The Threat of Joy ○Levi Ackerman○

Prolouge - The Fall

Elizabeth was at the markets when it all happened. She held a basket full of fruits, vegetables, and some meat. Her elder sister, Daisy, had asked the young girl to go and get food for her to cook while she looked after her daughter, an infant yet off her breast.

Elizabeth had agreeded that morning, asking to stay for the dinner she would prepare for herself and her husband, something to which her parents agreed to. Unfortunately, it was never going to happen. That day, the Shiganshina district fell prey to a foe so terrible that it would devastate the lives of all in the district. The titans got past the wall.

Most of it was a blur for Elizabeth, her dress was covered in the blood of a man crushed by debris that had come from the giant hole that had been kicked into the wall. She turned her gaze away from death that day, for all she worried about was finding her family. Her house was closer than her sister's, so she ran there first. It was closer to the hole, and even with the dozens of titans coming through, Elizabeth ran closer and closer, hoping she would see her parents and younger brother alive.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. Her sprint came to a halt. Her eyes were wide and her long brown hair slightly covered her face, but it did nothing to shield her from the horrors in front of her. In the hands of a titan no more than ten metres tall was her mother, screaming and pleading for her life.

The titan, with a large, hanging belly and short black hair could not care, hell it couldn't understand. It only grinned and lowered the screaming woman into it's jaws. Her screams cut off as she died, yet they were replaced with Elizabeth's own shreik of horror. She watched as it devoured her mother, and when she frantically looked for her father and brother, she noticed the bloody mess beneath the titan. It was there long before she was.

She was going to die if she stayed, the thirteen-year-old knew this. There was nothing left for her here. So she ran. She ran to her sister's house with her vision blurred by her tears. As she ran up the stairs, she was knocked over by a man. In his arms were two children, bloody yet not hurt. When he noticed the girl and stopped and looked down at her.

"Come on!" He yelled to her, causing her to look up at him. He was a part of the Garrison Regiment. Without thinking she stood up, ignoring the pain in her legs and ran up to the man. She knew she would be safe, at least for now.

"My sister! She has a baby! Her house is just up there!" The young girl pointed up the street to their right. The man quickly surveyed their surrounding and nodded to her, giving her permission to show them the way. Elizabeth turned without question and ran in the direction of the home she was so familiar with. Yet she slowed until she came to a stop. The house had been destroyed. A large rock was atop of it and there was nothing but an arm sticking out from it. She knew it belonged to her sister. Daisy had a scar on her wrist that Elizabeth had given her a long time ago.

She was dead, like everyone else. Once again she teared up, and let out a painful cry.

"I'm sorry, but we need to leave now." The man said to her. The two kids held onto his hands tightly, watching as this stranger cried out. Yet, without a moment of hesitation, she turned to them and gave a small nod. The man returned his own and turned to escort them to the boats.

Elizabeth stayed with them, and she stayed with the children and they got onto the boat. Where else was she supposed to go now? She knew no one, was no one. She was hopeless and useless. And she needed to change that.

It was that day, the day she watched the colossus titan kick down the wall, and the armoured titan break down another, that she knew what she would do. Elizabeth was determined, from that day on she was determined. She was determined to join the scouts, to protect the three children, Eren, Mikasa and Armin. The day her people were sent to their deaths only solidified that goal.

And she kept to her word. She may not have known the three very well, but she fought for them when needed, stole for them when they were hungry or cold and after two years of barely surviving, she joined the hundred and fourth training corps with them. She was a protector, whether they wanted it or not she had their backs. And she would later find out that they had hers.

A/n so this chapter is very short, I can promise that more chapters will be much longer this was just an introduction to Elizabeth's story and where she came from. More details will come later! Thank you for reading!