Tainted Vision | Levi x Reader

Night Wagon Ride to Ehrmich | Part 32

A few days had passed since the Battle of Stohess and we were heading underground to check on Annie's body. Hange accompanied Levi and I as we made our way down the trail of stairs ahead of us. Even though this wasn't the same staircase that led back to our home...every inch of it looked so familiar. The narrow walkway, torches on display every few feet illuminating only a small portion of the way, dust and small dirt particles being caught by the lights as we ascended deeper into the ground--it felt slightly nostalgic.

We were quiet as the only sounds that echoed throughout the stairwell were the thumping of our footsteps.

As we made our way down, we eventually a soldier standing beside a flat area that was carved out of staircase. As we grew closer to the soldier, we soon took a turn into the hallway that broke off towards the right. The soldier quickly put his arms up into a salute as we passed him and entered the hallway. From the end of the hallway, I could clearly see the large crystal like structure held up by ropes and a structure. Annie's figure still encased in it, almost as if she was frozen in time.

"One step closer..." I whispered out under my breath as I gazed at Annie's body hidden within the crystal. Now that she was in our custody, we just had to gather a plan to capture her other allies. We'd already seen what they look like and have a good grasp over what their abilities are, now we just needed to find out who these people were that wanted humanity to perish.

"Yeah." Levi replied, his tone causing me to raise an eyebrow. He definitely had something he wanted to say, however, he didn't push further and continued glaring at the structure, "Lets leave."

I shot my glance towards him as he turned and turned back towards the staircase. Although I said earlier that I would stay with Hange to help her with her experiments to try and crack the structure open, I also wanted to join Levi. Hange seemed to notice his demeanor and quickly nudged her head towards him, signaling for me to follow him. A small smile raised on my lips as a puff of air escaped through my nose.

"Thanks, Hange." I whispered out before turning and slightly jogged to catch up with Levi--leaving Hange behind. Hange was quite pushy most times, which usually ends up with me always helping her with experiments and such, however, there were also moments like these where I couldn't help but feel that she wasn't just the crazy, obsessed Titan scientist that I always described her as.

I caught up to Levi as he reached the end of the hallway and we turned to leave. As we trekked up the stairs and gained distance from the other soldiers, Levi finally began to speak.

"Tch, I feel fucking useless." Levi said, breaking the silence as he slowed his pace a bit.

"With that leg, you're completely useless as you make it sound." I replied bluntly, "So we'll just have to pick up your slack. It'll heal soon, just trust in us. I'll do my best to protect everyone in your place." I reassured. It wasn't like I was trying to pity Levi, he didn't need it. It was rather, I wanted him to see that the Survey Corps were strong as it is, and without Levi's help, we would only work harder to achieve victory.

I knew Levi felt bad, knowing he couldn't fight until his leg was healed was a nuisance since he'd never really broken any like that before. He valued the lives of his soldier highly, and often stepped in to defend them without thinking about his own safety. Without his help, the Survey Corps did lose a lot of its strength, however, we had so many more talented soldiers now. We may not be able to accumulate for Levi's overall strength, however, our hearts and willpower will allow us to push through effectively.

"Why are you always right?" Levi asked, turning his gaze to scale the wall beside him. I turned my gaze to him as my eyes were drawn to the walls as well, the cracks and orange lighting from the torches causing smaller details to catch my eye.