Creation | Levi x OC

19. Distant Memories

Note: Not beta read. I'm a menace like that. So sorry if this don't make sense.

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I couldn't tell where I was. I stood still, feeling my feet sink to the softest of sand that reflected a beautiful light along the surface. Above me was the most brilliant night sky I had ever laid my eyes on. An endless river of stars that go as far as the eye can see. The most beautiful of all, was the beaming light taking the shape of a tree before me. The branches all scattered into the sky with no end in sight.

Above all... I felt an immense sense of peace.

"Overwhelming... right?" a rugged voice sounded from behind me, causing me to turn around, though I knew who it was instantly.

Eren's forlorn eyes met mine, hands shoved into the pockets of his long coat. He looked the same as when I last saw him in the cell. Brunette hair pulled back into a bun with loose pieces framing his sharp face, he stood in silence waiting for my response.

"It's the coordinate," he answered the silent question. "Every one of us 'subjects of Ymir' are connected through here. Every one of us..."

"So it's real, then," I mused as I turned to look back at the brilliant sky, observing the many branches of light.

Eren stood behind me for several moments. I could feel his gaze on me even though I couldn't see him. The silence was deafening and awkward, neither one of us really knowing what to say.

How did I even get here? Is this where we go when we die? What about Levi and the others? And why does it feel like I've been here before?

"Let's take a walk. There's some things I want you to see," he murmured.

Suddenly, his tall form walked past me and I followed, sauntering behind him curiously though it felt like I had no control over my legs at the moment. A doorway appeared before us. It reminded me of the same doors back at the barracks in Trost. There was a comfort in that door somehow.

He stood by the frame and turned to look at me as if he were waiting for me to go before him. I obliged, stepping through the threshold only to find myself in a very familiar setting.

Shiganshina... before the fall.

We stood near an alleyway, watching the familiar scene of citizens lining the streets. City bells were ringing, signaling the return of the Survey Corps from an expedition. How long has it been since I heard those bells...

"Mikasa, hurry! I want to get a good view!"

Mikasa?

I turned around to see a very young Mikasa and Eren scampering near us towards a pile of crates against a building. A very eager young Eren climbed on top, standing tall to get a good look - beyond the crowd lining the streets - at the soldiers who were now sauntering down the pathway. The soft clicks of horse hooves along the stone ground echoed off into the air among the murmurs and comments from the citizens who all watched with worry and horror in their eyes.

"This was the first time I saw you," Eren chimed in, voice low as if he were afraid people may hear us.

It felt strange watching the soldiers approach us. Clad with the green cloaks around their shoulders. The thick fog of failure hung heavy above the corps once again.

"I remember being so excited whenever the Survey Corps would return home. It filled me with motivation. Motivation to one day join the ranks and be able to see what was beyond the walls," he continued.

Erwin was passing us now and I felt my heart wrench in my chest. He looked so much younger... blood splattered along his cloak, some even on his cheek. He glanced in our direction, but to the young Eren's face, and promptly looked away in shame. Even then... his guilt was so apparent, weighing him down. He trudged past us on the same white horse I always remembered him having.