Through Darkness Comes the Light

Chapter Two - Levi's Assistant

A few days later, Levi summoned Eliza to his office early in the morning. He was sitting at his desk, perusing some papers Erwin had sent over, when he heard a light knock on the door.

"Enter," he called. He looked up as his door opened and Eliza walked in. Levi watched as she slowly walked in. She bumped her foot on one of the chairs and Levi watched, interested, as she adjusted herself slightly to avoid hitting the rest of the chair.

"I'm glad to see you're making friends among the squad," Levi remarked.

"And I'm glad to see you're not dead," Eliza told him. "Well, I assume you're not dead since I can't actually see you. Although, if you were dead it would just make this awkward considering we happen to be having a conversation."

"We aren't having a conversation," Levi said. "You're babbling. A conversation requires more than one person talking."

"You just replied to me, so more than one person is talking," Eliza pointed out smugly.

Levi rolled his eyes at her and then sighed when he realized that Eliza couldn't see him roll his eyes at her. Eye-rolling loses its effect when the intended victim happens to be blind.

"You can sit down, you know," Levi told Eliza.

She raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to pull the chair out from under me, now are you?" Eliza felt around behind her for the edge of the chair before she sat down.

"Why the hell would I do that, brat?" Levi asked.

Eliza shrugged. "I don't know, why not play some practical jokes on the blind girl like everyone else?"

"Well you obviously don't think very highly of me," Levi muttered.

"Oh, yes, I forgot. Hange said you don't have a single humorous cell in your body," Eliza told him with a grin.
            Levi sighed and rolled his eyes again, regardless of whether Eliza could see it or not. "Hange's reports say that you've shown some impressive skills. Also, you've intimidated everyone but Mikasa and apparently Eren. Honestly, I don't think he knows when to quit. Hange says that you'd knock him down and he kept coming back for more."

Eliza grinned at this. "He's very determined. He always has been, ever since Wall Maria fell. Eren used to pick fights with all the neighborhood bullies and then Mikasa or I would have to save him." Eliza chuckled. "Nothing can keep Eren down for long, it seems."

Levi looked at Eliza shrewdly. "You knew Eren and Mikasa before the fall of Wall Maria, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I was only there for a few months. I got to know Eren, Mikasa and Armin pretty well, though," Eliza told Levi. She leaned forward. "Now, I seriously doubt you called me in here to talk about my past with my friends. What do you want?"

Levi leaned back in his chair. "Erwin wants me to keep an eye on you, I have no idea why. So, I've decided that you're going to be my assistant until further notice. Also, I've decided that you're not going to get any good out of the training sessions with the other squad members."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Eliza asked curiously, a confused expression on her face.

"You'll be training with me," Levi said.

"Um, okay," Eliza said hesitantly. "Why?"

"Is there a problem with that?" Levi asked.

"No, I just thought that you would have better things to do than to waste your time on training me," Eliza replied.

"I'll be the judge of whether you're wasting my time or not, brat," Levi told her. He motioned toward the door. "You can go do whatever want now, but be here by five o'clock tomorrow morning."

Eliza nodded. She carefully stood up and maneuvered her way to the door and left.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

            Eliza walked down to the training yard where Mikasa said that she would be sparring with Eren. Sure enough, Eliza heard the scuffling of footsteps and small grunts when she got the yard. Then she heard the thump of a body hitting the hard-packed earth and Eliza knew that Mikasa had bested Eren again.

            Eliza walked into the yard, the scent of juniper and cut wood flooding her senses.

            "Hey Eliza," Mikasa said, greeting her.

            "Hurting Eren again, are we?" Eliza asked with a grin.

            "I'll get her next time," Eren said. He was still laying on the ground; his voice came from somewhere near it.

            "You say that every time," Mikasa told Eren.

            "And one of these days it'll be true," Eren told her confidently.

            Eliza laughed. "That day's bound to come soon, Eren. You're doing way better than the last time I saw you fight." She reached down her hand and felt another wrap around it. She pulled and managed to help Eren get back on his feet.

            "The last time you saw me fight, I was ten," Eren said indignantly. "And besides, you can't even watch me fight now, so how would you know that I've gotten better."

            Eliza heard smack on flesh and Eren muttered a string of curses. She was pretty certain that Mikasa had just smacked Eren upside the head. "When you were ten, all you did was swing wild punches and then get beat up. Now you don't hit the ground for at least ten seconds when you're fighting Mikasa," Eliza said, grinning at Eren.

            Eren grumbled at her and Mikasa laughed. "So what did Levi want?" Mikasa asked Eliza.

            "Honestly, I'm not really sure. First, we discussed whether or not we were having a conversation, then he asked me how I knew you, Eren and Armin. Then finally, he said that Erwin wanted him to keep an eye on me and that I was supposed to be his assistant now and that he's going to be training me because I apparently intimidate everyone," Eliza told her.

"Why would Erwin want Levi to keep an eye on you?" Eren asked.

"I'm not positive but I think it's because he thinks that the snakes might be inside the walls," Eliza said. "And knowing the snakes, it would be extremely difficult to root all of them out without alerting them that we know about them. And besides, Erwin knows that the last place they'd look for me would be with Levi."

"Well, I guess that makes sense," Eren said. "So what do you think clean freak's going to have you do?"

Eliza shrugged. "I don't know. Levi still has that obsession with cleaning?"

"Yes," Eren and Mikasa answered simultaneously.

Eliza sighed. "Great. This is definitely going to be interesting."