The Titan Queen - Levi X Reader

Chapter 14 - The City

The fact that the city had risen up, emerging from the horizon in a daunting shadow, almost had you scared. You couldn't explain why you'd come here – here, of all places. This was madness - to go straight into the heart of humans and hide there, becoming nothing short of a memory. But sometimes the best places to hide were in plain view; you supposed that in a grand-scale version of hide and seek, the city was equal to a bed.

You were going to hide underneath it.

You'd heard the whispers of Isabel, Farlan and Levi when they'd thought they were alone in the year that you were human with them - how they met, how they came together in a city that had never seen the sunlight. If there were three people that you knew without a doubt would tear apart the world to look for you, they were them. The others would stop when it became clear that they were dealing with far more trouble than you were worth. When it became clear that the world was better off forgetting your existence entirely.

But Isabel would never stop.

Isabel would never halt in her objective to get you back - and you knew this absolutely because you would have done the exact same thing, had she been you and you her. And even as she tore herself apart to return you to the girl you'd been, she'd never waver in her decision. And then there was the fact that if Isabel searched for you, Farlan would be damned rather than let her go alone. If Farlan were given half a chance, you'd stake quite a large amount of money on the fact that he'd let you rot in the dirt. But for Isabel, the bright girl in both of your lives, he'd search until the ends of the earth for you.

And Levi...

It was hard to think of Levi. What he'd do.

You clenched your fist tighter on the reigns, the metal of your ring biting into your finger. You were banking on the fact that if those three came looking for you, the darkness of the underground city would stomp out the light of their hope. You had to believe that they'd all be too petrified, too fearful of the darkness of the sprawling city beneath their feet to even think about looking down there for you.

Raven swayed in his path as you sharply brought yourself back to your own body. You had no idea what you were going to do with the horse when you reached the city - a horse like this was inconspicuous. The smart people would stare and know that you were wealthy, despite your haggard appearance. The smarter people would look and then think about the amount of money there would surely be in your bag. And the smartest people would already be marking you as a target.

There would be no need for a horse in the Underground City.

But if the wrong people found this horse near the city, they'd know where you were - roughly. It was that thought that had you reigning Raven to a halt, too harshly for the horse's liking. He whinnied in a harsh tone - how a horse managed to sound condescending, you'd never know.

A flicker of a memory rippled to the surface, a boy's face with an irritating eyebrow raised as he smirked at you –

You choked the memory of Jean quickly, smothering it. Freedom had already made you far too reliant on things of the past; what was wrong with you? Raven slowed to a grateful halt, and you could almost feel his legs shaking. Twisting yourself, you slipped lightly from the saddle and onto the wet grass. Raven was indeed covered in sweat, and now that he'd stopped running, you knew it wasn't long until he caught a chill.

You considered telling yourself that it was just a horse, and that it was a liability in your escape. But the moment anyone used the words "it is just a", you knew that it was already a lost cause. You led Raven to a nearby stream and sacrificed ten minutes rinsing him down and rubbing him dry with the towel in your bag. After that, you looked at him contentedly cropping the grass and started to walk away, towards the city. Raven snickered behind you, and your heart sank as you heard him run after you. "Stay away. Go home."