-

Okay, this is going to be a longer one than usual so strap in everyone! :,) Ive been looking forward to writing what happens in this chapter since I started the book and the main premise of the story is finally introduced! Hope you enjoy it!

-

It wasn't easy, but it felt like a weight lifted off his chest, after enduring all of that before, to finally get some peace and quiet once he was able to part ways with Onyankopon for a moment and Levi made it back to his office. He knew he needed to take in every moment of silence and serenity that he had now because he knew it would come crashing down at any moment and his solitude would end very soon.

But after Levi reached his office, a couple moments later, Onyankopon came into the room but with his own tasks to do. Levi didn't really mind that he was there, as long as the both of them could coexist in the same space and the two of them could get their work done without any more interruptions. It was a big room that Levi's office was in, so the both of them could be in the same room without any inconveniences.

After leaving the theater and being able to escape answering any of Petra's questions that he knew she had for him after hearing that he went on a date, even if it was an accidental one, Levi was alone at last in his office, sitting on his desk and peacefully trying to get some paperwork done that he had pending.

He knew that as soon as Petra's rehearsal was over, she'd come right over and ask exactly what was plaguing her thoughts. It wasn't like her to just let it go. Her admiration and devotion for Levi wasn't something that Petra took lightly and Levi's come to realize that the hard way.

He'd started about 10 minutes ago and was signing and filling them all out by hand. He had a long way to go, still. Sure, he could use his powers and not put any real effort by just finishing in a couple minutes, but Levi didn't mind spending time on these forms. Especially now when he desperately needed something to distract himself.

He still had a stack of forms next to him on his desk, and he quietly went through each of them. These documents, that he was just flying by, included requests for approvals of certain events, business trip reports, employee forms, etc. He was the director and founder of this foundation after all, so all of the final decisions fell to him.

But, after a while of signing so many papers, Levi leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh as he held onto his wrist, the one he was using to write, and began massaging and mobilizing it a bit before he continued. He was almost done, but he could feel his wrist becoming a bit sore from writing so consistently over the last 10 minutes.

But as he held onto his wrist, Levi's gunmetal gaze suddenly turned to the side and they zeroed in on something on the wall behind him. Right behind his desk, there was a wall that led to his hall of clocks on the other side, but on the appearance of the wall itself, it was a mural that Levi hand picked himself that he thought would bring life to his office space. It's been the one thing in his office that has never changed.

It was a large mural with paintings of majestic and beautiful trees that had all sorts of life adorned on it, like birds, flowers, leaves, and sometimes Levi just liked turning his head back while he was working and just looked at it without saying anything. It brought him a sense of peace, and no words were needed to express how much he loved it. His eyes said it all and everyone who worked with him could see it.

His eyes softened just a bit and he raised his hand up in the air, snapping his fingers. When he did, one of the birds that were painted to be perched in one of the branches of the tree, suddenly came to life and flew right towards Levi's finger, flapping its wings gleefully.

The bird chirped happily and continued to do so as a soft and almost imperceptible smile reached Levi's lips. There was something about this bird that brought him ease, and the creature has always reminded him of something that was always in the back of his head, but he couldn't always place what it was so he tended to brush it off.

As Levi continued to look fondly at the bird in his finger tip, Onyankopon was still minding his own business on the other side of the room. He was standing behind the counter of the bar Levi had in his office, where he usually kept his tea. Now, knowing Levi missed out on having tea like he wanted, his assistant was now making sure he could at least have some here in his office while he worked.

"Earl Grey tea as always?" Onyankopon asked from all the way in his spot by the bar. Levi turned his attention from the bird in his hand over to his assistant. He thought about that offer for a bit, and he thought he might as well. He didn't get to before and Onyankopon made good tea that was up to his standards, which was a rare thing for Levi, so he just nodded in agreement and turned his attention back to the bird.

"Yeah, sure. I'm going to head out soon again so I can use it," Levi said, looking away, as he heard Onyankopon respond to his acceptance of tea by beginning to take out all of the items he needed to make Levi's favorite tea just how he liked it. He'd managed to perfect it over the years and now he's one of the only people Levi asked to make his tea, except when he made it himself. He liked it the most that way.

Hearing Levi say that he was going to leave again soon, Onyankopon already had an idea as to why. "Going out to make more deals, huh?" The man said, and quickly started to go over the standard procedure of making the tea. Heating up the water in the kettle, finding Levi's favorite type of tea out of the entire collection of types of tea he holds, and then doing the rest of the process like its second nature.

Levi turned around in his chair as his eyes didn't leave the small bird in his finger. But still, he nodded at Onyankopon's question, since his assistant already knew how these things went. "More like someone today will be hitting the jackpot," Levi specified as he watched every little movement the bird made. The small twitches of its wings, how it moved its head, how it securely had its feet and small talons gripping around his finger. The bird felt safe in Levi's presence

"Even if it comes with a steep price? Most people don't really know what they're getting into even if you always lay out all the conditions beforehand," Onyankopon said, having quickly finished making Levi's tea and bringing it over to him along with a cup with its complete set. A cup, a saucer and a tea pot that had steaming hot tea inside.

He keeps recalling all the stories Levi has told him of all the people who have been so desperate to have their wishes fulfilled, that it's like listening to everything but the most important parts of the deals.

"That's because humans will jump at any chance to have all they've ever wanted. They should know that nothing in this world is free" Levi said bluntly as he turned his gaze from the bird still in his finger, to watch Onyankopon pour his tea into a cup, already feeling a lot more at ease just by seeing that not all went wrong today and he could still have the one thing he had been looking forward to.

But even he couldn't get everything he wanted. Just as Onyankopon finished pouring Levi his tea and he was about to grab it, the double doors of his office were suddenly pushed open so hard that it rattled his tea cup a little on his desk, the bird was startled so much that it flew right back into the painting, and Levi used his free hand to hold his cup in place. Thankfully, the tea didn't spill, though he hoped he could enjoy the bird's presence and company just a bit more.

The raven and his assistant both looked up to see a very angry and irritated-looking Petra at the entrance. Levi closed his eyes and brought his hand to the bridge of his nose as his bangs fell over his face. He couldn't have a single moment of peace, could he?

"Who is she?" Petra exclaimed as her voice projected across the room, but there was a certain tone of curiosity laced in her voice. Onyankopon gulped, not wanting to be on the receiving end of Petra's emotions right now. She sounded very upset, not only that her questions weren't answered before and the lack of information, but also by the thought of Levi spending time with someone else, and on a date no less.

Onyankopon instinctively scrambled back a bit in his fit and tripped on them as he saw Petra suddenly begin to make her way across the room, and her stride could say everything that was needed to know that she wasn't leaving until she knew everything since they refused to before.

But knowing she was coming straight for Levi, Onyankopon got his feet to move and just as she reached his desk, he stood in front of her and blocked off her view of his boss. He was trying his best to defuse the situation. But Petra simply moved fast enough to the side where she could finally look Levi in the eye and Onyankopon moved to stand next to her, giving up on trying to get her to calm down.

"Petra, calm down. Let's talk about this first, alright?" Onyankopon said, raising both of his hands to try and give her a motion to settle down before saying or doing something rash out of anger. Petra looked at Onyankopon once and then back at Levi expectantly.

"So, what's she like? Is she pretty? Does she have a thing for grumpy men?" Petra asked with a mix of determination that was suddenly mingled with concern, but she chuckled to herself at the last part. She watched as Levi rolled his eyes and proceeded to start drinking his tea.

He'd need it even more now to be able to deal with this and not lose his mind. He grabbed the teacup, with his fingers along the rim, and raised it up to his lips to take a sip. Just from getting a taste of it once, he already felt infinitely better. He'd need it to deal with this.

"It doesn't matter who she is. You're making this more complicated than it is. Nothing happened," Levi said with disinterest evident in his tone, trying to take another sip of his tea. He was bracing himself for the impending amount of questions that were about to crash on him.

"Can't you see I'm just looking out for you? You guys didn't answer my questions before and I want to know if she's worth your time" Petra said as her tone remained stern yet soft, crossing her arms.

"You know, If I had known you were going to turn out like this and knew this would be turned into an interrogation, I would've left you out there" Levi said, as his tone remained flat and blank. He recalled how it is that he met Petra in the first place, and the situation she was in, and how he ended up bringing her over to be part of the foundation. It was times like this that he tended to think about his choices.

Petra deadpanned at him and her eyes narrowed. "Seriously? After everything we've been through? Even if I've been your only human companion for years? You can't act like I don't matter" Petra countered as kept her gaze firm on Levi. Onyankopon heard her words and raised his arms in defense. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

What was he then? He's human too and he was Levi's assistant. "What do you mean? Of course you matter, Petra. But you're not the only one who cares. That hurts." He said, and Levi furrowed his eyebrows as he heard the two of them begin to bicker, prompting him to raise his cup and take another sip of his tea trying to ignore them.

"You're different, Onyankopon. The two of you are bound by a contract, I'm not," Petra started, but then was quick to turn back to face Levi as a smug look reached her features, but Onyankopon wasn't giving up.

"I've had a genuine friendship with him that's been developing for years, so naturally... I'm concerned" Petra said, seeing how Levi wasn't even looking at the two of them anymore, just drinking his tea.

In fact, Levi was completely tuning them out as best as he knew how. "I had a contract with him in my past life. That counts for something. We have a genuine friendship, too—" Onyankopon started, but Petra was smirking and had something to retort right back to him, cutting him off.

"You still get paid by him. Come on, aren't you even the least bit curious about this girl?" She shot back, making Onyankopon roll his eyes in irritation and saw right through the irony of her words.

"You get paid too! We're not that different. And I wouldn't say I'm not curious, but I'd like to keep my job intact, thank you very much." Onyankopon retorted as he watched her scrunch her face in annoyance and narrow her eyes at him. But she wasn't done there.

"Can you two please be quiet?" Levi said as he turned his head to the side and his stern and commanding voice made them both go quiet and made them go from looking and bickering with each other, over to Levi. "If you're both here to argue, could you do it outside? Don't bring that in here" He said, annoyance becoming clear in his voice again.

"I'm not going anywhere until I get answers," Petra defied as she continued to look down at Levi, who was still sitting in his chair. He raised an eyebrow, not feeling even the least bit intimidated by her words. He didn't have to tell her anything, even if there was anything.

"I already told you that there's nothing to tell. It doesn't matter who she is" Levi said as he leaned back in his chair with a huff. Petra let out a breath through her nose and looked away from Levi.

She didn't want to leave this alone, but Levi seemed adamant on not wanting to talk about it at all. It was driving her crazy to have to draw conclusions on her own, going completely unanswered and unsolved.

As for Onyankopon, he was happy to just stop bickering overall, especially as Levi looked like he was about to say something else. The raven was leaning his body back into the chair, his head leaned back and his hair falling back as well.

His steel eyes were cold, calculating and hard as he looked at his assistant and the girl he took in all those years ago. "As for who matters the most, neither of you. Neither of you seem like normal human beings to me. There's no contest," Levi said bluntly to the two of them.

As soon as he said that, Levi heard gasps from both of the people in front of him as their mouths dropped open with offense. Levi straightened up and moved to prop his forearms on his desk, but then raised a single arm, and used it to point it to Onyankopon.

"You. You're still remembering your past life. Do you think that's normal?" Levi said and a look of recognition crossed his assistant's features, followed by a shrug as he looked away. Levi then turned to look at Petra, who made eye contact with Levi as soon as he turned to look at her. She didn't know what he was about to say.

"And don't even get me started on you. You're obsessed with a demon, and that's creepy enough on it's own" Levi pointed out, outright saying how Petra's admiration towards Levi could only be seen as obsession sometimes if she wasn't careful. But she only gave Levi a shameless smile, and after seeing her reaction, he could only lean back down in his chair and raise a hand to run it back through his hair.

"I rest my case, now can you both please leave me alone?" Levi said as he crossed his arms and looked up at Onyankopon and Petra who were silent for a couple seconds, but then his assistant decided to speak up and turn to look at Petra. Levi held back a groan and threw his head back, knowing they were about to get into a whole new conversation.

"You know what? Don't listen to him Petra. We've known him this long to know that he's just doing this to distance himself. We shouldn't be surprised, should we?" Onyankopon said, and hearing this, even if he wasn't looking, Levi turned his head slowly to look at his assistant with offense. He crossed his arms and heard what was being said about him, right in front of him. But he supposed it served him right for being too honest before. He shouldn't be too shocked.

"And on top of that, he's even befriended mortals in the past only to be left behind way too many times, so don't take it too personally, okay?" Onyankopon said breezily to Petra, as if what he said before wasn't the nail on the coffin. Levi wondered if they realized that he was still right there in front of them. They were talking as if he wasn't even there.

Levi leaned forward and propped his head up on his fist and closed his eyes as he tried to muffle this conversation in his head. It wasn't until Onyankopon seemed to now be redirecting his words over to Levi.

"You know I don't think we've ever talked about this before, but does it get lonely knowing you're immortal, Levi? You've been alive for so long and we've only been part of your life for barely half of it," Onyankopon said, and Levi kept his head in his fist as his assistant's question suddenly caused a small spark of interest in Levi's eyes to show, but the disinterest and glaring was still very much present in his gaze.

"Now that I think about it, it's a little more understandable now why you never open up to anyone. We've known you for years and it feels like we're barely scratching the surface," Onyankopon said as he gestured between him and Petra and he leaned his body on the desk, with his hand keeping him propped up. Levi looked at his assistant with a look so vague that it was almost indecipherable to know what he was thinking. But all they knew was that their words had an effect on him.

Just as Levi leaned his head away from his fist and leaned back in his chair again, he sighed and stayed silent, not wanting to give them the satisfaction to know that what they were saying had any effect on him, because they didn't. It's all things he's come to terms with, but he knew that they wouldn't stop prying. They never did, and it's been that way since he met the two of them years ago.

There was silence in the room for a bit longer, until Petra finally decided to voice out her thoughts, even if there was clear hesitance in her voice. "How does it feel...to be immortal, I mean," Petra asked, putting her hands behind her back, not knowing where to keep them. She's always wanted to ask Levi that but now that they were on the subject, she couldn't think of a better time to do it than now.

"Do you want me to be honest?" Levi asked as Petra and Onyankopon gave him 'duh!' looks and their faces showed that they clearly wanted to know what Levi has lived through across centuries thanks to his immortality. It's one of the many secrets that he's harbored for years.

They were clearly desperate to know. Levi sighed and leaned his head back in his chair as he let out a breath. "In a word..." Levi started, trailing off, which made Petra and Onyankopon lean forward in anticipation involuntarily, not wanting to miss a single thing.

And finally having had enough and letting his true emotions that he's been building up for the last couple minutes, that felt like years to him, Levi slammed his hand down on his desk, enough to rattle everything on it, and stood up abruptly, startling Petra and Onyankopon.

"It feels..." Levi dragged on, his eyes falling on the two of them and seeing how antsy they were to hear his next words. "...like it's enough of a gift that I'll get to outlive the two of you," He finished his thought, looked up at the two, seemingly frozen, people in front of him and sent a glare their way and began to step around his desk.

He walked around it, leaving behind Petra and Onyankopon, and finally started to make his way out of his office. "Continue working on the performance. Annoying humans...you never listen to anything I say" Levi's voice, clearly sounding fed up, echoed through his office up until the point he left the room and his footsteps trailed off farther and farther away, leaving Petra and Onyankopon alone in silence as they processed what just happened.

Onyankopon always found it ironic that Levi used to be a human himself, and hasn't always been a demon. It's just all he remembers and the lifestyle he's adopted for centuries, so it's not like he blamed Levi at all for it. "Well, we tried. That felt too good to be true, anyway," He said as he let out a breath of defeat, putting his hands in the pockets of his hands, keeping his eyes on the door that Levi just left through. It was probably a sign to stop trying after so long.

Petra had watched him walk off, and she had moved to lean back against his desk with her hands propping her up behind her. After what Onyankopon said, she couldn't help but let a sly smile appear on her lips, and she began to think about what Levi used to be like.

"I bet he was even more handsome as a human..." Petra muttered to herself, almost giggling to herself, which Onyankopon was quick to react to by hearing her words and then not helping but turning his head to look at her and sending a weird expression her way. His face twisted even more when he saw her face suddenly light up with realization. "Wait! So, who is she?" Petra exclaimed as she leaned away from the table and quickly began heading out the door and following after Levi.

"Tell us!" She called out once again as she reached the door and her voice trailed off as she got farther and farther away, all the while Onyankopon's expression never faltered up until the point that he was left alone in the room once again. What just happened?

Once he regained his composure, he shook his head slightly and figured he'd start tidying up before Levi came back from doing a deal. Onyankopon turned around and saw the empty tea cup, the saucer, and the pot on his boss' desk, quickly grabbed it all, and then brought it over to the bar area where he could clean it and store the tea set safely until the next time Levi wanted to have some.

As he cleaned everything, including all pots and other items around the bar, Onyankopon decided that he would do his routine deep clean of the office. The only part he didn't touch was the hall of clocks because that was usually a section Levi liked taking care of himself.

But as Onyankopon cleaned, a weird feeling settled in his chest that he couldn't shake off, like something bad was going to happen. And usually, he was never wrong. Something awaited Levi later that day.

-

You should've known that this would happen. You didn't know why you didn't see it coming, now you were kicking yourself knowing yet another thing didn't go as planned. You just couldn't catch a break today, could you?

After pulling out of the hospital parking lot and parting ways with your assistant, you had done a series of things that lead you to where you are now. Before you decided to make your way over to the hotel that Hange told you that Karina was staying in, you decided to change your attire into something a little bit more put together and decided to fix yourself up a little more.

Everything you had been wearing today somehow served as a reminder of everything that happened today, but that wasn't the only reason you changed, even if the day has felt eternal to you and that it's gone on forever.

You headed to your apartment really quickly, wanting to look presentable so that Karina knew you were serious and meant business when you stopped by, and then decided to discard the stained shirt and entire outfit overall.

So now, you were wearing something entirely different. You were wearing a black swede ensemble that consisted of a high-neck cropped jacket and a long flared skirt that were both the same color. After that, you finished your stop at your apartment, changed, and then like you said you would, you stopped by the store and got some snacks for yourself to eat later, and then started to make your way by yourself to the hotel that Hange had told you about.

But you were just disappointed when you got there. When you got to the hotel, you left your snacks in the car, locked the doors and left it parked outside, only bringing your purse out with you. When you made through the revolving doors of the prestigious hotel where Karina seemed to be vacationing, you let your eyes search around the area until you found the front desk.

You briskly proceeded to walk over and, you noticed two people at the front desk, you started walking to the one closest to your vicinity. When the woman behind the desk noticed your approaching figure, she quickly straightened up and adjusted her glasses, and sent you a warm smile just as you reached the desk, stood right in front of her and made eye contact.

"Good afternoon, may I help you?" The woman asked as she intertwined her fingers with each other and leaned forward, keeping her expression warm and inviting. In response, you couldn't help but smile back and answer right back, steeling yourself in your mind to go and see Karina.

"Yes, I wanted to know if Karina Braun was still checked in?" You asked, as your hands subtly tightened around your hold on the front desk, purely out of uncertainty. Even though you didn't know why, you weren't intimidated by Karina by any means. Just the whole idea of it made you nervous and having to deal with her and her schemes once again made you feel reluctant.

A look of recognition fell on the receptionist's face and she recalled having heard that name before while having checked someone in a couple days. She quickly nodded and turned away from you, quickly beginning to type in her computer for any records of Karina still being or having been in this hotel

You exhaled through your nose and pursed your lips as you waited awkwardly, looking to the side and watching a flurry of people walking in and out of the hotel. You weren't so surprised that it was so full and bustling, since it was one of the most prestigious hotels in the city. No wonder Karina chose it.

Eventually, after a couple of seconds of waiting, you saw how the woman stopped typing and her face fell a bit. You noticed immediately and you couldn't help but let your face fall as well, already sensing what she was about to say. "I'm very sorry, she checked out a couple of hours ago" She said, her voice becoming apologetic and she adjusted her glasses while looking back at the screen.

You looked down at her and let out a breath as you closed your eyes for a second and ran a hand through your hair. You really should've seen it coming that confronting her wouldn't be as easy as you thought it would be and that it would either be a coincidence like this that she left just as you were coming to confront her or she heard about it before, and left just in time, on purpose.

You didn't want to waste this woman's time any longer. If she was gone, she was gone. You'll have to do this some other time and do it better, but there's just nothing you could do now. You turned to look at the woman who was still awaiting your answer. "Thank you, have a good day," You said, smiling softly and bowing your head forward a bit. With understanding, she sent you her most professional smile she could muster and gave you a nod.

After that, you began to walk away and made your way towards the exit. Once you made your way out of the hotel through the revolving doors, you saw your car was exactly as you'd left it and you began to make your way around it. You opened the door, slid in inside, and closed the door next to you and let out a deep breath that you didn't know you were holding inside since the moment you had stepped into the hotel before.

You were staring blankly ahead and leaning back against your seat as you tried to figure out what to do next. You had no work left for the day since Hange cleared the rest of your day to do exactly this, but now that it didn't work out, you couldn't help but look to the side in the passenger seat and saw your bag of snacks on the seat. You looked at them for a few seconds, momentarily, mulling over and over what to do. And then one thing came to mind.

You didn't even think about it for a second and turned your body to quickly reach over to grab your seatbelt and you buckled yourself in. You started up the car and began to drive out of the curb of the hotel, with the only destination in mind that could give you peace for a couple hours, and hopefully for the rest of the day if it was possible. It was still your birthday after all.

You just wanted to be by yourself and clear your thoughts that have been chasing you all day long, and you just needed a moment alone. So much happened that you desperately needed to unwind and just let your mind go blank and forget, even if it was just for a second. That was all you needed.

And soon enough, after driving in a way that felt like auto-pilot, you finally made it to where you wanted to go. The beach. It was the perfect place to enjoy your snacks for a while listening to the waves crashing and the soft breeze joining you.

When you parked your car in the parking lot of the beach, before you got out of the car, you unbuckled your seatbelt and grabbed the bag of snacks and your purse. After that, you opened the door, stepped out of the car with a huff, shutting the door closed, and then pressed a button in your keys to lock it.

The problem with this parking lot is that it was pretty far away from the beach itself, which was inconvenient enough on its own, so the rest of the way, you'd have to walk through a designated path to get to the beach. But you didn't mind if you were being honest. It might do you good to do some walking for a change and just appreciate your surroundings. That's why you came here after all.

And after minutes of walking, of just mulling over your thoughts for a while and finding common ground and acceptance over them, before you knew it, your feet were hitting the soft sand of the beach. You had taken off your shoes before stepping on the sand, so now you were walking barefoot across it. On one hand you held your shoes, and on the other, your purse and your bag with snacks.

As you kept walking across the sand, even if you'd accepted that nearly none of the things that you had planned for the day had worked out. But the last one surprised you least of all. Karina's whims and schemes have only gotten worse over the years and you were finally going to confront her. You wondered if Reiner knew what she was up to constantly behind his back.

After walking for a couple more seconds on the beach, you realized that it was pretty much empty today which worked incredibly in your favor. You stopped in your tracks and let your feet sink fully into the sand as you crossed your arms, hearing the items in your purse and your bag of snacks ruffle against each other.

You closed your eyes and took a deep inhalation, held it a couple seconds, and exhaled as you opened your eyes again and felt your body shudder as a wafting breeze passed through you. You had your arms go from being crossed, to wrapping around yourself, hugging your body as your eyes began to trail across the scenery of the beach. Nothing has changed at all.

The ocean was so blue, the sunset was almost blinding but beautiful nonetheless, and the softness of the almost white, pristine sand against your feet calmed what were your relentless thoughts that were running through your head and you had no way to get rid of, as easy as you thought it would be.

You realized that it's been years since you've been to this beach in particular but there was a reason as to why you're here today. To feel like the only people who were the real family members to you, were still right there with you. This was your sanctuary, the only one that filled that gaping hole in your life.

And while you have a family, like Grisha, Erwin, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and your cousins, and you were eternally grateful and indebted to them to have had a chance to have them in your life, it just...didn't feel the same. Nothing would ever feel the same without them and you missed them every single day. Nothing has felt the same since the moment you lost your parents, and no amount of relationships in your life could fill the void they left.

It's also the matter that you've never really told Grisha or the others, or even come close to verbalizing that it has never truly felt like you belonged, no matter how much they tried to bring you in. You've been an outsider since the beginning and that's all you felt that you'd be. It was ingrained in your brain, so you've just stopped trying at all. It didn't feel worth it to try to belong.

The people you were related to by blood and that you had the strongest connection with by far, were no longer alive. You didn't even know if you had any more blood-related relatives, because your parents never talked about it. Today of all days, it really feels like your parents were there by your side and that their warmth was still with you wherever you went, never making you feel alone, even when it used to be just the three of you and you loved it that way.

Now, after Grisha and Eren told you to finally take the leap that you had been holding back from and to finally celebrate your birthday the way you deserve after using this day to remember the day your parents passed, you mustered up the courage to return to this beach at last after so many years.

For so long, you didn't even consider this day as your birthday but as a constant reminder of the past and what happened. And somehow...It felt right to be standing on this beach after so long. You were right where you were supposed to be. You'd spend the last hours of your birthday in this very sand.

As you continued to let your eyes trail across the vast expanse of the beach, relishing that you were the only one here, turns out that you weren't. Closer to the shores, you squinted your eyes slightly and saw that there was a family of 3 sitting on a towel on the sand, while having an umbrella propped up on the sand and giving them a cool and looming shade over them to give them protection from the bright rays of the sunset. They also had a cooler on the side.

It was a mom, a dad, and their daughter. Your eyes softened and you hugged yourself tighter subconsciously when you saw the three of them stand up and start running together towards the water. The girl's parents were holding her hands on either side, and as they rushed towards the ocean, you could hear their unabashed laughter and joy, all the way from where you were standing.

The pang you felt in your chest all of a sudden, hating the way your heart began to clench, seemed to reopen some wounds you thought you'd begun to make your peace with and that you were starting to see in a different way. But seeing that family makes you realize that it hurts. It really hurts, so much. You thought it was buried but it causes you physical pain to remember.

When the family disappeared down the hill that led to the shore, you didn't know if it's the ocean breeze that suddenly made an uncomfortable chill run down your spine, an entirely different breeze than before. It was a chilling, cold, and unusual feeling that started to crawl up your body as memories started to resurface in your head. Memories that haven't come back for years, and now that you're here on this beach, they're coming back to you in an agonizing way.

You felt like you were in some sort of daze as the world around you suddenly blurred. Your eyes were focused on the place where the family used to be, and instead, the ones running up back to their place in the towel, all the while it was pouring rain. This was all a memory you had stored in the back of your head, and as you felt it rehash right before your eyes, heat gathered behind your eyes.

Running up back to your family's spot in the towel as it began to drizzle, your parents were holding onto either of your hands, with you in the middle. Even if they had rain coming down on them too, they were using their free hands to cover you. They were still beaming with joy, not giving the rain a care in the world and laughing alongside you, as the three of you got drenched in rain. But in that moment, as a little girl, a little water was the least of your worries.

"Y/n! Come on!" Your dad said as his voice became accompanied by unadulterated laughter and happiness. The three of you continued to run up the hill of sand, and your heart felt a warmth you never got tired of feeling upon hearing your mother's voice. "Hurry, y/n!" She giggled and laughed as well, continuing to shield your head from the rain along with your dad.

Your laughter still didn't cease, even when the three of you made it to the safety of being under the umbrella that you had been previously using to shield you from the rays of the sun. As the three of you sat down, with you in the middle, you heard the patter of the rain against the umbrella and watched the rain fall, as happy as you've ever been. You felt your mother run her hands through your hair to brush off any water that might have fallen on you, and then you turned your head to look at your dad.

"Dad, this is exactly why I thought we should stay home," You said as you remembered having seen how there were dark clouds looming over the city earlier that day, and told your parents about it, but they insisted the three of you came together to the beach despite the possible rain happening.

"And risk missing this? Come on, kid, look at that smile on your face. You have to admit it has been pretty fun, even when it started to rain," Your dad said, putting a hand on top of your head and ruffling it slightly, making you giggle. You couldn't even hide how happy you were before, and your dad could see that.

"Fine...it was fun" You muttered as you turned your head away and hid the smile that was evidently tugging on your lips. But you weren't fooling him. You've enjoyed yourself, and you couldn't deny it, despite your worries before.

"Yeah! Look at how worried you were about the rain? And look at you now, enjoying a day out with us, with your beautiful smile," Your mom said as you turned your head to look at her and she put a hand on your cheek, lowering her face slightly and pressing a loving kiss to your temple, making your smile grow.

There were moments of silence after that, just listening to the sound of the rain and enjoying each other's company. Just looking at the ocean made you recall a memory you thought you had forgotten about, but it's amusing to look back on it now. "Dad, do you remember when you got me those floaties to teach me how to swim? They were giant," You recalled, and your mom let out a hearty laugh as she remembered too.

"Hey, those were fashion statements. You used to lose those floaties and I was ensuring your safety. They were so efficient I never once missed where you were in the water" Your dad said, putting a hand on your back, chuckling a bit, but you shrugged. Your mom tilted her head, giving her husband an incredulous look.

"Honey, ships at sea wouldn't have missed y/n with those floaties you got her," Your mom chuckled, and knowing his wife was teasing him, he turned to look at her and laughed along with her. "At least she didn't sink. They did their job," Your dad said proudly and your mom shook her head with a smile, turning her head away to look back towards the ocean once more.

You and your parents continued to watch the rain, and your young mind continued to wonder when the rain would cease. "The rain still hasn't stopped. I thought it would only drizzle. We can't do anything now," You pouted slightly and felt your mom's grip tighten around you as she brought you closer to her.

Your dad turned to look at you and gave you a reassuring smile. It definitely looked like the rain wouldn't let up at any moment, but he would try his best to keep your spirits up. "Don't worry. Maybe if we want it badly enough, it will stop raining," Your dad said, looking down at you with a smile as you looked up at him, and your eyes suddenly sparkled with hope that was growing inside you.

You turned your head from looking at your dad and then back to looking up at the sky, with faith crossing all over your face, hoping that if you wished on it badly enough, it would stop raining. You hoped that the universe or whatever higher power out there was listening to the thoughts and pleads of a little girl who just wanted to continue spending the day with her parents.

And as if someone out there was listening, the drizzle that had stopped you and your parents' fun before, was now ceasing and soon enough, it had stopped altogether and you smiled when you spotted the sun slowly started to appear from behind the dark clouds. Even if it was just a shower, you gasped and your parents looked down at you simultaneously with matching expressions of joy.

"It stopped!" You giggled and turned your head to both sides as you looked up at both of your parents. Then, they both looked at each other and then back down at you. "Should we go back?" Your dad said excitedly as you nodded and they both took ahold of your hands, standing up, and bringing you up with them.

"Let's go!" Your mom said with glee clearly evident in her voice and not being shy about hiding it, as the three of you were now standing up once again, and before you knew it, you were all running down that same hill that you had come up from before. Your laughter continued and the rejoicing ensued for the rest of the day, until it was time to call it a day and go home.

You blinked and brought yourself back to reality and out of the memory. Your breathing became just slightly labored as you realized that a couple tears had fallen down your cheeks while remembering that memory that already seemed so long ago. You were 10 back then, and you didn't know it, but that moment would be a couple months before you lost them forever.

Now, you were turning 26 today, coming back to the same beach that held one of your best memories with them, and realizing that you for granted did not tell them how much they meant to you as much as you should have.

You continue to kick yourself for it every day and as heat gathered behind your eyes and a lump formed in your throat, you blinked a couple times and realized that as much as you tried to ignore it, you were reminded of them and what you lost everywhere you went.

You didn't know how much longer you could continue to pretend like you could live on without them, when right now, all you were asking for was to have them by your side and tell you that it would all be okay.

To have them take it all away; the pressure, the berating, the burdens, and everything that was driving you insane. You wanted them here and it was agonizing realizing that you didn't want to be alone, you didn't want to isolate yourself, you didn't want to keep living this way. You just wanted to see them.

They died on the day of your birthday because they were on their way to get to you from work, but why did they have to be so committed, hard-working and diligent that it eventually led to their demise? Why is it that qualities like that got them to the fate that they faced. The world was unfair and as a 10 year old girl, you wished it had been you, countless times over, because they didn't deserve it.

You've blamed yourself for years, and still do, always wondering that if it hadn't been your birthday, and if they hadn't been rushing to get to you, and the root of it all being you, you wouldn't have had to live the way you have. You were lucky enough to have had such caring, perfect parents, that would have gone to the ends of the Earth for you, to have done anything for you.

But eventually, that's what caused it and it's been years of not being able to shake off the intruding thoughts that reminded you that it was your fault. Over, and over, and over again. No matter how much you tried to convince yourself otherwise. You never celebrated your birthday after that, and only remembered this day as one to grieve and to continue to wish that they were by your side.

The thoughts soon became too much, your lips trembled and a sob escaped your lips without meaning to when it was just too much to keep inside for far too long. You raised your hand with your bags up to your mouth, covered it up, feeling your vision become blurry and hard to see through. Your sobs turned into muffled gasps as you tried our hardest to keep it together, but you just couldn't

Your breathing was short as you brought your hand from your mouth and down to grip your heart through your clothes and you kept your head down. More involuntary tears came down, even as you tried to blink them away and your body began to shake, which the cold breeze of the beach wasn't helping with. All you could say was; "Please...come back..." You choked out as a whisper, a thought that was buried deep in the back of your mind, and has been for years.

God, you felt pathetic, even though you knew you shouldn't and you should embrace this, like Grisha and Eren had told you, but it's just so damn hard. The sun had set a lot more while you recalled that memory, which meant that your birthday was getting closer to ending than before. So much has happened already that you couldn't even fathom it was ending already.

You thought you could push through this and get through the day without letting your emotions take over, but you failed. You don't know what came over you when you woke up this morning and thought you could get through the day without cracking, but you did, and now all you wanted to do was wait until the day was over at last and just go home once and for all.

You breathed in and out as you tried to pull yourself together and not spend the rest of your birthday crying and feeling sorry for yourself. You didn't want to remember this day like that, and see it in a new light like you were trying to do. Or at least trying to. You came here to be alone and toast to yourself, but also to two people you hoped were watching over you every day just as much as you have thought of them over the years, and especially today of all days.

-

Soon enough, night fell over the city and a dark ambience took over, with the clear pulse of life quickening and intensifying as society became more alive than ever. During the day, this city was bathed in bright sunlight, that now glimmered with neon lights and street lamps that with each flicker of the building's light.

It created an urban symphony that indicated to anyone that the night was far from being over. The skyline of the city became a canvas of sparkling lights that casted reflections amongst each other, along with shadows that casted onto the people of the city that was just pouring onto the streets to get the night started.

It felt alive, and it was electric to hear the sounds of every person walking by, adding to the heartbeat that the city was emanating at night. The one who seemed to be sensing, hearing and feeling all of these sensations all at once was none other than Levi. The deals Levi made at night were usually the most successful. People lose their inhibitions, their ability to make good choices, and that was the perfect chance that he gets to strike.

This vibrant chaos was exactly the type of environment that he has come to know all too well and that has helped him complete countless deals. Right now, needing to make one, he was sitting at the top ledge of a building with his legs dangling over the edge, with one hand behind him to keep him propped up.

This particular building had a giant clock on the very top floor, serving as a clock for the rest of the city, but as for Levi, he likes to come up here because it's the highest vantage point in the city and he can see everything and everyone. It was the easiest place to sense where his powers could lead him to make a deal.

Levi had settled himself on the ledge that the giant clock had in front of it and then brought up one the legs that he had dangling over the edge, to be the perfect place for him to rest his forearm on top of it.

His steel eyes were scanning the skyline, as he begins to just allow his powers to awaken, reaching out into the night so they can do their work and find him someone out there that will eventually become the victim of his deals that night.

With the hand that was propped up on his leg, Levi moved his hand and grabbed the necklace chain that was buried inside his clothes. His fingers wrapped around the pendant of the necklace, which was a small, green, circle-shaped pendant that was very minimal but that he has remembered to have been wearing ever since he became a demon not once has he taken it off.

He's not planning on ever taking it off either. Even if he doesn't remember where it came from, but from its appearance, it served various purposes to him now and one of them is to serve a reminder of what he is honoring with his foundation, along with the lives of the past, and his purpose as a demon.

His fingers were fiddling around with it as his gaze locked onto the streets of the city below, trying to find any single opportunity to strike, but tonight of all nights, the city felt...different. Not quieter, but just not at all to what he's used to.

It'll be difficult to find a target that way. His fingers dropped the pendant and Levi's eyes hardened as he felt the circumstances suddenly feel very odd. Something wasn't right tonight, but he wasn't going to let that stop him.

His sharp gaze turned to look upwards and he saw the moon in all its glory. It was a clear, night sky so there was nothing to block the view of it. He didn't think anything of the fact that it was in fact a full moon that night. There have been plenty of those before so he wasn't focusing too much on that.

What he did know is that is that at any moment, the clock would strike 12 o'clock and he needed to find an opening to make a deal. Levi moved from his position from having his legs dangling over the edge, to now getting onto a crouched position near the ledge and he continued to let his striking eyes run across the city. He was determined to make a deal tonight, one way or another.

Meanwhile, you still hadn't left the beach and by the time you arrived at sunset and it was most likely midnight by now, you had found a spot closer to the shore, sat down on the sand, and finally dug into the bag of treats you bought before.

By the time you had gotten through most of the bag and had reached into the last of its content, night had already fallen and you were still sitting by the beach and listening to the sounds of the waves crashing along the shore near you, letting it calm you down. Because of how dark it was, there was nothing you could see in the horizon anymore of the ocean. It was pitch black.

You had left it for last, and you rarely ever drank, but knowing that coming here would bring up all of these wounds of the past and bittersweet memories, which you ended up being right about, you bought a single bottle of beer and have been drinking it ever since. You were almost done with the bottle by now

You knew you needed even the tiniest bit of relief from everything you've been feeling throughout the day and while you usually don't like to drown yourself in alcohol, you let yourself do it today, just once. What do you have to lose? You're planning to go back home soon anyway, you're not going anywhere else.

You raised the bottle up to your lips to take one last sip and drink what's left of it, and since your alcohol tolerance has never been that high, you had begun feeling tipsy midway through it, but not to a point where you weren't coherent. You felt fine. But you still knew that you'd need some help.

Knowing it'd be too dangerous to get back to your car in the parking lot alone in your state, you decided to call a cab driver to quickly take you there. You knew you hadn't drank nearly enough to not be able to drive, so you should be fine. It should arrive at any moment now since you called it a couple minutes ago, You took the last few sips until the bottle empty, and set the bottle to the side.

This choice is also because you just didn't want to go anywhere alone these days. Today had many incidents where it felt like you were being watched, and things were just constantly going downhill. You just feel too much uncertainty recently that walking such a long distance to your car alone, at midnight, was not a smart choice at all. This was the best way to go.

You decided to leave the empty bottle next to your purse and put it on top of the bag you previously had with your snacks on it, but was now empty, so that it doesn't fly away. You'd throw it out on your way back up the beach.

By now, you could already guess what time is, but you still looked down at your phone that you'd placed in your lap and tapped the screen to see the time. It was 10 minutes past midnight, and you knew exactly what that meant. It was finally over, at least for another year. You made it, as hard as that pill was to follow.

You sighed and moved your hands to prop yourself up behind you. Even if there was nothing left to see in the horizon, your gaze was kept there, focusing on whatever you could. At least, you could start to move on now and continue to live another year of your life as you always had. Nothing had to change.

You looked up further up in the sky as you tilted your head back and the first thing you saw the full moon up in the sky, which was especially bright tonight. It was a beautiful sight, seeing it in all its glory without being overshadowed by clouds. It was in full view and you couldn't help but just look at it.

You were so dazed that you were a little startled when you started to hear footsteps approaching and getting more apparent from behind you. You snapped out of it and quickly turned your head to see the security guard that you greeted at the entrance of the beach running up to you.

"Excuse me, miss. Did you call for a cab driver? There's a car waiting out front and I assumed it was for you," The man said as he stopped jogging, halting right behind you. You straightened up in your seat and nodded. "Yes, I did" You said, turning your head away and begin to grab your things, not seeing how the nodded in understanding and began making his way up the beach.

You quickly began to gather your things, put your shoes back on, and when you did, having your purse and things you needed to throw out on your way out, you stood up. You blinked a couple times and shook your head a bit from standing up too fast, and because the alcohol in your system wasn't helping either.

Stabilizing yourself, you finally began to make your way up the beach. After that family left before, you had become the only person on this beach, especially at this hour so there was just nobody around except for employees who were wrapping up for the night and were getting ready to leave as well.

The walk back up the beach wasn't very long, and you were out by the entrance in no time. Seeing that there was indeed a single car out front, you pulled out your phone to check the app to see if the license plate matched up. You walked to see the license plate on the back of the car, and then looked down at your phone to verify. Thankfully, it was the same.

You didn't waste a second to make your way around the car, grab the handle to open the door, and when you did, you slid into the backseat and sat right next to the window. "Hello, good evening," You said, closing the door shut next to you, while also trying to be as polite as you possibly could because it was late at night and it never hurt to try and make this trip back a little bit more pleasant.

But after you said that, you couldn't help but notice how the cab driver stayed completely silent and didn't say anything back. Usually whenyou take a cab, despite the time of say, they engaged in small talk which they often initiated themselves. But he didn't. His demeanor seemed different.

You tried not to think too much of it, because you understood that he's not obliged to respond and just get you from point A to B. That's it. So, you didn't say anything else. Though, he did look very tense and focused, which was making you feel a little bit uneasy. There was an uncomfortable intensity to him you couldn't place, but it was causing you discomfort since the moment you got in.

After that, the driver finally started to get the car going and began to take you back to the parking lot where your car was parked, the car ride was silent, which you didn't mind. You just wanted to get back to your car and get back home as soon as possible, with as little interactions as possible.

Just as the driver was getting further away from the beach, you decided to just lean your head against the window and watched the scenery quietly, just observed anything the car passed by to get time to pass by quicker. The walk to the beach earlier was long, but by car it shouldn't take too long to get back.

Without any fault of your own, your eyes started to slowly flutter closed and then open again once you realized you were dozing off. You needed to stay awake but you hadn't realized how exhausted you were up until now. You opened your eyes again and saw that the car was driving through this highway that on its side, overlooked the river of the city that connected to the ocean.

You straightened up in your seat again and leaned your head back against the headrest with a soft sigh as you ran a hand back through your hair. You had closed your eyes for a second, but not to fall asleep, but to get yourself to stay alert for what was left of this car ride, which shouldn't be long.

But you didn't know if your mind was playing tricks on you or not, when you suddenly heard a familiar sound that you could definitely identify. The door next to you locked, and it wasn't you. From the sound of it, it definitely sounded to you like many doors locked at once. Did you imagine that?

The sound of a door lock forced your eyes to snap open and look to your side. You hadn't locked the door when you came into the car, but when you turned your head and looked at the door handle, it was locked.

You blinked a couple of times to see if your mind was playing tricks on you and it was all just a figment of your imagination, but it wasn't. Your door locked just now. All of them did, on all sides. You were starting to get a weird feeling that was settling in your gut so you quickly went on your phone and checked the app that you called this cab driver on, to see if everything was in order.

You looked down at your phone, even as your body began to feel tense and uneasy. But what you saw on your phone made your blood run cold. Your designated driver was 17 minutes away from the beach as of this moment. Which meant, that the man driving you right now was not your cab driver.

Once you pieced it together, your heart rate began to pick up bit by bit as the situation you were in was beginning to settle in. You didn't understand. This car had the same license plate as the one it said on the app. Did you get it wrong? How could you have missed this? How was this happening to you?

You eyes darted across your screen and you tried to stay as composed as possible, because you did not want to let this stranger know what was going through your head right now and let your emotions show through your facial expressions. But the only thing you could think of, was to run. You needed to get out of here and fast. You couldn't stay here a second longer.

Without being too obvious, making it seem like you were still looking down at your phone, you slowly let your eyes trail upwards and began to analyze everything that was wrong about this man that you failed to notice before.

You were caught up in your own head before when you got in the car that to notice that everything about this man said that you shouldn't be in the same vehicle as him. On the back of his neck, there was a mix of dried up and fresh blood that made a chill run down your spine out of pure horror and fear.

He was wearing a cap on his face, so even if he was facing away from you, that cap did a good job at concealing his face well enough so you couldn't see who it is and it was freaking you out. He had dark hair and pale skin as well. You had no idea if he had noticed that you had already caught on as to what was happening, because he was still driving normally and as if nothing was wrong.

You felt all color drain from your face and you tightened your grip around your phone in your hands, hard. Feeling your breathing becoming heavier and harder to control. You swallowed the lump in your throat, and your hands began to tremble from what you'd gotten yourself into. You felt brave enough to look up completely from your phone and look at the man entirely.

Before you even mustered up the courage to say anything to this man, or even attempt to escape, the car suddenly drove past a similar car to the one you were in that was stationed on the side of the road. As the frontal lights of the car had managed to illuminate the inside of that car even for a moment, you held in your gasp when you saw what you caught a glimpse of what was inside.

Not only was the license plate the same as the one on the app, but in the driver's seat was the man that was supposed to be your driver with a rope around his neck, dead. When you looked at his face, even if it was just for a moment, you saw the uncanny resemblance between the man driving you and the one that was in that car. The worst part is that the car with that man inside was stationed in the direction that led to the beach. That was your cab driver.

You turned your head back and witnessing that was enough to give you enough courage to say something. You looked at that man, whose half of his face was blocked off, through the rearview mirror and your eyes hardened. "Who are you?" You asked, not letting an ounce of your insecurity show through as you swallowed back your terror and asked this man who sent him to do this.

When he didn't say anything else, staying silent and continuing to drive, your eyes steeled and you gripped your phone tighter, trying to get your brain to think of something to get yourself out of this. But your mind was reeling. You needed to think of a way to escape, even if it was in the middle of the road, you didn't care. You just wanted to get out of this car, and run as far as you could.

But your mind halted for a second when you noticed that the car suddenly began to slow down, up until the point it halted entirely, in the middle of the highway. Your eyes were wide and full of a mix between fear and determination into one. But there was no in between and no way to describe how you were feeling.

The man didn't turn around and he stayed silent for a couple seconds, making your anxiety rise more and more with each second. Why wasn't he saying anything? He stopped the car, you could unlock it and leave. Why wasn't your body moving? You needed to get out of here, and fast, or you'd die in this car.

But even as you wondered why he was staying silent and leaving nothing else to be heard in the car, your heart dropped to your stomach when you heard his voice. "Don't you think you should be asking 'why' instead? You're asking all the wrong questions" He muttered loudly enough for you to hear and your twisted with horror even more as you heard his voice for the first time. It sounded...distorted.

Your eyes darted a couple times to the lock on the car door, waiting for the perfect opportunity to run. But you were frozen on the spot. Your heart was hammering against your chest, you felt like your ears were ringing like an alarm that was telling you over and over to get out and run for your life and your entire body felt like it had run cold.

You heard as he let out a huff that sounded a little bit too much like he was laughing, which was psychotic enough on its own. Something was about to happen, you knew it. But you needed to find a good opportunity first. For the perfect moment. Even if all you wanted to do was unlock that door and run.

There was a beat of silence between his last words and the ones you sensed that he was about to say, and when he did, your mind stilled for a second. "I was so sure you'd be curious to know...as to why you're dying" He said as he slowly turned his head back, and that's when you finally got a look at his face in its entirety. You didn't even get to process seeing what he looked like, because in the blink of an eye, he lunged himself to get into the backseat.

You reacted in a way that was so quick that you didn't think you've ever tried to move that fast before in your life. Once he lunged himself in the back of the car with you, you immediately went for the door, unlocked it, and opened the door, but as quick as you were to do that, it just wasn't fast enough.

You began to scream when he wrapped one arm around your body and another around your head, placing a white cloth against your mouth and pressing it onto your face with a bruising pressure that immediately sparked your instinct to try and fight back, knowing exactly what he was trying to do.

You squirmed violently against his grasp and your screams came out muffled from having that cloth pressed against your mouth, and you could already smell the substance that was on it. You were resisting as much as you can, moving your body as much as you can to get him to let you go, but he was just too strong and your panic levels were rising. You were thrashing around to get free and moving yourself closer to get out of the car since the door was already open.

But as you continued to struggle and fight back, using all of your remaining strength, even as you started to get a little dizzy and disoriented, you suddenly felt the man move his head to be closer to your ear.

You heard him say; "Grisha Jaeger is the reason you're going to die" He said, with a maniacal laugh, and with that, your eyes snapped open at what you heard, not knowing how to process that or even if you heard him correctly. Your mind was in overdrive, going haywire, and your survival instincts were clouding over every thought that was going through your brain.

Eventually, you mustered up enough strength to push his body as hard as you could, and it worked momentarily since that push forced him back into the front of the car, giving you a moment to breathe and pant heavily, but in a second, he came back and forced that cloth onto your face again and his strength was so great that your head was being forced to stay pressed against the headrest.

You continued to scream for help , hopelessly praying that anybody that was in this highway lane in the middle of nowhere would help you, but any sounds you made came out muffled and as the world around you began to feel fuzzy, you began to panic even more that you might not make it out of this alive. You tried to grab his arm to attempt to pry it away, but this man had overpowering strength that you had been barely able to fight back against

But then, something occurred to you in your brain when you started to feel more and more dizzy. This would be your last attempt in making this work and getting out of this car, barely escaping with your life. As the man continued to press that cloth against your mouth, you slowly began to stop fighting and closed your eyes, feigning that the substances in that cloth had finally gotten to you.

In his eyes, when you went limp against his hold, the man kept the cloth there for a couple more seconds just to make sure you were really unconscious. He breathed out in relief and quickly went over to the passenger seat, opening the glove compartment, and pulling out a knife that was still in his holster. He had no idea, you were still fully and completely conscious, ready to strike.

You had to wait until he was close enough. When he turned back around to the backseat, without him noticing, your fist was curling in on itself and tightening your grip on it. Once he made it back to the backseat again, you bet everything on this one attempt, so you opened your eyes and you sent your fist to lunge square into the side of his face, sending him flying back in pain

He groaned in pain and fell back into the front of the car once again, and with that, you unbuckled your seatbelt, and quickly ran out of the car while he was still disoriented, even if it was just for a second that his inhibitions were shaken. You didn't dare look back for a second as you shut the door behind you.

You ran as fast you possibly could, even if you were in heels, you didn't want to slow down and let that man get to you again. And it didn't help that he was pissed even more now because of that punch and if he got you again, who knows what he would do to you. You continued to run across the highway, not caring where you were suppose to go, but just knowing you needed to get as far as you could.

The moment you got out of the car and started running, the man cursed under his breath and got back in the driver's seat, opened the door, and got out of the car through there. When you heard a door slam, your curiosity got the best of you and you looked back as you ran to see that he was walking towards you, and he had removed the holster from his knife. Your heart rate quickened and continued to try and get away, hoping to run into anything or anybody that could get you out of this.

You were panting heavily and your breathing was erratic as you ran, as the thought finally settled in your mind: there was someone out there trying to get you killed, and this guy was their pawn. You couldn't stop running, even through the fog that had rolled in from the mountains on one side of the highway, so you could barely see anything. It didn't matter to you. Anywhere away from that man felt infinitely safer.

You were desperate for anyone to find you, to help you, to get you out of here. As you ran through the clouds of fog and occasionally looked back, all you could see was the silhouette of the man that was quick to start catching up to you. You were scared out of your mind, terrified that escaping would have been for nothing, and you'll die here anyway.

You needed someone to be hearing your pleas, your cries for help, or even just for your prayers to be heard and have a miracle happen just this once. You're desperate, and you'd take anything at this point. In the back of your mind, you still knew you were in the middle of nowhere and you couldn't run forever even if you wanted to. This couldn't be it.

And when this realization settled in, your body moved in its own and you stopped running altogether. You panted and desperately looked around for anything that could help you, even as you could see the outline of the man wanting to kill you get closer and closer. The fog didn't let you see very far either, so even if you continued running, you didn't know where you were going and eventually you'd run out of energy.

Was this really it? Is this how you died? All this time, someone you know has wanted you dead and took this opportunity to get someone like the man chasing after you to get rid of you. You began to think that there was really nothing you could do at this point, it was just hopeless.

But suddenly, as if this situation couldn't get any worse, you turned your head forward again and you felt your heart stop beating for a second when, through the fog, you began to see the outline of someone else. You couldn't see what they looked like, just their silhouette but they were taking tentative and slow steps towards you that you could see had a different air to them than the ones from the man trying to kill you. And somehow, that distinct outline alone seemed familiar to you.

Your hands at your sides began to grasp in fear at the fabric of your dress as you began to think that your desperate pleas were heard and someone had heard the commotion and was here to help, by some miracle.

As a wave of relief washed over you, you began to let out choked out gasps of desperation, not hesitating to start heading towards that person in the shadows. "Hey! Please! I need..." you started to yell out, but then your words got caught up in your throat when the person began to come through the fog entirely and you began to recognize them, or rather, him.

"...help," You finished with your words coming out as a whisper. Their steps were becoming a lot more fast paced, which eventually let you see who this man was a lot sooner. When it became apparent to you, your eyes widened and your mouth went agape, completely stunned.

The sleek, dark, onyx hair in an undercut, his clothing, his silhouette, and his steel eyes; it became apparent to you who this was. You were frozen as you tried to figure out if your eyes were trying to play tricks on you and the substance in the cloth from before was still in your system somehow.

As he slowly came into the light, even through the thick fog, thanks to the street lights on the highway, your thoughts about who this was were confirmed. "Levi?" You muttered to yourself in disbelief, being able to recognize someone like him from a mile away.

He was wearing different clothing than earlier today. An all black ensemble that highlighted his pale skin and hardened, gunmetal eyes against the night. He was unmistakable, and you knew for a fact it was him. You weren't imagining it, he was really walking towards you.

But then the thought occurred to you, what was he doing here? In the middle of a highway in the middle of nowhere, at this hour. You were so confused. You knew you had run far enough to have outran the killer behind you, so gave yourself a moment to think what business Levi could possibly have here. And then the thought occurred to you.

You turned your head back and saw that the killer came from around the corner and had managed to emerge from amongst the fog too. He had caught up to you at last, and now the situation was starting to become clear. Could it be that Levi was with him and that's why he was here?

Was this was all fabricated and organized? In your distressed mind, all you could think is that Levi was here to be part of this scheme, and to get rid of you and kill you. Not being able to take the fact that you were in fact surrounded now, having two men on either side of you while you had nowhere to go, and mountains on one side and water on the other, you realized this was a dead end. You were going to die here.

But as you realized what was about to happen to you. In your mind, you began to think about any possible scenario and that the cab driver must have stopped here so the man in the shadows walking toward you could meet him here. You were grasping at straws out of panic and trying to see any logical explanation but you simply didn't understand.

You were really trying to think critically here and see what else you could possibly do. On one hand, you turned your head to see that there was a man with a knife quickly approaching, but on the other, you turned your head the other way to see that Levi was standing there with his hands in his pockets with the same glare you saw on him earlier that day, but somehow you felt his gaze on you right now to be entirely different.

And even if your head was trying think of any opportunity to get you out of this, especially if it wasn't logical or certain, you realized who you needed to take your chances with. Despite everything that happened, you knew for a fact that Levi wasn't with that man trying to kill you.

The choice was clear to you as you looked at Levi again, to see that the stance and intent on his face was entirely different from the man behind you. The choice was clear to you now, and you wouldn't waste it.

You didn't even want to think as to why he was here, because that didn't matter to you now. All that mattered to you was that he was here and was clearly the lesser of two evils. He was the only other person here who wasn't actively trying to go after you, and that was good enough for you.

Even as you'd already made your decision, your feet were stuck to the ground. You turned your head to look at the killer and saw that he had stopped walking too, just like Levi, so now you were stuck between the two. Your mind couldn't differentiate between who was on your side, who was your enemy, or if everybody around you was your foe.

But in a situation like this, when you can't rely on anything or anyone but yourself, all you could do was trust your gut and your judgement. And your judgement and your gut, chose Levi to rely on.

So, when both men started to start walking towards you again, your breathing was heavy but you'd made a decison. You turned your head to the side and your eyes steeled with determination. You turned on your heel and began to run directly towards Levi, not looking back.

When Levi saw that you were racing towards him with distress clear all over your face, he raised an eyebrow and his steps came to a halt. You eventually reached him and stopped right in front of him.

"I know i'm the last person you want to see, but please, you have to help me" You pleaded with desperation laced in your voice, looking back for a second to see that the killer had paused in his steps too and was watching you and Levi intently. Yo turned your head back to the man in front of you, begging for another miracle and that he would agree.

"Do you really need my help?" Levi said as an amused tone was evident in his voice but it could be also seen in his eyes. You looked at him incredulously, given that he was pointing out the obvious, but you looked past it because you didn't have the focus or energy to be critical about that now. It was the least of your worries right now.

"Yes, I do! Please," You pleaded, and looked at him intently as you watched his eyes studied you for a bit, seeing you how you were constantly looking back at the man with a knife behind you and he straightened up his stance before he answered blankly.

"Fine," He said, and when he did, a bright smile that came from pure relief suddenly came upon your features as you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. But that relief was very short lived.

"But before I do, I need you to make a deal with me" Levi said as his face remained stoic and serious. Your smile dropped from your face and your face twisted into one of confusion, trying to figure out if you'd heard him right. He was asking you to make a deal with him now? Of all moments?

"Right now? Can't it wait? I don't know if you're seeing the guy behind me right now with a knife. Is this really a time to discuss a deal?" You said as you gestured with your hand to killer behind you, who was still studying the interaction you and Levi were having. Levi's eyes moved from you to the man behind you with disinterest and then looked back at you. You knew he wouldn't remain like that for much longer and he'd move to attack sooner or later. You needed to hurry.

"This isn't for free," He said, as his eyes hardened and you realized how serious he was about this. You didn't have time to debate him about this, so you just sighed and nodded in agreement, still looking back at the man behind you who was starting to get closer and closer. "Alright, I'll do it. I'll make a deal with you. What do I have to do?" You caved easily and he hummed lowly in response to your agreement to his words.

Levi tilted his head to the side and took out his hands from his pockets, and crossed his arms in front of him. "Well, there's a lot to cover and to go through. You're clearly in a hurry, so do you really want to go over it now?" He said and you looked at him like he had two heads at how much he was dragging this. He might as well have been with the killer.

"Well, it'd be stupid to agree to a deal without knowing any information behind it," You countered, and a smirk tugged at Levi's lips and it made you feel uneasy. It made you nervous about what he was thinking.

"Fine. Suit yourself," He said, as the smirk stayed on his lips, knowing you wouldn't let him leave because of how desperate you were, so he turned on his heel and began to walk away, knowing that you'd want him to stay.

But when he did, your heart plummeted and dropped to your stomach, your eyes widened further and you quickly took back what you said before. He was your last hope to get out of this. You desperately reached out and extended your hand to grab his forearm, stopping him from walking away and leaving you alone with the psycho behind you.

"Okay, fine! We can talk about the terms after, I promise" You said hurriedly, not knowing what was behind this deal exactly, but it wasn't your concern right now. But you huffed in relief, letting go of his arm when he stopped walking, even if he still had his back to you. you couldn't see his face. Levi would hold onto that promise.

A knowing smile appeared on Levi's lips, but it was more of a smirk. Humans were really all the time, agreeing blindly just at the thought of getting their wishes granted. It's what made this job so easy, and he should've known that you wouldn't be the exception when he first met you. He would gladly help, just as long as he got his end of the deal.

When he turned around and you saw the smirk in his face and the clear amusement in his eyes, you waited until his next words to see if he would really stick around to help. You watched as he took slow steps to walk around you, turning his steel gaze from you, and looking over to the killer, who still hadn't made his move yet.

"I usually wouldn't help you before signing the contract for the deal," Levi started as you watched his eyes narrow dangerously upon making eye contact with the psychopath behind you. "...but that guy is really creeping me out," Levi muttered, walking past you and heading directly towards the man, leaving you to stand by yourself.

One thing you did notice is how pathetic it was that now that the man wasn't facing off against you, but someone clearly a lot stronger than him, he was cowering back, waving around his knife aimlessly and stepping multiple steps back the closer Levi walked towards him.

Now that the killer was distracted, this was your chance to finally escape. You'd settle whatever terms of the deal you had to agree to after all of this. Because the killer was distracted and the car that you had arrived here on was still running, you made the obvious choice.

You began to walk around the two men who were about to face off, and without hesitation you began to make a beeline for the car and run as fast a you could towards it. You occasionally looked back and saw how the killer was trying to swung and lunge at Levi with his knife.

It was a sight to see how effortlessly Levi was easily dodging all of them, just stepping to the side swiftly and letting the man stumble forward on his own. You simply continued running until the car came into view and you rushed to get to the driver's seat door.

You were lucky that this man left it running and didn't turn it off before he started to chase after you or else you'd never be able to leave otherwise. You don't think you've ever ran away this quickly before, not even before when you'd first gotten out of the car and were trying to get away. You were taking in this chance to escape and not wasting.

When you made it to the door, you hurriedly opened it got in, closed the door hard, and haphazardly put on your seatbelt, fumbling around with it as your breathing came out labored and with how terrified you were of this guy realizing you were taking his car and he'd somehow escape Levi, you were letting out short gasps that sounded like cries of panic and stress that was coursing through your veins in a way it never has before.

You were gasping and crying from the intense fear of not being able to get out of here and you might be dying in this car anyway. your face was contorted into one of horror as you buckled in your seatbelt in and hurriedly switched gears, and putting the car in drive. When you did, you straightened your posture on your seat and put your hands on the steering wheel, even if you could see that they were shaking erratically.

But before you could even hit the pedal to drive away, you let out a loud scream, grasping and covering your head with your hands as someone was suddenly thrown into the window and shattering it.

You gasped and really hoped that it wasn't Levi because you really didn't want to underestimate him. When you slowly looked up and saw that the person whose face was pressed up against the window did not belong to Levi, but the killer, you let panted and let your heart calm down a little.

He looked unconscious, so you felt your fear dissipate a bit just by seeing that. You watched as the man slowly roll down the hood of the car until he fell down into the pavement, leaving you in silence in the car to process what just happened. Even through the shattered glass, you squinted your eyes and saw that once again, through the fog, you could see Levi walking across it and making his presence known.

And you didn't know if your mind was so jumbled from shock, but the closer Levi got, up until the point he stopped to stand right in front of the car, you saw how his eyes weren't the steel color you could recognize him from, but they had a hue of red to them now that overcame them.

His sharp, feline eyes only contributed to how he intimidating and hypnotizing he really was. His eyes were hardened and looking directly at you, making you feel some sort of pang in your chest. You gripped the steering wheel and blinked a couple times to see if your mind was really playing tricks on you. Are you seeing things now? What was happening?

But the moment he started to walk closer to the car, and his eyes went from you to the unconscious body of the killer on the ground in front of the car, you took this as a sign to get out of the car, knowing that it would just be impossible to drive back into the city with the state of the window.

And with Levi's state right now, you'd rather not be in his line of sight at the moment. Meanwhile, Levi really wanted to make sure that the killer was down and make sure his part of the deal was completed, so that you can come through as well with your end of the agreement. He took care of the killer, and now you had to make a deal with him.

What he didn't know is that while he was checking on the body, you had opened the car door and sneaked out of the vehicle. You had to find a place to hide until you were sure it was safe to come out. But when Levi looked up and saw that the driver's seat had no one inside and the car door was open, his eyes narrowed. You couldn't have gone far. There's not many places you could go to anyway. You weren't going to slip out of the deal that easily, because you did promise after all.

The place of hiding you decided to take was actually just behind the guardrails of the highway, and luckily, there was a ledge just behind them where you could stand on and use to hide behind. You were trying your best to keep your balance, because just after the ledge ended, was a cliff where the river was found at the bottom. You did not want to fall in there.

But as you hid, it was hard to ignore the footsteps that were approaching you, so as much as you wished you make yourself invisible, it was a matter of time before you heard Levi's voice. "Oi," He said as he stopped walking, so now he was on the other side of the guardrail, and he could see your hands peeking out of the edge of the rail as you tried to keep yourself hidden, but he had already found you.

Since you were crouching down, you felt his presence looming over you and when you looked up, you smiled bashfully when you saw him standing over you with a blank look on his face. "I did my part of the deal. Now it's your turn, remember?" He said, and you noticed his eyes had gone back to their regular gunmetal color that you knew him by.

"Oh, right..." You said, looking away with embarrassment. That part of him helping you completely left your mind during all of that chaos. But you supposed it was time to do your part, wasn't it? You watched silently as he extended out his hand to you, waiting for you to take it. You looked down at his hand and then back up at him with hesitance.

You knew this was coming from the moment you agreed, so when you saw the expectant look on his face, you sighed and raised your own hand so that it could meet with his. Levi watched carefully as you did so, studying your every movement, knowing he was about to complete a deal seamlessly and effortlessly, as he always did.

Your hand met his, and when it did, your eyebrows furrowed when you noticed that the hand you grabbed had a small tattoo on the inside of his wrist, and the tattoo began to glow with this crimson red color as it stretched across his wrist. You blinked a couple times after seeing that.

You couldn't really place what the tattoo was of, but you didn't give it too much thought. This entire day felt like a fever dream to you so you were probably imagining it. The moment your hand came into contact with his, you looked up and your eyes met his, seeing how intensely he was looking at you. Like back at the restaurant, you just couldn't look away.

But, the moment was quickly interrupted by bright lights suddenly coming from the car. It was blinding because of how close the car was, so you used your free arm to shield your eyes from the light. "What the hell?" You muttered to yourself, not really registering what that light was. But when you adjusted, both you and Levi turned your heads to see that the psycho had somehow woken up again and gotten back into the car.

And now, he was driving the car at full speed directly towards you and Levi. As he did so, he started laughing maniacally with the full intent of ramming the car on you and Levi, trying to kill you both at the same time. You could see even through the broken glass that his face was covered in blood. Watching this happen, you literally like a deer in headlights.

While your eyes were blown wide, knowing your position right now was a dangerous one to be in when someone was driving a car straight towards you, you looked up at Levi with panic as all color drained from your face.

He looked completely calm as he watched the car accelerate, getting closer, and closer. You watched him simply raise his hand and snap his fingers. You looked at him like he was crazy because the two of you would either die from this car crashing into the two of you or falling down the cliff and into the water. You assumed something would happen after he snapped his fingers like that, but then, nothing did.

Levi's face dropped when he realized nothing was happening, and the car was just a a few feet away, approaching faster than he could react to. When he realized that he could do nothing to stop that car, his eyes turned to look down at you to see your expression was matching his.

But then when his eyes looked down to look at his tattoo, it wasn't glowing anymore. His tattoo's red crimson glow flickered instead. What the fuck? He thought to himself. That's never happened before.

But then when he took his attention away from his tattoo, everything to him felt like it was in slow motion from that point forward. As the car was seconds away from ramming straight into the two of you, he suddenly saw you standing up from the ledge in panic and backing up.

You stumbled back so much up until the point that you had to detach your hand from his and you couldn't control your balance, so you were forced to slip backwards. When you did, you looked at Levi directly into his eyes pleadingly, begging for help, as you began to fall down the cliff and heading directly into the rushing waters of the river below.

Levi looked back at the car that was about to hit them at any second, and the choice became clear to him. He turned back to look at you just as you slipped and then he proceeded to jumped over the railing, going after you. Just as the two of you began to fall down together down the cliff, the car ran straight into the guardrail, and the killer was left intact.

Somehow along the way down, Levi's instincts took over and he got ahold of your waist, using his body to shield you from the water as both of you hit the water with a loud splash. His back ended up hitting the water and receiving the most impact, like he had intended to do.

Falling from such a height, and having taken most of the hit for you, immediately knocked Levi out. Both of you became unconscious and were both quickly sinking to the bottom of the river together.

But somehow, after sinking for a couple of seconds, your eyes snapped open and you gained back your consciousness. A couple of air bubbles escaped you out of shock, but then you realized where you were and what happened before you lost consciousness briefly came back to you. Levi took the hardest hit for you, and when you looked over to him as you struggled to swim while you're wearing a dress, he was knocked out.

Your eyes widened when you saw him and saw how he was sinking further and further down while you stayed higher up and closer to the surface because you woke up first. You looked back up at how closer the surface was, and then down at Levi. There was a stinging in your lungs you were beginning to feel because of how long you've been down here already, and you needed air, but you couldn't just leave him.

You wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you decided to save your own skin. Despite how much your lungs began to burn, you made your decision. You quickly began to swim downwards and head directly towards Levi, as hard as it was to swim with a dress as long as the one you were wearing and heels, but you eventually got to him, thankfully.

The nearest part of him you could grab was his right hand, the one that just so happened to have his tattoo on. When you grabbed his right hand with your own and it was secure, you looked back up at the surface again and began to attempt to pull him up with you, despite how your body was starting to react to being down there for too long.

But as hard as you tried to pull him up and swim upwards, he was too heavy and the exhaustion you felt from everything that happened before and the weight of your clothes on you was making it harder to try and pull him up with you. You tried to use both of your hands to grab onto his one hand, and see if using your strength with both combined would be any better, but it wasn't. Nothing was working.

A part of you knew that if you wanted to live, you had to let go. But the other part of you told you to continue to try and save him. He helped you before and now you were going to do the same for him even if it cost you your life. You would do this for him no matter what it took.

You released the second hand that you used to try and pull him up, using it to try and push you upwards. You kept your right hand attached to his, gripping it harder so that he wouldn't slip. But when you did, something that neither of you were aware of happened.

The tattoo that Levi received as a demon, the one that represented The Paths of Ymir was bit by bit being erased from his own wrist, only for it to slowly begin to transfer onto yours. When it transferred completely and the tattoo was secure on your wrist now, it glowed red, just like it should've done before when Levi summoned his powers.

The moment that his tattoo moved onto your body, the effect was instantaneous. You no longer felt in touch with your own body. Your vision began to blur and you became so dizzy that it was to the point that you were falling unconscious again, slowly feeling your eyes flutter closed as your mind shut down.

When your eyes closed again, you were no longer able to feel or be in control of your limbs, forcing your hand to let go from Levi's. The two of you then slowly began to sink together once again to the bottom of the river, completely unaware that your fates were now intertwined and there was nothing either of you could do to stop it.

-

You guys have no idea how much i've been looking forward to writing this chapter since I started this book because it jump starts the entire premise for the rest of the book and that means that things are really going to kickstart from here on out! There's still so much awaiting this book and I'm so excited!

There's not too much I have to say except that  at least for now. If there's anything else I'll mention it in the next author's note!

I know it was a longer chapter than usual shsj but we'll go back to our regular wordcount next chapter! Unless you guys enjoy this length in chapters! Just let me know!

That's all for now! See you guys next Sunday for the next update! Hope everyone has a good start to their week too! <3

-