"It's no exaggeration to say that witches were powerful. Some could do incredible feats, others accumulated vast amounts of knowledge. And yes, there were even some who could vaporize people."

"How has no one noticed then?" Levi inquired, slightly impressed.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" You inquired, cocking your head. "I used past tense. That's why. They're no more than history now, a history that only I know."

You picked up your book. "This is my only guide as to what the hell to do with my magic."

"Do you base your entire life off of one book?" Levi questioned.

You rolled your eyes. "No, it's more guidelines than rules. And would you stop interrupting me? This isn't easy to talk about."

Levi looked at you with that same monotonous look. "And this isn't easy to take in. What about questions?"

You huffed, crossing your arms. "Don't interrupt anything important and don't ask stupid questions. Aside from that, I have nothing against it."

"Now, can I continue?" You raised your eyebrow. Truthfully you were relishing the feeling of ordering someone else around for a change. Was it a crime to enjoy it as much as you could?

"It's your story." Levi answered simply.

"Like I said." You continued. "They're history. Literally and figuratively. That's part of it all. The witches of old had their own order and ways of staying hidden. After the appearance of the Titans though, they were trapped behind the walls with a bunch of scared, paranoid humans, who outnumbered them 100 to 1."

You shrugged. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out how that went. I'm not sure how many witches are left, but I'm not very optimistic about the situation at this point. As far as I know it's just me."

"Which brings me to the next part. I had no one to teach me, I could only learn by experience and my book."

"Wouldn't one other member of your family be a witch?" Levi asked.

"Not necessarily." You replied. "The witch gene is like the hemophilia gene. It can be passed on or skip several generations. And even if it does manifest, the person with it could just be a carrier, meaning they might have witch children or grandchildren. Or it could manifest weakly enough to go unnoticed. Anyone in my family could have had it and never noticed, then passed it on to me."

You shake your head. "That's why I couldn't say anything about it. There's no guarantee that anyone had it or even knew they did. Besides all that, technically I'm still maturing. My powers haven't fully developed."

Levi made that Tch sound. "So did we recruit a witch toddler?"

You scowled. "No. And that's not a good reason to interrupt me!"

"Anyways," You continued. "I'm not at my peak for powers but I'm getting there. I mean, you don't just suddenly know what to do."

"I did." Levi retorted crossing his arms.

"Hey!" You called. "I'm a few snide remarks away from taking your questions privileges!"

"I have one more thing to ask." Levi's demeanor changed from cynical to serious. "What's wrong with your hand?"

Unconsciously you brushed it. "That's the next part." You replied, hesitantly.

Levi saw how your previous fire was gone. You seemed shy, almost afraid.

You took your hand out from behind your back, showing where the markings turned purple, not like a sunset, but as if they had been poisoned. They ran in an almost thorn like or shattered glass pattern unlike the rest of your markings.

"This......" You hesitated, continuing shakily. "Is the mark. It's not like my other markings. They work as conductors to my power. These ones are a warning."

You gaze at your hand. "Because I'm still learning, I rely on other methods as well. Alchemy is basically Chemistry but when you have magic you can take it a step further. Give to get something of equal value. Oulo's body was intact so I just had to bring his soul back. But in doing so, I went against the natural order. The dead aren't meant to return, there isn't any equivalent to a soul, and if there is I don't know of it."

"If it's not possible," Levi said, furrowing his eyebrows. "Then how did you do it?"

Your face became solemn. "I gave something up. But not in a good way. Get what you want but lose what you had, that's the rule for bringing something back. In my case it caused my magic to.... go bad."

"What exactly do you mean go bad?" Levi asked.

"I mean..." You hesitated. "Every time I bring someone back I lose a piece of my control over it. It starts infecting me."

Levi was skilled at hiding his feelings, but even you saw the horror in his eyes. It was grim indeed, that your own power wouldn't hesitate if you crossed the line.

"You need to tell someone." Levi said firmly. "This isn't some joke, this is serious."

"For the last time, No!" You snapped. You breathed out and continued more calmly. "I know the situation, but I'm dealing with it."

Pausing, You turned to him. "You promised you wouldn't say anything about this. It won't do either of us any good if you break that." Looking down your expression clouded over. "Trust me, I know."

Levi sighed and ran his fingers through his raven hair. "I'll keep my promise. But don't tell anyone else that you can do this. I know you want to do your job efficiently, but if people find that you brought Oulo back they'll force you to bring everyone back until you break."

You shudder at the thought. "Never again. Never. Never. Never." How human of them to do something like that. "Nobody needs to know."

Levi stands up and walks over to the door. "Listen here brat, if this gets any worse, tell me. That's an order. I appreciate what you did for my Squad members, but you can't take risks like that again. No matter who it's for."

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