin nodded to Levi and Miche to follow the boy.

They walked the labyrinth of dark streets, following the boy carefully enough not to be seen by him. When he turned around another corner, they watched him walk down a dead-end street, knocking on the door in one of the walls and entering after they opened.

          "Do you know this place, Levi?" Erwin asked. Levi glared at him.

          "I do my best to forget every little dirty corner of this shithole. So no, I don't," he spat. Erwin sighed and walked down the street to the door.

He knocked. A hoarse voice reached them through the crack that served as a peephole.

          "Password?"

Erwin looked down at Levi, raising his eyebrows in question. Levi sent him an aggressive glare that said, "How the fuck am I supposed to know?". Erwin's eyes lifted to Miche, but he only shrugged. So the commander sighed and furrowed his eyebrows, thinking of an answer.

          "Perseverance?" he asked.

To their surprise, the door opened. Levi's grip on his blade tightened, but they weren't met by anyone, only an empty dark hallway. Levi slowly stepped in, with Erwin and Miche following. He twitched when he sensed another figure next to him but saw only an old, barely standing man with one eye who paid no attention to them, so Levi left him alone. A dim light was shining from under the door at the end of the hallway. The closer he got, the more he heard voices from the other side.