Birdie (Levi x OC)

forty-three

That night, as I lay in bed, Levi treating and cleaning the wound on my thigh, he explained to me what was in the basement.

He opened the jar of medicinal spirits, pouring it over a rag to use on my leg in order to prevent further infection. "It was Eren's father's journals. Everything is explained in them. The history of us, Titans, Titan Shifters."

He glanced at me warily as he dabbed at my wound with the rag, causing me to hiss. "It's a lot. Are you sure you're ready for it now?"

"Levi, I have been ready my entire life," I stated. "Please."

He nodded, "Alright. The short version is this: We are not the last of humanity."

He pressed the rag gently but firmly against the wound, making me bite back a yelp.

"The Titans didn't wipe out the world. They only wiped out the people within this island's walls. Outside the walls, across the ocean... there's an entire civilization. They have technology we can't imagine—ships that cross the sea, flying machines, explosives that make our thunder spears look like toys."

He finished the rough cleaning, his gaze still intense. He then reached for a small, tin container. It held a thick, herbal salve that smelled earthy. He used his thumb to scoop out a dollop and began meticulously working it into the raw edges of the wound, his touch now surprisingly gentle.

"And they aren't afraid of us. The people who live there, they call themselves Marley. And they see the people inside these walls—us—as devils."

"Devils?" I raised my eyebrows. "Why is that?"

"We are apparently descendants of a violent empire. One that committed atrocities long, long ago. So they trapped us, within these walls."

"The Titans... what are they?" I finally managed to whisper.

"We were right, they are people. Or rather, they are transformed humans from a race called Eldians, who are the only ones capable of turning into Titans. Marley uses them as weapons against us and everyone else. The journal has a detailed map. The real war, Birdie, is happening across the sea. We've been living in a caged territory for a century."

"So Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, and that ugly beast are their....weapons?"

Levi hummed softly as a reply.

He capped the tin, finishing the bandaging with neat, precise wraps. The silence was broken only by the slight rustle of the clean linen.

"It changes everything," I whispered, the weight of the new world crushing the last of my old purpose.

"It does," Levi confirmed, his gaze intense. "We've got a new enemy now. A threat bigger than the titans."

~

It was determined that Commander Erwin had appointed Hange to become the 14th Commander of the Survey Corps in case of his untimely death. Hange took the news with grace, though clearly surprised.

A couple of weeks had passed since everyone returned. I was seated at one end of Levi's desk, sketching out the outline of the world Grisha Yeager described in his journals—flying machines, ships crossing vast water, cities and people unlike anything we'd ever known. Levi was behind the desk, his eyebrows narrowed as he worked through the mountains of documents related to the aftermath of Shiganshina: casualty reports, death notices, and equipment inventory.

"Levi," Hange burst into the office. "As the 14th Commander of the Survey Corps, I would like my first order of business to be appointing someone else. Maybe you?"

Levi gave Hange a deadpanned look. "Not happening, Hange. Erwin appointed you, and he was right to do so."

"Hange," I added. "You're the perfect person for the job. You're the brain we need."